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(5d  3°o & THE UNITED    IRISHMEN, THEIR   LIVES   AND   TIMES. Q$u[st  Series, v Presented  to  the UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO LIBRARY by  the ONTARIO  LEGISLATIVE LIBRARY 1980 yMulva-n -> V u u >- THE Mt'IED    IRISHMEN, THEIR ^0^;!lTvE$  AND   TIMES. AVITH  NUMEROUS  ORIGINAL  PORTRAITS,  AND  ADDITIONAL  AUTHENTIC  DOCUMENTS; THE    WHOLE    MATTER    NEWLY  ARRANGED    AND    REVISED. BY  EICHARD  R.  MADDEN,  F.R.C.S.,  ENG.,  M.E.I.A. AUTHOR  OF   "TRAVELS   IN  THE   EAST",    "THE   LIFE   AND  TIMES  OF  SAVONAROLA",    "MEMOIRS  OF  THE COUNTESS  OF  BLESSINGTON",  "PHANTASM  ATA,  OR  ILLUSIONS  AND  FANATICISMS",  ETC. "The  mind  of  a  nation,  when  long  fettered  and  exasperated,  will  straggle  and  bound,  and  when a  cbasm  is  open,  will  escape  through  it,  like  the  lava  from  the  crater  of  a  volcano".— J.  K.  L. (jjfh'st  §trm— JSccond  (Mitioit. (Out ft* DUBLIN: JAMES    DUFFY,    7    WELLINGTON    QUAY. M  D  C  G  C  L  V  I  I . J.    F.    FOWLER,    PRINTER, 3   CROW    STREET,    DAME    STREET, DUBLIN. DEDICATION TO  THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE HENKY,  LOED  BBOUGHAM  AND  VAUX. My  Lord, When  I  commenced  this  work  many  years  ago,  and  was only  known  to  your  Lordship  as  a  man  who  had  rendered  some slight  services  to  a  cause,  of  which  you  had  been  the  consistent and  strenuous  advocate  from  the  outset  of  your  career  in  public life,  I  was  indebted  to  you  for  an  introduction  to  an  eminent French  historian,  and  a  request  that  I  might  have  access  to  the archives  of  the  public  departments  in  Paris,  with  a  view  to  the use  of  documents  that  might  have  any  bearing  on  the  subject  of my  intended  work,  in  which  undertaking  your  Lordship  was pleased  to  express  an  interest,  and  an  opinion  of  its  utility.  I  am, then,  indebted  for  that  generous  aid  of  your  Lordship,  to  my humble  efforts  against  slavery  and  the  slave  trade;  not  in  the quiet  closets  of  philanthropy  at  home,  or  the  great  arena  for  the advocacy  of  that  cause,  in  the  British  press  or  parliament,  but on  the  battle-ground  itself  of  the  struggle  with  the  task- masters and  dealers  and  chapmen  of  their  fellow-men, — in  the Spanish  Colonies  and  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  So,  my  Lord, having  battled  for  the  interests  of  justice  and  humanity  abroad, being  placed  in  circumstances  wherein  I  had  occasion  to know  these  interests  had  been  terribly  outraged  at  home,  I thought  it  was  my  duty  to  use  the  same  energies  I  had  brought to  bear  against  abused  power  and  oppression  in  foreign  countries, vi  DEDICATION. against  governmental  abandonment  in  my  own  land,  and  very grievous  wrongs  inflicted  on  its  people.  This  opinion,  my Lord,  by  many,  I  am  well  aware,  will  be  considered  absurd, Quixotic,  and  extravagant,  but  not  so,  I  am  fully  persuaded,  by your  Lordship.  I  have  read  in  a  work  entitled  Historical  Sketches of  Statesmen  who  flourished  in  the  time  of  George  the  Third, some  observations  respecting  vicious  rulers  and  misrule,  and modes  of  treating  of  the  evils  which  result  from  their  regime; and  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  I  find  in  that  admirable  work,  con- firmation of  the  opinion  I  have  expressed,  and  on  which  I  have acted  in  dealing  with  the  crimes  of  the  ruling  class  in  Ire- land, and  the  faction  in  alliance  with  it,  in  1798. Referring  to  the  history  of  exalted  individuals  in  public  life, who  are  the  subjects  of  the  Historical  Sketches,  the  author  says: "  A  postponement  till  the  day  when  there  should  be  no  possi- bility of  passion  or  prejudice  shading  the  path  of  the  historian, may  extinguish  the  recollections  also,  which  alone  can  give  value to  his  narrative.     .     . "  The  main  object  in  view  (in  giving  those  sketches  to  the public)  has  been  the  maintenance  of  a  severe  standard  of  public virtue,  by  constantly  painting  profligacy  in  those  hateful  colours which  are  natural  to  it,  though  sometimes  obscured  by  the  lustre of  talents,  especially  when  seen  through  the  false  glare  shed  by success  over  public  crimes.  To  show  mankind  who  are  their  real benefactors — to  teach  them  the  wTisdom  of  only  exalting  the friends  of  peace,  of  freedom,  and  of  improvement — to  warn  them against  the  folly,  so  pernicious  to  themselves,  of  lavishing  their applauses  upon  their  worst  enemies,  those  who  disturb  the  tran- quillity, assail  the  liberties,  and  obstruct  the  improvement  of  the world  — to  reclaim  them  from  the  yet  worse  habit,  so  near  akin to  vicious  indulgence,  of  palliating  cruelty  and  fraud  com- mitted on  a  large  scale,  by  regarding  the  success  which  has attended  their  foul  enormities,  or  the  courage  and  the  address with  which  they  have  been  perpetrated— these  are  the  views which  have  guided  the  pen  that  has  attempted  to  sketch  the  his- DEDICATION.  VI 1 tory  of  George  the  Third's  times,  by  describing  the  statesmen  who flourished  in  them. "  With  these  views,  a  work  was  begun  many  years  ago,  and interrupted  by  professional  avocations — the  history  of  two  reigns in  our  own  annals,  those  of  Henry  the  Fifth,  and  Elizabeth, deemed  glorious  for  the  arts  of  war  and  of  government,  command- ing largely  the  admiration  of  the  vulgar,  justly  famous  for  the capacity  which  they  displayed,  but  exalted  upon  the  false  assump- tion that  foreign  conquest  is  the  chief  glory  of  a  nation,  and  that habitual  and  dexterous  treachery  towards  all  mankind  is  the  chief accomplishment  of  a  sovereign.  To  retail  the  story  of  their reigns  in  the  language  of  which  sound  reason  prescribes  the  use ; to  express  the  scorn  of  falsehood,  and  the  detestation  of  cruelty, which  the  uncorrupted  feelings  of  our  nature  inspire;  to  call wicked  things  by  their  right  names,  whether  done  by  princes  and statesmen,  or  by  vulgar  and  more  harmless  malefactors,  was  the plan  of  that  work". Trusting,  my  Lord,  that  some,  at  least,  of  the  sentiments  so  ad- mirably expressed  in  the  preceding  observations,  will  be  found to  have  been  acted  on  in  the  treatment  of  the  subject  of  these volumes,  and  that  the  importance  of  it  will  be  recognized  even by  the  eminent  and  illustrious  author  of  the  Historical  Sketches I  have  cited, I  have  the  honour  to  remain, My  Lord, With  the  highest  respect, Your  Lordship's Very  obedient,  humble  servant, R.  R.  Madden. Leitrim  Lodge, October  1,  1857. PREFACE, Two-and-twenty  years  have  elapsed  since  the  collection  of  the materials  for  this  work  was  commenced  by  the  author  in  the United  States  of  America.  Many  of  the  leaders  of  the  Society of  United  Irishmen  were  then  living  in  that  country,  and  now are  only  to  be  recalled,  as  of  the  number  of  those  who  were, and  are  not.  The  first  series  of  The  Lives  and  Times  of  the United  Irishmen  was  published  in  1842;  the  second  series  in 1843;  the  third,  and  last,  in  1846.  The  whole  was  comprised  in seven  volumes  octavo. The  mode  of  publication  at  different  intervals,  from  the  year 1842  to  the  latter  end  of  1846,  necessitated  many  faults  with respect  to  arrangement  of  materials,  coming,  as  these  did,  to the  author's  hands  at  various  periods,  and  from  various  countries, during  these  intervening  years.  Notwithstanding  this  defect,  the work  was  eminently  successful.  It  has  been  long  out  of  print, and  frequent  demands  for  it  have  been  made,  for  some  years  past, from  Australia,  the  West  India  Colonies,  England,  and  America. The  unsettled  state,  however,  of  the  law  of  copyright  between the  two  last-named  countries  has  been  productive  of  injury  alike to  the  author  and  the  work,  in  the  United  States.  The  Lives and  Times  of  the  United  Irishmen  have  been  reprinted  in  Ame- rica, and  republished  there,  in  a  very  garbled  and  mutilated  form. These  circumstances  have  led  to  the  republication  of  the  work in  its  present  form,  carefully  revised,  largely  improved,  by  the addition  of  much  original  authentic  information,  and  entirely re-arranged,  so  as  to  bring  the  matter  of  the  original  edition of  seven  octavo  volumes,  as  well  as  the  additional  materials, now  presented  to  the  public,  into  four  series,  comprised  in  four volumes,  each  volume  in  itself  complete. X  PREFACE. To  the  enterprising  efforts  and  enlarged  views  of  the  pub- lisher of  this  new  edition  of  The  Lives  and  Times  of  the  United Irishmen,  the  public  is  indebted  for  its  appearance  in  a  better form  than  it  first  assumed,  and  at  very  nearly  half  the  cost  of  the original  edition. The  main  object  for  undertaking  this  work  has  been  to  obtain a  hearing  in  England  for  a  truthful  relation  of  the  struggle  in which  the  United  Irishmen  engaged,  the  sufferings  and  the wrongs  which  the  Irish  people  endured  at  the  hands  of  a  bad government,  a  base  oligarchy,  a  bigoted  and  corrupt  parlia- ment, and  an  army  let  loose  upon  them,  which  was  formidable, in  the  words  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  to  every  one  but  the  enemy. The  motives  that  induced  me  to  take  up  this  subject  may  be misinterpreted  or  regarded  with  little  sympathy  by  many;  but they  will  be  appreciated  duly  by  some,  and  that  too  without regard  to  any  political  or  religious  opinions  of  mine  or  those  of whom  I  treat.  The  circumstances  in  which  I  have  been  placed, in  connection  with  the  efforts  that  have  been  made  for  the  sup- pression of  slavery  and  the  slave  trade,  during  many  years  past, were  not  calculated  to  make  a  man  a  bad  hater  of  oppression  in any  country.  In  fact  the  struggle  against  slavery,  whether  in  the West  Indies,  or  on  the  shores  of  Africa,  served,  in  my  case,  as an  apprenticeship  to  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  tended  to  make contrasts  between  personal  and  political  slavery  familiar  to  me. I  could  not  understand  that  sort  of  philanthropy  which  was  to be  permitted  to  battle  for  the  interests  of  humanity  and  justice, when  these  were  outraged  in  the  persons  of  black  men,  and  to make  the  world  ring  with  the  echoes  of  the  cart -whip  and  the cries  of  the  oppressed,  who  were  four  thousand  miles  off;  to have  one  set  of  nerves  exquisitely  sensitive  to  the  sufferings  of men,  who  were  victims  to  the  cupidity  of  West  India  planters, and  another  callous  and  insensible  to  the  wrong's  of  those  who were  ground  down  by  legalized  rapacity,  driven  to  desperation, dragooned,  tortured,  and  persecuted  at  home.  Whether  African Negroes  were  held  "  guilty  of  a  skin  not  coloured  like  our  own", PREFACE.  XI or  the  "  mere  Irishry  "  were  deemed  culpable  of  a  creed  not  con- formed to  the  fashion  of  the  faith  of  their  provincial  bashaws — the same  spirit  of  injustice  in  either  case,  seemed  to  me  to  be  in  ope- ration ;  and  to  pretend  to  sympathize  alone  with  the  victims  of injustice  who  happened  to  be  natives  of  Africa,  or  descendents  of Africans,  it  was  obvious,  would  be  a  spurious  kind  of  benevolence. The  cruelties  inflicted  on  the  Indians  of  the  new  world,  were reprobated  by  mankind;  their  authors  were  stigmatized  by  our historians,  as  men  of  barbarous  and  sanguinary  disposition.  In modern  times  the  cruelties  committed  by  slave  dealers  on  the coast  of  Africa  caused  even  the  introduction  into  our  official  vo- cabulary of  such  epithets  as  "  miscreants",  "  monsters",  "  enemies to  the  human  race  ",  etc.,  etc. ;  for  with  such  epithets  we  find  the parliamentary  slave-trade  papers  teem.  The  tortures,  however, inflicted  in  Ireland  on  human  beings  who  wTere  more  immediately entitled  to  British  sympathy,  because  they  were  more  within  reach of  its  protection,  in  point  of  national  consanguinity,  who  were more  of  its  own  flesh,  and,  in  respect  to  religious  relationship, bound  to  it  in  stricter  bonds  of  Christian  fellowship,  deserved,  in my  humble  opinion,  to  be  placed  in  the  same  category  of  crimes, as  those,  in  which  are  recorded  the  atrocities  of  the  Spaniards  and Portuguese  in  their  colonies,  and  to  be  ranked  among  the  worst outrages  on  humanity  that  have  ever  been  committed  by  civilized men.  We  are  fully  as  subject  as  the  people  of  any  other  country on  the  face  of  the  Earth,  to  the  fitful  feelings  and  variable  in- fluences of  the  moral  atmosphere,  which  modify  our  notions  of  the obligations  of  benevolence,  and  infuse  a  spirit  of  conventional Christianity  into  our  dealings  with  the  wrongs  and  grievances that  are  brought  before  us,  and  which  at  one  period  and  for  one class  of  sufferers  may  enliven  sensibility,  and  at  another  time,  and for  a  different  description  of  unfortunates,  may  be  found  to  stifle every  emotion  of  compassion. The  nature  of  oppression  is  the  same,  wherever  it  is  practised, whether  the  violators  of  human  rights  be  Spaniards,  Portuguese, or  members  of  any  portion  of  the  British  Empire ;  whether  they XI 1  TJIKFACE. lived  in  a  by -gone  age,  or  within  our  own  remembrance;  whether their  infamy  is  connected  with  the  names  of  the  "  Conquistadores1' of  the  New  World,  and  the  slave  dealing  ravagers  of  a  large  portion of  the  Old,  or  is  coupled  with  the  names  of  Lords  Camden,  Clare, and  Castlcreagh,  in  one  of  the  darkest  pages  of  the  history  of British  rule  in. Ireland. I  am  well  aware  that  it  would  not  only  be  conformable  to Christian  charity,  but  most  highly  conducive  to  the  formation  of justcr  estimates  than  are  often  arrived  at,  in  judging  of  the  acts of  public  men,  were  we  to  bear  in  mind  the  infirmities  of  our nature,  in  all  our  dealings  with  their  misdeeds,  and,  to  use  the words  of  a  very  wise  man,  if  we  were  to  consider,  when  wTe reprehend  them,  that,  "  after  all,  the  men  we  depreciate  are  our kinsmen" ;  instead  of  magnifying  their  guilt,  and  flinging  more than  abundant  light  on  those  misdeeds,  if  we  occupied  our thoughts  with  thankful  emotions,  that  we  had  been  placed  in happier  circumstances  than  those  persons  whose  acts  we  con- demn had  been  surrounded  by,  and  that  we  had  not  been  sub- jected to  the  same  temptations  as  they  had  been,  by  the  posses- sion of  power,  without  limits  to  its  exercise,  and  the  mainte- nance of  interests  that  were  incompatible  with  the  natural  rights or  civil  privileges  of  other  men. The  good  to  be  effected  by  the  history  of  such  times  as  those of  1798,  and  the  numerous  crimes  committed  in  them,  is  the  pre- vention of  similar  evils,  by  pointing  out  the  inevitable  result  of them  in  the  long  run,  the  calamities  which  overtake  the  policy  of unjust  rule,  the  perpetrators  of  cruel  and  barbarous  acts,  the  retri- butive justice,  slow  but  sure,  which,  sooner  or  later,  visits  every signal  violation  of  humanity  with  punishment. I  have  endeavoured  to  place  the  characters  and  the  acts  of  the men  who  are  the  subjects  of  the  various  memoirs  in  these  volumes, in  their  true  light  before  the  public,  most  of  whom,  in  their  pri- vate characters,  had  been  traduced  and  vilified  by  the  malignant press  which  is  at  the  command  of  Orangeism  in  both  countries, and,  by  a  faithful  exhibition  of  the  crimes  and  calamities  of  civil PREFACE.  Xlll war,  to  contribute  (as  far  as  it  was  in  my  power  to  effect  this  ob- ject) to  prevent  the  entertainment  of  a  thought,  unaccompanied with  horror,  at  a  recurrence  of  the  evils  which  it  has  been  my painful  task  to  record. In  concluding  my  undertaking,  I  would  beg  leave  to  observe, if  I  have  not  brought  abilities  to  its  performance  worthy  of  its character,  perhaps  the  humble  merit  may  be  accorded  to  my efforts,  of  having  devoted  to  this  work  a  vast  amount  of  labour  in the  collection  of  the  materials  and  the  verification  of  disputed facts.  There  is  little  danger,  perhaps,  of  an  exaggerated  opinion being  formed  of  the  extent  to  which  that  labour  has  been  carried. I  commenced  this  work  with  the  determination  of  bringing  the subjects  of  it  fully  before  the  people  of  England,  to  get  a  hearing from  them  for  the  history  of  the  men  engaged  in  the  Rebellion  of 1798.  That  determination  was  based  on  the  conviction  that  the people  of  England,  in  common  fairness,  were  bound  to  hear,  and would  hear  if  truly  told,  what  those  men  had  to  attempt  to  say  in their  defence,  or  those  most  closely  connected  with  them,  who  con- sidered themselves  charged  with  the  protection  of  their  memories ; inasmuch  as  their  character,  conduct,  and  proceedings  had  hereto- fore been  made  known  to  the  English  public  only  by  their  enemies. The  political  aims  and  objects  of  the  men  whose  lives  and actions  are  the  subject  of  this  work,  it  would  be  absurd  to  con- sider apart  from  the  nature  of  the  government  under  which  they lived.  In  forming  any  opinion  of  their  conduct  in  relation  to  it,  the grand  question  for  consideration  is,  whether  the  system  of  corrup- tion, rapacity,  terror,  and  injustice  under  which  Ireland  was  ruled at  the  period  in  question,  deserved  the  name  of  government,  or  had totally  departed  from  all  those  original  principles  and  intentions on  which  all  ruling  power  claims  to  be  founded,  and  had  divested itself  of  those  attributes  with  which  it  is  presumed  to  be  endowed. The  end  and  aim  of  the  government  of  Ireland  in  1798  was  to perpetuate  the  power  of  a  faction  which  was  subservient  to  its policy,  being  always  hostile  to  the  people  and  the  country,  and with  its  aid  to  break  doAvn  the  national  spirit  and  independence XIV  PREFACE. of  the  nation.     Its  policy  was  to  divide,  and  govern  by  division ; to  keep  alive  and  to  foment  religious  dissensions ;  to  promote  the interests  of  a  selfish  minority,  while  affecting  to  ignore  its  sordid views,  and  to  be  unconscious  of  the  hypocrisy  that  was  covered, but  not  concealed,  by  the  mask  of  an  ardent  zeal  for  religious interests;  to  bestow  all  state  honours,  patronage,  and  protection on  that  small  section  of  the  community  which  my  Lord  Stanley, in  one  of  his  fitful  moods,  was  pleased  to  call  "  the  remnant  of an  expiring  faction".   Against  this  government  and  this  policy  the Society  of  United  Irishmen  reared  its  head  and  raised  its  hand, and  failed  in  the  daring  struggle  with  its  foes.      Whether  it  de- served success,  or  took  the  best  means  to  insure  it,  are  questions which  the  perusal  of  these  volumes  may  enable  the  reader  to  de- termine.     As  far  as  my  own  experience   goes,  and  it   has  not been  confined  to  very  narrow  local  limits,  the  results  I  have  wit- nessed in  various  countries,  of  recourse  to  violent  measures  in resistance  to  oppression,  even  where  such  efforts  have  been  tem- porarily successful, — that  teaching  certainly  would  not  lead  me  to think  lightly  of  the  evils  of  civil  war,  nor   to  indulge  very  flat- tering hopes  of  any  lasting  benefits  accruing  from  it,  nor  to  give encouragement  for  the  construction  of  visionary  chateaux  d'Es- pagne,  or  the  formation  of  Utopian  theories  of  government,  based on  notions  of  the  perfectibility  of  human  beings,  and  the  practica- bility of  substituting  model  republics,   constructed  on  the  most approved  principles  of  modern  constitution-mongers,  for  the  old governmental  machinery  of  European  monarchies,  however  crazy and  lumbering  that  machinery  might  be.      The  day-dream  of young  patriotism  does  not  long  outlast  that  sort  of  practical  know- ledge of  the  realities  of  revolts  and  revolutions  to  which  I  have referred.     However  great  might  be  the  success,  or  extensive  the changes  effected,  or  grievous  the   disorders  of  society  and  the miseries  of  mankind,  that  it  was  expected  would  be  reformed by  revolution,  it  still  might    be  feared  we  would  have  to  en- counter in  our  new  condition  traces  and  fragments  of  the  wreck of  man's  original  intelligence,  that  must  continue  to  the  end  of PREFACE.  XV I  time   to   obstruct  and    to   impede,   to   a   large   extent,   the    best |  designs  of  political   philosophy  for  the  advancement  of  human happiness. I  have  now  only  to  recapitulate  the  objects  I  had  in  view  in undertaking  this  work — to  do  justice  to  the  dead,  and  a  service to  the  living,  by  deterring  rulers  who  would  be  tyrants  from pursuing  the  policy  of  1798;  and  men  of  extravagant  or  lightly weighed  opinions,  from  ill-considered  projects  against  oppression, whose  driftless,  unsuccessful  efforts  against  misrule  never  fail  to give  new  strength  to   despotism.      To  carry  out  these  objects, it  was  necessary  to   exhibit  the  evils  of  bad  government — the mischievous    agency   of  spies,    informers,    stipendiary    swearers, and   fanatical    adherents;    to   expose    the    wickedness    of  exas- perating popular  feelings,   or   exaggerating  the  sense  of  public wrongs — of  fomenting  rebellion  for  state  purposes,  and  then  em- ploying savage  and  inhuman  means  to  defeat  it.     It  was  no  less incumbent  on  me  to  endeavour  to  convince  the  people  of  the  folly of  entering  into  secret  associations,  with  the    idea   of  keeping plans  against  oppression  unknown  through  the  instrumentality of  oaths  and  tests;  to  set  forth  the  manifold   dangers,  in  such times  as  those  of  1798,  to  which  integrity  and  innocence,  as  well as  patriotism  on  the   verge  or  in  the  vortex  of  treason,  are  ex- posed, from  temptations  of  all  kinds  to  perfidy ;   and,  lastly,  to direct  attention  to  the  great  fact  of  modern  times — the  power  of breaking  down  bad  government,  when  there  is  a  stage  for  public opinion,  and  the  energies  to  b.ick  it,  of  a  self-reliant,  tolerant,  truth- loving,  educated  people,  and,  moreover,  the  direction  of  earnest leaders,  resolute  and  upright,  self-denying,  single-minded  men,  de- termined by  peaceful  means,  and  by  resistance  of  a  passive  kind, to  confront  and  overcome  the  illegalities  and   acts  of  violence  of any  administration  that  departs  from  the  purpose  for  which  it  was created — namely,  the  distribution  of  justice,  equal  and  impartial, among  all  classes  of  the  community.     But  the  difficulty  is  not  so great  for  the  oppressed  to  break  their  bonds,  as  it  is  to  find  the qualities  of  mind,  the  training  of  opinion,   and   the  teaching  of XVI  PllKFACE. ■ heart  and  head,  the  feelings  of  self-respect,  and  due  apprecia- tion of  the  rights  of  opinion,  the  worth  and  merits  of  others, which  serve  to  constitute  true  men,  worthy  of  the  privileges of  nationality  and  self-government,  and  fitted  to  maintain  them. The  people  who  are  worthy  of  these  blessings  have  other  and better  means  of  warfare  with  injustice,  than  those  which  involve great  sufferings  and  uncertain  issues.  The  redress  they  seek  is  to be  obtained  by  a  peaceful  passive  struggle  with  oppression,  which, if  defeated  for  a  time,  is  not  necessarily  fatal  in  its  consequences to  the  cause  of  freedom.  In  Ireland,  assuredly,  the  progress  of events,  the  experience,  however  dearly  bought,  of  unparallelled calamities,  the  spread  of  education,  the  dissemination  of  cheap literature,  well-directed,  tolerant,  national  in  its  tone,  and  manly in  its  character,  based  on  sound  views  of  moral,  social,  and  political duties  and  obligations,  must  inevitably  tend  to  the  downfall  of that  baneful  faction  which  has  so  long  oppressed  the  energies  and usurped  the  just  rights  of  the  people,  and  which  a  barbarous policy  in  former  times  enabled  to  domineer  over  the  great  mass of  the  natives  of  the  country,  and  to  deal  with  them  as  aliens  in their  own  land.  The  regime  of  insolent  rapacity  and  oppression cannot  be  maintained  or  renewed.  This  history,  alone,  of  the Lives  and  Times  of  the  United  Irishmen — this  record  of  the  crimes and  sufferings  connected  with  the  provocation  and  suppression  of the  Rebellion  of  1798,  would  render  any  attempt  to  establish another  Irish  reign  of  terror  utterly  abortive. "  Une  pensee  doit  nous  consoler,  c'est  que  le  regime  de  la  ter- reur  ne  peut  renaitre,  non  seulement  comme  je  fai  dit,  parceque personne  ne  s'y  soumettroit,  mais  encore  parceque  les  causes  et  les circonstances  que  font  produite  ont  disparu "  Ces  paradistes  de  terreur,  ces  terroristes  de  melodrame,  bien capables  sans  doute,  de  vous  tuer,  si  vous  les  en  defiez,  pour  la preuve  et  l'honneur  de  la  chose,  seroient  incapables,  de  maintcnir trois  jours  en  permanence  l'instrument  de  mort  qui  retomberoit  sur eux".  Etudes  Ilisforiques,  Preface,  p.  281,  de  M.  le  Vicomte  de Chateaubriand. —  CEuvres  en  Prose,  1838. CONTENTS. CHAPTER  I. Historical  Introduction. — Brief  notice  of  the  state  of  Ireland  from  the Civil  Wars  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. — "  The  Commission  of  Grace". — Wholesale  Confiscation  of  Territory,  and  Plantation  of  Ulster,  in  the time  of  James  the  First. — Renewed  Wars  and  Confiscations  during  the Commonwealth The  System  of  legalized  sp<~-lh.tion  of  the  Penal  Code Government. — The  period  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  its  influence on  Irish  affairs.  .  .  .  .  .  .1 CHAPTER  II. The  Whiteboy  Association. — Agrarian  Outrages. — Persecution  of  the  Ca- tholic Clergy  and  Gentry  in  the  South  on  pretence  of  Whiteboyism. — The  Case  of  the  Sheehys,  Buxton,  and  Farrell.  .  .  .21 CHAPTER  III. Illegal  Associations. — Agrarian  Disturbances  in  the  North. — Oakboys  and Hearts  of  Steel.  .  .  .  .  .  .89 CHAPTER  IV. The  Peep  o'  Day  Boys,  Wreckers,  Defenders,  and  Orangemen.  .        98 CHAPTER  V. The  Volunteers,  their  efforts  for  Reform,  Origin,  and  Dissolution.  .       124 CHAPTER  VI. The  Borough  Parliament ;  its  Factions  and  its  Foes  ;  its  Intolerance  and Corruption  deprived  it  of  all  Popular  Support.  .  .  .100 CHAPTER  VII. Irish  and  English  Reformers  of  1792  and  1793 Political  Associations  in Belfast — Sympathy  with  the  Men  of  the  French  Revolution.     Military Riots  in  Belfast.     Constitution  of  the  Irish  Borough  Parliament.  .       1 71 1* Will  CONTENTS. CHAPTER  VIII. Tlie  first  Designs  of  the  United  Irishmen  mainly  directed  to  the  Over- throw of  the  anti-Irish  Oligarchy  and  Ascendency  Faction.— The  Exten- sion of  their  Plans  and  Views.  -  Reform  merged  into  Revolution. — Ques- tion of  the  Legitimacy  of  Resistance — Legitimate  Objects  to  be  Pro- moted by  the  History  of  The  Lives  and  Times  of  the  United  Irish- men. ....... CHAPTER  IX. 199 Origin,  Organization,  Proceedings,  and  Negotiations  of  the  United  Irish- men. .  .  .  .  .  .      21G CHAPTER  X. New  Organization  of  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen. — Extended  Aims, Revolutionary  Plans,  and  Military  Aspect  of  its  Proceedings Tone's Mission,  and  its  Results.  .....      266 CHAPTER  XL Mihtary  Organization  of  the  United  Irishmen. — Views  of  the  Leinster Leaders. — Discussion  between  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  and  W.  M.        .      282 CHAPTER  XII. The  use  of  Torture  in  1797  and  1798,  to  extort  Confessions  of  guilt  of Treason,  or  Information  against  Suspected  Persons,  for  the  Premature Explosion  and  Suppression  of  the  Rebellion. — The  acts  of  the  Beresfords, Musgraves,  Judkin  Fitzgeralds,  Hepenstals,  Sandys,  Hunter  Gowans, Hawtrey  Whites,  Archibald  Harailtons,  and  Kingstons,  in  those  years ; and  the  Sanction  given  to  them  by  the  Acts  of  Indemnity,  and  the  Con- currence in  them  of  Lords  Camden,  Clare,  and  Castlereagh Atrocities and  barbarities  committed  on  the  People  in  Wicklow,  Kildare,  Wex- ford, Down,  and  Antrim. — Persecution  of  Priests.— Burning  of  Chapels. — The  Reign  of  Terror  in  France  and  in  Ireland  Compared.  .       292 CHAPTER  XIII. Cost  of  Exploding  and  Suppressing  the  Rebellion  of  1798.  .  .      357 CONTENTS.  XIX APPENDICES. i. Secret  Service  Money  Expenditure,  from  Original  Official  Documents.  3G5 II. Secret  Service  Money  Revelations,  from  Original  Accounts,  and  Receipts for  payments  of  Pensions,  Grants,  and  Allowances.  .  .      390 III. The  Governmental  Spy  and  Informer  System. — Notices  of  Reynolds,  Arm- strong, Hughes,  Maguan,  and  M'Gucken.  .  .  .      406 IV. Major  Sirr  and  "  his  People" Notices  of  Jemmy  O'Brien — The  Career  of Sirr. — Hevey's  Prosecution  against  him. — Restitution  of  Property  ab- stracted during  the  Reign  of  Terror. — The  Major's  love  of  Art. — Silver Tankards  with  Seditious  Devices  of  Irish  harps. — Treasonable  Pictures found  in  the  houses  of  Suspected  Parties.— Attempts  on  Sirr's  Life. — Be- came a  Saint,  a  Reformer,  and  a  Voter  for  O'Connell,  in  his  latter  years. — His  Death. — Notices  of  Major  Sandys,  Major  Wills,  Messrs.  Kerr, Dutton,  Hanlon,  Wheatley.  ....       4G4 Correspondence  of  the  Spies  and  Informers,  chiefly  of  1798  and  1803,  with their  Employer,  Major  Sirr,  from  the  Original  Documents,  comprising the  Sirr  Papers,  now  existing  in  the  Library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.       491 VI. Extracts  from  Original  Precis  Book  of  the  Kildare  Magistrates Proceed- ings of  United  Irishmen  in  1803.                 ....       528 VII. Narrative  of  the  Informer,  E.  J.  Newell,  illustrative  of  the  Spy  System  in Ireland  in  1797  and  1798. — The  Associations  of  United  Irishmen  in those  years.  .  .  .  .  .  .531 XX  CONTENTS. VIII. List  of  Names  of  Persons  included  in  "  The  Fugitive  Bill",  and  "Banish- ment Act",  from  Original  Documents.  .  .  .       581 IX. Dates  of  Admission  of  the  Sheares,  Emmets,  O'Connors,  and  Tone,  to  Tri- nity College,  Dublin.  .....       584 Religion  professed  by  Persons  of  Eminence,  or  Leading  Members  of  the Society  of  United  Irishmen.  ....       585  < XI. All  the  Factions  and  Families  of  Distinguished  Jobbers  Eepresented  in the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  elected  in  1797.      . .  .  .      588 XII. Tests,  Signs,  Emblems,  Devices,  and  Lyrics  of  the  United  Irishmen. — Songs  and  Sonnets  of  Dr.  Drennan  in  The  Press,  etc.  .  .      591 THE UNITED   IRISHMEN, THEIR  LIVES  AND   TIMES. HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER  I. "There  is  no  greater  error",  says  Sismondi,  "than  to  siipposc that  any  great  event,  or  epoch,  can  be  profitably  viewed  apart from  the  causes  by  which  it  was  produced  and  the  consequences by  which  it  was  followed.  The  habit  of  viewing  facts  apart  from the  circumstances  by  which  they  are  connected  and  explained, can  have  no  other  result  than  the  fostering  of  prejudice,  the strengthening  of  ignorance,  and  the  propagation  of  delusion". To  no  portion  of  history  is  this  truth  more  strikingly  applicable than  to  the  "Lives  and  Times  of  the  United  Irishmen":  it  is impossible  to  appreciate  their  motives,  or  form  a  right  estimate  of |  their  conduct,  without  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  circum- stances of  their  age  and  the  condition  of  their  country ;  and  this knowledge  can  only  be  obtained  by  examining  the  causes  that produced  the  very  anomalous  state  of  society  in  which  they  lived and  acted.  Ireland  is  a  puzzle  and  perplexity  to  Englishmen and  English  statesmen,  chiefly  because  they  are  unacquainted with  its  history ;  or,  what  is  worse,  that  they  have  received  as  its history,  fictions  so  monstrous,  that  many  of  them  amount  to physical  impossibilities.  A  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  the English  connection  with  Ireland  is  therefore  necessary,  to  show how  it  happened  that,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  two  dis- tinct bodies  were  preparing  to  reject  allegiance  to  England,  what motives  led  them  to  unite,  and  how  their  formidable  union  was dissolved. The  four  first  centuries  after  Strongbow's  invasion  passed  away without  the  conquest  of  Ireland  being  completed :  the  wars  with France  and  Scotland,  the  insurrections  of  the  Barons,  and  the vol.  i.  2 2  THE    ENGLISH    PALE murderous  wars  of  the  Roses,  prevented  the  English  monarchs from  establishing  even  a  nominal  supremacy  over  the  entire island :  instead  of  the  Irish  princes  becoming  feudal  vassals,  the Anglo-Norman  barons  who  obtained  fiefs  in  Ireland,  adopted  the usages  of  the  native  chieftains.  The  attention  of  Henry  VII. was  forcibly  directed  to  this  state  of  things  by  the  adherence  of the  Anglo-Norman  barons  and  the  Irish  princes  with  whom  they had  formed  an  alliance  or  connection,  to  the  cause  of  the  Planta- genets.  They  supported  Lambert  Simnel  and  Perkin  Warbeck ; when  these  adventurers  were  defeated,  they  showed  the  greatest reluctance  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  Tudors ;  and  Henry  could not  but  feel  that  his  crown  was  insecure,  so  long  as  the  Irish lords  had  the  power  and  will  to  support  any  adventurer  who would  dispute  his  title.  From  that  time  forward  it  became  the fixed  policy  of  the  Tudors  to  break  down  the  overgrown  power of  the  Anglo-Irish  aristocracy,  and  to  destroy  the  independence of  the  native  chieftains.  In  England  the  Tudors  were  enabled to  create  a  new  nobility ;  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  was accompanied  by  the  elevation  of  several  new  families  to  the peerage,  and  the  struggle  between  the  Protestants  and  Catholics in  that  country,  was  for  a  considerable  time  identical  with  the contest  between  the  old  and  new  aristocracy.  In  Ireland  it  was impossible  to  adopt  the  same  course  of  policy :  there  was  not  a gentry  from  which  a  new  aristocracy  could  be  formed,  and  the Tudors  were  forced  to  supply  their  place  by  grants  of  land  to colonists  and  adventurers.  The  Irish  and  the  Anglo-Norman barons  looked  upon  these  men  as  intruders,  while  the  ruling powers  regarded  them  with  peculiar  favour,  as  being  the  persons most  likely  to  establish  and  promote  an  "  English  interest  in Ireland".  This  political  motive  must  not  be  confounded  with the  religious  movement  which  took  place  about  the  same  time ; it  was  as  much  the  object  of  Mary  as  it  was  of  Elizabeth,  to  give Irish  lands  to  English  settlers,  in  order  to  obtain  a  hold  over Ireland ;  it  was  under  Mary  that  the  lands  of  Leix  and  O'Fally were  forfeited,  and  the  lord-deputy  permitted  to  grant  leases  of them  at  such  rents  as  he  might  deem  expedient. In  the  midst  of  this  political  convulsion,  an  attempt  was  made to  bring  Ireland  to  adopt  the  principles  of  the  Reformation, which  had  been  just  established  in  England.  There  was  a  vast difference  between  the  situation  of  the  two  countries,  which deserves  to  be  more  attentively  considered  than  it  usually  has been.  It  was  on  a  papal  grant  that  the  English  monarchs,  from the  very  beginning,  had  rested  their  claims  to  the  allegiance  of Ireland,  and  there  was  consequently  something  like  an  abandon- ment  of  these    claims,    when   they   called   upon   the    Irish    to IN    IRELAND. renounce  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  But  not  only  had  the English  kings  described  the  Pope  as  the  source  of  their  power; they  had  for  centuries  made  it  a  principal  object  of  their  policy to  maintain  the  power  of  the  episcopacy  and  priesthood  in Ireland,  against  the  ambition  or  avarice  of  the  Anglo-Norman Barons.  They  had  themselves  armed  the  Church  with  power and  influence  greater  than  they  could  overthrow. After  the  long  night  of  the  Middle  Ages,  an  intellectual  revival had  filled  Christendom  with  discussions  which  weakened  the strength  of  ancient  institutions,  and  prepared  men's  minds  for  the reception  of  new  opinions.  Ireland  had  not  shared  in  the  gene- ral movement ;  whatever  may  have  been  the  condition  of  the island  before  the  English  invasion,  the  four  centuries  of  political chaos  and  constant  war  subsequent  to  that  event,  had  rendered  it one  of  the  most  distracted  countries  in  Christendom ;  there  had been  no  precursors  to  make  way  for  a  religious  change ;  the  Irish had  never  heard  of  Huss,  or  Wickliffe,  or  Luther,  or  Calvin. The  only  intelligible  reason  proposed  to  them  for  a  change  of creed,  was  the  royal  authority ;  and  they  were  already  engaged in  a  struggle  against  that  authority,  to  prevent  their  lands  being parcelled  out  to  strangers.  Add  to  this,  that  the  reformed  religion was  preached  by  foreigners,  ignorant  of  the  very  language  of  the country,  and  there  will  be  little  difficulty  in  perceiving  that  the attempt  under  such  circumstances  to  establish  Protestantism  in Ireland,  by  the  conversion  of  the  Irish,  was  utterly  impossible. In  fact,  the  project  of  converting  the  natives  was  soon  abandoned for  the  more  feasible  plan  of  colonizing  Ireland  with  Protestants from  England. The  calamitous  wars  of  Elizabeth's  reign  were  waged  by  the Irish,  and  by  the  descendants  of  the  Anglo-Normans  settled  in Ireland,  equally  in  defence  of  their  land  and  their  creed ;  when the  insurgents  prevailed,  they  expelled  the  Protestant  ministers and  seized  the  goods  of  the  English  settlers ;  when  the  royalists triumphed,  they  established  churches  and  confiscations.  After  ten years  of  almost  incessant  war,  an  expenditure  of  money  that drained  the  English  exchequer,  and  of  life  that  nearly  depopulated Ireland,  the  entire  island  was  subdued  by  the  arms  of  Elizabeth; but  the  animosity  of  the  hostile  parties  was  not  abated,  they  had merely  dropped  their  weapons  from  sheer  exhaustion.  Colonies had  been  planted  in  the  south  of  Ireland  on  the  estates  forfeited by  the  Earl  of  Desmond  and  his  adherents,  but  the  settlers  were nothing  more  than  garrisons  in  a  hostile  country ;  they  continued "  aliens  in  language,  religion,  and  blood"  to  the  people  by  whom they  were  surrounded.  Under  such  circumstances  it  was  not  to be  expected  that  many  of  the  higher  ranks  of  the  English  clergy 4  THE    PALE — ITS    POLICY. or  laity  would  seek  a  settlement  in  Ireland ;  most  of  those  who emigrated  were  more  or  less  attached  to  the  principles  of  Puri- tanism, which  Elizabeth  hated  at  least  as  much  as  she  did  Popery, and  this  circumstance  gave  the  Protestant  Church  in  Ireland  a stronger  tendency  to  Calvinistic  doctrine  and  discipline  than would  have  been  allowed  in  England.  Geneva  was  a  greater authority  with  the  Irish  Protestants  than  Lambeth,  as  any  one may  see  who  consults  the  canons  of  the  Irish  church ;  and  this unfortunately  widened  the  difference  between  them  and  the  na- tives of  the  country  they  came  to  colonize. A  new  difficulty  about  the  tenure  of  land  arose,  which  after- wards produced  very  fatal  consequences.  According  to  English law,  the  ultimate  property  of  all  estates  is  in  the  Crown,  and  land is  held  only  by  virtue  of  a  royal  grant:  according  to  the  Irish law,  the  property  of  land  was  vested  in  the  sept,  tribe,  or  commu- nity, who  were  co-partners  with  their  chief  rather  than  his  tenants or  vassals.  Whenever  a  change  was  made  from  Irish  to  English tenure,  an  obvious  injustice  was  done  to  the  inferior  occupants,  for they  were  reduced  from  the  rank  of  proprietors  to  that  of  tenants at  will.  This  principle  was  never  thoroughly  understood  by  the English  Lords  Justices,  and  hence  they  unintentionally  inflicted grievous  wrongs  when  they  tried  to  confer  upon  any  portion  of the  country  the  benefits  of  English  law.  In  fact,  the  change from  Irish  to  English  tenure  involved  a  complete  revolution  of landed  property,  which  would  have  required  the  most  delicate and  skilful  management  to  be  accomplished  safely ;  but  those  to whom  the  process  was  entrusted  were  utterly  destitute  of  any qualifications  for  such  a  task.  The  Commission  of  Grace  issued by  James  I.,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  titles  of  Irish  land, was  viewed  with  just  suspicion  by  the  great  and  the  small  j)ro- prietors,  and  its  results  were  an  uncertainty  of  tenure  and  posses- sion, which  kept  every  person  in  a  state  of  alarm. The  real  or  supposed  plot  of  Tyrone,  Tyrconnel,  and  O'Doherty, afforded  a  pretext  for  confiscating  the  six  northern  counties  over which  the  sovereignty  of  these  chieftains  extended  ;  but  what- ever was  the  amount  of  their  guilt,  it  is  obvious  that  they  could only  forfeit  that  which  they  themselves  possessed.  They  were not  the  proprietors  of  these  counties ;  the  actual  occupants  of  the soil  were  not  accused,  much  less  convicted,  of  any  participation in  the  plot ;  and  therefore  the  sweeping  seizure  of  half  a  million of  acres,  without  any  regard  to  the  rights  of  those  who  were  in actual  possession,  was  a  monstrous  injustice,  to  which  few  histories ean  furnish  a  parallel.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed,  that  this violent  and  odious  measure  was  quite  in  accordance  with  the spirit  of  the  age ;  confiscations  and  grants  of  land  had  become  a RAIDS    AND    PLANTATIONS. regular  part  of  the  public  administration  under  the  Tudors,  and was  continued  under  the  Stuarts  ;  the  old  Norman  aristocracy was  thus  broken  down,  and  means  provided  for  endowing  a  new nobility  ;  the  security  of  the  reformed  religion  was  insured, because  its  interests  were  identified  with  the  tenure  of  the  new estates.  The  Ulster  confiscation  differed  from  the  forfeitures  in England  and  the  South  of  Ireland,  chiefly  by  its  vast  extent ;  in order  that  the  grants  to  new  settlers  should  be  efficient,  it  was necessary  either  to  remove  or  exterminate  an  entire  population. Setting  aside  the  consideration  of  justice,  the  plans  which James  formed  for  the  Plantation  of  Ulster,  were  on  the  whole wise  and  prudent.  It  was  resolved  that  the  land  should  be divided  into  estates  of  moderate  size  ;  that  the  grantees  should within  a  limited  time  erect  batons,  that  is,  castles  with  fortified court-yards  ;  that  they  should  settle  a  number  of  English  or Scotch  tenants  on  the  lands;  that  they  should  reside  on  their estates,  and  never  alienate  any  portion  of  them  to  the  mere  Irish. Had  the  King  combined  with  this  scheme  a  plan  for  doing  justice to  the  native  occupants,  and  had  the  local  government  executed the  royal  instructions  as  they  were  originally  framed,  the  Planta- tion of  Ulster  might  have  produced  all  the  good  which  is  ascribed to  it,  without  the  attendant  evils  by  which  it  was,  at  least  for  a considerable  time,  more  than  overbalanced.  At  first  every  thing seemed  to  promise  a  favourable  result ;  the  City  of  London  took an  active  share  in  the  scheme,  and  built  on  its  grants  the  cities of  Coleraine  and  Londonderry ;  the  new  order  of  Baronets  was created,  and  the  sums  paid  by  those  who  purchased  this  new dignity,  were  destined  to  the  support  of  soldiers  for  the  defence of  the  new  Plantation. The  first  difficulty  which  presented  itself,  arose  from  James's resolution  to  give  a  proportion  of  the  forfeitures  to  his  Scottish countrymen  ;  a  determination  which  gave  great  offence  to  the English,  and  which  eventually  exercised  a  fatal  influence  over the  fortunes  of  the  Stuarts,  for  the  Scotch  who  settled  in  Ireland were  subsequently  the  staunchest  of  adherents  to  the  Covenant. A  more  fatal  error  was  the  choice  of  settlers :  surrounded  by  a set  of  hungry  favourites  and  mendicant  courtiers,  James  bestowed grants  of  lands  with  a  reckless  profusion  surpassing  that  of Henry  VIII.  at  the  suppression  of  monasteries.  Instead  of  a valuable  body  of  settlers,  he  created  a  hungry  horde  of  land- jobbers;  English  tenants  were  sparingly  introduced,  few  batons were  built ;  proprietors  remained  at  court  and  entrusted  the management  of  their  grants  to  agents,  and  the  fatal  system  of sub-letting  was  established  under  the  sanction  of  the  City  of London. JAMES    AND    CHARLES. It  is  not  necessary  in  the  present  day  to  dwell  upon  the  noto-  ij rious  profligacy,  corruption,  and  infamy  of  the  court  of  James  I.,  I or  to  show  that  no  iniquity  was  too  monstrous,  and  no  craft  too  I mean,  for  the  royal  idiot  when  he  sought  the  means  of  gratifying  I his  rapacious  favourites.     Irish  forfeitures   had  proved   a  most ; valuable   supply,  but  the  extravagance   with  which  they  were  ! given  away  soon  exhausted  the  stock,  and  it  became  necessary  ; to  seek  out  new  sources  of  plunder.     An  inquisition  into  titles, based  on  the  principle  of  English  law,  that  the  right  of  possession  ' to  estates  must  be  ultimately  derived  from  the  King,  was  the expedient  which  presented  itself;  but  as  English  law  had  not  '. been  introduced  into  the   whole   of  Ireland  until  the  close   of  I Elizabeth's  reign,  and   as  four   hundred  years   of  anarchy  had  ; produced    countless    usurpations    and   uncertainties,    there    was scarce   a  landed  proprietor  in  Ireland  whose   estates  were  not placed  at  the  mercy  of  the  crown.     A  new  host  of  harpies  was let  loose  on  the  devoted  country ;  the  lawyers  and  the  judges were  incited  to  use  every  device  of  legal  chicanery,  by  promises of  a  share  in  the  spoil ;  and  to  the  half  million  of  acres  confis- cated as  we  have  before  described,  another  half  million  was  added under  pretence  of  informality  in  the  title.     Even  this  amount  of forfeitures   was   insufficient  to  gratify   the   rapacity   which  the King's  lavish  distribution  had  excited,  but  in  the  midst  of  the proceedings  James  died,  and  the  task  of  completing  his  project devolved  upon  his  unhappy  successor. The  pecuniary  distresses  of  Charles  inspired  the  Irish  pro- prietors with  the  hope  of  obtaining  security ;  they  presented  to the  King  certain  regulations  for  confirming  the  titles  of  estates, and  establishing  an  indulgence  of  religion,  called  "  Graces",  and offered  the  King  a  very  large  subsidy  provided  he  would  permit them  to  become  the  law  of  the  land.  Charles  took  the  money, and  eluded  the  performance  of  his  promise.  He  had  adopted  his father's  principle  of  policy,  to  create  at  all  hazards  an  "  English interest  in  Ireland",  and  to  effect  this  by  pushing  the  principle of  forfeiture  to  an  extent  which  James  himself  had  not  contem- plated. Wentworth,  afterwards  Earl  of  Strafford,  was  the  Lord Deputy  chosen  to  execute  this  iniquitous  project,  and  he  com- menced his  proceedings  on  the  largest  possible  scale,  by  attempt- ing to  obtain  the  forfeiture  of  the  entire  province  of  Connaught, under  the  pretence  of  defective  titles.  One  jury  in  the  county of  Galway  had  the  courage  to  find  a  verdict  against  the  crown ; Wentworth  arrested  the  jurors,  brought  them  before  the  Court of  Star  Chamber  in  Dublin,  sentenced  each  to  a  fine  of  four thousand  pounds,  and  to  imprisonment  until  the  said  juror  had confessed  on  his  knees  that  he  was  guilty  of  wilful  and  corrupt THE    GRACES. perjury.     The  sheriff  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  Wentworth {pressed  hard  that  he  should  be  executed  as  a  warning  to  other 'functionaries,   adding,    "  My    arrows  are    cruel   that   wound   so j  mortally,  but  it  is  necessary  that  the  King  should  establish  his 'rights".     The  forfeiture  of  the  lands  of  Connaught,  and  perhaps 'of  all   Ireland,   would  have   been    completed,  had  not  the  in- ,  creasing  troubles  in  England  and  the  open  revolt  of  Scotland i  induced  Charles  to  recal  his  Deputy  to  scenes  of  more  imme- '  diate  interest  and  importance.     It  became  the  King's  interest  to j  conciliate  his  Irish  subjects,  and  the  Graces  became  the  law  of .  the  land. The  Graces,  it  is  true,  were  passed,  but  the  King  was  no  longer '  a  sovereign;  his  power  had  been  transferred  to  the  Puritan  Par- liament of  England  and  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland;  both  of these  bodies  formally  declared  that  they  would  not  consent  to  the toleration  of  Popery  in  Ireland,  which  was  in  fact  to  proclaim  a war  of  extermination  against  the  Irish  Catholics.  A  conspiracy was  organized  against  the  supremacy  of  the  British  Parliament ; the  main  object  of  those  who  joined  in  it  being  to  obtain  for Catholicism  in  Ireland  the  same  freedom  which  the  swords  of  the Covenanters  had  won  for  Presbyterianism  in  Scotland.  An  asso- ciate revealed  the  plot  to  the  Puritan  Lords  Justices  at  the  moment it  was  about  to  explode,  and  Dublin  was  saved  from  the  insurgents. But  the  first  signal  of  revolt  spread  desolation  over  the  northern counties ;  the  native  Irish,  who  had  been  driven  from  their  lands at  the  time  of  the  Great  Plantation,  rose  upon  the  settlers,  and  in spite  of  the  exertions  of  their  more  merciful  leaders,  drove  them from  their  settlements,  and  when  they  encountered  any  resistance, slaughtered  them  without  mercy.  This  massacre  has  been  ab- surdly exaggerated,  and  prejudice  has  often  induced  writers  to involve  all  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  in  its  guilt;  but  in  truth  it  was confined  to  the  northern'  counties,  and  was  directed  exclusively against  the  English  settlers  on  the  confiscated  lands.  The  Scotch Presbyterians  were  not  only  spared,  but  were  allowed  to  retain possession  of  their  property  until  they  took  up  arms  to  support  the cause  of  the  English  Puritans ;  in  fact,  the  Ulster  revolt  was  rather a  Jacquerie  than  a  rebellion,  and  it  was  of  course  accompanied  by all  the  outrages  and  cruelties  which  might  be  expected  from  an infuriated  and  starving  peasantry,  brutalized  by  long  oppression and  goaded  by  ostentatious  insult.  About  twelve  thousand  per- sons were  probably  murdered  in  the  first  outbreak  of  popular rage  before  the  Catholic  lords  and  gentry  could  interfere  and  give the  insurrection  the  dignity  of  a  civil  war.  A  sanguinary  pro- clamation, issued  by  the  Lords  Justices,  and  a  formal  vote  of  the British  Parliament  that  Popery  should  be  exterminated  in  Ireland, 8  CROMWELL. rendered  the  civil  war  inevitable,  and  rendered   it  impossible  for any  person  to  devise  a  means  of  compromise  and  conciliation. This  dreadful  war,  in  which  both  sides  manifested  an  equal  de- gree  of  exterminating  fury,  is  one  of  the  most  perplexing  recorded in  the  annals  of  any  country,  from  the  great  variety  of  the  parties  : engaged,  and  from  their  rancorous  hostility  towards  each  other. The  English  were  divided  into  the  friends  of  the  Parliament  and the  friends  of  the  King ;  the  latter  again  were  subdivided  into  a party  disposed  to  grant  reasonable  terms  to  the  Catholic  lords, and  a  party  which  agreed  with  the  Puritans  that  Popery  should not  be  tolerated;  all  were,  however,  united  in  a  desire  that  ad- vantage should  be  taken  of  the  commotions  to  reap  a  new  harvest of  confiscations  and  grants.  On  the  other  side  were  the  lords  of the  Pale,  Catholics,  indeed,  by  religion,  but  English  by  descent, inclination,  and  prejudice,  zealous  Royalists,  and  the  more  so,  as the  King's  enemies  upbraided  him  with  a  secret  inclination  in favour  of  Popery ;  the  Irish  of  the  north,  whose  chief  anxiety  was to  recover  their  ancient  lands,  and  expel  the  intrusive  settlers ;  the men  of  Connaught  and  Leinster,  whose  great  objects  were  to  at- tain security  for  their  property  and  toleration  for  their  religion ; a  large  body,  chiefly  among  the  southern  Irish,  aiming  at  esta- blishing the  independence  of  their  country  under  a  Catholic Sovereign  appointed  by  the  Pope ;  there  were  other  divisions  of party,  each  obstinately  bent  on  its  own  object,  without  any  regard for  the  general  interest  of  the  country,  or  any  very  fixed  principle of  action.  Had  it  been  possible  for  the  Catholic  Royalists  to  trust the  Protestant  friends  of  the  King,  and  the  native  Irish  to  coa- lesce with  the  Lords  of  the  Pale,  Ireland  would  have  been  tran- quillized and  secured  for  the  King  in  a  week,  for  the  Puritans were  a  miserable  minority ;  but  during  the  whole  duration  of  the civil  war  in  England,  the  several  divisions  of  the  royal  party  in Ireland  spent  their  time  in  despicable  squabbles,  which  served  no purpose  but  to  increase  their  mutual  animosities. In  the  midst  of  the  almost  incredible  blunders  and  follies  of  the Royalists  and  the  Irish,  Cromwell  landed,  and  by  the  massacres  of Drogheda  and  Wexford,  diffused  terror  over  the  land.  But  even these  fearful  warnings  failed  to  produce  an  union  of  parties ;  the friends  of  the  Papal  Nuncio  thwarted  the  plans  of  the  King's  lieu- tenant ;  the  Protestant  Royalists  openly  expressed  dislike  of  their allies ;  the  native  Irish  could  not  be  brought  to  coalesce  with  men of  English  descent.  Whichever  party  prevailed  in  the  council, the  minority  took  vengeance  for  defeat  by  betraying  the  common cause  to  the  common  enemy ;  and  it  seemed  as  if  Cromwell  had only  to  look  on  tranquilly  until  his  adversaries  had  torn  each other  to  pieces.     But  he  was  too  hurried  to  wait ;  he  marched  on- MASSACRES    AND    CONFISCATIONS.  9 ward,  marking  his  track  by  fire  and  desolation.  Some  places, particularly  Clonmel,  made  a  resistance  which  would  have  afforded an  opportunity  for  changing  the  whole  course  of  the  war,  but  the Commissioners  of  Trust,  appointed  by  the  council  of  confederate parties,  countermanded  the  orders  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  and he  thwarted  every  one  of  their  projects;  the  garrisons  were  aban- doned to  their  fate,  and  a  handful  of  Puritans  became  masters  of Ireland.  The  confederates  had  nothing  more  to  do  than  to  dispute which  party  had  the  greatest  share  in  producing  such  a  calamity. Cromwell's  system  of  confiscation  was  on  a  still  more  magnifi- cent scale  than  that  of  the  Stuarts ;  he  shared  the  lands  of  Leinster and  Minister  amongst  his  soldiers,  and  amongst  the  private  indi- viduals or  public  companies  that  had  advanced  money  to  defray the  expenses  of  the  war;  he  restored  James's  Plantation  in  the northern  country,  and  extended  it  so  as  to  include  nearly  the whole  of  Ulster.  Finding  it  difficult  to  realize  his  first  plan  for the  total  extirpation  of  the  Irish  nation,  he  resolved  to  confine  the Irish  Catholics  to  the  more  remote  of  the  Four  Provinces  into which  the  island  is  divided,  and  he  issued  the  order  of  removal with  Spartan  brevity,  "  To  Hell  or  Connaught".  In  Connaught itself,  he  ordered  the  Catholics  to  be  expelled  from  all  the  walled towns,  though  they  were  of  English  descent,  and  scarcely  less jealous  than  himself  of  the  native  Irish.  The  strictest  orders  were issued  for  the  suppression  of  Popery,  and  priests  found  in  the  ex- ercise of  their  religious  duties  were  hanged  without  ceremony. The  soldiers  who  accompanied  Cromwell  to  Ireland  were  the fiercest  of  the  Republicans  and  the  most  bigoted  of  the  Puritans ; they  had  been  selected  on  this  very  account,  because  they  were the  most  likely  to  resist  the  usurpation  which  Cromwell  medi- tated in  England.  But  the  possession  of  property  has  a  very soothing  influence  on  political  and  religious  fury ;  the  Cromwel- lians,  as  the  new  settlers  in  Ireland  were  generally  called,  ac- quiesced in  their  general's  assumption  of  royal  power,  and  would not  have  opposed  his  taking  the  title  of  king.  They  soon  fore- saw that  the  death  of  Oliver  would  lead  to  the  restoration  of Charles  II.,  and  they  made  their  bargain  with  Charles  II.  before Monk  commenced  his  march  from  Scotland.  They  represented to  him  that  the  great  object  of  the  policy,  both  of  the  Tudors and  Stuarts,  was  accomplished  to  his  hand — "  an  English  interest was  established  in  Ireland",  and  the  future  dependence  of  the island  on  the  British  crown  was  insured.  Charles  was  a  Catho- lic in  his  heart,  but  he  readily  consented  to  become  the  patron  of "  the  Protestant  interest"  in  Ireland,  because  that  interest  was wholly  English. There  was,  however,  such  monstrous  injustice  in  confirming ! 10  COURT    OF    CLAIMS. the  forfeitures  of  persons  whose  only  crime  was  loyalty  to  his father  and  himself,  that  Charles  found  it  necessary  to  establish  a Court  of  Claims,  in  which  those  who  had  only  taken  up  arms  to support  the  King's  cause  might  be  permitted  to  prove  that  they had  not  shared  in  the  insurrection  against  the  supremacy  of England.  So  many  established  their  innocence,  that  their  resto- ration would  have  involved  a  new  and  almost  a  complete  revolu- tion in  the  landed  property  of  Ireland.  The  Cromwellians  were alarmed,  and  threatened  an  appeal  to  arms ;  their  wiser  leaders offered  Charles  a  share  in  the  confiscations ;  the  Court  of  Claims was  closed ;  a  Parliament  was  assembled  from  which  the  Catho- lics were  excluded ;  the  Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation  were passed,  and  were  called,  not  without  good  reason,  "  The  Magna Charta  of  the  Protestants  of  Ireland",  for  they  bestowed  the property  of  nearly  the  entire  country  on  "  the  Protestant  and English  interest". No  greater  misfortune  could  fall  upon  any  nation  than  to  be delivered  into  the  hands  of  a  body  of  proprietors  who  felt  that their  title  was  defective,  and  that  the  tenure  of  their  estates  was constantly  exposed  to  the  hazards  of  revolution.  They  believed, and  they  believed  justly,  that  if  ever  the  Catholics  and  native Irish  recovered  political  ascendency,  they  would  immediately demand  the  restoration  of  the  forfeited  estates ;  they  lived  there- fore in  a  state  of  continual  alarm  and  excitement,  and  they  were forced  to  place  themselves  completely  under  the  control  of  Eng- land, in  order  to  have  British  aid  in  protecting  the  property which  they  had  acquired.  But  this  servile  dependence  on  the British  Government  and  British  Parliament  was  a  painful  bondage to  men  who  had  not  quite  forgotten  the  stern  republicanism  of their  ancestors ;  and,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  they  evinced symptoms  of  parliamentary  independence,  which  not  a  little annoyed  their  British  protectors.  But  these  struggles  were  rare ; they  felt  that  they  were  a  garrison  in  a  conquered  country,  and that  if  they  were  abandoned  to  their  own  resources  they  would soon  be  compelled  to  capitulate. The  accession  of  James  II.  was  not  at  first  very  alarming  to the  Cromwellians;  they  knew  that  this  imbecile  and  obstinate man  was  blindly  attached  to  his  hereditary  policy  of  maintaining an  "  English  interest  in  Ireland",  and  they  had  proof  of  his determination  when  the  Irish  gentlemen  deputed  to  remonstrate on  the  injustice  of  the  Act  of  Settlement,  were  dismissed  with ignominy  by  the  King  and  Council. The  Revolution  was  an  event  wholly  unexpected  in  Ireland ; it  took  both  parties  by  surprise,  filling  the  Protestants  with  alarm, but  inspiring  the  Catholics  with  little  hope.     At  this  time  the JAMES    II.  11 |  destinies  of  Ireland  were  entrusted  to  the  Earl  of  Tyrconnel,  who i  had  undertaken  the  hopeless  task  of  preserving  the  English  inte- |  rest  and  at  the  same  time  destroying  the  Protestant  ascendency. '  His  first  impulse  was  to  capitulate  with  the  Prince  of  Orange, who  was  very  willing  to  give  Ireland  most  favourable  terms  ; unfortunately,  he  was  persuaded  by  Hamilton  that  James's  party had  every  chance  of  recovering  England,  and  he  broke  off  the negociations.  James  came  to  Ireland,  distrusting  his  Irish  sub- jects and  distrusted  by  them.  One  of  his  earliest  measures  was to  disband  several  regiments  of  the  Irish  army,  which  was  actually done  at  the  very  moment  when  he  was  preparing  to  resist  an invasion  from  England.  He  might  with  ease  have  quelled  the northern  Protestants  in  Derry  and  Enniskillen,  but  he  feared  that the  unpopularity  of  such  an  act  would  destroy  his  chances  of restoration  in  England ;  for  the  same  reason,  he  did  all  in  his power  to  prevent  the  Irish  from  gaining  the  victory  at  the  Boyne, and  he  secretly  exerted  every  art  in  his  power  to  defeat  the repeal  of  the  Act  of  Settlement. The  dread  of  the  Cromwellians  that  they  would  be  compelled to  restore  the  forfeited  estates  to  the  original  owners,  or  their representatives,  whenever  the  Catholics  regained  the  ascendency, was  now  proved  to  be  well  founded.  An  act  for  the  repeal  of the  Act  of  Settlement  was  hurried  through  both  Houses,  and  had this  cruel  injustice,  that  no  provision  was  made  to  remunerate  the Protestant  occupants  for  the  improvements  and  outlay  they  had made.  This  was  accompanied  by  an  act  of  attainder  against  the partisans  of  William,  which  was  scarcely  less  iniquitous  than  any of  the  preceding  confiscations.  It  had  the  effect  of  uniting  all the  Protestants  of  Ireland  against  James,  and  though  they  were not  a  numerous  body,  they  were  trained  to  the  use  of  arms  and full  of  all  the  vigour  arising  from  continued  ascendency. The  flight  of  James,  the  battle  of  Aughrim,  and  the  siege  of Limerick,  are  sufficiently  known.  Ireland  was  finally  subjected to  English  dominion  by  the  Treaty  of  Limerick,  and  the  title  of the  Cromwellians  to  their  estates  formally  recognized  by  the  Irish themselves.  A  fresh  act  of  attainder  took  away  most  of  the  land which  had  been  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Catholics  by  the  act  of attainder,  and  the  "  English  interest  in  Ireland"  virtually possessed  nine-tenths  of  the  property  of  the  country. The  Anglo-Irish,  or  Cromwellian  landlords,  had  been  tho- roughly frightened;  there  were  moments  in  the  contest  when William's  success  had  been  very  problematical,  and  at  such  times they  must  have  felt  that  they  stood  on  the  brink  of  ruin.  They resolved,  therefore,  to  adopt  a  course  which  would  prevent  the Catholics  from  attaining  such  power,  political,  pecuniary,  or  in- 12  PENAL    LAWS. tcllcctual,  as  would  ever  enable  them  to  renew  the  consequences. The  system  which  they  adopted  was  a  collection  of  Penal  Laws : "  it  was",  says  Edmund  Burke,  "  a  machine  of  wise  and  elaborate contrivance,  as  well  fitted  for  the  oppression,  impoverishment, and  degradation  of  a  people,  and  the  debasement,  in  them,  of human  nature  itself,  as  ever  proceeded  from  the  perverted  inge- nuity of  man".  These  laws,  in  which  fanaticism  and  intolerance seem  to  have  been  carried  to  their  most  savage  excess,  were  not in  fact  derived  from  either  passion.  They  were  designed  for  the protection  of  property  which  had  been  unjustly  acquired,  the tenure  of  which  was  derived  from  an  act  of  parliament  passed  by the  possessors  themselves,  and  which  was  therefore  liable  to  be repealed  when  they  ceased  to  command  a  majority  in  the  legisla- ture. The  code,  with  terrible  consistency,  began  its  severities with  infancy ; — Catholic  children  could  only  be  educated  by  Pro- testant teachers  at  home,  and  it  was  highly  penal  to  send  them abroad;  Catholics  were  excluded  from  every  profession  except the  medical,  from  all  official  stations,  however  trifling ;  from  trade and  commerce  in  corporate  towns;  from  taking  long  leases  of land ;  from  purchasing  land  for  a  longer  tenure  than  thirty-one years ;  from  inheriting  the  lands  of  Protestant  relatives,  and  from possessing  horses  of  greater  value  than  five  pounds.  On  the  other hand  appropriate  rewards  were  offered  for  conversion ;  a  child turning  Protestant  could  sue  his  parent  for  sufficient  maintenance, the  amount  of  which  was  determined  by  the  Court  of  Chancery ; an  eldest  son  conforming  to  the  Established  Church  at  once  reduced his  father  to  the  condition  of  a  "  tenant  for  life",  reversion  in  fee being  secured  to  the  convert,  with  a  proviso  that  the  amount  allo- cated for  the  maintenance  and  portions  of  the  other  children should  not  exceed  one-third.  There  were  rigorous  laws  against priests  and  the  celebration  of  mass,  while  a  small  annual  stipend was  proffered  to  any  priest  who  recanted. We  have  said  that  these  laws  were  dictated  by  self-interest  and not  by  religious  passion ;  the  proof  is  easy  and  irrefutable.  It is  notorious  that  the  laws  prohibiting  Catholic  worship  were  exe- cuted far  less  strictly  than  those  which  excluded  from  public offices,  civil  professions,  and  lucrative  industry ;  the  latter  were never  relaxed  until  they  were  totally  repealed,  and  even  after their  repeal  it  was  attempted  to  defeat  the  efficacy  of  the  conces- sions made  to  the  Catholics  by  various  legislative  devices.  Fana- ticism, like  every  other  passion  which  is  real,  has  something respectable  in  its  character ;  but  spoliation  and  nothing  else  was the  object  of  the  Penal  Laws ;  they  were  designed  solely  to  main- tain the  monopoly  of  wealth  and  influence  for  a  party.  The sacred  name  of  religion  was  a  convenient  cry  to  secure  the  pre- THE    PROTESTANT    INTEREST.  13 juclices  of  the  English  people  in  support  of  a  system,  the  support of  which  would  scarcely  have  been  afforded  if  it  had  been  known that  the  true  meaning  of  the  cabalistic  phrase  "  Protestant Interest",  was  "  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence". The  original  Cromwellians  were  Republicans  and  Puritans ;  they abandoned  a  large  portion  of  their  political  feelings,  but  they retained  much  of  their  ancient  hostility  to  Prelacy,  and  would very  gladly  have  got  rid  of  the  Established  Church.  Swift's works  sufficiently  prove  that  the  Irish  Whigs  of  his  day  were eager  to  get  rid  of  the  bishops  and  to  establish  the  Presbyterian form  of  Church  government.  Though  the  sacramental  test  ex- cluded conscientious  Dissenters  from  the  House  of  Commons, there  were  many  who  conquered  their  scruples  to  the  form,  and sat  in  Parliament  ready  to  embrace  every  opportunity  of  weaken- ing the  episcopal  establishment.  They  gave  a  remarkable  proof of  their  feelings,  and  a  very  edifying  example  of  their  logic,  by unanimously  voting  that  "  whoever  levied  tithe  of  agistment  was an  enemy  to  the  Protestant  interest"  !  It  was  an  improvement  on Lord  Clarendon's  witty  proposal,  "  that  the  importation  of  Irish cattle  into  England  should  be  deemed  adultery".  It  was  this  dis- like of  prelacy  which  made  the  great  body  of  the  Irish  Protestants hostile  to  a  union  with  England.  When  such  a  measure  was proposed  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  a  Protestant  mob broke  into  the  Irish  House  of  Lords,  placed  an  old  woman  on  the throne,  got  up  a  mock  debate  on  the  introduction  of  pipes  and tobacco,  and  compelled  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  to  swear  the Attorney-General  that  he  would  oppose  the  measure.  The  hosti- lity of  these  men  to  the  supremacy  of  the  English  Church  ren- dered them  jealous  of  the  supremacy  claimed  by  the  English  Par- liament, and  of  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  their  trade  by  the English  people.  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  pamphlets  published by  the  party  just  before  the  accession  of  George  III.,  without perceiving  that  their  aspirations  for  legislative  and  trading  inde- pendence, logically  carried  out,  would  have  gone  to  the  full length  of  making  Ireland  a  Protestant  republic.  Dread  of  the Irish  Catholics,  however,  kept  them  quiet,  and  it  might  almost be  said  that  the  Catholics  at  the  time  were  really  the  "  English interest  in  Ireland". There  was  a  marked  difference  between  the  Protestants  of  the north  and  those  in  the  rest  of  the  country.  The  Plantation  of Ulster  had  been  completed,  the  Protestants  there  were  able  of themselves  to  protect  their  lives  and  properties,  and  they  were conscious  of  their  own  strength.  In  the  rest  of  Ireland,  the  Pro- testants, thinly  scattered  over  a  wide  surface,  were  obliged  to  rest their  hopes  of  defence  on  the  British  Government,  and  were  there- 14  PROTESTANT    ASCENDENCY. fore  led  to  cling  to  the  Established  Church  as  a  bond  of  connec-  j tion  with  England,  and  to  make  concessions  which  were  odious to  the  sturdy  northerns.  This  difference  between  the  Episcopa- lians and  the  Presbyterians,  which  was  at  once  geographical,  re- ligious, and  political,  fostered  the  development  of  republican principles  among  the  latter;  "  the  spawn  of  the  Old  Covenant", of  which  the  governing  powers  frequently  complained,  was  not, as  some  have  represented,  an  unmeaning  danger ;  up  to  the  close of  the  last  century,  it  was  an  actual  and  increasing  element  of  or- ganized resistance  to  the  existing  system  of  government.  Many now  alive  can  remember  to  have  heard  from  their  fathers  that  the custom  of  eating  a  calf's  head  on  the  20th  of  January  was  observed in  most  Presbyterian  families,  and  the  favourite  toast,  "  The  pious, glorious,  and  immortal  memory  of  William  III."  was  clearly  as strong  a  pledge  to  revolutionary  principles  as  to  religious  supre- macy. It  was  for  this  reason  that  Lord  Plunket  called  the  insur- rection of  1798  "  a  Protestant  rebellion",  because,  so  far  as  the  re- volt had  aim  or  object,  it  derived  both  from  the  Protestants  by whom  it  was  originally  devised. It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  the  nature  of  the  republican party  which  had  been  formed  in  Ireland  previous  to  the  American and  French  revolutions,  in  order  to  understand  how  it  was  in- fluenced by  both  events.  The  party  was  exclusively  Protestant, and  more  bitterly  hostile  to  Popery  than  the  adherents  of  epis- copacy and  monarchy;  its  views,  at  least  its  ultimate  views,  were speculative  rather  than  practical,  for  it  stood  opposed,  at  the  same time,  to  the  population  of  Ireland  .and  the  power  of  England ;  its efforts  for  legislative  and  commercial  independence  were  illogical, for  they  were  made  to  assert  rights  abroad,  which  rights  the  as- serters  ostentatiously  denied  at  home. "  The  south  of  Ireland",  says  a  writer  of  the  last  century, "  offers  an  almost  unvarying  picture  of  Protestant  oppression  and Popish  insurgency";  and  in  his  view,  as  well  as  in  the  view  of many  others,  the  oppression  was  excusable  because  it  was  "  Pro- testant", and  the  insurgency  criminal  because  it  was  "  Popish". The  truth  is,  that  the  Whiteboy  disturbances  to  which  he  refers had  no  more  connection  with  religious  controversy  than  with  the disputes  between  the  Scotists  and  Thomists.  Whiteboyism  was an  association  against  high  rents  and  tithes,  a  barbarous  Jacquerie; and  its  causes  were  obvious  to  all  who  were  not  wilfully  blind ;  in the  words  of  Lord  Charlemont,  they  were  "  misery  !  oppression  ! famine  !"  It  was  a  war  of  the  peasantry  against  the  proprietors and  occupiers  of  the  land,  undertaken,  and  still  occasionally  re- vived, to  wring  from  them  the  means  of  subsistence.  The  bar- barities inflicted  by  these  rural  revolters,  were  such  as  have  ever OPPRESSION    OF    CATHOLICS.  15 marked  the  career  of  similar  insurrections  in  various  ages  and  na- tions ;  the  landlords  employed  executioners,  and  the  serfs  hired assassins ;  the  gallows  and  the  pike  were  military  implements ;  the legal  rights  and  power  of  property  were  set  in  opposition  to  the natural  rights  and  physical  power  of  existence.  In  all  these  con- tests the  might  of  England  enabled  the  landlords  of  the  south  to obtain  temporary  triumph,  but  they  purchased  it  at  an  enormous cost,  and  every  new  pressure  of  distress  produced  a  fresh  explosion of  resistance.  There  was  no  connection  whatever  between  the republican  spirit  of  the  north  and  the  insurrectionary  spirit  of  the south :  the  Whiteboys  contended  for  no  specific  form  of  govern- ment ;  they  contended  for  a  more  substantial  and  intelligible  ob- ject— food.  If  they  were  permitted  to  cultivate  their  lands  and live  peacefully  on  the  fruits  of  their  industry,  they  would  not  have cared,  indeed  they  would  scarcely  have  known,  whether  they  were governed  by  a  king  or  by  a  directory. The  disturbances  in  the  American  colonies  threatening  to  make large  demands  on  the  resources  of  England,  it  was  deemed  prudent to  conciliate  the  Irish  Catholics  by  some  relaxation  of  the  Penal Laws.  Such  wisdom  had  its  reward :  during  the  whole  of  that arduous  contest  the  Catholic  body  remained  faithful  to  the  English Government,  and  evinced  little  or  no  sympathy  for  the  revolted colonies.  It  was  far  different  with  the  northern  Presbyterians ; on  the  alarm  of  an  invasion  Ireland  was  destihite  of  troops ;  the Volunteers  suddenly  sprung  into  existence,  and  took  the  defence of  the  country  into  their  own  hands.  Self-officered,  self-armed, and  self-directed,  an  armed  association  stood  in  the  presence  of  a feeble  government,  dictated  what  terms  it  pleased,  and  established at  once  the  legislative  and  commercial  independence  of  their country.  The  Catholics  had  contributed  a  little  to  this  successful result,  and  they  were  rewarded  by  an  abolition  of  the  laws  which restricted  their  possession  of  property. The  Volunteers  next  demanded  a  reform  of  parliament,  which was  an  utter  absurdity  when  disconnected  from  Catholic  emanci- pation, while  to  this  they  were  most  vehemently  opposed.  The two  questions  were  so  intimately  connected  that  they  could  not be  dissevered,  for  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  "a  full,  fair,  and free  representation  of  the  people",  when  three-fourths  of  the nation  were  excluded  from  the  class  of  electors  and  representa- tives. The  Volunteers  could  not  combine  reform  and  Protestant ascendency,  but  yet  would  abandon  neither;  as  a  necessary  result their  powerful  confederacy  was  broken  to  pieces. Ireland  had  hitherto  been  ruled  by  the  sxipremacy  of  the English  parliament ;  it  was  now  to  be  governed  by  the  corruption of  its  own.     The  experiment  was  very  expensive,  but  it  so  far 16  AGRARIAN    FEUDS. succeeded  that  the  annals  of  the  world  could  not  furnish  a  more servile,  mercenary,  and  degraded  legislative  body  than  the  inde- pendent parliament  of  Ireland.  Votes  were  openly  bought  and sold;  "infamous  pensions  were  bestowed  on  infamous  men";  the minister  in  direct  terms  threatened  the  country  with  the  cost  of "  breaking  down  an  opposition";  and  the  legislature  was  viewed with  contempt  wherever  it  was  not  regarded  with  hatred.  Par- liamentary reform  began  again  to  excite  attention ;  it  was  sup- ported by  a  very  able  though  not  numerous  body  in  the  legislature, and  in  the  interval  between  1782  and  1789,  it  made  a  very  rapid progress  among  the  Protestant  gentry  and  freeholders.  Already measures  had  been  proposed  for  organizing  a  new  association  to  ex- tend the  franchise,  when  the  French  Revolution,  which  astounded all  Europe,  produced  its  most  powerful  effects  on  the  miseries and  passions  of  Ireland. Previous  to  the  year  1789,  the  idea  of  slavery  was  associated or  rather  identified  with  the  names  of  Catholics  and  Frenchmen ; the  Revolution  was  toasted  because  it  had  delivered  the  country from  "popery,  slavery,  brass  money,  and  wooden  shoes";  and  it was  part  of  the  British  popular  creed  "  to  hate  the  French,  be- cause they  are  all  slaves  and  wear  wooden  shoes";  the  assertion of  freedom  by  Catholics  and  Frenchmen  at  once  put  to  flight  a whole  host  of  honest  prejudices,  and  removed  the  objections which  many  of  the  northern  reformers  entertained  against  the admission  of  Catholics  within  the  pale  of  the  constitution.  The determined  supporters  of  the  Protestant  ascendency  were  there- fore finally  separated  from  the  ranks  of  the  reformers,  and  the latter  professed  their  determination  to  extend  the  blessings  of constitutional  freedom  "  to  all  classes  of  men  whatever". It  is  now  necessary  to  cast  a  glance  at  the  social  changes  in the  south,  which  were  nearly  cotemporaneous  with  the  alteration in  the  state  of  the  political  parties  of  the  north.  We  have  already seen  that  every  civil  war,  rebellion,  insurrection,  and  disturbance in  Ireland,  from  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  downwards,  had  arisen, more  or  less  directly,  from  questions  connected  with  the  possession of  land.  The  abolition  of  the  tithe  of  agistment  rendered  pas- turage so  much  more  profitable  than  tillage,  that  the  landlords throughout  Ireland  began  to  consolidate  their  farms  and  expel their  tenantry,  most  of  whom  were  Protestants,  for  few  of  the Catholics  had  risen  above  the  rank  of  agricultural  labourers. Goldsmith's  Deserted  Village,  which  was  written  about  the  time that  the  clearing  system  commenced,  is  by  no  means  an  exagge- rated picture  of  the  recklessness  with  which  landlords  removed whole  villages  of  Protestants,  the  descendants  of  those  who  had been  induced  to  settle  in  Ireland  by  the    exclusive    privileges PEEP-OF-DAY  BOYS.  17 conceded  to  them  by  the  policy  of  the  government.  Vast numbers  of  Protestant  tenants  emigrated  from  Ireland,  and chiefly  from  Ulster,  to  America,  just  before  the  commencement of  the  revolutionary  war;  they  supplied  the  United  States  with a  body  of  brave,  determined  soldiers,  animated  by  the  bitterness of  exiles,  and  a  thorough  detestation  of  the  supremacy  of  Eng- land. Their  place  was  chiefly  supplied  by  Catholics,  who appeared  ready  to  work  as  labourers  for  lower  wages,  and  to  pay higher  rents  as  tenants.  The  Protestants  of  Ulster  felt  themselves 'injured  by  these  new  competitors  in  the  labour  and  land  market, 'and  they  resolved  to  drive  the  Catholics  back  to  Connaught. Armed  bodies,  under  the  name  of  "  Peep-of-day  Boys",  attacked the  houses  of  the  Catholics,  ill-treated  their  persons,  burned  their houses,  and  wrecked  their  property.  On  the  other  hand,  the Catholics  formed  an  association  for  self-protection,  under  the name  of  "  Defenders",  and  the  two  parties  engaged  in  a  desultory and  murderous  warfare,  in  which  it  is  obvious  that  the  name  of religion  was  a  mere  pretext,  by  which  the  parties  disguised  their real  objects  from  others  and  even  from  themselves.  This  social war  excited  a  rancorous  animosity  between  the  lower  ranks  of Protestants  and  Catholics,  and  stimulated  their  mutual  bigotry, at  the  moment  when  liberality  of  sentiment  was  beginning  to become  fashionable  among  the  higher  and  better  educated  ranks of  both  communities. A  further  relaxation  of  the  Penal  Laws  aggravated  these  evils ; so  calamitous  had  been  the  results  of  the  perverse  system  so  long pursued,  that  even  the  beneficence  of  government  could  not  be displayed  without  injury.  The  trafficking  in  seats  for  parliament was  so  profitable,  that  every  landholder  became  anxious  to  in- crease his  interest  in  the  counties  by  the  manufacture  of  votes ; but  as  the  elective  franchise  was  restricted  to  Protestants,  who were  limited  in  numbers,  the  demand  for  Protestant  tenants  was greater  than  the  supply,  and  of  course  they  were  able  to  make their  own  terms  in  taking  land.  But,  in  1794,  the  elective franchise  was  conceded  to  the  Catholics,  without  admissibility  to parliament ;  there  was  no  longer  a  reason  for  showing  a  preference to  Protestant  tenantry,  and  the  question  of  religion  was  absorbed in  that  of  rent.  The  Protestants  of  the  middle  and  lower  ranks throughout  Ireland,  felt  that  this  new  competition  wTas  a  direct injury  to  their  interests,  and  most  of  them  vented  their  rage  in renewed  hatred  of  the  Catholics,  while  an  enlightened  few  more justly  blamed  the  selfishness  of  their  own  landed  aristocracy. The  republicans  and  the  reformers  had  been  united  under  the common  name  of  Volunteers,  without  very  distinctly  perceiving that  there  was  any  difference  in  their  designs  and  objects,  until vol.  i.  3 18  PENAL  LAW  RESULTS. ! the  progress  of  the   French  Revolution  began  to  fill  the  Irish  j whigs  with  alarm  ;  they  seceded  from  the  Volunteers ;  many  of them  began  to  oppose  the  projects  of  reform  which  they  had  pre-  ; viously  advocated,  and  once  more  the  party  to  which  the  country  i had  looked  for  redress  of  legislative  grievances  was  broken  into hostile  fragments. The  republican  party  in  Ulster  felt  that  it  must  either  be  an-  I nihilated,  or  that  it  should  lay  aside  the  spirit  of  sect  and  the  i pride  of  race  to  form  a  frank  conciliation  with  the  Catholics  of the  south,  on  equal  terms,  for  obtaining  equal  rights.     The  rem-  i nant  of  the   once  powerful  Volunteers  was  a  feeble,  inefficient body ;  it  could  only  regain  numerical  strength  by  transforming itself  into  the  new  association  of  United  Irishmen. Theobald  Wolfe  Tone  was  the  most  active  agent  in  effecting  ; this  apparent  union ;  apparent,  we  say,  for  Tone's  own  memoirs show  that  at  no  time  was  there  a  perfect  harmony  between  the Presbyterians  of  the  north  and  the  Catholics  of  the  south ;  even had  they  united  in  a  successful  rebellion,  the  exasperating  pas- sions called  into  action  by  civil  war  would  have  prevented  them from  uniting  in  forming  a  settled  government. This  was  the  capital  error  of  the  United  Irishmen ;  they  did not  see  that  no  principle  of  union  really  existed.  The  peasantry of  Minister  and  Connaught  cared  not  a  jot  for  their  plans  of  an ideal  republic;  they  might  be  induced  to  take  arms,  for  they were  almost  constantly  on  the  verge  of  insurrection  against  their landlords,  but  their  revolt  was  sure  to  be  nothing  better  than  a Jacquerie,  accompanied  by  all  its  horrors  and  all  its  blunders. Their  Presbyterian  adherents  would  indeed  have  given  to  their insurrection  more  of  the  dignity  of  civil  war ;  but  the  feuds  be- tween the  "  Peep-of-day  Boys"  and  the  "  Defenders"  still  rankled in  Ulster,  and,  if  th'ey  once  learned  to  look  on  the  southern  insur- rection as  "  a  Popish  rebellion",  and  such  a  character,  at  least  in appearance,  it  must  necessarily  have  assumed,  it  was  all  but  cer- tain that  they  would  aid  the  government  in  its  suppression.  The United  Irishmen,  or  rather  the  leaders  who  acted  for  them,  be- lieved that  all  these  difficulties  would  have  been  overcome  by  the presence  of  an  auxiliary  army  from  France,  and  they  therefore adopted  the  perilous  measure  of  inviting  a  foreign  invasion. The  Parisian  massacres  of  September,  1792,  had  an  immense effect  in  Ireland ;  men  Avho  were  moderate  republicans  feared  to accept  freedom  accompanied  by  such  horrors ;  the  Catholic  aris- tocracy, always  a  timid  and  selfish  body,  offered  to  support  go- vernment in  withholding  their  own  privileges:  the  Catholic clergy  separated  in  a  body  from  the  Reformers,  and  denounced the  atheism  of  France  from  their  altars ;  if  the  government  had SECRET  SOCIETIES;  10 only  united  conciliation  with  coercion,  the  tranquillity  of  Ireland would  have  been  insured.  Such  was  the  policy  which  the  Eng- lish minister  first  resolved  to  adopt.  Earl  Fitzwilliam  was  sent to  Ireland ;  measures  were  introduced  which  at  that  crisis  would have  been  received  with  enthusiastic  gratitude ;  but  unfortunately the  intrigues  of  party  interfered,  and  to  all  the  causes  of  discord which  had  been  accumulating  for  centuries  were  added  unex- pected triumph  in  the  party  of  the  few,  and  unexpected  disap- pointment in  the  party  of  the  many. There  was  never  a  body  of  men  placed  in  so  strange  a  position at  this  crisis  as  the  Catholic  priests ;  in  their  hatred  of  French  in- fidelity and  atheistic  republicanism,  they  had  become  zealous royalists,  and  had  the  mortification  to  hear  themselves  universally represented  by  the  dominant  party  as  the  apostles  of  sedition. For  more  than  two  centuries  it  had  been  the  fashion  to  represent every  Irish  rebellion  as  "  Popish",  and  it  would  have  been  strange if  so  convenient  an  excuse  as  "  Popery"  for  refusing  justice  and continuing  oppression,  should  have  been  neglected,  at  the  mo- ment when  the  perpetuation  of  wrong  was  the  avowed  policy  of government. In  order  to  compensate  for  the  abandonment  of  measures  of  con- ciliation, the  ministry  urged  forward  their  coercion  laws  with railway  speed;  the  Volunteers  were  disarmed,  the  towns  garri- soned, public  discussions  prohibited,  the  sale  of  arms  and  ammu- nition forbidden,  and  all  conventions  of  delegates  subjected  to legal  penalties.  These  energetic  measures  were  promptly  enforced ; they  encountered  a  momentary  resistance  in  Belfast  alone,  and then  all  opposition  was  speedily  quelled  at  the  point  of  the bayonet. The  United  Irishmen  were  now  changed  into  a  secret  society : on  the  one  hand,  its  members  being  removed  from  popular  con- trol, were  less  trammelled  in  forming  their  plans  for  the  rege- neration of  their  country ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  secluded from  gaining  any  knowledge  of  the  state  of  public  opinion,  they had  no  means  of  discovering  how  far  the  nation  was  prepared  to adopt  and  support  their  schemes.  Under  these  circumstances, nothing  but  aid  from  France  would  have  afforded  the  slightest chance  of  success :  the  failure  of  Hoche's  expedition  rendered  their cause  hopeless.  In  their  increased  danger  of  detection  and  dread of  consequences,  they  fixed  and  adjourned  the  day  for  taking  up arms,  until  the  boldest  became  timid  and  the  prudent  withdrew altogether.  In  one  of  these  intervals  the  northern  insurrection had  been  nearly  precipitated  by  a  daring  exploit,  which,  if attempted,  would  probably  have  succeeded.  At  a  splendid  ball, given  in  Belfast,  the  magistrates  of  the  county  and  the  military 20  FRENCH  ALLIANCE. officers  had  met  to  enjoy  the  festivities,  without  the  remotest  I suspicion  of  danger;  the  principal  leaders  of  the  United  Irish-  i men  stood  in  the  crowd  looking  at  the  gay  assembly ;  one  of  j them  proposed  to  seize  so  favourable  an  opportunity,  to  antici-  ! pate  the  day  appointed  for  the  signal  of  revolt,  at  once  assemble their  men,  arrest  and  detain  the  magistrates  and  officers  as  hos-  ! tages,  and  establish  a  provisional  government  in  Ulster.  The  I bold  counsel  was  rejected  by  the  majority,  but  the  wiser  minority  i saw  that  the  timidity  which  rejected  such  an  opportunity  was unworthy  of  reliance,  and  either  made  their  peace  with  the  ' government,  or  quitted  the  country. France,  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  adopted  the same  selfish  and  erroneous  policy  towards  Irish  insurrection, which  the  courts  of  Rome  and  Madrid  had  pursued  in  the  end of  the  sixteenth.  Its  rulers  encoiiraged  civil  war  in  Ireland, chiefly  as  a  means  of  distracting  the  attention  of  the  British government,  and  preventing  its  interference  in  the  political changes  which  French  ambition  meditated  on  the  Continent. Holland  and  the  Netherlands  were  the  real  objects  at  which  the French  Directory  aimed,  when  they  promised  to  assist  the  re- publicans of  Ulster;  and,  singular  enough,  these  countries  were the  prize  for  which  the  kings  of  Spain  contended  when  they tendered  their  aid  to  John  O'Neil  and  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  two centuries  before.  A  reasonable  suspicion  of  the  French  alliance began  to  extend  itself  among  the  wisest  of  the  United  Irish- men.  Tone  himself,  in  his  memoirs,  reveals  to  us  that  there were  moments  when  his  enthusiasm  was  not  able  to  conquer  the lurking  fear  that  France  might  either  take  the  opportunity  of making  Ireland  a  province  tributary  to  herself,  or  restoring  it  to England  in  exchange  for  the  frontier  of  the  Rhine  or  the  supre- macy of  Italy.  Every  delay  in  sending  the  promised  auxiliary force  increased  the  fears  and  suspicions  of  the  United  Irishmen ; their  best  leaders  were  hopeless  of  success  without  foreign  aid, and  were  at  the  same  time  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  foreign influence  in  their  councils.  Hence  arose  fresh  sources  of  dismay and  disunion,  which  soon  afforded  plausible  excuses — for  trea- chery to  the  base,  and  for  desertion  to  the  timid.  The  informer was  amongst  them,  with  the  price  of  their  blood  in  his  pocket ; their  plans  were  made  known  to  the  government  as  soon  as  they were  formed;  the  snares  of  death  compassed  them  around;  the hand  that  clasped  them  in  simulated  friendship  had  written  their doom ;  the  lips  professing  the  warmest  zeal  in  their  cause  had sworn  to  their  destruction.  They  had,  in  fact,  become  mere tools  in  the  hands  of  the  very  government  which  they  had  in- tended to  overthrow ;  they  were  mere  puppets,  to  be  worked THE  WHITEBOYS.  21 until  they  had  produced  so  much  of  alarm  as  their  rulers  deemed necessary  for  ulterior  objects,  and  then  to  be  delivered  over  to the  executioner,  with  the  double  odium  upon  their  memory  of having  been  at  once  dupes  and  conspirators. When  all  their  secrets  were  betrayed,  all  their  measures  known, '  and  all  their  leaders  seized,  the  United  Irishmen  allowed  the Rebellion  to  begin.  It  had  been  too  long  languishing  and  un- certain to  inspire  the  people  with  confidence  or  enthusiasm ;  it was  ill  concerted,  worse  directed,  received  with  coldness  by  some and  terror  by  others;  there  was  division  between  its  leaders, there  was  disunion  amongst  its  followers ;  it  had  neither  guidance nor  support.  In  fact,  it  might  have  been  said  to  have  been  dead before  its  birth,  had  not  the  government  forced  it  into  premature existence  by  the  stimulants  of  whipping  and  free  quarters. The  terrible  convulsion  which  ensued  exhibited  all  the  pas- sions of  the  past  history  exploding  in  one  burst  of  irrepressible violence.  "  Wo  to  the  vanquished"  was  never  so  fearfully  ex- hibited as  the  rule  of  war.  But  the  history  of  this  sickening period  enters  not  into  the  purpose  of  this  introduction :  our  duty has  been  simply  to  show  the  circumstances  which  produced  that state  of  Ireland  in  which  the  United  Irishmen  moved  and  acted, and  thus  to  explain  how  far  the  circumstances  by  which  they were   surrounded  influenced  their  motives  and   their  conduct. The  preceding  historical  sketch,  written  for  this  work  by  the late  Dr.  W.  C.  Taylor,  leaves  it  only  necessary  for  the  author  to enter  more  fully  than  Dr.  Taylor  has  done  into  the  origin  and progress  of  those  agrarian  conspiracies — associations  of  the  pea- santry for  various  objects,  having  relation  to  tithes,  rents,  and inclosure  of  commons,  which  existed  throughout  the  country  for a  period  of  about  thirty  years  before  the  establishment  of  the first  society  of  United  Irishmen. CHAPTER  II. "  THE  WHITEBOY"  ASSOCIATIONS — PERSECUTION  OF  THE  CATOOLIC  CLERGT AND  GENTRY  OF  THE  SOUTH  ON  PRETENCE  OF  WHITEBOYISM — THE  CASE  OF THE  SHEEHYS,  BUXTON,  AND  FARRELL. The  various  outbreaks  of  popular  discontent  which  took  place between  1760  and  1790,  and  got  the  names  of  insurrections  and Popish  rebellions,  can  only  be  regarded  as  agrarian  outrages,  the result  of  oppressive  measures  taken  for  the  collection  of  exorbi- 21  TI1K  WHITEBOYS. tant  rents,  the  exaction  of  tithes,  and  the  conversion  of  the  small  j| holdings  of  the  peasantry  into  pastures.     The  destitution   atten- dant on  those  measures,  and  especially  the  latter  practice,  in  a country  where  the  unfortunate  people  turned  adrift  had  no  ma-  ! nul'acturing  districts  to  fly  to  for  the  means  of  support,  drove  the  \ persons  thus  beggared  and  deprived  of  house  and  home,  to  those  j acts  of  violence  and    desperation  which    usually   follow   in  the  ' footsteps  of  distress .  and  ignorance.     The  same  interests  which reduced  the  people  to  misery  were  exerted  in  representing  their  )! condition  as  the  result  of  their  own  turbulent  and  lawless  pro- ceedings,   and  the  conduct  of  any  of  the  gentry  of  their  own persuasion  who  sympathised  with  their  sufferings,  or  dared  to attempt  to  redress  their  wrongs,  as  influenced  by  seditious  and disaffected    motives.     Wherever    agrarian    outrages   were    com- mitted, and  their  causes  were  inquired  into  by  such  persons,  the landlords  and  the  tithe-owners  never  failed  to  raise  a  clamour against  their  character  for  loyalty ;  and  even  the  writers  of  the day,  who  ventured  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  parties  who  had the  courage  and  humanity  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  unfortu- nate people,  represented  their  advocates  as  well-meaning  "  but giddy  and  officious  men'. The  conduct  was  thus  designated  of  a  Roman  Catholic  priest of  the  name  of  Sheehy,  a  man  of  unblemished  character,  and  the memory  of  whose  virtues  even  to  this  day  is  held  in  the  highest veneration  in  the  place  where  he  was  most  foully  murdered,  and the  name  of  law  desecrated  by  the  formal  sanction  of  his  death. lie  was  said  to  be  inimical  to  the  collection  of  church-rates  in the  parish  of  Newcastle,*  where  there  were  no  parishioners,  and was  suspected  of  holding  seditious  opinions  with  respect  to  the divine  right  of  a  clergy  to  the  tenth  part  of  the  produce  of  a half-starved  people,  wdiose  souls  they  had  no  cure  of.  For  these offences  they  persecuted  to  the  death  a  minister  of  the  gospel, who  had  neither  offended  against  its  law  nor  against  the  laws  of his  country. Mr.  Arthur  Young,  an  Englishman,  and  an  eye-witness  of  the Munster  tumults,  plainly  attributes  these  disturbances  to  the  in- human conduct  of  landlords.  "  The  landlord  of  an  Irish  estate", he  says,  "inhabited  by  Roman  Catholics,  is  a  sort  of  despot,  who yields  obedience  in  whatever  concerns  the  poor  to  no  law  but that  of  his  will".t •  The  flame  of  resistance  to    their  oppression,    he  states,  was kindled  by  "  severe  treatment  in  respect  of  tithes,  united  with  a *  He  had  succeeded  in  abolishing  them  in  the  parish  of  Newcastle,  and  from his  time  to  the  present  they  have  been  unknown  there, t  Young's  "  Tour",  vol.  ii.,  pages  40  and  42. FATHER  S1IEE1IY.  23 (great  speculative  rise  of  rents  about  tlie  same  time.  The  atro- jcious  acts  they  (the  Whiteboys)  were  guilty  of  made  them  the |  objects  of  general  indignation.  Acts  were  passed  for  their I  punishment  which  seemed  calculated  for  the  meridian  of  Bar- I  bary.  This  arose  to  such  a  height,  that  by  one  (law)  they  were to  be  hanged,  under  certain  circumstances,  without  the  common 'formality  of  a  trial,  which,  though  repealed  the  following  session, !  marks  the  spirit  of  punishment ;  while  others  remain  yet  the  law ;  of  the  land,  that  would,  if  executed,  tend  more  to  raise  than 1  quell  an  insurrection". Another  English  writer,  Dr.  Campbell,  in  his  "  Philosophical Survey  of  the  South  of  Ireland",  speaks  of  the  country  at  the time  he  wrote,  1777,  "  instead  of  being  in  a  progressive  state  of improvement,  as  verging  to  depopulation ;  the  inhabitants  are either  moping  under  the  sullen  gloom  of  inactive  indigence,  or blindly  asserting  the  rights  of  nature  in  nocturnal  insurrections, attended  with  circumstances  of  ruinous  devastation  and  savage cruelty ;  and  must  we  not  conclude  that  there  are  political  errors somewhere?"  After  detailing  the  causes  of  Whitebojdsm,  he adds,  "What  measures  have  been  taken  for  laying  this  spirit? None  that  I  hear  of,  but  that  of  offering  rewards  for  apprehen- sions and  discoveries.  This  evil  must  nevertheless  originate  from some  other  cause  than  mere  depravity  of  nature ;  for,  to  suppose that  a  set  of  people  should  conspire  to  run  the  risk  of  being hanged  and  gibbeted  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  doing  mischief  to their  neighbours,  would  ar<me  a  degree  of  diabolism  not  to  be found  in  the  human  heart".* The  best,  and  by  far  the  most  clear  and  explicit  account  of  the cause  of  those  agrarian  disturbances,  is  to  be  found  in  a  pamphlet rarely  to  be  met  with,  printed  in  Dublin  in  1762,  under  the  title of  "  An  Enquiry  into  the  Causes  of  the  Outrages  committed  by the  Levellers  or  Whiteboys  of  Munster,  by  M S ,  Esq." "  Some  landlords",  says  the  author,  "  in  Munster  have  set their  lands  to  cottiers  far  above  their  value ;  and,  to  lighten  their burden,  allowed  commonage  to  their  tenants  by  way  of  recom- pense :  afterwards,  in  despite  of  all  equity,  contrary  to  all  com- pacts, the  landlords  enclosed  these  commons,  and  precluded  their unhappy  tenants  from  the  only  means  of  making  their  bargains tolerable.  The  law,  indeed,  is  open  to  redress  them ;  but  they do  not  know  the  laws,  or  how  to  proceed ;  or  if  they  did  know them,  they  are  not  equal  to  the  expense  of  a  suit  against  a  rich tyrant.  Besides,  the  greatest  part  of  these  tenures  are  by  verbal agreement,  not  by  written  compact.     Here  is  another  difficulty : Dr.  Campbell's  "  philosophical  Survey"   pages  293-2!) 24  Tii.:  w  hiteboys; if  these  wretches  should  apply  to  law,  what  could  they  do  in  this case?  They  were  too  ignorant  of  the  principles  of  equity  to  ; seek  a  reasonable  redress:  they  had  too  deep  a  sense  of  their  | Bufferings  to  feel  the  less  pungent  call  of  virtue;  nay,  they] thought  equity  was  on  their  side,  and  iniquity  on  the  part  of their  landlords,  and  thence  flew  with  eagerness  to  what  is  ever  j the  resource  of  low  and  uncultivated  minds — violence".* "  It  is  not  uncommon  in  Munster  to  charge  from  four  to  five guineas  per  acre  for  potato  ground;  but  we  shall  suppose  the  price but  four  guineas,  that  is,  ninety-one  shillings:  the  daily  wages  for labourers  is  four  pence  per  day :  there  are  three  hundred    and sixty-five  days  in  the  year,  of  which  fifty-two  are  Sundays,  and suppose  but  thirteen  holidays,  the  remainder  is  three  hundred working  days,  the  wages  for  which  is  a  hundred  shillings,  that  is, nine  shillings  above  the  price  of  their  land,  of  which  five  shil- lings are  paid  for  the  tithe,  and  two  for  hearth  money;  and  the remainder  goes  towards  the  rent  of  their  cabin.     What  is  left  ? Nothing.     And  out  of  this   nothing,  they  are  to  buy  seed  for their  garden,  salt  for  their  potatoes,  and  rags  for  themselves,  their wives,  and  children.     It  must  be  observed  that  in  this  calculation I  have  mentioned  three  hundred  working  days,  though  it  is  known, from  the  greater  number  of  holidays  observed  in  that  part  of  the kingdom  than  in  any  other,  from  the  number  of  wet  and  broken days,  joined  with  the  natural  laziness  of  the  people,  there  are  not above  two  hundred  days  for  which  they  are  paid.     What  an  ag- gravation does  this  make  in  the  account.     And  will  the  best  crop enable  them  to  maintain  a  family,  often  of  six  or  eight  persons, under  the  difficulties  we  have  mentioned  ?     It  is  this  exorbitant rent  which  produces  the  complaint  of  tithes.    Ready  money  they have  not;  the  reward  of  their  labour  goes  in  payment  of  their rent;  they  can  seldom  amass  the  mighty  sum  of  two  shillings  to pay  their  hearth  money ;  how  then  shall  they  collect  five  shillings for  tithes  ?     The  clergymen  in  that  country  possess  livings  which have  a  thousand  acres  under  black  cattle.     Here  the  incumbent gets  nothing,  and  the  cottier's  garden  becomes  his  principal  sup- port.    A  gentleman   of  birth,   perhaps    piety    and    learning,   is brought  to  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  chaffering  with  a  set  of poor  wretches  for  two  pence,  or  six  pence,  in  a  bargain,  or  forego the  support  of  his  own  family.     This  business  grows  irksome  to him,  and  he   seeks  some   one  person  who  will  take  the  whole trouble  upon  him.     The  distress  of  the  parishioner  is  heightened by  this  agreement ;  and  the  tithe-monger,  who  is  generally  more rapacious  than  humane,  squeezing  out  the  very  vitals  of  the  peo- ple, and  by  process,  citation,  and  sequestration,  drags  from  them the  little  which  the  landlord  and  king  had  left  them". FATHER  SHEEHY.  25 If  the  landlords  of  Ireland  had  been  in  alliance  with  France, and  bent  npon  promoting  its  views  in  the  former  country,  by rendering  the  people  more  discontented,  they  could  not  have done  more  for  French  policy  than  they  thus  effected  by  driving the  people  to  desperation. These  were  the  real  rebels  to  the  British  Crown,  and  the  worst enemies  of  all  to  the  connection  that  ought  to  have  subsisted  with mutual  good  will  between  the  two  countries. In  1760,  a  variety  of  causes  had  conspired  to  reduce  the  peo- ple to  the  lowest  degree  of  misery.  The  revenue,  the  unerring barometer  of  their  condition,  plainly  indicated  in  this  year  the distress  that  universally  prevailed ;  a  fatal  disease  swept  off  vast quantities  of  their  cattle,  and  provisions  became  unusually  dear. The  distress  was  not  sudden  or  partial ;  it  had  gone  on  increasing for  the  past  five  years.  The  House  of  Commons,  in  their  address to  his  Excellency,  on  referring  to  this  subject,  and  to  the  want of  corn  to  which  the  distress  of  the  country  was  largely  to  be attributed,  declared  "  they  would  most  cheerfully  embrace  every practicable  method  to  promote  tillage". The  members  of  that  House  kept  the  word  of  promise  to  the Viceroy's  ears,  and  broke  it  to  the  people's  hope.  They  scanda- lously embraced  the  opportunity  of  promoting  their  own  tempo- rary  interests  by  turning  the  tilled  lands  of  vast  districts  into  pas- turage, and  even  enclosing  the  commons  where  their  impoverished tenants  had  hitherto  been  permitted  to  graze  their  cattle,  and  by such  means  had  been  enabled  to  meet  the  landlords'  and  the  tithe owners'  exorbitant  demands. When  a  famishing  peasantry  ceases  to  look  upon  the  lords  of the  soil  as  their  natural  protectors,  and  they  regard  the  law  with- out respect,  because  it  is  administered  by  men  "  who  grind  the faces  of  the  poor",  their  outrages,  it  will  be  found  by  melancholy experience,  are  more  violent,  ungovernable,  driftless,  and  vindic- tive in  their  character  than  those  that  are  excited  by  any  other species  of  oppression. So  it  was  with  the  lawless  acts  of  the  Whiteboys,  wanton  in cruelty,  wild  in  their  schemes,  and  heedless  of  the  consequences arising  from  the  destruction  of  property ;  and  so  it  always  will  be with  the  turbulence  of  a  people  who  have  been  trampled  upon  by the  proprietors  of  the  soil,  as  those  of  Ireland  had  been.  The proprietors  cared,  in  fact,  no  more  for  their  miserable  tenants  than the  bashaws  of  Turkey  are  wont  to  do  for  the  Christian  rajahs  of the  distant  provinces,  which  are  delivered  into  their  hands,  to  be ruled  over  with  a  rod  of  iron,  to  have  the  last  para  wrung  from their  labour,  for  the  benefit  of  strangers  to  the  soil,  and  of  ulemas in  Stamboul,  from  whose  functions  they  derive  no  earthly  or  spi- ritual advantages. 26  T1IK  WHITE130YS. Lord  Northumberland,  addressing  the  Parliament  in  1763,  in speaking  of  the  disorders  in  the  south,  intimated  that  the  means of  industry  would  be  the  remedy;  from  whence  it  followed,  the want  of  those  means  must  have  been  the  cause.  The  Commons, in  accordance  with  the  Viceroy's  suggestion,  promised  to  give their  best  attention  to  the  Protestant  Charter  Schools  and  Linen Manufacture.  The  people,  it  was  well  known,  would  not  send their  children  to  the  former,  and  were  totally  ignorant  of  the  lat- ter. In  fact,  when  the  Catholic  people  were  crying  out  for  bread, the  Commons  were  proposing  Protestant  schools  for  the  starving children  of  a  Roman  Catholic  population,  and  shuttles  and  looms For  an  agricultural  peasantry. The  landlords  in  the  House  of  Commons  carried  out  the  views on  which  they  acted  in  their  several  districts ;  they  declared  the riots  which  had  taken  place  in  1762  and  1763,  to  be  "  Popish  re- bellions". They  appointed  a  committee  "  to  inquire  into  the causes  and  progress  of  the  Popish  insurrection  in  the  province  of Munster". In  1764,  the  Lords  and  Commons,  in  their  address  to  the  Vice- roy, the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  characterized  the  acts  of  the rioters  as,  "  Treason  against  the  State".  In  their  "  pretended  griev- ances no  traces  of  oppression  can  be  seen ;  we  can  only  impute their  disorders  to  the  artful  contrivances  of  designing  men,  who, from  selfish  and  interested  views,  have  spread  this  licentious spirit  among  the  people". The  Government,  on  the  other  hand,  sent  down  a  commission into  the  disturbed  districts  in  1762,  consisting  of  men  of  eminence in  the  law,  and  of  known  ability,  loyalty,  and  impartiality,  to report  upon  the  character  of  those  tumultuous  risings,  and  the result  of  their  inquiry  may  be  gathered  from  a  paragraph  in  the London  Gazette  of  May,  1762,  wherein  it  is  stated,  "  that  the authors  of  those  riots  consisted  indiscriminately  of  persons  of different  persuasions,  and  that  no  marks  of  disaffection  to  his Majesty's  person  or  government  appeared  in  any  of  those  people". In  1804,  a  work  was  published  in  London,  called  "  Strictures tipo?i  a  Historical  Review  of  the  State  of  Ireland",  by  Francis Plowden. The  author  of  the  "  Strictures"  labours  hard  to  prove  the Munster  riots  to  have  been  Popish  plots,  produced  by  the  machi- nations of  Popish  priests  and  bishops ;  one  of  the  former,  the  un- fortunate Father  Sheehy,  and  the  latter  the  titular  Archbishop  of Cashel,  Dr.  Butler.  Alluding  to  the  passage  quoted  (originally by  Curry,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  A  Candid  Inquiry",  etc.)  from the  London  Gazette  of  May,  1762,  this  author  of  the  "  Strictures'" on  Plowden's  work,  with  an  appearance  of  exactitude  and  close- FATIlElt  SHEEHY.  27 ness  of  research  calculated  to  impose  on  bis  readers,  deliberately affirms  tbat  be  Iras  searched  the  Gazette,  but  the  passage  referred to  is  not  to  be  found ;  but  he  states,  "  I  have  found  this  para- graph verbatim  in  the  Whitehall  Evening  Post  of  the  4th  of May,  17G2,  which  paragraph  was,  no  doubt,  written  in  Ireland,  and sent  over  here  for  insertion  by  some  abettor  of  this  insurrection, in  order  to  deceive  the  people  of  England,  a  practice  very  syste- matically pursued  of  late  years"'. The  preceding  paragraph  is  an  admirable  specimen  of  the  man- ner in  which  history  is  falsified  to  suit  the  unworthy  purposes  of bigotry.  On  referring  to  "  The  London  Gazette,  published  by authority",  of  May  4th,  1762,  I  find  the  following  passage:  "  The riots  and  disturbances  lately  raised  in  the  southern  part  of  Ireland, by  a  set  of  people  called  levellers,  are  entirely  put  a  stop  to  by the  vigour  and  activity  of  the  Earl  of  Halifax.  It  appears  that the  authors  of  those  disturbances  consisted  indiscriminately  of persons  of  different  persuasions,  and  that  no  marks  of  disaffection to  his  Majesty's  person  or  government  appeared  in  any  of  these people". In  1766,  the  unfortunate  people  having  paid  the  penalty  of "  their  crimes  and  their  pretended  grievances",  having  been dealt  with  according  to  law,  the  country  was  restored  to  that  kind of  quiet  which  usually  follows  terror,  and  in  Ireland  passes  for tranquillity.  The  landlords  then  had  leisure,  and  a  colourable pretext  in  their  own  exaggerated  representations  of  the  treasona- ble designs  of  the  quelled  rioters,  to  bring  all  those  Roman Catholic  gentry  to  an  account  who  were  known  to  have  afforded any  pecuniary  assistance  to  the  miserable  wretches  who  had  been thrown  into  gaol  or  brought  to  trial,  and  were  without  the  means of  making  any  defence,  except  what  they  obtained  from  the  cha- rity of  those  of  their  own  communion  who  were  thus  far  able  to assist  them.  An  expression  of  sympathy  with  their  unfortunate condition,  a  single  act  of  interference  in  their  behalf  before  a  jus- tice of  the  peace,  or  the  appearance  at  the  trial  of  one  of  them  as a  witness,  and  it  will  be  seen,  even  as  a  legal  adviser  of  the  party accused,  was  sufficient  to  bring  the  loyalty  of  every  such  person into  question,  to  compromise  his  character,  and  to  put  his  life  in peril. The  turpitude  of  involving  men  in  the  crimes  of  those  they  suc- coured in  a  gaol,  or  enabled  to  procure  the  means  of  defence  on  the trial,  which  the  law  allowed,  but  which  they  were  unable  to provide,  did  not  originate  with  the  persecutors  of  the  Sheehys, the  Farrells,  the  Buxtons,  and  the  Keatings  of  1766  ;  nor  did  the baseness  of  the  practice  terminate  with  the  troubled  time  they lived  in.     In  17lJ8,  the  same  principle  was  not  only  acted  on  by 28  THE  WHITEBOYS. magistrates,  but  the  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland  gave  the  sanction of  his  authority  to  the  execrable  doctrine,  that  the  act  of  contri- bution towards  the  defraying  the  expense  incurred  for  the  de- fence of  persons  accused  of  treason  involved  a  participation  in  the crime. This  was  one  of  the  charges  in  the  report  of  the  Secret  Com- mittee of  1793,  drawn  up  by  the  Lord  Chancellor,  which  was hung,  in  terrorem,  over  the  heads  of  some  members  of  the  Catho- lic Committee.  One  of  these  gentlemen,  Mr.  John  Sweetman, was  especially  pointed  out  as  a  person  in  criminal  communication with  the  Defenders,  and  the  only  proof  of  his  criminality  was  a letter,  in  which  mention  was  made  of  some  steps  that  had  been taken  towards  assisting  the  brother  of  a  Roman  Catholic  gentle- man of  the  name  of  Nugent,  who  had  been  committed  to  gaol  on a  charge  of  defenderism.  The  report  of  the  Committee  stated, that  although  the  body  of  the  Roman  Catholics  were  not  privy  to this  application  of  the  money  levied  on  them,  the  conduct,  how- ever, was  suspicious,  "  of  ill-disposed  individuals  of  their  persua- sion resident  in  Dublin".* The  government  had  previously  sent  to  Sweetman,  as  Secre- tary of  the  Catholics,  to  inform  him,  the  publication  of  the  report of  the  Secret  Committee  would  endanger  his  life,  and  offered,  if he  avowed  his  indiscretion,  the  report  would  be  quashed.  And we  are  informed  by  Emmet,  in  his  "  Essay  towards  the  History of  Ireland",  that  Sweetman  refused  to  do  so. The  same  accusation  of  contributing  towards  the  defence  of prisoners  charged  with  treasonable  practices,  who  were  his  own tenants,  was  brought  against  the  unfortunate  Sir  Edward  Crosbie, and  this  prima  facie  evidence  of  disaffection  weighed  down  every proof  of  innocence,  for  every  other  charge  carried  with  it  its  own self-evident  refutation,  and  an  act  of  Christian  charity  was  made mainly  instrumental  to  his  ignominious  death. If  these  were  solitary  instances  of  a  practice  founded  on  a  con- demnation of  the  common  dictates  of  humanity,  it  would  have been  needless  to  advert  to  them ;  but  unfortunately  there  are  too many  of  them  on  record  in  the  criminal  proceedings  of  those times  to  allow  them  to  be  passed  over,  or  to  render  it  unnecessary to  make  the  remembrance  of  them  a  bar  to  their  recurrence.  We surely  need  no  stronger  argument  to  convince  us,  that  if  the  un- fortunate country  which  is  delivered  up  to  civil  war,  were  not forsaken  by  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  such  infamous  doctrines could  not  have  been  put  forth.  The  Founder  of  our  religion,  in summing  up  the  acts  of  mercy,  the  performance  of  which  was  re- *  Keport  of  Lords'  Secret  Committee,  1793,  Appendix,  No.  1,  p.  3. FATHER  SHEEHY.  29 warded  with  the  possession  of  His  Heavenly  kingdom,  specifies this  act  of  mercy  among  others  as  one  which  establishes  a  claim to  the  highest  recompence  of  all:  "  I  was  sick,  and  you  visited me;  I  was  in  prison,  and  you  came  to  me". The  language  of  our  rulers  in  Ireland  has  been :  Your  bre- thren are  poor  and  oppressed,  but  you  shall  not  pity  them  ;  they are  in  prison,  but  it  shall  be  treason  for  you  to  go  to  them ;  they are  naked  and  open  to  their  enemies,  but  you  shall  not  succour them.  They  have  been  hungry  and  thirsty,  and  we  have  not given  them  to  eat  or  to  drink ;  and  as  we  have  not  suffered  them to  murmur  against  us,  neither  shall  you  sympathize  with  them, unless  you  are  willing  to  share  in  the  punishment  which  is  pre- pared for  traitors  and  their  accomplices. General  descriptions  of  popular  tumults  and  of  calamitous occurrences  often  convey  a  less  accurate  idea  of  the  events  in question,  than  the  particular  details  of  the  fate  or  sufferings  of one  of  those  actors  or  victims  in  the  strife,  whose  history  is  bound up  with  the  events  that  excite  our  interest. The  account  of  the  persecution  and  judicial  murder  of  Father Nicholas  Sheehy,  of  Clogheen,  is  an  epitome  in  itself  of  the  his- tory of  Ireland  at  that  period,  of  its  persecuted  people,  of  the  cha- racter of  their  oppressors,  of  the  divisions  secretly  encouraged  and sedulously  fostered  by  the  rulers  of  the  country  between  one  class of  the  community  and  another,  and,  finally,  of  the  use  made  of  the weakness  consequent  on  the  general  disunion. In  1762,  the  Earl  (subsequently  Marquis)  of  Drogheda,  was sent  to  the  disturbed  districts  in  the  province  of  Minister,  in  com- mand of  a  considerable  military  force,  and  fixed  his  head  quar- ters at  Clogheen,  in  the  county  of  Tipperary.  The  Whiteboys were  at  that  period  in  the  habit  of  assembling  in  large  bodies, generally  by  night,  and  committing  depredations  on  the  proper- ties of  those  obnoxious  to  them.  On  the  night  of  the  day  on which  the  Marquis  arrived  at  Clogheen,  one  of  those  assemblages took  place  in  the  neighbourhood,  with  the  intention,  it  was  be- lieved, of  assaulting  the  town.  A  clergyman  of  the  name  of Doyle,  parish  priest  of  Ardfinnan,  on  learning  their  intention, one  of  the  informers  states  in  his  depositions,  went  among  them, and  succeeded  in  preventing  them  carrying  their  project  into effect.  His  purpose,  however,  in  so  doing,  as  usual,  was  repre- sented as  insidious. From  that  time  the  Earl  of  Drogheda  made  several  incursions into  the  adjacent  country,  "  and  great  numbers  of  the  insurgents were",  we  are  informed  by  Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  "  killed  by his  lordship's  regiment,  and  French  money  was  found  in  the pockets  of  some  of  them".     This  assertion  is  strenuously  opposed 30  THE  WHITEBOYS. by  Curry  and  O'Connor;  and  in  one  of  the  letters  of  Lord  Char- lemont,  published  in  Hardy's  memoirs  of  his  lordship,*  mention is  made  of  the  attention  of  the  Custom-House  officers  of  Dublin being  directed  to  the  circumstance  of  "  a  very  considerable number  of  French  crowns  having  been  received  at  the  Custom- House,  which  could  not  have  been  the  result  of  trade,  since  little or  no  specie  is  imported  from  France  in  exchange  for  our  com- modities". Sir  Richard  Musgrave  states  that  a  Mr.  Conway,  an  Irish  resi- dent at  Paris,  was  in  the  habit  of  remitting  money  to  the  insur- gents on  the  part  of  the  French  government.  This  statement rests  on  his  authority,  valeat  quod  valeat.  Lord  Charlemont, however,  is  far  from  ascribing  the  real  causes  of  those  disturb- ances to  French  gold  or  intrigue. f  "  Misery,  oppression,  and famine — these  were  undoubtedly  the  first  and  original  causes". And  he  adds,  "  I  will  not  pretend  to  attest  that  French  intrigue may  not  sometimes  have  interfered  to  aggravate  and  inflame  the fever  already  existing". Mr.  Matthew  O'Connor  speaks  of  the  "  circulation  of  French coin  as  the  natural  result  of  a  smuo-olina;  intercourse  with  France, and  in  particular  of  the  clandestine  export  of  wool  to  that country".^ While  the  Earl  of  Droodreda  continued  at  Closdieen,  the troops  were  constantly  employed  in  the  old  mode  of  pacifying the  country,  and  some  of  the  gentlemen  in  the  neighbouring districts  were  in  the  habit  of  scouring  the  country  at  the  head  of armed  parties.  The  gentlemen  who  chiefly  distinguished  them- selves in  these  military  exploits  were,  William  Bagnell,  Esq., Sir  Thomas  Maude,  and  John  Bagwell,  Esq.  The  exertions  of these  gentlemen  in  their  military  and  magisterial  pursuits  were actively  seconded  in  the  arrangement  of  the  panel  at  the  assizes by  Daniel  Toler,  Esq.,  High  Sheriff  of  the  county,  an  ances- tor of  the  judge  celebrated  for  his  judicial  energy  at  another calamitous  period  of  Irish  history,  and  in  the  getting  up  of the  prosecutions  by  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  the  Rev.  John Hewetson. While  the  head  quarters  of  the  Earl  of  Drogheda  were  fixed at  Clogheen,  the  services  of  the  usual  auxiliaries  to  the  Irish magistracy  were  called  into  requisition.  No  Roman  Catholic leader  of  any  respectahility  had  been  yet  fixed  on  to  give  a plausible  character  to  the  rumour  of  a  Popish  insurrection ;  the *  "  Memoirs  of  the  Earl  of  Charlemont",  vol.  i.  p.  175 ;  Sir  Richard  Musgrave's "Memoirs  of  the  Rebellion",  etc.  p.  54. t  '•  Memoirs  of  the  Earl  of  Charlemont",  p,  174. J  "History  of  the  Irish  Catholics",  by  M.  O'Connor,  p.  288. FATHER  SHEEHY.  31 parish  priest  of  tlie  town  was  accordingly  suspected  of  disaffec- tion. He  had  collected  money  for  the  defence  of  some  of  the rioters  who  were  his  parishioners,  and  the  acquittal  of  any  of them  was  attributed  to  his  interference.  Father  Nicholas  Sheehy was  born  at  Fethard,  about  six  miles  from  Clonmel.  He  was sent  to  France  at  an  early  age  to  receive  that  education  which  it was  a  capital  offence  to  communicate  to  one  of  his  creed  at  home. He  was  well  descended,  and  related  to  some  of  the  most  respect- able Catholic  gentlemen  of  the  county.  A  man  of  the  name  of John  Bridge,  having  been  arrested  on  a  charge  of  Whiteboyism, examined  by  torture,  and  "  severely  punished  by  court  martial", was  induced  to  come  forward  with  charges  against  several  re- spectable persons  of  having  been  amongst  the  rioters  who  had assembled  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town,  the  night  of the  day  on  which  Lord  Drogheda  arrived  at  Clogheen.  A woman  of  abandoned  character,  who  had  been  excommunicated by  the  priest  Sheehy,  was  likewise  procured,  at  a  later  period, to  swear  to  an  information  of  ■:.  similar  tendency  to  Bridge's. Sheehy  was  arrested,  but  the  evidence  against  him  could  not have  been  very  conclusive,  for  after  his  examination  he  was suffered  to  go  at  large  on  the  understanding  that  he  Avas  to  appear if  further  evidence  was  brought  against  him  in  corroboration  of the  informers.  The  proceedings  against  Mr.  Sheehy  remained thus  suspended,  when,  in  the  latter  end  of  1763,  Bridge  dis- appeared, and  a  report  was  circulated  that  he  had  been  murdered by  the  Whiteboys.  In  March,  1764,  the  high  sheriff  and grand  jury  of  the  county  of  Tipperary  published  an  advertise- ment, setting  forth,  "  That  whereas  the  said  John  Bridge  was missing  since  October  preceding,  and  was  supposed  to  be  mur- thered,  they  did  hereby  promise  a  reward  of  £50  to  any  person or  persons  who  should  discover,  within  twelve  calendar  months, any  person  or  persons  concerned  in  said  act",  etc. The  advertisement  soon  produced  the  desired  effect.  The  only persons  concerned  in  the  appearance  or  non-appearance  of  the informer  were  those  who  had  been  informed  against.  Father Sheehy  was  not  named  in  the  advertisement,  but  it  was  impos- sible that  any  doubt  could  be  entertained  as  to  the  party  inte- rested in  the  disappearance  of  the  informer,  and  therefore  to  be suspected  of  being  privy  to  his  murder. The  magistrates  and  gentry  of  Tipperary  had  been  incensed against  the  judge  who  presided  it  the  preceding  trials  of  the rioters.  One  of  the  few  impartial  and  humane  judges  who  then graced  the  Irish  bench,  Sir  Richu.d  Acton,  Lord  Chief  Justice of  the  Common  Pleas,  had  been  sent  upon  a  special  commission to  try  a  great  number  of  these  rioters  two  years  previously.     The 32  THE  WI1ITEB0YS. trials  were  conducted  with  a  show  of  justice  that  was  extremely offensive  to  the  local  authorities,  and  the  magistrates  and  grand jury  raised  such  a  clamour  against  the  excellent  judge,  that  he was  driven  from  the  Irish  bench,  and  went  to  England,  where  he accepted  of  the  inferior  appointment  of  puisne  judge.  The name  of  Sir  Richard  Acton  deserves  to  be  remembered  in  Ire- land with  respect  and  honour;  and  if  no  other  eulogy  on  his character  were  recorded,  it  might  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  this Fletcher  of  his  day  was  reviled  by  Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  and that  on  the  occasion  of  his  return  from  Clonmel  at  the  conclusion of  the  business  of  the  special  commission,  the  road  along  which he  passed  was  lined  on  both  sides  with  men,  women,  and  chil- dren, thanking  him  for  the  justice  and  the  fairness  of  his  conduct in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  and  pouring  blessings  on  him  as  a just  and  impartial  judge.* This  was  a  novel  spectacle  in  Ireland:  it  was  a  touching  exhi- bition, and  one,  it  might  be  considered,  that  might  have  moved  the pity  and  softened  the  rancour  of  the  enemies  of  these  poor  people. But  justice  and  humanity  were  hateful  to  their  oppressors,  and the  administration  of  the  law  under  the  influence  of  either  was a  course  they  could  not  comprehend  or  tolerate.  In  the  clamour that  was  raised  against  this  upright  judge,  it  is  painful  to  find  the great  champion  of  popular  rights  (as  the  celebrated  Dr.  Lucas was  deemed)  taking  an  active  part  in  his  place  in  Parliament against  the  administration  of  justice  and  the  judicial  authorities, on  account  of  the  leniency  exhibited  on  the  trials  of  the  Popish rioters.  On  the  13th  of  October,  1763,  in  moving  an  instruction to  the  committee  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  insurrections of  the  south,  he  expressed  his  amazement  "  that  the  indictments in  the  south  were  only  laid  for  a  riot  and  a  breach  of  the  peace, while  those  in  the  north  were  all  laid  for  high  treason,  and  ani- madverted severely  on  the  conduct  of  the  judges  who  sat  in  the south". The  brawling  patriot,  who  was  wont  to  make  the  walls  of parliament  reverberate  with  the  thunder  of  his  indignation  when one  of  its  privileges  was  endangered,  could  stand  up  in  that house,  and  raise  his  voice  in  condemnation  of  measures  of humanity,  when  the  unfortunate  people  stood  in  the  utmost  need of  pity  and  protection. He  was  replied  to  by  the  Solicitor-General,  who  said,  lie  was surprised  at  the  speech  of  the  honourable  gentleman.  "  Several of  the  indictments  had  been  laid  for  high  treason  in  the  south, as  well  as  the  north,  and  several  had  been  executed  upon  the *  Plowden's  "  History  of  Ireland",  vol.  ii .,  page  139. FATHER    SHEEHY.  33 statute;  but  wherever  lenity  had  been  shown,  it  was  only  where reason  and  humanity  required  it".* Before  entering  upon  the  further  proceedings  against  the  Rev. Mr.  Sheehy,  it  was  necessary  to  show  the  state  of  public  feeling, not  only  in  the  disturbed  district  in  which  he  resided,  but  even in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  subject  of  those  agrarian disturbances. Between  the  period  of  Bridge's  disappearance  and  the  spring of  1764,  Mr  Sheehy  was  constantly  menaced  with  prosecution; witnesses  were  frequently  examined  and  indictments  framed,  but no  criminal  proceedings  followed. At  length,  in  the  early  part  of  1764,  he  found  his  persecutors so  bent  on  his  destruction,  that  it  became  necessary  for  him  to secrete  himself.  The  government  had  been  prevailed  upon  to issue  a  proclamation  against  him,  in  which  he  was  described  as  a fugitive  from  justice,  charged  with  high  treason,  and  offering  a reward  of  £300  for  his  apprehension.  Sheehy  no  sooner  was informed  of  the  proclamation  than  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Secretary Waite,  acquainting  him  "  that  he  would  save  the  government the  reward  offered  for  taking  him,  by  surrendering  himself  out of  hand  to  be  tried  for  any  crime  he  was  accused  *.of,  not  at Clonmel  (where  he  feared  the  power  and  malice  of  his  enemies were  too  prevalent  for  justice),  but  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench in  Dublin";  and  accordingly  he  delivered  himself  up  to  Corne- lius O'Callaghan,  Esq.,  of  whom  the  present  Lord  Lismore  is  the grand-nephew. Several  of  the  preceding  details  are  to  be  found  in  a  pamphlet called,  "  A  Candid  Inquiry  into  the  Causes  and  Motives  of  the late  Riots  in  the  Province  of  Munster";  and,  as  appears  by  a subsequent  pamphlet  by  the  same  author,  Dr.  Curry  (a  parallel between  the  pretended  plot  of  1762,  and  the  forgery  of  Titus Oates  in  1679),  was  written  in  the  month  of  May,  1766. Speaking  of  this  pamphlet,  the  venerable  Charles  O'Connor states  that  no  notes  of  the  trials  were  taken  at  the  time,  and  that it  is  only  to  this  account  of  the  proceedings,  and  the  declarations solemnly  made  of  the  victims,  that  we  can  refer  for  information that  can  give  an  insight  into  the  proceedings  against  them. Such,  however,  is  not  the  fact;  notes  of  some  of  those  trials  do exist,  and  from  them  and  the  records  of  the  Crown  Office  of Clonmel,  and  the  original  informations  sworn  against  the  parties, which  I  discovered  there,  the  following  details  are  given. The  Dublin  Gazette,  of  15th  March,  1765,  announces  that, "  About  eight  o'clock  on  Wednesday  night,  Nicholas  Sheehy,  a *  "  Irish  Debates",  in  the  years  17G3  and  17G4,  vol.  i.  p.  48. VOL.  I.  4 '   :        . oi  THE    WHITEBOYS. i Popish  priest,  charged  witli  being  concerned  in  several  treason-  ji able  practices  to  raise  a  rebellion  in  this  kingdom,  for  the  appre- 1 hendmg  of  whom  government  offered  a  reward  of  £300,  was  i brought  to  town  guarded  by  a  party  of  light  horse,  and  lodged  I by  the  Provost  in  the  Lower  Castle  Yard".     It  was  not  till  the  ; 10th  of  February,  in  the  following  year,  that  he  was  brought  to trial  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench.     The  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  i the  King's  Bench,  then,  was  the  Right  Honourable  John  Gore; Second  Justice,  Mr.  Christopher  Robinson ;  Third  Justice,  Wil-  i liam  Scott,  Esq.     The  indictment  charged  the  prisoner  with  act-  ! ing  as  a  leader  in  a  treasonable  conspiracy,  exercising  men  under arms,  swearing  them  to  allegiance  to  the  French  King,  and  incit-  \ ing  them  to  rebellion.     The  witnesses  produced  were,  a  man  of  i the  name  of  John  Toohy,  who  had  been  committed  to  Kilkenny gaol  on  a  charge  of  horse-stealing,  a  month  previously  to  his  exa-  ! mination  having  been  given  in  against  the  prisoner;  a  woman of  the  name  of  Mary  Butler ;  and  a  vagrant  boy  of  the  name  of Lonnergan. It  would  be  difficult  to  comprehend  the  nature  or  extent  of  the wickedness  exhibited  in  these  proceedings,  without  referring  to the  circumstances  which  rendered  Sheehy  and  others  more  ob- noxious to  the  magisterial  conspirators  than  the  persons  of  his persuasion  in  the  neighbourhood  who  had  the  good  fortune  to escape  being  similarly  implicated.  The  enclosing  of  commonage in  the  neighbourhood  of  Clogheen  in  the  winter  of  1761-2,  had inflicted  much  injury  on  the  parishioners  of  Father  Sheehy. About  that  time  the  tithes  of  two  Protestant  clergymen,  Messrs. Foulkes  and  Sutton,  in  the  vicinity  of  Bally poreen,  were  rented to  a  tithe  proctor  of  the  name  of  Dobbyn.  The  tithe  farmer  in- stituted in  1762  a  new  claim  on  the  Roman  Catholic  people  in his  district  of  five  shillings  for  every  marriage  celebrated  by  a priest.  On  what  grounds  this  claim  was  put  forward  I  have  not been  able  to  ascertain,  but  the  fact  of  its  having  been  preferred and  levied  admits  of  no  doubt.*  This  new  impost  wTas  resisted by  the  people,  and,  as  it  fell  heavily  on  the  poor  parishioners  of Father  Sheelvy,  he  denounced  it  publicly. The  first  "  risings"  in  his  neighbourhood  were  connected  with their  resistance  to  this  odious  tax.  The  collection  of  church  cess in  a  parish  adjoining  his,  where  there  was  no  congregation,  was likewise  resisted  by  the  people,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  their *  The  above-named  fact  and  many  others  connected  with  the  private  history  of the  persons  referred  to  in  this  Memoir,  were  communicated  to  me  by  one  of  the oldest  inhabitants  of  Clogheen,  one  most  thoroughly  acquainted  with  those  times and  their  events,  Mr.  Jeremiah  M'Grath,  a  land  surveyor,  a  relative  of  one  of  the persons  persecuted  and  repeatedly  prosecuted,  Roger  ISheehy. FATHER    SHEEHY.  Y^&ZC'''* f  35 I  resistance  to   it  was  encouraged  by  Father  sheeny.     On  some occasions,  when  the  parishioners  assembled  for  the  purpose   of I  devising  some  means  of  protection  against  the  extortions  of  tithe J  proctors,  Father  Sheehy  was  present  and  took  part  in  their  dis- i  cussions.     These  discussions,  it  is  needless  to  say,  they  dared  not J  hold  in  public ;  but,  private  as  they  were,  they  were  well  known I  to  the  real  conspirators  in  Clonmel.      Father  Sheehy  was  a  bold and  fearless  advocate  of  justice  and  humanity,  a  man  whose  mis- ;  fortune  it  was,  in  times  like  those,  to  be  gifted  with  a  generous j  disposition,  and  to  be  animated  with  a  hatred  of  oppression.  But 1  the  very  qualities  which  rendered  him  obnoxious  to  the  enemies '  of  the  poor  persecuted  people,  left  him  naked  and  open  to  their enmity.     He  was  courageous  and  confiding,  chivalrous  in  defence of  the  poor  and  the  oppressed,  but  incautiously  prominent  in  the struggle,  and  heedless  of  the  power  and  the  wickedness  of  his enemies. The  various  informations  and  indictments  show  plainly  enough, differing,  as  they  do,  in  the  most  material  particulars,  yet  con- curring in  one  point,  the  influence  of  Sheehy  over  his  parishioners, that  his  prosecutors  were  casting  about  them  at  random  for  evi- dence of  any  kind  or  character  that  might  rid  them  of  the  annoy- ance of  a  man  of  an  independent  mind,  and  by  his  implication give  additional  colour  to  the  pretended  Popish  plot. For  several  months  previously  to  Mr,  Sheehy 's  surrender,  he had  been  in  concealment,  flying  from  house  to  house,  of  such  of his  parishioners  as  he  could  confide  in.  He  had  been  frequently obliged  to  change  his  abode  to  avoid  the  rigorous  searches  that were  almost  daily  made  for  him.  At  length,  terror  and  corrup- tion had  exerted  such  an  influence  over  his  own  flock  that  he hardly  knew  whom  to  trust,  or  in  whose  house  to  seek  an  asylum. Indeed  it  is  impossible  to  wade  through  the  mass  of  informations sworn  to  against  him  by  persons  of  his  own  persuasion,  without wondering  at  the  extent  and  the  successfulness  of  the  villainy  that was  practised  against  him.  His  last  place  of  refuge  at  Clogheen was  in  the  house  of  a  small  farmer,  a  Protestant,  of  the  name  of Griffiths,  adjoining  the  churchyard  of  Shandrahan,  where  his remains  now  lie.  The  windows  of  this  house  open  into  the churchyard,  and  there  Father  Sheehy  was  concealed  for  three  days, hid  during  the  day  in  a  vault  in  the  latter  place,  and  during  the night  in  the  house,  when  it  was  necessary  to  keep  up  a  large  fire, so  benumbed  with  cold  he  used  to  be  when  brought  at  nightfall ...»  O  O  a from  the  place  that  was  indeed  his  living  tomb.  The  house  is still -standing,  and  inhabited  by  the  grandson  of  his  faithful  friend, and  one  not  of  his  own  creed  it  is  to  be  remembered.  The  last service  rendered  to  him  at  Clogheen  was  likewise  by  a  Protestant, 3G  THE    WHITEBOYS. a  gentleman  in  the  commission  of  the  peace,  Mr.  Cornelius O'Callaghan,  to  whom  he  surrendered  himself.  This  gentleman gave  him  one  of  his  horses  to  convey  him  to  Dublin,  and  the  sum of  ten  guineas  to  bear  his  expenses. Mr.  O'Callaghan's  high  rank,  his  character  for  loyalty,  his  posi- tion in  society,  were  not  sufficient  to  secure  him  from  the  malig- nity of  the  magisterial  conspirators.     Mr.  O'Callaghan  was  de-  j nounced  by  Bagwell  as  a  suspected  person.  Lord  James  Cahir,  the  ; ancestor  of  Lord  Glengall,  was  likewise  declared  to  be  on  the  black  i list  of  this  gentleman,  and  of  his  associate,  the  Rev.  James  Hew- etson ;  both  these  gentlemen  had  to  fly  the  country  to  save  their lives,  and  the  noblemen  who  are  their  successors  would  do  well to  remember  how  necessary  it  is  to  keep  the  administration  of justice  in  pure  hands,  that  rapacious  villainy  may  |)e  discomfited in  its  attempts  to  promote  its  interests  by  the  inculpation  of  men who  have  broad  lands  and  local  influence  to  be  deprived  of  by convictions  and  confiscations. One  of  the  earliest  charges  of  Whiteboyism  brought  against him  stands  thus  recorded  in  the  indictment  and  information  book in  the  Crown  Office  :* — "  Nicholas  Sheehy,  bailed  in  £2,000;  Denis  Keane,  £1,000; Nicholas  Dogherty,  £1,000.  A  true  bill.  Clonmel  General Assizes,  May  23,  1763,  before  Right  Hon.  Warden  Flood  and  Hon. William  Scott.  Nicholas  Sheehy,  a  Popish  priest,  bound  over  in court  last  assizes,  trial  then  put  off  by  the  Court,  indicted  for  that he,  with  divers  others  ill-disposed  persons  and  disturbers  of  the peace,  on  the  second  day  of  March,  in  the  second  yearof  the  reign of  George  III.,  at  Scarlap,  did  unlawfully  assemble  and  assault William  Ross,  and  did  wickedly  compel  him  to  swear  that  he would  never  discover  anything  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Whiteboys, etc.  William  Ross,  bound  over  in  £100,  estreated;  James  Ross, £100,  estreated. The  Rosses  ofGarrymore  were  Roman  Catholics  of  the  middle rank,  and  had  rendered  themselves  obnoxious  to  the  people  at the  commencement  of  these  agrarian  disturbances  by  enclosing commonage  adjoining  their  lands  at  Dromlemmon. A  party  of  levellers  had  broken  down  the  fences  with  which they  had  enclosed  these  commons,  but  whether  the  persons  en- gaged in  this  act  were  parishioners  of  Father  Sheehy,  or  had  re- ceived any  encouragement  from  him,  or  whether  the  charge  was brought  forward  from  private  resentment,  or  at  the  instigation  of Sheehy 's  persecutors,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.     It  is  clear, *  Once  for  all  I  have  to  state  that  the  above  document,  and  all  the  others  of  a similar  kind,  which  are  here  given,  were  collected  by  myself,  and  copied  from  the original  official  documents  in  the  Crown  Office  of  Clonmel. I  FATHER    SHEEHY.  37 however,  from  the  forfeiture  of  their  recognizances,  that  they  had j  taken  a  step  they  repented  of,  or  were  not  able  to  follow  up.* '  Sheehy  was  evidently  ignorant  of  this  proceeding  of  theirs,  for  on his  trial  he  called  on  one  of  the  Rosses  to  prove  that  he  had  slept '  at  their  house  the  night  that  Bridge  was  said  to  have  been  mur- j  dered,  and  on  his  examination  the  fact  was  denied  by  him.  Every ;  step  in  this  nefarious  persecution  is  marked  with  perfidy  of  more I  than  ordinary  baseness. The  custom  of  first  "presenting"  a  Popish  priest  in  those  times, J  and  then  trumping  up  charges  of  sedition,  and  encouragement  of agrarian  outrages,  was  in  full  force  at  this  period.      Sheehy  had been  thus  "  presented"  before  any  other  charge  was  brought  against him. At  the  same  assizes  at  which  the  first  bill  was  found  against him,  a  true  bill  was  likewise  found  against  Michael  Quinlan, a  Popish  priest,  for  having,  at  Aghnacarty  and  other  places,  exer- cised the  office  and  functions  of  a  Popish  priest  against  the  peace and  statute,  etc. To  make  the  surety  of  conviction  doubly  sure,  as  in  Sheehy 's case,  a  second  indictment  was  sent  up  on  the  same  occasion, charging  him  with  "  riotously  assembling  at  Aghnacarty  against the  peace",  on  the  same  day  as  named  in  the  former  indictment. At  the  General  Assizes  at  Clonmel,  on  the  23rd  May,  1763,  a number  of  persons  were  indicted,  charged  with  Whiteboy  offences, and  amongst  them  we  find  the  names  of  the  witnesses  who  were made  the  main  supporters  of  the  Bagnell,  Maude,  and  Bagwell conspiracy,  or,  as  they  termed  it,  the  Popish  plot.  The  following persons  were  then  tried  and  acquitted:  Tim  Guinan;  John, Michael,  Daniel,  and  James  Lonnergan.  Two  of  the  Lonnergans were  the  nephews  of  Guinan,  a  hackler,  lads  between  the  ages  of fifteen  and  seventeen ;  one  of  them,  John  Lonnergan,  was  the  wit- ness on  whose  evidence  the  managers  mainly  relied  for  convic- tions in  the  subsequent  trials.  This  boy  was  an  idle  vagrant, noted  in  his  neighbourhood  for  his  vicious  habits.  He  was  pro- duced on  the  trials  dressed  out  for  the  occasion  in  a  long  outside coat,  for  the  purpose  of  causing  him  to  look  taller  and  older  than he  was. At  the  Clonmel  Summer  Assizes  of  1764,  Nicholas  Sheehy was  again  indicted,  and  seven  other  persons  out  on  bail  were  in- cluded in  the  same  indictment,  wherein  it  set  forth,  "  that  they *  At  a  little  distance  from  the  grave  of  Father  Sheehy,  the  Rosses  lie  buried  in the  churchyard  of  Shandrahan.  The  inscription  on  their  tombstone  states  that James  Ross  (the  father)  died  in  17G5.  William  died  in  1787.  The  nephew  of  the latter  treated  the  successor  of  Father  Sheehy  in  Clogheen  with  great  violence,  not long  after  which  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  killed  on  the  spot. 38  THE    WHITEBOYS. on  the  6th  of  January,  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  king's  reign,  at  ! Shanbally,  did  assault  John  Bridge,  against  the  peace". At  the  same  Assizes,  a  true  bill  was  found  against  Edward Meehan,  Nicholas  Sheehan,  Nicholas  Lee,  John  Magan,  John Butler,  and  Edmund  Burke,  charging  them  with  "  compassing rebellion  at  Clogheen,  on  the  7th  March  and  6th  October,  second year  of  the  king,  and  unlawfully  assembling  in  white  shirts,  in arms,  when  they  did  traitorously  prepare,  ordain,  and  levy  war against  the  king";  and  bound  to  appear  as  witnesses,  Michael Guy  nan,  Thomas  Lonnergan,  and  Mary  Butler. On  the  19th  November,  1764,  Denis  Brien,  of  Ballyporeen, was  bound  over  before  Mr.  Cornelius  O'Callaghan,  to  appear  at the  following  assizes,  "  to  answer  all  things  brought  against  him by  Michael  Guynan,  John  Bridge,  or  any  other  person,  concerning the  late  disturbances' '. The  number  of  informations  sworn  to  against  all  the  leading Catholic  gentry  of  the  country  by  the  Lonnergans,  Guinan,  Toohy, a  horse-stealer,  and  two  abandoned  women  of  the  names  of  Butler and  Dunlea,  between  the  years  1763  and  1767,  would  fill  a  good- sized  volume.  The  names  of  the  magistrates  before  whom  these informations,  in  almost  every  instance,  were  sworn,  were  John Bagwell,  Thomas  Maude,  and  the  Rev.  J.  Hewetson. At  the  General  Assizes  held  at  Clonmel  the  16th  March,  1765, before  Chief  Baron  Willes  and  Mr.  Justice  Tennison,  the  follow- ing bills  found  at  the  former  assizes  were  brought  before  the Grand  Jury.  Some  of  the  trials  were  put  off,  all  the  parties  were admitted  to  bail,  or  allowed  to  stand  out  on  heavy  recognizances, and  the  names  of  the  persons  who  bailed  the  prisoners  are  de- serving of  notice ;  for  it  will  be  found,  that  to  enter  into  sureties for  a  man  marked  out  for  ruin  by  the  Clonmel  conspirators,  was  to draw  down  the  vengeance  of  these  conspirators  on  those  who dared  to  come  forward  as  witnesses,  and  stand  between  the  victims and  their  persecutors. I  doubt  if  anything  more  terribly  iniquitous  than  the  proceed- ings which  I  have  traced  in  these  official  records  is  to  be  met  with in  the  history  of  any  similar  conspiracy. The  High  Sheriff  in  1765  was  Sir  Thomas  Maude,  the  fore- man of  the  grand  jury,  Richard  Pennefather,  Esq.  The  follow- ing are  the  persons  named  as  having  been  formerly  indicted  and held  to  bail : — "  Edmund  Burke,  of  Tullow,  bail  £500 ;  his  sureties,  John Hogan  and  Thomas  Hickey,  of  Frehans. John  Butler,  innkeeper,  Clogheen,  bail  £500;  his  sureties, George  Everard,  of  Lisheenanoul,  and  James  Butler,  of  Gurrane, county  Cork. I FATHER    SHEEHY.  39 Edward  Meehan,  Clogheen,  £500 ;  his  sureties,  Pierce  Nagle, j  of  Flemingstown;  John  Butler,  of  Mitchelstown ;  James  Hickcy, 1  of  Frehans ;  John  Bourk,  of  Rouska. Nicholas  Sheehy,   surrendered;  James  Buxton,  Patrick  Con- don, and  Patrick  Boar,  out". After  the  names  of  these  persons,  against  whom  true  bills  had ;  been  found,  the  proceedings  are  thus  recorded : — "  Trial  put  off  last  Assizes  on  an  affidavit  of  the  prosecutor, ■  bound  over  then  in  Court  to  appear.  Record  since  removed  by 1  certiorari. "  Indicted,  Spring  Assizes,  17G4,  for  that  they,  not  having  the fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  nor  the  duty  of  their  allegiance,  but being  moved  and  seduced  by  the  instigation  of  the  devil,  and  de- parting from  the  true  affection  and  natural  obedience  of  our  Lord the  King,  and  intending,  contriving,  and  conspiring  to  disquiet and  disturb  the  peace  of  our  said  Lord  the  King,  and  all  his  liege subjects,  on  the  10th  day  of  February,  in  the  second  year  of  the king,  and  at  divers  other  times  before  and  after,  at  Clogheen, falsely,  unlawfully,  devilishly,  and  traitorously  did  compass,  ima- gine, and  intend  to  raise  and  levy  open  war,  insurrection,  and  re- bellion ;  and  in  order  to  fulfil  and  bring  to  effect  the  treasons  and intentions  aforesaid,  afterwards,  to  wit  same  day,  year,  and  place, did  traitorously  and  seditiously  assemble  together,  with  two  hun- dred other  unknown  persons,  armed  with  guns,  pistols,  and  other weapons,  as  well  offensive  as  defensive,  dressed  in  white  apparel, did  falsely,  unlawfully,  and  traitorously  prepare,  begin,  and  levy public  war  against  our  said  Lord  the  King,  against  the  peace  and statute. Michael  Guynan,  £50, Bailed  in  Court". The  preceding  details  sufficiently  explain  the  views  and  objects of  the  prosecutors,  and  their  temporary  defeat  by  the  terms  en- tered into  by  Father  Sheehy  with  Government,  by  which  a  trial in  Dublin  was  secured  to  him. The  trial,  which  took  place  on  the  10th  of  February,  1766,  in the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  was  impartially  conducted;  the  con- duct of  the  "  managers"  who  got  up  the  evidence,  at  every  turn  of the  testimony,  bore  on  its  face  the  evident  marks  of  subornation of  perjury.  The  vile  witnesses  broke  down,  and  after  a  trial  of fourteen  hours'  duration,  the  persecuted  priest  was  honourably  ac- quitted. He  had  redeemed  his  pledge  to  the  Government,  he had  given  himself  up,  stood  his  trial,  and.  proved  his  innocence. But  no  sooner  was  the  verdict  pronounced,  than  the  faith  of  Go- vernment was  broken  with  him.     The  unfortunate  man  was  in- 40  THE   WHITEBOYS. formed  by  the  Chief  Justice  that  a  charge  of  murder  was  brought  I against  him,  and  on  this  charge  he  must  be  committed  to  New- gate.  lie  was  accordingly  taken  from  the  dock,  removed  to  the prison,  and,  after  two  or  three  days'  imprisonment,  was  put  into  the hands  of  his  merciless  persecutors,  to  be  forthwith  conveyed  to Clonmel. The  first  intimation  of  the  new  charge  against  him  was  given  to him  in  Dublin,  a  few  days  previously  to  his  trial,  by  a  person named  O'Brien,  who  had  accompanied  him  from  Clogheen. Martin  O'Brien,  on  account  of  his  intelligence  and  prudence,  had been  chosen  by  the  friends  of  the  priest  to  accompany  him  to Dublin,  and  he  gave  some  proof  of  his  fitness  for  his  appointment by  strongly  urging  him,  a  few  days  previously  to  his  trial,  to  quit the  kingdom.  Father  Sheehy  was  then  at  large ;  he  had  been confined  for  a  few  days  after  his  surrender  in  the  Provost  in  the Castle  Yard.  He  was  placed  under  the  charge  of  Major  Joseph Sirr,  then  town-major,  and  father  to  the  person  of  less  enviable notoriety  in  the  same  office  at  a  later  period.  His  innocence  was so  manifest  to  Mr.  Secretary  Waite  and  to  Major  Sirr,  that  he  was relieved  from  all  restraint,  and  the  latter  held  himself  responsible for  his  appearance  at  the  time  appointed  for  his  trial.  - While  he  was  at  large  he  was  informed  by  O'Brien  that  a  per- son had  brought  him  an  account  from  Clonmel  that  no  sooner  had the  news  of  Father  Sheehy 's  surrender  been  received  than  a rumour  got  abroad  that  a  charge  of  murder  was  to  be  brought against  him.  He  recommended  Father  Sheehy  not  to  lose  a  mo- ment in  getting  out  of  the  kingdom,  and  urgently  pressed  him  to put  himself  the  same  day  on  board  a  packet  for  England. O'Brien  several  years  afterwards  stated  to  my  informant  that Sheehy  smiled  at  the  proposal.  He  said  they  wanted  to  frighten him  out  of  the  country,  but  he  would  not  gratify  his  enemies,  and if  they  brought  such  a  monstrous  charge  against  him,  he  could easily  disprove  it.  Sheehy 's  arrival  in  Dublin,  it  is  to  be  borne  in mind,  was  only  five  months  after  the  alleged  murder,  and  at  the time  of  his  departure  from  Clogheen,  it  is  positively  affirmed  by Magrath,  on  the  authority  of  O'Brien,  that  Father  Sheehy  had then  no  knowledge  of  the  murder,  and  the  probability  is,  that  it was  in  Dublin  a  fugitive  named  Mahony,  when  about  quitting  the kingdom,  had  made  the  revelation  to  him. Sheehy  was  conveyed  on  horseback,  under  a  strong  mili- tary escort,  to  Clonmel,  his  arms  pinioned,  and  his  feet  tied under  the  horse's  belly.  While  in  confinement  in  the  gaol  of Clonmel  he  was  double  bolted,  and  treated  in  every  respect  with the  utmost-  rigour.  In  this  condition  he  was  seen  by  one  of  his old  friends,  and  while  this  gentleman  was  condoling  with  him  on FATHER    SHEEHY.  41 his  unfortunate  condition,  lie  pointed  to  his  legs,  which  were  ulce- rated by  the  cords  he  had  been  bound  with  on  his  way  from  Dub- lin. He  said,  laughing,  "  Never  mind,  we  will  defeat  these fellows" ;  and  he  struck  up  a  verse  of  the  old  song  of  Shaun  na guira. On  the  12th  of  March,  17G6,  Sheehy  was  put  on  his  trial  at Clonmel,  for  the  murder  of  John  Bridge.  Most  of  the  witnesses who  gave  evidence  on  the  former  trial  were  produced  on  this  oc- casion. Among  the  new  witnesses  was  a  woman  of  abandoned  charac- ter, commonly  known  by  the  name  of  "  Moll  Dunlea",  but  intro- duced on  the  trial  as  Mrs.  Mary  Brady,  the  latter  being  the  name of  a  soldier  of  the  light  horse,  with  whom  she  then  cohabited. Nicholas  Sheehy  was  indicted  on  the  charge  of  having  been present  at,  and  aiding  and  abetting  Edmund  Meighan  in  the  mur- der of  John  Bridge.  Mr.  Sheehy  had  a  sister,  Mrs.  Green,  who resided  at  Shanbally,  in  the  vicinity  of  Clogheen;  and  at  this place,  according  to  the  evidence,  the  murder  of  Bridge,  Lord Carrick,  Mr.  John  Bagnell,  Mr.  William  Bagnell,  and  other  per- sons obnoxious  to  them,  was  first  proposed  by  Mr.  Sheehy  to  a numerous  assemblage  of  Whiteboys ;  and  by  him  all  those  present were  sworn  to  secrecy,  fidelity  to  the  French  king,  and  the  com- mission of  the  proposed  murders,  and  subsequently  the  murder  was committed  by  one  of  the  party,  named  Edmund  Meighan,  of Grange,  in  the  month  of  October,  1764. Sheehy  and  Meighan  were  tried  separately.  The  same  evidence for  the  prosecution  was  produced  on  both  trials.  The  notes  of  one of  the  jurors,  taken  at  the  trial  of  Meighan,  were  communicated to  the  Editor  of  the  Gentleman's  and  London  Magazine,  with  a view  to  establish  the  guilt  of  the  accused  parties;  and,  therefore, the  account  is  to  be  taken  as  one,  the  leaning  of  which  was  cer- tainly towards  the  prosecutors,  and  in  support  of  the  finding  of the  jury.* John  Toohy,  sworn  for  the  Crown. Knows  the  prisoner ;  knew  John  Bridge ;  he  is  dead ;  was  killed by  Edward  Meighan,  by  a  stroke  of  a  bill-hook  on  the  head  at Shanbally,  and  died  instantly ;  went  to  English's  house  at  Shan- bally, with  Pierce  Byrne,  James  Buxton,  James  Farrell,  Silvester How,  Darby  Tierney ;  knew  not  for  what  purpose ;  saw  John Walsh,  Denis  Coleman,  Peter  Magrath,  and  John  Bridge,  playing cards  at  English's  house ;  went  a  small  way  out  of  the  house,  on James  Farrell's  call,  into  a  field ;  saw  many  people  in  the  field ;  to *  "  Gentleman's  and  London  Magazine",  June,  17CG,  p.  370. 42  THE    WIIITEBOYS. wit,  Edmund  Meighan  the  prisoner,  Nicholas  Sheehy,  Edward Prendergast,  Thomas  Beere,  John  Burke,  Edward  Burke,  Thomas Magrath,  Hugh  Hayes,  Roger  Sheehy,  Denis  Coleman,  William Flyn,  Edmund  Sheehy,  Edward  Coffee,  James  Coghlan,  John Walsh,  Philip  M'Grath,  Thomas  Harman,  John  Butler,  and  many others,  drawn  up  in  a  rank,  as  if  to  be  reckoned.  John  Bridge and  company  went  towards  the  people,  and  joined  them.  Nicholas Sheehy  tendered  an  oath  to  John  Bridge  to  deny  his  examina- tions, who  refused  to  take  it ;  on  this  refusal  Pierce  Byrne  struck at  him  with  a  flane,  which  he  defended  with  his  left  hand ;  then the  prisoner  drew  a  bill-hook  from  under  a  belt,  and  struck  Bridge on  the  head,  which  to  his  recollection  clove  the  skull ;  Bridge  fell down  dead  instantly. The  same  persons,  in  about  half  an  hour,  got  a  blanket,  and carried  the  corpse  to  a  field  belonging  to  Connor's  son,  or  Ross, at  Ballybuskin,  and  buried  him  in  a  ploughed  field,  about  two miles  from  the  place  of  committing  the  murder. An  oath  was  then  tendered  by  Nicholas  Sheehy  to  all  present not  to  disclose  what  had  passed  that  night,  and  to  be  true  to  the king  of  France  and  Shaun  Meskill  and  children;  which  oath most  or  all  of  them  did  take.  The  prisoner  took  the  oath ;  all approved  of  what  happened ;  that  as  John  Bridge  was  out  of  the way,  Michael  Guinan's  testimony  could  not  take  effect.  The field  is  called  the  Barn-field ;  knows  not  what  was  done  with  the body  since ;  heard  the  prisoner  say  that  the  corpse  was  taken  up and  removed ;  knows  of  a  letter  brought  to  James  Buxton  by John  Dogherty,  which  was  wrote  by  Nicholas  Sheehy. At  the  time  of  burying  the  corpse  in  the  field,  a  little  boy was  found  hiding  in  the  ditch,  and  put  up  behind  Nicholas Sheehy.  The  boy's  name,  John  Lonnergan ;  believes  he  could not  see  him  killed,  or  where  he  was  buried,  but  could  see  the people  carrying  the  body. Cross-examined. — Came  from  Killcrow ;  has  been  in  gaol  for about  four  months ;  was  sent  to  gaol  the  20th  of  September ;  first gave  examinations  against  the  prisoner  about  a  month  after  com- mittal; was  committed  for  horse  stealing;  believes  the  28th  of October,  1764,  was  Tuesday,  but  cannot  recollect;  knew  not  of any  rewards  to  be  given  by  Government ;  remembers  Clogheen fair  in  October,  1764,  but  not  the  day;  Bridge  was  killed  about ten  or  eleven  at  night ;  knows  not  whether  before  or  after  the fair  of  Clogheen ;  lived  for  a  week  before  the  murder  with  James Buxton,  and  returned  to  the  same  place ;  lived  with  James  Bux- ton for  three  years  before  and  after;  was  employed  to  carry messages  and  letters  to  and  from  the  Whiteboys;   knows  not FATHER    SHEEI1Y.  43 whether  the  house  belonged  to  English,  but  it  was  named  for his ;  never  was  there  after  the  murder ;  believes  there  were  above an  hundred  present  when  the  murder  was  committed;  says  the several  people  already  named  were  present;  says  there  is  a dwelling-house  in  the  field  where  Bridge  was  buried;  in  his evidence  in  Dublin  he  said  the  house  was  within  a  musket  shot of  the  place  of  burial;  knew  the  prisoners  by  seeing  them  at several  meetings  of  the  Whiteboys ;  gave  in  examinations  against the  Whiteboys  in  about  a  month  after  committal,  and  after  the murder,  a  short  time  before  he  went  to  Dublin. John  Lonnergan,  sworn. Knows  the  prisoner;  saw  him  in  October,  1764,  between  Mr. Callaghan's  and  Father  Sheehy 's ;  saw  several  in  company  with the  prisoner:  to  wit,  Thomas  Magrath,  John  Butler,  Nicholas Sheehy,  and  many  others,  in  the  high  road  to  Shanbally ;  that when  he  first  saw  them  he  slipped  into  a  trench,  being  afraid  of his  life ;  was  discovered  in  the  trench  by  Thomas  Magrath,  and taken  out  and  asked  his  business ;  they  then  put  him  behind Nicholas  Sheehy;  he  saw  them  carry  a  corpse  rolled  up  in  a caddow ;  saw  the  head  bloody  on  the  side  of  the  horse  next  to him ;  was  not  carried  far,  before  he  was  put  from  behind  Sheehy ; knew  John  Bridge,  but  did  not  know  whether  he  was  the  corpse.* They  desired  this  evidence  to  go  home  another  short  road,  and Nicholas  Sheehy  gave  him  three  half-crowns,  and  desired  him not  to  talk  of  what  he  saw,  or  to  betray  his  uncle,  Michael Guinan ;  is  not  very  certain  of  the  time  of  the  murder  of  Bridge, but  heard  he  was  murdered ;  believes  it  was  about  the  first  of November  was  two  years. He  was  sent  by  his  uncle,  Michael  Guinan,  to  John  Bridge  for a  pistole  or  guinea ;  does  not  recollect  when,  but  it  was  on  the same  night  that  he  saw  the  corpse,  but  did  not  go  all  the  way  on account  of  hearing  the  crowd,  some  way  on  foot  and  some  on horseback. Heard  that  Bridge  was  killed  on  the  same  night,  very  soon  after. When  he  was  taken  from  behind  Nicholas  Sheehy,  the  pri- soner showed  him  a  short  cut  to  the  town  of  Clogheen,  and desired  him  not  to  follow  the  corpse,  but  to  go  home  the  short way;  believes  there  were  an  hundred  there;  there  were  also present  Buck  Farrell  and  James  Farrell. Cross-examined. — Saw  the  corpse  after  midnight;  it  was neither  very  dark  nor  very  light ;  the  days  were  not  long,  but rather   short;  believes  it  was   Sunday   night,   because   he  saw *  This  part  of  the  evidence  is  falsified ;  the  boy  swore  that  the  head  of  the corpse  he  saw  had  been  cloven  nearly  in  two,  and  was  that  of  John  Bridge. — R.  R.  M. 11  THE    WHITEBOYS. people  going  to  mass ;  knows  not  how  long  it  was  before  Christ- mas ;  it  was  three  weeks  before  Christmas ;  people  go  to  mass  on holidays  as  well  as  Sundays,  therefore  it  might  be  an  holiday ; he  did  not  know  the  length  of  a  week. Mary  Brady,  sworn. She  lived  with  her  mother  in  Clogheen ;  Michael  Kearney  was in  her  house  in  October,  1764,  and  was  called  on  by  Nicholas Sheehy ;  she  was  present ;  Nicholas  Sheehy  said  Kearney  was  to go  with  him  that  night ;  she  followed  them  to  Shanbally ;  saw  a man  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  dead ;  she  then  and  there  saw  Nicho- las Sheehy,  the  prisoner  Edmund  Sheehy,*  Thomas  Magrath,  and several  others ;  there  were  about  an  hundred ;  she  first  saw  the body  at  Shanbally ;  they  buried  the  body  at  Ballyhuskin,  on  the lands  called  the  Barn ;  was  not  present  at  the  burial ;  she  saw  a bill-hook  in  the  prisoner's  hand ;  the  prisoner  made  an  attempt to  strike  the  corpse  when  in  the  blanket,  and  said  what  had been  done  was  very  right,  and  it  was  a  pity  but  to  use  all  w s and  rogues  in  like  manner ;  she  observed  the  bill-hook  bloody ; they  left  Shanbally  shortly  before  she  followed  them. She  recollects  no  other  words  of  the  prisoner ;  in  about  eight  days the  corpse  was  taken  up  and  buried  atBallysheehan,near  Shanbally. Says  she  was  sent  by  Nicholas  Sheehy  to  the  prisoner — that he  was  to  go  on  command,  and  he  said  he  would  obey ;  says  she watched  the  party,  and  followed  them  from  Clogheen  to  Bally- huskin Barn;  was  desired  by  Nicholas  Sheehy  and  Edmund Sheehy,  alias  Buck  Sheehy,  to  stay  at  the  end  of  the  road,  and not  to  go  farther,  and  by  the  prisoner ;  she  saw  them  bring  the corpse  in  the  same  way  as  before  from  Ballyhuskin  to  Ballyshee- han ;  it  was  carried  by  turns ;  about  an  hundred  present ;  followed the  corpse  most  of  the  road  to  Ballysheehan ;  they  said  they would  bury  it  in  the  churchyard  there. Nicholas  Sheehy  tendered  an  oath  at  the  first  and  second burial  on  the  cross,  to  be  true  to  each  other,  and  never  to  dis- cover ;  the  prisoner  was  sworn  on  the  cross  at  both  burials ;  she heard  the  prisoner  say  it  was  John  Bridge. Cross-examined. — She  remembers  it  was  in  October;  knows not  when  the  fair  of  Clogheen  is  held;  says  it  was  four  days before  Lieutenant  Chaloner  went  to  Clogheen;  she  went  after Michael  Kearney,  by  whom  she  had  a  child,  to  Ballyhuskin; Kearney  had  no  certain  residence,  but  was  at  her  mother's  house the  night  Sheehy  called  on  him. The  men  were  gathered  about  nine  o'clock;   says  Michael *  The  grandfather  of  the  late  Lady  Blessington. FATHER    SHEEHY.  45 Kearney  was  there  present  at  the  burial;  there  were  many  other women  there ;  she  was  admitted,  as  Michael  Kearney  was  such as  they  imagined ;  Kearney  swore  her ;  there  were  some  Clogheen women  there;  she  saw  none  prevented;  Bally huskin  how  far from  Shanbally,  or  Bally sheehan,  she  knows  not,  but  thinks  above three  miles ;  all  dressed  as  usual ;  it  was  neither  light  nor  dark  ; did  not  go  the  high  road. For  the  Traverser. Gregory  Flannery,  sworn. He  knew  Michael  Kearney;  lived  in  Clogheen;  saw  him April,  1763,  in  Dublin ;  he  went  to  borrow  money  from  Counsellor O'Callaghan,  and  if  he  could  not  get  it  he  was  to  quit  the  country ; he  gave  the  witness  £60  in  cash,  witness  gave  a  bill  for  £58  12s.  4d., and  left  two  letters ;  saw  him  go  aboard  a  ship  bound  for  Bristol or  Parkgate ;  saw  the  ship  sail  below  the  wall ;  wrote  to  the witness  about  some  things  in  about  two  months  after;  never heard  of  him  since  he  left  the  kingdom,  about  the  22nd  or  23rd of  April,  1763. Cross-examined — He  might  have  returned  since  without  his knowledge ;  he  lived  in  Dublin  ten  years,  but  never  resided  in the  county  of  Tipperary. Thomas  Gorman,  sworn. Knew  Michael  Kearney  twenty  years ;  saw  him  in  February or  March,  1763;  heard  Michael  Kearney  went  abroad,  and  re- ceived a  letter  from  him,  dated  7th  May,  1763,  from  London;  re- ceived several  other  letters  till  September  or  October,  1763,  when he  said  he  was  going  to  Jamaica ;  often  saw  him  when  in  the country,  and  believes  if  he  had  returned  he  would  have  seen  him. Henry  Keating,  sworn. Knew  Michael  Kearney  in  Jamaica,  the  beginning  of  March, 1764;  saw  him  first  there  in  December,  1763;  he  was  in  very- good  health ;  then  did  not  think  of  returning ;  witness  returned in  August,  1764;  left  Jamaica  in  April,  1764;  made  some  stay in  London;  has  been  in  Clonmel  since;  believes  he  would  have seen  Kearney  if  he  returned ;  it  was  Michael  Kearney  of  Clogheen. Cross-examined. — Knew  the  county  of  Tipperary  sixteen years ;  heard  there  was  another  Michael  Kearney. Denis  Magrath,  sworn. Lives  at  Clogheen  since  he  was  born ;  knew  Michael  Kearney left  Clogheen  the  15th  of  April,  1763;  he  was  the  same  Michael Kearney  that  kept  Mary  Brady. 40  THE    WHITEBOYS. Cross-examined. — Witness,  a  brother  to  Thomas  Magrath,  a prisoner;  says  Michael  Kearney  set  off  for  Dublin  the  15th  of April,  1763;  he  received  a  letter  in  six  or  eight  days  from Dublin;  he  received  letters  from  London  the  May  following;  he is  sure  Kearney  did  not  return  after  he  first  went  off. Daniel  Keefe,  sworn. Lived  in  Clogheen  fifteen  years ;  knew  Michael  Kearney ;  saw him  last  three  years  ago  next  April;  knew  him  since  1752; heard  he  was  in  Jamaica ;  quitted  on  account  of  money  due ; sure  if  he  was  in  Clogheen  he  must  have  seen  him,  unless  he kept  his  room ;  he  had  a  child  by  Mary  Brady. Ann  Hullan,  sworn. Remembers  the  fair  of  Clogheen,  1704;  knows  Mary  Brady; her  daughter,  Mary  Brady,  lived  with  the  witness  in  October, 1764;  the  fair  is  in  October;  she  lived  with  her  mother;  she was  at  the  fair ;  lay  in  her  own  house  the  night  before  the  fair ; lay  for  two  nights  before  the  fair  with  her  two  daughters,  Mary Brady  one  of  the  daughters,  Eleanor  Dunlea  the  other;  lay  in her  own  house,  with  her  two  daughters,  in  one  bed:  she  and  her daughters  went  to  bed  about  eight  or  nine  o'clock,  two  nights before  the  fair:  Mary  Brady  remained  the  whole  night  in  bed for  the  three  nights ;  could  not  be  out  of  bed  without  her knowing  of  it:  knows  not  whether  Mary  Brady  be  married;  she is  not  to  be  believed  on  her  oath ;  three  years  next  Easter  since Michael  Kearney  left  Clogheen ;  he  was  not  at  her  house  at  any time  in  1764;  no  one  in  company  with  her  daughter  but  what she  was  present  with. Eleanor  Dunlea,  sworn. Knows  Mary  Brady ;  the  fair  in  Clogheen,  before  All-holland tide ;  a  fair  there  every  year  in  October ;  lay  the  fair  night  in bed  with  Mary  Brady  and  her  mother,  and  the  night  before,  and the  night  before  that,  and  the  night  after  the  fair ;  went  to  bed about  seven;  all  went  to  bed  together;  has  known  Michael Kearney ;  does  not  remember  his  ever  spending  an  hour  in  her house ;  it  Avas  usual  with  the  family  to  go  to  bed  early. John  Henderkin,  sworn. Knows  Edward  Meighan,  the  prisoner;  the  fair  of  Clogheen, the  28th  of  October,  1764,  was  on  a  Monday;  witness  lives  in Carrick ;  came  to  Clogheen ;  spent  the  night  before  the  fair  in prisoner's  house,  to  which  he  went,  as  being  his  friend ;  prisoner keeps  a  free  house  in  Clogheen ;  came  to  his  house  about  five  in FATHER    SHEEHY.  47 j  the  evening  of  the  28th;  prisoner  was  at  home  before  him,  and !  remained  with  him  all  the  evening;  they  went  to  bed  about I  eight  or  nine  o'clock ;  the  prisoner  was  in  the  house  when  the I  witness  went  to  bed ;  the  prisoner  did  not  go  to  bed  all  night,  as f  the  fair-day  was  to  be  next  day,  and  he  had  work  to  finish  for |  the  fair;  he  and  a  journeyman  were  at  work  in  the  same  room '  where  witness  lay,  who  awoke  several  times,  and  still  found  them '  at  work ;  lay  awake  about  half  an  hour,  and  spoke  to  Meighan about  working ;  did  not  go  to  sleep  before  ten ;  at  which  time i   Meighan,  the  prisoner,  was  in  the  room. Cross-examined. — Meighan  the  prisoner  is  married  to  witness's sister ;  came  from  Carrick  to  Clogheen  about  five  in  the  evening, where  he  found  the  prisoner,  his  wife,  a  journeyman,  and  maid; prisoner  sitting  in  the  kitchen  with  man  and  maid ;  witness  got cold  meat  in  prisoner's  house ;  did  not  speak  to  the  journeyman since  he  came  to  town ;  an  entry  between  the  shop  and  kitchen ; worked  usually  in  a  bed-chamber,  and  not  in  the  shop ;  they began  to  work  after  night-fall ;  no  other  person  lay  in  the  room without ;  the  witness  did  not  sleep  before  ten ;  did  not  sleep  an hour  together  all  night ;  said  the  prisoner  could  not  go  out  un- known to  him;  he  slept  an  hour  together;  does  not  think  it possible  for  the  prisoner  to  go  out  unknown  to  him ;  the  prisoner and  his  journeyman  were  at  work  when  he  got  up  in  the  mor- ning ;  witness,  after  the  fair,  lay  with  the  prisoner  in  the  same bed ;  prisoner  and  he  went  to  bed  together  that  night  about  ten ; Meighan  and  he  lay  positively  together  all  that  night ;  heard  the prisoner  was  charged  with  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  about  a month  ago ;  never  applied  to  for  his  evidence  by  any  one ; knows  not  who  told  him  of  the  murder ;  did  not  hear  when  the murder  was  committed ;  came  voluntarily  to  give  his  evidence ; heard  the  morning  of  the  fair  that  John  Bridge  fled  out  of  the country ;  never  heard  he  was  murdered  but  by  common  fame ; had  no  conversation  with  the  prisoner  since  he  came  to  town,  or since  he  was  committed ;  is  a  nailor  by  trade. John  Toohy,  produced  a  second  time  by  Counsellor  Hughes. Knows  the  prisoner  was  present;  says  there  was  John  Butler and  Thomas  Magrath,  both  of  Clogheen,  present. Edmund  Callaghan,  for  the  Prisoner. Knows  Shanbally ;  knew  it  in  October,  1764,  and  lived  there seventeen  years;  no  one  of  the  name  of  English  in  Shanbally since  he  knew  it. Cross-examined. — Knows  Glyn  Callaghan ;  some  English  live above  Glyn  Callaghan,  on  a  purchase  made  by  Counsellor  Cal- 48  THE    WHITEBOYS. laghan,  and  joins  Shanbally;  where  English  lives  is  about    one- eighth  of  a  mile  from  Shanbally. Daniel  Keefe,  produced  a  second  time. Knows  John  Butler;  saw  him  in  October,  1764;  did  not  see him  the  28th  or  29th  of  October,  1764. Gerald  Fitzgerald,  for  the  Prisoner, Knows  John  Butler;  saw  him  in  October,  1764,  in  a  fever,  at his  own  house,  from  the  3rd  to  the  end  of  the  month ;  cannot say  he  saw  him  the  28th ;  saw  him  November  the  2nd,  before  he was  able  to  go  out. Richard  Travers,  sworn. Knew  Thomas  Magrath  in  October,  1764;  saw  him  the  28th at  witness's  father's  house,  and  from  about  eight  at  night  till  four o'clock  in  the  morning  on  Sunday ;  was  drinking  all  the  time  in the  company;  knows  not  whether  he  went  out;  did  not  stay  out an  hour  at  a  time ;  knows  not  where  English  lives ;  Shanbally about  four  miles  from  Clogheen. John  Brien,  sworn. Lives  at  Shanbally ;  is  a  dancing-master ;  knew  John  Bridge ; believes  him  alive;  never  saw  him  since  the  24th  of  October, 1764,  nor  was  he  in  the  country  since;  met  him  in  a  forge  the 24th  at  Barncourt ;  called  for  the  sledge,  and  turned  some  shoes ; called  witness  aside,  and  desired  that  he  would  keep  what  he told  him  secret,  for  that  he  was  going  out  of  the  kingdom,  and that  if  he  returned  he  would  return  his  favour. Lawrence  Hanglin,  sworn. Knew  John  Bridge ;  saw  him  at  Anglesborough,  in  the  county of  Limerick,  28th  of  October,  1764,  about  eleven  miles  from Clogheen ;  was  surprised  at  his  knocking  at  his  door  three  hours before  day ;  he  said  he  was  going  to  sea  to  avoid  the  light  horse ; went  with  him  through  Mitchelstown ;  parted  from  him  beyond the  town,  and  took  leave  of  him  beyond  it;  he  could  read  and write,  but  lie  never  wrote  to  him,  or  to  any  one  that  he  could hear ;  told  him  he  would  go  to  Cork  or  Kinsale  to  look  for  a ship ;  believes  Mr.  Beere  is  to  be  believed  on  his  oath. John  Landregan,  sworn. Worked  all  Saturday  night;  worked  Sunday  night,  till  five  or six  o'clock  on  Monday  morning;  began  to  work  about  six  on FATHER    SIIEEHY.  49 Sunday  evening;  did  not  go  to  bed  or  to  sleep  all  night;  witness went  to  prepare  a  stand ;  in  witness's  company  all  night  with his  wife,  maid,  and  Henderkin,  all  there;  Henderkin  went  to bed  in  the  work-room  above  stairs. Cross-evamined. —  Did  not  sleep  from  Saturday  to  Monday; lay  on  Monday  night  at  his  father's  house ;  Henderkin  went  away on  Tuesday;  saw  Henderkin  a  fortnight  ago;  did  not  see  him this  day  or  yesterday ;  did  not  hear  what  he  swore. Meighan,  on  this  evidence,  being  convicted,  the  same  testi- mony was  produced  against  Father  Sheehy.  Several  of  his parishioners  offered  to  come  forward  as  witnesses,  to  confute  the witnesses  who  had  so  grossly  perjured  themselves  on  the  former trial;  but  Father  Sheehy,  well  knowing  they  would  incur  the vengeance  of  his  prosecutors,  and  relying  mainly  on  the  testimony of  two  witnesses,  Messrs.  Keating  and  Herbert,  whose  characters he  thought  would  secure  tham  from  any  injury  on  his  account, generously,  but  unfortunately  for  him,  declined  to  have  several of  them  called. One  person,  indeed,  of  his  own  persuasion,  his  spiritual  superior, the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Egan,  he  did  call  on,  to  speak  to  his  character  as  a man  of  loyalty,  and  this  gentleman  refused.  The  cold,  dull  shade of  the  Catholic  aristocracy,  the  influence  of  the  friendship  of  Lord Kenmare,  the  fear  of  the  consequences  attendant  on  the  perjured informations,  which  went  to  implicate  Dr.  Butler,  the  Roman Catholic  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  in  the  crime  of  treason,  it  is  to  be feared,  prevented  Dr.  Egan  from  coming  forward  on  behalf of  a  person  who  had  the  character  of  an  agitating  priest,  one  who was  inimical  to  tithe  proctors  and  the  oppressors  of  the  poor,  and most  obnoxious  to  the  latter,  and  their  powerful  protectors  in  the commission  of  the  peace.* The  innocence  of  Father  Sheehy  was  clearly  established  by  one of  the  witnesses  he  produced,  Mr.  Keating,  a  Catholic  gentleman of  respectability  and  fortune,  the  excellence  of  whose  character, in  the  words  of  Mr.  O'Connor,  formed  a  striking  contrast  with that  of  his  prosecutors.  But  the  most  astounding  act  of  wicked- ness that  had  been  yet  practised  against  the  life  of  this  doomed man  was  had  recourse  to  to  deprive  him  of  the  advantage  which the  testimony  of  Mr.  Keating  must  have  been  to  him,  had  that  tes- timony been  allowed  to  go  unimpeached. The  following  account  of  the  extraordinary  proceeding  of  his persecutors  to  effect  their  object,  is  taken  from  the  Candid  Inquiry of  Dr.  Curry: — "  During  his  trial,  Mr.  Keating,  a  person  of  known *  After  Sheehy's  execution,  the  refusal  of  Dr.  Egan  was  remembered  and marked :  as  the  corpse  was  borne  past  the  house  of  Dr.  E, ,  the  blood  of  the  inno- cent man  was  sprinkled  on  his  door. VOL.  I.  •*> 50 THE  WIIITEBOYS. property  and  credit  in  that  country,  giving  the  clearest  and  fullest evidence  that,  on  the  whole  of  the  night  of  the  supposed  murder of  Bridge,  the  prisoner,  Nicholas  Sheehy,  had  lain  in  his  house; that  he  could  not  have  left  it  in  the  night-time  without  his  know- ledge, and,  consequently,  that  he  could  not  be  present  at  the  mur- der, the  Rev.  Mr. (Hewetson)  stood  up,  and,  after  looking at  a  paper  that  he  held  in  his  hand,  informed  the  Court  that  he had  Mr.  Keating's  name  on  his  list  as  one  of  those  who  were  con- cerned in  the  murder  of  a  sergeant  and  corporal  at  New  Market, upon  which  Mr.  Keating  was  immediately  hurried  away  to  Kil- kenny gaol,  where  he  lay  for  some  time  loaded  with  irons,  in  a dark  and  loathsome  dungeon.  By  this  proceeding  not  only  his evidence  was  rendered  useless  to  Sheehy,  but  also  that  of  many others  was  similarly  dealt  with,  who  came  to  testify  to  the  same thing,  but  who  instantly  withdrew  themselves,  for  fear  of  meeting with  the  same  treatment".  As  the  crime  laid  to  the  charge  of Mr.  Keating  was  committed  in  another  county,  fortunately  for him  he  was  not  tried  at  Clonmel.  He  was  brought  to  trial  in Kilkenny.  The  principal  witnesses  against  him  were  those  who had  given  evidence  on  Sheehy 's  trial,  but  the  jury  gave  no  credit  to their  testimony,  and  the  prisoner  was  accordingly  acquitted.  The purpose,  however,  of  Father  Sheehy 's  .prosecutors  was  effected. The  obnoxious  priest  was  deprived  of  the  evidence  of  a  witness which  must  have  established  his  innocence,  if  the  Rev.  Mr. Hewetson  had  not  remembered  that  "  his  name  was  on  the  list". In  the  Scots  Magazine,  of  March,  1766,  at  page  65,  this  mat- ter is  treated  as  an  ordinary  occurrence,  that  called  not  for  a  sin- gle observation.  "  On  the  trial  Father  Sheehy  produced  Mr. Keating,  of  Tubberett*  (Tubrid)  as  evidence  in  his  behalf,  who, before  he  quitted  the  court,  was,  by  the  Lord  Chief  Justice's  order, taken  into  custody,  being  charged  with  the  murder  of  a  sergeant and  corporal  in  the  county  of  Kilkenny.  A  man  of  considerable property  was  taken  last  Tuesday.  Sheehy  was  hanged,  drawn, and  quartered,  on  Saturday  morning". '  Herbert",  we  are  told  by  Curry,  "  who  was  a  farmer,  had come  to  the  assizes  of  Clonmel,  in  order  to  give  evidence  in  favour of  the  priest  Sheehy  (but  it  was  pretended  bills  of  high  trea- son had  been  found  against  him) :  they  sent  the  witness  Toohy (accompanied  by  Mr.  Bagnell),  attended  by  some   of  the  Light *  Tubrid  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  four  miles  from  Cahir,  on  the  road  to Clogneen,  close  to  the  ruins  of  an  old  chapel,  dedicated  to  St.  Kerin.  The  Irish historian,  l)r  .Geoffrey  Keating,  who  was  a  native  and  priest  of  this  parish,  is  bu- ried in  iubnd  churchyard  ;  an  inscription  on  an  old  monument  near  the  ruined chapel,  dated  IGU,  enjoins  the  reader  to  pray  for  the  soids  of  Eugenius  Duhuy and  Geoffrey  Keating,  its  founders. FATI1E11  SHEEHY.  51 Horse,  to  take  hiin  prisoner.  Herbert,  when  taken,  immediately became  an  evidence  for  the  "Crown,  but  upon  what  motive,  whe- ther for  the  sake  of  justice,  the  fear  of  hanging,  or  the  hopes  of  a reward'',  is  left  by  Curry  to  the  reader  to  determine.* "  On  the  day  of  his  (Shcehy's)  trial",  we  are  told  by  the  same author,  "  a  party  of  horse  surrounded  the  court,  admitting  and excluding  whom  they  thought  proper ;  while  others  of  them,  with a  certain (Baronet,   Sir  Thomas  Maude)   at  their  head, scampered  the  streets  in  a  formidable  manner,  forcing  their  way into  inns  and  private  lodgings  in  the  town ;  challenging  and  ques- tioning all  new  comers ;  menacing  his  friends,  and  encouraging  big enemies.  Even  after  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced  against him,  which  one  would  think  might  have  fully  satisfied  his  enemies, Mr.  S w  (Sparrow),  his  attorney,  declares,  that  he  found  it  ne- cessary for  his  safety  to  steal  out  of  the  town  by  night,  and  with  all possible  speed  to  escape  to  Dublin". f The  prisoner,  Father  Nicholas  Sheehy,  was  found  guilty  of  the murder  of  John  Bridge,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  drawn,  and quartered;  and  on  the  15th  the  sentence  was  carried  into  execu- tion at  Clonmel.  The  head  of  the  murdered  priest  was  stuck  on a  spike,  and  placed  over  the  porch  of  the  old  gaol,  and  there  it was  allowed  to  remain  for  upwards  of  twenty  years,  till  a  length his  sister  was  allowed  to  take  it  away  and  bury  it  with  his  remains at  Shandraghan. Beside  the  ruins  of  the  old  church  of  Shandraghan  the  grave  of Father  Sheehy  is  distinguished  by  the  beaten  path,  which  reminds us  of  the  hold  which  his  memory  has  to  this  day  on  the  affections of  the  people.  The  inscriptions  on  the  adjoining  tombs  are effaced  by  the  footsteps  of  the  pilgrims  who  stand  over  his  grave, not  rarely,  or  at  stated  festivals,  but  day  after  day,  as  I  was  in- formed on  the  spot,  while  the  neglected  tomb  of  the  ancestors  of the  proud  persecutor,  Wm.Bagnell,  lies  at  a  little  distance,  unho- noured  and  unnoticed.  The  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  Father Sheehy  is  in  the  following  terms :  "  Here  lieth  the  remains  of  the Rev.  Nicholas  Sheehy,  parish  priest  of  Shandraghan,  Bally- sheehan,  and  Templeheney.  He  died  March  15th,  17G6,  aged thirty-eight  years.  Erected  by  his  sister,  Catherine  Burke,  alias Sheehy". During  the  Assizes  at  Clonmel,  a  menacing  letter,  addressed  to Mr.  John  Bagnell,  was  read  in  Court.  The  moderation  and  hu- manity of  that  gentleman  were  highly  eulogized,  "  for  having  de- clined to  produce  the  letter  until  after  the  passing  of  sentence, though  he  had  received  it  during  the  course  of  the  trials,  lest  it *  "  Candid  Inquiry",  etc  ,  p.  1 1.  t  Ibid.,  pp.  9  and  1 0. 52  THE  WHITEBOYS. might  be  suspected  that  sanguinary  indirect  means  had  been  used to  the  disadvantage  of  the  prisoners".  The  letter  was  in  these terms : TO  JOHN  BAGNELL. "  Your  parcel  of  heretic  dogs  who  have  taken  away  Christian innocent  lives,  for  which  we  will  take  an  hundred  lives  for  every one  you  take.  You  took  the  head  of  our  bishop,  who  was  to  be  a primate  of  all  Ireland,  but  we  have  elected  one  in  his  place  and will  soon  relase  their  heads  with  some  of  yours. "  I  remain  your  enemy, "  Shaun  Meskill". This  clumsy  fabrication  could  not  for  a  moment  have  imposed on  the  understanding  of  any  man  in  Ireland  of  ordinary  intelli- gence. The  calling  of  the  priest  "  their  bishop",  the  design  of representing  Sheehy  as  a  candidate  for  the  primacy,  the  privilege claimed  by  the  people  of  electing  a  prelate,  are  sufficient  indica- tions of  the  manufacture  of  this  ingenious  device. When  it  is  remembered  that  it  was  not  the  lives  of  two  men, but  those  of  almost  all  the  leading  Roman  Catholic  gentry  of  the county,  several  of  the  priesthood,  and  even  some  of  the  hierarchy, which  were  dependent  on  the  credit  given  to  the  testimony  and sworn  informations  of  these  witnesses,  it  may  not  be  impertinent to  the  subject,  or  even  unprofitable  in  our  own  times,  to  inquire into  their  characters,  and  the  means  taken  by  the  terrorists  of  the day,  or  the  suborners  of  those  perjured  witnesses,  to  goad  or  gain them  over  to  their  nefarious  purposes. John  Toohy,  a  horse-stealer,  was  lying  in  Kilkenny  gaol,  un- der a  charge  of  felony,  about  a  month  before  the  trial  of  Father Sheehy  in  Dublin.  The  large  promises  held  out  to  persons  who would  swear  home  against  the  suspected  and  accused  parties,  and insure  convictions,  came  to  the  knowledge  of  this  felon,  and  he contrived  to  get  into  communication  with  Lord  Carrick  and  other managers  of  the  prosecution,  by  whom  he  was  visited,  and  in  due time  transmitted  to  Dublin.  Having  done  his  work  there,  he  was sent  back  to  Clonmel,  at  first  confined  in  the  gaol,  and  then  suffered to  go  abroad  with  a  fetter-lock  on  one  of  his  legs.  The  lock  was soon  removed,  and  he  was  dressed  out  for  thQ.  witness  table  (the customary  preparation  then  of  an  Irish  Crown  witness).  Amy  as Griffith,  Surveyor  of  Excise,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Toler,  speaks  of seeing  him  at  this  period,  "  in  an  elegant  suit  of  new  fine  clothes, a  superfine  blue  cloth  coat,  the  waistcoat  and  breeches  of  black silk",  purchased  for  him  in  Clonmel,  at  Mr.  Lloyd's,  by  the  ma- nagers of  the  prosecution.     On  the  29th  of  May,  1767,  on  the FATHER   SHEEIIY.  53 sworn  information  of  John  Toohy,  made  before  John  Bagwell, Esq.,  John  Hogan,  of  Clonmel,  cabinet-maker,  was  held  to  bail, "  for  and  on  account  of  his  being  charged  with  the  assaulting John  Toohy";  David  Cunningham  Skinner,  and  Hill  Thomp- son, pewterer,  entering  into  recognizances  for  his  appearance  at the  next  assizes.  On  the  27th  June,  same  year,  an  indictment against  John  Cody,  and  eight  others,  for  assaulting  John  Toohy, was  quashed. On  the  20th  of  August,  1767,  on  the  sworn  information  of John  Toohy,  before  John  Bagnell,  Esq.,  John  and  Edmund Cody  (father  and  son),  of  Orchardstown,  were  held  to  bail,  "  for having  with  several  other  persons,  in  a  riotous  and  unlawful manner,  assembled  on  the  lands  of  Rathronan,  in  the  said  county, on  the  15th  of  August,  having  then  and  there,  in  a  violent  and outrageous  manner,  insulted,  assaulted,  beat,  struck,  bloodshed, battered,  and  abused  the  said  John  Toohy,  giving  him  several wounds  in  his  head  and  other  parts  of  the  body,  through  means of  which  he  lies  in  eminent  danger  of  life ;  and  for  having  then and  there  expressed  and  declared,  that  if  they  had  Sir  Thomas Maude,  John  Bagnell,  Esq.,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hewetson,  they would  serve  them  in  the  same  manner". Thomas  Duning,  of  Kilmore,  and  Patrick  Kennedy,  entering into  recognizance  for  their  appearance  at  the  next  assizes. At  the  prosecution  of  Roger  Sheehy,  in  the  year  following, 1768,  Toohy  was  again  brought  forward  as  a  witness.  The  prime sergeant  pronounced  him  perjured,  and  the  judge  desired  the jury  to  acquit  the  prisoner.  Griffith  states  Toohy  survived  a few  years,  and  died  of  leprosy.  Mary  Dunlea,  lived  at  Rehill, and  by  her  own  mother  was  admitted  to  be  a  woman  of  the worst  character.  She  cohabited  with  Michael  Kearney,  the  per- son mentioned  in  her  evidence ;  and  the  notoriety  of  her  ill conduct,  when  residing  in  the  parish  of  Shandraghan,  caused Father  Sheehy  to  denounce  her  from  the  altar.  It  was  subse- quently to  this  denunciation  she  lodged  informations  against Nicholas,  Edmund,  and  Roger  Sheehy,  the  two  Burkes  of Ruske,  and  several  others.  During  the  trials,  she  was  kept  at  the barracks,  her  table  being  furnished  from  one  of  the  principal hotels  in  Clonmel,  the  Spread  Eagle. At  the  general  assizes  in  Clonmel,  August,  1766,  true  bills were  found,  on  the  information  of  Mary  Dunlea,  alias  Brady, against  James  Kearney  and  Terence  Begley,  for  "  tampering with  the  said  M.  Brady,  and  dissuading  her  from  giving  evidence". Another  true  bill  was  found  against  a  woman  of  her  own  name, for  "  unlawfully  reviling  said  M.  Brady,  for  giving  evidence against  Nicholas  Sheehy". 54  THE  WHITEBOYS. Jeremiah  Magrath,  o.f  Clogheen,  tlie  surviving  relative  of  one of  her  victims,  saw  her  in  Clogheen  in  1798.  She  was  then married,  or  said  to  be  so,  to  a  soldier  in  a  militia  regiment,  a  mi- serable object,  blind  of  one  eye,  and  was  on  her  way  to  Cork with  her  reputed  husband,  where  she  met  with  an  untimely  end by  falling  down  a  cellar.  Griffith  states  that  she  died  in  a  ditch in  the  county  of  Kilkenny;  but  the  former  account  of  her  end  is entitled  to  most  credit. The  boy,  Lonnergan,  nephew  of  another  informer,  was  noto- rious in  the  country  for  his  depravity.  During  the  trials,  he  was likewise  lodged  in  the  barracks.  When  his  services  were  dis- pensed with,  he  changed  his  name  to  Ryan,  enlisted,  and  went  to Dublin.  There,  it  is  said,  he  eventually,  by  a  loathsome  disease, terminated  his  career  in  Barrack  Street.  A  respectable  apothecary, of  the  name  of  M'Mahon,  of  Aungier  Street,  wTas  employed  to attend  him  by  a  person  in  authority,  and  was  liberally  paid  for  his attendance. Another  brother  of  this  unfortunate  boy,  whose  informations were  used  on  the  same  occasion,  in  the  conspiracy  of  1766,  wan- dered over  the  country  for  some  years,  and  returned  to  his  native place,  where  he  died  a  natural  death. The  origin  of  John  Bridge,  the  unfortunate  man  whose  name is  connected  with  the  earliest  incidents  in  this  frightful  drama,  is involved  in  equal  mystery   with   the  termination  of  his  career. Deserted  by  his  parents,  he  was  found  in  infancy  on  the  bank  of the  river,  under  the  bridge  of  Clogheen,  and  was  brought  up  by  a man  of  the  name  of  Henry  Biers.     He  was  a  simple,  harmless  poor creature,  of  Aveak  intellect,  and  was  accustomed  to  go  about  the county  amongst  the  small  farmers,  with  whom  he  was  a  favourite, and  was  looked  on  by  them  as  a  good-natured  poor  fellow,  who, having  no  friend  or  relatives,  had  some  claim  to  their  kindness. Father  O'Leary  appears  to  have  been  misinformed  respecting  his character.     When  the  head-quarters  of  the  Earl  of  Drogheda  was at  Clogheen,  he  had  been  taken  up  on  suspicion  of  Whiteboyism, or  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  information   from  him;  he  was flogged  with  great  severity,  and  under  that  torture  made  disclo- sures, true  or  false,   which  were   supposed   to  implicate   several persons  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Clogheen.     His  disappearance has  been  already  stated,  and  the  consequences  that  ensued  from  it. The  discovery  of  the  remains  of  a  man  alleged  to  have  been murdered,  on  the  trial  of  the  men   charged  with  his  murder,  it might  have  been  imagined  would  have  been  a  matter  of  some  im- portance.    But  the  fact  of  the   parties  who  swore  they  had  been present  at  the  murder,  and  interment  of  the  body,  having  failed to  substantiate  the  latter  part  of  their  statement,  by  the  discovery FATHER  SHEEIIY.  55 of  his  remains,  was  of  no  advantage  to  the  accused.  In  the  case of  the  Jews  at  Damascus,  accused  of  murdering  Father  Tomaso, similar  declarations,  without  evidence  of  any  discovery  of  remains, made  the  same  slight  impression  on  the  minds  of  all  men,  except their  barbarous  persecutors.  And  yet,  in  the  latter  case,  the  per- jured witnesses  went  a  step  beyond  their  Irish  prototypes ;  they produced  fragments  of  bones,  and  shreds  of  clothing,  which  they attempted  to  palm  off  as  part  of  the  remains  of  the  murdered priest.  The  verdict  of  the  civilized  world  acquitted  the  perse- cuted Jews,  while  the  perjured  witnesses,  the  Turkish  cadis,  and the  European  partisans  of  their  barbarous  persecutors,  were  exe- crated as  they  deserved  to  be. The  same  outrage  on  humanity  and  justice  in  the  case  of  the unfortunate  Christian  priest,  in  our  own  country,  calls  for  similar reprobation ;  for  there  cannot  be  one  measure  of  detestation  for murderous  persecution  in  a  distant  land,  and  another  for  the  same wickedness  in  our  own. "  Bridge's  body",  we  are  informed  by  Curry,  "  was  never found,  though  it  was  carefully  sought  for  in  the  two  different places  in  which  the  witnesses  had  sworn  it  was  deposited ;  and though  the  particular  circumstances  of  his  cleft  skull,  which  the same  witnesses  swore  was  the  cause  of  his  death,  would  have guided  the  search,  and  distinguished  his  from  every  other  body in  the  place.  Besides,  two  of  Bridge's  known  intimates,  whose veracity  was  not  questioned,  positively  deposed,  at  the  trials  of the  late  convicts,  that  but  a  few  days  before  he  disappeared,  he told  them  in  confidence,  that  he  was  then  going  to  quit  the  king- dom, and  took  a  formal  leave  of  them,  desiring  them  to  keep  his departure  secret,  and  promising  that,  if  he  should  ever  see  them again,  he  would  reward  their  kindness".* Many  years  subsequently  to  his  disappearance,  Bridge  was  said to  be  living  in  Newfoundland ;  and  in  Arthur  O'Leary's  defence of  his  conduct  during  the  Munster  riots,  published  in  1787,  he alludes  to  the  fact  of  his  existence  in  these  words:  "Bridge,  a man  of  no  good  character,  whose  dead  body  could  not  be  found, but  whose  living  body,  if  report  be  true,  was  afterwards  seen  in Newfoundland.  The  dead  bodies  of  rogues,  who  had  been  mur- dered in  our  kingdom,  had  been  afterwards  seen  living  bodies  in another,  as  so  many  enchanted  dragons,  watching  the  Hesperian garden  of  the  temple  of  Venus,  alias  bullies  to  a  brothel.  That this  was  Bridge's  case  I  cannot  affirm  ;  but  for  the  rest,  the  history of  the  kingdom  is  my  voucher".! Seven  years  after  Bridge  quitted  the  country,  it  is  also  stated *  Dr.  Curry's  "  Parallel,"  etc. t  O'Leary's  Defence,  in  answer  to  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  p.  20. 5  6  THE  WHITKBOYS. that  lie  was  seen  by  a  native  of'Clogheen  in  the  United  States  of  j America.     Amyas  Griffith  speaks,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Toler,  of Bridge's  existence  in  Newfoundland  in  1787. In  one  of  the  depositions  sworn  to  by  Landregen,  one  of  the Clonmel  informers,  15th  of  March,  1767,  before  the  Rev.  Dr. Hewetson,  the  deponent  swears  to  his  being  present  at  the meeting  of  the  Whitcboys,  on  the  race-course  of  Clogheen,  on  the night  of  the  Earl  of  Drogheda  coming  there,  at  which  Father Sheehy  proposed  to  burn  the  town  and  massacre  the  magistrates. That  said  meeting  was  held  in  the  spring  of  1762,  some  time before  the  French  took  Newfoundland.* The  allusion  to  Newfoundland  is  rather  singular.  The  arrival of  the  troops  under  the  Earl  of  Drogheda  was  an  event  much more  likely  to  recal  the  date  than  the  capture  of  Newfoundland; nor  is  it  likely  that  a  man  in  the  humble  rank  of  the  deponent, would  have  an  event  of  no  local  interest  fresh  in  his  mind  five years  after  its  occurrence. The  rumour  of  Bridge's  departure  from  France,  and  being then  settled  in  Newfoundland,  was  much  more  likely  to  have reached  Ireland,  and  to  have  brought  the  name  of  that  place  to the  memory  of  the  deponent.f The  reader.  I  believe,  is  now  in  possession  of  all  the  data  on which  the  assertion  generally  received  is  founded — that  John Bridge  was  living  in  Newfoundland  many  years  subsequently  to the  execution  of  the  prisoners  convicted  of  his  alleged  murder. It  now  remains  to  examine  what  evidence,  documentary  or  tradi- tionary, there  may  be  in  support  of  the  opinion,  that  he  met  in his  own  country  with  an  untimely  end. The  testimony  of  Toohy,  Dunlea,  and  Lonergan,  is  not  only evidently  at  variance  with  truth  in  the  most  material  matters,  but obviously  contradictory  with  that  of  each  other,  and  is  altogether utterly  unworthy  of  credit.  But,  even  without  the  broad  marks of  perjury  blazoned  on  its  face,  there  is  enough  to  render  it  sus- pected in  the  character  of  the  witnesses — one  charged  with felony ;  another  excommunicated  by  the  minister  of  her  religion ; the  last,  whose  vicious  habits  had  rendered  him  notorious  as  ill- reputed  in  his  neighbourhood,  transformed  by  the  magic  influence of  a  crown  prosecutor's  liberal  expenditure,  from  a  vagrant  in rags  and  tatters,  to  a  witness  in  fine  clothes,  a  long-tailed  coat, and  in  high-heeled  shoes,  duly  trained  and  drilled  to  go  before a  jury.     Dr.  Curry,  in  his  pamplet,  the  Candid  Inquiry,  alludes *  Musgrave's  "  KebeUion" ;  Appendix ;  quarto  edition,  p.  3. +  St.  John's,  in  Newfoundland,  was  taken  by  the  French,  24th  May,  1762,  and re-taken  by  the  English  18th  September  following. FATHER  SHEEHY.  57 to  a  letter  which  Sheehy  wrote  to  Major  Sirr  the  day  before  his execution,  wherein  he  admitted  that  the  murder  of  Bridge  had been  revealed  to  him  in  a  manner  he  could  not  avail  himself  of for  his  own  preservation ;  and  that  the  murder  had  been  com- mitted by  two  persons,  not  by  those  sworn  to  by  the  witnesses, and  in  a  different  manner  to  that  described  by  them.  Curry jadmits  this  letter  was  written  by  Sheehy,  but  he  does  not  insert jit;  and  in  his  subsequent  work,  the  Review  of  the  Civil  Wars, j  there  is  no  mention  at  all  made  of  it  in  his  account  of  these  pro- ceedings. Having  obtained  a  copy  of  this  letter,  the  first  point to  ascertain  was,  if  the  letter  was  written  by  Sheehy,  or  fabri- cated by  his  enemies.  The  result  of  my  inquiries  was  to  convince me  that  the  letter  was  genuine.  It  was  declared  to  be  so  by  the successor  of  Father  Sheehy  in  the  parish  of  Clogheen  (Mr. Keating),  to  Mr.  Flannery,  another  ecclesiastic,  in  the  same  place, at  a  later  period.  Dr.  Egan,  who  then  administered  the  diocese, had  likewise  declared  it  to  be  genuine.  The  present  parish  priest of  Clogheen,  a  relative  of  Edmund  Sheehy,  believes  it  to  be genuine.  One  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergymen  of  Clonmel,  who takes  the  deepest  interest  in  the  fate  of  Father  Sheehy,  has  no doubt  of  its  authenticity.  Every  surviving  relative  of  either  of the  Sheehys  with  whom  I  have  communicated,  entertains  the same  opinion ;  and  lastly,  I  may  observe,  the  document  bears  the internal  evidence  of  authenticity  in  its  style  and  tone. The  following  is  a  literal  copy  of  this  document : — "  TO    JOSEPH    SIRR,    ESQ.,    DUBLIN. "  Clonmel,  Friday  Morning,  March  14,  1766. "  Dear  Sir, "  To-morrow  I  am  to  be  executed,  thanks  be  to  the  Almighty God,  with  whom  I  hope  to  be  for  evermore :  I  would  not  change my  lot  with  the  highest  now  in  the  kingdom.  I  die  innocent  of the  facts  for  which  I  am  sentenced.  The  Lord  have  mercy  on my  soul.  I  beseech  the  great  Creator  that  for  your  benevolence to  me  he  will  grant  you  grace  to  make  such  use  of  your  time here  that  you  may  see  and  enjoy  him  hereafter.  Remember  me to  Mr.  Waite,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Speaker,  and  the  Judges  of the  King's  Bench ;  may  God  bless  them  !  Recommend  to  them all  under  the  same  charge  with  me ;  they  are  innocent  of  the murder ;  the  prosecutors  swore  wrongfully  and  falsely ;  God  for- give them.  The  accusers  and  the  accused  are  equally  ignorant of  the  fact,  as  I  have  been  informed,  but  after  such  a  manner  I received  the  information  that  I  cannot  make  use  of  it  for  my  own preservation ;  the  fact  is,  that  John  Bridge  was  destroyed  by  two alone,  who  strangled  him  on  Wednesday  night,  the  24th  Octo- 58  THE  WHITEBOTS. ber,  1764.     I  was  then  from  home,  and  only  returned  home  the 28th,   and  heard   that  he  had   disappeared.     Various  were  the reports,  which  to  believe  I  could  not  pretend  to,  until  in  the  dis- charge of  my  duty  one  accused  himself  of  the  said  fact.     Mayi God  grant  the  guilty  true  repentance,  and  preserve  the  innocent.' I  recommend  them  to  your  care.     I  have  relied  very  much  on  i Mr.  Waite's  promise.     I  hope  no  more  priests  will  be  distressed for  their    relisfion,  and  that  the   Roman  Catholics  of  this  king- ; dom  will  be  countenanced  by  the  Government,  as  I  was  promised by  Mr.  Waite  would  be  the  case  if  I  proved  my  innocence.     I am  now  to  appear  before  the  Divine  tribunal,  and  declare  that  I was    unacquainted  with   Mary  Butler,   alias    Casey,   and   John Toohy,  never  having  spoken  to  or  seen  either  of  them,  to  the best  of  my  memory,  before  I  saw  them  in  the  King's  Bench  last February.     May  God  forgive  them  and  bless  them,  you,  and  all mankind,  are  the  earnest  and  fervent  prayers  of "  Dear  Sir, "  Your  most  obliged,  humble  servant, "  Nicholas  Sheehy". The  witnesses  stated  that  the  murder  was  committed  the  28th October,  1764.  Father  Sheehy  says  it  was  on  the  24th.  The number  of  persons  implicated  in  it  by  the  former  was  consider- able ;  by  the  latter  two  only  were  concerned  in  it.  In  the  mode of  committing  it  the  discrepancy  of  the  accounts  is  no  less  obvious. The  question  arises,  when  was  this  confession  made  to  Father Sheehy,  and  with  what  object?  Amy  as  Griffith  speaks  of  the disclosure  thus  made  under  the  veil  of  confession  as  "  no  new method  of  entrapping  credulous  priests",  and  that  it  was  adopted in  this  instance  after  the  trial ;  of  the  latter  statement  no  proof  is adduced.  The  shortness  of  the  time  between  his  conviction  and execution,  and  the  inability  expressed  of  availing  himself  of  the knowledge  given  him  "  for  Iris  own  preservation",  militate  against the  probability  of  this  disclosure  being  made  subsequently  to  the trial. Curry  treats  the  disclosure  as  a  snare  laid  by  the  enemies  of Sheehy,  for  their  own  purposes.  The  purposes  to  be  served  by having  recourse  to  the  infamous  proceeding  of  deceiving  the unwary  priest,  and  of  making  the  functions  of  his  sacred  office subservient  to  the  designs  of  his  enemies,  could  only  be  the  fol- lowing; if  resorted  to  previously  to  trial,  by  the  disclosure  of the  alleged  murder  to  deter  Sheehy  from  adducing  evidence  of  the man's  existence ;  or,  if  subsequently  to  it,  to  leave  it  out  of  his power  to  make  any  declaration  of  his  ignorance  of  the  fact  of Bridge's  alleged  death. FATHER   SHEEHY.  50 The  attempt  for  the  accomplishment  of  either  object  was  not too  unimportant  for  the  character  of  the  prosecutors ;  nor  can  it be  deemed  too  infamous  to  be  beyond  the  compass  of  their wickedness,  when  we  find  them  holding  out  offers  of  pardon  to |their  three  next  victims  on  condition  of  their  making  a  decla- ration that  "  the  priest",  in  his  last  solemn  protestation  of  inno-. Icence,  "  had  died  with  a  lie  in  his  mouth.". Curry  expresses  an  opinion  that  Father  Sheehy  mistrusted  the statement  made  to  him  in  confession,  and  grounds  that  opinion  on (the  evidence  produced  on  his  trial  in  proof  of  Bridge's  proposed [departure  out  of  the  kingdom  at  the  period  of  his  disappearance. ;  There  is  no  appearance  of  mistrust,  however,  in  the  statement  made to  him  in  his  reference  to  it,  in  his  letter  to  Major  Sirr.    The  fact  of 'Bridge's  intention  to  go  abroad,  and  of  having  gone  to  certain persons  to  take  leave  of  them  on  the  last  day  he  was  seen  living, is  unquestionable.     That  fact  is  within  the  knowledge  of  persons yet  in  existence.     The  same  obligations  which  prevented  Father Sheehy  from  availing  himself  on  his  trial  of  the  knowledge  com- I  municated  to  him,  may  have  precluded  his  giving  any  specific  in- i  formation  to  those  witnesses  whose  testimony  went  to  the  establish- ment of  the  fact  of  Bridge's  intended  departure,  and  of  their  belief in  his  existence. The  information  he  (Sheehy)  gave  Major  Sirr  was  no  less vague  than  the  rumour  of  Bridge's  death  consequent  on  his  disap- pearance, on  which  superstructure  of  suspicion  the  whole  story  of the  mode  and  manner  of  his  death  was  built  by  the  witnesses  for the  prosecution.  In  fact,  neither  the  accusers  nor  the  accused, of  their  own  knowledge,  knew  anything  of  that  event. The  whole  frightful  catalogue  of  crimes  and  calamities  attendant on  these  proceedings  at  Clonmel,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  barbarous custom  of  inflicting  torture  for  the  purpose  of  extorting  confes- sions of  guilt  and  disclosures,  on  which  criminal  proceedings  were to  be  grounded  against  obnoxious  parties. The  atrocious  practice  to  which  I  allude,  which  literally  re- duced the  Irish,  at  a  later  period,  to  the  condition  of  a  people rather  scourged  than  governed,  by  the  delegation  of  the  functions of  supreme  authority  to  a  party  simulating  loyalty,  and  exercising lawless  power,  and  which,  in  our  own  times,  has  been  defended in  the  legislature,  and  even  recently,  with  signal  daring,  has  been advocated  in  the  pages  of  a  Dublin  periodical.  This  remnant  of the  barbarity  of  the  good  old  times,  the  scourging  of  suspected persons,  which  its  modern  admirer  in  the  Dublin  University  Ma- gazine has  recently  commended  the  advantages  of,  was  one  of the  methods  of  pacifying  the  disturbed  districts  of  Munster  in 1763-4. GO  THE  WHITEBOYS. The  managers  of  the  Tipperary  prosecutions  in  1766  furnishes the  editors  of  the  Gentleman's  and  London  Magazine  with  "  Aj narrative  collected  from  authentic  materials,  of  the  proceedings  at! Clonmel,  on  the  trials  of  Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Buxton,  an James  Farrell".  They  begin  with  an  account  of  the  conduct  o: the  prosecutions,  as  characterized  by  the  deepest  impartiality  " The  statement,  therefore,  it  is  hardly  needful  to  add,  may  be  de- pended on  as  that  of  a  person  by  no  means  likely  to  fabricate  or exaggerate  any  account  of  the  cruelties  committed  on  the  people by  order  of  the  authorities,  or  under  the  sanction  of  the  courts-! martial  of  that  day.  The  narrative  informs  us :  "  It  was  in  re- sentment of  a  whipping  which  was  inflicted  on  John  Bridge  with remarkable  severity,  to  which  he  was  sentenced  by  one  of  their courts-martial,  that  led  him  to  give  evidence  against  them,  by which  he  lost  his  life".  The  object  of  singling  out  a  poor,  simple  : creature  who  was  in  the  habit  of  roaming  about  that  part  of  the country,  and  well  acquainted  with  the  names  and  residences  of the  Catholic  gentry  and  farmers  of  the  locality,  of  putting  him "  to  the  question",  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  cat-o'-nine- tails, and  of  making  the  triangles  subservient  to  the  interests  of law  and  order,  is  plain  enough.  The  simplicity  of  the  creature tortured,  bordering,  as  it  did,  on  weakness  of  intellect;  his  fami- liarity with  the  persons  suspected,  or  sought  to  be  criminated, rendered  him  a  fit  object  to  be  worked  upon  by  the  influence  of terror  and  the  infliction  of  corporal  punishment. Bridge  made  whatever  disclosures  were  suggested  to  him  or required  of  him,  and  he  was  bound  over  to  appear  as  a  witness when  called  on.  He  made  no  secret  of  his  punishment  or  his  dis- closures, and  some  of  the  people  implicated  by  him  were  desirous to  get  him  out  of  the  country ;  others,  in  his  own  rank  in  life, there  is  reason  to  believe,  distrusted  his  intention  to  leave  the country,  and  contrived  a  nefarious  plot  to  get  rid  of  his  testimony, by  implicating  him  in  felony. The  church  plate,  chalice,  etc.,  of  a  small  Roman  Catholic place  of  worship  at  Carrigvistail,  near  Bally poreen,  usually  kept, for  better  security,  at  the  house  of  an  innkeeper  of  the  name  of Sherlock,t  adjoining  the  chapel,  was  stolen,  or  said  to  be  so,  and concealed  on  the  premises,  with  the  knowledge,  it  is  alleged,  of the  owner  of  the  house.  The  facts  now  mentioned  have  not been  published  heretofore,  and  the  importance  of  their  bearing  on the  character  of  these  proceedings,  rendered  it  necessary  to  be well  assured  of  the  grounds  there  were,  for  attaching  credit  to & *  "Gentleman's  and  London  Magazine",  April,  17G6,  p.  247. f  The  name  of  Sherlock  occurs  in  some  of  the  informations  against  the  White- boys,  sworn  to  by  Toohy  and  Bier. FATHER  SHEEHY.  61 hem  before  coming  to  a  determination  to  give  them  publicity. The  authority  on  which  they  are  given  by  the  author  is  known  to  a Roman  Catholic  clergyman  of  Clonmel,  who  had  opportunities  of snowing  the  parties  best  qualified  to  give  information  on  this  sub- ject, and  of  forming  an  opinion  of  the  inquiries  which  were  made on  this  occasion  in  his  presence.  The  result  of  these  inquiries  as to  the  truth  of  the  statement  of  one  main  fact  respecting  the  fate of  Bridge,  coincides  with  the  opinion  of  every  surviving  friend and  relative  of  the  Sheehys,  and  the  other  innocent  men  who [suffered  in  this  business,  with  whom  I  have  communicated  on  the subject. The  rumour  of  the  stolen  church  plate  having  been  circulated |in  the  country,  Bridge  being  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  Sher- lock's house,  was  pointed  out  as  the  person  suspected  of  having stolen  it.  The  double  infamy  now  attached  to  Bridge's  character of  being  an  informer  and  a  sacrilegious  person.  He  was  advised to  leave  the  country,  and  at  length  he  made  preparations  to  do so.  On  their  completion,  he  took  leave  of  his  acquaintances; and  the  last  time  he  was  seen  by  them  was  on  his  way  to  the house  of  an  old  friend  of  his,  named  Francis  Bier,  for  the  pur- pose of  taking  leave  of  him.  It  was  known  that  he  intended calling  on  another  of  his  acquaintances,  named  Timothy  Sullivan, a  slater.  Sullivan  and  a  man  of  the  name  of  Michael  Mahony, better  known  in  his  neighbourhood  by  the  name,  in  Irish,  for "  wicked  Michael",  lived  at  Knockaughrim  bridge ;  he  fell  into their  hands,  and  he  was  murdered  by  them.  No  other  human being  had  act  or  part  in  this  foul  deed.  Mahony 's  flight,  and his  reasons  for  it,  were  known  for  a  long  time  only  to  his  friends. The  body  of  the  murdered  man  was  thrown  into  a  pond  at  Shan- bally. Mahony  fled  the  country ;  Sullivan  remained,  and  lived  and died,  unsuspected  by  the  authorities,  though  not  unknown  as  the murderer  to  one  individual  at  Clogheen — an  innkeeper  of  the name  of  Magrath,  who  had  been  one  of  the  innocent  persons sworn  against  by  Mary  Dunlea,  and  had  undergone  a  long imprisonment  in  Clonmel  gaol. The  persons  by  whom  this  account  was  given  to  the  author appeared  to  be  ignorant  of  any  communication  respecting  the murder  made  by  Father  Sheehy  to  Major  Sirr.  The  circum- stance of  the  coincidence  of  both  accounts,  with  respect  to  two persons  only  having  been  engaged  in  the  commission  of  the crime,  deserves  attention.  By  one  of  those  guilty  persons,  Sheehy says  the  statement  was  made  to  him. Sullivan  was  a  Protestant ;  Mahony  a  Catholic.  If  the  crime was  perpetrated  and  revealed  by  either,  the  disclosure  must  have been  made  by  Mahony. 62  THE  WHITEB0Y3. From  the  time  of  Bridge's  disappearance  till  this  disclosure  in the  confessional,  Father  Sheehy  states  that  various  rumours  were afloat,  but  which  of  them  to  believe  he  knew  not.  In  concluding this  part  of  the  subject,  I  have  only  to  observe,  that  if  any doubt  remains  respecting  the  fate  of  Bridge,  none  whatever  can be  entertained  of  the  innocence  of  those  who  were  the  victims of  one  of  the  foulest  conspiracies  on  record.  If  these  legal  pro- ceedings were  instituted  with  a  view  rather  to  retaliation  ofi an  indiscriminate  character,  than  to  the  vindication  of  the  law  by the  punishment  of  guilt  in  the  person  of  the  actual  culprit; — if  they  were  adopted,  as  such  proceedings  have  too  often  been, in  cases  of  agrarian  crime  where  no  clue  was  obtained  to  the perpetrators  of  it ;  and  it  was  deemed  sufficient,  not  for  the  ends of  justice,  but  for  the  purpose  of  striking  terror  into  a  portion of  a  community  or  a  class  to  which  the  guilty  party  was  suspected to  belong,  to  take  life  for  life ;  on  whatever  plea  of  expediency or  policy — under  whatever  legal  forms  such  prosecutions  were carried  on — the  parties  to  them  were  the  worst  of  criminals,  and their  practices  were  outrages  on  justice,  and  violations  of  the laws  of  their  country,  and  of  the  laws  of  God. The  author  of  a  virulent  book,  called  Strictures  on  Plowden's Historical  Review,  in  our  own  days,  has  had  the  courage  to revive  the  wicked  calumny  against  Father  Sheehy.  At  page 89,  he  states,  "  One  of  the  most  active  fomenters  of  these  riots was  a  priest  of  the  name  of  Father  Nicholas  Sheehy,  who,  having been  tried  at  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  in  Ireland,  and  acquitted for  want  of  sufficient  evidence,  returned  to  the  south,  and  em- boldened by  his  escape,  continued  his  treasonable  practices  with- out the  reserve  and  caution  he  had  at  first  adopted.  He  was, therefore,  a  second  time  apprehended,  was  tried  at  the  assizes  at Clonmel,  found  guilty  upon  the  clearest  evidence,  and  executed accordingly".  The  writer  of  the  above  well  knew  that  no  one acquainted  with  the  proceedings  in  Sheehy 's  case  could  possibly doubt  his  innocence.  He,  therefore,  deliberately  falsifies  those proceedings,  and  then  draws  his  deduction  of  the  guilt  of  Sheehy from  them.  The  unfortunate  Sheehy  returned  to  the  south,  after his  trial  in  Dublin,  a  prisoner  in  close  custody,  and  was,  on  his arrival  in  Clonmel,  forthwith  lodged  in  gaol.  The  interval  be- tween his  trial  in  Dublin,  on  the  10th  of  February,  and  that  in Clonmel,  on  the  12th  of  March,  namely,  a  month  and  two  days, was  spent  in  durance,  either  in  the  safe  keeping  of  Town  Major Sirr,  or  in  Clonmel  gaol. His  throwing  off"  that  reserve  and  caution  which  he  had  at first  adopted",  emboldened  by  his  escape  at  Dublin,  necessarily implies  that  he  was  at  large  in  Tipperary  subsequently  to  his  first FATHER  SHEEHY.  63 :  trial,  and  that  sufficient  time  elapsed  for  him  to  become  involved I  in  new  treasonable  practices.  Yet  we  find,  in  the  brief  interval I  between  the  two  trials,  the  persecuted  Sheehy  was  in  the  hands |  of  his  enemies — it  would  be  a  perversion  of  language  to  say,  of I  justice. Why  are  these  acts  of  barbarity  to  be  recalled  ?     If  the  day  19 I  going,  or  gone  by,  for  the  perpetration  of  them,  to  what  cause I  are  we  to  ascribe  the  happy  change,  but  to  the  free  expression  of ;  the  disgust  and  indignation  which  the  exposure  of  them  calls !  forth  ?     Is  the  day  gone  by  for  their  defence  ?     The  publication 1  of  the  book  I  have  just  referred  to,  so  many  years  after  the  death 1  of  the  victim  of  Protestant  ascendency  fanaticism,  is  an  answer  to 1  that  question.      The  passions  of  the  writer  were  not  engaged  in ;  the  matter  he  took  up,  like  those  of  the  actors  in  that  persecution. But  the  old  interests  of  ascendency  were  to  be  sustained,  and  it  is good  for  the  people  of  England  to  know  by  what  means  they  have been  upheld,  and  are  defended  even  at  this  day,  by  their  Irish organs,  and   would  be  promoted,  if  happily  a  change  had  not come  over  the  policy  of  the  Government. The  old  maxim,  divide  et  impera,  can  be  no  longer  applicable to  its  interests.  To  rule  with  justice  can  now  be  the  only  policy a  government  can  sanction  with  any  prospect  of  security  for  itself, or  the  people  will  submit  to  at  the  hands  of  any  party  that  may be  in  power. Ireland  can  no  longer  be  safely  or  conveniently  governed  for the  benefit  of  a  faction,  and  without  regard  to  the  rights,  interests, or  feelings  of  the  great  body  of  the  community. Mr.Taylor,  in  his  History  of  the  Civil  Wars,  states,  that  Sheehy had  been  frequently  tried  for  "  acting  as  a  Popish  priest",  an offence  then  punished  with  transportation ;  but  evidence  sufficient for  his  conviction  could  not  be  obtained.  The  imputed  crime, however,  involved  consequences  which  left  the  accused  subject  to penalties  of  greater  severity  even  than  transportation,  as  the  fol- lowing references  will  show. By  the  9th  of  William  III.,  passed  1697,  it  is  declared  that "  all  Popish  archbishops,  bishops,  vicars-general,  deans,  Jesuits, monks,  friars,  and  all  other  regular  Popish  clergy,  shall  depart out' of  the  kingdom  before  the  1st  day  of  May,  1698",  on  pain  of transportation;  and  any  person  so  transported  returning  ao-ain into  the  kingdom,  shall  be  adjudged  guilty  of  high  treason.* This  act  not  being  thought  sufficiently  stringent,  in  1703  an- other was  passed,  to  be  in  force  for  fourteen  years,  in  the  second year  of  Anne,    enjoining  increased  diligence   in  apprehending *  "  Irish  Statutes",  vol.  iii.,  p.  340. 64  THE    WHITEBOYS. Popish  priests  returning  into  the  kingdom.  In  1709,  previous to  the  expiration  of  this  act,  by  another  statute,  it  was  declared perpetual. This  act  extended  the  penalty  of  treason  to  "  any  person  of the  Popish  religion  who  shall  publicly  teach  school,  or  shall  instruct youth  in  learning  in  any  private  house  within  this  realm".  And if  such  person  acted  as  tutor  or  usher  in  any  Protestant  school, not  having  subscribed  the  oath  of  abjuration,  the  penalty  often pounds  shall  be  imposed  for  such  offence.*  By  the  19th  clause  of this  act,  Popish  parish  priests  are  presumed  to  exist  in  the  realm, "  having  been  duly  registered" ;  but  if  such  parish  priests  shall keep  any  Popish  curate,  or  assistant,  both  are  to  be  prosecuted  as Popish  regulars,  the  guilt  of  which  is  high  treason. The  28th  clause  provides  for  rewarding  informers  for  dis- covering and  convicting  Popish  clergy.  Fifty  pounds  for  every archbishop,  bishop,  or  other  person  exercising  ecclesiastical  juris- diction, twenty  for  each  regular  and  each  secular  clergyman,  and ten  pounds  for  each  schoolmaster,  usher,  etc.,  to  be  levied  on  the Popish  inhabitants  of  the  county,  "  in  such  manner  and  on  such persons  as  money  for  robberies,  by  a  late  act  against  tories,  rob- bers, and  rapparees  is  to  be  levied".| In  1704,  the  total  number  of  Popish  clergy  returned,  pursuant to  the  act  for  registering  Popish  priests,  was  ten  hundred  and eighty  in  the  whole  kingdom,  but  the  number  of  priests  clandes- tinely officiating  must  have  been  still  very  considerable.  The statutes  enacted  at  different  epochs  against  them,  and  the  frequent denunciation  of  them  in  the  Commons,  afford  sufficient  proof  of the  feet. March  17th,  1705,  the  Irish  Commons  voted,  "That  all  magis- trates and  other  persons  whatsoever,  who  neglected  or  omitted  to put  the  penal  laws  into  due  execution,  were  betrayers  of  the liberties  of  the  kingdom". In  June  of  the  same  year,  the  Irish  Commons  denounced such  persons  as  "  enemies  to  Her  Majesty's  Government",  and they  also  resolved  that  "  prosecuting  and  informing  against  Papists was  an  honourable  service  to  the  Government" . These  barbarous  statutes  were  the  law  of  the  land  during  the ministry  of  Father  Sheehy,  as  an  assistant  or  curate  (for  as such  he  must  have  acted  before  he  could  have  been  preferred to  a  parish,  and  have  officiated  as  a  parish  priest  "  duly  regis- tered"). While  thus  secretly  officiating,  not  being  duly  registered,  he was  subject  to  prosecution  for  treason ;  and  the  penalty  of  that *  "  Irish  Statutes",  vol.  L,  p.  198.  t  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  200. FATHER    SHEEHY.  6.") jcrime  was  to  be  hanged,  drawn,  quartered,  beheaded,  and  at- tainted, entrails  to  be  burnt,  and  head  and  quarters,  at  the  king's (disposal,  to  be  spiked  or  gibbeted.  The  priest  of  Clogheen  was 'ill  suited  for  his  time.  Mr.  Taylor,  in  his  excellent  history,  truly describes  him  as  a  inan  of  strong,  generous  feelings,  and  full  of noble  sympathy  for  the  injured  and  oppressed;  qualities  that Iwere  long  deemed  treasonable  in  Ireland. The  first  disposition  to  relax  the  rigour  of  the  penal  laws  was ;  shown  in  1762.  The  faction  saw  with  alarm  the  signs  of  the !  downfall  of  their  odious  influence  and  power.  The  proposed measure  of  enabling  Catholics  to  lend  money  on  mortgage  or landed  property,  was  vigorously  opposed  by  them.  It  passed, however,  and  was  transmitted  to  England ;  but,  so  great  was  the power  of  the  faction  even  there,  that  the  bill  was  never  returned. It  became  necessary  to  the  argument  of  the  ascendency  party against  any  relaxation  of  the  penal  code,  that  the  cry  they  had raised  should  be  kept  up,  and  that  the  Catholics,  on  any  occasion of  public  tumult  or  discontent,  should  be  held  disaffected  to England,  and  in  amity  or  alliance  with  the  French. These  are  the  old  chimes  of  ascendency  for  two  hundred  years; change  after  change  has  been  rung  upon  them,  and  they  still  are pealed  in  our  ears  by  the  same  faction,  for  the  same  objects,  and with  the  same  unchristian  spirit. An  attempt  on  a  large  scale  was  made  to  implicate  the  Roman Catholic  gentry  of  Tipperary  in  the  alleged  Papist  plot  of  1766, after  the  necessary  arrangements  were  made  for  the  conviction  of Father  Sheehy. The  rescue  of  some  prisoners  in  the  county  of  Kilkenny,  and the  murder  of  a  soldier  (as  in  Keating' s  case,  at  a  previous  period), was  the  principal  charge  on  which  Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Far- rell,  and  James  Buxton  were  first  arrested.  They  were  sent  to Kilkenny,  to  be  tried  at  the  assizes,  but  after  they  had  been  ar- raigned, the  nature  of  the  evidence  affording  no  grounds  for  ex- pecting a  conviction,  the  proceedings  were  stopped,  and  they  were sent  back  to  Clonmel  gaol,  on  the  4th  of  April,  where  new charges  were  to  be  preferred  against  them  at  the  special  assizes, which  opened  on  the  8th  of  May,  1766. Edmund  Sheehy,  a  second  or  third  cousin  of  Father  Sheehy (the  grandfather  of  the  late  Countess  of  Blessington),  was  a  gen- tleman of  moderate  independence,  connected  with  several  of  the most  respectable  Catholic  families  in  the  county,  of  a  generous disposition,  of  social  habits,  and  had  lived  on  good  terms  with  the Protestant  gentry  of  his  neighbourhood.  His  personal  appearance was  remarkably  prepossessing.  Persons  still  living  have  a  vivid recollection  of  his  frank,  expressive  features,  his  fine  athletic  form, vol   i.  6 C)6  THE    AVIIITEBOYS. of  his  intrepid  demeanour  on  his  trial,  and  on  his  way  to  execu- tion: they  speak  of  his  personal  appearance  as  that  of  a  man  in; the  prime  of  life  and  the  maturity  of  manly  vigour.  He  was  aj married  man,  and  had  four  children,  the  youngest  under  two years  of  age.  He  was  well  known  in  the  country  as  "  Buck Sheehy",  a  term  which  at  that  time  was  commonly  applied  to young  men  of  figure,  whose  means  were  good,  and  who  were looked  on  in  the  country  as  sporting  characters. Buxton  was  a  man  in  good  circumstances,  the  poor  man's  friend, in  his  neighbourhood,  popular  with  the  lower  orders,  and,  as  a: matter  of  course,  disliked  by  their  oppressors. Farrell  was  a  young  gentleman  in  affh;ent  circumstances,  who moved  in  the  best  society,  and  on  his  mother's  side  was  connected with  Lord  Cahir.  He  was  about  thirty  years  of  age,  had  but recently  married,  and,  like  his  friend  Sheehy,  his  taste  for  field sports  had  procured  for  him  the  appellation  of  one  of  the  Bucks of  Tipperary. The  friends  and  relatives  of  the  unfortunate  priest,  Sheehy,  ap-( pear  to  have  been  especially  marked  out  for  ruin.     The  design  of corroborating  the  guilt  of  Father  Sheehy,  by  involving  his  imme- diate friends  and  relatives  in  the  crime  they  laid  to  his  charge,  is , evident,  not  only  in  these  proceedings,  but  in  others,  which  were adopted  at  a  later  period. True  bills  having  been  found  against  Edmund  Sheehy,  James Farrell,  and  James  Buxton,  they  were  put  on  their  trials  before' the  Right  Honourable  Chief  Justice  Clayton  and  two  assistant  i judges.  They  were  tried  separately,  and  juries  were  empanelled of  sixty  in  each  case.  The  prisoners  challenged  about  twenty peremptorily,  but  the  court  decided  that  they  could  not  go  fur- ther, on  the  ground  of  their  inability  to  show  any  valid  objection.  { Edmund  Sheehy  was  tried  on  the  11th  of  April,  on  a  similar indictment  to  that  on  which  Buxton  and  Farrell  were  tried  on  the two  following  days. The  substance  of  the  indictment,  which  I  have  taken  from  the Crown  Book,  contains  six  counts.  The  first  sets  forth  that  Edmund Sheehy,  James  Buxton,  and  James  Farrell  were  present  at,  and aided  and  abetted  in,  the  murder  of  John  Bridge;  and  that  Pierce Byrne,  Darby  Tierney,  Dan  Coleman,  John  Walsh,  Peter  Ma- grath,  Thomas  Magrath,  John  Butler,  Thomas  Sherlock,  Roger. Sheehy,  John  Coughlan,  John  Cruttie,  Hugh  Kean,  John  Byrne, John  Springhill,  William  Flynn,  J.  Dwyer,  John  Bier,  S.  How- : ard,  Michael    Landregan,    John   and   Edward   Burke,    Edward Prendergast,  Philip  Magrath,  Michael  Quinlan,  William  O'Con-i nor,  and  James  Highland,  being  also  present,  aided  and  abetted likewise  in  the  murder.     The  second  count  sets  forth  their  swear- FATHER    SHEEHY.  67 ling  in  John  Toohy  to  be  true  to  "  Sliaune  Meskill"  and  her  chil- dren, meaning  the  Whiteboys.  The  third  count  charges  them with  tumultuously  assembling  at  Dromlemman,  levelling  fences, waging  rebellion,  etc.  The  fourth  and  fifth  counts,  with  the  same offence,  at  Cashel  and  Ballyporeen.  The  sixth,  with  taking  arms from  soldiers. The  same  wretches  who  were  produced  on  the  former  trial, John  Toohy,  Mary  Brady,  alias  Dunlea,  and  John  Lonnergan, were  brought  forward   on  their  trials ;  and  two  new  approvers, Thomas  Bier  and  James  Herbert,  to  support  the  sinking  credit  of I  the  old  witnesses.*     Herbert  was  the  man  who  had  come  to  the i  former  assize,  to  give  evidence  for  the  priest,  and  who  (to  prevent his  appearance  as  a  witness)   had  been    arrested  on  a  charge  of high  treason,  lodged  in  gaol,  and  by  the  dexterous  management i  of  the  prosecutors,  was  now  transformed  into  a  Crown  witness. Bier  was  included  in  the  indictment  of  the  prisoners,  but  had I  saved  his  life  by  turning  approver.  Previously  to  the  arrests  of Edmund  Sheehy,  Buxton,  and  Farrell,  he  sent  notice  to  them that  their  lives  were  in  danger,  and  he  recommended  their  mak- ing their  escape.  They  had  the  temerity,  however,  to  rely  on their  innocence,  and  they  paid  witli  their  lives  the  penalty  of their  folly.  The  evidence  for  the  prosecution  in  no  material respect  differs  from  that  brought  forward  on  the  trials  of  Meehan and  Nicholas  Sheehy.  A  detailed  narrative  of  it  will  be  found in  the  Gentleman's  and  London  Magazine  for  April,  1766.  It is  needless  to  weary  the  reader  with  its  fabrications.  It  is  suffi- cient to  say,  the  evidence  of  these  witnesses  was  all  of  a  piece,  a tissue  of  perjuries  clumsily  interwoven,  without  a  particle  of  truth, or  a  pretext  for  regarding  the  reception  of  it  as  the  result  of  an imposition  on  the  understanding. The  principal  witness,  whose  testimony  Mr.  Sheehy  relied  on for  his  defence,  was  a  Protestant  gentleman,  Mr.  James  Prender- gast,  "  perfectly  unexceptionable",  says  Curry,  "  in  point  of  cha- racter, fortune,  and  religion".!  This  gentleman  deposed,  "  that on  the  day  and  hour  on  which  the  murder  was  sworn  to  have  been committed — about  or  between  the  hours  of  ten  or  eleven  o'clock  on the  night  of  the  28th  of  October,  1 764— Edmund  Sheehy,  the prisoner,  was  with  him  and  others  in  a  distant  part  of  the  coun- try. That  they  and  their  wives  had  on  the  aforesaid  28th  of October,  dined  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Joseph  Tennison,  where  they *  13th  August,  1768,  at  the  Clonmel  Assizes,  Bier,  up  to  that  time  retained  iu the  service  of  the  Tipperary  persecutors,  was  called  to  plead  to  the  indictment preferred  against  him  several  years  before,  for  the  murder  of  Bridge,  when  he pleaded  the  King's  pardon,  and,  being  used  up  as  a  witness,  he  was  paid  off.  This unfortunate  man,  driven  by  terror  into  the  commission  of  so  many  crimes  against innocent  men,  died  a  natural  death  at  Bruges. t  "  Review  of 'the  Civil  Wars".     Curry,  vol.  ii.,  p.  279. 08  THE    WHITKBOYS. continued  till  after  supper,  which  was  about  eleven  o'clock,  when he  and  the  prisoner  left  the  house  of  Mr.  Tennison,  and  rode  a considerable  way  together,  on  their  return  to  their  respective homes.  That  the  prisoner  had  his  wife  behind  him,  and  when they  parted,  he  (Mr.  Prendergast)  rode  direct  home,  where,  on his  arrival,  he  had  looked  at  the  clock,  and  found  it  was  twelve exactly.  That  as  to  the  day  of  their  dining  with  Mr.  Tennison (Sunday,  the  28th)  he  was  positive,  from  this  circumstance,  that the  day  following  was  to  be  the  fair  of  Clogheen,  where  he requested  that  Mr.  Sheehy  would  dispose  of  some  bullocks  for  him, he  (Mr.  Prendergast)  not  being  able  to  attend  the  fair".*  This was  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Prendergast.  Another  witness  for  the prisoner,  Paul  Webber,  of  Cork,  butcher,  swore  that  he  saw  Mr. Sheehy  at  the  fair  of  Clogheen,  on  the  29th  October,  1764,  and conversed  with  him  respecting  Mr.  Prendergast's  bullocks,  which he  subsequently  bought  of  Mr.  Prendergast,  in  consequence  of this  conversation  with  Mr.  Edmund  Sheehy.  Another  witness, Thomas  Mason,  shepherd  to  the  prisoner,  confirmed  the  particulars sworn  to  by  Mr.  Prendergast,  as  to  the  night  and  the  hour  of Mr.  Sheehy's  return  home  from  Mr.  Tennison's  house. Bartholomew  Griffith  swore  that  John  Toohy,  his  nephew, had  falsely  sworn  on  the  trial,  that  the  clothes  he  wore  on  the trial  had  been  given  to  him  by  him  (Griffith).  That  Toohy,  on the  28th  and  29th  of  October,  1764,  was  at  his  house  at  Cullen. One  of  the  grand  jury,  Chadwick,  volunteered  his  evidence to  blunt  the  testimony  of  Griffith.  He  swore  that  Griffith,  "  on that  occasion,  was  not  to  be  believed  on  his  oath".  The  next witness  swore  that  Toohy  lived  with  his  master,  Brooke  Brazier, Esq.,  six  weeks,  where  he  behaved  very  ill.  Mr.  Brazier,  another of  the  grand  jury,  was  then  called,  and  he  declared  that  Toohy was  not  known  to  him,  but  that  a  person  was  in  his  family  for that  time,  and  was  of  a  very  bad  character.  The  managers  of  the prosecution  had  Mr.  Tennison  then  examined  by  a  Crown  lawyer. This  gentleman  swore,  "  that  Sheehy  had  dined  in  his  house  in October,  1764" ;  but  "  he  was  inclined  to  think  it  was  earlier  in  the month  than  the  28th".  This  evidence  was  received  as  a  triumphant contradiction  of  Prendergast's  testimony. Now,  as  far  as  character  was  concerned,  that  of  Sheehy's  witness stood  fully  as  high  as  that  of  Mr.  Tennison.  But  with  respect  to the  statement  of  the  particular  fact  of  the  prisoner  having  dined  • on  the  particular  day  specified  by  Sheehy's  witness  with  Tenni- son, the  evidence  of  Prendergast  went  positively  to  the  affirma- tive, while  that  of  Tennison  amounted  only  to  a  supposition  that it  was  on  an  earlier  day  in  the  month  than  that  specified  that  the *  "A  Candid  Inquiry",  p.  12. FATHER    S11EKHV.  69 iprisoner  dined  at  liis  house.  "  He  was"  only  "  inclined  to  think" that  it  was  earlier  in  the  month ;  but  Prendergast  "  was  positive", from  a  particular  circumstance,  that  it  was  on  the  Sunday,  the  day before  the  fair  at  Clogheen,  he  dined  there.  There  was  no  other witness  produced  to  corroborate  the  supposition  of  Mr.  Tennison. There  were  two  witnesses  called  to  confirm  the  positive  statement of  Prendergast  with  regard  to  the  particular  night  and  hour  of Sheehy's  return  from  Tennison's  house.  So  much  for  the  evi- dence. It  is  now  necessary  to  show  that  it  was  not  relied  on  alone for  the  conviction  of  the  prisoners. The  managers  who  had  on  the  previous  trial  surrounded  the court  with  a  military  force,  on  this  occasion  crammed  it  with  their adherents,  whose  minds  had  been  inflamed  by  public  advertise- ments previously  to  the  trial,  in  which  the  leniency  of  the  former measures  of  Government  was  reprobated.     "The  baronet  (Sir Thomas  Maude)  before  mentioned,  published  an  advertisement, wherein  he  presumed  to  censure  the  wise  and  vigilant  administra- tion of  our  last  chief  governors,  and  even  to  charge  them  with the  destruction  of  many  of  his  Majesty's  subjects,  for  not  having j  countenanced  such  measures  with  respect  to  these  rioters,  as  were i  manifestly  repugnant  to  all  the  rules  of  prudence,  justice,  and  hu- j  manity.     Nor  did  his  boldness  stop  here ;  for,  naming  a  certain I  day  in  said  advertisement,  when  the  following  persons  of  cre- i  dit  and  substance,  namely,  Sheehy,  Buxton,  and  Farrell,  and others,  were  to  be  tried  by  commission  at  Clonmel  for  the  afore- said murder — as  if  he  meant  to  intimidate  their  judges  into  law- less rigour  and  severity,  he  sent  forth  an  authoritative  kind  of  sum- mons, '  to  every  gentleman   of  the  county  to  attend  that  com- mission' ".*     With  such  arrangements  for  inflaming  the  public mind,  for  influencing  the  jury,  for  intimidating  the  judges,  the doom  of  the  prisoners  was  sealed  before  they  were  put  into  the dock. The  unfortunate  Edmund  Sheehy  was  convicted,  and  sentence of  death,  with  its  usual  barbarous  concomitants  in  these  cases, drawing  and  quartering,  was  pronounced  upon  him.  His  wife was  in  the  court  when  that  dreadful  sentence  was  pronounced, and  was  carried  from  it  in  a  swoon.  The  two  other  acts  of  the judicial  drama  were  duly  performed ;  the  packed  juries  discharged the  duties  required  or  expected  of  them  by  the  managers  of  the prosecutions.  Buxton  and  Farrell  were  found  guilty,  and  were sentenced,  with  Sheehy,  to  be  executed  on  the  3rd  of  May. Eight  other  persons  were  placed  at  the  bar,  who  were  charged with  the  same  crime  as  the  prisoners  who  had  been  convicted. *  "A  Candid  Inquiry",  etc.,  p.  12. 70  THE    WHITEBOYS. Another  Sheehy  was  on  the  list  of  the  managers,  but  the  jury was  instructed  to  acquit  the  prisoners,  Roger  Sheehy,  Edmund Burke,  John  Burke,  John  Butler,  B.  Kennelly,  William  Flynn, and  Thomas  Magrath ;  but  no  sooner  were  they  acquitted,  than several  of  them  were  called  on  to  give  bail  to  appear  at  the ensiling  assizes,  to  answer  to  other  charges  of  high  treason. It  is  not  undeserving  of  notice  to  see  how  the  intelligence  of  i proceedings   of  this    kind    was   received   in    England.      In    the Gentleman's  Magazine  for  June,  17G6,  page  289,  we  find  the  fol- lowing  notice  of  those  trials: — "At  the  Clonmel  assizes,  Father Sheehy,  James  Buxton,  Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Farrell,  other-  i wise  called  Buck  Farrell,  a  young  fellow  of  good  family — all  > tried  for  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  who  had  given  information, . and  being  a  Whiteboy,  had  been  arrested  and  severely  punished by  a  court-martial,  had  informed  against  them  in  revenge". This  was  all  the  information  respecting  these   frightful  pro- ceedings that  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  give  the  people  ofi England. A  memorial  was  drawn  up  by  Edmund  Sheehy,  and  ad- dressed to  the  judges  who  presided  at  the  trial ;  and  the  following copy  is  taken  from  the  original  draft  :— "  To  the  Right  Honourable  Lord   Chief  Justice   Clayton,  the  : Honourable  Edmund  Malone,  and  Geoffrey  Hill,  Esq. "  The  humble  petition  of  Edmund  Sheehy,  an  unhappy  prisoner under  sentence  of  death  in  his  Majesty's  gaol  at  Clonmel, "  Most  humbly  showeth, "  That  at  the  last  commission  of  oyer  and  terminer  and  gaol delivery,  held  at  Clonmel  the  11th  of  April  inst.,  your  petitioner was  convicted  of  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  and  accordingly received  sentence  to  be  executed  the  3rd  of  May  next. "  That  your  petitioner  was  transmitted  from  the  city  of  Kil- kenny to  Clonmel  on  Friday,  the  4th  of  April  instant,  four  days only  before  the  said  commission  of  gaol  delivery  was  opened. "  That  from  the  short  time  your  petitioner  had  to  prepare  for his  trial,  which  he  apprehended  was  by  order  postponed  until  the next  summer  assizes,  and  the  confusion  he  was  in,  he  was  not able  to  procure  all  his  material  witnesses  to  attend  on  said  trial,  ' or  to  make  that  just  defence  that  he  would  have  been  able  to make,  if  he  had  more  time  to  prepare  for  it,  which  is  manifest from  the  want  of  recollection  in  Travers,  the  butcher,  produced on  behalf  of  your  petitioner,  who,  on  the  very  next  day  after  the trial,  perfectly  recollected,  and  is  now  ready  to  swear,  he  saw  your petitioner  and  the  bullocks  at  the  fair  of  Clogheen.  Nor  had Mr.  Tennison  sufficient  time  to  recollect  himself,  supposing  him FATHER    SHEEliY.  71 I  quite  free  from  tlie  influence  of  those  who  managed  the  prosecu- ,  tion,  who  were  the  said  Tennison's  allies ;  circumstances  that  did I  not  appear  to  your  lordship  and  honours,  of  whose  mercy, -  humanity,  and  justice,  your  petitioner  has  a  due  sense,  which  he '  shall  retain  unto  death,  whatever  his  fate  may  be. "  That  your  petitioner  has  a  wife  and  Jive  small  children,*  the I  eldest  about  nine  years  old,  who,  together  with  an  aged  father |  and  three  sisters,  principally  depend  upon  your  petitioner's  in- dustry as  a  farmer  for  support. "  That  your  petitioner  forbears  stating  the  nature  and  circum- I  stances  of  the  evidence  which  appeared  upon  your  petitioners i  trial,  but  refers  to  your  lordship  and  honours'  recollection  thereof. However,  from  the  nature  of  your  petitioner's  defence,  in  part supported  by  the  positive  evidence  of  James  Prendergast,  Esq., who  is  a  gentleman  of  unexceptionable  good  character  and  of  a considerable  fortune,  notwithstanding  the  prejudices  that  were entertained  by  some  against  the  persons  who  were  to  be  tried, your  petitioner,  from  the  evidence  and  a  consciousness  of  his  own innocence,  entertained  hopes  that  he  would  have  been  acquitted. But  in  regard  that  he  was  found  guilty, "  Your  petitioner  most  humbly  implores  your  lordship  and honours  to  take  his  unhappy  case  and  the  character  of  the  several witnesses  into  consideration,  and  to  make  such  favourable  report of  your  petitioner  and  his  family's  case  to  his  Excellency  the Lord  Lieutenant  as  to  your  lordship  and  honours  shall  seem  meet. "  And  he  will  pray, "  Edmund  Sheehy". "  Notwithstanding",  Curry  states,  "that  frequent  and  earnest solicitations  were  made  by  several  persons  of  quality  in  the  favour of  the  prisoners,  who,  being  persuaded  of  their  innocence,  hoped to  obtain  for  them,  if  not  a  pardon,  at  least  some  mitigation  of their  punishment,  by  transportation  or  reprieve — the  chief  and most  active  of  these  worthy  personages  was  the  Right  Honour- able Lord  TaafTe,  whose  great  goodness  of  heart  and  unwearied endeavours  on  all  occasions  to  save  his  poor  countrymen,  add  new lustre  to  his  nobility,  and  will  be  for  ever  remembered  by  them with  the  warmest  and  most  respectful  gratitude — it  is  no  wonder that  their  solicitations  were  vain,  for  the  knight  (baronet)  so  often mentioned  (Sir  Thomas  Maude),  Mr. ,  etc.,  had  been  before with  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  and  declared  that,  if  any  favour  were *  One  of  these  children,  Ellen  Sheehy,  became  the  wife  of  Edmund  Power, Esq.,  of  Curragheen,  county  of  Waterford,  and  by  that  marriage  became  the mother  of  the  late  Countess  of  Blessington,  Lady  Canterbury,  and  the  Countess of  St.  Marsault. 12  THE    WHITEBOTS. sliown  to  these  people,  they  would  follow  the  example  of  a  noble peer,  and  quit  the  kingdom  in  a  body.  The  behaviour  of  the prisoners  at  the  place  of  execution  was  cheerful,  but  devout,  and  I modest,  though  resolute.  It  was  impossible  for  any  one  in their  circumstances  to  counterfeit  that  resignation,  serenity,  and  ; pleasing  hope  which  appeared  so  strikingly  in  all  their  counte- nances and  gestures.  Conscious  of  their  innocence,  they  seemed to  hasten  to  receive  the  reward  prepared  in  the  next  life  for  those who  suffer  patiently  for  its  sake  in  this".* In  the  Gentleman's  and  London  Magazine  of  May,  1766, there  is  "  an  authentic  narration  of  the  death  and  execution  of Messrs.  Sheehy,  Buxton,  and  Farrell,  with  their  declarations attested  and  carefully  compared  with  those  in  the  hands  of  Mr. Butler,  sub-sheriff  of  the  county  Tipperary,  who  received  them from  these  unfortunate  people  at  the  place  of  execution". These  documents  I  have  likewise  compared  with  copies  of  the same  declarations,  furnished  me  by  some  of  the  surviving  friends of  these  unfortunate  gentlemen,  and,  except  in  the  omission  of some  names,  I  find  no  material  difference. "  The  sheriff,  who  proceeded  with  decency,  called  upon  the prisoners  early  in  the  morning  of  the  3rd  instant,  so  as  to  leave the  gaol  of  Clonmel  for  Clogheen  about  six  o'clock,  to  which  place he  was  attended  by  the  regiment  of  light  dragoons,  commanded by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Harcourt,  and  two  companies  of  Armiger's foot:  these  the  commander  had  previously  made  ready  for  the purpose,  by  an  order  from  government.  Edmund  Sheehy  and James  Buxton  were  put  on  the  same  car,  James  Farrell  on  the next,  and  the  executioner  on  another,  with  his  apparatus,  and  the gallows  so  contrived  as  to  be  immediately  put  together ;  they  thus proceeded  in  awful  procession  to  Clogheen,  where  they  arrived about  twelve  o'clock,  the  distance  being  above  eleven  miles. "  In  the  most  open  part  of  the  village  the  gallows  was  erected, and  that  in  a  very  short  time,  while  the  prisoners  remained  at  a small  distance,  in  devotion  with  their  priest,  for  about  two  hours, when  it  was  thought  necessary  to  execute  the  sentence  the  law  of their  country  had  doomed  them  to  suffer.  They  were  then  all three  put  upon  one  car,  and  drawn  under  the  gallows,  where, after  remaining  some  time,  they  were  tied  up,  and  in  that  situa- tion each  read  his  declaration,  and  afterwards  handed  it  to  the sheriff. "  Sheehy  met  his  fate  with  the  most  undaunted  courage,  and delivered  his  declaration  with  as  much  composure  of  mind  as  if he  had  been  repeating  a  prayer.     When  this  awful  scene  was *  "A  Candid  Inquiry",  pp.  13,  14. FATHER    SHEEHY.  73 finished,  they  were  turned  off,  upon  a  signal  given  by  Sheehy, who  seemed  in  a  sort  of  exaltation,  and  sprung  from  the  car ;  he was  dead  immediately ;  and  after  the  criminals  had  hung  some time,  they  were  cut  down,  and  the  executioner  severed  their heads  from  their  bodies,  which  were  delivered  to  their  respective friends.* "  Sheehy 's  intrepid  behaviour,  set  off  by  an  engaging  person, attracted  much  pity  and  compassion  from  all  present;  but  the most  oppressive  part  of  this  tragic  scene  yet  remains  to  be  told, when  I  say  that  Sheehy  has  left  a  widow  with  five  children  to bemoan  his  unhappy  fate ;  Buxton,  three ;  and  Farrell,  who  had not  been  married  more  than  three  months,  has  left  his  wife  preg- nant. They  were  all  buried  the  evening  of  that  day,  as  particu- larly requested  by  themselves,  where,  we  hope,  they  rest,  having made  atonement  for  their  crimes ;  and  let  not  the  imputation  of the  fathers'  misfortunes  be  remembered  to  the  prejudice  of  their families. "  Your  constant  reader,  etc. 41  Cashel,  May  28,  1766". "  THE    DYING    DECLARATION    OF    MR.    EDMUND    SHEEHY. "  As  I  am  shortly  to  appear  before  the  great  tribunal  of  God, where  I  expect,  through  the  passion  and  sufferings  of  my  Re- deemer, to  be  forgiven  the  many  crimes  and  offences  which  I have  committed  against  so  great  and  merciful  a  God,  I  sincerely forgive  the  world,  I  forgive  my  judges,  jury,  prosecutors,  and every  other  who  had  a  hand  in  spilling  my  innocent  blood ;  may the  great  God  forgive  them,  bless  them,  and  may  they  never leave  this  world  without  sincerely  repenting,  and  meriting  that felicity  which  I  hope,  through  the  wounds  of  Christ,   soon  to "  I  think  it  incumbent,  as  well  for  the  satisfaction  of  the public,  as  the  ease  of  my  own  mind,  to  declare  the  truth  of every  crime  with  which  I  was  impeached,  from  the  beginning to  the  day  of  my  conviction. "  Fi?'st.  The  meeting  at  Kilcoran,  sworn  by  James  Herbert, and  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  sworn  to  by  him  and  the  rest  of the  informers. "  Second.  The  meeting  at  Ardfman,  sworn  by  Guinan,  in  Oc- tober, 1763,  and  several  other  meetings  and  treasonable  practices, at  all  which  I  was  sworn  to  be  present  as  the  principal  acting person. *  The  statement  is  incorrect  with  respect  to  the  heads  of  Buxton  and  Farrell. — R.  R.  M. 74  T1IK    WIIITKBOYS. "  Third.  That  I  had  a  hand  in  burning  John  Fearise's  turf, and  extirpating  his  orchard,  taking  arms  from  soldiers,  burning Joseph  Tennisoris  corn,  levelling  walls,  and  many  other  atrocious crimes  against  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  the  present  happy  con- stitution. "1st.  I  now  solemnly  declare  that  I  did  not  see  a  White- boy  since  the  year  1762,  and  then  but  once  or  twice;  and  that  I never  was  present  at  the  levelling  at  the  Rock  of  Cashel,  or  any other  wall  or  commons  in  my  life,  nor  even  gave  counsel  or advice  to  have  it  done,  or  ever  had  any  previous  knowledge  of such  intentions;  nor  do  I  know  to  this  minute  any  one  man  that was  at  the  levelling  of  the  said  wall. "  2ndly.  I  declare  that  I  never  saw  Herbert  until  the  day of  my  trial,  and  that  I  never  was  at  a  meeting  at  Kilcoran ;  never heard  an  oath  of  allegiance  proposed  nor  administered  in  my  life to  any  sovereign,  king,  or  prince ;  never  knew  anything  of  the murder  of  Bridge,  until  I  heard  it  publicly  mentioned ;  nor  did  I know  there  was  any  such  design  on  foot,  and  if  I  had,  I  would have  hindered  it,  if  in  my  power. "  3rdly.  The  battle  of  Newmarket,  for  which  I  was  tried — I declare  I  never  was  at  Newmarket,  nor  do  I  know  there  was  a rescue  intended,  nor  do  I  believe  did  any  man  in  the  county  of Tipperary. "  4-thly.  I  declare  that  I  never  meant  or  intended  rebel- lion, high  treason,  or  massacre,  or  ever  heard  any  such  wicked scheme  mentioned  or  proposed,  nor  do  I  believe  there  was  any such  matters  in  view,  and  if  there  was,  that  I  am  wholly  ignorant of  them. 5thly.  I  declare  that  I  never  knew  of  either  French  or Spanish  officers,  commissions,  or  money  paid  to  those  poor,  ig- norant fools  called  Whiteboys,  or  a  man  held  in  the  light  of  a gentleman  connected  with  them. "  I  was  often  attacked,  during  my  confinement  in  Kilkenny, by  the  Rev.  Lawrence  Brodrick  and  the  Rev.  John  Hewson, to  make  useful  discoveries,  by  bringing  in  men  of  weight  and fortune,  that  there  was  an  intended  rebellion  and  massacre, French  officers,  commissions  and  money  paid,  and  by  so  doing, that  would  procure  my  pardon,  difficult  as  it  was. "  The  day  after  my  trial,  Edmund  Bagwell  came  to  me  from the  grand  jury,  and  told  me  if  I  would  put  those  matters  in  a clear  light,  that  I  would  get  my"  pardon.  I  made  answer  that  I would  declare  the  truth,  which  would  not  be  heard.  Sir  William Barker's  son  and  Mr.  Matthew  Bunbury  came  to  me  the  same evening,  with  words  to  the  same  purpose,  to  which  I  replied  as before.     Nothing  on  this  occasion  would  give  sufficient  content, FATHER    SHEEHY.  75 without  ray  proving  tlie  above,  and  that  the  priest  died  with  a  lie in  his  month,  which  was  the  phrase  Mr.  Hewson  (Hewetson) made  use  of.  I  sent  for  Sir  Thomas  Maude  the  day  of  my  sen- tence, and  declared  to  him  the  meeting  at  Drumlemmon,  where I  saw  nothing  remarkable,  but  two  or  three  fellows,  who  stole hay  from  Mr.  John  Keating,  were  whipped,  and  sworn  never  to steal  to  the  value  of  a  shilling  during  life.  I  saw  Thomas  Bier there,  which  I  told  Sir  Thomas  and  Mr.  Bunbury,  and  begged of  them  never  to  give  credit  to  Herbert,  who  knew  nothing  of the  matter  except  what  Bier  knew. "  I  do  declare  I  saw  Bier  take  a  voluntary  oath  more  than  once, in  the  gaol  of  Clonmel,  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  murder ;  nor do  I  believe  he  did.  May  God  forgive  him,  and  the  rest  of  those unhappy  informers,  and  all  those  who  had  a  hand  in  encouraging them  to  swear  away  innocent  lives. "  I  further  declare  that  I  have  endeavoured,  as  much  as  was  in my  power,  to  suppress  this  spirit  of  the  Whiteboys,  where  I thought  or  suspected  the  least  spark  of  it  to  remain. "The  above  is  a  sincere  and  honest  declaration,  as  I  expect  to see  God;  nor  would  I  make  any  other  for  the  universe,  which must  be  clear  to  the  gentlemen  who  offered  me  my  life  if  I  would comply.  May  the  great  God  forgive  them,  and  incline  their hearts  to  truth,  and  suffer  them  not  to  be  biassed  nor  hurried  on by  party  or  particular  prejudices,  to  persevere  any  longer  in falsely  representing  those  matters  to  the  best  of  kings  and  to  the humanest  and  best  of  governments,  which  I  pray  God  may  long continue. "  I  die,  in  the  thirty-third  year  of  my  age,  an  unworthy member  of  the  Church  of  Rome :  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  my soul ! — Amen  !  Amen  ! "  I  was  informed  that  Mr.  Tennison's  corn  was  burnt  by  one of  his  own  servants,  but  accidentally,  and  that  since  my  confine- ment ;  I  thought  so  always. "  Signed  by  me  this  2nd  of  May,  1766. "  Edmund  Sheehy. "  Present — James  Buxton,  James  Farrell". A  COPY  OF  THE  DYING  DECLARATION  OF  JAMES  BUXTON,  OF  CENTRAL KILCORAN,  IN  THE  COUNTY  OF  TIPPERARY,  CHARGED  WITH  THE MURDER  OF  ONE  JOHN  BRIDGE  :  JOHN  TOOHY  AND  THOMAS  BIER, PROSECUTORS;    GOD  FORGIVE  THEM. Whereas  I,  the  said  James  Buxton,  was  arraigned  at  my  trial, for   having    aided    and  assisted,  and    committed  many  flagrant 70 THE    WHITEBOYS. crimes  against  his  Majesty's  law  and  government,  since  the  rise of  the  Whiteboys,  upon  the  information  of  Michael  Guinan  and John  Toohy,  I  thought  it  proper  to  disabuse  the  public  by  this declaration,  which  I  make  to  God  and  the  world,  concerning my  knowledge  of  these  matters. "  First.  As  to  the  murder  of  John  Bridge,  I  solemnly  declare in  the  presence  of  God,  before  whose  holy  tribunal  I  shortly expect  to  appear,  that  I  neither  consulted  nor  advised,  aided  nor abetted,  nor  had  I  the  least  notion  of  any  one  that  did,  to  the killing  of  John  Bridge ;  nor  did  my  prosecutor,  John  Toohy, ever  serve  me  an  hour  since  I  was  born ;  neither  did  I  ever,  to  the best  of  my  knowledge,  lay  my  eyes  on  him  but  one  night,  on  the 18th  September  last,  when  he  lay  at  my  house,  and  went  by  the name  of  Lucius  O'Brien.  He  was  pursued  next  morning  by  one William  O'Brien,  of  Clonmel,  whom  he  robbed  of  some  clothes two  days  before,  and  was  taken  in  Clogheen  for  the  same  robbery, and  said  O'Brien's  clothes  and  other  things  were  found  upon him,  for  which  he  was  committed  to  gaol,  and  then  turned  ap- prover. "  As  to  every  other  thing  that  Michael  Guinan  and  said  Toohy swore  against  me,  I  further  solemnly  declare,  in  the  presence  of my  great  God,  that  I  neither  did  any  such  thing,  nor  was  at  any such  meeting  or  levelling  as  they  swore  against  me,  except  Drum- lemmon,  and  upon  the  word  of  a  dying  man,  neither  of  them  was there.  Nor  was  any  man,  upon  the  same  word  of  a  dying  man, that  was  yet  apprehended  or  suffered,  in  my  belief,  concerned  in the  murder  of  Bridge:  and  that  I  verily  believe  and  am  per- suaded that  no  prosecutor  that  yet  appeared  was  present  or  any way  concerned  in  that  murder,  though  Thomas  Bier,  God  forgive him,  swore  that  he  and  I  were  within  two  yards  of  John  Bridge when  he  was  murdered  by  Edmund  Meehan  with  a  stroke  of  a bill-hook. "  Secondly.  I  solemnly  declare  and  protest  in  the  presence  of my  great  God,  that  I  never  heard,  nor  ever  learned  of  a  rebellion intended  in  this  kingdom ;  nor  never  heard  of,  nor  ever  saw  any French  officers  or  French  money  coming  into  this  country ;  nor ever  heard  that  any  merchants  supplied,  or  intended  to  supply any  money  for  the  Whiteboys,  or  for  any  other  purpose ;  nor  ever saw,  heard,  or  could  discover,  that  any  allegiance  was  sworn  to any  prince  or  potentate  in  the  world,  but  to  his  present  majesty King  George  the  Third ;  and  I  further  declare,  on  my  dying words,  that  I  never  knew  nor  discovered,  nor  even  imagined, that  any  massacre  whatsoever  was  intended  against  any  person  or persons  in  this  kingdom.      And  I  declare  in  the  presence  of FATHER    SHEEHY.  77 Almighty  God,  that  I  positively  believe  and  am  persuaded  that,  if any  of  the  foregoing  treacherous  or  treasonable  combinations  were to  be  carried  on,  I  would  have  learned  or  heard  something  of them. "  Thirdly,  That  last  Lent  assizes,  in  Kilkenny,  where  I  stood indicted,  and  was  arraigned  for  the  battle  of  Newmarket,  that  the Rev.  John  Hewetson  and  Rev.  Lawrence  Broderick  tampered with  me  for  six  hours  and  more,  setting  forth  the  little  chance  I had  for  my  life  there  at  Kilkenny ;  and  though  I  should,  that  1 would  have  none  at  all  in  Clonmel ;  but  that  they  would  write Lord  Carrick  immediately  to  procure  my  freedom,  if  I  would  turn approver,  and  swear  to  an  intended  rebellion,  treasonable  conspi- racies, and  a  massacre  against  the  principal  Popish  clergy  and gentlemen  of  my  county,  whose  names  they  had  set  down  in  a long  piece  of  paper ;  but  wanted  me  particularly  to  swear  against Squire  Wyse,  Philip  Long,  Dominick  Farrell,  Martin  Murphy, Doctor  Creagh,  and  Michael  Lee;  and  that  I  should  also  swear the  Priest  Slieehy  died  with  a  lie  in  his  mouth.  Likewise  that  I was  at  the  battle  of  Newmarket,  and  received  a  letter  from  one Edmund  Tobin,  to  be  at  said  battle,  and  this  in  order  to  corrobo- rate the  informer  Toohy's  oath,  and  the  oaths  of  three  of  the light  horse,  who  swore  they  saw  me  there.  One  in  particular swore  he  broke  his  firelock  on  my  head.  Now,  as  I  expect  sal- vation from  the  hands  of  God,  I  neither  received  a  message  or letter,  nor  heard  or  discovered  that  this  battle  of  Newmarket  was to  occur,  nor  any  circumstance  regarding  it,  until  it  was  adver- tised. And  I  further  declare  in  the  presence  of  my  great  God, that  I  never  was  nearer  this  place  they  call  Newmarket  than  the turnpike  road  that  leads  from  Dublin  to  Cork,  for  I  never  was two  yards  eastwards  of  that  road.  As  to  the  schemes  of  the Whiteboys,  as  far  as  I  could  find  out  in  the  parish  of  Tubrid, where  I  lived,  I  most  solemnly  declare  before  Almighty  God, nothing  more  was  meant  than  the  detection  of  thieves  and  rogues, which  the  said  parish  was  of  late  remarkable  for ;  an  agreement  to deal  for  tithes  with  none  but  the  dean  or  minister  whose  tithe was  of  his  or  their  immediate  living;  as  to  levelling,  that  I  never found  out  any  such  thing  to  have  been  committed  in  said  parish of  any  consequence,  but  one  ditch  belonging -to  John  Griffin,  of Kilcoran ;  nor  was  I  ever  privy  to  any  wall  or  ditch  that  ever  was levelled  by  Whiteboys  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  or  any  other county. "  I  also  declare,  that  I  never  approved  of  the  proceedings  of levellers,  and  that  my  constant  admonition  to  every  person  whom I  thought  concerned  in  such  vile  practices,  was  to  desist,  for  that the  innocent  would  suffer  for  the  guilty. 78  THE    WHITEBOYS. "  Given  under  my  hand  this  2nd   day  of  May,  and  the  year 1766. "  James  Buxton. "  Present — Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Farrell". THE    DECLARATION    OF    JAMES    FARRELL. "  As  I  am  shortly  to  appear  before  the  great  God,  where  I  ex- pect, through  the  passion  of  our  dear  Redeemer,  to  be  forgiven the  many  crimes  and  offences  which  I  have  committed  against  so great  and  just  a  God,  I  now  sincerely  forgive  the  world  in  gene- ral, and  in  particular  them  that  have  been  the  cause  of  wrong- fully spilling  my  blood. "  1st — The  crime  for  which  I  am  to  die  is  the  murder  of  John Bridge,  and  swearing  at  Kilcoran. "  2ndly — The  burning  of  Joseph  Tennison's  corn,  John Fearise's  turf,  and  all  other  things  that  belonged  to  the  Whiteboys. "  3rdly — The  battle  of  Newmarket,  which  I  stood  a  trial  for in  Kilkenny.  I  now  declare  to  the  great  tribunal,  that  I  am  as innocent  of  all  the  aforesaid  facts  which  I  have  been  impeached with,  as  the  child  unborn,  in  either  counsel,  aiding,  assisting,  or knowledge  of  said  facts.  I  therefore  think  it  conscionable  to declare  what  the  following  gentlemen  wanted  me  to  do,  in  order to  spill  innocent  blood,  which  was  not  in  the  power  of  any  man in  the  world  to  perform. "  These  are  the  gentlemen  as  follow: — The  Rev.  John  Hewet- son,  John  Bagwell,  Matthew  Bunbury,  Mr.  Toler,  William  Bag- nell,  Edmund  Bagnell,  and  some  of  the  light  horse  officers.  The day  I  was  condemned,  they  came  along  with  me  from  the  court- house to  the  gaol,  where  they  carried  me  into  a  room,  and  told me  it  was  in  my  power  to  save  my  life.  I  asked  them  how  ?  If I  swore  against  the  following  persons,  they  told  me  they  could get  my  pardon. "  The  people  are  as  follows : — Martin  Murphy  and  Philip  Long, both  of  Waterford,  and  some  other  merchants  of  Cork;  likewise Bishop  Creagh  and  Lord  Dunboyne's  brother,  and  a  good  many other  clergymen ;  likewise  James  Nagle,  Robert  Keating,  John Purcell,  Thomas  Dogherty,  Thomas  Long,  John  Baldwin,  Thomas Butler,  of  Grange,  and  Nicholas  Lee,  with  a  great  many  others  of the  gentlemen  of  the  county,  and  responsible  farmers,  to  be  encou- raging French  officers,  enlisting  men  for  the  French  service,  to raise  a  rebellion  in  this  kingdom,  and  to  distribute  French  money. "  4thly,  If  in  case  they  should  get  a  person  to  do  all  these things,  it  would  not  do  without  swearing  to  the  murder  of  John FATHER    SHEEHY.  79 Bridge,  to   corroborate    with   the    rest   of    the    informers,    and strengthen  their  evidence. "  5thly,  I  solemnly  declare  to  his  Divine  Majesty,  I  was  never present  at  the  levelling  of  a  ditch  or  wall  in  my  life,  nor  never  was at  a  meeting  of  Whiteboys  in  my  life. "  6thly,  I  likewise  declare,  that  I  had  neither  hand,  act,  nor  part in  bringing  James  Herbert  from  the  county  of  Limerick,  and  also declare,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  he  swore  not  one  word  of truth,  and,  in  particular,  what  he  swore  against  me  was  undoubt- edly false. "  The  great  God  bless  all  my  prosecutors,  and  all  other  persons that  had  hand,  act,  or  part  in  spilling  my  blood  innocently,  which the  Divine  tribunal  knows  to  be  so. "  Given  under  my  hand,  this  30th  day  of  April,  1766. "  James  Farrell. "  They  also  wanted  me  to  swear  against  Thomas  Butler,  of Ballyknock,  Edmund  Dogherty,  and  Philip  Hacket. "In  the  presence  of  us:  Edmund  Sheehy,  James  Buxton, Catherine  Farrell". The  wretched  wife  of  Edmund  Sheehy,  immediately  after  his conviction,  proceeded  to  Dublin,  with  the  hope  of  procuring  a pardon  for  her  husband.  His  enemies  were,  however,  beforehand with  her.  Their  pernicious  influence  was  exerted  in  every  de- partment at  the  Castle  to  frustrate  her  efforts.  They  prevailed,  as they  had  hitherto  done  there,  whenever  the  favour  or  the  anger of  the  Molock  of  their  faction  was  to  be  propitiated  or  appeased, by  handing  over  to  them  their  defenceless  persecuted  victims. Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  promptitude  with  which  the  foul proceedings  against  these  gentlemen  were  followed  up,  when  it  is borne  in  mind  that  their  separate  trials  commenced  on  the  11th of  April,  and  the  following  official  notice  is  to  be  found  in  the record  of  these  proceedings.  "  Crown  warrant  for  Edmund Sheehy,  James  Farrell,  and  James  Buxton,  given  to  F.  Butler, Sub-Sheriff,  15th  April,  1766". Mrs.  Sheehy,  on  her  return  to  Clonmel,  after  her  fruitless  jour- ney, had  not  even  the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  finding  her  hus- band in  prison.  On  her  arrival  there  in  the  morning  she  learned that  he  and  his  companions  had  been  taken  from  the  gaol  a  short time  before,  and  were  then  on  their  way  to  Clogheen,  the  place  of execution.  This  wretched  woman,  worn  down  with  affliction, with  the  previous  conflict  between  hope  and  fear,  with  the  shock she  had  received  on  her  return,  at  finding  her  last  hope  of  behold- ing her  beloved  husband,  and  of  bidding  him  farewell,  had  yet 80  THE    WHIEEBOYS. sufficient  strength,  or  the  kind  of  energy  which  arises  from  des- pair, to  hurry  alter  that  mournful  cortege.  About  half-way  between Clonmel  and  Clogheen  she  overtook  it,  and  rushing  forward passed  through  the  soldiers,  and  threw  herself  into  the  arms  of  her husband. The  scene  was  one  which  the  few  surviving  friends  of  this  un- happy  couple  speak  of  as  causing  the  very  soldiers  who  sur- rounded them  to  weep  and  sob  aloud.  This  scene  took  place about  two  hours  before  the  execution.  Before  they  separated, Shcehy  resumed  his  former  apparently  unmoved  demeanour,  and addressed  a  few  words,  expressive  of  his  last  wishes,  with  extra- ordinary firmness  of  tone  and  manner,  to  his  distracted  wife.  He told  her  to  remember  she  had  duties  to  perform  to  her  God,  to herself,  to  their  children,  and  to  his  memory;  and  then  praying that  Heaven  might  pour  down  all  its  blessings  on  her  head,  he  tore himself  from  her  embrace,  and  the  procession  moved  on.  The officers,  soldiers,  sub-sheriff,  all  around  them  were  in  tears  during this  melancholy  interview ;  and  at  their  separation,  Sheehy  him- self, evidently  struggling  with  his  feelings,  endeavoured  to  sup- press any  appearance  of  emotion,  recovered  his  self-possession,  and from  that  time  seemed  to  be  unmoved. The  day  before  the  execution,  Mrs.  Kearney,  an  aunt  of Edmund  Sheehy,  applied  to  one  of  the  officers  who  was  to  be  on duty  the  next  day,  to  save  his  unfortunate  family  the  pain  of  see- ing his  head  placed  on  a  spike,  over  the  entrance  to  the  gaol,  in the  High  Street,  in  which  it  was  situated.  Her  interference  was not  ineffectual :  he  told  her  he  had  no  power  to  interfere  with  the civil  authorities ;  but  when  the  head  was  separated  from  the  body, if  any  person  were  in  readiness  to  bear  it  off,  the  soldiers,  proba- bly, would  not  be  over  zealous  to  prevent  its  removal. For  this  act  it  was  wisely  thought  that  the  resolution  and promptitude  of  a  woman  would  be  likely  to  prove  most  successful. Ann  Mary  Butler,  a  person  devoted  to  the  family,  and  in  her attachment  to  it  incapable  of  fear  and  insensible  to  danger,  was selected  for  this  purpose.  The  head  of  Edmund  Sheehy  was  no sooner  struck  from  the  body,  than  this  woman  suddenly  forced her  way  through  the  soldiers,  threw  her  apron  over  the  head,  and fled  Avith  it,  the  soldiers  as  she  approached  opening  a  free  passage for  her,  and  again  forming  in  line  when  the  executioner   and  his 7  O  O attendants  made  an  effort  to  pursue  her,  and  thus  the  military prevented  their  so  doing. The  woman,  at  the  place  appointed  at  the  cross-roads  near Clogheen,  met  the  funeral  (for  the  mutilated  body  had  been  deli- vered over  to  the  friends  for  interment),  the  head  was  put  into the  coffin,  and  was  buried  at  a  country  churchyard,  about  three  or FATHER    SHEEHY.  81 ;  four  miles  from  Clonmel,  attended  by  a  vast  concourse  of  people. j  The  executions  took  place  on  a  temporary  scaffold  in  an  open !  space  called  the  Cock-pit.  The  heads  of  Farrell  and  Buxton  were I  brought  to  Clonmel,  and,  together  with  those  of  Father  Sheehy J  and  Meehan,  were  spiked  and  placed  over  the  entrance  to  the |  gaol,  where,  for  upwards  of  twenty  years,  these  wretched  trophies j  of  the  triumphant  villainy  of  Messrs.  Maude,  Bagwell,  Bagnell, I  and  Hewetson  continued  to  outrage  the  feelings  of  humanity  and !  justice,  and  to  shock  the  sight  of  the  surviving  relatives  of  the •  judicially  murdered  men,  every  time  those  relatives  entered  the ;  town  or  departed  from  it. The  services  of  Mr.  John  Toohy  were  again  called  into  requi- :  sition  at  the  assizes  which  opened  the  1st  of  August,  1766,  before ,  Baron  Mountney  and  Sergeant  Denis.     On  his  informations  a j  new  batch  of  indictments  was  sent  up  against  a  multitude  of  per- i  sons,  beginning  with   another  of  the   doomed  race   of  Sheehy, !  Morgan  Sheehy,  Michael  Meehan,  John  Hayes,  Daniel  Bryan, |  Mark  Jackson,  Thomas  Fennell,  James  Coghlan,  Laurence  Mur- '  phy,  Edmund  Whelan,    Bartholomew    Kennelly.       They  were j  arraigned  on  the  charge  of  being  present  at  the  murder  of  John ,  Bridge,  and  a  large  number  of  them  were  tried  and  acquitted. J  True  bills  were  likewise  found  at  the  same  assizes,  on  the  same j  informations,    against    Messrs.    Doherty,    John    Baldwin,    John Burke,  John  Purcell,  and  seven  others,  charged  with  Whiteboy tumults,  on  the  31st  of  May,  1 764.      They  were  also  tried  and acquitted. True  bills  were  likewise  found  on  the  same  evidence,  against Messrs.  Roger  Sheehy,  David  Nagle,  of  Flemingstown,  Richard Buller,  of  Glanbeg,  Thomas  Bryan,  alias  Colonel  Bryan,  Robert Drake,  Edward  Butler,  John  Hickey,  James  Hyland,  Maurice Eustace,  Michael  Loughnan,  on  a  similar  charge,  who  were  like- wise tried  and  acquitted,  some  of  them  the  second  time. New  bills  were  again  sent  up  against  Roger  Sheehy,  T.  Bryan, R.  Drake,  E.  Butler,  J.  Hickey,  J.  Hyland,  M.  Eustace,  M. Loughnan  (the  prisoners  acquitted  on  the  preceding  indictment), charging  them  with  "  assaulting  a  certain  unknown  man  at  Bally  - poreen".  And  these  bills  were  found  against  them.  Thus  we see  that  the  instances  are  rare  indeed  wherein  any  safety  was  to be  expected  for  those  who  were  singled  out  by  the  prosecutors for  vengeance ;  for,  no  sooner  were  they  acquitted  on  one  charge than  they  were  transmitted  to  gaol  (to  give  time  for  instituting new  proceedings),  to  be  indicted  on  another.  It  is  evident,  how- ever, from  the  acquittal  in  the  late  cases,  that  the  managers, though  determined  to  persevere  in  their  proceedings,  had  pretty well  worn  out  the  services  of  Mr.  Toohy. vol.  i.  7 82  THE  WIIITEBOTS. The  thirst  for  Catholic  blood  was  not  yet  appeased.  _  Another batch  of  Catholic  gentlemen,  charged  with  treason,  with  acting  I as  leaders  in  the  Munster  plot,  were  brought  to  trial  at  Clonmel,  ] in  the  month  of  March,  the  following  year  (1767).  Mr.  James  j Nagle,  of  Garnavilla,  a  relative  by  marriage  of  the  celebrated  ; Edmund  Burke,  Mr.  Robert  Keating,  of  Knocka,  Mr.  Thomas  i Dogherty,  of  Ballynamona,  Mr.  Edmund  Burke,  of  Tubrid,  and  : Messrs.  Meighan,  Lee,  and  Coghlan,  all  charged  with  high  treason,  J and  aiding  and  abetting  Whiteboyism.*  For  some  of  these  gentle-  j men,  when  first  arrested,  bail  to  the  amount  of  several  thousand  : pounds  had  been  offered  and  refused.  They  had  lain  in  gaol  I for  several  months  previously  to  trial,  and  the  charge  that  even- tually was  attempted  to  be  supported  against  them  by  the  same  i miscreant  who  had  sworn  against  Father  Sheehy,  was  completely  j disproved.  The  "  managers"  of  the  prosecution  had  omitted  no  ; means  to  procure  evidence  of  the  right  sort.  In  the  middle  of July,  the  preceding  year  (17G6),  ample  encouragement  for  new  j perjury  was  held  out  in  the  public  papers.  It  was  therein  stated  ! that,  "  the  reward  promised  for  prosecuting  and  convicting  the  ; other  rioters,  the  sum  of  three  hundred  pounds,  had  been  paid".f Several  of  these  gentlemen  were  of  the  most  respectable  fami- lies in  the  county.      Messrs.  Keating  and  Dogherty  were  persons who  moved  in  the  best  circles  of  society,  and  whose  descendents Still  hold  a  prominent  station  in  it.      The  two  latter  owed  their  i safety  to  a  circumstance  which  came  to  the  knowledge  of  one  of the  friends  of  Keating  while  he  was  in  gaol.      One  of  the   dis- mounted  dragoon  soldiers,  then  doing  duty  in  the  gaol,  saw  the well-known  Mary  Dunlea  privately  introduced  into  the  prison  by  - one  of  the  active  magistrates  in  these  proceedings,  and  taken  to  a  i window,  where  she  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  Messrs.  Keating and  Dogherty,  without  being  noticed  by  them.     This-  was  for  the purpose  of  enabling  her  to  swear  to  persons  whom  she  had  never before  seen. On  the  morning  of  the  trials,  the  friends  of  the  prisoners,  ! keeping  a  watchful  eye  on  the  movements  of  the  same  woman,  I saw  her  standing  in  a  doorway  in  front  of  the  dock,  and  Mr.  John Bagwell  in  the  act  of  pointing  out  the  prisoners.     The  friend  of Keating  lost  no  time  in  hurrying  to  the  dock,   and  telling  them to  change  their  coats.    They  did  so,  and  the  coats  were  identified, but  not  the  men.     The  witness,  on   being  asked  to   point  out  j Keating,  singled  out  Dogherty :  and  the  manifest  ignorance  of  the witness  of  the  persons  of  those  two  prisoners  was  mainly  instru- mental in  causing  all  to  be  acquitted. *  "Dublin  Gazette",  April,  1767;  and  "  Saunders's  Newsletter",  July,  1767. t  "  A  Candid  Inquiry". FATHER  SHEEHY.  83 The  trial  of  these  gentlemen,  on  account  of  the  great  number  of witnesses  examined,  lasted  from  ten  o'clock  on  Wednesday  morn- ing until  four  o'clock  on  Thursday  morning.  The  jury,  after  much deliberation,  brought  in  their  verdict,  "  Not  guilty",  upon  which the  prisoners  were  enlarged.  "  Not,  however,  without  the  fac- tious, bold,  and  open  censures,  and  secret  threats  against  the  hu- mane and  upright  judge  who  presided  at  the  trial  (Baron  Mount- !  ney), — so  enraged  were  they  to  find  the  last  effort  to  realize  this :  plot  entirely  frustrated".* Curry  is  mistaken  in  terming  it  the  last  effort.     Two  other  at- j  tempts  were  subsequently  made  before  Judge  Edmund  Malone !  and  Prime  Sergeant  Hutchinson.     John  Sheehy,  John  Burke,  E. '  Prendergast,  and  several  others,  were  tried  and  acquitted  on  the i  same  charge  and  evidence.     On  the  5th  of  September,   1767, i  once  more,  "  Mr.  Roger  Sheehy,  and  six  others,  were  tried  on  an indictment  of  high  treason,  for  being  concerned  with  the  White- boys,  on  the  testimony  of  Toohy,  "  who,  prevaricating,  as  we  are told  by  Curry,  in  his  testimony  from  what  he  had  sworn  nearly two  years  before,  Mr.  Prime  Sergeant  desired  the  jury  to  give  no credit  thereto,  upon  which  Sheehy  was  acquitted". f Thus  terminated  a  most  foul  conspiracy  against  the  lives  of  in- nocent men.  The  name  of  Sheehy 's  jury  became  a  term  of  re- proach in  the  south  of  Ireland,  that  was  applied  to  any  inquiry that  was  conducted  on  principles  at  variance  with  truth  and  jus- tice, and  which  made  an  indictment  tantamount  to  a  conviction. A  passage  in  Sir  Richard  Musgrave's  history  throws  some  light on  the  implication  of  Mr.  James  Nagle,  whose  name  is  mentioned on  the  list  of  prisoners  at  the  former  trial,  in  March,  1767.  "  When the  enormities",  says  Sir  Richard,  "  committed  by  the  Whiteboys were  about  to  draw  on  them  the  vengeance  of  the  law,  and  some time  before  Sir  Richard  Aston  proceeded  on  his  commission  to j  try  them,  Mr.  Edmund  Burke  sent  his  brother  Richard  (who  died I  recorder  of  Bristol)  and  Mr.  Nagle,  a  relation,  on  a  mission  to Munster,  to  levy  money  on  the  Popish  body,  for  the  use  of  the Whiteboys,  who  were  exclusively  Papists".  The  obvious  drift of  this  passage  can  hardly  be  mistaken ;  but  as  Sir  Richard  Mus- grave  appears  to  have  had  some  misgivings  as  to  the  success  of  the attempt  to  cast  suspicion  on  the  loyalty  of  Edmund  Burke,  he added  the  following  passage  in  a  note,  in  type  sufficiently  small to  afford  a  chance  of  its  escaping  observation:  "  I  have  no  other proof  that  these  gentlemen  were  employed  by  Mr.  Burke,  than that  they  declared  it  without  reserve  to  the  persons  from  whom *  "A  Parallel  between  the  Plots  of  1679  and  1762",  p.  39  ;  "  Saunders's  News- letter", July,  1767. t  Freeman's  Journal,  September  8,  1767. 84  THE    WniTEBOYS. they  obtained  money.  In  doing  so  lie  might  have  been  actuated by  motives  of  charity  and  humanity".  But  in  the  next  edition  of his  work,  in  8vo,  2  vols.,  Musgrave  struck  out  the  concluding words  of  the  paragraph — "  In  so  doing  he  might  have  been  actu- ated by  motives  of  charity  and  humanity".  But  utterly  unreliable, as  all  statements  of  Musgrave  are,  in  relation  to  persons  who  did not  participate  in  his  ferocious  sentiments,  the  biographers  of Burke,  I  am  persuaded,  have  much  to  learn  respecting  his  early career,  the  cause  of  his  permanent  establishment  in  England,  after being  called  to  the  bar,  and  the  relations  in  which  he  stood  towards several  of  those  Catholic  gentlemen  of  Tipperary  who  werej marked  out  for  persecution  by  the  Bagwells,  M audes,  and  Bag- nells,  from  1765  to  1768. The  extraordinary  judgments  which  fell  on  the  persons  who were  instrumental  to  the  death  of  Father  Sheehy,  are  still  fresh in  the  memory  of  the  inhabitants  of  Clonmel  and  Clogheen.  Se- veral of  the  jury  met  with  violent  deaths;  some  dragged  out  a miserable  existence,  stricken  with  loathsome  and  excruciating maladies ;  madness  was  the  fate  of  one,  beggary  the  lot  of  another, recklessness  of  life  and  remorse,  I  believe  it  may  be  said  with truth,  of  the  majority  of  them. This  is  no  overcharged  account.  On  the  contrary,  it  falls  short of  the  reality.  One  of  the  jury,  named  Tuthill,  cut  his  throat; another,  named  Shaw,  was  choked ;  another,  named  Alexander Hoops,  was  drowned ;  the  last  survivor  of  them  was  said  to  have been  accidentally  shot  by  Mr.  Sheehy  Keating,  in  Rehill-wood, on  a  sporting  excursion.  Ferris  died  mad.  One  of  them  dropped dead  at  his  own  door,  Another,  at  a  gentleman's  house,  where he  spent  the  night  in  company  with  Mr.  Pierce  Meagher,  the brother-in-law  of  Edmund  Sheehy,  was  found  dead  in  a  privy. Dumville,  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  was  frightfully  disfigured. Minchin  was  reduced  to  beggary ;  and  of  all,  I  have  heard  only  of one,  named  Dunmead,  who  died  a  natural  death,  that  was  not  sig- nally visited  with  calamities  of  some  kind  or  other. Sir  Thomas  Maude,  the  ancestor  of  a  noble  lord,  died  in  a  state of  frenzy,  terribly  afflicted  both  in  mind  and  body.  In  his  last moments  his  ravings  were  continually  about  Sheehy,  and  the  re- petition of  that  name  became  painful  to  his  attendants.  Few death-bed  scenes  perhaps,  ever  presented  a  more  appalling  spec- tacle than  that  of  Sir  Thomas  Maude  is  described  to  have  been. Bagwell,  of  Kilmore,  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  fatuity  for  some time  before  his  death.  His  eldest  son  shot  himself  in  a  packet going  over  to  England,  his  property  became  involved,  and  a  mi- serable remnant  of  the  wreck  of  it  is  all  that  is  now  left  to  one  of his  descendents  living  in  a  foreign  land. FATHER    SHEEHY.  85 How  are  the  proud  oppressors  fallen !  Where  now  are  the Bagwells  of  Kilmore,  the  Bagnells,  and  the  Carricks?  the  reve- rend persecutors,  the  Brodericks  and  the  Hewetsons?  those  ma- gisterial ministers,  not  of  the  gospel  of  peace,  but  of  injustice  and fanaticism ;  where  are  their  possessions,  the  honours  that  are  paid to  their  memories,  or  bestowed  on  their  descendents?  and  echo answers,  Where? The  catastrophes  which  we  have  spoken  of  may  be  the  results of  natural  causes,  the  consequences  of  violent  courses,  of  unbridled passions,  leading  from  one  species  of  excitement  to  another,  and to  excesses  destructive  to  reason,  and  ultimately  of  life  itself. The  deaths  of  the  persecutors  recorded  by  Lactantius,  were  not the  less  evident  manifestations  of  the  divine  displeasure,  though the  earth  did  not  swallow  them  up,  or  the  thunder-bolt  did  not fall  upon  them,  and  the  food  and  fuel  of  the  disorders  which  con- sumed them,  were  their  own  violent  and  headstrong  passions. (c  JJrerentur  lentis  ignibus\  says  Lactantius;  and  on  the  same authority,  by  the  operation  of  nature's  specific  laws,  "  datis'  le- gibus",  the  ends  of  retributive  justice  were  accomplished. The  success  at  Clonmel  of  the  prosecutors  in  the  management of  the  trials  of  1766,  which  terminated  in  the  conviction  and  exe- cution of  the  Sheehys,  Farrell,  and  Buxton,  one  might  have thought  would  have  been  sufficient  for  the  satisfaction  of  Tip- perary  justice.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  it  was  not  suffi- cient for  the  character  of  the  persecutors.  These  convictions took  place  in  the  spring  of  1766,  long  after  which,  and  in 6ome  instances  upwards  of  a  year  after  which  period,  they got  the  old  discredited  witnesses  to  come  forward  and  swear  to new  depositions,  reiterating  the  former  statements ;  and  for  the  pur- pose of  sustaining  their  damaged  testimony,  other  miscreants  were procured,  who  made  similar  informations  upon  oath,  the  copies  of which  are  triumphantly  paraded  in  Sir  Richard  Musgrave's  his- tory. All  of  these,  with  one  exception,  are  sworn  before  the  Rev. Mr.  Hewetson.  The  date  of  one  is  the  24th  January,  1768;  of another,  the  15th  March,  1767;  of  another,  the  7th  March,  1767. Three  other  depositions  are  dated  1766,  and  were  all  sworn  to subsequent  to  the  execution  of  Nicholas  Sheehy.  The  one  which is  inserted  first  in  Sir  Richard  Musgrave's  work,  paraded  as  the most  important  corroboration  of  the  former  testimony  on  the  trials, is  that  of  an  unfortunate  reprobate  Roman  Catholic  priest,  the  Rev. Matthias  O'Brien,  of  the  city  of  Kilkenny.*  The  new  feature  in this  important  deposition  is,  that  "  the  disorders  in  the  south  were *  The  renunciation  of  the  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  on  the  part  of  the Popish  priest,  the  Rev.  Matthias  O'Brien,  was  announced  in  the  papers  of  the  day subsequently  to  the  date  of  his  deposition. 86  THE    WHITEBOYS. originally  fomented  by  foreign  agents,  in  conjunction  with  some Popish  bishops,  particularly  Dr.  James  Butler,  titular  Archbishop of  Cashel".  ..."  That  he  (Matthias  O'Brien)  was  the  co- adjutor to  the  said  Archbishop  of  Cashel ;  that  more  than  once  in his  chair  of  confession,  he  had  saved  the  life  of  the  Rev.  John Hewetson,by  dissuading  the  assassins  from  their  bloody  purposes; and  that  the  rebellion  would  have  broken  out  long  since,  were  it not  for  the  zealous,  vigilant,  and  indefatigable  labours  of  the  said John  Hewetson  and  William  Bagwell,  Esqrs.,  who,  by  the  acti- vity and  spirit  they  exerted  in  detecting,  apprehending,  and bringing  to  justice  some  of  the  chief  leaders  of  these  insurrections, checked  and  suspended  for  a  time  their  bad  designs". "  That  he  was  cognizant  of  their  schemes,  because  he  had  been sworn  by  the  archbishop  (Butler)  '  to  be  true  and  faithful  to  the Church  of  Rome,  and  to  promote  its  interests,  and  to  be  faithful to  him,  Dr.  Butler,  for  the  advancement  of  the  Roman  Catholic faith' ".  .  .  .  "  That  the  said  archbishop  supplied  Father Sheehy  with  sums  of  money  for  rebellious  purposes",  etc.,  etc., etc.  This  reverend  gentleman  deposes  that  he  was  sworn  by  his archbishop,  to  be  faithful  to  him,  etc.  He  makes  no  scruple, however,  about  breaking  that  oath :  in  a  previous  part  of  his  evi- dence, however,  he  accounts  for  his  knowledge  of  the  intention to  assassinate  Mr.  Hewetson  by  the  revelations  made  to  him  in the  confessional,  but  he  declines  to  enter  into  any  particulars,  and "  thinks  he  cannot,  consistently  with  his  obligation  as  a  priest,  di- vulge them". The  certificate  of  character  from  the  reprobate  priest,  as  to  the zeal  and  activity  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hewetson  and  his  worthy  com- peers, does  not  appear  to  have  set  their  minds  at  rest  as  to  the opinion,  when  the  frenzy  of  the  time  should  pass  away,  that  was likely  to  be  formed  of  their  conduct.  They  had  recourse  to  the old  expedient  of  complimenting  one  another  with  addresses  and resolutions  on  the  rigour  and  unceasing  vigilance  displayed  in their  proceedings.  To  one  of  those  addresses  we  find  the  names of  those  grand  jurors  appended  who  had  found  the  bills  of  indict- ment in  the  preceding  cases.  In  the  Dublin  Freeman's  Journal of  April  22,  1766,  we  find  a  resolution  of  the  high  sheriff  aud  grand jury  of  the  county  Tipperary,  expressive  of  their  gratitude  to  Wil- liam Bagnell,  Esq.,  one  of  his  Majesty's  justices  ofthe  peace,  "for  the spirit  and  good  conduct  which  he  has  so  eminently  shown  in bringing  to  justice  numbers  ofthe  persons  who  have  so  lately  dis- turbed the  peace  of  this  county. (Signed),  "Daniel  Toler,  sheriff;  Samuel  Alleyn,  John  L. Judkm,  Richard  Perry,  William  Perry,  Geoffrey  Walshe,  John Lloyd,   Brook    Brazier,    Godfrey  Taylor,  John  Toler,  Edward FATHER    SHEE1IY.  87 Cooke,    Thomas  Hacket,   William  Chadwick,    Thomas  Maude, Richard  Moore,  John  Bagwell,  William  Barker,  Matthew  Jacob, !  Matthew  Bunbury,  Nathaniel  Taylor,  Cornelius  O'Callaghan,  jun., I  John  Carleton,  John  Power,  William  Barton". The  grand  jury  of  the  county  of  Dublin  could  not  let  pass  so j  favourable  an  opportunity  of  eulogizing  the  energetic  measures  of I  their  Tipperary  brethren. On  the  29th,  1767,  "  they  presented  their  hearty  thanks  to  the ,'  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Carrick,  Sir  Thomas  Maude,  Bart., ;  the  Rev.  John  Hewetson,  John  Bagwell,  Esq.,  and  William  Bag- |  nell,  Esq.,  for  their  zealous  endeavours  to  bring  those  delinquents to  the  punishment  they  deserved,  and  to  support  the  laws  of  their country".  Their  conviction,  they  state,  was,  "  that  those  late riots  in  the  south  were  fomented  as  well  by  foreigners  as  domestic enemies  of  our  happy  constitution  in  Church  and  State,  in  order to  overthrow  the  same". The  Earl  of  Carrick,  in  reply,  assured  the  grand  jury  of  the county  of  Dublin,  "  he  heartily  concurred  with  them  in  thinking that  the  late  troubles  in  the  southern  districts  were  not  owing  to the  pretended  grievances,  but  to  a  settled  intention  of  overthrowing our  present  happy  constitution  in  Church  and  State". The  notes  of  the  cuckoo  are  not  more  invariable  than  those  of the  party  who  arrogate  to  themselves  the  especial  protection  of the  constitution  in  Church  and  State.  Happiness,  indeed,  in those  times  of  terror  for  the  people  subjected  to  that  power  which domineered  over  the  government  itself,  perverted  justice,  and  sacri- ficed the  true  interests  both  of  Church  and  State  to  its  own  in- ordinate ambition  and  selfish  aims  ! These  were  evermore  the  notes  of  the  ascendency  faction,  at the  fag  end  of  their  "  life  and  property"  orations  at  their  grand jury  dinners  and  corporation  orgies.  The  best  comment  on  the conduct  of  this  faction,  and  the  absurdity  of  its  bombastic  protes- tations of  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  religion,  or  the  maintenance of  the  constitution,  is  to  be  found  in  the  significant  remonstrance addressed  by  Lord  Halifax,  in  1762,  to  the  gentry,  in  the  persons of  their  representatives  in  parliament,  at  the  close  of  the  session, and  evidently  in  reference  to  their  conduct  in  the  administration of  the  laws  in  the  districts  which  were  then  the  scenes  of  White- boy  disturbances.  "  I  doubt  not  that  by  justice  and  lenity,  by your  influence  as  men  of  property,  by  your  authority  as  magis- trates, you  will  reconcile  the  minds  of  the  people  to  peace,  civiliza- tion, and  order,  and  perfect  that  reformation  in  which  the  mere execution  of  the  laios,  without  the  example  of  those  ivho  execute them,  must  always  be  defective".  (See  Irish  Votes,  April,  1782, p.  706). .-■•■■. * &8  FATHER  SHEEHY. THE    F-EDIGREE    OF    MR.    EDMUND    SIIEEHV's    FAMILY.*       FROM    AN     ORIGINAL DOCUMENT    IN    THE    HANDWRITING    OF    LADY    BLESSINGTON. This  ancient  family  possessed  a  large  estate  on  the  banks  of  the river  Dee,  in  the  county  of  Limerick,  from  the  time  of  Maurice, the  first  Earl  of  Desmond,  whose  daughter  was  married  to  Mor- gan Sheehy,  who  got  the  said  estate  from  the  earl  as  a  portion with  his  wife. From  the  above  Morgan  Sheehy  was  lineally  descended  Morgan Sheehy,  of  Ballyallenane.  The  said  Morgan  married  Ellen  Butler, daughter  of  Pierce,  Earl  of  Ormond,  and  the  widow  of  Connor O'Brien,  Earl  of  Thomond,  and  had  issue  Morgan  Sheehy. The  said'  Morgan  Sheehy  married  Catherine  Mac  Carthy, daughter  to  Mac  Donnough  Mac  Carthy  More,  of  Dunhallow  in the  county  Cork,  and  had  issue  Morgan  Sheehy. The  said  Morgan  Sheehy  married  Joan,  daughter  of  David, Earl  of  Barrymore,  in  the  county  of  Cork,  and  secondly,  Lady Alice  Boyle,  eldest  daughter  of  Richard,  Earl  of  Cork,  and  had issue  Morgan  Sheehy  and  Meanus,  from  whom  the  Sheehys  of Imokilly  and  county  of  Waterford  are  descended The  said  Morgan  married  Catherine,  the  eldest  of  the  five daughters  of  Teige  O'Brien,  of  Ballycovrig,  and  of  Elizabeth, daughter  of  Maurice,  Earl  of  Desmond.  He  had  issue  three sons,  John,  Edmund,  and  Roger,  and  five  daughters.  Of  the daughters,  Joan  married  Thomas  Lord  Southwell;  Ellen  mar- ried Philip  Magrath,  of  Sleady  Castle,  in  the  county  of  Wa- terford, Esq. ;  Mary  married  Eustace,  son  of  Sir  John  Brown, of  Cammus,  Bart.;  Winifred  married  Sir  James  Galloway,  Bart.; and  Anne  married  Colonel  Gilbrern,  of  Kilmallock. Of  the  five  daughters  of  the  above  Teige  O'Brien,  Catherine married  the  above  Morgan  Sheehy,  Esq. ;  Honoria  married  Sir John  Fitzgerald,  of  Cloyne,  Bart. ;  Mauden  married  O'Shaugh- nessy,  of  Gort ;  Julia  married  MacNamara  of  Cratala ;  and  Mary married  Sir  Thurlough  MacMahon,  of  Cleane,  in  the  county  of Clare,  Bart. Of  the  three  sons  of  Morgan   Sheehy,  Esq.,   and  Catherine *  It  has  long  been  the  custom  in  Ireland  to  represent  the  character  of  those men  who  have  been  basely  sacrificed  to  the  Moloch  of  Orange  ascendency  (under any  of  its  names  or  forms)  as  persons  of  desperate  fortunes,  men  of  no  rank  in society,  or  repute,  or  property  in  the  country.  The  policy  that  dictated  this course  was  not  an  unwise  one  for  the  interests  of  oppression.  Edmund  Sheehy is  only  heard  of  in  the  various  accounts  to  which  I  have  referred,  as  an  associate of  low  and  lawless  wretches  banded  together  for  the  purpose  of  marauding  and murdering  their  opponents.  The  following  account  of  his  origin  and  the  family connexions  of  Edmund  Sheehy  will  perhaps  be  read  with  more  interest  than  ever will  be  felt  in  the  memories  of  the  persecutors  of  his  race,  the  Tolers,  the Hewetsons,  the  Bagnells,  the  Bagwells,  and  the  Maudes. .<  i THE  OAK  BOYS  AND  HEARTS  OF  STEE^S^C'/^' f  89 j  O'Brien,  John,  the  eldest,  married  Mary,  daughter  of  James j  Casey,  of  Rathcannon,  in  the  county  of  Limerick,  Esq.  (It 'was  in  this  John's  time,  about  1650,  that  Cromwell  dispossessed I  the  family  of  their  estates.)    The  said  John  had  issue  John  Sheehy. The  said  John  married  Catherine,  daughter  of  Donough  O'Brien I  of  Dungillane,  Esq.     He  had  issue  Charles  Sheehy. The  said  Charles  married  Catherine  Ryan,  daughter  of  Matthew 1  Ryan,  Esq.,  and  of  Catherine  Fitzgerald,  daughter  of  Sir  John '  Fitzgerald,  of  Clonglish,  Bart. ;  and  had  issue  John  and  William Sheehy,  of  Spittal. The  said  John  married  Honoria  Sullivan,  maternal  grand- daughter to  Mc  Brien,  of  Bally  Sheehan,  and  had  issue,  one  son and  two  daughters,  viz.,  William  Sheehy,  Esq.,  of  Bawnfowne, county  of  Waterford,  and  Eleanor  and  Ellen. The  said  Eleanor  married  William  Cranick,  of  Galbally,  Esq., and  had  issue  Ellen,  who  married  Timothy  Quinlan,  Esq.,  of Tipperary.  (Here  there  is  an  omission  of  any  mention  of  William Sheehy 's  marriage,  or  of  the  issue  of  it,  except  one  son,  Edmund. There  were  three  daughters:  Bridget  married  Pierce  Meagher, of  Rathclough  ;  Honora  married  James  Fitzgerald,  of  Kilkanabrui ; Ellen  married  Anthony  Dwyer,  of  Ballydenaugh.  The  late Counsellor  Ronayne's  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Pierce  Meagher. The  mother  of  the  present  parish  priest  of  Clogheen,  Dr.  Kelly, was  the  daughter  of  James  Fitzgerald.     R.  R.  M.). Edmund  Sheehy,  Esq.,  son  of  the  above-named  William  Sheehy, the  brother  of  Eleanor  and  Eller,  married  Margaret  O'Sullivan, of  Ballylegate,  and  had  issue  Robert  and  James  Sheehy,  and  two daughters,  Ellen  and  Mary. Robert,  son  of  the  above-named  Edmund,  married,  and  had issue  three   sons:  leaving  no  issue.     Mary  married ■  Collins. Ellen  married  Edmund  Power,  Esq.,  of  Curragheen,  in  the  county of  Waterford ;  and  had  issue  Anne,  who  died  in  her  tenth  year, Robert,  Michael,  Margaret,  Ellen,  and  Mary  Ann.  (There  are now  only  two  surviving  grand-children  of  Edmund  Sheehy.)* CHAPTER  III. ILLEGAL   ASSOCIATIONS AGRARIAN  DISTURBANCES    IN  THE    NORTH "  OAK BOYS"   AND  "  HEARTS    OF    STEEL". From  1762  to  1770,  the  northern  counties  were  the  scenes  of new  risings  of  the  peasantry,  under  the  name  of  "Oak  Boys"  and *  This  document  was  given  to  me  in  1843,  by  the  late  Countess  of  Blessington. Her  grandfather,  Edmund  Sheehy,  was  the  unfortunate  gentleman  who  perished on  the  scaffold  at  the  hands  of  a  sanguinary  faction,  in  1766. DO  THE  OAK  BOYS "  Hearts  of  Steel".  The  Oak  Boys'  combination  sprang  up  in  op-  i position  to  the  impositions  that  were  practised  on  them  by  the gentry,  under  the  sanction  of  an  oppressive  law,  which  had  thrown on  the  unpaid  labours  of  the  poor,  to  a  large  extent,  the  charge  of repairing  the  public  roads,  and  not  only  those  roads,  but,  accord- ing to  Plowden,  the  law  was  perverted  to  the  employment  of their  labour  on  private  job  roads. From  combining  for  the  purpose  of  redressing  those  grievances, they  eventually  proceeded  to  the  attempt  of  regulating  tithes  and prescribing  terms  to  the  proctors  and  their  employers.  A  mili- tary force  was  sent  to  the  disturbed  districts,  some  lives  were lost,  the  obnoxious  Road  Bill  was  repealed,  and  quiet  partially restored. The  Hearts  of  Steel  combination  arose  in  the  county  Down about  1762,  out  of  the  proceedings  of  an  absentee  nobleman  (Lord Downshirc)  possessing  one  of  the  largest  estates  in  the  kingdom, who  had  adopted  a  new  mode  of  letting  his  land  when  out  of lease,  by  requiring  large  fines,  and  reducing  the  rents  in  propor- tion to  the  latter.  The  poor  occupiers  of  the  land  were  unable to  compete  with  the  wealthy  speculators,  who  had  the  means  of making  the  required  advance  of  rent  in  the  way  of  fines,  the lands  were  taken  by  middlemen,  and  rack-rents,  beggary,  and wholesale  eviction  were  the  results.  The  causes  of  the  northern disturbances  at  this  period  will  be  found  clearly  and  succinctly detailed  in  the  following  statement,  which  will  bring  this  intro- ductory notice,  already  too  far  extended,  to  a  close.* "  My  first  recollection  of  public  affairs  commenced  about  1770, when  the  country  was  agitated  by  the  arrest  of  a  farmer  in  Bel- fast, on  the  charge  of  being  a  captain  of  the  Hearts  of  Steel,  and, from  the  neighbours  whom  I  heard  in  conversation  with  my father,  I  remember  the  following  facts,  which  time  and  mature age  have  confirmed  in  my  mind,  especially  from  conversing  with -many  who  were  then  at  age. *  It  would  heave  been  an  easy  matter  to  have  referred  to  historians  of  literary eminence  for  an  account  of  the  northern  disturbances,  but  it  seemed  to  me  desi- rable to  learn  the  views  and  objects  of  the  people  engaged  in  those  disturbances from  a  man  of  their  own  rank,  and  brought  up  amongst  the  actors  in  those  com- binations. The  statement  above  referred  to  respecting  the  Hearts  of  Steel,  etc., was  communicated  to  me  by  James  Hope,  of  Belfast,  a  man  whose  recollection carries  him  back  to  the  events  in  question,  and  on  whose  vigorous  mind  their causes  and  results  had  left  a  deep  impression.  This  extraordinary  man,  at  the time  the  statement  was  made  to  me,  I  believe,  was  verging  on  his  eightieth  year, yet  in  the  full  possession  of  aU  his  mental  faculties,  owing  no  advantage  to  birth, fortune,  or  education,  and  yet  endowed  with  a  more  singular  combination  of  ex- cellent qualities  and  of  natural  endowments  than  is  often  to  be  met  with  in  one similarly  circumstanced.  This  self-educated  man  has  lived  for  more  than  hah' a  century  by  the  labour  of  his  own  hands,  and  chiefly  at  the  loom. AND  HEARTS  OF  STEEL.  91 "  The  linen  trade  had  flourished  in  Ulster,  and  enabled  the families  who  worked  at  it  to  live  comfortably  by  renting  a  house !  and  garden,  with  grass  for  a  cow,  and  sometimes  for  two,  from j  the  farmers ;  and  many  such  families  who  were  industrious  became I  enabled  to    rent    a    small    farm  when    a    lease    fell,    or  to  pur- chase  from  others,  who  were  emigrating  to  America,  or  who, owing  to  their  indolence  or  profligacy,  or  both,  had  fallen  into poverty. "  The  high  rents  which  the  farmers  charged  to  those  weavers, and  which  they  considered  fair  profits,  taught  the  landlords  the rising  value  of  their  land,  and  in  some  degree  justified  the  cot- tage?' in  yielding  to  the  temptation  of  offering  a  higher  rent  to the  landlord  than  what  a  farmer  could  pay,  but  which  he  was enabled  to  do  by  the  profits  arising  from  his  trade.  He  then  di- vided his  farm  amongst  his  children  as  they  grew  up,  and  few men  of  that  period  seemed  to  consider  any  provision  necessary  for their  descendents,  except  placing  them  on  a  level  with,  or,  if practicable,  above  their  neighbours,  in  point  of  property. "  Education  was,  of  course,  in  a  great  measure,  neglected,  and the  richer  a  man  grew,  the  less  he  cared  about  any  other  know- ledge than  that  which  enabled  him  to  extend  his  worldly  posses- sions. "  Blindly  pursuing  gain,  and  overlooking  the  main  point,  so- cial security,  men  bred  in  the  country  settled  in  Belfast,  and became  wealthy  by  means  of  commerce,  chiefly  in  the  provision and  linen  trades.  Having  intercourse  with  people  from  all  parts of  the  country,  and  being  ever  on  the  look-out  where  a  pound,  or even  a  penny  might  be  made  by  a  bargain,  they  began  to  pur- chase whole  townlands  from  the  head  landlords,  and  to  turn  large farms  into  stock-farms,  to  answer  the  export  provision  trade, while  the  people  confined  to  the  surface  paid  more  attention  to cultivation. "  The  unthinking  country  squire,  deceived  by  his  sycophantic agent,  who  was  paid  by  the  pound  for  collecting  his  rents,  ima- gined that  high  rents  enhanced  the  intrinsic  value  of  his  land ; and  finding  from  the  face  of  his  books  that  his  nominal  rental was  increased,  and  forgetting  that  the  law  of  nature  will  be obeyed,  and  that  the  ocean  itself  has  its  bounds,  yet,  feeling  that the  entail  of  his  estates  gave  them  only  to  one  heir,  he  lent  to  the crown  his  surplus  income,  and  thus  created,  on  usury,  estates  for the  younger  branches  of  his  family. "  Things  went  on  in  this  way ;  but  some  persons  had  different views  from  this,  which  were  deeply  impressed  on  their  minds. Finding  their  necessities  increase  beyond  the  power  of  productive labour,  they  discussed  in  the  field  and  at  the  loom  questions  re- 92  THE  OAK  BOYS specting  their  social  condition,  the  privileges  of  some,  and  the    |  - privations  of  others. "  A  man  will  think  what  he  will  not  always  venture  to  express, and  will  say  to  some  what  he  would  not  say  to  all ;  and  thus  an under-current  of  opinion  began  to  run  through  society,  which  no act  of  parliament  could  reach. "  That  class  from  whose  ill- paid  labour  these  means  of  enjoy- ing the  luxuries  of  life  were  drawn,  brooding  over  their  want  and wretchedness,  became  reckless  or  vindictive ;  many,  for  the  sake of  better  food  and  clothing,  and  comparative  idleness,  engaged  in the  trade  of  war.  But  the  mass  preferred  a  short  life,  as  they expressed  it,  and  a  merry  one  at  home,  and  thus  originated  the Hearts  of  Steel. "In  1775  the  linen  trade  had  received  its  death-blow,  by  the consequences  of  the  American  war,  and  the  introduction  of  the cotton  manufacture.*  The  independent  spirit  of  Ulster  was  now on  the  decline,  and  in  the  towns  sordid,  selfish  speculators  began to  replace  the  respectable  linen  merchants.  In  the  meantime, gaudy  calicoes  and  paper  money  supplanted  the  precious  metals and  fine  linen.  Factories  came  into  vogue.  The  people  had  to leave  their  own  firesides;  and  children  of  a  tender  age,  girls  in the  bloom  of  youth  and  innocence,  were  transplanted  from  the cheerful  spinning-wheel,  under  the  roof  of  their  parents,  to  loath- some workhouses  or  manufactories,  in  which  they  breathed  an air  that  was  mixed  with  the  fumes  of  heated  oil  and  cotton  dust, and  were  consigned  to  the  tuition  of  an  overbearing,  and  often vicious  manager.  At  that  time  a  cotton  weaver  could  earn  from a  pound  to  thirty  shillings  a-week,  working  only  four  days,  with less  labour  than  a  linen  weaver  could  now  earn  five  shillings, working  six  days,  late  and  early.  The  various  circumstances  in operation  produced  a  change  of  mind  and  manners  before  un- known in  the  country.  But  the  variety  of  man's  inventions  pro- duces effects  in  every  age,  which,  being  unforeseen,  leave  the  mass unprepared  to  accommodate  itself  to  new  circumstances,  and  turn them  to  advantage,  which  to  some  extent  accounts  for  the  slow progress  of  social  improvement. "  Observing  these  evils  early  in  life,  I  set  my  mind  to  contem- *  Previous  to  1775,  "the  exportation  of  Irish  linen  to  America  had  been'very considerable ;  but  now  this  great  source  of  national  wealth  was  totally  shut  up  by an  extraordinary  stretch  of  prerogative,  under  the  pretext  of  preventing  the Americans  from  being  supplied  with  provisions  from  Ireland,  which,  in  prejudi- cing that  kingdom  served  only  to  favour  the  adventures  of  British  contractors. Tliis  embargo,  combined  with  other  causes,  produced  the  most  melancholy  eflects. Wool  and  black  cattle  fell  considerably  in  value,  as  did  also  land.  The  tenants in  many  places  were  unable  to  pay  the  rents,  and  public  credit  was  almost  ex- tinct.—Plowden's  "History  of  Ireland",  vol.  ii.,  p.  171. AND  HEARTS  OF  STEEL.  03 plate  the  causes  of  social  derangement,  and  by  thinking  rather than  reading,  to  get  at  some  knowledge  of  the  matter.  I  am  still an  imperfect  reader,  and  have  learned  more  by  the  ear  than  the eye,  and  by  thinking  than  talking  on  any  subject.  That  all human  invention  has  bounds  which  it  cannot  pass,  is  as  evident as  that  empires  have  limits  to  their  duration.  Their  fate  is  in- herent in  the  principles  upon  which  they  rise,  and  their  durabi- lity depends  on  the  energy  or  inactivity  displayed  in  their  opera- tion, or  the  carrying  of  them  into  practical  effect.  I  could  never view  a  system  admitting  one  class  to  political  privileges,  and  ex- cluding another  from  them  on  account  of  class  or  creed,  in  any other  light  than  an  organization  at  war  with  the  community,  and those  exclusive  privileges  but  as  so  many  altars  on  which  human sacrifice  was  daily  offered  up,  perhaps  to  a  greater  extent  and variety  than  in  any  former  age  on  record. "  To  return  to  the  Hearts  of  Steel.  A  farmer  who  resided  near Belfast,  and  who  was  a  ruling  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  congre- gation of  Carnmoney,  persuaded  the  majority  of  his  neighbours to  allow  him  to  take  a  lease  of  the  townland  in  which  he  lived from  the  head  landlord,  with  a  promise  that  they  should  have every  one  his  farm  at  the  rate  it  should  be  obtained  by  wholesale. They  all  consented  but  two  or  three,  who,  nevertheless,  shared the  late  of  the  rest;  for  as  soon  as  the  elder  got  the  lease,  he raised  all  their  rents,  so  as  to  have  a  considerable  profit,  besides requiring  duty-work,  a  custom  then  claimed  by  the  head  land- lords on  their  demesnes.  One  of  those  who  had  not  consented, having  refused  duty-work,  a  custom  then  claimed  by  the  head landlord,  the  elder's  son  set  fire  to  a  hedge  of  furze,  on  which  some linen  clothes  of  the  non-conforming  farmer  had  been  put  to  dry, and  this  was  the  first  incitement  to  retaliation.  The  elder's  corn- kiln  was  set  on  fire  by  his  own  nephew,  and  a  shot  fired  into  his house  (but  not  by  the  nephew),  from  which  the  aforesaid  son  nar- rowly escaped.  This  gave  rise  to  the  collection  of  bands  in  the districts  where  the  raising  of  the  rents  had  taken  place,  and  each of  these  bands  conferred  the  name  of  'captain'  on  a  resolute leader.  If  they  went  to  burn  a  house,  their  captain's  name  was '  firebrand' ;  if  to  cut  the  corn  on  a  farm  that  had  been  taken  over another's  head,  as  was  their  expression,  before  it  was  ripe,  his name  was  '  long-scythe'.  He  also  used  to  toss  out  hay  to  the rain,  when  the  weather  was  likely  to  insure  its  destruction — his name  was  '  pitchfork' :  and  this  was  the  work  of  the  brooding class  mentioned  above,  few  of  whom  were  settled  inhabitants,  and none  at  all  of  either  principle  or  character.  This  was  manifest from  their  taxing  the  country  by  threatening  letters  for  money to  support  their  nightly  revels.     From  their  deliberate  destruc- 94  THE  OAK  BOYS tion  of  food,  and  their  cruelty  to  animals,  they  were  evidently such  a  class  as  were  afterwards  collected  into  Orange  lodges  by the  landlords,  whom  they  will  eventually  undermine,  as  those landlords,  in  former  parliaments,  have  undermined  the  true  in- tercsts  of  the  crown,  by  involving  the  country  in  a  debt  so  over- whelming, that  the  productive  industry  of  the  country  is  over- loaded, and  the  united  interest  of  king  and  people  sacrificed  to sustain  their  own. "About  this  period,  several  merchants  of  Belfast  had  pur- chased large  farms,  and  turned  them  into  pasture,  and  these  were  ! the  men,  chiefly,  who  lost  cattle,  although  the  rage  ran  against  i every  man  who  held  land  which  he  did  not  labour. "  A  Belfast  merchant,  named  Gregg,  having  taken  some  town- lands  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ballyclare,  employed  an  old  wool- len weaver,  called  Gordon,  from  the  county  Down,  as  bailiff  and caretaker,  who  laboured  some  farms  which  the  occupiers  or tenants  had  left  on  account  of  the  high  rents  demanded  by  Mr. Gregg.  When  the  crops  were  ripe,  no  person  would  help  to reap  them,  and  Mr.  Gregg  prevailed  on  the  officers  of  a  detach- ment of  a  Highland  regiment,  then  quartered  in  Belfast,  to  send the  soldiers  out  to  reap  the  oats,  and  cut  the  hay,  which  they  did ; but  the  country  people,  during  the  night,  scattered  all  to  the weather.  On  a  further  application,  the  soldiers  were  sent  to gather  it  again,  but  the  populace  appeared  in  such  numbers  that the  officer  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  commence  the  work ;  and one  David  Douglas  being  seen  among  them,  was  identified  by Gordon  and  others  of  Gregg's  people.  David  Douglas  being  a man  respectable  in  his  rank,  was  accused  of  being  one  of  the  cap- tains of  the  Hearts  of  Steel.  He  then  lived  in  the  Templepatrick (Lord  Templeton's)  estate,  and  his  lease  having  expired,  and  the Douglases  being  stout,  active  men,  had  made  some  spirited  re- monstrances with  Mr.  Hercules  Hyland,  his  lordship's  agent,  with respect  to  the  extremely  heavy  rents  he  was  demanding  for  the land.  His  harshness  was  the  more  felt,  when  placed  in  contrast with  the  late  agent,  Mr.  John  Birnie,  then  lately  deceased,  and who  had  been  a  feeling,  conscientious  man  between  landlord  and tenant.  The  Douglases  were  accordingly  pointed  out  to  Wad- dell,  Cunningham,  William  Wallace,  the  Greggs,  and  Stewart Banks,  then  sovereign  of  Belfast,  as  meriting  punishment. "  These  were  some  of  the  merchants  before  alluded  to.  David Douglas  was  arrested  in  Belfast  on  a  Friday,  and  on  the  follow- ing Sunday  the  country  people  assembled  and  marched  in  a  body into  Belfast,  where  they  attacked  the  military  barracks  where Douglas  was  confined.     The  attempt  proving  unavailing,  wTith AND  HEARTS  OF  STEEL.  95 ;  the   loss  of  three  men  killed,   viz.,  William   Russell,    Andrew I  Christy,  and  Robert  Walker,  and  a  number  of  others  wounded, !  they  set  fire  to  Waddell  Cunningham's  house,  and  threatened  the |  same  fate  to   every  house  in   Belfast  belonging  to  any   of  the merchant-middlemen.      Doctor  Haliday,  an  amiable  man,  who was  respected  by  all  classes  of  society,  interposed,  and  Douglas was  released.    He  gave  bail  to  abide  his  trial  at  the  assizes,  and  was acquitted ;  but  others  who  were  tried  were  not  so  fortunate,  several having  been  convicted,  and  one  man,  named  James  M'Neill,  whose innocence  was  afterwards  fully  established,  was  executed.* "  Men  of  loose,  dissolute  character  were  the  chief  perpetrators of  the  depredations  of  houghing,  stabbing,  and  burning,  and,  as before  mentioned,  extorted  money  by  threatening  letters,  and  the people  were  obliged  to  submit,  until  military,  both  horse  and foot,  were  stationed  throughout  the  country.  About  this  time Hyland  was  dismissed  from  the  agency,  and  was  succeeded  by a  Mr.  Henry  Langford  Burleigh,  who,  by  his  prudence,  firmness, and  conciliating  manner,  joined  with  his  equitable  conduct,  soon discontinued  the  dragooning  system,  and  established  confidence and  good  neighbourhood,  and  the  country  became  perfectly  quiet. When  I  say  quiet,  I  do  not  mean  contented,  for  the  rise  in  the price  of  land,  from  the  necessity  of  supporting  immense  armies, both  by  sea  and  land,  for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  few  and  the oppression  of  the  many,  has  totally  reversed  the  Christian  rule  on which  all  good  government  should  be  founded.  Manners  and customs  underwent  a  revolution. "  People  no  longer  thought  of  living  by  the  proper  exercise  of their  industry  and  the  prudent  direction  of  their  means,  and  of labouring  by  their  example  and  their  efforts  to  enlighten  and  to better  the  condition  of  the  mass  of  the  people  and  enlarge  the circle  of  social  comfort.  The  evils,  on  the  contrary,  under  which the  people  laboured  were  heightened  by  the  rapacity  of  the landlords,  the  habits  of  settled  opposition  to  improvements  of  all kinds  on  the  part  of  the  farmers,  and  the  general  dissipation  of every  class  who  could  procure  money  by  any  means,  stopping  at none,  however  ruinous,  or  even  criminal,  to  obtain  it.  The depredations  of  the  Hearts  of  Oak,  Hearts  of  Steel,  and  White- boys,  and  their  punishment,  and  the  provocation  given  them  by the  rapacity  of  landlords  and  tithe-mongers,  formed  the  topics  of conversation  for  winter  nights,  until  the  American  troubles  beiran to  be  noticed  in  the  Belfast  Newsletter.  That  paper  was  not opposed  to  the  ministry,  yet  it  did  not  suppress  the  opinions delivered  on  that  subject  by  the  Earl  of  Chatham  in  Parliament. *  Fact. t 96  THE  OAK  BOYS I  did  not  comprehend  the  subjects  then  under  discussion,  but  I saw  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion,  and  began  to  ponder  on  I the  arguments  of  the  old  men  on  the  topics  which  have  agitated Europe  ever  since  that  period.  I  fell  into  the  habit  of  observing the  difference  between  what  people  said  and  what  they  did;  for some  of  the  greatest  declaimers  against  the  oppression  of  the landlords  and  the  clergy,  and  who  considered  them  as  the  advo- catea  and  abettors  of  the  system  which  caused  so  much  bloodshed  j in  America,  were  the  least  willing  themselves  to  abate  one  penny in  the  price  of  a  stone  of  meal  or  a  bushel  of  potatoes,  or  any- thing else,  in  a  time  of  scarcity,  that  a  poor  man  wanted  to  buy,  I at  the  same  time  the  most  careful  to  pay  the  least  possible  rate  of ' wages  to  their  servants.  Yet  these  men  would  keep  up  the laudable  practice  of  worship  in  their  families,  and  read  the  very texts  of  Scripture  condemning  the  acts  which  they  would  do  as soon  as  they  rose  from  their  knees,  scarcely  allowing  their  ser- vants any  time  for  rest  after  their  meals,  and  keeping  them  to work  late  and  early.  The  religious  and  moral  instruction  to which  I  had  recourse  was  so  much  at  variance  with  what  I  saw in  daily  practice,  that  I  began  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  the  reli- gious professions  in  some  cases,  and  at  length  to  question  it  in very  many.  Finding  my  own  thoughts  vary  often  on  those  sub- jects, I  had  no  human  guide  on  whom  I  could  depend ;  and  my thoughts  then,  as  now,  surpassing  my  powers  of  expression,  I kept  them  to  myself,  and  I  am  only  surprised  how  I  have  been directed  through  the  labyrinth  of  a  long  life,  like  a  weakling  on a  journey,  who  keeps  his  feet  only  by  the  staggering  of  his fellow-travellers. "  When  peace  was  made  with  America,  our  intercourse  with that  country  began  to  prepare  the  Irish  mind  for  a  struggle  for its  own  independence,  and  in  my  thoughts  the  subject  had  its portion  of  attention.  I  observed  the  pride  of  property,  which  is inherent  in  the  aristocratic  spirit  of  our  country,  was  pretty  much the  same,  whether  in  the  man  of  a  million  or  in  the  forty  shilling freeholder.  Looking  out  for  its  origin,  I  found  it  in  those arrangements  into  which  men  enter  for  procuring  money  which they  do  not  earn,  or  did  not  inherit,  by  means  of  credit.  Go- vernment set  individuals  the  example  of  incurring  expenses  it could  not  meet  without  accommodation. "  Force,  fraud,  and  stratagem  are  essential  to  the  existence  of a  state  of  society  which  is  founded  on  fictitious  credit. "  We  have  seen  that  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country  gave the  land-agents  opportunities  of  widening  the  breach  between landlords  and  tenantry,  and  at  the  same  time  put  good  bargains into  the  hands  of  the  merchants,  by  the  facility  given  to  the AND    HEARTS    OF    STEEL.  97 'landlords  of  drawing  on  tliem  in  foreign  countries,  where  they might  travel  or  reside.  This  increased  the  system  of  middle- jmen  and  rack-rents,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  future  suf- jfering  for  the  people.  To  this  system  there  appeared  no  bounds, , and  no  prospect  of  setting  limits  to  them,  until  the  American revolution  gave  the  public  mind  a  fresh  spring  for  exertion. "  The  naval  and  military  force  of  England  being  reduced  by !  that  unnatural  war,  and  rendered  unable  to  protect  the  trade  or leven  the    soil  of  Ireland,  from   the  then    powerful   fleets   and | armies  of  France,  the  Irish  people  were  under  the  necessity  of !  arming  for  their  own  defence.     They  committed  the  direction  of ! their  force  to  such  gentlemen  as  were  resident  in  the  country land  considered  men  of  public  spirit.     Many  of  these  gentlemen went  farther  in  professions  than  in  subsequent  times  they  would have  wished,  when  political  rights  became  more  largely  discussed and  better  defined. "  In  other  words,  they   overstepped  the   limited    compass  of I  their  early  prejudices  and  views  of  interest,  as  appeared,  after- ' wards  in   their   conduct;    for,    although    they    attended,    public I  meetings    where   some   of   the   soundest   principles    of  political 'economy  were  developed   and   disseminated  among  the  people, jwho    heartily   approved   of   the    sentiments,    yet   those   leaders I  secretly  wished  for  an  opportunity  of  abandoning  the  connexion, |  and  this  pretext  they  soon  found  in  the  crimes  committed  in  the name  of  liberty,  which  succeeded  the  outburst  of  the  revolution in  France  in  1789,  which,  shook  every  throne  in  Europe.     Such. was  the  condition  of  the  people,  the  nature  of  the  disturbances in  the  north  of  Ireland,  the  origin  of  the  Volunteers,  the  views of  a  large  portion  of  its    leaders,  the  seeds  of  disunion  that  were sown   in  its  organization,  and  the  results  that  were  in  embryo about  the  close  of  the  year  1791. "Thus  far  my  notes  were  copied  by  Robert  Montgomery, attorney-at-law,  who  founded  the  market  that  now  bears  his  name.* "  James  Hope. "  Belfast,  March  8th,  1843". The  preceding  notices   of  the    condition   of  the    people,  the *  The  vigour  of  a  mind  teeming  with  original  thoughts  (the  matured  produc- tion of  strong  sound  sense),  displayed  in  all  the  writings  of  this  singular  man, amply  compensates  for  any  defects  of  style  or  occasional  abruptness  in  taking  up or  dismissing  a  subject.  As  to  his  orthography,  nothing  can  he  much  worse;  in fact,  a  richer  mine  of  deep  thought  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  buried  in  such  a mass  of  ill-spelled  words.  I  claim  some  merit  for  the  disinterment  of  the  sense, but  none  beyond  the  discerning  of  it  and  the  correction  of  the  orthography. Having  frequently  to  recur  to  those  writings  of  his  which  he  has  placed  in  my hands,  the  preceding  observation  will  render  any  further  reference  to  his  pecu- liarity of  style  and  diction  unnecessary. 8 98  PEEP-OF-DAY    BOYS. cruelty  of  their  oppressors,  and  the  various  agrarian  disturbances resulting  from  them  during  a  period  of  thirty  years,  from  the beginning  of  the  reign  of  George  the  Third  to  the  origin  of  the Society  of  United  Irishmen  in  1791,  thoiigh  apparently  uncon- nected with  the  particular  epoch  which  this  work  is  intended  to illustrate,  are  by  no  means  irrelevant  to  the  subject  of  it. CHAPTER  IV. THE  FEEP-OF-DAY  BOYS,  WRECKERS,  DEFENDERS,  AND  ORANGEMEN. The  Peep-of-day  Boys  sprung  up  in  the  year  1784,  in  the  county Armagh.  The  members  of  this  secret  association  were  also  known by  the  name  of  "  Protestant  Boys",  and  "  Wreckers",  and,  finally, by  that  of  "  Orangemen".  The  character  of  their  proceedings must  have  been  particularly  atrocious,  when  Sir  Richard  Mus- grave  felt  the  impossibility  of  palliating  the  exuberancy  of  their zeal  in  the  cause  of  ascendency.  He  says:  "They  visited  the houses  of  their  antagonists  (victims,  he  ought  to  have  said)  at  a very  early  hour  in  the  morning,  to  search  for  arms ;  and  it  is  most certain  that  in  doing  so,  they  often  committed  the  most  wanton outrages — insulting  their  persons  and  breaking  their  furniture".* The  late  Charles  Teeling  has  given  a  graphic  account  of  the proceedings  of  the  Wreckers  and  Defenders  in  the  county  of  Ar- magh,! and  another  remarkable  writer,  George  Ensor,  who  had  a personal  knowledge  of  these  factions,  has  treated  of  them. The  evils  originating  in  Armagh  had  already  extended  to  some of  the  adjacent  counties,  and  conflicts  had  taken  place  between the  Wreckers  and  large  bodies  of  armed  peasantry — the  Defenders. In  places  where  the  contending  parties  were  pretty  nearly  ba- lanced, a  salutary  dread  of  each  other,  often  produced  a  restraint on  the  movements  of  both ;  but  where  the  Catholic  population was  thinly  scattered,  the  latter  were  compelled  for  personal  safety to  establish  nightly  guards  or  patrols  in  the  townlands  or  parishes, in  proportion  to  the  numbers  of  men,  or  extent  of  surface,  furnish- ing its  quota  in  arms.  This  served  the  double  purpose,  either  of immediate  defence  or  more  distant  alarm ;  similar  posts  being  ex- tended at  times  of  increased  apprehension  for  some  miles  over  the face  of  the  country.  This  system  of  nocturnal  police — wearisome to  the  inhabitants  and  wasteful  of  their  slender  means — continued *  Vide  Sir  Richard  Musgrave's  History,  p.  54. f  "  The   History  and   Consequences  of  the   Battle   of  the  Diamond",  by  C. Teeling. WRECKERS    AND    DEFENDERS.  99 in  some  of  the  more  exposed  districts,  with  little  or  no  intermission for  whole  seasons,  and  finally  merged  into  the  United  Irish  system. Tone  entertained  opinions  of  an  extravagant  nature  in  regard  to the  political  weight  of  the  Defenders.  He  considered  their  con- spiracy a  well-organized  long-established  confederation,  which  had been  in  secret  communication  with  France  for  a  great  length  of jtime.  Teeling,  however,  positively  asserts  that  Tone  was  mis- Itaken,  and  that  no  such  connexion  existed. He  says:  "  The  Defenders  looked  to  France  in  the  earlier  pe- Iriod  of  her  republic  with  a  twofold  feeling  of  alarm,  alike  regard- iing  the  invasion  of  the  altar  and  the  throne :  for  they  had  not  then [imbibed  those  democratical  sentiments  which  subsequently  became (almost  universal  throughout  Ireland.  Indeed  they  rather  prided jthemselves  as  being  the  descendents  of  men,  whose  devotion  to (monarchy  had  long  been  proverbial,  though  their  fidelity  was (badly  requited.  The  proscription  and  persecution  of  the  clergy lin  France,  many  of  whom  fled  to  this  country  for  an  asylum,  con- jfirmed  the  Defenders  in  the  opinion  that  the  rising  republic  was 'the  declared  enemy  of  their  religion". In  and  prior  to  the  year  1795,  a  considerable  portion  of  the population  of  the  county  of  Armagh,  we  are  told  by  Teeling,  was Idividcd  into  two  hostile  parties.  The  Peep-of-Day  Boy  party  was 'composed  of  Protestants  and  Presbyterians ;  the  Defender  party loriginally  consisted  of  Roman  Catholics ;  the  Peep-of-Day  Boys Iwere  so-called  on  account  of  the  nature  of  their  untimely  visits  — Ibetween  dark  and  dawn — to  the  houses  of  their  Roman  Catholic neighbours  for  the  purpose  of  despoiling  them  of  their  arms ;  the other,  that  of"  Defenders",  from  theirresistance  to  those  aggressions. From  the  spoliation  of  arms  the  "  privileged"  party  proceeded  to imore  general  acts  of  plunder  and  outrage,  which  were  perpetrated ion  most  occasions  with  the  most  scandalous  impunity. The  Catholic  population  of  Ulster  had  acquired,  in  1794  and 1795,  a  moral  weight  in  the  political  scale  of  the  province,  which was  rendered  more  manifest  by  the  manly  energy  with  which numbers  of  their  Protestant  and  Presbyterian  brethren  came  for- ward and  protested  against  the  longer  continuance  of  those  dis- abilities under  which  their  great  community  had  laboured  through- out ages  of  injustice  and  unexampled  oppression.  Matters  had thus  far  progressed,  when  the  old  policy  of  Irish  rule  was  again had  recourse  to,  efforts  were  made  to  infuse  into  the  mind  of  the Protestant,  feelings  of  distrust  in  his  Catholic  fellow-country- men. "  Popish  plots  and  conspiracies"  were  fabricated  with  a, practical  facility,  which  some  influential  authorities  conceived  it no  degradation  to  stoop  to,  and  alarming  reports  of  these  dark confederations  were  circulated  with  a  restless  assiduity. 100  ARMAGH    PERSECUTIONS. At  this  juncture  Lord  Carhampton  was  employed  to  tranquil- lize the  west.     The  commander  of  his  Majesty's  forces  in  Ireland,  , engaged  with  signal  energy  in  the  new  campaign  against  the  pea- santry. Hundreds  of  persons  without  form  or  trial  were  sent  to  serve  1 1 on  board  the  British  fleet,  or  transported  to  the  British  colonies. The  subjoined  "  Declaration  and  Resolutions",  from  a  wealthy and  populous  parish,  bordering  immediately  on  the  district  to which  they  advert,  will  serve,  without  the  introduction  of  others, to  inform  the  reader  how  far  public  opinion  corresponded  with Lord  Gosford's  representations  of  that  persecution,  which  he  so feelingly  described  and  so  forcibly  denounced : — "Declaration  and  Resolutions  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Parish  of Tullylish  {County  of  Down),  George  Law,  Esq.,  in  the  Chair. "  Resolved — That  we  hold  in  just  contempt  and  abhorrence the  criminal  advisers  and  wicked  perpetrators  of  that  inhuman, murderous,  and  savage  persecution  which  has  of  late  disgraced the  county  of  Armagh. "  That  if  these  barbarities  are  not  immediately  opposed,  and some  wise,  firm  and  effectual  steps  taken  by  men  in  authority  to  arrest their  progress,  they  will  instantly  involve  this  kingdom  in  all  the horrors  of  a  civil  war,  and  deluge  our  land  with  blood. "  That,  in  our  opinion,  the  present  existing  laws  are  fully  ade- quate to  the  detection  and  punishment  of  every  species  of  offence, in  case  the  civil  magistrate  do  his  duty",  etc. The  public  journals  of  that  period  afford  extensive  information, on  the  subject  of  those  outrages.  The  following  extract  is  taken from  a  provincial  paper  of  the  day : — "Armagh,  January  23,  1796. "  General  Craddock  arrived  here  to-day,  in  order  to  take  upon  him the  command  of  the  troops  in  this  town  and  neighbourhood.     Wei sincerely  hope  that  he  may  be  successful  in  rooting  from  amongst. us  that  vile  spirit  of  persecution  and  lawless  depredation  which, has  too  long  disgraced  us". It  could  not  have  been  credited  that  those  ruthless  depopulators of  Armagh  would  have  carried  their  daring  to  the  extent  of marching  on  the  town  of  Belfast,  had  not  General  Nugent,  then district-commandant  of  his  Majesty's  forces  in  Ulster,  conceived  it his  duty  to  make  such  arrangements  for  the  protection  of  the  town and  the  security  of  its  inhabitants  as  his  military  foresight  suggested. Extra  guards  were  mounted.  Lord  Gosford  observes,  the  "pic-' ture  of  those  horrid  scenes  was  sufficient  to  awaken  sentiments  of indignation  and  compassion  in  the  coldest  bosoms". BATTLE  OF  THE  DIAMOND.  101 Denouncing  the  crimes  of  those  oppressors,  in  his  place  in  the ! Irish  House  of  Commons,  on  the  20th  of  February,  1796,  Mr. •Grattan  observed,  "that  of  these  outrages  he  had  received  the 'most  dreadful  accounts.  Their  object  was,  the  extermination  of all  the  Catholics  of  that  county".  He  pronounces  it  "  a  perse- Icution  conceived  in  the  bitterness  of  bigotry — carried  on  with  the !most  ferocious  barbarity  by  a  banditti,  who,  being  of  the  religion of  the  state,  had  committed,  with  greater  audacity  and  confidence, ;the  most  horrid  murders,  and  had  proceeded  from  robbery  and imassacre  to  extermination!  They  had  repealed  by  their  own lauthority  all  the  laws  lately  passed  in  favour  of  the  Catholics — had  established  in  the  place  of  those  laws  the  inquisition  of  a mob,  resembling  Lord  George  Gordon's  fanatics — equalling  them in  outrage,  and  surpassing  them  far  in  perseverance  and  success. IThese  insurgents",  continues  Mr.  Grattan,  "call  themselves j Orange  Boys,  or  Protestant  Boys,  that  is,  a  banditti  of  murderers, [committing  massacre  in  the  name  of  God,  and  exercising  despotic ■power  in  the  name  of  liberty". I  turn  now  to  the  battle  of  the  Diamond,  which  was  fought  on ithe  21st  of  September,  1795.  It  is  asserted  by  a  writer  on  this jsubject,  in  the  Dublin  University  Magazine,  that  about  the  middle I of  the  month  (September)  it  was  discovered,  suddenly,  that  the Defenders  were  encamped — that  they  had  congregated  some thousands  in  number — and  that,  undiscovered  until  their  work was  complete,  they  had  drawn  a  trench,  constituting  a  species  of rude  fortification  around  them.  In  this  writer's  words:  "  The  in- correct report  of  a  spy,  it  is  said,  occasioned  the  first  engagement at  the  Diamond".  He  qualifies  his  statement  by,  "  it  is  said", and  then  proceeds  as  follows:  "On  a  Saturday  night  in  August, some  young  people  acting  as  a  watch  having  posted  their  sentinels, agreed  to  pass  away  the  heavy  hours  in  dancing  or  other  amuse- ments. In  one  of  the  games,  a  young  man  having  appeared  en- veloped in  a  sheet,  tidings  of  the  circumstances  were  conveyed  to a  party  of  Defenders,  accompanied  by  an  explanation  that  it  was designed  to  burlesque  the  Mass". That  a  challenge  was  sent  out  by  the  Defenders,  is  asserted  by Mr.  Plowden,  and  admitted  by  the  more  modern  historian.  On that  point  both  are  agreed. The  ever  memorable  engagement,  we  are  told  by  this  writer, commenced  with  "  a  species  of  rifle  warfare,  followed  up  during two  successive  nights  and  days  by  an  intermitting  fire  of  mus- ketry". He  states  that  "  during  a  period  of  more  than  a  week,  within  a range  of  six  miles  of  the  Diamond,  every  house  had  some  of  its inmates  who  kept  a  constant  watch  throughout  the  day  as  well  as 102  ARMAGH    PERSECUTIONS. the  night;  and  within  that  distance  they  could  hear  the  report  of musketry  by  night,  in  frequent,  but  not  general  discharges,  as  if the  videttes  of  the  opposite  party  fired  to  keep  their  enemies  at  a distance ;  but  as  soon  as  the  morning  light  appeared  it  was  saluted by  a  loud  volley,  quickly  returned  and  repeated  from  both  armies, with  little  intermission,  until  the  evening  had  faded  away". "  Whenever",  he  continues,  "  after  a  short  pause,  or  at  the  com- mencement or  conelusion  of  the  day's  battle,  the  combat  was  re- newed or  concluded  on  each  side  by  a  general  discharge,  it  was possible,  at  the  distance  of  six  miles,  to  distinguish  the  party  who gavefire,  and  the  hearts  of  Protestants,  according  to  their  characters, died  or  burned  Avithin  them,  when  they  compared  the  faint  report from  their  friends  with  the  heavy  and  artillery -like  thunders  of  the far  outnumbering  enemy".  The  historian,  on  this  point,  seems  to be  somewhat  doubtful  of  the  faith  of  his  reader;  and,  in  an  expla- natory note,  thus  accounts  for  the  acute  sense  of  hearing,  which, at  a  distance  of  six  Irish  miles,  could  distinguish  between  Popish and  Protestant  fire :  "  The  great  superiority",  he  tells  us,  in  "  point of  numbers,  on  the  side  of  the  Defenders,  is  universally  admitted : Emmet,  and  even  Plowden,  confess  it".  This  may  be  so,  though one  might  be  disposed  to  conclude,  that  "  the  heavy  and  artillery- like thunder"  was  more  likely  to  proceed  from  the  better  armed and  better  disciplined  body  of  the  combatants.  I  shall  give  the reader,  however,  the  advantage  of  Mr.  Emmet's  testimony  touch- ing "  the  great  superiority  in  point  of  numbers",  from  "  Pieces  of Irish  History",  p.  137:  "The  Defenders  were  most  numerous, but  the  Orangemen  had  an  immense  advantage  in  point  of  prepa« ration  and  skill,  many  of  them  having  been  members  of  old Volunteer  corps,  whose  arms  and  discipline  they  still  retained, and  perverted  to  very  different  purposes  from  those  that  have  im- mortalized that  body". George  Ensor,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  editor  of  the  Evening Post,  some  years  ago,  gave  an  interesting  account  of  the  conse- quences of  the  wrecking  system,  and  of  the  orgies  of  the  descend- ents  of  the  Wreckers,  the  Orangemen  of  Armagh,  and  the  military exploits  of  one  of  their  leaders  in  particular,  "  the  renowned James  Verner". Mr.  Ensor  says:  "  At  an  election  dinner  in  the  county  of  Ar- magh, besides  many  toasts  of  cordial  warmth,  the  festival  was wound  up  by  toasting  the  '  Battle  of  the  Diamond'.  This  being reported  to  his  Excellency,  Lord  Mulgrave,  he  directed  Mr. Drummond  to  address  each  of  the  magistrates  reported  to  have been  present,  requesting  to  know  '  if  he  were  a  party  to  the commemoration  of  a  lawless  and  disgraceful  conflict,  in  which much  blood  had  been  spilled,  and  the  immediate  consequence BATTLE  OF  THE  DIAMOND.  103 of  which  was,  as  testified  at  the  time  by  all  the  leading  men and  magistrates  of  their  county,  to  place  that  part  of  the country  at  the  mercy  of  an  ungovernable  mob'.  That  much blood  was  spilt  in  the  commemorated  battle,  is  certain.  Colonel Blacker,  who  was  on  the  ground  immediately  after  the  fight,  states that  he  saw  about  thirty  Catholics  carrying  away  dead  on  cars ; but  not  one  Protestant  was  killed  that  he  could  hear  of.  This, by-the-by,  is  rather  an  extraordinary  issue  of  a  fight  which,  it  is said,  was  recommenced  by  the  Catholics  in  treachery  and  by  sur- prise. Yet,  it  was  a  day  worthy  of  being  toasted  at  an  election dinner  in  1837,  and  honoured  with  an  appropriate  song;  for on  the  day  of  this  fight  originated  the  Orange  Society,  ac- cording to  Colonel  Verner's  evidence  before  the  Orange  Com- mittee. "  To  Mr.  Drummond's  letter  Mr.  Synnot  published  a  short  an- swer, and  Colonel  Verner  published  a  long  one.  Sir  Thomas Molyneux  has  published  two  answers.  Sir  Thomas  asserts,  in  the first,  that  he  had  entered  the  county  from  Blaris  camp  the  day  after the  fight,  'and  I  can  confidently  assert',  he  says,  'that  no  manner  of disturbance  afterwards  took  place,  at  least  for  the  eighteen  months that  my  regiment  remained  in  the  district'.  Not  satisfied  with this  indirect  denial  of  Lord  Gosford's  address,  and  the  resolutions voted  in  December,  1795,  by  magistrates  and  other  gentlemen  to the  contrary,  he  attempts  to  corroborate  his  assertion  in  a  second letter.  The  following  is  the  first  resolution  in  the  document  he contravenes : — '  That  it  appears  to  this  meeting  that  the  county  of Armagh  is  at  this  time  in  a  state  of  uncommon  disorder:  that  the Roman  Catholic  inhabitants  are  grievously  oppressed  by  lawless persons,  who  attack  and  plunder  their  houses  by  night,  unless they  immediately  abandon  their  lands  and  habitations'.  These resolutions  were  passed  at  the  close  of  December,  1795,  and  sub- scribed by  Lord  Gosford,  Capel  Molyneux,  William  Richardson, Arthur  Jacob  M'Cann,  Robert  Bernard  Sparrow,  Alexander  Tho- mas Stuart,  Michael  Obins,  Hugh  Hamilton,  John  Ogle,  William Clarke,  Charles  M.  Warburton,  William  Lodge,  William  Bisset,  Tho- mas Quinn,  Owen  O'Callaghan,  John  Maxwell,  Joshua  M'Geogh, James  Verner,  Richard  Allott,  Stewart  Blacker,  Robert  Leving- ston,  William  Irwin,  Joseph  Harden,  Joseph  Lawson,  William Blacker. "  The  purport  of  the  address  by  the  late  Lord  Gosford,  and  the resolutions  so  subscribed,  Sir  Thomas  Molyneux  denies,  saying, in  his  second  letter,  '  that  the  speech  and  the  resolutions  must  be taken  to  refer  to  alarms  which  the  Roman  Catholic  part  of  the population  professed  to  feel,  and  to  the  threats  in  which  the  Protest- ant party  (exasperated  by  the  treachery  which  led  to  the  Battle 104  ARMAGH    PERSECUTIONS. of  the  Diamond)  may  have  indulged1.  He  adds,  '  that  the  mili- tary in  1795  performed  the  duties  that  are  now  consigned  to  the constabulary,  that  he  commanded  the  only  infantry  regiment  in the  county'.  lie  then  refers  to  his  orderly-book,  quotes  an  extract from  it  from  the  9th  of  November,  1795,  to  the  28th  of  Febru- ary, 1796 ;  and  as  there  are  only  five  notices  of  military  assistance inserted  during  this  period,  he  concludes  that  the  resolutions passed  under  Lord  Gosford's  auspices  as  Governor,  and  Mr.  Drum- mond's  letter,  founded  mainly  on  them,  are  not  veracious,  and that  the  alleged  outrages  at  this  period  were  merely  alarms  at  one side,  induced  by  threats  from  the  other.  This  is  rather  preposte- rous logic;  it  runs  thus — you,  Lord  Gosford,  say,  houses  were attacked  and  plundered,  etc. ;  and  I,  Sir  Thomas  Molyneux,  say it  is  not  so,  for  my  orderly-book  contains  a  very  few  notices  of military  assistance  to  repress  such  outrages.  Yet  the  resolution  I have  quoted,  is  in  itself  a  full  answer  to  this  objection:  for  it  par- ticularly states  that  the  outrages  were  committed  by  persons  un- known, ivho  attack  and  plunder  their  houses  by  night.  What  could the  military  do  on  such  occasions  ?  and  supposing  they  could  act to  any  purpose,  who  was  to  apply  for  assistance  to  the  command- ing officer?  The  person  spoiled  and  plundered  could  not  be attended  to  by  him  ;  he  must  be  addressed  through  the  magistracy; and  were  they  likely  to  be  on  the  alert  in  supporting  the  Catho- lics ?  Lord  Gosford's  address  affords  an  answer.  '  The  spirit  of impartial  justice  (without  which  law  is  no  better  than  tyranny) has  for  a  time  disappeared  in  this  county,  and  the  supineness  of the  magistracy  of  this  county  is  a  topic  of  conversation  in  every corner  of  the  kingdom'.  Sir  Thomas  Molyneux  not  only  denies that  the  address  and  resolutions,  sanctioned  by  twenty-four  magis- trates and  clergymen  of  the  county  (and  one  of  the  subscribers  he, for  every  reason,  honours  and  respects)  ;  but  he  asserts  that  from  the day  of  the  Diamond  Fight,  '  I  can  confidently  assert  that  no  man- ner of  disturbance  took  place,  at  least  for  the  eighteen  months that  my  regiment  remained  in  the  district'.  Eighteen  months, from  the  21st  of  September,  1795,  brings  the  period  to  the  21st of  March,  1797.  Now  for  further  proofs  of  disturbance  in  these eighteen  months  of  halcyon  tranquillity.  At  Lent  assizes,  in 1796,  the  sheriff,  grand  jury,  and  magistrates  of  Armagh  addressed unanimously  Earl  Camden,  stating — '  We  have  seen,  with  the deepest  regret,  the  outrages  which,  for  some  time  past,  have  dis- turbed the  peace,  and  interrupted  the  industry,  of  this  prosperous county',  etc.  How  far  the  following  memorial  will  be  construed as  a  proof  of  disturbance  I  cannot  divine ;  but  it  appears  in  a  Bel- fast journal  of  that  time  that  the  Orangemen  marched,  on  the  12th of  July,  1796,  through  Lurgan,  Warrenstown,   Portadown,  with BATTLE  OF  THE  DIAMOND.  105 colours,  King  William  the  Third  on  one  side,  and  on  the  reverse George  the  Third.  The  account  concludes : — '  One  of  their  cap- tains, of  the  name  of  M'Murdie,  was  killed  in  the  afternoon,  in an  affray  with  some  of  the  Queen's  County  militia' ". With  respect  to  the  consequences  of  these  scandalous  proceed- ings, the  following  observations  are  taken  from  Mr.  Emmet's Pieces  of  Irish  His  tori/. "  The  Defenders  were  speedily  defeated,  with  the  loss  of  some  few killed  and  left  on  the  field  of  battle,  besides  the  wounded,  whom they  carried  away.  After  this,  in  consequence  of  the  interference of  a  Catholic  priest  and  a  country  gentleman,  a  truce  between both  parties  was  agreed  upon,  which  was  unfortunately  violated  in less  than  twenty-four  hours.  The  two  bodies  that  had  consented  to it  for  the  most  part  dispersed ;  the  district,  however,  in  which  the battle  was  fought,  being  entirely  filled  with  Orangemen,  some  of them  still  remained  embodied;  but  the  Catholics  returned  home. In  the  course  of  next  day  about  seven  hundred  Defenders  from Keady,  in  a  remote  part  of  the  county,  came  to  the  succour  of their  friends,  and,  ignorant  of  the  armistice,  attacked  the  Orange- men, who  were  still  assembled.  The  associates  of  the  latter,  being on  the  spot,  quickly  collected  again,  and  the  Defenders  were once  more  routed". But  Mr.  Emmet  adds : — "  Perhaps  this  mistake  might  have  been cleared,  and  the  treaty  renewed,  if  the  resentment  of  the  Orange- men had  not  been  fomented  and  cherished  by  persons  to  whom reconciliation  of  any  kind  was  hateful.  The  Catholics,  after  this transaction,  never  attempted  to  make  a  stand,  but  the  Orangemen commenced  a  persecution  of  the  blackest  dye.  They  would  no longer  permit  a  Catholic  to  exist  in  the  country.  They  posted  up on  the  cabins  of  these  unfortunate  victims  this  pithy  notice :  '  To Hell  or  Connaught'^  and  appointed  a  limited  time  in  which  the necessary  removal  of  persons  and  property  was  to  be  made.  If, after  the  expiration  of  that  period,  the  notice  had  not  been  com- plied with,  the  Orangemen  assembled,  destroyed  the  furniture, burned  the  habitations,  and  forced  the  ruined  families  to  fly  else- where for  shelter".  Mr.  Emmet  also  states: — "  While  these  out- rages were  going  on,  the  resident  magistrates  were  not  found  to resist  them,  and,  in  some  instances  were  even  more  than  inactive spectators". "  -The  county  of  Armagh  and  its  neighbourhood",  he  asserts, "  were  not  destitute  of  military  force,  able  and  willing  to  repress these  outrages.  The  Queen's  County  militia,  consisting  mostly of  Catholics,  was  there,  and  exceedingly  incensed  at  the  unre- sisted, unrestrained,  and  even  unnoticed  persecution  against  their religion  which  it  was  forced  to  witness".     Mr.  Emmet  concludes 106  THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION. his  fearful,  but  too  faithful  description  of  this  persecution,  with these  memorable  words:  "Neither  the  protecting  hand  of  the government  nor  of  the  magistracy  was  held  forth  to  the  op- pressed". The  Orange  institution  grew  up  and  found  favour  in  the  sight of  both,  and  in  all  human  probability  is  destined  one  day  to  bring the  British  empire  to  the  brink  of  ruin. THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION. Orangeisrn,  in  its  present  phase  of  being,  is  not  above  six  ty-five years  of  age.  But  this  Buddha  of  bigotry  and  knavery  combined besran  its  incarnation  in  Ireland  centuries  ago. The  Lord  Deputy  Strafford,  in  a  letter  to  the  Lord  Treasurer, dated  19th  July,  1634,  renders  an  account  of  the  happy  results  of the  policy  of  his  government  in  fomenting  emulations,  alias  dis- cords, between  Catholics  and  Protestants : — "  This  letter  is  only  to  give  your  lordship  a  short  account  of our  proceedings  in  parliament.  The  parties  are  in  a  manner  equal. Some  few  odds  on  the  Protestant  party ;  and  one  watching  the other,  lest  their  fellow  should  rob  them,  and  apply  the  whole  of his  Majesty's  thanks  to  themselves  from  the  other.  An  emulation so  well  fomented  underhand,  that  when  the  motion  was  made  for the  King's  supply  yesterday  in  the  House  of  Commons  (the  fifth of  their  session),  they  did  with  one  voice  assent  to  the  giving  of  six subsidies  to  be  paid  in  four  years".* The  great  art  politic  in  the  goverment  of  Ireland  of  fomenting emulations,  in  another  letter  of  the  Lord  Deputy,  dated  18th August,  in  the  same  year  (vol.  i.  p.  297),  addressed  to  Mr.  Secre- tary Coke,  we  find  thus  set  forth,  the  parliament  being  now  the object  of  the  Lord  Deputy's  governmental  care,  and  the  strife  not to  be  sown  between  sects,  but  between  Lords  and  Commons. "  There  fell  a  breach  betwixt  the  two  houses,  which  kept  them asunder  all  this  session ;  the  Commons  would  not  confer  wTith  the Lords,  unless  they  might  sit  and  be  covered  as  well  as  their  lord- ships, which  the  other  would  by  no  means  admit.  For  my  part  I did  not  lay  it  very  near  my  heart  to  agree  them,  as  having  hereto- fore seen  the  effects  which  follow  when  they  are  in  strict  under- standing, or  at  difference  amongst  themselves ;  besides,  I  sate  plainly that  keeping  them  at  distance,  I  did  avoid  their  joining  in  a  peti- tion for  the  Graces,  which  infallibly  they  would  have  done,  which now  come  only  singly  from  the  Commons.  I  conceive  it  would be  very  easy  the  next  session  either  to  agree  or  keep  them  still *  Letters  of  Thomas  Earl  of  Strafford,  vol.  i.  p.  274. THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION.  107 asunder.  I  desire  there  may  be  a  thought  bestowed  upon  it,  and let  me  have  my  directions,  which  /  shall  readily  conform  myself either  way*. So  the  policy  of  governing  a  people  by  keeping  alive  discords among  them  was  in  being  223  years  ago.  A  century  nearer  our own  times,  the  demon  policy,  which  it  might  be  supposed  none  but a  profligate  courtier  and  statesman  like  Strafford  could  be  found to  practise,  and  to  boast  of,  we  find  a  Christian  prelate,  the Lord  Primate  Boulter,  exercising  high  state  authority  in  Ireland, proclaim  the  benefits  of  with  a  loud  voice.  The  divine  doctrine of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  breathing  peace  and  concord,  con- trasts strongly  and  strangely  with  that  of  the  state  policy  of  Pri- mate Boulter.  Lamenting  the  union  of  Catholic  and  Protestant subjects  of  the  same  state  as  likely  to  follow  from  certain  circum- stances, he  writes  to  his  good  masters : — "  The  worst  of  this  affair  is,  that  it  unites  Protestants  and  Papists, and  if  that  reconciliation  takes  place,  farewell  to  English  influence in  Ireland". The  Orange  system  is  perhaps  the  most  unchristian  institution that  has  sprung  up  in  any  European  country  in  modern  times. From  its  origin  it  was  eminently  hypocritical,  its  votaries  profes- sing a  strong  zeal  for  the  interests  of  true  religion,  and  burning with  a  fierce  lust  of  lands  and  tenements  in  the  possession  of  their Roman  Catholic  fellow-subjects. In  the  fervour  of  the  assumed  enthusiasm  of  Orangemen  for  the diffusion  of  pure  religion,  they  posted  the  following  pithy  contro- versial notice  on  the  door  of  the  benighted  Romanists — "To  Hell or  Connaught" :  now,  as  the  Catholic  people  were  held  to  be  going to  the  former  region  their  own  way,  in  turning  them  out  of  their houses  and  homes,  it  would  seem  that  it  was  their  lands  and  tene- ments, and  not  the  cause  of  true  religion,  about  which  these  cham- pions of  the  church  were  interested.  Lord  Chesterfield  speaks  of Lady  Palmer,  a  young  Irish  lady  of  the  old  religion,  who  fre- quented the  Castle  in  his  time,  as  "  a  very  dangerous  Papist". The  possession  of  beauty,  like  the  occupation  of  land,  on  the  part of  the  Romanists,  was  no  doubt  of  a  very  dangerous  tendency. In  the  beginning  of  1796,  "  it  was  generally  believed  (says Plowden)  that  7,000  Catholics  had  been  forced  or  burned  out  of the  county  of  Armagh ;  and  that  the  ferocious  banditti  who  had expelled  them  had  been  encouraged,  connived  at,  and  protected by  the  government".*  In  the  analysis  of  the  report  of  the  com- mittee on  Orange  institutions,  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  of January,  1836,  the  following  account  is  given  of  the  proceedings *  Plowden's  "  History",  vol.  ii.  p.  377. 108  THE    011ANGE    INSTITUTION. of  the  Pecp-of-Day  Boys,  and  of  their  more  systematic  atro- cities in  1795,  under  the  newly-adopted  name  of  Orangemen: — "The  first  Orange  lodge  was  formed  on  the  21st  September, 1795,  at  the  house  of  a  man  named  Sloan,  in  the  obscure  village of  Lougugall.  The  immediate  cause  of  those  disturbances  in  the north  that  gave  birth  to  Orangeism,  wras  an  attempt  to  plant colonics  of  Protestants  on  the  farms  or  tenements  of  Catholics who  had  been  forcibly  ejected.  Numbers  of  them  were  seen wandering  about  the  country,  hungry,  half-naked,  and  infuriated. Mr.  Christie,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  appears to  have  passed  sixty  or  seventy  years  on  his  property  as  quietly as  a  man  may  in  the  neighbourhood  of  such  violent  neighbours, gives  a  painful  account  of  the  outrages  then  committed.  He says  (5,573)  'he  heard  sometimes  of  twelve  or  fourteen  Catholic houses  wrecked  in  a  night,  and  some  destroyed'  (5,570) :  '  that this  commenced  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Churchill,  between Portadown  and  Dungannon,  and  then  it  extended  over  nearly all  the  northern  counties.  In  the  course  of  time,  after  the  Catho- lics were  many  of  them  driven  from  the  county,  and  had  taken refuge  in  different  parts  of  Ireland,  I  understood  they  went  to Connaught.  Some  years  after,  wdien  peace  and  quietness  was  in a  measure  restored,  some  returned  again,  probably  live  or  six years  afterwards.  The  property  which  they  left  was  transferred in  most  instances  to  Protestants:  where  they  had  houses  and gardens  and  small  farms  of  land,  it  was  generally  handed  over by  the  landlords  to  Protestant  tenants.  That  occurred  within my  knowledge'.  He  further  says :  '  It  continued  for  two  or  three years,  but  was  not  quite  so  bad  in  1796  and  1797  as  it  was  earlier. After  this  wrecking,  and  the  Catholics  were  driven  out,  what  was called  "  The  Break-of-Day"  party  merged  into  Orangeism ;  they passed  from  the  one  to  the  other,  and  the  gentlemen  in  the  county procured  what  they  termed  their  Orange  warrants,  to  enable them  to  assemble  legally,  as  they  termed  it.  The  name  dropped, and  Orangeism  succeeded  to  Break-of-Day  Men'  (5,575). "  At  first  the  association  was  entirely  confined  to  the  lower orders ;  but  it  soon  worked  its  way  upwards,  and,  so  early  as November,  1798,  there  appeal's  a  corrected  report  of  the  rules and  regulations  officially  drawn  up,  and  submitted  to  the  Grand Lodge  of  Ireland,  under  the  presidency  of  Thomas  Verner,  Esq., Grand  Master;  J.  C.  Beresford,  Esq.,  Grand  Secretary,  and others.  The  state  of  the  country,  soon  after  the  formation  of these  societies,  is  faithfully  described  in  an  address  which  the late  Lord  Gosford,  as  governor  of  Armagh,  submitted  to  all  the leading  magistrates  of  the  county.  His  lordship  stated  that  he had  called  them  together  to  submit  a  plan  to  their  consideration y THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION.  109 for  checking  the  enormities  which  disgraced  the  county.  He then  proceeds :  'It  is  no  secret  that  a  persecution,  accompanied with  all  the  circumstances  of  ferocious  cruelty  which  have  in  all ages  distinguished  that  dreadful  calamity,  is  now  raging  In  this country.  Neither  age,  nor  even  acknowledged  innocence  as  to the  late  disturbances,  is  sufficient  to  excite  mercy,  much  less afford  protection.  The  only  crime  which  the  wretched  objects of  this  merciless  persecution  are  charged  with,  is  a  crime  of  easy proof — it  is  simply  a  profession  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  A lawless  banditti  have  constituted  themselves  judges  of  this  species of  delinquency,  and  the  sentence  they  pronounce  is  equally  con- cise and  terrible :  it  is  nothing  less  than  a  confiscation  of  all  pro- perty and  immediate  banishment.  It  would  be  extremely  pain- ful, and  surely  unnecessary,  to  detail  the  horrors  that  attended the  execution  of  so  wide  and  tremendous  a  proscription,  which certainly  exceeds,  in  the  comparative  number  of  those  it  consigns to  ruin  and  misery,  every  example  that  ancient  and  modern  his- tory can  afford ;  for  where  have  we  heard,  or  in  what  history  of human  cruelties  have  we  read,  of  more  than  half  the  inhabitants of  a  populous  country  deprived  at  one  blow  of  the  means  as  well as  the  fruits  of  their  industry,  and  driven,  in  the  midst  of  an  in- clement winter,  to  seek  a  shelter  for  themselves  and  their  hapless families  where  chance  may  guide  them  ?  This  is  no  exaggerated picture  of  the  horrid  scenes  now  acting  in  this  country ;  yet surely  it  is  sufficient  to  awaken  sentiments  of  indignation  and compassion  in  the  coldest  heart.  Those  horrors  are  now  acting, and  acting  with  impunity.  The  spirit  of  impartial  justice  (with- out which  law  is  nothing  better  than  tyranny)  has  for  a  time  dis- appeared in  this  country ;  and  the  supineness  of  the  magistracy  is a  topic  of  conversation  in  every  corner  of  this  kingdom'. — Evi- dence, 3,251. "  The  resolutions  moved  by  Lord  Gosford  were  adopted  and signed  by  all  the  leading  magistrates,  who  thus  bore  undeniable testimony  to  the  persecution  the  Catholics  were  then  suffering  in that  county,  which  was  the  cradle,  and  has  ever  been  the  hot- bed, of  Orangeism. "  We  have  carefully  examined  the  documents  submitted  by the  Orange  society  to  the  committee,  respecting  the  objects  of their  institution,  the  motives  of  its  members,  and  the  qualifica- tions necessary  for  candidates ;  and  nothing  apparently  can  be more  humane,  tolerant,  and  praiseworthy.  Certain  doubtful features  occasionally,  however,  do  peep  through  this  coating  of amiable  professions.  For  instance,  this  society  enforced  on  its members  an  oath  of  qualified  allegiance : — '  I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly swear',  etc.,  '  that  I  will,  to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  support  and 110  THE    OKANGE    INSTITUTION. defend'  the  King  and  his  heirs,  '  so  long  as  he  or  they  support the  Protestant  ascendency'.  Another  suspicious  article  (No.  5) declares — '  We  are  not  to  carry  away  money,  goods,  or  any thing,  from  any  person  whatever,  except  arms  and  ammunition, and  those  only  from  an  enemy' — enemy  no  doubt  meaning Catholic". So  much  for  the  report,  with  regard  to  the  objects  of  this society,  and  the  obligations  of  its  oaths,  etc. Now  the  oath  above  referred  to  is  sufficiently  objectionable on  the  score  of  the  conditional  allegiance  it  embodies;  but  the original  oath  or  purple  test  of  this  society  was  not  produced  by the  officers  of  this  society  on  the  inquiry  entered  into  by  the committee  in  1835;  but  the  existence  of  this  diabolical  test  was given  in  evidence  before  the  secret  committee  of  1798,  by  Mr. Arthur  O'Connor,  and  the  knowledge  of  it  admitted  by  the  com- mittee on  that  occasion,  when  O'Connor's  statement  was  answered by  one  of  the  members  belonging  to  the  administration,  in  these words:  "  Government  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Orange  society, nor  with  their  oath  of  extermination". In  the  memoir  of  the  examination  of  Messrs.  O'Connor,  Em- met, and  M'Nevin,  drawn  up  by  themselves,  O'Connor's  answer is  given  to  this  observation: — "  You,  my  Lord  Castlereagh,  from the  station  you  fill,  must  be  sensible  that  the  executive  of  any country  has  it  in  its  power  to  collect  a  vast  mass  of  information, and  you  must  know,  from  the  secret  nature  of  the  Union,  that  the executive  must  have  the  most  minute  information  of  every  act  of the  Irish  government.  As  one  of  the  executive  (of  the  United Irishmen),  it  came  to  my  knowledge  that  considerable  sums  of money  were  expended  throughout  the  country  in  endeavouring to  extend  the  Orange  system,  and  that  the  Orange  oath  of  exter- mination was  administered;  when  these  facts  are  coupled,  not only  with  the  general  impunity  which  has  been  uniformly  ex- tended to  all  the  acts  of  this  diabolical  association,  but  the marked  encouragement  its  members  have  received  from  govern- ment,  I  find  it  impossible  to  exculpate  the  government  from being  the  parent  and  protector  of  these  societies".* The  fact  of  the  protection  of  the  "  Peep-of-Day  Boys",  or  the Orangemen,  on  the  part  of  the  government  of  those  times,  admits of  no  doubt.  When  the  Insurrection  Act  and  the  Convention Bill  were  introduced,  the  excesses  of  the  peasantry,  whom  they had  goaded  into  resistance,  were  denounced  by  the  Viceroy  and the  legal  officers  of  the  government;  but  not  the  slightest  allusion *  Vide  Memoir  of  the  Examination  of  Messrs.  O'Connor,  Emmet,  M'Nevin, etc. — (Published  by  the  State  Prisoners  ) : THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION.  Ill was  made  to  the  outrages  of  the  exterminators  of  Armagh ;  nay, bills  of  indemnity  were  passed  to  protect  their  leaders  and  magis- terial accomplices  from  all  legal  proceedings  on  the  part  of  their victims.  As  to  the  effect  of  these  societies  in  promoting  the views  of  the  United  Irishmen,  it  is  clearly  admitted  by  the  mem- bers of  the  executive  of  the  society  of  the  United  Irishmen,  that the  persecution  of  the  people  in  Armagh,  the  protection  of  the exterminators,  and  the  enactment  of  sanguinary  laws,  and  espe- cially the  insurrection  and  indemnity  acts,  had  not  only  filled  the ranks  of  their  society,  but  led  the  executive  to  the  conclusion, that  the  government  had  forfeited  all  claims  to  obedience,  and  was to  be  resisted.  "  No  alliance  whatever  was  previously  formed", says  O'Connor,  "  between  the  Union  and  France" — namely,  before the  middle  of  1796.  The  same  answer  is  given  by  Emmet.  So much  for  the  power  given  to  the  United  Irishmen,  by  the  perse- cution of  the  people  on  the  part  of  the  Orangemen  permitted  by government;  and  as  for  the  immediate  causes  of  the  outbreak  of the  subsequent  and  consequent  rebellion,  we  can  only  refer  to  the question  put  by  the  Lord  Chancellor,  "  Pray,  Mr.  Emmet,  what caused  the  late  rebellion?"  and  the  reply  to  it,  of  Emmet — "The free  quarters,  the  house-burnings,  the  tortures,  and  the  military executions,  in  the  counties  of  Kildare,  Carlow,  and  Wicklow".* In  fact,  persecution  and  disaffection  followed  in  the  order  of  cause and  effect ;  the  turbulence  of  the  Defenders  can  only  be  looked  on as  the  consequence  of  the  Orange  depredations,  and  the  excesses of  both  parties  the  plea  for  the  attempt  of  uniting  the  people  of all  religious  denominations  in  one  great  national  society. Sir  Jonah  Barrington  considers  the  idea  of  Orange  Societies arose  from  the  association  of  the  Aldermen  of  Skinners'  Alley. The  latter  owed  its  origin  to  the  restoration  of  the  old  corporate body  to  their  former  power  and  privileges  at  the  departure  of James  the  Second.  Their  meetings  were  chiefly  for  the  indul- gence of  that  kind  of  Cherokee  festivity  which  is  indicative  of sanguinary  struggles  or  successful  onslaughts,  past  or  expected. Their  grand  festival  was  on  the  1st  of  July,  the  anniversary  of  the Battle  of  the  Boyne,  on  which  occasion  the  charter-toast  was drunk  by  every  member  on  his  bare  knees.  At  the  time  of  Sir Jonah's  initiation,  his  friend  Dr.  Patrick  Duigenan  was  the Grand  Master.  The  standing  dish,  at  the  Skinners' Alley  dinners, was  sheep's  trotters,  in  delicate  allusion  to  King  James's  last  use  of his  lower  extremities  in  Ireland;  and  the  cloth  beino;  removed, the  charter-toast,  the  antiquity  of  which  was  of  so  ancient  a  date as  the  year  1G89,  was  pronounced  by  the  Grand  Master  on  his *  Vide  "  Memoir  of  Examination",  etc. 112  THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION. bare  joints  to  the  kneeling  assemblage,  in  the  following  words: — "  The  glorious,  pious,  and  immortal  memory  of  the  great  and  good Kinsj  William,  not  forscttinfr  Oliver  Cromwell,  who  assisted  in redeeming  us  from  Popery,  slavery,  arbitrary  power,  brass  money, and  wooden  shoes",  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  The  concluding  part  of  this loyal  toast  is  a  tissue  of  vulgar  indecencies  and  impious  impreca- tions on  "  priests,  bishops,  deacons",  or  any  other  of  the  fraternity of  the  clergy  who  refuse  this  toast,  consigning  their  members  to the  operation  of  red-hot  harrows,  and  their  mangled  carcasses  to the  lower  regions.  In  detailing  the  particulars  of  these  brutal  and bacchanalian  proceedings,  Sir  Jonah  says,  "  It  may  be  amusing  to describe  them" — and  then  he  denominates  the  association  as  "  a very  curious,  but  most  loyal  society";  and  that  their  favourite toast  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Orange  societies,  and  was still  considered  the  charter  toast  of  them  all.*  Sir  Jonah's  notions of  mirth  and  loyalty  were,  no  doubt,  in  accordance  with  those  of the  circle  in  which  he  moved.  Indeed  he  prefaces  this  account  of the  exuberance  of  zeal  of  the  Skinners'  Alley  aldermen,  with  a  de- claration of  his  own  political  sentiments,  as  being,  though  not  an ultra,  one  in  whom  loyalty  absorbed  almost  every  other  considera- tion. Few  of  the  Orangemen  in  the  north  were  probably  actuated  by the  motives  to  which  their  proceedings  are  commonly  attributed. It  is  generally  supposed  that  they  were  animated  by  a  blind,  indis- criminate fury  against  the  people,  solely  on  account  of  their  reli- gion. This  is  not  a  fair  statement,  and  whoever  inquires  into  the history  of  these  times  will  find  it  is  not  true.  These  men  were impelled,  as  their  descendents  are,  by  a  simple  desire  to  get  pos- session of  property  or  privileges  belonging  to  people  who  had  not the  power  to  protect  either,  and  to  give  their  rapacity  the  colour of  a  zeal  for  the  interests  of  their  own  religion. It  is  doing  the  ascendency  party  a  great  injustice  to  suppose that  their  animosity  to  their  Roman  Catholic  countrymen  arose from  a  mere  spirit  of  fanaticism,  or  of  mistaken  enthusiasm  in  their religious  sentiments.  The  plan  of  converting  souls  by  converting the  soil  of  the  old  inhabitants  of  a  country  to  the  use  of  the  new settler,  is  of  an  ancient  date.  With  this  party  the  matter  is  one of  money,  and  patronage,  and  preferment,  and  of  property  in  land, which  wears  the  outward  garb  of  a  religious  question. The  Puritans  who  sought  a  refuge  in  America,  when  they found  the  most  fertile  portion  of  Massachusetts  in  the  pos- session of  the  Indians,  did  not  think  of  dispossessing  the  rightful owners    of  the    broad  lands    they  coveted,  without  giving  the *  Vide  "  Barrington's  Irish  Sketches",  vol.  i.  p.  152. THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION'.  ]  1  .') Sanctimonious  air  of  a  religious  proceeding  to  their  contemplated spoliation. They  convened  a  meeting  which  was  opened  with  all  due solemnity  and  piety,  and  the  following  resolutions  are  said  to have  been  passed  unanimously : — Resolved — That  the  Earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof. Resolved — That  the  Lord  hath  given  the  Earth  as  an  inherit- ance unto  Ins  saints. Resolved — That  we  are  the  saints. How  far  the  ludicrous  may  be  found  herein  to  mingle  with  the historical  data  it  is  hard  to  say,  but  the  spirit  in  which  similar conclusions  are  arrived  at  in  "  the  Island — proverbially — of Saints",  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognize,  in  the  above  mentioned theological  and  political  resolutions.  The  zeal  of  Orangeism  in behalf  of  religion  cannot  impose  on  a  close  observer.  The  penal code  was  framed  for  the  protection  of  confiscated  property ;  and the  assumed  hostility  to  the  religion  of  the  people  who  were  dis- possessed, was  only  a  practice  in  accordance  with  the  purport  and pretence  of  the  iniquitous  statutes,  which,  had  already  legalized |three  general  confiscations  within  a  period  of  two  hundred  years. This  legalized  system  of  rapine  and  proscription  has  been  produc- tive of  evils  which  still  are  felt ;  and  those  who,  along  with  the lands  of  the  proscribed  people,  obtained  all  the  political  privileges that  were  thought  essential  to  the  security  of  their  new  possessions, would  have  been  more  just  than  the  generality  of  mankind,  if, having  power  to  protect  the  spoils  they  had  obtained,  or  were  en- couraged to  expect,  they  had  not  abused  their  privileges,  and  did not  see  in  every  extension  of  the  people's  liberties  another  en- croachment on  the  limits,  now  daily  narrowing,  of  their  power, influence,  and  political  preeminence. The  Defenders  had  their  origin  in  the  year  1785,  but  they  were hardly  known  as  a  distinct  and  formidable  body  till  the  year  1792. Their  first  object,  as  their  name  imports,  was  self-protection,  when the  exterminating  system  was  carried  into  effect  by  the  Ascend- ency party  in  the  north.  But  as  their  strength  increased,  their views  became  more  political,  and  resistance  to  aggression  led  them to  offensive  measures  against  their  enemies  and  the  government which  protected  the  latter. After  the  battle  of  "  the  Diamond"  had  terminated  in  their  de- feat, the  success  of  their  conquerors  was  followed  up  by  the  rigorous measures  of  the  military  and  magisterial  authorities ;  the  gaols  were filled  with  these  unfortunate  people,  and  about  thirteen  hundred of  them  were  taken  from  the  prisons  by  Lord  Carhampton,  with- out any  legal  process  or  form  of  trial,  and  sent  on  board  the  ships of  war  or  transport  vessels. vol  i.  9 114  THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION. This   was  the  first  display  of  "the  vigour  beyond  the  law"' which  had  been  openly  announced  in  parliament,  and  when  car- ried into  effect  was  protected  there  by  an  act  of  indemnity. Analogous  Bills  to  the  "  Treacherous  Correspondence  Bill"  were!  I passed  in  Ireland  in  171)3,  but  one  was  of  a  nature  which  would! not  have  been  tolerated  in  England,  namely,  to  prevent  persons1 meeting  under  pretence  of  preparing  or  presenting  petitions,  etc. This  act  was  reprobated  in  England  no  less  than  in  Ireland. A  system  of  agrarian  outrage  had  been  dragging  on  a  protracted! existence  in  Munster,  from  the  period  of  the  suppression  of  the  ' "  Whiteboy"  disturbances,  and  had  even  spread  into  the  northern;  I counties,  under  the  name  of  "  Oak  Boys",  and  "  Hearts  of  Steel  I Boys",  but  they  had  been  subdued  by  the  military  long  before, the  exterminating  proceedings  of  the  "  Peep-of-Day  Boys"  had.j come  into  operation.  Their  system,  however,  had  been  revived  in  j Munster  by  a  new  set  of  disturbers  called  "  Right  Boys",  after  the  I supposed  leader,  Captain  Right. Mr.  Fitzgibbon's  bill  for  preventing  these  tumultuous  assem-  ' blages,  contained  a  clause  directing  the  magistrates  to  demolish the  Roman  Catholic  chapels  in  which  any  of  these  associations  ( should  have  been  formed  or  countenanced,  which  Mr.  Grattan  i stigmatized  as  a  legal  sanction  to   sacrilege,  and   Mr.  Secretary Orde  declined  to  concur  in  such  an  enactment,  and  prevailed  on, his  friend  to  withdraw  it.     Fitzgibbon  was  only  desirous,  whether in  the  extermination  of  the  people  or  the  demolition  of  their  cha-l pels,  of  carrying  into  effect  the  doctrine  which  had  been  laid  down^ by  the  judicial   authorities  in  1759,  on  the  trial  of  Mr.  Saul,  aj Catholic  merchant  in  Dublin,  namely,  "  that  the  laws   did  not presume  a  Papist  to  exist  in  the  kingdom,  nor  could  they  exist  in it  without  the  connivance  of  government".* The  Right  Boys,  however,  had  been  likewise  put  down  before the  wrecking  system  began  in  Armagh.  The  former  society  was a  feeble  remnant  of  the  Whiteboy  Association,  which  had  its  ori- gin in  1759  in  the  south  of  Ireland.  The  Whiteboys  took  their names  from  the  frocks  or  shirts  which  they  were  in  the  habit  of; wearing  when  they  assembled,  and,  armed  with  scythes,  clubs, and  swords,  they  sallied  forth  at  night,  and  committed  many  acts of  agrarian  outrage.  The  wrongs  they  professed  to  redress  were those  connected  with  the  holding  of  lands  on  exorbitant  terms, the  enclosing  of  waste  lands,  the  extortion  of  tithe  proctors,  etc. Various  laws  were  enacted  to  repress  their  excesses,  all  of  which were  of  an  agrarian  character,  wild,  daring,  ill-concerted,  some- 1 times  cruel,  seldom  premeditated,  and,  eventually,  were  easily  put *  See  '•  Plcwden's  History",  vol.  ii.  p.  270. THE    ORANGE    INSTITUTION.  115 down.  The  cause  of  these  excesses  is  justly  ascribed,  by  Plow- den,  to  the  agricultural  distress  which  prevailed  in  the  whole  of the  south  of  Ireland,  consequent  upon  the  practice  generally adopted  at  that  time,  of  converting  the  large  farms  into  grazing '  lands,  which  were  set  to  wealthy  monopolists,  who  turned  the wretched  peasantry  adrift.      At  the  close  of  1762,  Lord  Halifax I  congratulated  parliament  on  the  suppression  of  the  insurrection  of |  the  Whiteboys. In  all  these  confederacies  of  the  people,  arising  from  agricul- j  tural  distress,  no  matter  how  grinding  the  oppression  of  the  autho- I  rities,  how  cruel  the  exactions  of  their  landlords,  how  sailing  the exorbitant  demands  and  proceedings  of  the  tithe  proctors,  there was  no  availing  sympathy  for  them  either  amongst  the  aristocracy lor  the  squirearchy  of  the  land. The  association  of  the  Defenders,  about  1792,  had  changed  its I  character,  from  that  of  a  society  engaged  in  religious  feuds,  to I  one  actuated  by  political  motives,  and  the  change  was  effected  by the  endeavours  of  the  United  Irishmen  to  reconcile  the  ultra  Pro- testants and  Catholics.  Their  viewrs,  however,  continued  so  in- distinct that  Messrs.  Emmet  and  M'Nevin  could  form  no  other opinion  of  their  objects,  except  that  a  general  notion  prevailed amongst  them,  "  that  something  ought  to  be  done  for  Ireland". They  had  no  persons  in  their  body  of  the  upper  or  even  mid- dling class  in  life.  The  only  man  known  among  them  above the  condition  of  a  labourer,  was  a  schoolmaster  in  Naas,  of  the name  of  Laurence  O'Connor,  who  was  executed  in  1796.  This man  met  his  fate  with  a  fortitude  which  has  endeared  his  me- mory to  the  lower  orders  of  his  countrymen ;  his  defence  of  the people,  rather  than  his  own,  from  the  slanderous  charges  of  his prosecutors,  proves  him  to  have  been  a  person  of  no  less  intre- pidity than  superior  talents. In  the  same  year  it  was  discovered  that  an  agent  of  the  society of  United  Irishmen  had  interviews  with  the  Defenders  at  Castle- bellingham,  in  the  county  Louth,  and  had  taken  their  oath  of secrecy. The  object  of  Tandy's  mission  was  to  ascertain  the  real  objects of  the  Defenders,  with  a  view  to  the  advantage  of  the  Society  of United  Irishmen.  The  fact  has  not  been  avowed,  but  it  cannot be  denied.  The  aim  of  it  was  to  turn  the  strength  of  that  associa- tion of  the  peasantry  into  the  channels  of  the  United  Irish  sys- tem. One  of  the  Defenders,  who  was  present  when  Tandy  was sworn,  lodged  informations  against  him,  and  he  was  fortunate enough  to  effect  his  escape  out  of  the  kingdom.  The  Defenders gradually  merged  into  the  United  Lishmen,  and  in  a  short  time there  was  no  distinction  between  them 1 1  G  ORANGE    ATROCITIES. ORANGE    ATROCITIES     COMMITTED     ON     THE     PEOPLE     PREVIOUS    TO    THE REBELLION,    DURING   THE    YEARS    1796-7. The  atrocities  committed  by  the  Orangemen  on  the  people, not  only  in  the  north,  but  generally  throughout  the  country,  pre- viously to  the  rebellion,  especially  during  the  latter  part  of  1796 and  down  to  the  autumn  of  1797,  when  there  was  a  temporary cessation  of  those  enormities,  have  never  been  fully  revealed.  In fact  little  more  is  known  of  them  than  is  to  be  gathered  from general  descriptions  of  house-wreckings  and  cabin-burnings — of wholesale  extermination — of  such  events  as  six  hundred  families, at  one  fell  swoop,  having  been  swept  off  from  a  single  county. But  the  particulars  no  historian  of  the  time — no  journalist — no writer  living  in  the  country  dared  to  publish — and,  accordingly, in  Ireland  we  find  no  such  record  of  them.  Such  a  record,  how- ever, in  the  latter  part  of  1797,  was  published  in  London,  by  an Irish  gentleman,  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  one  of  the  northern counties,  under  the  signature  of  "  An  Observer".  This  pamphlet, now  rarely  to  be  met  with,  is  called,  "  A  View  of  the  present State  of  Ireland,  etc.,  addressed  to  the  people  of  England". It  is  written  with  great  ability,  and  bears  throughout  its  pages  the internal  marks  of  authentic  statements,  wholly  divested  of  exag- geration. ^  The  opinion  entertained  of  its  accuracy  by  James Hope,  of  Belfast,  one  well  qualified  to  pronounce  an  opinion  on that  point,  and  whose  opinion  is  entitled  to  respect,  was  conveyed to  me  in  these  words:  "  This  pamphlet  contains  more  truth  than all  the  volumes  I  have  seen  written  on  the  events  of  1797  and 1798". "  Shortly  after  peace  was  concluded  with  America,  ministers perceived  they  had  been  playing  a  losing  game  in  Ireland ;  the Volunteer  associations  had  materially  altered  the  face  of  the country :  in  many  places  the  Catholics  had  embodied  themselves into  Volunteer  corps :  a  friendly  intercourse  with  their  Protestant brethren  naturally  followed ;  they  felt  that  as  Irishmen  their  inte- rests were  coequal,  hatred  on  account  of  religion  was  banished, harmony  prevailed,  and,  if  not  an  union  of  affection,  at  least  an union  of  political  sentiment  appeared  to  exist  amongst  the  people : of  this,  administration  was  well  informed,  and  ministers  trembled for  what  might  be  the  result.  To  avert  reformation  they  felt it  their  duly  to  create  division.  Various  were  the  means  employed to  effect  this  immoral  object;  among  others,  they  reverted  to  the old  diabolical  one  of  fomenting  those  religious  feuds,  which  had so  often  consumed  the  vitals  and  palsied  the  native  ener^v  of  the land...  r  ^ ORANGE    ATROCITIES.  117 i "  They  taught  the  weak  and  credulous  Protestant  and  Pres- |  byterian  to  believe,  that,  if  the  Catholics  who  had  obtained  arms |  during  the  war,  were  suffered  to  retain  them,  they  would  seize on  the  first  opportunity  to  overturn  the  government,  and  erect J  Popery  on  the  ruins  of  the  Protestant  religion.  This,  and  other [  acts  equally  insidious,  had  the  desired  effect  on  the  minds  of 1  many  persons,  particularly  in  the  county  of  Armagh,  where  the I  metropolitan  resided. "  Here  fanaticism  reared  her  standard,  and  a  number  of  deluded i  people  entered  into  a  combination  for  the  purpose  of  depriving  the !  Catholics  of  their  arms  by  force... "  For  some  time  the  Catholics  remained  patient  and  tranquil under  their  sufferings ;  at  length  they  declared  that  all  their  efforts to  obtain  legal  redress  had  been  unavailing,  and  tliat  the  neces- sity of  the  case  would  oblige  them  to  enter  into  counter-combina- tions to  defend  their  lives  and  properties  against  a  banditti  of plundering  ruffians,  who  appeared  to  be  countenanced  by  au- thority, inasmuch  as  they  were  not  punished  by  the  criminal law  of  the  land.  These  two  parties  had  several  encounters,  in which  victory  was  various;  but  many  of  the  Catholic  party,  wea- ried out  by  continual  persecution,  fled  from  Armagh  to  different parts  of  the  kingdom,  particularly  to  the  counties  of  Louth  and Meath... "  Led  by  passion  and  goaded  by  persecution,  they  proceeded (like  the  Peep-of-Day  Boys,  who  first  set  the  example,  and  who never  were  punished),  to  acts  of  felony,  by  taking  arms  by  force; but  they  soon  fell  victims  to  their  folly  and  imprudence.  This, then,  whatever  interesting  and  desisnintr  men  assert  to  the  con- trary,  this  was  the  true  origin  and  progress  of  Defenderism  m  Ire- land... "  The  tumultuous  spirit,  which  manifested  itself  in  several counties,  could  have  been  crushed  on  its  first  appearance  with much  ease ;  but  administration  looked  on  with  an  apathy,  which many  enlightened  men  declared  criminal. "  Had  administration,  then,  proclaimed  an  amnesty  to  all  who might  be  willing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  many  lives  would have  been  preserved,  and  those  shocking  massacres  which  have outraged  humanity  and  tarnished  the  character  of  the  govern- ment, would  not  have  taken  place... "  In  the  county  of  Meath  a  number  of  Defenders  had  assem- bled, and  a  part  of  the  army  was  sent  in  pursuit  of  them.  On  the first  appearance  of  the  soldiers  they  dispersed ;  but  a  few,  who were  closely  pursued,  took  refuge  in  a  gentleman's  house,  where, after  securing  the  doors,  they  defended  themselves  for  some  time ; at  length  a  capitulation  was  proposed  ;  and  it  was  agreed  to  by  all 118  ORANGE    ATROCITIES. parties  that  the  Defenders  should  deliver  themselves  up,  to  be  con- veyed to  the  county  gaol,  for  trial  at  the  ensuing  assizes. "  The  doors  were  opened,  the  military  entered;  but,  instead  of observing  the  terms  of  agreement,  they  put  every  Defender  to death.  The  body  of  each  man,  '  killed  off\  was  cast  from  a  win- dow into  the  street,  and  for  this  brutal  ferocity  the  soldiers  were not  even  reprimanded.  In  the  county  of  Louth,  there  was  a party  of  these  unhappy  men  attacked  by  a  squadron  of  dragoons, who  could  have  easily  made  the  whole  of  them  prisoners,  but  no mercy  whatever  was  extended  to  them :  those  who  escaped  the sword  were  driven  into  a  river  and  drowned. "And  at  the  head  of  this  military  corps  was  a  magistrate  of  the county,  a  gentleman  who  holds  an  eminent  seat  in  the  Irish  par- liament. "  A  party  of  the  army   was  ordered  out  to  attack  a  body  of Defenders,    assembled   near   the   villasre   of  Ballanaupfh,   in    the county  of  Cavan.     On  the  approach  of  the   military  they  dis- persed ;  many  of  them  sought  shelter  in  the  village,  hiding  them- selves under  beds,  etc.,  which  evinces  that  their  resistance  (if  they made  any)  must  have  been  feeble,  and  that  it  would  be  an  easy matter  to  make  them  prisoners ;  but  that  would  not  satiate  the vengeance  of  those  monsters,   who  are  stained  with  the  blood  of the  Irish  peasantry.     The  magistrates  and  officers  commanding the  party  ordered  the  soldiers  to  surround  the  village  and  set  it on  fire,  which  order  was  readily  obeyed.      Every  house,  with the  exception   of  one,  was  burned,  and  many  innocent  people perished  in  the  flames  with  the  guilty.     No  investigation,  no  legal process,  took  place;  nor  has  the  gentleman  been  indemnified,  to whom  the  village  belonged,  for  the  loss  of  his  property.     In  the counties  of  Westmeath,  Longford,   and  Monaghan,  similar  ex- cesses were  committed.     To  mention  the  barbarities  and  scenes of  horror  which   took   place  in  the  province   of  Connaught  is unnecessary.      The  last  parliament,  by  an  act  which  disgraced  it and   betrayed   the   rights    of  its   constituents,   gave   them    more strongly  to  the  world  than  any  detailed  account  can  possibly  do. So  flagitious,  illegal,  and  unconstitutional  was  the  conduct  of  the magistracy,  that  the  administration  {yes,  even  the  administration of  Ireland!)  was  afraid  to  let  the  atrocities  which  had  been  com- mitted meet  the  public  eye ;  and  ministers  procured  a  bill  of  in- demnity to  be  passed  in   parliament,   to  screen  from  punishment those  officers  of  the  peace  who,  at  the  hour  of  midnight,  tore  men from  the  arms  of  their  families,  merely  on  the  suspicion  of  their being  seditious,   and  dragged  them  on  board   loathsome  prison- ships,   transporting  them   to  destructive  climates,   without  exami- nation, without  trial,  unheard,  impleaded!     And  for  these  services ORANGE    ATROCITIES.  119 I and  gallant  exploits,  the  man  who  figured  foremost  in  the  scene |lias  been  promoted  to  situations  of  the  first  importance  in  the nation.*... "  In  January,  1796,  a  party  of  Orangemen,  the  Peep-of-Day ,'Boys  having  adopted  this  new  designation,  headed  by  William I  Trimble,  came  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Daniel  Corrigan,  a  very 'reputable  citizen,  in  the  county  of  Armagh,  parish  of  Kilmore, i  and,  having  before  robbed  him  of  his  arms,  which,  being  regis- tered, he  was  by  law  entitled  to  retain,  they  demanded  a  pistol I  he  had  subsequently  purchased  to  protect  him  as  he  travelled !  round  the  country  (he  being  a  dealer  in  cattle),  which  having !  obtained,  they  retired,  promising  his  family  protection ;  but  re- turned in  about  twenty  minutes,  and,  forcing  the  door,  Trimble murdered  Mr.  Corrigan,  by  lodging  seven  balls  in  his  body  from a  blunderbuss,  and  then  destroyed  the  house  and  furniture. Trimble  was  afterwards  apprehended,  tried,  found  guilty,  and ordered  by  the  judge  for  execution  in  forty-eight  hours;  but through  a  certain  interference  he  was  respited.  He  continued in  gaol  till  the  ensuing  assizes,  when  he  was  again  arraigned  for having  murdered  Mr.  Arthur  M'Cann,  as  also  for  several  rob- beries ;  but  his  trial  was  put  off,  and  in  a  few  days  he  was  ordered for  transportation,  when  he  was  only  sent  to  Cork,  from  whence he  was  suffered  to  go  on  board  the  fleet,  like  a  good  and  loyal subject. "  The  house  of  Mr.  Bernard  Crosson,  of  the  parish  of  Mulla- nabrack,  was  attacked  by  Orangemen,  in  consequence  of  being  a reputed  Catholic.  His  son  prevented  them  from  entering  by  the front  door,  upon  which  they  broke  in  at  the  back  part  of  the house,  and,  firing  on  the  inhabitants,  killed  Mr.  Crosson,  his  son, and  daughter.  Mr.  Hugh  M'Fay,  of  the  parish  of  Seagoe,  had his  house  likewise  attacked  on  the  same  pretence,  himself wounded,  his  furniture  destroyed,  and  his  wife  barbarously  used. "  Information  having  been  lodged  against  a  few  individuals living  in  the  village  of  Kilrea,  in  the  county  of  Derry,  for  being United  Irishmen,  a  party  of  the  military  were  ordered  to  appre- hend them;  the  men  avoided  the  caption,  and  about  three  o'clock in  the  morning,  a  reverend  magistrate,  accompanied  by  a  clergy- man of  the  same  description,  and  the  commanding  officer  of  the party,  ordered  the  soldiers  to  set  fire  to  the  houses  of  the  accused : the  men  obeyed,  and  all  was  consumed.  There  were  four  houses which  could  not  be  burned  without  endangering  the  whole  vil- lage; they  therefore  gutted  them,  and,  having  carried  out  the moveables,  burned  them  in  the  street. *  Lord  Carhampton. 120  ORANGE    ATROCITIES. "  One  circumstance  peculiarly  savage  took  place  on  this  occa- sion:— The  wile  of  one  of  the  accused  had  been  delivered  of  a child  only  the  day  preceding;  she  was  carried  out  of  her  house, and,  with  the  infant,  thrown  into  the  snow,  while  her  blankets and  wearing  apparel  were  consigned  to  the  flames.  None  of these  savage  violators  of  law  and  humanity  were  brought  to justice;  on  the  contrary,  the  reverend  magistrate  has  since  been promoted  to  a  more  enlarged  benefice.  It  is  a  well  known  fact that,  in  the  county  of  Armagh  alone,  seven  hundred  Catholic families  were  driven  to  poverty  and  desolation,  their  houses burned,  and  property  destroyed  by  Orangemen.  It  may  be  said that  administration  was  not  the  secret  mover  in  these  horrid scenes;  but  the  following  facts  will,  I  think,  enable  the  reader to  form  a  tolerable  opinion  on  the  subject: — Three  Orangemen voluntarily  made  oath  before  a  magistrate  of  the  county  of  Down and  Armagh,  that  they  met  in  committees;  amongst  whom  were some  members  of  parliament,  known  to  be  the  tools  of  state,  who gave  these  people  money,  and  promised  they  should  not  suffer  for any  act  they  might  commit,  and  pledged  themselves  that  they should  hereafter  be  provided  for  under  the  auspices  of  govern- ment. Furthermore,  the  said  magistrate  addressed  a  letter  to  the Secretary  of  State,  inquiring  of  him  how  he  should  act  in  these critical  times ;  that  hitherto  he  had  preserved  peace  on  his  large estate,  but  wished  to  know  how  he  should  act  in  future ;  and  that if  it  wTas  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  present  system  for him  to  connive  at  or  encourage  the  Orangemen  in  their  depreda- tions, he  said,  as  a  man,  he  knew  his  duty;  if  it  was  not  necessary, he  hoped  the  magistrates  of  the  county  at  large  would  be  made responsible,  and  be  compelled  to  act  against  these  depredators. This  letter  was  written  in  consequence  of  a  large  meeting  which was  advertised  to  be  held  by  the  Orangemen  in  about  ten  days after.  Though  he  could  have  had  an  answer  in  four  days,  he did  not  receive  one  for  two  months;  and  when  it  did  make  its appearance,  it  was  couched  in  such  evasive  and  equivocal  lan- guage, that  it  was  impossible  to  comprehend  its  meaning.  It  is also  worthy  of  remark  that  these  unprincipled  hirelings  were never  once  mentioned  in  the  answer... "  In  the  month  of  May  last,  a  party  of  the  Essex  Fencibles, accompanied  by  the  Enniskillcn  Yeomen  Infantry,  commanded by  their  first  lieutenant,  marched  to  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Potter,  a very  respectable  farmer,  who  lived  within  five  miles  of  Ennis- killen,  in  the  county  of  Fermanagh.  On  their  arrival  they  de- manded Mr.  Potter,  saying  they  were  ordered  to  arrest  him,  as he  was  charged  with  being  an  United  Irishman.  His  wife,  with much  firmness,  replied,   '  that  to  be   an  United  Irishman  was  an ORAXGK    ATROCITIES.  121 honour,  not  a  disgrace ;  that  her  husband  had  gone  from  home the  preceding  clay  on  business,  and  had  not  yet  returned'.  They assured  her  that  if  he  did  not  surrender  himself  in  three  hours they  would  burn  his  house.  Mrs.  Potter  answered,  '  that  she did  not  know  exactly  where  he  then  was,  but,  if  she  did  know, she  believed  it  would  be  impossible  to  have  him  home  in  so  short a  time.  In  less  than  three  hours  they  set  fire  to  the  house, which  was  a  very  neat  one,  only  about  five  years  built ;  the  ser- vants brought  out  some  beds  and  other  valuable  articles,  in  the hope  of  preserving  them,  but  the  military  dashed  all  back  into the  flames.  The  house  and  property,  to  the  amount  of  six  or seven  hundred  pounds,  were  consumed,  and  Mrs.  Potter,  with seven  children,  one  of  them  not  a  month  old,  were  turned  out, at  the  hour  of  midnight,  into  the  fields... '' In  June,  1797,  a  party  of  the  Ancient  Britons  (a  fencible regiment,  commanded  by  Sir  Watkins  William  Wynne)  were ordered  to  examine  the  house  of  Mr.  Rice,  an  inn-keeper  in  the town  of  Coolavil,  county  of  Armagh,  for  arms ;  but  on  making very  diligent  search,  none  could  be  found.  There  were  some country  people  drinking  in  the  house,  and  discoursing  in  their native  language;  the  soldiers  damned  their  eternal  Irish  souls, said  they  were  speaking  treason,  and  instantly  fell  on  them  with their  swords  and  maimed  several  desperately.  Miss  Rice  was  so badly  wounded  that  her  life  was  despaired  of,  and  her  father escaped  with  much  difficulty,  after  having  received  many  cuts from  the  sabres  of  these  assassins... "  In  June,  some  persons  had  been  refreshing  themselves  at  an inn  in  Newtownards,  county  of  Down,  kept  by  a  Mr.  M'Cor- mick,  and  it  was  alleged  that  tliey  were  overheard  uttering  words termed  seditious.  M'Cormick  was  afterwards  called  on  to  give information  who  they  were;  he  denied  having  any  knowledge of  them,  observing  that  many  people  might  come  into  his  house whom  he  did  not  know,  and  for  whom  he  could  not  be  account- able. He  was  taken  into  custody,  and  next  day  his  house  and extensive  property  were  reduced  to  ashes.  The  house  of  Dr. Jackson  was  torn  down  on  suspicion  of  his  being  an  United Irishman;  and  many  other  houses  in  that  town  and  barony  were destroyed,  or  otherwise  demolished,  by  English  Fencibics,  on similar  pretexts. "  On  the  22nd  of  June,  Mr.  Joseph  Clotney,  of  Ballinahinch, was  committed  to  the  Military  Barracks,  Belfast,  and  his  house, furniture,  and  books,  worth  three  thousand  pounds,  destroyed ; also  the  valuable  house  of  Mr.  Armstrong,  of  that  place,  was totally  demolished. "  In  the  month  of  April  last,  a  detachment  of  the  Essex  Fen- 122  OllANGE    ATROCITIES. cibles,  tlien  quartered  in  Enniskillen,  were  ordered,  under  the command  of  a  captain  and  adjutant,  accompanied  by  the  First Fermanagh  Yeomanry,  into  an  adjoining  county  to  search  for arms.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  arrived  at  the  house of  one  Durnian,  a  farmer,  which,  without  any  previous  intimation whatever,  they  broke  open,  and  on  entering  it,  one  of  the  fen- cibles  fired  his  musket  through  the  roof  of  the  house :  an  officer instantly  discharged  his  pistol  into  a  bed  where  two  young  men were  lying,  and  wounded  them  both..  One  of  them,  the  only child  of  Durnian,  rose  with  great  difficulty,  and  on  making  this effort,  faint  with  the  loss  of  blood,  a  fencible  stabbed  him  through the  bowels.  His  distracted  mother  ran  to  support  him,  but in  a  few  moments  she  sank  upon  the  floor,  covered  with  the blood,  which  issued  from  the  side  of  her  unfortunate  son ;  by this  time  the  other  young  man  had  got  on  his  knees  to  im- plore mercy,  declaring  most  solemnly  that  they  had  not  been guilty  of  any  crime,  when  another  fencible  deliberately  knelt down,  levelled  his  musket  at  him,  and  was  just  going  to  fire, when  a  sergeant  of  yeomanry  rushed  in,  seized,  and  prevented his  committing  the  horrid  deed.  There  were  persons  present  who smiled  at  the  humanity  of  the  sergeant... "  Information  had  been  lodged  that  a  house  near  Newry  con- tained concealed  arms.  A  party  of  the  Ancient  Britons  repaired to  the  house,  but  not  finding  the  object  of  their  search,  they  set it  on  fire.  The  peasantry  of  the  neighbourhood  came  running from  all  sides  to  extinguish  the  flames,  believing  the  fire  to  have been  accidental — it  was  the  first  military  one  in  that  part  of  the country.  As  they  came  up  they  were  attacked  in  all  directions, and  cut  down  by  the  fencibles ;  thirty  were  killed,  among  whom were  a  woman  and  two  children.  An  old  man  (above  seventy years),  seeing  the  dreadful  slaughter  of  his  neighbours  and  friends, fled  for  safety  to  some  adjacent  rocks;  he  was  pursued,  and, though  on  his  knees  imploring  mercy,  a  brutal  Welshman  cut  off his  head  at  a  blow... "  I  have  stated  incontrovertible  truths.  Months  would  be  in- sufficient to  enumerate  all  the  acts  of  wanton  cruelty  which  were inflicted  on  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland  from  the  1st  of  April  to  the 24th  of  July,  1797".— A  View  of  the  Present  State  of  Ireland, etc.     By  an  Observer.     London,  1797. WRECKING    NOTICES.  l'2'o Specimens  of  the  Sum  mart/  Notices  of  the  Wreckers  of  Armagh and  Down,  addressed  to  the  Catholic  inhabitants  of  those  coun- ties, extracted  from  a  tract  called  "  Lysimachia",  published  in Belfast  in  1797,  and  ascribed  to  a  Scotch  Clergyman,  Dr. Glass,  who  held  the  Church  of  Connor. "  To  John  Hollan,  Coopernack,  Gilford. "  John  Hollan,  you  are  desirred  to  abandon  you  house  agen  the 21st  of  March ;  and  if  you  don't,  we  will  reck  you  worse  than !  never  we  did  Devlin,  and  the  resen  is  this — that  you  preten  to  be a  Protestant,  and  is  not ;  moreover,  you  have  a  Papish  wife.  You also  harbour  at  you  house  one  Lenny  Lennon,  one  of  the  Lisna- gade  Defenders,  who  fired  a  pistol  at  an  Orangeman.  We  pipered him,  and  gave  him  a  fortnight's  warning,  and  sin  he  is  not  gone yet,  but  if  he  waits  our  coining  he  shall  pay  double  for  all  his iniquities.     Given    under    our   hand    this   ■ day  of  March, being  the  second  year  of  the  destruction  of  the  Pope,  the  great scarlet  wh — re  of  Babylon,  and  his  infernal  imps,  the  priests". "  To  the  Inhabitants  of . "  Take  Notice. — If  any  person  will  buy  any  turf  from  any Papis  in  the  Glass  Moss,  that  we  will  sow  no  feaver  to  any  person, friend  or  stronger,  by  any  means ;  for,  by  the  living  G — d,  if  you will  go  against  my  word,  that  Captin  Racker  will  vizet  you when  you  not  thinking  of  him.  Bold  Anty.  M'Cusker,  Dannal Hogen". "  Morthugh  M'Linden,  we  have  speared  you  as  long  as  pos- sable,  but  we  will  see  you  shortly ;  we  come  unexpected.  Now more  at  present,  but  romains  your  humble  servant,  Captin Hacker :  and  brave  old  Humpy  will  be  there  also". "  Farrell,  we  desire  you  to  clear  off,  and  if  you  do  not,  we  will fetch  Catin  Slasher  Raker,  G — d's  cratur,  and  Humpy  to  you, and  Captin  Slasher  wh — re.  Go  to  H — 11,  Connat,  or  Britney Bay.  And  if  ony  one  harbours  you  or  your  goods,  by  Ilevens we  will  pitch  the  Thatcher  and  Glasser  to  them". Emmet,  M'Nevin,  and  O'Connor,  give  the  following  account of  the  inlluenee  of  the  Armagh  persecution  in  driving  the  people to  desperation. "The  provocations  of  the  year  1794,  the  recal  of  Lord  Fitz- william,  and  the  reassumption  of  coercive  measures  that  followed it,  were  strongly  dwelt  on.  The  county  of  Armagh  had  been  long desolated  by  two  contending  tactions,  agreeing  only  in  one  thing, an  opiniou  that   most  of  the  active    magistrates  in  that  county 124  THE    VOLUNTEERS. treated  one  party  with  tlie  most  fostering  kindness,  and  the  other with  the  most  rigorous  persecution.  It  was  stated,  that  so  marked a  partiality  exasperated  the  sufferers  and  those  who  sympathized in  their  misfortunes.  It  was  urged  with  indignation,  that  not- withstanding the  greatness  of  the  military  establishment  of  Ire- land, and  its  having  been  able  to  suppress  the  Defenders  in  various counties,  it  was  never  able,  or  was  not  employed  to  suppress  these outrages  in  that  county,  which  drove  7,000  persons  from  their native  dwellings.  The  magistrates,  who  took  no  steps  against  the Orangemen,  were  said  to  have  overleaped  the  boundaries  of  law  to pursue  and  punish  the  Defenders.  The  government  seemed  to  take upon  themselves  those  injuries  by  the  Indemnity  Act,  and  even honoured  the  violators,  and  by  the  Insurrection  Act,  which  ena- bled the  same  magistrates,  if  they  chose,  under  colour  of  law,  to act  anew  the  same  abominations.  Nothing,  it  was  contended, could  more  justly  excite  the  spirit  of  resistance,  and  determine men  to  appeal  to  arms,  than  the  Insurrection  Act;  it  punished with  death  the  administering  of  oaths... The  power  of  proclaim- ing counties,  and  quieting  them,  by  breaking  open  the  cabins  of the  peasants  between  sunset  and  sunrise,  by  seizing  the  in- mates, and  sending  them  on  board  tenders,  without  the  ordi- nary interposition  of  a  trial  by  jury,  had,  it  was  alleged,  irritated beyond  endurance  the  minds  of  the  reflecting  and  the  feelings of  the  unthinking  inhabitants  of  that  province" — Memoir  of  the Irish  Union,  p.  14. CHAPTER  V. THE  VOLUNTEERS — THEIR  EFFORTS  FOR  REFORM — ORIGIN  AND  DISSOLUTION. The  period  between  the  successful  issue  of  the  struggle  for  the independence  of  the  Irish  parliament,  and  the  outbreak  of  the rebellion  in  1798,  was  one  of  the  most  stirring  and  memorable epochs  in  the  history  of  Ireland.  The  momentous  events  which were  then  taking  place  in  other  countries  exerted  a  powerful influence  on  the  political  sentiments  of  the  upper  and  middle classes  of  our  people. This  period  abounded  with  events  of  greater  importance  than any  that  preceded  it  for  many  centuries.  The  evil  genius  of George  the  Third,  which  strongly  disposed  him  to  take  the  side most  adverse  to  the  people  on  any  popular  question,  and  inva- riably opposed  his  inclinations  to  the  extension  of  freedom,  civil THE    VOLUNTEERS.  125 i i  or  religious,  succumbed  eventually  to  tlie  spiiit  of  liberty  in another  hemisphere,  and  the  independence  of  a  New  World  was the  consequence. In  France,  the  royal  adherence  to  despotic  principles,  rather than  the  King's  abuse  of  despotic  power,  prepared  the  way  for  the accomplishment  of  the  ends  of  those  political   philosophers  who, in  the  words  of  Condorcet,   "  without  foreseeing  all  that  they have  done,  have  yet  done  all  that  we  have  lived  to  see  accom- plished".    The  arrogance  of  a  nobility  enervated  by  luxury,  and emboldened  in  its  vices  by  the   servility  which  had  been  long regarded  as  the  allegiance  of  the  vulgar  to  its  pomp,  had  brought the  court  into  contempt,  and  militated  at  last  against  the  mon- archy itself.     In  Ireland,  the  two  great  examples  I  have  quoted, of  the  power  of  the  people,   and  the  success  of  its  united  efforts for  the  attainment  of  objects  nationally  desired,  were  not  over- looked ;  on  the  contrary,  they  were  regarded   with   feelings  of wonder  and  admiration.     No  country  in  the  world  at  that  period stood  in  a  position  more  likely  to  be  affected  by  such  examples: everything  was  anomalous  in  her  condition.     She  belonged  to England,  and  was  said  to  be  an  independent  nation ;  she  had  a parliament,    and,    it  might    be   presumed,    therefore,    legislative power;  she  owned  allegiance  to  a  king  who  owed  his  crown  to  a revolution  which   was  risked  in   defence   of  civil  and  religious liberty.     It  might,  therefore,  be  expected  that  the  creed  of  his Irish  subjects  could  not  prejudice  their  civil  rights;  nevertheless, Ireland  at  this  period  was  regarded  by  Pmgland,  not  as  a  sister, but  as  a  rival  whose  clashing  interests  were  constantly  to  be  re- pressed.    Her  parliament  was  a  theatre  of  automaton  performers, with  an  English  minister  behind  the  scenes:  he  pulled  the  wires, and  as  he  willed,  the  puppets  moved;  and  while  the  spectators wondered  at  the  nimble  members  that  were  set  in  motion,  and listened  to  the  words  that  seemed  to  issue  from  their  mouths,  they almost  forgot  the  British  mechanist  who  stirred  or  stayed  the "  fantoccini"  of  the  Irish  parliament.     Her  judges  were  dependent on  the  crown.     Her  military  establishment  was  independent  of her  parliament.     Her  trade  was  impeded  by  prohibitory  statutes which  utterly  sacrificed  her  interests  to  the  aggrandizement  of England.     The  result  of  three  general  confiscations  of  the  pro- perty of  the  natives  of  the  country  in  the  course  of  two  hundred years,  had  left  five-sixths  of  the  landed  property  of  the  nation  in the  hands  of  the  Protestant  inhabitants,  who  hardlv  amounted  to one-tenth  of  the  whole   population.     It  unfortunately  was  con- sidered, at  the  time  of  King  William's  settlement,  that  the  Refor- mation was  not  sufficiently  cemented  to  bear  the  weight  of  tole- ration on  the  same  pedestal   on   which  religion  was  placed  by 126  THE    VOLUNTEERS. Henry  the  Eighth.  The  old  plea  for  spoliation — the  civilization of  the  subdued  by  means  of  compulsory  conversion — had  never been  abandoned;  but  the  effort  was  not  successful,  and  the  church gained  only  a  few  indifferent  members,  whilst  the  sovereign  lost the  affections  of  some  millions  of  subjects  by  the  attempt. In  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  George  the  Third,  Roman Catholics  were  debarred  from  holding  any  office  in  the  state, civil  or  military,  above  that  of  constable,  parish  overseer,  or  any like  inferior  appointment.  They  could  not  endow  any  school  or college ;  they  could  not  contract  marriage  with  Protestants,  with- out subjecting  the  priest  who  solemnized  such  marriage  to  the penalty  of  death,  if  unfortunately  discovered;  any  justice  of  the peace,  even  without  information,  might  enter  their  houses  by  day or  night  to  search  for  arms;  they  could  obtain  no  degrees  in  the University  of  Dublin  ;  they,  with  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  realm, were  charged  to  attend  divine  service,  according  to  the  established religion,  upon  Sundays  and  holidays,  on  pain  of  ecclesiastical censure,  and  forfeiture  of  twelve  pence  for  every  time  of  absence ; their  clergy  dared  not  officiate  at  any  funeral,  or  any  other  public ceremony,  outside  their  own  place  of  worship.  A  child  of  a Catholic  (by  the  8th  of  Queen  Anne),  at  any  age,  on  conforming to  the  Protestant  faith,  might  file  a  bill  against  his  father,  and compel  him  on  oath  to  give  an  account  of  his  property :  where- upon the  Chancellor  was  empowered  to  allot,  for  the  child's  im- mediate maintenance,  one-third  of  the  father's  goods  and  personal chattels,  and,  on  the  death  of  the  father,  the  statute  assigned  no limits  to  the  power  of  the  Chancellor  over  the  property  in  favour of  the  Protestant  child.  Neither  the  concessions  of  1778,  nor those  of  1782,  secured  the  Catholics  in  property  acquired  in  that interval  against  the  provisions  of  the  8th  of  Anne.  Every  Catho- lic (male  or  female),  of  every  grade,  was  compellable,  on  pain, not  only  of  fine  and  imprisonment,  but  of  the  pillory  and  whip- ping, to  appear,  when  summoned  before  any  justice  of  the  peace, to  give  information  against  any  Papist  he  or  she  might  know  to keep  arms  in  his  house ;  and  not  the  least  offensive  of  these disabilities  was,  their  exclusion  from  the  exercise  of  the elective  franchise,  a  right  enjoyed  by  the  Catholics  from  the first  adoption  of  the  English  constitution,  secured  to  them  by the  treaty  of  Limerick  in  1691,  guaranteed  by  King  William and  Queen  Mary,  and  even  ratified  by  Parliament,  and  which was  taken  from  them  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  George the  Second.  Even  by  the  Act  of  Concession  of  1778,  "no  Po- pish university  or  college"  could  "  be  erected  or  endowed".  The chief  concessions  of  the  act  of  1778  were  the  following:-— Papists THE    VOLUNTEERS.  127 were  empowered  to  take  leases  for  any  term,  not  exceeding  nine hundred  and  ninety-nine- years,  or  any  number  of  lives,  not  ex- ceeding five ;  to  purchase  or  take  by  grant,  descent,  or  devise, any  species  of  property ;  to  educate  youths  of  their  own  persua- sion ;  to  be  guardians  of  their  own  children ;  to  intermarry  with Protestants,  provided  the  marriage  was  solemnized  by  a  Protestant clergyman;  and  a  Popish  clergyman  duly  licensed  to  officiate  in any  church  or  chapel,  without  a  bell,  or  any  symbol  of  ecclesias- tical dignity  or  authority;  and,  by  subscribing  the  oaths  of  alle- giance, Papists  might  qualify  to  be  called  to  the  bar  and  to  become attorneys.  Such  was  the  state  of  Ireland,  when  "  a  voice  from the  New  World  shouted  to  liberty",  in  the  words  of  Flood,  and the  example  of  America  found  a  plea,  in  the  apprehension  of  in- vasion, for  calling  forth  the  Volunteers  of  Ireland.  Their  first demands  were  made  somewhat  in  the  spirit  of  the  Spanish  beg- gar's supplication.  Their  artillery  corps  appeared  on  parade  in Dublin,  with  labels  on  the  mouths  of  their  cannon,  bearing  the words:  "Free  trade  or  speedy  revolution".  Their  importunity increased  with  their  strength,  and  at  length  they  demanded  from England  the  independence  of  their  country,  and  England  was  not then  in  a  condition  to  refuse  it. This  extraordinary  association  of  armed  citizens  owed  its  origin to  a  letter  of  Sir  Richard  Heron,  in  reply  to  an  application  from the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Belfast  to  government,  for  the  pro- tection of  a  military  force,  on  the  alleged  ground  of  the  danger  of invasion,  the  apprehension  of  which  was  then  loudly  talked  of over  the  country.  To  this  demand,  the  answer  of  the  secretary, Sir  Richard  Heron,  was,  that  Government  could  afford  none. In  fact,  in  1777  the  Government  had  no  means  of  national defence,  and  "  the  people",  says  Hardy,  "  were  left  to  take  care of  themselves".  An  English  army  at  that  time  was  captive  in America — the  war  had  drained  both  countries  of  their  forces. Previously  to  the  secretary's  admission  of  the  weakness  of  the Government,  or  the  negligence  that  had  left  the  country  without defence,  a  few  straggling  corps  of  armed  citizens  were  formed  for the  protection  of  the  coasts ;  but  the  Volunteer  institution  soon spread  over  the  country,  and  in  one  year  its  members  amounted, we  are  told  by  Hardy,  to  42,000  men.  The  number  in  a  short time  had  nearly  doubled. An  army  of  volunteers  of  80,000  men,  self-raised,  self-sup- ported, self-commissioned,  in  a  country  hitherto  treated  as  a  con- quered one,  which  was  only  to  be  governed  by  the  weakness  of  a divided  people,  was  a  strange  phenomenon.  Grattan  and  other enlightened  chiefs  of  the  new  army  declared  the  essential  strength of  the  volunteer  association  was  the  union  of  Catholic,  Protestant, 128  THE    VOLUNTEERS. and  Presbyterian — "  of  Irishmen",  in  short,  "  of  every  denomina- tion". The  reader  need  not  look  further  for  the  origin  of  the "  United  Irishmen":  the  latter  association  naturally  sprung  out  of the  former  institution,  when  it  departed  from  its  original  prin- ciples  and  dwindled  away  and  died  rather  ingloriously. The  following  document  is  a  copy  of  the  original  compact,  en- tered into  for  the  formation  of  the  first  volunteer  corps,  with  the  I signatures  of  the  members  of  the  association,  bearing  date,  the 26th  of  March,  1778,  and  styled  the  "Belfast  First  Volunteer Company".  This  curious  documeut,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the Magna  Charta  of  the  Irish  Volunteers,  a  few  years  ago  was  in  the possession  of  Mr.  Francis  M'Cracken,  of  Belfast,  one  of  the  original members,  and,  as  he  informed  me,  then  the  only  surviving  one  of them.  This  gentleman,  then  in  extreme  old  age,  spoke  of  the  estab- lishment of  the  association — of  its  noble  appearance  and  its  admi- rable discipline,  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  his  early  days  in  its service.  The  uniform  he  wore  on  the  first  parade-day  of  his company,  was  produced  on  the  occasion  of  my  seeking  a  copy  of this  document,  and,  at  the  expiration  of  sixty-four  years,  was once  more  put  on  by  the  old  gentleman,  to  show  me  how  it looked ;  and  the  spirit  of  the  old  volunteering  times  seemed,  for  a moment,  to  animate  the  features  and  to  set  up  the  stooping  form of  the  old  soldier  of  his  country,  as  he  paraded  his  drawing-room, recalling  the  stirring  times  of  his  volunteering  days,  and  the glorious  scenes  he  had  witnessed  when  that  old  uniform  was  first in  requisition. This  sort  of  practical  connexion  of  two  links  of  time,  many years  apart,  and  replete  with  so  many  striking  reminiscences,  was not  without  a  touching  interest. The  immediate  cause  of  the  formation  of  the  Belfast  Volunteer Association,  is  said  to  have  been,  the  receipt  of  the  letter  that has  been  referred  to  from  the  chief  secretary  of  state,  Sir  Richard Heron,  in  reply  to  a  communication  from  the  principal  inhabi- tants of  Belfast,  through  the  sovereign  of  that  town,  Mr.  Stewart Banks.     The  reply  was  to  the  following  effect : — Dublin  Castle,  August  14,  1778. Sir — My  Lord  Lieutenant  having  received  information  that there  is  reason  to  apprehend  three  or  four  privateers,  in  company,* may  in  a  few  days  make  attempts  on  the  northern  coasts  of  this kingdom;  by  his  Excellency's  command,  I  give  you  the  earliest account  thereof,  in  order  that  there  may  be  a  careful  watch,  and *  In  the  month  of  April,  1778,  the  "Kanger"  privateer,  Captain  Paul  Jones, mounting  eighteen  guns,  had  sailed  round  H.M.'s  sloop  ot  war  "Drake",  lying  in  the harbour  of  Belfast. THE    VOLUNTEERS.  129 immediate   intelligence   given  to  the  inhabitants  of  Belfast,  in case  any  party  from  such  ships  should  attempt  to  land. The  greatest  part  of  the  troops  being  encamped  near  Clonmel and  Kinsale,  his  Excellency  cannot,  at  present,  send  no  further military  force  to  Belfast  than  a  troop  or  two  of  horse,  or  part  of  a company  of  invalids ;  and  his  Excellency  desires  you  will  ac- quaint me,  by  express,  whether  a  troop  or  two  of  horse  may  be properly  accommodated  in  Belfast,  so  long  as  it  may  be  proper  to continue  them  in  that  town,  in  addition  to  the  other  two  troops ;  now  there. I  have  the  honour  to  be,  etc.,  etc.,  etc., Richard  Heron. The  Volunteers  appear  to  have  first  determined  on  uniting, and  then  asking,  in  a  dutiful  manner,  for  the  consent  of  the !  guardians  of  the  public  peace.  The  above  letter  is  dated  the j  14th  August,  1778,  when  the  first  Volunteer  Association  had |  been  already  nearly  five  months  in  existence  in  Belfast,  having \  been  formed  the  26th  of  March.  Paul  Jones's  appearance  off  the i  harbour,  and  sailing  round  the  "  Drake",  did  not  take  place  till 1  the  13th  of  April;  so  that  the  sound  of  the  loud  voice  that  was j  shouting  across  the  Atlantic  appears  to  have  reached  the  shores  of I  our  modern  Athens  before  the  fear  of  foreign  invasion  or  piratical j  attempts  had  inspired  much  alarm,  or  stimulated  the  military ardour  of  the  sturdy  spirit  of  the  northern  Presbyterians : — We  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  inhabitants  of  the town  of  Belfast,  in  consideration  of  the  impending  war  with France,  and  the  apprehension  of  a  hostile  invasion  of  the  coun- try, and  of  the  consecpent  intestine  commotions  that  may  arise therefrom,  do  hereby  associate  ourselves  together  to  learn  the military  discipline,  for  defence  of  ourselves  and  this  town  and county,  under  the  name  of  the  Belfast  First  Volunteer  Company; and  we  plight  our  faith,  each  to  all,  to  be  governed  in  this  our design,  in  every  case  that  may  arise,  by  the  voice  of  the  majority; and  that  we  will  not  withdraw  from  the  Company  from  any  other cause  than  removal  or  bodily  indisposition ;  and  that  we  will  each bear  a  proportional  share  of  the  expenses  that  may  arise  to  the Company,  and  that  we  will  never  accept  of  any  wages  or reward  from  government  as  a  Volunteer  Company,  or  submit  to take  any  military  oath  or  obligation  therefrom. Given  under  our  hands  this  26th  March,  1778.* Thomas  Brown,  Robert  Hyndman, Stewart  Banks,  Robert  Linn, *  There  was  another  draft  of  the  above  document,  dated  the  17th  March,  in the  possession  of  Mr.  M'Cracken,  which  was  lost. VOL.  I.  10 130 THE  VOLUNTEERS. Joseph  Murray, James  Joy, William  Caldbeck, Jones  Park,  jun., James  M'Comb, Thomas  Mostyn, Robert  Braclshaw, William  Caldbeck, Val.  Joyce, George  Wells,  jun. Francis  Barron, Henry  Haslett, James  M'Kain, Shem  Thompson, James  Ferguson,  jun. John  Neilson, James  Hyndman, George  Joy, John  Stevenson, John  S.  Ferguson, Charles  Lewis, James  Fitzgerald, William  Thompson, Francis  Joy, Robert  Murray, James  Arthur, William  Wilson, Andrew  Hyndman, Samuel  Robinson, William  Ware, William  Lyons, J.  Tisdall, James  Cleland, John  Callwell, Alexander  Sutherland, Robert  Hodgson, Alexander  Holmes, Richard  Seed, Cr.  Salmon, David  Dinsmore, Samuel  Stewart, Thomas  Harden, James  Martin, Samuel  Ferguson, Francis  Wilson, Samuel  M'Cadam, William  Duxen, Henry  Joy,  jun. Robert  Wilson, J.  Alexander, Alexander  Searson, Charles  M' Kinney, William  M'llwrath, John  Murdock, William  Dawson, John  Elliott, William  Watson, William  Burgess, Waddell  Cunningham, Alexander  Arthur, John  Matthews, William  Magee, John  Burden, Francis  M'Cracken, William  Callwell, David  Tomb, Hu.  Warren, James  Graham, Thomas  Kirkpatrick, William  Byrtt, William  Milford, Hugh  Dunlop, John  Gowan, Richard  Maitland, James  Stevenson, William  Auchinleck, Edward  Harrison, John  Logan, Hugh  Lyndon, John  Miller, Thomas  M'Cadam, James  H.  Fletcher, Richard  Armstrong, Alexander  M'llwrath, Andrew  Neilson, Joseph  Wilson, William  M'Ketterick, Charles  Bos  well, James  Murray, Marcus  Ward, THE    VOLUNTEERS. 131 Roger  Mulholland, John  Barker, Robert  Watt  M'Clure, James  Cony, Robert  M'Cormick, John  Boyle, David  M'Tear, Thomas  M'Comb, John  Park, Thomas  Lyons, Hu.  Harrison, James  Cunningham, Baptist  Johnston, Hu.  Crawford, Robert  Hyndman, John  Moore, Thomas  Sinclair,  jun. John  Bullock, Roger  M'Clum, Thomas  Clonnes, George  Kelso, Terry  Fitzgibbon, John  Gowdy, Robert  M'Cleary, John  Stewart, Thomas  Frazer, Alexander  Anderson, Hugh  Willoughby  Toft, William  Bryson, Hugh  Sloan, Andrew  Hannah, Sampson  Clark, John  Griffith, James  Liddon, Henry  Shaw, James  M'Pherson, William  Spencer, Thos.  Ludford  Stewart, Alexander  Petherow, Francis  Davis, David  Logan, William  Crymble, William  Emerson, James  Kennedy, Thos.  Win,  Betterton, James  Henry. We  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  inhabitants  of  the town  of  Belfast,  actuated  by  the  same  motives  expressed  in  the annexed  association,  do  hereby  join  therein  under  the  conditions and  obligations  therein  mentioned,  in  the  capacity  of  a  body  for exercising  and  fighting  the  Artillery  intended  for  the  First  Com- pany of  Belfast  Volunteers. Given  under  our  hands |  Hugh  Henderson, Daniel  Boyd, James  Boyd, i  James  Bell, !  Robert  Steele, i  Robert  Torrens, |  Thomas  Ash, Hugh  Hawthorn, this  6th  day  of  July,  1778. Alexander  Fidlie, David  Dunn, Hugh  Dickson, John  M'Cracken, William  Scott, William  Hilditch, James  Bashfbrd, John  M'Cormick. The  Artillery  Company  never  purchased  uniform.  The  late Earl  of  Donegal,  father  to  the  present  Marquess,  presented  each  of the  three  Belfast  Companies  with  two  brass  field-pieces  (six- pounders),  two  of  which,  belonging  to  the  second  company,  were 132  THE    VOLUNTEERS. used  by  the  people  at  the  battle  of  Antrim,  and  taken  by  the military ;  the  other  four  were  given  up  to  General  Nugent,  in 17i)8.  The  first  uniform  of  the  Volunteers  of  1778,  was  scarlet with  black  velvet  facings ;  five  or  six  years  later,  it  was  changed to  green  with  white  facings,  and  in  1793,  to  yellow  with  white facings. It  is  the  fashion  to  assert  that  nothing  but  loyalty  animated the  Volunteers,  and  treason  only,  and  the  influence  of  French politics,  the  United  Irishmen.  It  may  be  asserted,  without  fear of  contradiction,  it  was  something  less  than  loyalty  alone,  and something  more  than  the  fear  of  invasion  at  all,  that  animated Ireland,  and  arrayed  its  spirit  in  the  volunteer  associations,  when the  voice  from  America  was  shouting  "  Liberty  !"  across  the  At- lantic, and  a  little  later,  when  the  first  dawn  of  the  revolution  in France  was  beginning  to  dazzle  the  eyes  of  our  long  benighted country.  It  was  the  wrongs  of  Ireland  which  armed  "  its  fears  of French  invasion" :  it  was  the  undue  influence  exercised  over  its legislative  lights  that  caused  its  people  to  demonstrate  their  loyalty at  the  head  of  an  army  over  which  his  Majesty's  government  had no  control;  and  it  was  to  make  a  signal  demonstration  of  the strength  of  their  effective  force,  and  the  martial  vigour  of  their  col- lective wisdom,  that  they  called  together  a  national  convention,  first in  Dungannon,  and  afterwards  in  Dublin.  In  the  former  place, two  hundred  delegates  of  the  Volunteers,  in  their  military  uniform and  accoutrements,  marched  two  by  two  to  the  Protestant  church of  Dungannon,  and  there,  after  many  days'  deliberation,  they agreed  upon  that  celebrated  declaration  of  their  rights,  which procured  for  Ireland  the  transitory,  the  illusory  independence  of her  parliament.  The  views  of  the  British  minister,  in  reference to  that  measure,  were  rightly  appreciated  and  characterized  by Flood,  when  the  declaration  was  made  in  parliament,  purporting to  be  a  message  from  the  King,  through  the  secretary,  "  that mistrusts  and  jealousies  had  arisen  in  Ireland,  and  that  it  was highly  necessary  to  take  the  same  into  immediate  consideration, in  order  to  a  final  adjustment".  On  that  occasion,  to  put  the Duke  of  Portland's  sincerity  beyond  a  doubt,  his  friend,  Mr. Ponsonby,  took  upon  him  to  answer  for  his  Grace,  that  "  he  would use  his  utmost  influence  in  obtaining  the  rights  of  Ireland,  an object  on  which  he  had  fixed  his  heart". It  appears  there  was  one  man  at  least  in  that  house  who doubted  the  sincerity  of  the  minister — and  that  man  was  Flood, to  whose  public  character  Lord  Charlemont's  biographer  has  done great  injustice,  and  to  whose  views  as  a  statesman,  those  of  his great  rival,  Grattan,  can  bear  no  comparison,  whatever  superiority THE    VOLUNTEERS.  133 the  fidelity  of  his  attachment  to  his  country  may  give  him  over his  rival. That  Flood  was  right  in  his  scepticism,  and  Grattan  wrong  in his  credulity,  the  event  fully  proved.  In  1799,  the  same  Duke of  Portland  openly  avowed,  that  "  he  never  considered  the  inde- pendence of  the  Irish  Parliament  a,  final  adjustment". It  is  perfectly  evident  that  Pitt,  from  the  moment  he  came  into power,  never  ceased  to  regard  that  independence  as  a  measure which  had  been  unconstitutionally  extorted,  and  at  any  hazard, cost,  or  sacrifice,  was  "  to  be  re-captured".  The  course  of  the Irish  Parliament  on  the  regency  question  still  more  strongly fixed  his  determination.  The  incaution  of  that  great  and  noble Irishman,  our  illustrious  Grattan,  enabled  Pitt  to  place  his  linger on  a  flaw  in  the  title  to  our  Parliamentary  independence,  while an  oversight  in  the  Place  Bill — the  favourite  bantling,  as  it  has been  called,  of  Grattan's  patriotism — enabled  the  minister  to  pack that  suicidal  Parliament. From  the  period  of  the  Duke  of  Portland's  unexpected announcement  of  the  intention  of  the  British  Government  to concede  the  demand  of  parliamentary  independence  to  Ireland, the  great  intellect  of  Grattan  appeared  to  sink  under  the  ob- ligation, and,  to  use  his  own  words  on  another  occasion,  he  "  had given  back  in  sheepish  gratitude  the  whole  advantage".  After the  speech  of  the  viceroy  was  read  on  that  occasion,  Mr.  Grattan, in  seconding  the  address,  observed:  "I  should  desert  every principle  upon  which  I  moved  the  former  address,  did  I  not  bear testimony  to  the  candid  and  unqualified  manner  in  which  the address  has  been  answered  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant's  speech  of this  day.  I  understand  that  Great  Britain  gives  up,  in  toto, every  claim  to  authority  over  Ireland.  I  have  not  the  least  idea  in repealing  the  6th  of  George  the  First,  that  Great  Britain  should be  bound  to  make  any  declaration  that  she  had  formerly  usurped a  power.  No;  this  would  be  a  foolish  caution — a  dishonourable condition :  the  nation  that  insists  upon  the  humiliation  of  another, is  a  foolish  nation.  Another  part  of  great  magnanimity  in  the conduct  of  Great  Britain  is,  that  everything  is  given  up  uncon- ditionally;  this  must  for  ever  remove  suspicion" — Commons' Debates,  vol.  20.  This  fatal  security  at  the  termination  of  a struggle  like  this,  at  the  most  critical  moment  of  its  history,  in its  fatuity,  reminds  one  of  the  mournful  fate  of  the  wife  of Lavalette ;  straining  every  mortal  energy  for  the  preservation  of a  life  dearer  to  her  than  her  own,  and  when  all  her  efforts  are crowned  with  success, — when  the  object  of  her  love  is  re&tored by  her  to  life  and  liberty, — the  wonderful  energy  that  braced  up every  faculty   of  her  soul,  and  enabled  her  to  make  this  great 134  THE    VOLUNTEERS. effort,  fails  her  only  when  the  accomplishment  of  her  hopes appears  complete,  and  the  noble  mind  that  wrought  the  victory sinks  under  its  success. So  far  from  giving  up  "  in  toto"  every  claim  to  authority  over Ireland,  the  British  Minister  distinctly  stated,  that  "  internal  in- terference with  the  Irish  Parliament  would  no  longer  be  at- tempted, but  the  right  of  external  legislation  remained  un- changed". If  the  independence  of  the  Irish  Parliament  was  in- tended to  be  permanent,  the  repeal  alone  of  the  6th  of  George the  First,  which  made  it  legal  to  bind  Ireland  by  English  acts of  Parliament,  was  inadequate  to  the  final  settlement  of  the question ;  the  renunciation  of  the  right  for  legislating  for  Ireland was  requisite;  and  that  right  not  being  renounced,  the  simple repeal  of  an  act  in  violation  of  it,  so  far  "  for  ever  from  removing suspicion",  left  very  great  reason  to  fear  a  repetition  of  it  when- ever the  suppression  of  the  Volunteers  deprived  the  country  of the  strength  that  had  rendered  her  claims  irresistible. In  the  debate  on  this  question,  Flood  ably  pointed  out  the  in- sufficiency of  the  repeal  of  the  6th  of  George  the  First.     Not- withstanding the  laudable  acquiescence  which  appeared  in  the renunciation  of  English  claims,  "  who  could  engage",  he   said, "  that  the  present  administration  might  not  at  some  future  time change  its  mind  ?     The  English  House  of  Commons  asserted  a right  to  external  legislation,  and  he  who  seconded  the  motion  on the  Irish  question,  did  not  give  up  that  right,  but  as  a  matter  of convenience  and  compact".    A  very  able  exposure  of  the  illusory independence  of  the  Irish  Parliament  was  made  in  the  debate  on that  measure,  by  Mr.  Walsh,  a  barrister;  he  said:  "  With  regard to  the  repeal  _  of  the  6th  George  the  First,   1  rely  on  it  as  a lawyer,   that  it  is  inadequate   to   the   emancipation   of  Ireland. This  act  is  merely  a  declaratory  law ;  it  declares  that  England has  a  power  to  make  laws  to  bind  Ireland.     What  then  does  the repeal  of  this  law  do  with  respect  to  Ireland? — simply  this,  and not  a  jot  more:  it  expunges  the  declaration  of  the  power  from the  English  statute   book,  but  it  does  not  deny    the  power  to make  laws  hereafter  to  bind  Ireland,  whenever  England  shall think  herself  in  sufficient  force  for  the  purpose.     I  call  upon  the King's  new  attorney-general,  to  rise  in  his  place   and    declare whether  the   assumed  and  usurped  power  of  England  to  bind Ireland,  will  not  remain  untouched  and  unrelinquished,  though the  6th  of  George  the  First  should  be  repealed?" — "  With  res- pect to  the  fine-spun  distinction  of  the  English  Minister,  Mr. Fox,  between  external  and  internal  legislation,  it  seems  to  me the  most  absurd  position  that  could  possibly  be  laid  down,  when applied  to  an  independent  people.     See  how  pregnant  this  doc- THE    VOLUNTEERS.  135 trine  of  Mr.  Fox  is  with  every  mischief,  nay  with  absolute  des- truction to  this  country ;  the  Parliament  of  Ireland  can  make  laws for  their  internal  regulation ;  that  is,  he  gives  us  leave  to  tax  our- selves, he  permits  us  to  take  the  money  out  of  our  purses  for  the convenience  of  England.  But  as  to  external  legislation,  there Great  Britain  presides ;  in  anything  that  relates  to  commerce,  to the  exportation  of  our  produce,  there  Great  Britain  can  make laws  to  bind  Ireland".  "  Ireland",  continued  Mr.  Walsh,  "  is independent,  or  she  is  not ;  if  she  is  independent,  no  power  on Earth  can  make  laws  to  bind  her  externally  or  internally,  save the  King,  Lords  and  Commons  of  Ireland ;  I  therefore  again repeat  it,  that  until  England  unequivocally  declares,  by  an  act of  her  own  legislature,  that  she  has  no  power  to  make  laws  to bind  Ireland,  the  assumed  and  usurped  power  of  English  legis- lation over  this  country  is  not  relinquished". The  Recorder,  Sir  Samuel  Bradstreet,  forcibly  pointed  out  the absurdity  of  that  part  of  Mr.  Grattan's  address,  "  that  there  will no  longer  exist  any  constitutional  question  between  the  two nations  that  can  disturb  their  mutual  tranquillity" ;  he  instanced the  recent  embargo,  the  possibility  of  another,  the  fact  of  the oaths  taken  that  day  by  the  Irish  Secretary  being  under  an English  law,  and  the  Speaker  himself  sitting  in  the  chair  under an  English  law :  "  were  not  these  matters",  he  asked,  "subjects for  constitutional  inquiry,  and  could  any  man  say  that  the  con- sideration of  them  might  not  interrupt  the  harmony  between  the two  kingdoms?"  To  all  these  arguments  Mr.  Grattan  replied, "  An  honourable  gentleman  supposes  that  England  will  again  as- sume this  power  when  she  can  find  herself  able ;  but  that  suppo- sition must  lose  all  weight  from  the  solemn  surrender  England has  made  of  this  assumed  power". Thus  did  this  great  man  allow  his  reason  to  become  the  dupe of  a  generous  credulity,  and  by  the  power  of  his  unrivalled  elo- quence he  was  enabled  to  carry  away  the  sober  judgment  of  the House,  with  the  honourable  exception  of  four  dissentient  votes. The  division  on  the  address  determined  the  fate  of  Irish  inde- pendence; there  were  two  hundred  and  eleven  ayes  for  Mr. Grattan's  motion,  and  four  votes  against  it. This  illusory  phantom  of  national  independence  pointed  out the  way  to  parliamenty  reform  and  Catholic  emancipation,  and these  objects  haunted  the  minds  of  the  Irish  people  long  after the  expiring  efforts  of  the  Volunteers  had  ceased  to  be  a  mockery to  the  pride  or  hopes  of  Ireland.  All  the  energy  of  the  nation concentrated  in  that  volunteer  association,  had  been  expended  in obtaining  this  nominal  independence,  and  had  precluded  its  suc- cessful employment  in  the  struggle  for  reform.     The  people,  on 136  THE    VOLUNTEERS. the  disbanding  of  the  Volunteers,  discovered  that  they  had  been deceived,  that  the  nominal  independence  of  an  unreformed  par- liament was  worse  than  illusory,  that  the  evils  which  sprung  from it  had  become  irremediable  by  ordinary  means.  Grattan  himself found  out,  but  when  it  was  too  late,  that  all  his  labours  for  the independence  of  Ireland,  had  only  served  to  make  the  influence of  the  Irish  Parliament  a  monopoly  for  an  unprincipled  faction, and  its  power  and  patronage  the  private  property  of  a  family hostile  to  the  interests  of  the  nation. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  inadequate  measures  taken  by Grattan  for  the  security  of  the  independence  of  the  parliament, was  the  cause  of  the  rebellion  of  1798;  and  little  did  he  imagine, when  he  reviled  the  actors  in  it  in  his  place  in  parliament,  that all  the  blood  that  was  shed  in  that  struggle  was  spilt  either  in  de- fence of  the  principles  on  which  he  advocated  national  indepen- dence, or  in  the  re-conquest  of  that  independence  on  the  part  of England,  which  he  had  imperfectly  achieved. In  the  first  stage  of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  at  Dun- gannon,  the  constitutional  legality  of  the  proceedings  of  delibe- rating soldiers  was  defended  on  the  principle  of  the  English revolution,  namely,  "  on  the  people's  right  of  preparatory  resis- tance to  unconstitutional  oppression".  Its  members  asserted,  by their  first  resolution,  "  that  a  citizen  by  learning  the  use  of  arms does  not  abandon  any  of  his  civil  rights".  Their  other  resolu- tions were  expressive  of  their  wrongs,  and  resolutely  indicative  of their  disposition  to  redress  them.  The  patriotism  that  dictated them  was  evident  enough,  but  the  manifestation  of  loyalty  was by  no  means  conspicuous.  The  invasion  panic  had  afforded  a pretext  for  putting  arms  into  the  hands  of  the  advocates,  first  of national  independence,  and  then  of  parliamentary  reform ;  the Dungannon  convention  effected  the  former  by  its  declaration  of the  15th  February,  1782. On  the  1st  of  July,  at  the  Ulster  meeting  of  the  Volunteer Delegates   at  Lisburn,  an  address  to  the  army  on  the  subject  of parliamentary  reform  was  issued,  signed  by  Lieutenant-Colonel Sharman,  Colonel  Rowley,  and  others,  calling  on  that  loyal  army to  assemble  with  the  same  spirit  of  loyalty,  patriotism,  and  firm- ness,  which   actuated   them  on   the  memorable  15th  February, 1782,  "  to  deliberate  on  the  most  constitutional  means  of  procuring a  more  equal  representation  of  the  people  in  the  Parliament  of Ireland".     And  not   the   least  singular  circumstance  in  this  re- quisition to  the  Irish  soldiery  to  deliberate,  sword,  in  hand,  on the  most  constitutional  means  of  obtaining  parliamentary  reform, is  to  find  that,  in  advocating  the  necessity  for  it,  it  is  stated  in  the requisition,  that  "it  was  warmly  supported  by  that  consummate THE    VOLUNTEERS.  137 statesman,  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  and  revived  by  the  heir  to  his abilities  and  name,  the  present  William  Pitt". At  the  meeting  of  the  celebrated  Dungannon  convention,  8th September,  1783  (Colonel  Robert  Stewart  having  been  called  to the  chair,  vacated  by  Colonel  J.  Stewart),  a  communication  was read  from  the   1st  regiment   of  the   Irish   Brigade,   dated   15  th February,   1782,   which   concluded  in  these   terms: — "At   this great  crisis,  when  the  western  world,  while  laying  the  foundation of  a  rising  empire,  temptingly  holds  out  a  system  of  equal  liberty !  to  mankind,  and  waits  with  open  arms  to  receive  the  emigrants !  from  surrounding  nations,   we  think   it  a   duty  we  owe  to  our ■  country,  to  promote,  as  far  as  our  example  can  reach,   an  affec- '  tionate  coalition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland.     Animated  by  this :  sentiment,  and  convinced  that  national  unanimity  is  the  basis  of ,  national  strength,   this  regiment  affords  a  striking  instance  how i  far  the   divine    spirit   of  toleration  can   unite   men   of  all  reli- i  gious  descriptions  in  one  great  object — the  support  of  a  free  con- !  stitution".* The  next  most  remarkable  meeting  of  the  Volunteers,  was that  of  the  Delegates  from  the  "Volunteer  Army  of  Leinster", which  sat  on  the  9th  October,  1783,  at  the  Royal  Exchange, Dublin,  Lord  Charlemont  in  the  chair.  It  is  a  striking  fea- ture in  the  proceedings  of  the  Volunteers,  that,  almost  inva- riably, the  first  resolution  at  every  meeting  was,  "that  the present  state  of  the  representation  of  the  people  of  this  king- dom'requires  to  be  reformed".  On  this  occasion  Colonel  Hatton opposed  the  resolution,  and  moved  one  to  the  effect:  "That it  is  only  through  the  medium  of  the  legislature  that  we  do hope  for  constitutional  redress".f  "This  brought  on  (says  the history  I  have  already  quoted)  a  debate,  in  the  course  of  which it  was  urged,  '  that  the  sacred  majesty  of  the  people  was,  in  all times,  fully  competent  to  correct  the  abuses  which  might  arise in  the  constitution,  and  to  control  and  direct  that  branch  of  the legislature  to  which  they  had  only  delegated  a  power,  but  which interposition  on  the  part  of  the  people,  it  was  allowed  to  be  im- politic to  exercise,  save  only  on  the  most  important  occasions'^ " ; and,  in  support  of  this  doctrine,  the  secretary  urged  the  authority of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Jebb,  etc.  The  resolution,  _  however,  of I  Colonel  Hatton,  materially  amended  by  Counsellor  Michael  Smith, I  was  eventually  carried. On  the  10th  November,  1783,  the  grand  National  Convention 1  met  at  the  Royal  Exchange,  Dublin,  and  subsequently  adjourned to  the  Rotundo,  Lord  Charlemont  in  the  chair,  and  continued  to *  "  History  of  the  Proceedings  and  Debates  of  the  Volunteer  Delegates",  p.  13. t  Idem,  p.  17. 138  THE    VOLUNTEERS. meet  till  the  2nd  of  December,  1783.     The  sub-committee  of  the Convention,  consisting  of  one  delegate  for  each  city  and  county, by  whom  the  business  of  the   Convention  was  regulated,  chose  i Colonel  the  Right  Honourable  Robert  Stewart  for  their  chairman,  j On  the  21st  of  November,  the  chairman  of  the  sub-committee ji reported  to  the  convention  a  series  of  resolutions  of  that  com- <. mittee,  on  the  subject  of  reform,  to  the  following  effect: "  That  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  committee,  that  noi non-resident  elector  should  be  permitted  to  vote  for  any  represen*  j tative  in  Parliament,  unless  his  right  of  voting  arose  from  landed property  of  £20  per  annum. "  That  no  elector  be  deemed  a  resident,  who  had  not  resided' for  six  months  in  the  year  previous  to  the  day  of  issuing  the  writ , for  the  election,  and  unless  that  borough,  town,  or  city,  had  been his  usual  place  of  residence  during  the  period  of  his  registry. "  That  the  sheriff  of  each  county  do  appoint  a  deputy,  to  take; the  poll  in  each  barony  on  the  same  day. "  That  all  depopulated  places,  or  decayed  boroughs,  which  had  > hitherto  returned  representatives,  by  an  extension  of  the  franchise to  the  neighbouring  barony,  be  enabled  to  return  representatives to  Parliament. "  That  every  borough,  town,  or  city,  which  hitherto  had  re- turned representatives,  be  deemed  decayed,  which  did  not  contain two  hundred  electors,  over  and  above  potwallopers,  according  to the  plan  for  the  province  of  Leinster,  and  should  cease  to  return  ; representatives  till  the  aforesaid  number  of  electors  be  supplied. "  That  every  Protestant,  possessed  of  a  freehold,  shall  have  a  i right  to  vote  for  members  to  serve  in  Parliament  for  such  city,  i town,  or  borough. "  That  any  bye-law  made  by  a  corporation  to  contract  the  fran- chise, shall  be  declared  illegal. "That  every  Protestant  possessed  of  a  leasehold  of  the  yearly value  of  £10,  in  any  city,  town,  or  borough,  not  decayed,  for  i thirty-one  years  or  upwards,  and  of  which  ten  years  are  unex-  j pired,  be  entitled  to  vote ;  and  every  Protestant  in  any  decayed  , city,  town,  or  borough,  having  a  leasehold  of  £5  yearly  value,  j for  thirty -one  years,  ten  of  which  are  unexpired,  be  permitted  to  j vote. "  That  every  freeholder  of  40s.  per  annum,  in  any  decayed city,  town,  or  borough,  be  entitled  to  vote. "  That  the  duration  of  Parliament  ought  not  to  exceed  the  j term  of  three  years. "  That  all  suffrages  be  given  viva  voce,  and  not  by  ballot. "  That  any  person  holding  a  pension,  except  for  life,  or  under the  term  of  twenty-one  years,  be  incapable  of  sitting  in  parlia-  , THE   VOLUNTEERS.  139 ment;  and  if  for  life  or  twenty-one  years,  should  vacate  his  seat, but  he  capable  of  reelection. "  That  any  member  accepting  office  under  the  crown,  do  vacate !  his  seat,  but  be  capable  of  reelection. "  That  every  member,  before  he  took  his  seat,  should  take  an I  oath  that  he  has  not,  nor  any  other  person  for  him,  with  his I  knowledge  or  consent,  given  meat,  drink,  money,  place  or  em- j  ployment,  or  any  consideration,  for  any  expenses  Avhatsoever voters  may  have  been  at  for  procuring  votes  at  his  election ;  and !  do  further  swear,  that  he  will  not  suffer  any  person  to  hold  any |  place  or  pension  in  trust  for  him  while  he  serves  in  Parliament. "  And,  lastly,  that  any  person  convicted  of  perjury  by  a  jury, 1  relative  to  the  above  oath,  be  incapable  of  ever  sitting  in  Parlia- ;  ment".* Such  was  the  plan  of  reform"*  submitted  to  the  convention  by the  chairman  of  its  sub-committee,  the  Right  Honourable  Robert Stewart;  and,  though  not  "the  first  whig",  one  might  suppose there  was  something  prophetic  in  the  definition  of  the  term  that had  reference  to  Irish  politics,  when  it  turns  out  that  Lord  Castle- reagh  was  the  first  reformer  in  1783.  This  plan  of  reform,  with  the exception  of  two  sittings,  in  which  the  claims  of  the  Catholics  to the  elective  franchise  were  discussed  and  scouted  by  the  assembly, occupied  the  attention  of  the  Convention  during  the  whole  time it  sat,  till  the  2nd  of  December,  the  day  of  its  dissolution,  and, it  may  be  added,  the  date  of  the  downfall  of  the  Volunteer  asso- ciation. The  National  Convention,  which  assembled  in  Dublin, the  10th  of  November,  1783,  consisted  of  three  hundred  dele- gates, who  represented  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Volunteers. The  Volunteer  grenadiers  attended  as  a  guard  on  the  Convention during  its  sittings;  the  delegates  were  escorted  into  town  by troops  of  armed  citizens;  the  firing  of  twenty-one  cannon  an- nounced the  commencement  of  their  proceedings.  The  various battalions  proceeded  from  the  Exchange  to  the  Rotundo,  the  seat of  the  Convention,  in  grand  military  array,  displaying  amongst their  banners  the  national  standard  of  Ireland,  and  devices  and mottoes  on  their  flags  which  were  not  to  be  mistaken.  Broad green  ribbons  were  worn  across  the  shoulders  of  the  delegates, and  according  to  Barrington,  the  lawyers  even  acknowledged  the supreme  power  of  the  will  of  the  people — the  motto  on  their buttons  was,  "  Vox  populi  suprema  lex  est". This  national  convention  of  armed  citizens  was  assembled within  sight  of  the  Irish  House  of  Parliament,  and  both  these parliaments  were  sitting  at  the  same  time,  and  the  leading  popu- *  "  History  of  the  Volunteer  Convention",  p.  49. 140  THE    VOLUNTEERS. lar  gentlemen  who   were  members  of  both,  went  from  one  as- sembly to  the  other,  as  the  affairs  under  deliberation  required their  presence  in  either  house.     Lord  Charlemont,  the  chairman of  the  convention,  we  are  told  by  Hardy,  spoke  of  the  majority of  the  members  as  "  men  of  rank  and  fortune,  and  many  of  them members  of  Parliament,  lords  and  commoners".  No  sooner  had  the chairman  taken  his  seat,  than  innumerable  plans  of  reform  were presented,   which   to  Lord  Charlemont  and   his  biographer  ap- peared all  utterly  impracticable ;  "  so  rugged  and  so  wild  in  their attire"  were  they,  "  as  to  look"  not  like  the  "  inhabitants  of  the Earth,  and  yet  were  on  it" :  and  yet  "  this  motley  band  of  incon- gruous fancies",  as  the  latter  terms  them,  "  of  misshapen  theories, valuable  only  if  efficient,   or  execrable  if  efficacious",  contained  a vast  number  of  proposals  for  parliamentary  reformation,  which,  in the  course  of  half  a  century,  have  been  found  not  only  plausible but  practicable   suggestions,   and  have  been  of  late  years  carried into  execution.    Mr.  Flood's  plan  of  reform  was  at  length  adopted by  the  convention.     The  Bishop  of  Derry  then  brought  forward his  resolution  in  favour  of  the  immediate  and  complete  emanci- pation of  the  Roman  Catholics,   and  the  good  and  virtuous  Lord Charlemont  strenuously   and  successfully  resisted  the  resolution ! To  this  same  bishop  the  noble  earl  replied,  in  defending  himself from  the  charge   of  bein<?  a  lukewarm  reformer,   "  that  in  the struggle  for  an  independent  parliament,   he  had  been  willing  to risk  his  life,  and,  what  was  far  more  important — the  peace  of  his country,  but  for  reform  he  was  willing  to  do  everything  not  in- consistent with  the  public  peace".     There  were  many  in  that assembly   who  did  not  participate  in  the    sentiments    of  Lord Charlemont,  and  his  lordship  well  knew  it,  for  he  trembled  for the  result  of  their  determinations,  and  at  last  had  recourse  to  a subterfuge  for  obtaining  a  final  adjournment  of  the  Convention. The  House  of  Commons,   during  the  sitting  of  the   Convention, had  refused  Flood's  motion  for  leave  to  brinsr  in  a  bill  for  a  re- form  of  parliament,  on  the  ground  of  its  emanating  from  a  body illegally   constituted.     Mr.  Fitzgibbon  openly  and  violently  de- nounced the  Volunteers,  and  his  denunciations  were  compared  by Curran   "  to  the  ravings  of  a  maniac  and  an  incendiary".     The language  of  Fitzgibbon  was  of  a  very  different  description,  when, carried  away  by  the   stream  of  patriotism  at  the  close  of  the struggle  for  parliamentary  independence,  he  addressed  the  House of  Commons,  to  the  astonishment  of  its  members,  in  terms  that might  have  been  expected  from  a  Lucas  or  a  Molyneaux :  "  No man",  said  he,  "  can  say  that  the  Duke  of  Portland  has  power  to grant  us  that  redress  which  the  nation  unanimously  demands ;  but as  Ireland  is  committed,  no  man,  I  trust,  will  shrink  from  her THE    VOLUNTEERS.  141 i I  support,  but  go  through  hand  and  heart  in  the  establishment  of j  our  liberties :  and  as  I  was  cautious  in  committing  myself,  so  am I I  now  firm  in  asserting  the  rights  of  my  country.  My  declaration j  therefore  is,  that  as  the  nation  has  determined  to  obtain  the '  restoration  of  her  liberty,  it  behoves  every  man  in  Ireland  to I  stand  firm  ! !  !"* — The  language  of  abuse  a  few  years  later  was I  new  to  the  Volunteers.  Hitherto  they  had  been  accustomed  to l  constant  commendation :  every  year  they  received  the  unanimous ,  thanks  of  parliament,  the  king  applauded  their  loyalty,  the  whole j  country  rang  with  their  praises ;  but  the  government  looked  on  their '<  rjroceedings  with  the  most  serious  apprehensions ;  as  they  had  regar- [  ded  their  origin  as  an  evil  that  was  only  to  be  tolerated  because  it i  could  not  for  the  time  being  be  conveniently  resisted  or  violently opposed.  It  was  determined  to  make  their  own  leaders  their  exe- cutioners, and  for  this  purpose  they  contrived,  in  the  first  instance, to  disarm  the  opposition  of  Lord  Charlemont  to  their  designs,  by artful  representations  of  apprehensions  from  the  intemperance  of his  rival  brethren  in  the  convention,  especially  of  the  Bishop  of Derry  and  Flood,  and  by  insidious  assurances  of  confidence  in his  loyalty  and  enlightened  patriotism.  Lord  Charlemont  was the  best  and  most  honest  of  men,  but  in  public  matters  he  carried the  refinement  of  a  man  of  elegant  manners  to  the  extreme  verge of  plastic  courtesy ;  as  a  man  of  honour,  no  Earthly  bribe  could have  caused  him  to  swerve  from  his  principles;  as  a  courtier,  the smiles  of  a  viceroy  or  the  blandishments  of  a  minister  might  have caused  him  to  listen  far  too  attentively  to  the  suggestions  of  those in  power.  The  proceedings  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  re- jection of  the  Reform  Bill,  brought  the  question  of  the  loyalty  of the  Volunteer  Convention  to  an  issue.  It  was  now  a  crisis,  which left  no  alternative  but  resistance  or  dissolution.  The  chairman dared  not  propose  a  dissolution;  he  proposed  an  adjournment  till the  Monday  following,  when  they  were  to  meet  at  the  usual hour.  On  the  Monday,  accordingly,  he  repaired  to  the  Rotundo at  an  earlier  hour  than  usual ;  after  passing  some  resolutions,  he and  a  few  of  the  partizans  who  accompanied  him,  dissolved  the Convention.  On  the  arrival  of  the  great  body  of  the  delegates, they  found  the  doors  closed,  they  learned  with  astonishment  that the  Convention  was  dissolved,  and  when  it  was  too  late,  they discovered  they  had  been  deceived  by  their  general.  From  this time  the  power  of  the  Volunteers  was  broken.     The  Government *  A  singular  commentary  on  these  opinions  is  to  be  found  in  the  speech  of  this gentleman  on  the  Union,  in  which  he  declares  that  he  had  never  ceased  urging the  necessity  on  the  British  Minister  of  the  impracticability  of  the  measure  of Irish  parliamentary  independence,  "for  the  last  seven  years". —  Vide  "  Earl  of Clare's  speech  on  the  Union".     By  Authority,  1800. 142  THE    VOLUNTEERS. resolved  to  let  the  institution  die  a  natural  death — at  least  to  aim no  blow  at  it  in  public;  but  when  it  was  known  that  the  Hon. Colonel  Robert  Stewart,  afterwards  Lord  Castlereagh,  was  not only  a  member  of  the  Convention  (a  delegate  for  the  county Down),  hut  a  chairman  of  the  sub-committee,  and  that  he  was the  intimate  friend  of  Lord  Charlemont,  the  nature  of  the  hostility that  Government  put  in  practice  against  the  institution  will  be easily  understood.  While  the  Volunteers  were  parading  before Lord  Charlement,  or  manifesting  their  patriotism  in  declarations of  resistance  to  the  parliament,  perfidy  was  stalking  in  their camp,  and  it  rested  not  till  it  had  trampled  on  the  ashes  of  their institution. Of  the  esteem  in  which  Lord  Charlemont  held  Colonel  Robert Stewart,  we  may  judge  by  his  letters:  in  one  he  says — "I  have seen  Robert,  and  have  given  him  but  little  comfort  with  regard to  his  friend's  administration.  I  cannot  but  love  him ;  yet  why is  he  so  be-Pitted?" The  first  proclamation  against  the  Volunteers  of  the  Lord Lieutenant,  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  was  issued  the  11th  of March,  1790,  denouncing  lawless  and  seditious  proceedings which  had  taken  place  in  the  town  of  Belfast,  on  the  plea  that  the object  of  the  said  armed  bodies  was  redress  of  alleged  grievances, but  that  the  obvious  intention  of  most  of  them  appeared  to  be  to overawe  the  parliament  and  the  government,  and  to  dictate  to both. "  And  whereas  these  dangerous  and  seditious  proceedings tend  to  the  disturbance  of  the  public  peace,  the  obstruction  of good  order  and  government,  to  the  great  injury  of  public  credit, and  the  subversion  of  the  constitution,  and  have  raised  great alarms  in  the  minds  of  his  Majesty's  loyal  subjects. "  And  we  do  charge  and  command  the  magistrates,  sheriffs, bailiffs,  and  other  peace-officers,  having  jurisdiction  within the  said  town  of  Belfast,  and  the  several  districts  adjacent thereto,  to  be  careful  in  preserving  the  peace  within  the  same, and  to  disperse  all  seditious  and  unlawful  assemblies ;  and  if  they shall  be  resisted,  to  apprehed  the  offenders,  that  they  may  be dealt  with  according  to  law. "  (Signed)  Fitzgibbon,  etc.,  etc.,  etc." In  compliance  with  the  proclamation,  the  Volunteers  ceased to  parade  or  any  longer  to  appear  in  military  array. The  Catholics,  who  had  flocked  to  the  standard  of  the  Volun- teers on  the  first  cry  of  French  invasion,  were  groaning  under the  tyranny  of  the  penal  laws,  and,  at  the  prospect  of  a  deliver- ance, one  cannot  wonder  at  "  their  patriotism  catching  fire  at  the THE    VOLUNTEERS.  143 Presbyterian  altar  of  parliamentary  reform".  But,  when  they discovered  the  bigoted  opposition  of  the  leader  to  their  claims — when  the  Earl  of  Charlemont  publicly  resisted  the  restoration  of the  elective  franchise  to  the  Catholics,  and  the  national  conven- tion had  the  folly  to  let  their  prejudices  defeat  their  interests, by  withholding  from  the  Catholics  (the  great  bulk  of  the  people) their  just  rights,  the  hopes  of  the  latter  were  destroyed ;  their attachment  to  the  cause  of  the  Volunteers  declined,  and  when >the  last  blow  was  struck  at  the  existence  of  this  force,  the  Catho- lic population  of  Ireland  looked  on  with  unconcern ;  and  never did  an  institution,  so  big  with  the  highest  political  importance, (dwindle  away  into  such  insignificance,  and  fall  so  little  regretted I  by  the  majority  of  the  people. The  services  of  the  Volunteers  are,  on  the  whole,  greatly exaggerated  by  our  historians ;  the  great  wonder  is,  how  little substantial  good  to  Ii  eland  was  effected  by  a  body  which  was capable  of  effecting  so  much.  As  a  military  national  spectacle, the  exhibition  was,  indeed,  imposing,  of  a  noble  army  of  united citizens  roused  by  the  menace  of  danger  to  the  state,  and,  once mustered,  standing  forth  in  defence  of  the  independence  of  their country.  But  it  is  not  merely  the  spectacle  of  their  array,  but the  admirable  order,  conduct,  and  discipline  of  their  various corps — not  for  a  short  season  of  political  excitement,  but  for  a period  of  nearly  ten  }^ears — that,  even  at  this  distance  of  time, are  with  many  a  subject  of  admiration.  Their  admirers  certainly did  not  exaggerate  their  utility  as  preservers  of  the  public  peace, when  they  asserted,  at  one  of  the  last  resolutions  passed  at  the dissolution  of  the  Convention,  that,  through  "  their  means,  the laws  and  police  of  this  kingdom  had  been  better  executed  and maintained,  than  at  any  former  period  within  the  memory  of man".  But  what  use  did  the  friends  and  advocates  of  popular rights  make  of  this  powerful  association  of  armed  citizens,  which paralyzed  the  Irish  government,  and  brought  the  British  ministry to  a  frame  of  mind  very  different  to  that  which  it  hitherto  ex- hibited towards  Ireland  ?  Why,  they  wielded  this  great  weapon of  a  nation's  collected  strength  to  obtain  an  illusory  independence, which  never  could  rescue  the  Irish  Parliament  from  the  influence of  the  British  minister  without  reform,  and  which  left  the  parlia- ment as  completely  in  the  power  of  the  minister,  through  the medium  of  his  hirelings  in  that  House,  as  it  had  been  before that  shadow  of  parliamentary  independence  had  been  gained. The  only  change  was  in  the  mode  of  using  that  influence  in  the Parliament;  the  material  difference  was  but  between  an  open and  a  secret  interference  in  its  concerns.  The  other  adjuncts  to this  acquisition  were,  a  Place  Bill  and  a  Pension  Bill,  which  had 141 TUE    VOLUNTEERS been  the  stock  in  trade  of  the  reforming  principle  of  the  oppo- sition for  many  years.     No  great  measure   of  parliamentary  re- form, or  Catholic   emancipation,   was    seriously   entertained,    or wrung  from  a  reluctant  but  then  feeble  government.      The  error of  the  leaders  was,  in  imagining  that  they  could  retain  the  con- fidence of  the  Catholics,  or  the  cooperation  of  that  body,  which constituted  the  great  bulk  of  the  population,  while  their  Conven- tion publicly  decided  against  their  admission  to  the  exercise  of the   elective  franchise.     At  the  great   Leinster  meetincr  of  the Volunteer  delegates,  in  October,   1783,  the  first  serious  attempt to  force  the  claims  of  the  Catholics  on  the  delegates  was  made by  Mr.  Burrowes.     He  said:  "He  was.  instructed  to  move  the extension  of  the  elective  franchise  to  the  Roman  Catholics,  whose behaviour  had  manifested  their  attachment  to  the  constitution. He  was  surprised  to  find  some  gentlemen  averse  to  entering  upon the  subject;  he   was  afraid  an  idea  would  go  abroad  that  they were  not  to  receive  the  power  of  voting  for  representatives  in parliament.     It  would  be  an  idea  of  the  most  fatal  nature,  and gentlemen  should  consider  that  their  resolution  on  this  important question  would,  in  all  probability,  affect  that  assembly  more  even than  it  would  the  Roman  Catholics  themselves". Another  delegate,  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  asked,  "  Did  the  Conven- tion, when  seeking  freedom,  mean  to  make  freemen  of  one  million  ' of  subjects,  and  to  keep  two  millions  slaves?"     Mr.  Burrowes  was  ! compelled  to  withdraw  his  resolution ;  another  was  substituted,  of  j a  more  general  nature,  by  Major  M'Cartney,  namely,  "  That  the   \ extension  of  the  elective  franchise  to  the  Catholics  is  a  measure   i of  the  highest  importance,  and  worthy  the  attention  of  the  Na- tional Convention".     But  even  this  resolution  had  also  to  be  with- drawn. In   the  grand  National  Convention  that  sat  in   Dublin,  the claims  of  the  Catholics  to  the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise were  refused  to  be  entertained.     An  honourable  delegate  under- took, on  the  part  of  the  Catholics,  to  object  to  that  boon  for  them  ; that  "  they  were  so  grateful  for  the  great  concessions   already made  to  their  body,  that  they  could  not  think  of  asking  for  the elective  franchise".     This   assertion  was  solemnly  made  by  Mr. George  Ogle,   ashe  stated,  on  the  part  of  Lord  Kenmare  and others  of  his  particular  friends  of  the  Catholic  persuasion ;  and  it was  gravely  listened  to  by  the  enlightened    legislating  Volun- teers :  its  moderation  was  highly  commended,  and  it  was  in  vain that  a  delegate,  who  appeared  to  have  some  common  sense  and some  liberality,   which   was  by  no  means  common   in   that  as- sembly, replied,  that  he  could  not  think  "  the  Roman  Catholics were  like  the  Cappadocians,  who  prayed  for  slavery".     The  Bi- ! THE    VOLUNTEERS.  145 shop  of  Deny,  on  the  part  of  the  recognized  agents  of  the Catholic  body,  submitted  to  the  convention  the  following  docu- ment, in  disavowal  of  the  sentiments  imputed  to  them: "  At  a  meeting  of  the  general  committee  of  the  Roman  Ca- tholics of  Ireland,  lllv  P.  Belle  w,  Bart.,  in  the  chair,  it  was  unani- mously resolved  that  the  message  relating  to  us,  delivered  this morning  to  the  National  Convention,  was  totally  unknown  to  and unauthorized  by  us. "  That  we  do  not  so  widely  differ  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  as by  our  own  act  to  prevent  the  removal  of  our  shackles. "  That  we  will  receive  with  gratitude  every  indulgence  that may  be  extended  to  us  by  the  Legislature,  and  are  thankful  to our  benevolent  countrymen  for  their  efforts  on  our  behalf". This  was  tolerably  explicit ;  but  the  medium  of  communication between  Lord  Kenmare  and  Mr.  Ogle — Sir  Boyle  Roche — was one  which  must  have  reminded  the  Convention  of  the  mental  fal- libility of  that  great  bottle  conjuror,  who  contended  that  every jquart  bottle  should  be  made  to  hold  a  quart.  The  delegates  said ;they  did  not  know  which  of  the  declarations  of  the  Catholics  to jbelieve;  and,  as  the  Catholics  disagreed  among  themselves  on  the 'subject,  they  deemed  it  best  not  to  decide  upon  it.  Accordingly, jin  the  plan  of  reform  drawn  up  by  their  sub-committee,  the  chair- jman  of  which  was  Colonel  Robert  Stewart,  good  care  was  taken  to jexclude  the  Catholics  from  the  elective  franchise,  by  the  heading [of  the  different  resolutions,  viz.:  "  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this committee,  that  every  Protestant  possessed  of",  etc.,  etc.,  etc. The  sentiments  of  Lord  Charlemont,  no  doubt,  had  considerable influence  over  the  assembly ;  his  character  gave  a  factitious  im- portance to  his  bigotry.  His  hostility  to  the  claims  of  the  Ca- tholics had  all  the  consistency  of  Lord  Clare's,  without  the  savage- |ness  of  its  spirit.  Even  ten  years  subsequent  to  this  period,  his lordship  voted  in  Parliament  against  the  extension  of  the  elective [franchise  to  the  Catholics,  thus  contradicting,  most  absurdly,  his town  principles  and  those  of  the  National  Convention,  which prompted  their  appeal  for  "  a  full  and  adequate  representation  of the  people  in  Parliament",  while,  by  excluding  the  Catholics, they  virtually  deprived  the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  that privilege. •      Villi*" Lord  Charlemont  probably  was  influenced  by  the  opinions,  or rather  prejudices,  of  the  celebrated  Doctor  Lucas,  whose  political views  he  adopted,  and  did  not  presume  to  deviate  from  them  in the  smallest  degree.  Lucas,  like  all  his  brother  patriots  of  that time,  was  an  uncompromising  bigot.  At  a  period  when  the  un- fortunate Catholics  were  crushed  by  oppression,  this  popular brawler  about  the  independence  of  parliament  was  reviling  his VOL.    I.  11 146  THE    VOLUNTEERS. Catholic  countrymen  with  the  bitterest  invective  in  his  Barber's Letters,  and  assisting,  by  his  illiberal  abuse,  to  forge  new  chains for  the  great  body  of  the  Irish  people.  All  the  patriotism  of Lucas  and  his  followers  was  expended  on  the  parliament — they had  none  to  devote  to  men  who  were  not  Protestants. I  am  not  writing  a  history  of  the  Volunteers,  or  of  the  rebel- lion which  succeeded  the  disbanding  of  that  body;  but  it  is necessary  for  me,  in  attempting  to  trace  the  motives  of  those  who took  a  part  in  that  rebellion,  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the failure  and  ultimate  fall  of  the  Volunteer  association ;  of  the errors  which  deprived  them  of  the  confidence  of  the  people ;  and lastly,  to  discover  the  origin  of  that  rebellion,  to  find  what objects  it  had  in  view  at  its  commencement,  and  how  far  such objects  differed  from  those  of  the  Volunteers. Without  these  inquiries,  to  consider  the  rebellion  of  1798  as a  mere  isolated  movement  of  the  people  at  that  period — as  simply one  of  those  periodical  outbreaks  of  sedition,  which  mark  an era  of  famine  or  oppression  every  forty  or  fifty  years  in  the  annals of  Irish  history — as  a  secret  conspiracy  suddenly  concocted,  on the  spurt  of  the  pressure  of  some  particular  grievance,  uncon- nected with  preceding  events,  and  uninfluenced  by  them — would be  to  form  a  very  erroneous  opinion  of  the  nature  and  causes  of ; that  rebellion,  and  consequently  a  very  erroneous  opinion  of those  engaged  in  it. The  principles  advocated  by  the  leading  members  of  the  Volun- 1 teer  associations,  the  doctrines  boldly  promulgated  by  the  politi- eal  clubs  in  Ireland,  and  the  language  of  the  early  champions  of  i reform   in   parliament,   from   the    period   of  1782  to   the   disso- ' lution  of  the   Volunteer    association,   had  roused  the  minds  of the  Irish   people  to    the   highest  pitch   of  political   excitement. It    was  only   when    the   Volunteers    had    been    disbanded,    and the    real    worthlessness    of   the    nominal    independence    of  the  I Irish    parliament    began    to    be    known;    when    the    principal members   of    the    Whig    Club    had   seceded,    and    the    patriot- . ism    of    other   similar    societies    had    ceased    to    inspire    confi- dence; when  the   avowed   reformers   of  1782  had    become  the declared  opponents  of  reform,  and  when  those  who  still  lingered  | on  the   opposition  benches   of  both    parliaments,    frightened  at' their  own  principles,  and  deterred  from  the  maintenance  of  them by  the  excesses  of  the  French  Revolution,  made  but  a  feeble  show, of  adherence  to  them,  or  waited  in  silence  for  happier  times  fori their  support — that  people  began  to  despair  of  obtaining  or  de- fending their  rights  by  constitutional  means:  it  was  then  only that  the  deserted  principles  of  the  Volunteers — the  unsupported doctrines  of  the  Whig   Club — the   relinquished   or  discomfited  <■ plans  of  the  political  societies,  and  the  abandoned  cause  of  par- THE    VOLUNTEERS.  147 iliamentary  reform,  were  taken  up  by  a  new  political  society,  and jthat  the  United  Irishmen  acted  on  the  speeches,  writings,  and jthe  stirring  sentiments  of  the  early  reformers  of  both  countries — ;  of  Pitt,  Stewart,  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  Colonel  Sharman,  Flood, Grattan,  and  their  liberal  cotemporaries. The  society  of  United  Irishmen  was  called  into  existence  to adopt  the  principles  of  parliamentary  reform,  which  had  been abandoned  at  that  period — by   some  in    disgust,  by   others   in | despair,  and  by  many  who  had   been  prominent,  but  never  ho- |nest,  in  the  cause.     Those  principles  did  not  originate  with  the I  United  Irishmen,  but  were  advocated,  to  the  extreme  of  demo- Icratic  doctrines,  by  Pitt  himself,  and  even  by  the  moderate  and sgood  Lord  Charlemont,  whose  loyalty  has  never  been  impugned, and  by  Flood  and  Grattan,  whose  prudence  at  least  would  have I  preserved  themselves  from  the  consequences  of  actual  sedition. !A  few  extracts,  a  little  farther  on,  from  the  speeches  and  writings of  the  first  reformers  will  bear  out  the  remark. The  origin  of  the  Irish  Volunteers,  which,  as  an  organized national  military  association,  may  be  dated  from  1777,  ceased  to exist  as  such  in  1793.  Its  last  effort  was  in  Belfast,  in  defending the  town  from  the  earliest  revival,  at  least  in  that  century,  of  the dragooning  system,  by  four  troops  of  the  17th  regiment,  on  the J15th  of  March,  1793.* It  is  not  inconsistent  with  truth,  though  it  may  be  with  the |  military  glory  of  this  institution  of  the  Volunteers,  to  say  that  it |  combined  in  one  great  national  phalanx  the  talent,  the  intole- rance, the  chivalry,  the  extravagance,  the  prodigality,  the  em- jbarrassment,    the   republicanism,   and   patriotism,   for  one   brief j  epoch,  of  all  ranks  and  classes.     Here  we  find  the  ill-assorted I  names  of  the  Earl  of  Charlemont  and  the  Right  Hon.  Robert I  Stewart — of  John   Claudius   Beresford   and   Henry  Grattan — of Toler  and  Ponsonby — of  Saurin  and  Flood — of  Colonel  Rowley and  Major  Sandys — of  Ireland's  only  Duke  and  Sir  Capel  Moly- neux— of  the  rabid  zealot,  Dr.  Patrick  Duigenan,  and  the  right reverend  ultra-liberal  the  Bishop  of  Derry — of  Archibald  Hamil- ton Rowan  and  Jack  Gifiard — of  the  red-hot  patriot,  James  Napper Tandy,   and   the    facetious  knight  and   slippery   politician,    Sir |  Jonah   Barrington — and  last,   not  least  in  celebrity,  of  George Robert  Fitzgerald,  of  fighting  notoriety,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Pollock, the  great  advocate  of  peace  and  order.     These  incongruous  names are  found  jumbled  together  in  the  pages  of  the  history  of  the Volunteer  association.     The  world  never  saw  an  army  of  such heterogeneous  materials  collected  from  all  conflicting  parties  for a  patriotic  purpose. *  "  Pieces  of  Irish  History",  55. 118  THE    VOLUNTEERS. On  the  1st  of  July,  1783,  at  the  Ulster  meeting  of  the  Volun- teer delegates  at  Lisburn,  an  address  to  the  army,  on  the  subject of  parliamentary  reform,  was  issued,  signed  by  Lieutenant- Colonel  Sharman,  Colonel  Rowley,  and  others,  calling  on  that loyal  army  to  assemble  with  the  same  spirit  of  loyalty,  patriotism, and  firmness  which  actuated  them  on  the  memorable  15th  Feb- ruary, 1782,  "  to  deliberate  on  the  most  constitutional  means  of procuring  a  more  equal  representation  of  the  people  in  the  Par- liament of  Ireland".  And  not  the  least  singular  circumstance  in this  requisition  to  the  Irish  soldiery,  to  deliberate  sword  in  hand on  the  most  constitutional  means  of  obtaining  parliamentary  re- form, is  to  find  that,  in  advocating  the  necessity  for  it,  it  is  stated in  the  requisition,  that  "  it  was  warmly  supported  by  that  con- summate statesman,  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  and  revived  by  the heir  to  his  abilities  and  name,  the  present  William  Pitt". The  first  grand  object  of  the  United  Irishmen — of  that  body, whose  principles  it  is  accounted  treasonable  to  the  loyal  Volun- teers to  confound  with  theirs — was  "  to  promote  union  amongst Irishmen  of  all  religious  denominations";  and  the  very  principle, and  even  the  words  in  which  it  is  couched,  the  United  Irishmen borrowed  from  the  Volunteers.  At  the  meeting  of  the  cele- brated Dungannon  convention,  8th  September,  1783  (Colonel Robert  Stewart  having  been  called  to  the  chair,  vacated  by Colonel  J.  Stewart),  a  communication  was  read  from  the  first regiment  of  the  Irish  Brigade,  dated  15th  February,  1782,  which concluded  in  these  terms:  "At  this  great  crisis,  when  the  wes- tern world,  while  laying  the  foundation  of  a  rising  empire,  tempt- ingly holds  out  a  system  of  equal  liberty  to  mankind,  and  waits with  open  arms  to  receive  the  emigrants  from  surrounding nations,  we  think  it  a  duty  we  owe  to  our  country,  to  promote, as  far  as  our  example  can  reach,  an  affectionate  coalition  of  the inhabitants  of  Ireland.  Animated  by  this  sentiment,  and  con-  | vinced  that  national  unanimity  is  the  basis  of  national  strength,  j this  regiment  affords  a  striking  instance  how  far  the  divine  spirit of  toleration  can  unite  men  of  all  religious  descriptions  in  one great  object,  the  suppport  of  a  free  constitution".*  " This  idea  of  general  union  is  said  to  have  originated  with the  rebel,  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone ;  but  the  merit  or  the  demerit of  its  origin  evidently  belonged  to  the  Volunteers,  whom  the King  himself,  and  parliament,  session  after  session,  thanked  for their  devoted  loyalty.  When  the  meeting  took  place  in  Dun-  I gannon,  in  which  the  Irish  people  were  told  the  western  world  : was  temptingly  holding  out  a  system  of  equal  liberty  to  mankind, "History  of  the  Proceedings  and  Debates  of  the  Volunteer  Delegates",  p.  13.   ' THE    VOLUNTEERS.  149 to  profit  by  which  these  Volunteers  declared  it  was  necessary  to j  unite  men  in  Ireland,  of  all  religious  persua-ions,  for  one  common object, — when  this  meeting  took  place,  Tone  was  a  loyal  sub- ject, and  Colonel  Robert  Stewart  was  the  chairman  of  a  meeting at  which  sedition  was  pretty  plainly  inculcated,  in  the  example held  forth  of  the  successful  struggle  for  American  independence. But,  in  the  course  of  the  extraordinary  events  of  this  world, Tone  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged  for  attempting  to  carry  into effect  the  project  implied  in  the  example  so  temptingly  held forth,  by  "  uniting  men  of  all  religious  descriptions";  and  Colonel Robert  Stewart  (subsequently  Lord  Castlereagh),  who  sanctioned with  his  p-esence  the  sedition  of  the  sword-in-hand  deliberators  on reform,  became  a  foremost  man  in  those  councils  which  consigned the  United  Irishmen  to  the  gallows.  The  meeting  I  speak  of was  not  an  obscure  county  meeting — it  was  not  what  could  be well  called  "a  farce'1:  the  aggregate  number  of  Volunteers  re- presented at  the  meeting  exceeded  the  regular  military  force  of the  whole  country.* The  fears  of  Lord  Charlemont,  and  the  mistaken  views  of Grattan,  in  holding  himself  aloof  from  the  proceedings  of  the  con- vention of  November,  1783,  and  depriving  the  question  of  reform of  his  powerful  support,  mainly  contributed  to  accomplish  the  ruin of  the  Volunteer  association.  In  thus  declining  to  advance  the cause  of  reform,  the  only  chance  was  abandoned  of  maintaining the  advantages  which  had  already  been  acquired.  It  would seem  at  this  period  as  if  his  great  mind  reposed  under  the  shadow of  the  laurels  that  had  been  planted  around  a  partial  victory,  and had  become  unconscious  of  the  danger  of  leaving  the  security  of the  independence  of  Ireland  to  an  unreformed  parliament,  under the  secret  supremacy  of  British  influence.  The  Volunteer  asso- ciation, in  fact,  became  a  gorgeous  pageant  of  national  chivalry, to  be  remembered  in  after  times  with  wonder  at  the  power  and the  pomp  it  exhibited,  and  surprise  at  the  insignificance  of  its results. But  Grattan,  from  the  time  he  imagined  he  had  gained  his great  object,  turned  away  his  face  from  the  ladder  by  which  "  he upward  climbed",  and  bid  the  Volunteers  farewell — "  the  plumed j  and  the  big  wars,  that  made  aiiibition  virtue";  "  his  occu- pation was  gone".  The  wooden  horse  of  national  independence was  received  into  Ireland,  and  the  hands  of  the  opposition  were held  forth  for  the  "  dona  ferentes"  of  the  British  ministry.  On the  5  th  of  March,  1782,  Grattan  stated  in  the  House  of  Commons — "  he  was  far  from  saying  that,  under  the  present  administration, *  ''History  of  the  Proceedings  and  Debates  of  the  Volunteer  Delegates"',  p.  9. 150  THE    VOLUNTEERS. independent  gentlemen  might  not  accept  of  places.  He  thought that  places  were  now  honourable,  and  in  taking  one  he  should  be the  friend  of  the  people  and  of  his  Majesty's  government.  He had  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant;  he  was  not acquainted  with  those  about  him ;  nay,  if  he  had  sent  for  him,  he was  persuaded  he  should  have  declined  the  honour  of  seeing  him. But,  as  he  believed  him  to  be  virtuous,  so  far  he  should  have  his free  support".* In  1785,  Grattan  discovered  that  the  independence  of  the  Irish parliament  was  but  in  name — that  he  had  been  deceived.  The acknowledgment  is  made  in  plain  and  affecting  terms,  in  his speech  on  the  12th  of  August,  1785,  on  the  question  of  the  final adjustment  of  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  coun- tries. To  effect  this  adjustment,  commissioners  had  been  ap- pointed in  Ireland  to  arrange  the  basis  with  the  British  govern- ment: eleven  resolutions  were  proposed  and  agreed  upon.  But when  these  propositions  were  brought  forward  by  Mr.  Pitt,  ten new  ones  were  found  appended  to  them — nominally  supple- mental, but  virtually  striking  at  the  very  root  of  the  indepen- dence of  the  Irish  parliament.  These  were  thrown  into  the heads  of  the  bill  introduced  into  the  Irish  House  of  Commons  by Mr.  Orde.  In  presenting  that  bill,  Mr.  Secretary  Orde  depre- cated the  idea  of  there  being  anything  derogatory  in  its  provi- sions to  the  constitution  of  the  country,  "  which  had  been",  he said,  "  repeatedly  and  recently  recognized  on  the  other  side,  and which,  after  so  many  full,  open,  and  decided  declarations  made by  Great  Britain,  there  does  not  remain  the  least  shadow  of  a reason  for  supposing  she  would  be  so  loild,  so  absurd  (I  want words  to  express  my  abhorrence  at  the  idea),  so  ungenerous  as to  attack".  Such  was  the  language  of  the  Irish  secretary  of  that day ;  and  yet,  even  then,  the  Union  was  meditated,  and,  on  the secretary's  showing,  the  conduct  of  the  British  minister  towards Ireland  was  wild,  absurd,  abhorrent,  and  ungenerous ;  and  yet there  are  people  who  wonder  at  the  events  which  followed.  The wonder  is,  that  any  one  should  be  affected  by  the  remembrance of  their  causes,  except  with  feelings  of  shame  or  sorrow. Mr.  Grattan  endeavoured  to  stimulate  the  House  to  one  great effort,  to  retrieve  the  error  which  left  the  independence  of  his country  at  the  mercy  of  an  administration  adverse  to  its  existence. There  is  a  thrilling  eloquence  in  the  alternate  appeals,  on  this occasion,  to  the  pride  and  fears  of  his  auditory,  and  he  can  have little  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of  a  noble  mind,  struggling ineffectually"  against  predominant  injustice,   who  can  read  this *  "Parliamentary  Debates".     Dublin,  1782. THE    VOLUNTEERS.  151 speech  unmoved :  one  can  trace  the  workings  of  the  mind  of  the deceived  patriot,  in  the  stirring  outbreaks  of  his  indignation,  and the  mournful  presentiment  of  impending  evils  breaking  through the  hopes  he  affected  to  feel,  in  order  (vain  effort !)  to  infuse  a new  spirit  of  liberty  into  the  breasts  of  his  auditors.  One  is  re- minded, even  by  the  change  of  circumstances  which  had  taken place,  of  the  triumph  of  the  father  of  his  country  in  1782, — the idol  of  a  nation's  gratitude,  the  object  of  a  senate's  homage: proud  of  his  success,  yet  ashamed  of  a  suspicion  of  a  jealous nation's  sincerity  in  her  acquiescence  in  it:  ardent  in  his  ex- pectations, strong  in  his  security,  and,  with  generous  confidence, disdaining  to  render  that  measure  "  humiliating  to  England",  by calling  for  the  renunciation  of  a  power  which  had  been  usurped. And,  within  the  short  period  of  three  years,  we  find  his  parlia- mentary influence  gone,  his  popularity  diminished ;  conscious,  at last,  of  having  been  overreached — deceived — by  one  party,  and well  aware  that  he  is  soon  to  be  deserted,  with  a  few  honourable exceptions,  by  his  own.  It  is  impossible,  without  sentiments  of mournful  interest  in  the  feelings  of  Grattan  on  that  occasion,  and of  more  than  public  sympathy  for  the  adversity  of  public  life,  to read  the  following  passages  from  the  speech  in  question : — "  Sir, — I  can  excuse  the  Right  Hon.  Member  who  moves  you  for leave  to  bring  in  the  bill.  He  is  an  Englishman  and  contends  for the  power  of  his  own  country,  while  I  am  contending  for  the liberty  of  mine.  His  comment  on  the  bill  is  of  little  moment;  a Lord  Lieutenant's  secretary  is  an  unsafe  commentator  on  an  Irish constitution.  The  Irish  parliament  is  now  called  on  to  determine, that  it  is  most  expedient  for  Ireland  to  have  no  trade  at  all  in these  parts.  This  is  not  a  surrender  of  the  political  rights  of  the constitution,  but  of  the  natural  rights  of  man ;  not  of  the  privi- leges of  parliament,  but  of  the  rights  of  nations.  Not  to  sail beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the  Straits  of  Magellan ;  an extensive  interdict !  Not  only  neutral  countries  excluded,  and God's  providence  shut  out  in  the  most  opulent  boundaries  of creation !  Other  interdicts  go  to  a  determinate  period  of  time, but  here  is  an  eternity  of  restraint.  This  resembles  rather  an  act of  God  than  an  act  of  the  legislature,  whether  you  measure  it  by immensity  of  space  or  infinity  of  duration,  and  has  nothing  human about  it  but  its  presumption.  To  proposals,  therefore,  so  little warranted  by  the  great  body  of  the  people  of  England,  so  little expected  by  the  people  of  Ireland,  so  heedlessly  suggested  by  the minister,  and  so  dangerous  to  whatever  is  dear  to  your  interest, honour,  and  freedom,  I  answer,  No  ! — I  plead  past  settlements, and  I  insist  on  the  faith  of  nations.  If,  three  years  after  the recovery  of  your  freedom,  you  bend,  your  children,  corrupted  by 152  THE    VOLUNTEERS. your  example,  will  surrender;  but  if  you  stand  firm  and  in- exorable, you  make  a  seasonable  impression  on  the  people  of England,  you  give  a  wholesome  example  to  your  children,  you afford  instruction  to  his  Majesty's  ministers,  and  make  (as  the  old English  did  in  the  case  of  their  charter)  the  attempt  on  Irish liberty  its  confirmation  and  establishment.  This  bill  goes  to  the extinction  of  the  most  invaluable  part  of  your  parliamentary capacity:  it  is  an  union,  an  incipient  and  a  creeping  union;  a virtual  union,  establishing  one  will  in  the  general  concerns  of  com- merce and  navigation^  and  reposing  that  will  in  the  parliament  of Great  Britain;  an  union,  ichere  our  parliament  preserves  its existence  after  it  has  lost  its  authority,  and  our  people  are  to  pay for  a  parliamentary  establishment,  without  any  proportion  of parliamentary  representation.  If  any  body  of  men  can  still  think that  the  Irish  constitution  is  incompatible  with  the  British  empire — a  doctrine  which  I  abjure,  as  sedition  against  the  connexion — but,  if  any  body  of  men  are  justified  in  thinking  that  the  Irish constitution  is  incompatible  with  the  British  empire,  perish  the Empire!  live  the  Constitution!  Reduced  by  this  false  dilemma to  take  a  stand,  my  second  wish  is  the  British  empire ;  my  first wish  and  bounden  duty  is  the  liberty  of  Ireland.  Whence  the American  war?  whence  the  Irish  restrictions?  whence  the  mis- construction, of  suffering  one  country  to  regulate  the  trade  and navigation  of  another,  and  of  instituting,  under  the  name  of general  protectress,  a  proud  domination,  which  sacrifices  the  in- terests of  the  whole  to  the  ambition  of  a  part,  and  arms  the  little passions  of  the  monopolist  with  the  sovereign  potency  of  an  im- perial parliament?  for  great  nations,  when  cursed  with  unnatural sway,  follow  but  their  nature  when  they  invade,  and  human  wis- dom has  not  better  provided  for  human  safety,  than  by  limiting the  principles  of  human  power.  We,  the  limited  trustees  of the  delegated  power,  born  for  a  particular  purpose,  limited  to  a particular  time,  and  bearing  an  inviolable  relationship  to  the people,  who  sent  us  to  parliament,  cannot  break  that  relation- ship, counteract  that  purpose,  surrender,  diminish,  or  derogate from  those  privileges  we  breathe  but  to  preserve.  I  rest  on authority  as  well  as  principle — the  authority  on  which  the Revolution  rests.  Mr.  Locke,  in  his  chapter  on  the  abolition of  government,  says,  that  the  transfer  of  legislative  power  is the  abolition  of  the  state,  not  a  transfer.  If  I  am  asked  how we  shall  use  the  powers  of  the  constitution  ? — I  say,  for  Ireland, with  due  regard  to  the  British  nation :  let  us  be  governed  by the  spirit  of  concord,  and  with  fidelity  to  the  connexion.  But when  the  mover  of  this  bill  asks  me  to  surrender  those  powers,  I am  astonished  at  him ;  I  have  neither  ears,  nor  eyes,  nor  func- tions to  make  such  a  sacrifice.      What !  that  free  trade  for  which THE    VOLUNTEERS.  153 we  strained  every  nerve  in  1779  !  that  free  constitution  for  which we  pledged  life  and  fortune  in  1782  !  Our  lives  at  the  service  of the  empire ;  but  our  liberties  !  No :  we  received  them  from  our '  Father  which  is  in  Heaven',  and  we  will  hand  them  down  to our  children.  In  the  mean  time,  we  will  guard  our  free  trade and  free  constitution  as  our  only  real  resources;  they  were  the Struggles  of  great  virtue,  the  result  of  much  perseverance,  and  our broad  base  of  public  action".* It  is  pretty  evident  that  the  Union,  "  the  incipient,  creeping Union",  was,  in  Grattan's  opinion,  a  project  to  be  resisted  to  the last  extremity:  that  the  British  government,  in  1785,  was  ini- mical to  the  independence  of  Ireland,  and  that  the  Irish  parlia- ment was  not  to  be  relied  on  for  its  defence. The  Volunteers  were  no  longer  able  or  inclined  to  maintain what  they  had  gained.  They  found  they  had  wasted  their strength  on  an  object  valueless  without  reform,  and  England  was now  in  a  condition  to  resist  that  measure. They  lingered  on  in  military  array,  occasionally  exhibiting,  on a  parade  day,  their  diminished  strength  to  their  enemies — all  that was  left  of  their  martial  character,  the  trappings  of  their  corps,  at an  annual  review.  In  1793,  an  order  from  government  to  dis- perse every  assemblage  of  that  body  by  military  force,  gave  the death-blow  to  the  Volunteers:  they  made  one  faint  effort  in Antrim  for  their  last  review ;  the  army  was  marched  out  of  Belfast to  prevent  its  taking  place,  and,  in  prudently  giving  up  the  re- view, the  great  body  of  the  citizen-soldiers  of  Ireland  gave  up the  ghost.  But  their  principles  were  not  then  doomed  to  perish ; they  rose  from  the  ashes  of  the  Volunteers,  and  the  course  of  re- production was  but  a  short  transition  from  languor  and  hopeless- ness to  activity  and  enthusiasm,  and,  with  a  perilous  excess  of energy  in  both,  their  principles  became  those  of  the  United Irishmen  in  1791.  In  noticing  the  error  which  led  to  the  in- security of  the  settlement  of  1782,  the  object  is  not  to  depreciate the  merits  of  a  man,  whose  glory  Ireland  cannot  afford  to  see disparaged.  The  highest  political  wisdom  is  not  always  com- bined with  the  most  exalted  genius ;  a  patriot  may  be  pure  in  his principles,  gifted  with  the  finest  fancy,  the  most  varied  powers  of wit  and  eloquence,  yet  he  may  not  be  a  man  on  whose  judgment alone  a  people  would  do  well  to  rest  the  adjustment  of  a  great national  question  at  a  momentous  crisis.  To  no  one  patriot  who ever  existed, — not  even  to  Washington  himself, — would  it  be prudent  for  a  nation,  in  political  warfare,  to  confide  alone  a question  on  which  its  destinies  depended. In  the  field,  weakness  prevails  in  the  multiplicity  of  counsel ; *  "  Parliamentary  Debates",  Dublin,  1785. 154  THE    VOLUNTEERS. but  the  strife  of  war  and  the  struggles  of  party  demand  very  dif- ferent combinations  of  mental  faculties:  in  the  former,  the aeutest  perception,  the  promptest  determination,  united  with  the coolest  judgment,  constitute  the  able  general ;  in  the  other,  the qualities  that  are  essential  to  great  statesmen,  are  those  which enable  them  warily  and  watchfully  to  approach  the  waves  of public  opinion,  and  to  penetrate  the  depths  of  political  cunning, to  discern  the  distant  dangers  that  beset  advantages  reluctantly conceded  or  fortunately  obtained,  and  to  look  well  to  the  in- trenchments  of  the  law  ■which  are  thrown  up  around  them.  The single  patriot,  throughout  the  turmoil  of  a  protracted  session,  is no  match  for  an  entire  administration ;  and  at  a  game  of  diplo- macy, Grattan,  it  must  be  admitted,  had  but  a  poor  chance  of success  with  such  skilful  dealers  and  accomplished  shufflers  as  his opponents. The  dissolution  of  the  Volunteers  was  supposed  to  be  atoned for  by  the  appointment  of  a  liberal  lord  lieutenant.  Lord  Fitz- William  came  over,  but  neither  reform  nor  Catholic  emancipation followed.  In  1795  the  Irish  opposition  began  to  retrieve  some of  its  errors,  and  to  regain  a  little  of  its  former  popularity ;  its hostility,  however,  to  "  the  incipient  creeping  Union"  had  de- termined Mr.  Pitt  to  direct  its  attention  to  other  objects,  and he  accordingly  amused  the  nation's  hopes  with  a  popular viceroy. The  coalition  with  the  Duke  of  Portland  made  it  necessary  to concede  to  that  nobleman  the  management  of  Irish  affairs.  His Grace  knew  Ireland,  and  was  an  enemy  to  her  wrongs ;  he  ob- tained Pitt's  consent  to  the  appointment  of  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  and, what  was  more  difficult,  he  obtained  that  noble  lord's.  During these  arrangements,  the  duke  was  in  communication  with  the leading  members  of  the  Irish  opposition;  many  of  them  were his  private  friends.  "  Mr.  Grattan,  Mr.  William  Ponsonby,  Mr. Denis  Bowes  Daly,  and  other  members  of  that  party,  were  there- fore invited  to  London ;  they  held  frequent  consultations  with the  Duke  of  Portland  and  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  at  which  Mr. Edmund  Burke  also  occasionally  assisted".* "  The  terms  of  the  Irish  members  were,  support  of  ministers, approbation  of  the  wTar,  and  assent  to  the  strong  measures  of government, — in  consideration  of  Catholic  emancipation,  the  dis- missal of  the  Beresford  faction  (and  for  all  reform),  the  preven- tion of  embezzlement,  and  improvement  in  the  mode  of  collecting and  administering  the  revenues  of  the  country.  Burke  alone had  the  boldness  to  demand,  not  only  emancipation,  but  the  iin- *  "Pieces  of  Irish  History",  79. THE    VOLUNTEERS.  155 mediate  promotion  of  Catholics,  in  some  ascertained  proportion, to  places  of  trust  in  the  state.  This,  however,  was  asked  from the  liberality  of  government,  not  demanded  from  its  justice;  and the  preceding  arrangements  were  communicated  to  the  British government,  as  the  terms  on  which  they  were  willing  to  take  a share  in  the  Irish  government".* Office  was  not  the  object  of  the  patriotism  of  a  Grattan,  but it  became  the  consequence  of  it;  and  ministerial  patriots  in  Ire- land seldom  have  long  preserved  or  deserved  the  people's  confi- dence. The  breath  of  administration  is  not  the  atmosphere  for their  sturdy  principles.  That  ominous  annunciation,  in  1782,^  at the  close  of  the  battle  for  parliamentary  independence,  "  I  think that  places  are  now  honourable,  and,  in  taking  one,  I  should  be the  friend  of  the  people  and  of  his  Majesty's  government",  was now  acted  on  under  an  administration  whose  leader  had  become hostile  to  reform. A  man  in  the  secrets  of  the  opposition  party  of  that  time — the head-piece  of  that  system  which  grew  out  of  the  insecurity  of Irish  independence  and  the  failure  of  the  measures  which  termi- nated in  the  recall  of  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  a  man  whose  word  was never  doubted  by  friend  or  foe — Thomas  Addis  Emmet — thus speaks  of  the  proposals  of  the  Irish  leaders  made  to  the  Duke  of Portland,  and  acquiesced  in  by  Mr.  Pitt:  "Mr.  Pitt  wished,  and indeed  tried,  to  obtain  that  some  of  these  measures  should  be  at least  delayed  in  the  execution  for  the  season ;  but  Mr.  Grattan and  his  friends  insisted  that  they  should  be  brought  forward  in  the very  first  session,  in  order  to  give  eclat  to  their  administration. In  the  propriety  of  this  demand  the  Duke  of  Portland  uniformly concurred ;  and  even  Mr.  Pitt  himself,  who  had  previously  kept  in the  background,  and  avoided  personal  communication  with  Lord Fitzwilliam's  friends,  was  present  at  some  of  the  later  interviews, and  certainly  did  not  prevent  its  being  believed  that  he  acquiesced in  those  demands,  with  which  it  was  impossible  to  doubt  his  be- ing unacquainted.     The  members  of  opposition  had  no  great  ex- perience   of  cabinets;  they   conceived  that  they  were  entering into    honourable    engagements,  in    which    everything    that  was allowed  to  be  understood,  was  equally  binding  with  whatever  was absolutely  expressed.    They  rested  satisfied  that  their  stipulations were  known  and  acceded  to;  they  neglected  to  get  thern  formally signed  and  ratified,  or  reduced  to  the  shape  of  instructions  from the  British  cabinet  to  the  viceroy ;  they  put  them  unsuspectingly in  their  pockets,  and  set  off  to  become  ministers  in  Ireland". The  power  of  Lord  Fitzwilliam  was  first  tried  on  the  dismissal *  "  Pieces  of  Irish  History",  p.  79. 156  THE    VOLUNTEERS. of  the  Beresford  faction  from  the  various  offices  which  that  grasp- ing family  had  so  long  contrived  to  monopolize. Pitt  expostulated  with  the  viceroy  on  the  dismissal  of  the Beresfords,  notwithstanding  the  institution  of  a  parliamentary  in- quiry at  this  period,  respecting  a  public  fraud,  in  which  a  subor- dinate clerk  of  the  revenue  was  put  forward  as  a  sort  of  vicarious victim  for  the  great  national  jobbers,  and  in  this  single  instance the  public  had  been  defrauded  of  £60,000.  "  Circumstances", on  the  same  authority,  "  raised  a  suspicion  that  the  transaction was  the  result  of  fraud  and  collusion,  accomplished  through  the influence  of  one  of  this  faction,  who  was  generally  believed  to  be a  partner  in  the  profits".*  The  family  of  the  person  referred,  to overran  every  department  in  the  state ;  but  in  the  revenue,  they monopolized  the  Custom-house  itself.  That  splendid  palace  for the  collection  of  customs  in  a  city  without  trade,  remains  a  last- ing monument  of  the  venality  of  parliament,  and  of  the  power  of a  faction,  which  a  British  minister  dared  not  to  oppose,  and  a  re- presentative of  royalty  was  not  permitted  to  offend.  "  To  ag- grandize this  faction,  a  commissioner  of  excise  was  protected  by parliament  with  all  the  jealous  care  of  royalty  itself;  nay,  so sacred  was  the  person  of  the  meanest  officer  under  this  family  de- partment, that  a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  house  by  Mr.  Secre- tary Orde,  12th  August,  1785,  which  declared  it  felony  to  strike an  exciseman ;  but,  even  before  that  bill,  the  Chief  Baron  Burgh had  asked  the  house  "  were  they  prepared  to  give  to  the  dipping- rule  what  they  should  refuse  to  the  sceptre  ?" Such  was  the  power  of  a  faction  which  Mr.  Pitt  thought  fit  to uphold  in  Ireland.  It  is  impossible  to  give  any  explanation  of his  conduct  creditable  to  his  character  as  a  statesman.  The  fac- tion was  not  essential  to  his  policy  with  regard  to  the  Union,  for the  best  of  reasons — some  of  its  leaders  were  hostile  to  it ;  they knew  their  reism  must  terminate  with  the  existence  of  an  Irish parliament. The  following  extracts  from  the  two  celebrated  letters  of  Lord Fitzwilliam  to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  published  in  1795,  set  the  con- duct of  Mr.  Pitt  on  this  question  in  the  plainest  light: — "  I  made proposals",  he  says,  "  to  the  British  minister  for  the  removal  of the  attorney  and  solicitor-generals  (Messrs.  Wolfe  and  Toler) ; Mr.  Pitt  and  the  Duke  of  Portland  knew  perfectly  well  that  the men  whom  I  found  possessed  of  these  ministerial  offices,  were  not the  men  in  whom  I  meant  to  confide  in  the  arduous  measures  I  had to  undertake.  Was  I,  then,  to  have  two  sets  of  men — one  possess- ing confidence  without  office ;  the  other,  office  without  confidence? *  "  Pieces  of  Irish  History",  107. THE    VOLUNTEERS.  157 "  And  now  for  the  grand  question  about  Mr.  Beresford : — In  a  letter  of  mine  to  Mr.  Pitt  on  this  subject,  I  reminded  him of  a  conversation  in  which  I  had  expressed  to  him  (in  answer  to the  question  put  to  him  by  me)  my  apprehension  that  it  would be  necessary  to  remove  that  gentleman,  and  that  he  did  not  offer the  slightest  objection,  or  say  a  single  word  in  favour  of  Mr. Beresford.  This  alone  would  have  made  me  suppose  that  I should  be  exempt  from  every  imputation  of  breach  of  agreement, if  I  determined  to  remove  him ;  but  when,  on  my  arrival  here,  I found  all  those  apprehensions  of  his  dangerous  power,  which  Mr. Pitt  admits  I  had  often  represented  to  him,  were  fully  justified, when  he  was  Jilting  a  situation  greater  than  that  of  Lord  Lieu- tenant, and  when  I  clearly  saw  that  if  I  had  connected  myself with  him,  it  would  have  been  connecting  myself  with  a  person under  universal  heavy  suspicions,  and  subjecting  my  government to  all  the  opprobrium  and  unpopularity  attendant  upon  his  mal- administration, I  determined,  while  I  meant  to  curtail  him  of  his power,  and  to  show  to  the  nation  that  he  did  not  belong  to  my administration,  to  let  him  remain,  in  point  of  income,  as  well  to the  full  as  he  had  ever  been.  I  did  not  touch,  and  he  knew  I had  determined  not  to  touch,  a  hair  of  the  head  of  any  of  his family  or  friends,  and  they  are  still  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  more emolument  than  xoas  ever  accumidated  in  any  country  upon  any one  family. "  You  will  recollect  that  the  measure  of  emancipation  to  the Catholics  was  originally  the  measure  of  Mr.  Pitt  and  the  West- moreland administration.  The  (previous)  declarations,  both  of Mr.  Pitt  and  Mr.  Dundas,  on  this  subject,  are  well  known  in  this country  and  often  quoted :  '  they  would  not  risk  a  rebellion  in Ireland  on  such  a  question'.  But  what  they  would  not  risk  under Lord  Westmoreland's  administration,  they  are  not  afraid  to  risk under  mine. "  But  after  all,  why  did  not  Mr.  Pitt  warn  me  of  those  horrid consequences  (of  emancipation)  previous  to  my  departure  for Ireland,  if  he  really  felt  them?  Why  was  the  subject  left  open for  my  judgment  and  discretion?  I  trust  that  the  evil  genius  of England  will  not  so  far  infatuate  its  ministers,  as  to  induce  them to  wait  for  more  decisive  corroboration  of  the  faithfulness  and honesty  with  which  I  have  warned  them  of  the  danger  of  per- sisting in  their  fatal  change  of  opinion  on  this  momentous question. "  The  measure  of  arranging  the  treasury  bench,  the  bare  out- line, or  rather  the  principle,  of  which  has  been  stated  in  the  house preparatory  to  its  introduction,  was  fully  agreed  on  between  Sir John  Parnell  and  Mr.  Pitt. 158  THE    VOLUNTEERS. "  Are  those  the  measures  on  which  I  am  to  be  accused,  when the  House  of  Commons  of  Ireland  had  unanimously  granted  me the  largest  supplies  that  have  ever  been  demanded,  when  I  laid  a foundation  for  increasing  the  established  force  of  the  country,  and procured  a  vote  of  £200,000  towards  the  general  defence  of  the empire? "  The  Catholic  question  entered  for  nothing  into  the  cause  of my  recall.  From  the  very  beginning,  as  well  as  in  the  whole proceedings  of  that  fatal  business,  for  such  I  fear  I  must  call  it, I  acted  in  perfect  conformity  with  the  original  outline  settled between  me  and  his  Majesty's  ministers  previous  to  my  de- parture from  London.  From  a  full  consideration  of  the  real merits  of  the  case,  as  well  as  from  every  information  I  had  been able  to  collect  of  the  state  and  temper  of  Ireland,  from  the  year 1793,  I  was  decidedly  of  opinion  that  not  only  sound  policy,  but justice,  required  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  work  which was  left  imperfect  at  that  period  ought  to  be  completed,  and  the Catholics  relieved  from  every  remaining  disqualification.  In this  opinion,  the  Duke  of  Portland  uniformly  concurred  with me,  and  when  the  question  came  under  discussion,  previous  to my  departure  from  Ireland,  I  found  the  cabinet,  with  Mr.  Pitt at  their  head,  strongly  impressed  with  the  same  opinion.  Had  I found  it  otherwise,  I  never  would  have  undertaken  the  govern- ment. "  As  early  as  the  8th  January  last,  I  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of State  on  this  subject;  /  told  him  that  I  trembled  about  the Catholics. "  On  the  9th  February,  that  gentleman  (Mr.  Pitt)  wrote  to  me to  expostulate  on  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  Beresford,  and  on  the  nego- ciations  with  Mr.  Wolfe  and  Mr.  Toler.  By  the  same  mail,  and in  a  letter  dated  the  8  th  instant,  the  very  day  before  Mr.  Pitt had  written  to  me,  came  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  State, touching  at  length  on  the  important  subject  (Catholic  emancipa- tion), and  bringing  it  for  the  first  time  into  play  as  a  question of  any  doubt  or  difficulty  with  the  British  cabinet. "  Then  for  the  first  time,  it  appears  to  have  been  discovered that  the  deferring  it  (the  question  of  emancipation)  would  not be  merely  an  act  of  expediency,  or  '  a  thing  to  be  desired  for  the present',  but  '  the  means  of  doing  a  greater  service  to  the  British Empire  than  it  has  been  capable  of  receiving  since  the  Revolution, or  at  least  since  the  Union  (with  Scotland). "  In  my  answer  to  Mr.  Pitt,  a  copy  of  which  I  send  you,  and which  I  wrote  the  very  night  I  received  his  letter,  1  entered fully  into  the  subject  of  my  dismissals;  I  stated,  as  you  will  see, my  reasons  for  having  determined  on  them,  as  well  as  for  adhe- THE    VOLUNTEERS.  159 ring  to  them  when  once  resolved  on.  I  then  put  it  to  himself  to determine  for  me  and  the  efficacy  of  my  government;  I  left  him to  make  choice  between  Mr.  Beresford  and  me. "  The  same  night  I  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Portland.  I  testified my  surprise,  after  such  an  interval  of  time,  and  after  the  various details  which  I  had  transmitted  to  him,  advising  him  of  the hourly  increasing  necessity  of  bringing  forward  the  Catholic  ques- tion, and  the  impolicy  and  danger  of  even  hesitating  about  it.  I should  now  be  pressed  for  the  first  time  to  defer  the  question  till some  future  occasion.  /  refused  to  be  the  person  to  run  the  risk  of such  a  determination.  I  refused  to  be  the  person  to  raise  a  flame in  the  country  that  nothing  short  of  arms  would  be  able  to  keep  down. "  Had  Mr.  Beresford  never  been  dismissed,  we  should  never have  heard  of  them  (Mr.  Pitt's  objections  to  emancipation  at  that time),  and  I  should  have  remained.  But  it  will  be  said,  in  prov- ing this  point  so  strongly,  I  still  leave  myself  open  to  other  accu- sations which  affect  my  character,  when  I  avow  the  earnestness with  which  I  had  determined  to  pull  down  the  Beresfords. Charged  with  the  government  of  a  distracted  and  discontented country,  am  I  alone  to  be  fettered  and  restrained  in  the  choice  of the  persons  by  whom  I  am  to  be  assisted? — and  rather  than  indulge me  in  that  single  point, — even  considering  it  in  the  light  of  indul- gence,— must  the  people  of  England  boldly  face,  1  had  almost  said, the  certainty  of  driving  this  kingdom  into  a  rebellion,  and  open another  breach  for  ruin  and  destruction  to  break  in  upon  usf* Volumes  have  been  written  on  the  events  that  grew  out  of  the recall  of  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  but  here  is  the  germ  of  them  all.  Few of  those  who  are  now  aware  of  the  existence  of  these  letters, have  leisure  to  consult  them ;  and  those  who  are  desirous  to  know the  true  cause  of  the  rebellion  of  1798,  will  not  find  fault  with the  length  of  these  quotations.  These  facts  are  to  be  gathered from  them : — that  the  Union  had  been  determined  on  at  this period ;  that  the  peace  of  Ireland  was  to  be  sacrificed  for  its attainment,  and  that  attainment  promoted  by  the  loss  of  influence on  the  part  of  the  Irish  opposition,  and  the  confirmed  power  of the  Beresford  oligarchy,  in  order  to  exasperate  the  country — in one  word,  to  goad  the  people  into  a  rebellion. Whether  that  attainment  of  a  union  was  cheaply  effected,  or whether  the  beneficial  effects  expected  from  it  have  compensated for  the  terrible  consequences  of  a  civil  war,  the  progress  of  events will  tell,  and  not  opinions  founded  on  theories,  or  formed  to  sup- port them. But  all  the  experience  the  world  can  afford,  of  subsequent  ad- *  "  Letters  of  a  Venerated  Nobleman,  recently  retired  from  this  country,  to  the Earl  of  Carlisle,  explaining  the  cause  of  that  event".     Dublin,  17SJ5. 1G0   •  THE    BOROUGH    PARLIAMENT. vantages  arising  from  civil  commotion,  will  hardly  justify  sub- scription to  the  doctrine,  that  political  foresight  can  ever  so  far determine  the  aspect  of  future  circumstances,  dependent  as  they are  on  the  mutability  of  all  human  governance,  and  influenced  by every  tide  in  the  affairs  of  empire,  as  to  render  distant  good  and probable  advantages,  benefits  to  be  sought  after  or  secured  by  a wise  statesman,  at  the  cost  of  present  evil,  and  a  certain  prospect of  civil  war. Out  of  evil,  good  may  no  doubt  come.  The  good  effects  of the  legislative  union  may  yet  predominate  over  the  evils  that attended  its  attainment.  The  calamities  ol  that  period  may  be only  remembered  as  curious  historical  facts ;  but  the  author  of those  evils,  Mr.  William  Pitt,  can  find  no  justification  in  those results.  In  putting  a  people  to  the  sword,  every  drop  of  blood that  was  shed  in  that  rebellion  must  be  laid  to  his  account. And  in  Ireland,  at  all  events,  his  barbarous  policy  can  be  re- membered only  to  be  abhorred.* CHAPTER  VI. "  THE  BOROUGH  PARLIAMENT" ITS  FACTIONS  AND  ITS  FOES,  ITS  INTOLERANCE AND    CORRUPTION,    DEPRIVED    IT    OF    ALL    POPULAR    SUPPORT. The  preceding  pages  were  intended  to  show  the  vast  influence over  the  mind  of  the  nation  and  its  rulers,  which  the  Volunteer association  at  one  period  exerted ;  the  failure  of  the  only  measure effected  by  it,  namely,  the  independence  of  the  Irish  parliament, and  the  necessity  for  reform,  more  than  ever  felt  at  the  time  of  its suppression.  The  society  of  the  United  Irishmen  was  formed with  a  view  of  accomplishing  those  objects  which  it  had  failed to  carry  into  effect.  The  written  and  spoken  sentiments  of  the leaders  of  the  opposition  of  that  period,  and  the  proceedings  of *  On  the  motion  for  public  honours  to  the  remains  of  William  Pitt,  on  the grounds  of  his  excellence  as  a  statesman,  Mr.  Wyndham  said  :  "  With  the  fullest acknowledgment,  both  of  the  virtues  and  the  talents  of  the  eminent  man  in  ques- tion, I  do  not  think,  from  whatever  cause  it  has  proceeded,  that  his  life  has  been beneficial  to  his  country".  Fox,  on  the  same  question,  said  :  "I  cannot  consent to  confer  public  honours,  on  the  ground  of  his  being  an  excellent  statesman,  on the  man  who,  in  my  opinion,  was  the  sole,  certainly  the  chief,  supporter  of  a  sys- tem, which  I  had  been  early  taught  to  consider  as  a  bad  one".  In  1785,  Doctor  Jebb declared  that,  politically  speaking,  Pitt  was  the  worst  man  living,  and  would  go greater  lengths  to  destroy  liberty  than  any  minister  ever  did  before  him. There  is  some  exaggeration  in  this  assertion.  There  were  two  men  then  living, the  sphere  of  whose  action  was  beyond  the  range  of  Jebb's  observation ;  and  there were  no  lengths  they  would  not  have  gone,  not  only  to  destroy  liberty,  but  to bring  its  advocates,  and  their  political  opponents,  to  destruction  ;  these  men  were Lords  Castlereagh  and  Clare. i pitt's  commercial  proposition^*,    *£* Ithe  various  popular  clubs  from  1778  to  1795,  had  a  powerful  in- fluence on  the  public  mind.  To  this  influence,  fanned  by  the breath  of  Pitt,  and  kindled  into  flame  by  the  eloquence  of  the reformers  of  that  day,  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen  owed the  early  impressions  they  received  of  the  rotten  state  of  the  re- presentation, and  the  hopelessness  of  every  attempt  in  parliament jfor  its  restoration. Independently  of  the  example  of  France,  which,  at  revolu- tionary periods,  has  always  exerted  a  great  influence  over  the [popular  mind  in  Great  Britain,  the  question  of  reform  began ■deeply  to  engage  public  attention  in  that  country ;  and  the  hos- tility of  Mr.  Pitt,  who  now  hated  that  question  and  its  advo- cates with  all  the  rancour  of  an  apostate,  tended  to  exasperate ithe  public,  and  call  forth  the  various  clubs,  which  gave  vent  to ithe  public  discontent.  In  Ireland  the  importance  of  the  question jof  reform  was  enhanced  by  the  great  dangers  apprehended  for Ithe  national  independence,  and  the  slow  and  stealthy,  but  steady, Iprogress  of  "  the  creeping  and  incipient  Union ",  in  every measure  of  the  British  minister  in  reference  to  Ireland. The  question  that  especially  disclosed  the  views  of  the  British minister  with  respect  to  the  final  nature  of  the  settlement  of  the subject  of  Irish  independence,  was  that  which  goes  under  the name  of  the  Irish  propositions,  and  which,  only  three  years  after the  period  of  the  supposed  settlement  of  that  question,  left  no doubt  on  the  minds  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  that  the  British government  meant  not  to  maintain  the  compact  into  which  they had  entered. The  eleven  propositions  were  introduced  into  the  Irish  parlia- ment by  Mr.  Ode,  on  the  7th  February,  1785,  and  on  the  22nd February,  by  Mr.  Pitt  in  England.  He  concluded  his  speech with  bringing  forward  a  general  resolution,  declaring  "  that  it was  highly  important  to  the  general  interests  of  the  empire,  that the  commercial  intercourse  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland should  be  finally  adjusted,  and  engaging  that  Ireland,  should  be admitted  to  a  permanent  and  irrevocable  participation  of  the commercial  advantages  of  this  country,  when  her  parliament should  permanently  and  irrevocably  secure  an  aid  out  of  the surplus  of  the  hereditary  revenue  of  that  kingdom  towards  de- fraying the  expense  of  protecting  the  empire  in  time  of  peace". In  a  subsequent  debate,  Mr.  Pitt  declared  "that  among  all  the objects  of  his  political  life,  this  was,  in  his  opinion,  the  most  im- portant in  which  he  had  ever  engaged,  nor  did  he  imagine  he should  ever  meet  another  that  could  call  forth  all  his.  public feelings,  and  rouse  every  exertion  of  his  heart,  in  so  forcible  a manner  as  the  present  had  done.  In  the  progress  of  this  measure vol.  i.  12 1(32  FLAW    IN    TIIE    TITLE the  house  was  astonished  with  an  addition  of  sixteen  new  propoJi sitions  to  the  original  eleven:  they  were  pretended  by  Mr.  PitC to  be  explanatory,  but  were  wholly  distinct,  irrelevant,  and  con-i tradictory  to  the  first.  It  was  evident  to  the  whole  of  the  house that  the  measure  was  an  insidious  plan  to  regain  the  dependence of  the  Irish  parliament.  Mr.  Sheridan  said,  that  "Ireland- newly  escaped  from  harsh  trammels  and  severe  discipline,  wa treated  like  a  high-mettled  horse,  hard  to  catch ;  and  the  Irish secretary  was  sent  back  to  the  field  to  soothe  and  coax  him,  with a  sieve  of  provender  in  one  hand,  and  a  bridle  in  the  other"] Fox  was  so  astonished  at  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Pitt  on  this  occa- sion, that  he  declared  "  in  the  personal  and  political  character  0! the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  there  were  many  qualities  and habits  which  had  often  surprised  him,  and  which  he  believed confounded  the  speculation  of  every  man  who  had  much  con sidered  or  analyzed  his  disposition.  But  his  conduct  on  thai night  had  reduced  all  that  was  unaccountable,  incoherent,  and contradictory  in  his  character  in  times  past,  to  a  mere  nothing He  shone  out  in  a  new  light,  surpassing  even  himself,  and leaving  his  hearers  wrapt  in  amazement,  uncertain  whether  most to  wonder  at  the  extraordinary  speech  they  had  heard,  or  the. frontless  confidence  with  which  that  speech  had  been  delivered".  [ He  accused  him,  from  the  first  moment  the  system  had  been! proposed,  of  one  continued  course  of  "  tricks,  subterfuges,  and: tergiversations,  uniform  alone  in  contradiction  and  inconsistencies"! "  That  he  had  played  a  double  game  with  England,  and  a  double: game  with  Ireland,  and  sought  to  juggle  both  nations,  by  a  train of  unparallelled  subtlety".  He  concluded  by  saying,  "  He  woula not  barter  English  commerce  for  Irish  slavery". The  propositions  were  sent  up  to  the  House  of  Lords ;  here  it was  curious  to  see  the  question  treated,  not  as  a  question  of  com-j merce,  but  as  a  proposal  for  a  future  union.  The  lords  sawi through  the  insidious  project,  and  it  was  openly  canvassed.  Lord! Lansdowne  treated  "  the  idea  of  an  union  as  a  thing  that  was. impracticable.  High-minded  and  jealous  as  were  the  people  of! Ireland,  we  must  first  learn  whether  they  will  consent  to  give  upi their  distinct  empire,  their  parliament,  and  all  the  honours  whichi belonged  to  them".  In  the  Irish  parliament,  the  measures  were no  less  freely  canvassed,  and  the  debate  terminated  in  the  rejec- tion of  the  propositions, — an  offence  which  Pitt  never  forgot  or forgave  to  Ireland. The  conduct  of  the  Irish  parliament  in  reference  to  the  regency; question  tended  a  good  deal  to  precipitate  events,  and  to  render, the  course  on  which  the  English  minister  had  already  determined,, one  to  be  pursued  more   speedily  and  recklessly  than  it  might OF    IRISH    INDEPENDENCE.  163 otherwise  have  been  attempted.  On  this  subject  two  motions were  made  in  the  Irish  Commons;  one  by  Gratlan,  the  other  by- Mr.  Conolly.  By  the  first,  the  royal  incapacity  was  declared ; and  by  the  second,  it  was  proposed  to  present  an  address  to  the Prince  of  Wales,  requesting  him  to  take  upon  himself  the  govern- ment, with  its  various  powers,  jurisdictions,  and  prerogatives. This  motion  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Fitzgibbon:  he  said,  "  The  fact was,  that  the  government  of  Ireland,  under  its  present  constitu- tion, could  never  go  on,  unless  they  followed  Great  Britain  impli- citly in  all  regulations  of  imperial  policy".  "  And  he  would  pre- dict, that  such  unadvised  rashness  must  ultimately  lead  to  a  legis- lative union  with  England,  a  measure  which  he  deprecated,  but which  was  more  surely  prepared  by  such  violence  than  if  all  the ?luices  of  corruption  were  opened  together,  and  poured  in  one overwhelming  torrent  upon  the  country's  representatives".  Both motions,  however,  were  carried  in  the  Commons,  and  likewise  in the  House  of  Lords.  The  viceroy  refused  to  transmit  their  ad- dress. Lord  Clare  must  have  forgotten  his  deprecation  of  the Union,  when,  five  years  subsequently,  he  declared  in  his  speech (in  favour  of  the  Union,  that  for  the  last  six  or  seven  years,  he had  been  pressing  this  measure  on  the  attention  of  the  British minister. There  can  be  no  question  that  Pitt's  defeat  in  Ireland,  on  the reat  question  of  the  commercial  propositions,  and  the  opposition his  views  on  the  regency  question,  had  exasperated  the British  minister  against  Ireland:  in  the  words  of  the  editor  of  the Annual  Register  for  1790,  "the  defeat  of  his  commercial  pro- positions, in  the  year  1785,  had  left  an  impression  of  resentment against  the  nation  upon  the  mind  of  the  minister".  In  1787,  De Lolme,  the  author  of  the  work  on  the  Constitution  of  Eng- land, published  an  essay,  containing  a  few  strictures  on  the lunion  of  Scotland  with  England,  and  on  the  situation  of  Ireland. The  object  of  the  work  is  to  recommend  an  incorporating  union between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. In  the  same  year,  a  Mr.  Williams  published  a  pamphlet,  en- titled, An  Union  of  England  and  Ireland  proved  to  be  practi- cable, and  equally  beneficial  to  both  kingdoms. The  question  of  the  Union  was  cautiously  mooted  in  1793,  as jwill  be  seen  by  the  debate  on  the  bill  for  "  prevention  of  traitorous correspondence  with  the  enemy".  Mr.  Fox  said  that  this  bill necessarily  included  the  people  of  Ireland,  who  were  certainly the  subjects  of  the  king;  and  consequently,  it  went  to  legis- late for  Ireland,  by  making  that  treason  in  an  Irishman,  by an  English  act  of  parliament,  which  was  not  treason  by  an Irish  act.     Mr.  Pitt  said:  "He  felt  this  subject  to  be  delicate, a to 164  THE    UNION    MEDITATED    IN    1790. but  lie  thought  he  might  venture  to  go  so  far  as  to  say,  that  if; England  made  an  act  treason  in  all  his  Majesty's  subjects,  which  I act  was  not  such  by  any  law  of  Ireland,  if  such  act  was  done  in  ; Ireland  by  an  Irishman,  who  should  afterwards  come  into  Eng-  j land,  he  mi  "lit  be  tried  and  executed  lor  it";  and  vice  versa  with  ! an  Englishman  in  Ireland. Mr.  Fox  called  this  the  most  extravagant  doctrine  he  had  ever  i heard. Several  members  spoke   upon  the  case  when  applied  to  Ire- ! land,  and  lamented  that  so  delicate  a  subject  should  have   been discussed. The  Annual  Register,  in  1790,  plainly  stated  the  views  enter- tained in  England  of  the  independence  of  the  Irish  parliament. "  To  whatever  independence",  says  the  editor,  "  Ireland  may advance  her  claim,  she  is,  in  reality,  nothing  more  than  the  pro- vince  and  servant  of  England.  She  is  not  the  ally  of  the  British government,  but,  on  the  contrary,  acknowledges  our  king  for  her sovereign ;  that  is,  if  we  take  into  account  the  nature  of  the English  constitution,  acknowledges  her  dignities,  her  trusts,  and her  revenues  to  be  in  the  gift  of  an  administration  that  depends on  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain:  she  may,  in  a  few  cases,  or in  some  emphatical  and  singular  instance,  assert  her  prerogative, ' and  pursue  her  own  interests  in  preference  to  ours ;  but  the  daily routine  of  her  affairs,  and  the  ordinary  course  of  her  administra-  > tion,  will  be  modelled  in  conformity  to  the  interests,  the  preju-  j dices,  and  the  jealousies  of  the  country  that  is  the  seat  of  empire- She  will  not  afford  a  theatre  that  will  appear  wide  enough  for the  ardour  of  patriotism  or  the  excursiveness  of  ambition" — Am Register,  1790,  p.  33. In  England  the  democratic  clubs  began  to  be  formed  in  1 780, and  the  greater  number  of  them  were  suffered  to  subside  without i any  prosecution.     They  again  revived  in  1794,  and  it  was  deter- ; mined  to  put  down  democracy  and  the  advocacy  of  parliamentary reform,  by  bringing  the  reformers  to  trial  as  traitors.     In   1792,  ' Pitt  pledged  himself  that  a  traitorous  "  conspiracy  did  actually  ! exist" ;  and  a  most  insidious   attempt  to  involve  the  opposition members  in  it  was  made,  but  quashed  by  the  spirited  conduct  of ; some  of  them  on  that  occasion. In  1794,  Pitt  took  up  his  pledge  of  the  conspiracy  of  1792. One  of  the  reports  on  those  societies  states  that  the  number  of  ; conspirators  amounted  to  20,000  persons.  The  arms  found  for  ! them  consisted  of  eighteen  muskets,  ten  battle-axes,  and  twenty rough  blades,  and  the  general  fund  for  the  insurrection  amounted to  £9  sterling.  Mr.  Pitt,  on  bringing  the  conduct  of  these  clubs before  parliament,  depicted  this  horrible  conspiracy  in  the  most pitt's  efforts  to  implicate  the  whigs.  165 alarming  colours — "  that  arms  had  not  only  been  actually  pro- cured,  but  distributed  by  these  societies",  as  the  report  states; and  "  that  a  conspiracy  so  formidable  had  never  yet  existed". The  twelve  honest  men  on  their  oaths,  at  the  trials  of  these  con- jspirators  a  short  time  subsequently,  virtually  decided  that  no  such conspiracy  existed.     In  the  beginning  of  1793,   the  ministerial prints,  and  even  ministers  themselves,  made  allusions  on  various occasions  to  plots  and  conspiracies,  "  the  obvious  intent  of  which was,  indirectly  to  implicate  the  Whig  members  in  the  obnoxious charge"  (see  Annual  Register,   1793).     Under   the   auspices  of I  government,   a  society  had  been  formed,  generally  known  under j  the  name  of  Mr.  Reeve's  association,  to  procure  information  against !  seditious  societies,  and  secret  intelligence  which  might  serve  to ;  bring  persons  of  suspected  loyalty  before  the  proper  tribunal.     In ,  Plowden's    History    of  the   Last   Twenty    Months  (p.  225),   he j  remarks:  "The  spirit  of  espionage  and  information  first  engen- dered by  the  proclamation,  and  since   openly  fostered  by  Mr. Reeve's  association,  and  certainly  not  discountenanced  by  govern- ment, had  now  grown  into  such  strength  as  to  produce  conse- quences of  the  most  alarming  nature.     The  agitated  minds  of the  public  were  daily  more  and  more  inflamed  by  the  most  ter- rifying accounts  of  domestic  insurrections  and  deep-laid  plans  to destroy  the  constitution.     The  dwindled  phalanx  of  opposition was  so  openly,  so  grossly,  and  so  confidently  abused  and  calum- niated, that  to  many  their  very  names  were  synonymous  with  the term  of  traitor  and  enemy,  even  in  the  very  houses  of  parliament : j  prejudices,  alarms,  and  fears  had  operated  upon  many;  a  convic- tion that  to  disapprove  of  the  war  against  France  was  treason  to England;  that  to  inquire  into  the  grounds  of  public  measures had  almost  ceased  to  be  the  duty  of  a  senator ;  and  to  divide  with opposition  was  little  short  of  rallying  under  the  standard  of  re- bellion". If  the  people  pushed  their  efforts  for  reform  to  the  length  of resistance  to  authority,  they  were  told  by  the  Duke  of  Norfolk, in  17 76,  that  "  the  doctrine  of  resistance  was  a  principle  of  the constitution".  Lord  Lauderdale  said,  "  that  times  and  circum- stances might  be  such  as  to  make  resistance  become  a  duty". Lord  Erskine,  on  the  same  occasion,  in  his  place  in  parliament, declared,  "  he  would  say  again,  and  again  it  was  the  right  of  the people  to  resist  that  government  which  exercised  tyranny".  Mr. Pitt,  in  178^,  asserted  that  "we  lost  America  by  the  corruption of  an  unreformed  parliament,  and  we  should  never  have  a  wise and  honourable  administration,  be  freed  from  the  evils  of  unne- cessary wars,  nor  the  fatal  effects  of  the  funding  system,  till  a radical  reform  «was  obtained".     The  Duke  of  Richmond's  plan  of k 166  pitt's  debut  as  a  reformer reform  embraced  universal  suffrage  and  annual  parliaments:  this plan  he  proposed  to  Colonel  Sharman,  at  the  head  of  an  ai'my  ini military  array,  namely,  the  Volunteers  of  Ireland.     His  Grace! distinctly  declared,  "that  he  had  no  hopes  of  reform  from  the; House  of  Commons — that  reform  must  come   from  the   people! themselves".     Burke  said,  "  that  no  remedy  for  the  distemper  of parliament  could  be  expected  to  be  begun  in  parliament";  that1 "  the  value,  spirit,  and  essence  of  the  House  of  Commons  consists in  its  being  the  express  image  of  the  feelings  of  the  nation" ;  and  \  j elsewhere — "by  this  want  of  sympathy  with  the  people,  they'l would  cease  to  be  a  House  of  Commons".     Mr.  Pitt  again,  in 1785,   in    one    of  his    last    speeches    in    favour    of  reform,    de- clared that,  "  without  a  parliamentary  reform,  the  liberty  of  the nation  could  not  be  preserved".     Fitzgibbon  (afterwards  Lord Clare),  in  1782,   said,  in  his  place  in  parliament,  that  "  as  the nation  was  then  committed  to  obtain  a  restoration  of  their  rights, it  behoved  every  man  to  stand  firm".     It  would   be  tedious  to  jl adduce  further  instances  of  the  mode  in  which  the  people's  pas- sions  were   inflamed,   their  hopes  in  the   efficacy  of  legitimate means  for  the  reformation  of  abuses  dispelled,  and  their  apprehen-  i sions  of  resistance  removed,  by  constantly  pointing  it  out  as  the only  remedy  for  the  evils  of  the  nation. "  William  Pitt  of  1782",  said  Mr.  Grey,  "  the  reformer  of  that day,  was  William  Pitt  the  prosecutor  and  persecutor  of  reformers  ! in  1794.  He,  who  thought  fit  to  inflame  the  passions  of  the people,  and  to  instigate  them  to  contempt  for  the  House  of  Com; mons  at  that  time,  now  would  not  suffer  the  people  to  judge  of  I their  own  dearest  rights  and  interests,  and  persecuted,  with  the real  bitterness  of  an  apostate,  his  own  partner  in  the  question  of parliamentary  reform". The  7th  of  May,  1782,  Pitt  made  his  first  motion  in  further- ance of  reform,  for  a  committee  of  inquiry,  which  was  lost  by twenty  votes.  He  renewed  the  motion  in  1783,  and  it  was  lost by  forty-four  votes.  In  1785  he  brought  forward  a  specific  plan of  reform  for  adoption,  and  it  was  lost  by  thirty-four  votes.  A part  of  his  first  plan  was,  the  application  of  a  million  of  money to  the  purchase  of  the  rotten  boroughs.  In  1794  he  had  thrown off  the  domino  of  a  reformer ;  he  declared  on  oath,  at  the  trial of  John  Home  Tooke,  that  he  recollected  no  particulars  of  the proceedings  at  a  meeting  of  the  reformers  of  signal  interest, which  he  attended  the  16th  May,  1782.  He  could  not  tell  if Tooke  was  present;  he  could  not  say  if  delegates  from  cities  and counties  attended,  but  he  believed  not ;  but,  on  cross-examina- tion, he  admitted  some  of  them  might  be  deputies.  One  of  the charges,  be  it  remembered,   against  Tooke,  was  that  of  attending AND    A    DE1M0CRAT.  167 i Imeetings  where  the  members  were  delegated  by  other  bodies. major  Cartwright,  in  his  Constitutional  Defence  of  England, bpeaking  of  Pitt's  speech  on  the  7th  of  May,  1782,  says:  "These livery  words  were  made  the  subject  of  a  well-known  resolution  of ithe  leading  friends  to  a  reform,  assembled  at  the  Thatched  House very  soon  after  the  speech  was  delivered ;  the  original  draft  of [that  resolution,  in  1791  or  1792,  was  in  the  possession  of  the ^uthor  of  this  book,  and  shown  by  him  to  the  gentlemen  present 'at  a  meeting  of  '  the  Friends  of  the  People',  with  corrections  in (Mr.  Pitt's  own  handwriting". At  the  meeting  of  reformers  on  the  16th  of  May,  1782,  a  copy ■of  the  resolutions  was  ordered  to  be  printed  and  circulated  by ithe  society.     It  is  in  the  following  terms: — "  Thatched  House  Tavern,  16th  May,  1782. "  At  a  numerous  and  respectable  meeting  of  members  of  par- liament, friendly  to  a  constitutional  reformation,  and  the  members \of  several  committees  of  counties  and  cities: "  Present, — The  Duke  of  Richmond,  Lord  Surrey,  Lord  Ma- ihon,  the  Lord  Mayor,  Sir  Watkin  Lewes,  Mr.  Duncombe,  Sir  C. [Wray,  Mr.  B.  Holies,  Mr.  Withers,  the  Hon.  William  Pitt, Rev.  Mr.  Wyvill,  Major  Cartwright,  Mr.  John  Home  Tooke, Alderman  Wilkes,  Doctor  Jebb,  Mr.  Churchill,  Mr.  Frost,  etc., etc.,  etc. "Resolved  unanimously,  —  That  the  motion  of  the  Hon. William  Pitt,  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  the  House of  Commons,  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  representation  of  the people  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  report  the  same  to  the  House,  and also  what  steps  it  might  be  necessary  to  take,  having  been  de- ferred by  a  motion  for  the  order  of  the  day,  it  has  become  indispen- sably necessary  that  application  should  be  made  to  parliament,  by petitions  from  the  collective  body  of  the  people,  in  all  their  res- pective districts,  requesting  a  substantial  reformation  of  the  Com- mons' House  of  Parliament. "  Resolved  unanimouslv, — That  the  meetinc,  considering  that a  general  application  to  the  collective  body  of  the  House  of  Com- mons cannot  be  made  before  the  close  of  the  present  session,  is  of opinion  that  the  sense  of  the  people  shoidd  be  taken  at  such  times \  as  may  be  convenient  during  the  summer,  in  order  to  lay  their I  several  petitions  before  parliament  early  in  the  next  session,  when i  these  proposals  for  a  parliamentary  reformation  (ivithoul  which '  neither  the  liberty  of  the  nation  can  be  preserved,  nor  the  perma- >  nence  of  any  virtuous  administration  be  secure)  may  receive  that \  ample  and  mature  discussion  which  so  momentous  a  question  de- mands'. 168  pitt's  debut  as  a  reformer Now  the  document,  corrected  by  Pitt  himself,  collated  with the  evidence  given  by  him  at  the  trial  of  John  Home  Tooke,  on the  matters  referred  to  in  it,  shows  the  most  extraordinary  forget- fulness  of  important  facts  it  is  possible  to  conceive.  On  his  exa- mination by  Tooke,  he  stated  he  was  present  at  the  meeting,  in May,  1782,  at  the  Thatched  House  Tavern.  "He  could  not  re- collect with  certainty,  but  ratlier  thought  the  'prisoner  was  present* That  it  was  recommended  to  obtain  the  sense  of  the  people  on  the question  of  parliamentary  reform". Quest. — "  Was  it  recommended  to  obtain  that  sense  by  parishes and  districts?" *  Arts. — "  I  have  no  particular  recollection  as  to  that  point.  I  re- member that  it  was  agreed  by  the  meeting  to  recommend  to  the people  during  the  summer  to  petition  parliament". Quest,  by  the  Attorney- General — "  Was  it,  or  was  it  not,  a convention  of  delegates  from  different  bodies  ?" Ans — "  I  do  not,  at  this  distance  of  time,  remember  how  it was  composed.  I  did  not  conceive  that  the  members  were  autho- rized to  act  for  any  particular  body,  but  that  each  was  acting  for himself,  and  in  his  own  individual  capacity". On  cross-examination  by  Mr.  JErskine.  Ans. — "  I  always  un- derstood that  the  members  who  composed  that  meeting  were  act- ing for  themselves ;  / dont  knoio,  however,  but  that  some  of  them might  be  deputed.  I  must  again  repeat  that,  at  this  distance  of time,  I  cannot  exactly  ascertain  how  the  meeting  was  composed".  I Mr.  Pitt's  memory  seldom  failed  him  as  it  did  on  this  occasion, when  he  could  not  remember  how  that  meeting  was  constituted, described  in  the  very  resolution  corrected  by  himself,  as  "  consist-  ' ing  of  members  of  parliament,  and  of  members  of  several  com-  \ mittees  of  counties  and  cities",  and  could  not  recollect  John Home  Tooke  having  been  present  at  that  meeting,  and  having taken  a  part  in  its  proceedings. Mr.  Pitt,  in  1794,  May  11th,  brought  forward  his  motion  for leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  "  to  empower  his  Majesty  to  secure  and  de- tain such  persons  as  his  Majesty  shall  suspect  are  conspiring against  his  person  and  government", — chiefly  levelled  against  the London  Corresponding  Society  and  the  Constitutional  Society. Fox,  in  opposition  to  this  bill,  said:  "  If  he  were  asked  without doors  what  was  to  be  done,  he  would  say,  this  was  not  now  a question  of  morality  or  of  duty,  but  of  prudence.  Acquiesce in  the  bill  only  as  long  as  you  are  compelled  to  do  so.  It  was  a bill  to  destroy  the  constitution,  and  part  of  the  system  of  an  admi- nistration aiming  at  that  end.  No  attempt  of  the  Stuarts  called  for more  opposition  than  the  present  bill,  and  extraordinary  times demanded  extraordinary  declarations"—  Annual  Register,  1806. AND    A    DEMOCRAT.  169 The  number  of  political  clubs  which  sprung  up  at  the  end  of  Mr. Pitt's  abandonment  of  the  cause  of  reform,  was  considerable.  The origin  and  object  of  some  of  the  most  important  of  these  are deserving  of  notice. The  objects  of  these  societies  were  similar  to  those  of  the "  Society  for  Constitutional  Information",  whose  origin  was  of  an earlier  date,  and  is  attributed  to  a  proposal  of  Major  Cartwright, in  1778,  to  establish  a  "Society  of  Political  Inquiry".  This object  was  not  accomplished;  but  its  proposal  laid  the  foundation of  the  "  Society  of  Constitutional  Information ",  which  was formed  in  1780.*  Dr.  Jebb,  Major  Cartwright,  and  Capel Lofft,  were  the  founders  of  it.  Among  its  distinguished  mem- bers we  find  the  Earl  of  Derby,  the  late  Duke  of  Norfolk,  then Lord  Surrey,  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  Duke  of  Roxburgh,  Earl of  Selkirk,  Lord  Dacre,  Lord  Sempill,  Lord  Kinnaird,  Sir  John Sinclair,  R.  B.  Sheridan,  the  Earl  of  Effingham,  Dr.  Price,  Dr. Towers,  Granville  Sharp,  etc.f  Its  well-known  "  Declaration  of Rights"  was  drawn  up  by  Major  Cartwright.  Sir  William  Jones said  this  document  "  ought  to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold". This  society  thanked  Tom  Paine  for  his  first  and  second  parts of  the  Rights  of  Man;  they  sent  addresses  of  congratulation  on the  French  revolution  to  the  Jacobin  Club  and  the  Convention of  France.  In  these  they  assert,  that  "  revolutions  will  now become  easy".  Home  Tooke,  as  a  member  of  the  committee, addressed  a  letter  to  Petion,  then  mayor  of  Paris,  stating  that 4,000  linres  were  sent  with  it,  to  assist  the  French  in  defraying the  expenses  of  the  war  against  all  tyrants  who  might  oppose the  liberty  of  the  French,  without  excepting  any  of  them,  even if  it  should  be  his  own  country. On  Tooke's  trial,  Major  Cartwright  deposed  he  had  the honour  to  be  called  the  father  of  "  the  Society  for  Constitutional Information";  that  the  original  declaration  of  the  Society  for Constitutional  Information  was  signed  by  Mr.  Pitt,  Mr.  Fox,  Mr. Sheridan,  etc.  The  Chief  Justice  asked  Mr.  Tooke  if  his  signature was  to  the  declaration ;  to  which  Mr.  Tooke  answered,  "God  for- bid !  my  lord,  that  I  should  ever  have  signed  anything  so  criminal". The  society  called  the  "  Friends  of  the  People",  was  estab- lished in  1792.  The  principal  members  were  Charles  Grey,  the Earl  of  Lauderdale,  Philip  Francis,  James  Macintosh,  Lord Kinnaird,  the  Hon.  Thomas  Erskine,  G.  Tierney,  Esq.,  R.  B, Sheridan,  W.  H.  Lambton,  John  Cartwright,  S.  Whitbread,  jun., Lord  J.  Russell,  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,   etc.,   etc.     At   the *  Vide  "Life  and  Correspondence  of  Major  Cartwright",  vol.  i.  p.  120. t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  135. 170  EKGLISH    REFORMERS first  meeting,  W.  H.  Lambton  in  the  chair,  26th  April,  1  792,  it was  resolved  unanimously — "That  a  motion  be  made  in  the  House  of  Commons,  at  an earlier  period  in  the  next  session  of  parliament,  introducing  a  par- liamentary reform. "  Resolved  unanimously — That  Charles  Grey,  Esq.,  be  re- quested to  make,  and  the  Hon.  Thomas  Erskine  to  second,  the above  motion. "  Signed,  W.  H.  Lambton,  Chairman". The  next  meeting  was  held  May  12,  1792,  and  the  chairman of  it  was  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  John  Russell. In  1795,  this  society  suspended  all  proceedings  on  the  subject of  parliamentary  reform  by  public  advertisement.  Its  grand object,  however,  was  not  lost  sight  of  by  Charles  Grey.  For  forty years  his  life  was  devoted  to  its  accomplishment;  and  the  forty years'  war  with  corruption  he  lived  to  bring  to  a  successful  issue The  Revolution  Society  of  London,  in  commemoration  of  the Revolution  of  1688,  sprung  up  in  1789,  Dr.  Price  and  Earl Stanhope  being  its  leading  members.  They  conducted  a  corres- pondence with  the  National  Assembly  of  France.  Towers  and Cooper  were  the  president  and  secretary.  Cooper  was  a  man  of great  abilities,  bold,  upright,  and  energetic ;  he  fled  to  America, to  avoid  the  fate  of  Muir  and  Palmer;  he  rose  to  distinction there,  and  died  universally  honoured  and  beloved,  in  the seventieth  year  of  his  age,  the  22nd  of  October,  1829.  Cooper and  Watt  were  likewise  members  of  the  Manchester  Consti- tutional Society,  and  in  its  name  having  presented  an  address  in France  to  the  Jacobin  Society,  were  attacked  for  so  doing  by Burke,  in  the  House  of  Commons ;  and  Cooper  defended  him- self and  his  brother  delegate  in  one  of  the  best  written  pamphlets of  that  time,  A  reply  to  Mr.  Burke's  invective.  Watt  was subsequently  executed  in  Scotland  on  a  charge  of  treason. The  other  societies  of  this  period,  of  minor  importance,  were, the  "  Friends  of  Universal  Peace  and  the  Rights  of  Man",  origi- nally established  at  Stockport.  Of  the  "  Westminster  Com- mittee of  Reform",  the  first  meeting  took  place  in  1780:  its resolutions  in  favour  of  annual  parliaments  were  signed  by  Fox. The  society  called  the  "  Friends  of  the  Liberty  of  the  Press"  was established  in  1792:  the  declaration  of  this  society  was  drawn  up by  Erskine.  In  this  admirable  paper  the  system  of  espionage, which  had  been  recently  adopted  by  Pitt,  was  denounced. The  language  and  writings  of  the  members  of  these  different clubs  were  sufficiently  strong  to  be  taken,  or  mistaken,  by  many for  sedition. AND    REPUBLICANS.  17  L The  "  Society  of  United  Englishmen",  according  to  the  account given  of  its  ramifications  in  the  "  secret  report"  of  23rd  January, 1799,  had  forty  divisions  formed  in  London,  extended  to  Wales, Lancashire,  and  communicated  with  Ireland ;  had  made  great progress  in  Manchester,  till  checked  by  the  arrest  of  its  members in  1798;  had  eighty  divisions  there,  and  each  consisted  of  not less  than  fifteen  members.  In  the  report,  it  is  stated  to  have  been very  active  in  its  attempts  to  seduce  the  soldiery, and  that  it  had tests,  signs,  and  symbolic  devices.  The  whole  of  the  divisions were  governed  by  a  committee,  styled  the  National  Committee  of England,  whose  members  were  unknown  to  the  rest  of  the  society, and  was  said  to  have  corresponded  with  the  executive  of  the United  Irishmen. "The  London  Corresponding  Society"  originated  about  1792, its  grand  object,  parliamentary  reform,  on  the  Duke  of  Rich- mond's plan.  Chief  Justice  Eyre,  in  his  charge  on  the  trial  of Tooke,  said,  "  It  is  so  composed,  as  by  dividing  and  subdividing, each  division,  as  soon  as  it  amounted  to  a  certain  number,  sending off  a  new  division  so  as  to  spread  over  the  country,  every  other society,  no  matter  how  remote,  it  incorporates  or  affiliates,  till  it embraces  an  extent  incalculable.  It  is  undoubtedly  a  political monster",  etc. John  Edwards,  on  Hardy's  trial,  deposed  that  this  society  was reading  the  address  of  Mr.  Pitt  and  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  when it  was  assailed  by  the  police. "  A  National  Convention"  was  first  suggested  in  a  letter  from Stockport,  7 tli  December,  1792. The  Convention  in  Scotland  was  set  on  foot  in  1793.  Watt's plan  for  seizing  the  castle  of  Edinburgh  was  formed  at  this  period. He  had  previously  been  employed  as  a  secret  informer  by  govern- ment, and  dismissed;  had  subsequently  joined  Cooper  in  Paris, and  presented  an  address  to  the  Jacobins  from  the  Manchester society.  In  laying  traps  for  treason  in  the  Scotcli  conspiracy,  he got  entangled  in  his  own  snares,  and  was  executed. Mr.  Muir,  one  of  the  faculty  of  advocates  of  Edinburgh,  and the  Rev.  Fyshe  Palmer,  a  dissenting  clergyman  of  Dundee,  a member  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  were  the  two  first  re- formers brought  before  the  tribunal  of  justice  on  charges  of  sedi- tion, trumped  up  on  evidence  of  taking  a  part  in  the  public  pro- ceedings of  the  associations  at  that  time  formed  for  the  purpose of  obtaining  a  reform.  Both  these  gentlemen,  men  eminent  for their  talents,  highly  respected  in  their  several  professions,  and amiable  in  private  life,  were  convicted  and  sentenced  to  transpor- tation, sent  to  the  hulks  chained,  and  worked  in  chains,  previous  to their  departure  for  Botany  Bay,  with  the  common  gang  of  convicts. 172  ENGLISH"    REFORMERS The  formation  of  trades'  unions  appears  to  have  been  pointed out  in  1782  by  Sir  William  Junes :  in  writing  to  Major  Cartwright, in  a  postscript,  he  states:  "It  is  my  deliberate,  though  private, opinion,  that  the  people  of  England  will  never  be  a  people,  in the  majestic  sense  of  the  word,  unless  200,000  of  the  civil  state be  ready  before  the  1st  of  November  to  take  the  field  without rashness  or  disorder,  at  twenty-four  hours'  notice".*  This  is  a pretty  plain  manifestation  of  the  power  ascribed  to  the  demonstra- tion of  physical  force,  in  contradistinction  to  the  employment  of it,  for  I  am  persuaded  the  latter  was  never  contemplated  by  Sir William  Jones.  Fox  said,  "  All  the  proceedings  of  these  socie- ties went  on  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  plan  of  reform". But  is  impossible  not  to  perceive  in  the  acts  and  words  of  these bodies  the  spirit  of  republicanism  pervading  their  proceedings, whether  infused  by  spies  and  informers,  or  fanatics  and  "  exaltados" of  their  own  party,  it  is  hard  to  say :  in  all  probability,  by  both. The  Manchester  Constitutional  Society  was  addressed  by  the members  of  the  Jacobin  Club  in  Paris,  as  "Generous  Republicans". One  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Corresponding  Society  was J.  Frost.  In  1703  he  was  convicted  of  uttering  seditious  ex- pressions, "I  am  for  equality,  and  no  king",  etc.  Another member,  Mr.  John  Cook,  for  the  words,  "  D — n  the  monarchy, I  want  none",  etc. The  sentiments  of  reformers  of  the  upper  classes  of  society,  a  few years  later,  were  couched  in  language  better  adapted  for  "  ears polite",  but  certainly  not  less  indicative  of  the  strong  spirit  of democracy.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk,  in  1798,  presiding  at  a  dinner at  the  "  Crown  and  Anchor",  gave  for  a  toast,  "  The  sovereign majesty  of  the  people",  and  for  this  act  he  was  dismissed  from  the office  of  lord-lieutenant  of  the  west  riding  of  Yorkshire.  Fox followed  it  up  at  the  Whig  Club,  shortly  after,  by  another  senti- ment of  a  similar  character,  "  I  will  give  you",  said  he,  "  a  toast, than  which  I  think  there  cannot  be  a  better,  according  to  the principles  of  this  club — I  mean,  '  the  Sovereignty  of  the  People of  Great  Britain' ",  and  for  this  act  he  was  dismissed  from  the Privy  Council. In  Ireland,  Lord  Castlereagh  imitated  the  example  of  Mr. Pitt.  He  entered  on  political  life  in  the  domino  of  a  reformer, and  aped  the  character,  if  not  with  all  the  tact,  at  least,  with  all  the effrontery  of  his  master.  Of  his  early  ardour  for  reform  we  have an  account  in  Sampson's  Memoirs:  at  page  43,  he  informs  us, "  Robert  Stewart  (afterwards  Lord  Castlereagh),  at  the  general election  in  1790,  set  himself  up  for  representative  of  the  county *  See  "Life  and  Correspondence  of  Major  Cartwright",  p.  150. AND  REPUBLICANS.  173 of  Down,  against  what  was  called  the  lordly  interest;  and  in order  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  popular  party,  took  the  fol- lowing oath  or  test  upon  the  hustings,  as  a  solemn  compact  be- tween him  and  his  constituents,  namely:  '  That  he  would,  in  and out  of  the  House,  with  all  liis  ability  and  influence,  promote  the success  of  a  bill  for  amending  the  representation  of  the  people;  a bill  for  preventing  pensioners  from  sitting  in  parliament,  or  such placemen  as  cannot  sit  in  the  British  House  of  Commons;  a  bill for  limiting  the  number  of  placemen  and  pensioners,  and  the amount  of  pension ;  a  bill  for  preventing  revenue  officers  from voting  at  elections ;  a  bill  for  rendering  the  servants  of  the  crown in  Ireland  responsible  for  the  expenditure  of  the  public  money ; a  bill  to  protect  the  personal  safety  of  the  subject  against  arbi- trary and  excessive  bail,  and  against  the  power  of  attachment  be- yond the  limits  of  the  constitution'  ".* In  Ireland,  at  the  same  period,  the  formation  of  political  clubs and  societies  kept  pace  with  those  in  England.  The  Northern Whig  Club,  at  a  meeting  held  in  Belfast,  the  16th  of  April, 1790,  Gowan  Hamilton  in  the  chair,  passed  a  series  of  resolutions, the  first  of  which  was  to  the  following  effect:  "  Resolved  unani- mously, that  when  an  unmasked  and  shameless  system  of  mi- nistenal  corruption  manifests  an  intention  to  sap  the  spirit,  virtue, and  independence  of  parliament,  it  is  time  for  the  people  to  look to  themselves". Among  the  original  members  of  this  society  were  Lords  Char- lemont,  De  Clifford,  Moira,  O'Neill,  the  Hon.  Robert  Stewart, Archibald  H.  Rowan,  William  Todd  Jones,  Colonel  Sharman, Hon.  E.  Ward,  Hon.  H.  Rowley,  etc.,  etc.  The  toasts  of  the honourable  members  at  their  festive  meetings  comprised,  "  Our Sovereign  Lord  the  People",  etc. — Vide  Teeling's  Narrative. "The  Whig  Club"  was  established  in  1790,  in  Ireland,  in imitation  of  that  in  England.  "  The  frequent  theme",  says Plowden,  "of  panegyric  to  Mr.  Grattan,  and  of  invective  to  Mr. Fitzgibbon,  the  heads  of  most  of  the  great  families  were  mem- bers of  it,  and  it  contributed  not  lightly  to  give  popularity  to the  leading  objects  of  their  institution,  which  it  was  the  univer- sal object  of  Mr.  Pitt's  system  to  counteract" — Vide  Plowden, vol.  i.,  page  293. Against  Fitzgibbon's  abuse  of  this  club,  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone was  the  first  to  publish  a  defence,  which  recommended  him strongly  to  the  Whigs ;  but  they  found  him  too  warm  an  advo- cate, and  he  appears  to  have  found  them  too  little  to  his  mind  for their  acquaintance  to  be  of  long  duration. *  See  Appendix  for  his  early  career 174  EARLY    REFORMERS. The  most  memorable  act  of  this  club  was  its  petition  to  the King,  adopted  ut  a  meeting  of  the  society,  5th  April,  1798,  Mr. Grattan  in  the  chair,  in  order  to  lay  before  his  majesty  the state  of  the  country,  and  "  a  vindication  of  his  people  against the  traduction  of  his  ministers".  The  Catholic  question  was not  permitted  to  be  discussed  in  the  club. — Plowden,  vol.  i., page  324. It  may  be  here  permitted  me  to  state  that  Grattan  entered parliament,  and  set  out  in  public  life,  an  opponent  of  the  Catho- lic claims.  He  told  the  late  Dr.  Hussey,  his  most  intimate  friend, that  he  owed  his  change  of  opinion  to  the  accidental  perusal  of Currie's  Civil  Wars. The  club  called  the  "  Friends  of  the  Constitution,  Liberty, and  Peace",  is  described  by  Pollock  in  1793  as  a  moderate club,  and  its  members  as  "  most  respectable  and  independent gentlemen". The  "Friends  of  Parliamentary  Reform"  in  Belfast,  in  1793, made  a  declaration  of  their  principles,  stating  "  that  the  enemies of  reform  would  be  answerable  to  God  and  their  country  for  the consequences  that  would  ensue,  for  all  the  crimes  and  calamities that  would  follow". CHAPTER  VII. EARLY     IRISH      REFORMERS. The  Revolution  in  France  bad  a  great  influence  on  the  public mind  in  Ireland-,  but,  in  all  probability,  the  rebellion  of  1798 would  have  taken  place,  had  that  revolution  never  been  effected. The  necessity  of  reform,  for  the  security  of  parliamentary  in- dependence, was  strongly  felt  by  the  popular  party  so  early  as 1790,  and  that  opinion  was  first  acted  upon  by  the  northern Presbyterians.  Various  political  clubs,  emanating  from  the  Vo- lunteer Associations,  had  been  formed  in  Belfast,  advocating  re- form and  Catholic  Emancipation,  before  either  of  these  questions had  gained  any  ground  in  the  metropolis.  The  Belfast  leaders were  so  far  in  advance  of  those  of  Dublin  on  both  subjects,  that, long  before  the  change  in  the  organization  of  the  United  Irish Societies,  ulterior  views  to  those  they  set  out  with  advocating, were  entertained  by  a  great  many  of  the  former. The  Dublin  leaders  were  chiefly  of  the  Protestant  religion,  and EARLY   REFORMERS.  175 till  the  year  1794,  reform  was  not  only  the  ostensible,  but  the real  object  they  had  in  view.  The  Belfast  politicians  were  Presby- terians, and  the  old  leaven  of  republicanism  unquestionably worked  more  or  less  in  all  their  hostile  feelings  to  parliamentary- corruption.  Both  parties  founded  their  hopes  of  success  for  the struggle  they  had  engaged  in,  on  the  discontent  of  the  people, who  groaned  under  the  burden  of  the  penal  laws. Belfast  stood  foremost  in  the  early  struggle  with  intolerance  and corruption,  in  the  bold  discussion  of  political  subjects,  and  in  the dissemination  of  reform  principles.    The  latter  were  embodied,  in 1793,  in  a  series  of  papers  written  by  several  persons,  called Thoughts  on  the  British  Constitution.  This  collection  of  pieces is  one  of  the  earliest  and  the  ablest  expositions  of  arguments  in detail  in  favour  of  reform  that  is  to  be  met  with.  Another  ad- mirable series  of  letters  on  the  same  subject,  under  the  signature of  "  Orellana",  were  written  at  this  time  by  Dr.  Drennan.  The subversion  of  the  government  was  disclaimed  by  the  leaders  of the  people,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  on  the  mind  of  any  one who  reads  the  discussions  of  the  Belfast  politicians,  that,  although many  of  them  entertained  views  that  went  much  farther  than reform,  it  was  long  before  they  acted  on  them,  or  extended  their projects  beyond  the  attempt  to  strengthen  the  democratic  princi- ple, and  to  combine  the  monarchical  form  of  government  with republican  institutions.  They  were  content  to  see  the  constitution restored  and  perpetuated,  though,  in  the  abstract,  the  predilections of  such  men  as  Tone,  Neilson,  Russell,  Emerson,  Kelburn,  Joy, Simms,  M'Cracken,  etc.,  might  be  in  favour  of  republicanism ; but  they  could  not  overlook  difficulties  that  lay  in  the  way  of  any efforts  lor  obtaining  that  object,  and  the  probability  of  so  far  assi- milating existing  institutions  to  the  latter,  by  means  of  reform,  as to  prevent  the  evils  which  had  arisen  from  the  monarchical  form of  government  having  become  (in  Ireland  at  least)  an  oligarchical one. To  have  taken  the  government  out  of  the  more  than  regal  power of  Clare  and  the  Beresfords,  and  restored  its  iisurped  authority  to the  constitutional  sovereign  of  these  realms,  with  the  guarantees for  protection  against  the  future  inroads  of  this  detested  oligarchy, which  they  looked  for  in  reform,  would,  at  any  period  previous  to 1794,  have  satisfied  the  expectations  of  the  popular  leaders  in  the north,  and  cut  the  ground  for  ulterior  agitation  from  under  the feet  of  the  more  violent  and  uncompromising  adherents  to  repub- licanism. In  Dublin,  the  popular  leaders,  at  any  period  previous to  1797,  would  have  gladly  accepted  the  boon,  and  relinquished the  idea  of  separation.  Few  of  their  leading  men  were,  in  ordi- nary circumstances,  more  than  strenuous  advocates  of  constitu- 176  DECLARATION    OF    UNITED    IRISIIMEN. tional  liberty,  while  those  of  the  north  had  certainly  a  conside- rable portion  of  their  old  attachment  for  republican  principles remaining  in  their  politics.  But  even  the  most  uncompromising of  them  (and,  amongst  others,  the  Rev.  Sinclair  Kelburne),  at  a very  critical  period  of  their  struggle,  declared  that  rather  than have  recourse  to  violence,  though  they  might  esteem  another  form of  government  more  perfect,  their  views  went  not  beyond  a  go- vernment of  King,  Lords,  and  Commons,  were  that  government to  be  the  true  and  real  representative  of  the  people.  The  precise nature  of  their  views,  and  the  extent  of  them,  can  only  be  rightly appreciated  by  examining  their  proceedings  in  1792  and  1793, and  referring  to  their  discussions  and  avowed  writings.  The  fol- lowing extracts,  with  the  exception  of  the  comments  on  them, are  taken  from  a  highly  interesting,  and  now  rare  collection  of these  documents,  published  in  Belfast  by  their  body,  and  edited by  one  of  them  (Henry  Joy)  in  1794. The  first  important  movement  in  Belfast  in  the  cause  of  reform was  the  presentation  of  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons, praying  for  the  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipation  of Roman  Catholics.  And  this  petition  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  being the  first  that  ever  emanated  in  Ireland  from  a  Protestant  body  in favour  of  emancipation.  The  avowed  object  of  its  advocates  was the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  reform,  arising  from  the  conviction that  every  effort  in  that  cause  which  did  not  embrace  the  interests and  enlist  the  support  of  the  Roman  Catholics  on  its  side,  must prove  abortive.  Acting  on  this  opinion,  the  Society  of  United Irishmen  in  Belfast  set  out  with  the  following  declaration  of  their principles : — "  We  have  agreed  to  form  an  association,  to  be  called  '  The Society  of  United  Irishmen' :  and  we  do  pledge  ourselves  to  our country,  and  mutually  to  each  other,  that  we  will  steadily  support and  endeavour  by  all  due  means  to  carry  into  effect  the  following resolutions : — "  I.  Resolved — That  the  weight  of  English  influence  in  the  go- vernment of  this  country  is  so  great  as  to  require  a  cordial  union among  all  the  people  of  Ireland,  to  maintain  that  balance  which  is essential  to  the  preservation  of  our  liberties  and  the  extension  of our  commerce. "  II.  That  the  sole  constitutional  mode  by  which  this  influence can  be  opposed,  is  by  a  complete  and  radical  reform  of  the  repre- sentation of  the  people  in  parliament. "  HI.  That  no  reform  is  practicable,  efficacious,  or  just,  which shall  not  include  Irishmen  of  every  religious  persuasion". In  the  beginning  of  January,  1792,  the  following  requisition was  addressed  to  the  inhabitants  of  Belfast: — BELFAST  LEADERS  AND  THE  CATHOLICS. 177 "  Gentlemen — As  men,  and  as  Irishmen,  we  have  long  lamented the  degrading  state  of  slavery  and  oppression  in  which  the  great majority  of  our  countrymen,  the  Roman  Catholics,  are  held — nor have  we  lamented  it  in  silence.  We  wish  to  see  all  distinctions on  account  of  religion  abolished — all  narrow,  partial  maxims  of policy  done  away.  We  anxiously  wish  to  see  the  day  when  every Irishman  shall  be  a  citizen — when  Catholics  and  Protestants, equally  interested  in  their  country's  welfare,  possessing  equal  free- dom and  equal  privileges,  shall  be  cordially  united,  and  shall  learn to  look  upon  each  other  as  brethren,  the  children  of  the  same  God, the  natives  of  the  same  land — and  when  the  only  strife  amongst them  shall  be,  who  shall  serve  their  country  best.  These,  gen- tlemen, are  our  sentiments,  and  these  we  are  convinced  are yours. "  We,  therefore,  request  a  general  meeting  of  the  principal  in- habitants at  the  Townhouse,  on  Saturday  next,  at  noon,  to  consi- der of  the  propriety  of  a  petition  to  parliament  in  favour  of  our Roman  Catholic  brethren. "  We  are,  Gentlemen, "  Your  most  obedient  servants, Robert  Thompson, Hu.  Johnson, Thomas  Sinclair, Christ.  Strong, Robert  Simms, George  Wells, Gil.  MTlveen,  jun. James  Stephenson, Thomas  Milliken, Sam.  M'Clean, Samuel  Neilson, John  Graham, Samuel  M'Tier, Wm.  Bryson, Hu.  MTlwain, John  Tisdall, Wm.  M'Cleery, Hugh  Crawford, Wm.  Tennent, Robert  Getty, Wm.  Magee, James  Hyndman, Wm.  Simms, Robert  Major, Robert  Calwell, Walter  Crawford, Hu.  Montgomery, Samuel  M'Murray, John  M'Donnell, Thos.  Brown, Henry  Haslett, John  Bankhead, David  Bigger, Isaac  Patton, John  Haslett, J.  Campbell  White, Thos.  Neilson, J.  S.  Ferguson, Thos.  M'Donnell, John  Todd, Robert  Hunter, Richard  M'Clelland, Thos.  M'Cabe, John  M'Connell, Wm.  Martin, John  M'Clean, James  M'Cormick, And.  M'Clean, VOL.  I. 13 178  CASTLEREAG1I    IN    BELFAST    IN    1816. James  Luke,  Thos.  Ash, James  M'Kain,  John  Caldwell". Ham.  Thompson, Names  will  be  found  in  the  above  list  which  may  afford  ample  food for  reflection  to  the  descendents  of  some  of  those  who  bore  them, and  show  abundant  reason  for  being  tolerant  to  others  whose  opi- nions may  differ  from  those  they  now  profess.  Some  names  in that  list  can  suggest  no  other  feeling  than  one  of  deep  concern that  the  bearers  of  them — men  of  high  intelligence,  and  then,  at least,  of  pure  and  noble  principles — should  have  fallen,  or  be driven,  into  desperate  courses,  and  have  been  reserved  for  all  their evil  consequences ;  and  not  a  few  of  these  gentlemen  have  been forced  to  quit  their  country,  and  their  friends  and  homes,  for ever. In  the  year  1810,  when  Lord  Castlereagh  came  on  a  pilgrimage (of  repentance  for  his  early  opinions,  perhaps)  to  the  scene  of  his first  exertions  in  the  cause  of  reform,  and  honoured  with  his  pre- sence the  town  of  Belfast — the  cradle,  and  then  the  grave,  of  pub- lic spirit — his  lordship  was  publicly  entertained  by  the  ci-devant patriots  and  ultra-liberals  of  our  Irish  Athens.  At  that  dinner the  waters  of  Lethe  must  have  been  largely  mingled  with  the wine  of  the  masters  of  the  feast. The  following  names  recall  associations  not  quite  in  union  with his  lordship's  repute  "  in  those  days  of  governmental  abandon- ment", which  it  was  not  the  fashion  then  in  Belfast  to  mark  with a  white  stone. Gilbert  M'llvaine,  A.  Crawford, Rev.  Dr.  Bruce,  Cunningham  Gregg, Narcissus  Batt,  Hugh  Wilson, Alexander  Stewart,  John  Sinclair, Henry  Joy,  Dr.  Thompson, Sir  James  Isaac  Bristow,  John  Vance, John  M'Cracken,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 14TH  JULY,  1792.  —  BELFAST  REVIEW  AND  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  FRENCH REVOLUTION. "  On  Friday  evening,  the  several  country  corps  marched  into town,  and  were  billeted  on  the  inhabitants,  who  were  happy  in renewing  expressions  of  affection  for  their  neighbours  and  friends in  the  fourteenth  year  since  the  commencement  of  reviews,  and in  the  sixteenth  of  the  volunteer  era.  The  number  of  corps  hav- ing been  considerably  reduced,  it  was  not  thought  proper  to  call on  the  Venerable  General  of  the  Volunteer  Army  of  Ulster,  the BELFAST    VOLUNTEER    REVIEW.  179 Earl  of  Charlemont,  to  attend  on  this  occasion.  The  gentleman appointed  in  his  place  was  Colonel  Sharman,  of  Moira  Castle, who  presided  with  such  dignity  last  year  in  the  civil  assembly  of the  inhabitants  of  Belfast  and  its  neighbourhood,  at  the  celebration of  the  French  Revolution.  An  unexpected  illness  having  pre- vented that  justly  admired  character  from  filling  an  office  for which  he  was  so  eminently  qualified,  Major  Crawford,  of  Craw- ford's-burn,  was  unanimously  nominated  to  act  as  Reviewing- General,  in  testimony  of  the  respect  due  to  decided  virtue  in  pub- lic and  private  life. "  On  Saturday  morning  a  brigade  was  formed  in  High  Street, extending  from  the  Bank  to  the  Quay,  and  the  whole  were marched  off  to  the  old  review-ground  in  the  Falls,  at  about  eleven o'clock,  by  the  exercising  officer,  Major  M'Manus. "  On  their  return  to  town,  at  three  o'clock,  there  was  a  grand procession,  the  order  of  which  is  mentioned  underneath,  and/gw- de-joies  were  fired  in  Linenhall  Street,  by  the  whole  body,  in  ho- nour of  that  day,  which  presented  the  sublime  spectacle  of  near one-sixth  of  the  whole  inhabitants  of  Europe  bursting  their  chains, and  throwing  off,  almost  in  an  instant,  the  degrading  yoke  of slavery. Order  of  the  Military  and  Civil  Procession. MAJOR  CRAWFORD,  GENERAL  AND  PRESIDENT  FOR  THE  DAY. Belfast  Troop  of  Light  Dragoons,  Captain  Thomas  Brown, — 17. Major  M'Manus,  Exercising  Officer, And  his  Aides- de-Camp. Artillery  of  the  Belfast  First  Company (their  number  included  in  that  of  the  corps  under-mentioned). The  Colours  of  Five  Free  Nations,  viz.: Flag  of  Ireland — motto,  Unite  and  be  free. Flag  of  America — motto,  The  Asylum  of  Liberty. Flag  of  France — motto,  The  Nation,  the  Law,  and  the  King. Flag  of  Poland — motto,  We  will  support  it. Flag  of  Great  Britain — motto,  Wisdom,  Spirit,  and  Liberality to  the  People. A  flag  was  prepared  for  the  Dutch  (but  no  one  could  be  found to  bear  it),  who  were  to  be  represented  by  a  piece  of  common 180  FRENCH  REVOLUTION  INFLUENCES. woollen  stuff,  half  hoisted  on  a  pole,  and  to  be  hooted  by  the  po- pulace, on  account  of  the  States  having  joined  the  wicked  conspi- racy of  tyrants  against  the  liberties  of  man. Motto,  Heavens!  how  unlike  their  Belgian  Sires  of  old! Portrait  of  Dr.  Franklin—  motto,  Where  Liberty  is,  there  is  my Country. First  Brigade  of  Volunteers — 532  men. Artillery  of  Belfast  Blues. the  great  standard elevated  on  a  triumphal  car,  drawn  by  four  horses,  with  two Volunteers  as  supporters,  containing  on  one  side  of  the  canvas  a representation  of The  Releasement  of  the  Prisoners  from  the  Bastile — motto,  Sacred to  Liberty. The  reverse  contained  a  figure  of  Hibernia,  one  hand  and  foot in  shackles ;  a  Volunteer  presenting  to  her  a  figure  of  Liberty. Motto,  For  a  People  to  be  free,  it  is  sufficient  that  they  will  it. Second  Brigade  of  Volunteers — 258  men. Portrait  of  Mons.  Mirabeau. Can  the  African  Slave  Trade  be  morally  wrong  and  politically right  ? Motto,  Our  Gallic  Brother  was  born  in  1789 :  alas!  we  are  still  in embryo". "  REJOICINGS  FOR  THE  RECENT  VICTORIES  OF  THE  FRENCH. "  The  town  of  Belfast  was  almost  universally  illuminated. Everything  demonstrated  sincere  pleasure  in  the  disgrace  of  two tyrannical  courts,  that  attempted  to  dragoon  an  united  nation  into that  deplorable  state  of  spiritual  as  well  as  political  bondage,  from which  it  was  just  recovering,  and  that  dared  to  tell  twenty- five millions  of  men — ye  shall  not  be  free. "  In  the  windows  of  six  or  seven  houses  a  number  of  transpa- rencies presented  themselves : — A  few  of  the  mottoes  are  subjoined, as  trifling  circumstances  sometimes  mark  the  disposition  of  the times. "  Perfect  union  and  equal  liberty  to  the  men  of  Ireland. — Vive la  Republique :  Vive  la  Nation. — Church  and  State  divorced. — Liberty  triumphant. — The  Rights  of  Man  established. — Despotism prostrate. — The  Tyrants  are  fled ;  let  the  People  rejoice. — Heaven CELEBRATION    OF    REVOLUTION.  181 j  beheld  tlieir  glorious  efforts  and  crowned  their  deeds  with  suc- j  cess. — France  is  free ;  so  may  we :  let  us  will  it. — Awake,  O  ye j  that  sleep. — A  gallows  suspending  an  inverted  Crown,  with  these !  words :  'May  the  fate  of  every  tyrant  be  that  of  Capet' A  checkto !  Despots. — The  cause  of  Mankind  triumphant. —Irishmen  !  rejoice. —  Union  among  Irishmen.— Rights  of  Man. — Irishmen!  look  at France.     Liberty  and  Equality. IRELAND. 8th  Sept.  1783. — Armed  Citizens  spoke, 2nd  Dec.  1783. — Their  Delegates  ran  away. 30th  Oct.  1792. — We  are  taxed,  tithed,  and  enslaved,  but  we have  only  to  unite  and  be  free. FRANCE. 14th  July,  1789.— Sacred  to  Liberty. 10th  August,  1792. — The  people  triumphant. 22nd  October,  1792.— Exit  of  Tyranny. "  The  night  closed  in  the  most  orderly  manner,  without  either bonfire,  or  any  kind  of  irregularity  whatever. "  The  festival  concluded  with  an  entertainment  at  the  Donegal Arms,  where  104  persons  sat  down  at  dinner,  when  the  General, who  was  also  president  of  the  day,  announced  the  toasts  prepared by  a  committee,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy. "  The  First  Toast — '  The  Fourteenth  of  July,  1789'. "  The  King  of  Ireland. — The  Constitution  of  France;  may  it be  permanent. — The  Constitutional  Assembly  of  France. — The National  Assembly  of  France :  may  wisdom,  spirit,  and  decision, direct  its  counsels. — The  French  army ;  may  an  ardent  love  of their  country  be  held  paramount  to  every  other  duty  in  the  cha- racter of  a  soldier. — Confusion  to  the  enemies  of  French  liberty. May  the  Glorious  Revolution  of  France  teach  the  Governments of  the  Earth  wisdom. — May  the  example  of  one  Revolution  pre- vent the  necessity  of  others. —  Lasting  freedom  and  prosperity  to the  United  States  of  America. — The  people  of  Poland,  and  success to  their  arms. — The  Rights  of  Man:  may  all  nations  have  wisdom to  understand,  and  spirit  to  assert  them. — The  Union  of  Irishmen, without  which  we  can  never  be  free. — The  Sovereignty  of  the People,  acting  by  a  just  and  equal  representation. — The  Liberty of  the  Press. — The  Volunteers  of  Ireland,  and  their  revered  Gene- ral, Earl  of  Charlemont. — The  Constitutional  Societies  of  Great Britain  and  Ireland.  —The  Society  for  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave 182  ADDRESS    TO    NATIONAL    ASSEMBLY Trade. — President  Washington. — Stanislaus  Augustus :  may  his example  be  imitated. — Mr.  Paine:  may  perverted  eloquence  ever find  so  able  an  opposer. — Mr.  Fox,  and  the  rights  of  juries,  in substance  as  well  as  form. — Mr.  Grattan,  and  the  minority  of  the Irish  House  of  Commons. — The  Literary  Characters  who  have vindicated  the  Rights  of  Man,  and  may  genius  ever  be  employed in  them. — May  all  Governments  be  those  of  the  Laws,  and  all Laws  those  of  the  People.  — May  the  free  nations  of  the  world  vie with  each  other  in  promoting  liberty,  peace,  virtue,  and  happi- ness, among  men. — The  increased,  increasing,  and  sacred  flame of  Liberty. — Ireland.  —  The  cause  of  freedom.  —  The  memory  of John  Locke. — The  memory  of  William  Molyneaux.— The  me- mory of  Dr.  Franklin. — The  memory  of  Mirabeau. — The  me- mory of  Dr.  Price. — The  memory  of  Mr.  Howard''. COPY    OF    THE    ADDRESS   TO    THE    NATIONAL   ASSEMBLY    OF    FRANCE. "  It  is  not  from  vanity  or  ostentation  that  we,  the  citizens  of Belfast,  and  citizen-soldiers  of  that  town  and  neighbourhood,  take the  liberty  of  addressing  the  representative  majesty  of  the  French people.  We  address  you  with  the  rational  respect  due  to  a  title elevated  far  above  all  servile  and  idolatrous  adulation,  and  with that  affectionate  fraternity  of  heart  which  ought  to  unite  man  to man  in  a  mutual  and  inseparable  union  of  interests,  of  duties, and  of  rights,  which  ought  to  unite  nation  with  nation,  into  one great  republic  of  the  world. "  On  a  day,  sanctified  as  this  has  been  by  a  declaration  of human  rights,  the  germ  of  so  much  good  to  mankind,  we  meet with  joy  together,  and  wish  well  to  France,  to  her  National  As- sembly, to  her  people,  to  her  armies,  and  to  her  king. "  May  you,  legislators,  maintain,  by  the  indefatigable  spirit  of liberty,  that  constitution  which  has  been  planned  by  the  wisdom of  your  predecessors,  and  never  may  you  weary  in  the  work  you have  undertaken,  until  you  can  proclaim  with  triumphant  security, it  is  finished !  Manifest  to  an  attentive  and  progressive  world, that  is  not  the  frenzy  of  philosophy,  nor  the  fever  of  wild  and precarious  liberty,  which  could  produce  such  continued  agitation ; but  that  imperishable  spirit  of  freedom  alone,  which  always  exists in  the  heart  of  man,  which  now  animates  the  heart  of  Europe, and  which,  in  the  event,  will  communicate  its  energy  throughout the  world,  invincible  and  immortal ! "  We  rejoice,  in  the  sincerity  of  our  souls,  that  this  creative spirit  animates  the  whole  mass  of  mind  in  France.  We  auspicate happiness  and  glory  to  the  human  race  from  every  great  event which  calls  into  activity  the  whole  vigour  of  the  whole  conimu- OF    BELFAST    VOLUNTEERS.  183 |  nity,   amplifies  so  largely  the  field  of  enterprise  and  improve- ment, and  gives  free  scope  to  the  universal  soul  of  the  empire. We  trust  that  you  will  never  submit  the  liberties  of  France  to !  any   other   guarantees    than   God    and  the   right    hands   of  the I  people. "  The  power  that  presumes  to  modify  or  to  arbitrate  with  re- |  spect  to  a  constitution  adopted  by  the  people,  is  an  usurper  and I  a  despot,  whether  it  be  the  meanest  of  the  mob,  or  the  ruler  of empires ;  and  if  you  condescend  to  negociate  the  alteration  of  a comma  in  your  constitutional  code,  France  from  that  moment  is |  a  slave.  Impudent  despots  of  Europe  !  is  it  not  enough  to  crush j  human  nature  beneath  your  feet  at  home,  that  you  thus  come 1  abroad  to  disturb  the  domestic  settlement  of  the  nations  around '  you,  and  put  in  motion  your  armies,  those  enormous  masses  of ■  human  machinery,  to  beat  down  every  attempt  that  man  makes  for j  his  own  happiness  ? — It  is  high  time  to  turn  these  dreadful  engines |  against  their  inventors,  and  organized  as  they  have  hitherto  been '  for  the  misery  of  mankind,  to  make  them  now  the  instruments  of |  its  glory  and  its  renovation. j      "  Success,  therefore,  attend  the  armies  of  France  ! "  May  your  soldiers,  with  whom  war  is  not  a  trade,  but  a  duty, remember  that  they  do  not  fight  merely  for  themselves,  but  that they  are  the  advanced  guard  of  the  world :  nor  let  them  imagine that  the  event  of  the  war  is  uncertain.  A  single  battle  may be  precarious,  not  so  a  few  campaigns.  There  is  an  omnipotence in  a  righteous  cause,  which  masters  the  pretended  mutability  of human  affairs,  and  fixes  the  supposed  inconsistency  of  fortune. If  you  will  be  free,  you  must  ;  there  is  not  a  chance  that  one million  of  resolute  men  can  be  enslaved:  no  power  on  Earth  is I  able  to  do  it;  and  will  the  God  of  justice  and  of  mercy?  Sol- I  diers !  there  is  something  that  fights  for  you  even  in  the  hearts  of your  enemies.  The  native  energies  of  humanity  rise  up  in voluntary  array  against  tyrannical  and  preposterous  prejudice, and  all  the  little  cabals  of  the  heart  give  way  to  the  feelings  of nature,  of  country,  and  of  kind ! "  Freedom  and  prosperity  to  the  people  of  France  !  We  think that  such  revolutions  as  they  have  accomplished  are  so  far  from being  out  of  the  order  of  society,  that  they  spring  inevitably from  the  nature  of  man  and  the  progression  of  reason ;  what  is imperfect,  he  has  the  power  to  improve ;  what  he  has  created,  he has  a  right  to  destroy.  It  is  a  rash  opposition  to  the  irresistible  will of  the  public  that  in  some  instances  has  maddened  a  disposition otherwise  mild  and  magnanimous,  turned  energy  into  ferocity, and  the  generous  and  gallant  spirit  of  the  French  into  fury  and vengeance.     We  trust  that  every  effort  they  now  make,  every 184  REPLY    TO    ADDRESS hardship  they  undergo,  every  drop  of  blood  they  shed,  will  ren- der their  constitution  more  dear  to  them. "  Long  life  and  happiness  to  the  King  of  the  French  !  Not the  lord  of  the  soil  and  its  servile  appendages,  but  the  king  of men  who  can  reserve  their  rights  while  they  entrust  their  powers. In  this  crisis  of  his  fate  may  he  withstand  every  attempt  to estrange  him  from  the  nation,  to  make  him  an  exile  in  the midst  of  France,  and  to  prevent  him  from  identifying  himself  as a  magistrate  with  the  constitution,  and  as  a  Frenchman  with  the people. "  We  beseech  you  all,  as  men,  as  legislators,  as  citizens,  and  as soldiers,  in  this  your  great  conflict  for  liberty  for  France,  and  for the  world,  to  despise  all  Earthly  danger,  to  look  up  to  God,  and to  connect  your  councils,  your  arms,  and  your  empire  to  his throne  with  a  chain  of  union,  fortitude,  perseverance,  morality, and  religion. "  We  conclude  with  this  fervent  prayer :  That  as  the  Almighty is  dispersing  the  political  clouds  which  have  hitherto  darkened our  hemisphere,  all  nations  may  use  the  light  of  Heaven :  that, as  in  this  latter  age,  the  Creator  is  unfolding  in  His  creatures powers  which  had  long  lain  latent,  they  may  exert  them  in  the establishment  of  universal  freedom,  harmony,  and  peace:  may those  who  are  free  never  be  slaves :  may  those  who  are  slaves  be speedily  free". REPLY  TO  THE  PRECEDING  ADDRESS,  AND  THAT  OF  THE  SHEFFIELD  SOCIETIES, FROM  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  FRANCE,  CITIZEN GREGOIRE. "  Your  addresses  to  the  representatives  of  the  French  nation have  filled  them  with  pleasing  emotions.  In  imposing  on  me the  honourable  duty  of  a  reply,  they  make  me  regret  that  I  can but  imperfectly  express  what  all  with  so  much  energy  feel.  To have  the  honour  to  be  a  Frenchman  or  an  Englishman,  carries with  it  a  title  to  every  degree  of  mutual  affection  that  can  sub- sist among  men. "  The  curious  in  your  country  are  pleased  to  traverse  the  globe in  order  to  explore  nature ;  henceforth  they  can  visit  Mont  Blanc (Savoy)  without  quitting  France  ;  in  other  words,  without  leaving their  friends.  The  day  on  which  free  Savoy  unites  itself  wTith us,  and  that  on  which  children  of  high-minded  England  appear among  us,  are,  in  the  eye  of  reason,  days  of  triumph.  Nothing is  wanting  in  these  affecting  scenes  but  the  presence  of  all  Great Britain,   to  bear  testimony  to  the  enthusiasm  with  which  we  are FROM    NATIONAL    ASSEMBLY.  18") inspired  by  the  name  of  liberty,  and  that  of  the  people  with whom  we  are  about  to  form  eternal  alliance. "  The  National  Convention  has  wished  to  testify  its  satisfaction to  the  English,  in  decreeing  that  they  would  conduct  in  the  pre- sence of  some  of  them  the  trial  of  the  last  of  their  kings.  Sixty ages  have  elapsed  since  kings  first  made  war  on  liberty:  the most  miserable  pretexts  have  been  sufficient  for  them  to  spread trouble  over  the  Earth.  Let  us  recollect  with  horror  that  under the  reign  of  Anne,  the  falling  of  a  pair  of  gloves,  and  that  under Louis  XIV.,  a  window  opening  from  one  apartment  into  another, were  sufficient  causes  for  deluging  Europe  in  blood. "  Alas !  short  is  the  duration  prescribed  by  eternal  power  to our  weak  existence ;  and  shall  then  the  ferocious  ambition  of some  individuals  embitter  or  abridge  our  days  with  impunity? Yet  a  little  moment,  and  despots  and  their  cannons  shall  bo silenced :  philosophy  denounces  them  at  the  bar  of  the  universe, and  history,  sullied  with  their  crimes,  has  drawn  their  characters. Shortly  the  annals  of  mankind  will  be  those  of  virtue;  and  in  the j  records  of  France,  a  place  will  be  reserved  for  our  testimonies  of fraternity  with  the  British  and  Irish  societies,  but  especially  for the  Constitutional  Society  of  London. "  Doubtless  the  new  year  which  is  now  approaching  will  see all  your  rights  restored.  The  meeting  of  your  parliament  attracts our  attention.  We  hope  that  then  philosophy  will  thunder  by the  mouth  of  eloquence,  and  that  the  English  will  substitute  the great  charter  of  Nature  in  place  of  the  great  charter  of  King John. "  The  principles  upon  wdiich  our  own  republic  has  been founded,  have  been  discovered  by  the  celebrated  writers  of  your nation ;  we  have  taken  possession  of  their  discoveries  in  the social  art,  because  truths  revealed  to  the  world  are  the  property of  all  mankind.  A  people  which  has  brought  reason  to  maturity will  not  be  content  with  liberty  by  halves ;  it  will  doubtless  refuse to  capitulate  with  despotism. "  Generous  Britons !  let  us  associate  for  the  happiness  of  the human  race ;  let  us  destroy  every  prejudice ;  let  us  cause  useful knowledge  to  filter  through  every  branch  of  the  social  tree;  let  us inspire  our  equals  with  a  sense  of  their  dignity  ;  let  us  teach  them, above  all,  that  vices  are  the  inseparable  companions  of  slavery ; and  let  us  depend  upon  it,  that  our  efforts  will  be  favoured  by  the God  of  liberty,  who  weighs  the  destiny  of  empires,  and  holds  in His  hands  the  fate  of  nations". 18(3  REPLY    TO    ADDRESS. EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  BELFAST  ADDRESS  TO  TIIE  PEOPLE  OF  IRELAND. "  Trained  from  our  infancy  in  a  love  of  freedom  and  an  abhor- rence of  tyranny,  we  congratulate  our  brethren  of  France  and  our- selves, that  the  infamous  conspiracy  of  slaves  and  despots,  against the  happiness  and  glory  of  that  admired  and  respected  nation, and  against  the  common  rights  of  man,  has  hitherto  proved  abor- tive. "  Impressed  as  we  are  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  excellence  of our  constitution  as  it  exists  in  theory,  we  rejoice  that  we  are  not, like  our  brethren  in  France,  reduced  to  the  hard  necessity  of tearing  up  inveterate  abuse  by  the  roots,  even  where  utility  was so  intermixed  as  not  to  admit  of  separation.  Ours  is  an  easier and  a  less  unpleasing  task ;  to  remove  with  a  steady  and  a  tem- perate resolution,  the  abuses  which  the  lapse  of  many  years'  inat- tention and  supineness  in  the  great  body  of  the  people,  and  unre- mitting vigilance  in  their  rulers  to  invade  and  plunder  them  of their  rights,  have  suffered  to  overgrow  and  to  deform  that  beau- tiful system  of  government,  so  admirably  suited  to  our  situation, our  habits,  and  our  wishes.  We  have  not  to  innovate,  but  to restore.  The  just  prerogatives  of  our  monarch  we  respect  and will  maintain.  The  constitutional  power  of  the  peers  of  the  realm we  wish  not  to  invade.  We  know  that  in  the  exercise  of  both, abuses  have  grown  up ;  but  we  also  know  that  those  abuses  will be  at  once  corrected,  so  as  never  again  to  recur,  by  restoring  to us,  the  people,  what  we,  for  ourselves,  demand  as  our  right,  our due  weight  and  influence  in  that  estate,  which  is  our  property, the  representation  of  the  people  in  parliament. "  But  while  we  thus  state  our  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  re- form, we  feel  it  incumbent  upon  us  to  declare,  as  we  now  do,  that no  reform,  were  even  such  attainable,  would  answer  our  ideas  of utility  or  justice,  which  should  not  equally  include  all  sects  and denominations  of  Irishmen. "  We  have  now  declared  our  sentiments  to  the  world.  In  de- claring them,  we  spurn  with  equal  disdain,  restraint,  whether  pro- ceeding from  a  mob  or  a  monarch — from  a  riot  or  a  proclamation. We  look  with  a  mixture  of  abomination  and  contempt  on  the transactions  which,  on  the  last  anniversary  of  the  French  Revo- lution, degraded  the  national  character  of  England ;  when  neither the  learning,  the  piety,  the  public  spirit,  nor  the  private  virtue  of a  Priestley,  could  protect  him  from  the  savage  fury  of  the  vilest of  an  ignorant  and  a  bigoted  rabble". Reform  marched  onward  steadily  toward  revolution,  from  1792 to  1793  and  1794. VOLUNTEERS    AND    REFORM.  187 THE    DECLARATION    OF   THE    BELFAST    LIGHT    DRAGOONS. John  Burden  in  the  Chair. "  An  authentic  declaration  of  the  public  opinion  being  now necessary,  both  for  the  direction  of  the  legislature  and  the  people, and  as  the  country  is  not  yet,  we  trust,  so  far  degraded,  that  its unanimous  and  persevering  demands  upon  any  point  of  government, can  be  finally  unsuccessful :  We,  the  members  of  the  Belfast Light  Dragoons,  have  assembled,  in  order  to  declare  our  political sentiments,  viz: — "  I.  We  deem  that  a  government  by  a  King,  Lords,  and Commons,  the  Commons  being  freely  and  frequently  chosen  by the  people,  is  that  best  adapted  to  the  genius  of  this  country. "  II.  That  the  object  of  the  people  is  not  to  introduce,  but  to abolish  novelties,  such  as  venal  boroughs,  octennial  parliaments, and  pensioned  representatives ;  what  we  reprobate  is  new — what we  venerate  is  ancient. "III.  That  we  are  determined  to  continue  our  exertions, until  we  obtain  an  impartial  representation  of  all  the  people, ignorant  of  any  principle  by  which  a  religious  denomination should  be  excluded ;  nor  could  it  be  the  intention  of  our  an- cestors to  abridge  a  man  of  civil  freedom,  because  he  exercised religious  liberty. "  IV.  That  the  only  trusty  safeguard  of  a  country  is  an  armed and  disciplined  people ;  we  will,  therefore,  continue  embodied, and  in  the  use  of  arms,  until  we  shall  obtain  the  objects  of  our wishes ;  and  then  we  will  continue  in  arms  that  we  may  defend them. "  Hu.  MTlwain,  Sec.  B.L.D "  16th  January,  1793". EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    DECLARATION     OF    THE     FRIENDS    OF    PARLIAMENTARY REFORM  IN  BELFAST. 10th  Jan.  1793. Waddelt  Cunningham  in  the  Chair. "  Several  years  have  elapsed  since  many  of  the  wisest  and  best men  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  stimulated  their  country- men to  demand  a  Parliamentary  Reform,  under  a  conviction  that it  would  conduce  as  much  to  the  stability  of  government  as  to  the liberty  of  the  people.  Had  that  demand  been  unreasonable,  or that  reform  unnecessary,  both  would  long  since  have  been  forgot- ten or  remained  neglected.    But  that  demand  has  gained  strength 188  VOLUNTEERS  AND  REFORM. by  age,  and  the  people,  instead  of  being  lulled  into  indolence,  are in  danger  of  being  roused  into  fury. "  Those  honest  patriots  who  first  excited  the  people,  and  offered their  best  advice  to  government,  are  now  called  upon  to  remind and  forewarn  administration  of  the  consequences  of  their  for- mer supinencss  and  their  present  obstinacy.  They  also  exerted themselves  in  keeping  alive  some  respect  for  the  constitution,  and some  regard  to  peace,  together  with  hope  of  redress.  But  if  their exhortations  to  government  be  slighted,  they  feel  that  their  in- fluence with  the  people  will  be  equally  disregarded.  They  will then  be  reduced  to  a  dilemma,  which  cannot  long  hold  them  in suspense.  They  must  take  part  with  government,  or  they  must enlist  under  the  banners  of  the  public.  They  must  either  coope- rate in  establishing  a  tyranny  in  their  country,  or  rush  into  the intemperate  measures  of  an  indignant  multitude.  They  may  be obliged  to  renounce  an  infatuated  court,  or  to  meet  their  dearest relations  and  friends  in  arms.  Some  may  seek  a  remote  retreat, and  lament  in  silence  the  miseries  and  the  crimes  by  which  their native  land  shall  be  overwhelmed ;  but  the  more  numerous  and vigorous  party  will  assuredly,  after  struggling  in  vain  against  the torrent,  plunge  into  the  flood  of  civil  contest.  They  may  endea- vour to  regulate  its  course  and  moderate  its  rage ;  but  they  will give  it  strength  and  perseverance.  They  will  not  be  found  among the  least  formidable  enemies  or  the  least  active  patriots. "  We  wish  not  to  insinuate  that  there  exists  at  present  any party  hostile  to  a  peaceable  settlement.  If  there  be,  we  know  it  not. But  this  we  know,  that  the  public  mind  is  m  a  ferment;  that  the public  arm  is  strong ;  and  that  the  most  desperate  proposals  may speedily  become  the  most  grateful. "  We,  therefore,  who  have  always  sought  for  reform  within the  limits  of  the  constitution,  and  studied  to  combine  liberty  with peace,  have  determined  not  to  slacken  our  exertions  for  the attainment  of  the  one  and  the  preservation  of  the  other.  We have  resolved  that,  whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the  present crisis,  we  shall  be  blameless ;  and  that  neither  our  rulers  nor  our fellow-subjects  shall  have  cause  to  accuse  us  either  of  intemperance or  remissness.  But  we  must  at  the  same  time  solemnly  declare, that  if  the  just  demands  of  the  people  be  despised,  those  who  refuse and  those  who  resist  redress  will  be  answerable  to  posterity,  to their  country,  and  to  God,  for  all  the  crimes  and  calamities  that may  follow. "  In  order  to  avert  these  evils  as  much  as  in  us  lies,  by  promot- ing the  objects  recited  above,  we  have  associated  under  the  title of  the  Friends  of  a  Parliamentary  Reform,  and  have  drawn  up the  following  fundamental  principles,  in  the  hopes  that  all  who  ap- VOLUNTEERS  AND  REFORM.  189 prove  of  their  spirit  will  follow  our  example,  by  forming  societies of  the  same  kind. "  Principles. "  I.  A  constitution,  composed  of  the  King,  Lords,  and  People, the  latter  fully  and  equally  represented  in  a  House  of  Commons, we  prefer  to  every  other,  as  admirably  suited  to  the  genius,  wishes, and  interests  of  Ireland. "  II.  The  present  mode  of  representation  is  absurd,  unequal, and  inadequate,  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  our  own,  and  of  every free  government. "  III.  We  assert  that  the  basis  of  election  should  be  extended to  the  people  of  every  religious  denomination. "  With  a  constitution  so  modelled  as  to  restore  the  just  rights of  the  collective  body,  without  infringing  on  the  prerogative  of  the crown  or  on  the  dignity  of  the  peerage,  we  think  this  nation, whose  loyalty  has  ever  kept  pace  with  its  love  of  freedom,  will  be satisfied  and  rest  content". AT  A  MEETING  OF  THE  THIRD  SOCIETY  OF   UNITED   IRISHMEN,  IN   THE  TOWN  OF BELFAST,    3RD  OCTOBER,  1792. Mr.  Clotworthy  Birnie  in  the  Chair. The  declaration  was  agreed  to,  from  which  the  following  ex- tracts are  taken. "  Associated,  as  we  are,  for  the  purpose  of  producing  an  union of  interest  and  affection  among  all  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  we abhor  the  idea  of  withholding  from  our  Roman  Catholic  brethren their  civil  and  religious  rights,  at  the  time  that  we  would  wish  to enjoy  those  rights  ourselves. "  We  are  persuaded  that  the  religion  of  any  man,  and  his  poli- tics, are  not  necessarily  connected :  on  the  contrary,  that  the  for- mer ought  not  to  have  any  connection  with  the  latter.  In  a  civil view  there  undoubtedly  is  a  communion  of  interests  and  rights, and  every  individual  who  contributes  to  the  support  of  the  state, ought  to  have  a  voice  in  framing  the  laws  which  regulate  that state.  But  religion  is  personal ;  the  individual  alone  accountable ; we,  therefore,  deem  it  impious  to  intrude  between  his  conscience and  that  Almighty  Being  who  alone  knoweth  his  heart. "  We  assert  that  the  right  of  petitioning  in  the  subject,  of whatever  denomination,  is  not  only  natural,  but  perfectly  agree- able to  the  spirit  of  our  constitution ;  and  we  confess  ourselves  ig- norant of  any  mode  by  which  our  Catholic  brethren  could  have so  peaceably  collected  and  expressed  their  sentiments  as  by  dele- gation". 190  MILITARY    RAID If  the  reader  be  struck  with  surprise  at  the  influence  of  French  ! politics  on  the  minds  of  the  Belfast  leaders  in  some  of  the  preceding documents — at  the  extravagant  hopes  founded  on  the  revolution  I in  that  country — at  the   extraordinary  excitement  displayed  by its  admirers,  in  their  fantastic  celebration  of  its  victories,  or  the  I anniversary  of  its  outbreak — he  cannot  fail  likewise  to  have  been  ' struck,  even  in  despite  of  the  extravagance  manifested  on  some  i occasions,  at  the  exhibition  of  talent  and  enthusiasm  in  the  cause of  reform  on  the  part  of  its  first  advocates ;  and  especially  when he  examines  the  discussions  and  proceedings    of  those  men  of of  the  movement  party  of  1793  and   1794,  at  their  enlightened views  on  the  subject  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  were  then so  much  in  advance  of  the  opinions  of  their  countrymen.     The policy  was  worthier  of  the  Grand  Vizier  of  Constantinople  than of  the  British  minister,  which  made  rebels  of  many  of  those  men wdio  then  advocated  the  questions  of  reform  and  emancipation. ACCOUNT  FROM  THE  "BELFAST  NEWSLETTER"  OF  A  MILITARY  RIOT  IN  BELFAST, ON  SATURDAY,  9TH  OF  MARCH,  1793. "  About  three  quarters  of  an  hour  after  six  o'clock  in  the  even- ing, a  body  of  the  17th  Dragoons,  intermixed  with  a  few  others of  the  military,  rushed  out  from  their  quarters,  and  drove furiously  through  most  of  the  principal  streets,  with  their  sabres drawn,  cutting  at  any  one  that  came  in  their  way,  and  attacking houses.  This  lasted  near  an  hour,  when,  through  the  interference of  magistrates  and  some  military  officers,  the  party  were  dispersed. In  the  course  of  this  business,  the  windows  of  a  number  of  the inhabitants  were  broken,  and  some  signs  torn  down.  A  great number  of  persons  were  slightly  wounded,  who  had  taken  no part  in  the  affray.  Charles  Ranken,  Esq.,  a  justice  of  peace  for the  county  of  Antrim,  in  endeavouring  to  take  an  artilleryman, and  after  commanding  his  Majesty's  peace  by  virtue  of  his  office, wras  repeatedly  stabbed  at,  and  in  a  slight  degree  wounded.  Mr. Campbell,  surgeon,  happening  to  be  in  a  street  through  which the  party  were  driving,  one  of  them  ran  across  it,  and  made several  cuts  at  him,  some  of  which  penetrated  through  his  clothes and  slightly  wounded  him.  The  windows  of  a  milliner's  shop were  broken,  in  which  cockades  were  hung  up  for  sale.  A  man had  his  ear  and  his  hand  cut  with  a  sword.  Happily  no  lives were  lost,  and  to  the  prudence  and  quiet  demeanour  of  the  towns- people it  was  owing. "The  houses  which  suffered  most  were  those  of  Mr.  M'Cabe, watchmaker ;  Mr.  Orr,  chandler ;  Mr.  Watson,  on  the  Quay ;  Mr. Johnson  and  Mr.  Sinclair,  public-house  keepers  in  North  Street; IN    BELFAST.  191 :  and  the  shop  of  Miss  Wills,  a  milliner,  in  High  Street.  Their malice  seemed  principally  levelled  at  the  Volunteers.  Two  of the  dragoons  received  ample  punishment  from  the  swords  of  their officers.     The  consternation  of  the  town  may  be  easily  supposed. "Twocauses  have  been  assigned  for  this  unprovoked  disturbance : viz.,  that  there  was  a  sign  of  Dumurier  at  a  small  public-house in  North  Street;  and  that  a  blind  fiddler  who  plays  through  the streets  at  night,  happened  to  be  playing  Ca  Ira,  a  French  air. With  respect  to  the  sign,  it  was  erected  before  there  was  any prospect  of  a  war  with  France,  and  the  circumstance  of  its being  there  could  not  be  countenanced  by  the  people,  for  few  had ever  heard  of  it  till  the  riot  brought  it  into  notice.  As  to  the tune  played  by  a  blind  mendicant,  it  is  too  trifling  a  cause  to be  seriously  mentioned,  though  he  deposed  on  oath  that  he  never knew  the  tune  in  question. "  As  soon  as  intelligence  of  the  riot  reached  the  officers  of  the troops  at  the  barrack  mess,  they  used  much  activity  in  suppress- ing it.  Great  praise  is  due  to'  the  exertions  of  the  magistrates ; but  the  rapidity  with  which  the  party  forced  their  way  through the  town,  made  it  impracticable  to  suppress  it  till  the  injury  was done.  The  gentleman  who  commands  the  regiment  now  in  bar- racks, Captain  M'Donnel,  signalized  himself  by  the  most  active exertions ;  and  his  regiment,  the  55th,  behaved  extremely  well. The  circumstance  of  General  Whyte's  absence  on  other  necessary duty,  was  much  regretted ;  but  he  returned  to  town  instantly  on hearing  of  the  matter.  A  guard  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  Volun- teers sat  up  during  the  night,  and  no  farther  harm  ensued. "  On  Sunday,  the  Sovereign,  by  request,  called  a  meeting of  the  town  at  three  o'clock,  to  consider  of  the  best  means of  preserving  the  peace,  and  bringing  the  offenders  to  punish- ment. In  the  mean  time,  Major-General  Whyte  had  arrived from  Carrickfergus,  and  gave  assurances  of  his  earnest  de- sire to  cooperate  with  the  civil  power  in  bringing  the  offenders to  punishment,  and  promoting  the  security  and  peace  of  the  town. A  committee  was  appointed  by  the  town  meeting  to  inquire  into the  cause  of  the  disturbances,  and  report  to  a  future  one,  to  be convened  by  them  as  soon  as  their  report  was  ready.  This  com- mittee consisted  of  twenty-two,  amongst  whom  were  the  Sove- reign, High  Constable,  and  all  the  magistrates  resident  in  town. This  committee,  according  to  instruction,  sat  at  a  quarter  past  six on  Sunday  evening.  General  Whyte  was  invited  to  attend  as  a member,  which  he  seemed  rather  to  decline,  but  desired  an  inter- view with  the  committee,  to  whom  he  repeated  his  good  wishes for  the  peace  of  the  town,  and  expressed  his  wish  and  his  reasons for  desiring  that  the  Volunteers  who  were  assembled,  to  the  num- 192  MILITARY    RAID ber  of  four  hundred  and  fifty,  would  disperse,  as  he  had  ordered a  patrol  of  officers,  and  a  strong  guard  of  the  55th  regiment,  who have  always  behaved  with  great  order  and  regularity,  and  at the  same  time  pledged  himself  to  call  upon  the  inhabitants, and  join  them  himself,  if  any  necessity  required  it.  A  depu- tation was  immediately  sent  from  the  committee  to  the  Volunteers, with  a  paper  stating  these  facte,  and  requesting  them  to  separate, which  they  instantly  complied  Avith. "  Saturday  night,  May  25, 1703,  exhibited  another  of  those  mili- tary affrays  to  which  this  town  has  been  subjected  for  some  time past.  We  do  not  wish  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  violences  com- mitted; suffice  it  to  say,  that  some  of  the  inhabitants  were  danger- ously wounded,  none  mortally.  Mr.  Birnie,  who  received  a  stab  in his  back,  and  was  otherwise  much  hurt,  is  in  a  fair  way  of  recovery. "  It  is  generally  believed  Mr.  Birnie  would  have  been  killed,  had it  not  been  for  the  spirited  exertions  of  Captain  Barber  and  Lieu- tenant George,  in  aid  of  the  Sovereign. "  On  Monday  evening,  the  15  th  of  April,  about  eight  o'clock,  a party  of  the  artillery  and  38th  regiment,  who  had  arrived  in  this town  on  Friday  last,  attacked  a  sign  of  the  late  Doctor  Franklin, which,  being  made  of  copper  and  hung  with  iron,  had  withstood the  sabres  of  the  17th  dragoons,  but  on  this  occasion  was  laid prostrate  by  the  assistance  of  a  rope.  They  then  attacked  and pulled  down  the  sign  over  the  newspaper  office  of  the  Northern Star.  What  their  next  enterprise  would  have  been  we  know not ;  but  at  this  period  the  arrival  of  the  Sovereign  and  a  num- ber of  their  officers,  put  a  stop  to  the  evening's  amusement.  The signs,  which  had  been  removed  to  some  distance,  were  abandoned to  their  proper  owners,  and  immediately  replaced.  None  of  the inhabitants  were  hurt  on  the  occasion. The  lettting  loose  of  the  military  on  the  inhabitants  of  Belfast, was  tantamount  to  a  declaration  of  war,  with  their  political  socie- ties and  their  volunteer  members  and  promoters. The  "Volunteers"  in  1793  intimated  plainly  the  objects  they had  in  view  would  be  accomplished  by  force  if  necessary.  The lawyers' corps  adopted  the  motto,  "Inter  arma  leges";  another corps  took  the  name  of  National  Guards,  and  placed  on  their  ban- ners the  significant  device  of  a  harp  without  a  crown.  The Maghera  corps,  in  1792,  had  made  a  declaration  of  their  political sentiments,  in  which  they  stated  that  "  they  would  not  be  deterred from  their  duty  until  their  country  should  taste  the  sweets  of freedom,  and  they  plucked  the  fruit  from  the  tree  of  liberty". One  of  the  last  memorable  acts  of  the  Irish  Whig  Club  was  the presentation  to  the  crown  of  a  petition  (known  to  be  drawn  up  by Mr.  Grattan)  to  the  King,  setting  forth  the  various  acts  of  oppres- THE    BOROUGH    PARLIAMENT.  193 sion  and  injustice  on  the  part  of  several  administrations  in  Ire- land, from  1792  to  1798.     In  tins  admirable  document  the  recent rebellion  is  clearly  and  irrefragably  shown  to  be  the  result  of  their measures:  the  dishonour  brought  on  both  houses  so  early  as  1792, by  the    scandalously  open  and  shamefully   avowed  sale  of  the peerage  to  procure  seats  in  the  Commons ;  the  people's  confidence in  parliament  destroyed ;  the  unconstitutional  nature  of  the  act of  33  George  III.,  to  prevent  what  was  called  unlawful  assemblies of  the  people  under  pretence  of  preparing  petitions  or  other  ad- dresses to  the  crown  or  the  parliament ;  the  rigour  of  the  Gunpow- der and  Convention  Bills  in  1793;  the  persecutions  of  the  people on  the  part  of  the  Orangemen  in  the  north,  sanctioned  and  pro- tected in  1790  by  a  bill  of  indemnity;  the  partiality  exhibited in  the  resolutions  brought  forward  in  the  House  of  Commons  by the  Attorney-General  in  that  year,  as  a  kind  of  supplement  to  his Insurrection  Act,  wherein  all  the  disturbances  of  the  four  preceding i  years  are  ascribed  to  the  Defenders,  and  not  a  syllable  is  men- j  tioned  of  the  atrocities  of  the  Peep-of-Day  Boys,  committed  on I  the  people,  who,  having  no  protection  to  look  to  from  the  law, !  were  compelled,  in  self-defence,  to  resist  their  exterminators;  the suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Bill,  in  1797  ;  the  extreme  seve- i  rity  of  military  government ;  Lord  Carhampton's  wholesale  trans- i  portation   of  the   people,   without  trial   or  legal  proof  of  guilt ; !  General  Lake's  death-denouncing  proclamation;  the  free  quarters j  in  the  country ;  the  proscription  of  the  Catholics ;  the  burning  of j  their  dwellings  and  their  chapels ;  and  lastly,  in  a  country  where I  female  chastity  was  held  in  the  highest  respect,  the  licentious- t  ness  of  the   military  rabble,   who,  in   the  words  of  their  com- !  mander-in-chief,  at  a  later  period,  were  "formidable  to  all  except ;the  enemy". These  are  the  topics  which  are  treated  of  in  this  able  document ; and  it  is  impossible  to  bestow  our  attention  on  them,  without coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  people  were  deliberately  exas- perated and  driven  into  rebellion,  with  a' view  of  breaking  down the  energies  of  the  country,  and  thus  enabling  the  British  minis- ter to  accomplish  the  long-projected  measure  of  the  Union. It  would  betray  a  disposition  to  mislead,  or  a  state  of  mind  apt and  indolently  willing  to  be  misled,  to  consider  the  origin  of  the confederacy  of  the  United  Irishmen,  and  the  nature  of  their  de- signs, without  reference  to  the  constitution  of  the  Irish  Parlia- ment, and  the  actual  condition  of  the  country  in  regard  to  repre- sentation, and  the  enjoyment,  or  reasonable  prospect  of  enjoy- ment, of  political,  civil,  and  religious  privileges,  by  the  great  mass of  the  people,  or  the  middle  class,  which  comprised  in  its  several ranks  the  active  energies,  industrial,  commercial,  and  professional vol.  i.  14 : 194  THE    BOROUGH    PARLIAMENT. intellectuality  of  the  communities  in  towns  and  cities,  at  the  pe- riod of  the  formation  of  the  first  society  of  United  Irishmen. In  the  numerous  works  devoted  to  the  subject  of  Irish  Parlia-  , mentary  independence,   it  is  very  strange  how  this  subject  has  ; been  allowed  to  pass  unnoticed,  or  rather  how  sedulously  it  has been  avoided. A  very  remarkable,  authentic,  and  most  complete  document,  J entitled,  "  Table  of  Parliamentary  Patronage  for  Ireland,  1793",  is  j to  be  found  in  a  periodical  of  great  merit  in  its  day,  The  Antholo- , gia  Hibernica,  for  October,  1793,  p.  268.  This  valuable  docu- ment, lost  sight  of  as  it  now  is  in  an  obsolete  publication,  it  isj well  to  reproduce,  for  the  important  facts  which  are  concealed  j beneath  it  are  of  marvellous  significance;  they  speak  more  than many  volumes  that  have  been  written,  of  a  state  of  parliamentary; corruption  and  degradation  unparallelled  in  parliamentary  history. We  find  by  this  document  that  the  number  of  members  re- turned to  the  Irish  parliament  by  peers  was  one  hundred  and, thirty-four  ! !  and  the  number  of  members  who  owed  their  seats? to  the  patronage  and  influence  of  commoners  was  ninety-four !  ! ! so  that  in  the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  which  in  the  year  1793,; consisted  of  three  hundred  members  {one  hundred  and  ninety-\ six  of  whom  were  returned  for  ninety-eight  boroughs),  no  less  than; two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  members  were  returned  either  by', peers,  nominated  by  them,  or  ivho  obtained  their  seats  by  the  influA ence  of  patrons;  and  the  remaining  independent  seventy-two  mem-t bers,  as  well  as  the  others,  represented  Protestant  constituencies exclusively,  the  great  mass  of  the  population,  who  were  Catholics,, being  wholly  unrepresented  in  the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  when! that  parliament  assembled  on  the  10th  of  January,  1793. "  The  Table  of  Parliamentary  Patronage  for  Ireland,  1793",  is] the  more  reliable  on  account  of  the  politics  of  the  writer  whoj communicates  it.  He  declares  himself  strenuously  opposed  to reform,  and  deprecates  any  extension  of  the  franchise  or  change  in the  existing  system  of  representation,  as  an  innovation  sure  to  lead to  anarchy  and  confusion.  This  remarkable  document  will  be, found  in  the  Appendix. Such  another  witness  as  the  person  who  prepared  the  "  Table] of  Parliamentary  Patronage  of  Ireland  in  1793",  is  Lord  Chan- cellor Clare,  a  few  years  later  in  his  place  in  parliament. Lord  Clare,  in  his  celebrated  speech  on  the  Irish  Union,  said:; "  Cromwell's  first  act  was  to  collect  all  the  native  Irish  who  had survived  the  general  desolation  and  remained  in  the  country,  and to  transplant  them  into  the  province  of  Connaught,  which  had been  completely  depopulated  and  laid  waste  in  the  progress  oi the  rebellion.     They  were  ordered  to  retire  there  by  a  certain Cromwell's  "  pale".  195 day,  and  forbidden  to  repass  the  river  Shannon  on  pain  of  death ; and  this  sentence  of  deportation  was  rigorously  enforced  until  the Restoration.  Their  ancient  possessions  were  seized  and  given  up to  the  conquerors,  as  were  the  possessions  of  every  man  who  had taken  part  in  the  rebellion,  or  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  king after  the  murder  of  Charles  I.  And  this  whole  fund  was  distri- buted amongst  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  Cromwell's  army,  in satisfaction  of  the  arrears  of  their  pay,  and  adventurers  who  had advanced  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war.  And  thus  a new  colony  of  new  settlers,  composed  of  the  various  sects  which then  infested  England, — Independents,  Anabaptists,  Seceders, Brownists,  Socinians,  Millinarians,  and  dissenters  of  every  descrip- tion, many  of  them  infected  with  the  leaven  of  democracy,  poured into  Ireland,  and  were  put  in  possession  of  the  ancient  inheritance of  its  inhabitants.  And  I  speak  with  great  personal  respect  of  the •men,  when  I  state  that  a  very  considerable  portion  of  the  opulence and  power  of  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  centres  at  this  day  in  the descendents  of  this  motley  collection  of  English  adventurers. "  It  seems  evident  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the  declaration  made by  Charles  II.  at  his  restoration,  that  a  private  stipulation  had been  made  by  Monck,  in  favour  of  Cromwell's  soldiers  and  adven- turers, who  had  been  put  into  possession  of  the  confiscated  lands in  Ireland ;  and  it  would  have  been  an  act  of  gross  injustice  on the  part  of  the  king  to  have  overlooked  their  interests.  The  civil war  of  1641  was  a  rebellion  against  the  Crown  of  England,  and the  complete  reduction  of  the  Irish  rebels  by  Cromwell  redounded essentially  to  the  advantage  of  the  British  empire.  But  admitting the  principle  in  its  fullest  extent,  it  is  impossible  to  defend  the Acts  of  Settlement  and  Explanation,  by  which  it  was  carried  into effect;  and  I  could  wish  that  the  modern  asserters  of  Irish  dig- nity and  independence  would  take  the  trouble  to  read  and  under- stand them. "  I  will  not  detain  the  house  with  a  minute  detail  of  the  provi- sions of  this  act,  thus  passed  for  the  settlement  of  Ireland ;  but  I wish  gentlemen  who  call  themselves  the  dignified  and  independent Irish  nation,  to  know  that  seven  million  eight  hundred  thousand lacres  of  land  were  set  out,  under  the  authority  of  this  act,  to  a jmotley  crew  of  English  adventurers,  civil  and  military,  nearly  to jthe  total  exclusion  of  the  old  inhabitants  of  the  island ;  many  of iwhoin  were  innocent  of  the  rebellion,  lost  their  inheritance,  as  well Ifor  the  difficulties  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Court  of  Claims  in jthe  proofs  required  of  their  innocence,  as  from  a  deficiency  in  the jfund  for  reprisal  to  English  adventurers,  arising  principally  from !a  profuse  grant  made  by  the  crown  to  the  Duke  of  York ;  and  the (parliament  of  Ireland  having  made  this  settlement  of  the  island  in 1**6  CONFISCATIONS. effect  on  themselves,  granted  an  hereditary  revenue  to  the  crown. It  is  a  subject  of  curious  and  important  speculation  to  look  back to  the  forfeitures  of  Ireland,  incurred  in  the  last  century.  The superficial  contents  of  the  island  are  calculated  at  11,420,082 acres.     Let  us  now  examine  the  state  of  forfeitures : — Confiscated  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  the whole  of  the  province  of  Ulster,  con- taining, acres,  ....     2,836,837 Set  out  by  the  Court  of  Claims  at  the Restoration,  acres,    ....     7,800,000 Forfeitures  of  1688,  acres    .         .  .     1,060,792 Total,         .         .         .  11,697,629 "  So  that  the  whole  of  your  island  has  been  confiscated,  with  the exception  of  the  estates  of  five  or  six  old  families  of  English blood,  some  of  whom  had  been  attainted  in  the  reign  of  Henry VIII.,  but  recovered  their  possessions  before  Tyrone's  rebellion, and  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  the  pillage  of  the  English republic  inflicted  by  Cromwell;  and  no  inconsiderable  portion  of the  island  has  been  confiscated  twice,  or  perhaps  thrice,  in  the course  of  a  century.  The  situation,  therefore,  of  the  Irish  nation at  the  Revolution,  stands  unparallelled  in  the  history  of  the  inha- bited world. "  What,  then,  was  the  situation  of  Ireland  at  the  Revolution? and  what  is  it  at  this  day  ?  The  whole  power  and  property  of the  country  has  been  conferred  by  successive  monarchs  of  Eng- land upon  an  English  colony,  composed  of  three  sets  of  adven- turers, who  poured  into  this  country  at  the  termination  of  three successive  rebellions.  Confiscation  is  their  common  title ;  and from  the  first  settlement,  they  have  been  hemmed  in  on  every side  by  the  old  inhabitants  of  the  island,  brooding  over  their  dis- contents in  sullen  indignation". This  state  of  things  in  Ireland  has  to  be  taken  into  account before  we  pronounce  a  sweeping  judgment  on  the  desperate course  adopted  by  the  United  Irishmen,  or  wonder  at  the  conduct of  certain  Catholic  prelates  in  Ireland  in  1799  and  1800,  who  were not  prepared  to  take  their  stand  by  the  side  of  the  advocates  of parliamentary  independence.  We  may  also  read  in  the  Memoirs of  Lord  Castlereagh  (vols.  I.  and  II.  passim),  and  in  those  ofGrat- tan,  with  feelings,  perhaps,  of  more  pain  than  surprise,  "that  in  the hopes  of  obtaining  from  a  British  parliament,  that  which  the  Irish parliament  had,  so  much  to  its  cost,  refused,  four  metropolitan and  six  diocesan  Catholic   bishops,   who   had   been  led  to  give PENAL  LAWS — THEIR  BEARING  ON  THE  UNION.  197 tlieir  countenance  to  the  Union,  were  Induced,  through  the  in- trigues of  Lord  Castlereagh,  to  sign  resolutions  in  favour  of  a royal  veto  in  the  appointment  of  those  prelates".* The  following  letter  of  a  very  remarkable  man,  will  throw  some light  on  the  subject: — Extract  from  a  Letter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hussey  to  Bernard Clinch,  Esq. "London,  January  10 (no  year,  probably  1800). •  •  •  •  "  As  to  your  union,  whatever  my  reason  may  tell me  upon  a  cool  inquiry,  my  feelings  rejoice  at  it.  I  told  the Chancellor  of  your  Exchequer  here,  that  I  would  prefer  a  union with  the  Beys  and  Mamelukes  of  Egypt  to  that  of  being  under the  iron  rod  of  the  Mamelukes  of  Ireland ;  but,  alas !  I  fear  that a  union  will  not  remedy  the  ills  of  poor  Erin.  The  remnants  of old  oppression  and  new  opinions  that  lead  to  anarchy  (to  use  the jwordsofa  foolish  milk-and-water  letter),  still  keep  the  field  of [battle,  and  until  one  side  be  defeated,  the  country  is  not  safe. [Another  project  upon  which  I  have  been  consulted,  is,  to  grant isalaries,  or  pension,  to  the  Catholic  clergy  of  the  higher  and llower  order.  The  conditions  upon  which  they  are  to  be  granted, jas  first  proposed  to  me,  are  directly  hostile  to  the  interests  of [religion,  and,  taken  in  the  most  favourable  point  of  view,  must ibe  detrimental  to  the  Catholics,  by  cutting  asunder  the  slender jremaining  ties  between  the  pastor  and  his  flock,  by  turning  the jdiscipline  and  laws  of  the  Church  into  a  mercantile,  political [speculation,  and  must  end  in  making  the  people  unbelievers,  and [Consequently  Jacobins  upon  the  French  scale.  Whether  the prelates  of  Ireland  have  courage  or  energy  enough  to  oppose  any jsuch  project  so  hurtful  to  religion,  I  will  not  say.  Indeed,  the infernal  Popery  laws  have  lessened  the  courage  of  the  clergy, as  well  as  destroyed  the  honesty  and  morals  of  the  people,  and my  affection  for  my  native  land  is  not  so  effaced  as  to  enable  me to  say  with  our  countryman  after  he  had  gone  to  bed,  '  Arrah, let  the  house  burn  away ;  what  do  I  care,  who  am  only  a  lodger  ?' I  request  you  will  write  to  me  by  post,  as  long  and  as  minutely as  your  avocations  will  permit.  How  many  students  have  you? Why  do  all  the  children  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  come  over  to school  here,  and  to  very  indifferent  schools,  too,  instead  of  going to  yours?  They  will  soon  become  as  stupid  and  as  prejudiced as  English  Catholics. "  Yours  faithfully, "T.  HUSSEY". *  "  Grat tan's  Memoirs",  vol.  v.,  875. 198        GRATTAN  ON  THE  BOROUGH  PARLIAMENT. Grattan,  in  Ins  valedictory  address  to  his  constituents  in  1797, carried  away  by  the  force  of  circumstances  and  his  feelings  of  j bitter  disappointment  with  respect  to  the  constitution  of  Ireland,  : proclaims  the  lamentable  conviction  he  had  come  to,  that  there  j was  no  soundness,  no  effective  power  for  good,  no  principle  of  j patriotism,  existing  in  the  Irish  parliament. "  The  greater  part  of  the  Irish  boroughs  were  creations  by  the house  of  Stewart,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  modelling  and  sub-  j verting   the    parliamentary    constitution    of    Ireland:    these    are  | understated  when  they  are  called  abuses  in  the  constitution ;  they  | were  gross  and  monstrous  violations,  recent   and  wicked  inno-  j vations,  and  fatal  usurpations  in  the  constitution,  by  kings  whose family  lost  their  kingdom  for  crimes  less  deadly  to  freedom,  and who,  in  their  Star  Chamber  tyranny,  in  their  court  of  high  com-  ] mission,  in  their  ship  money,  or  in  their  dispensing  power,  did not  commit  an  act  so  diabolical  in  intention,  so  mortal  in  prin- ciple, or  so  radically  subversive  of  the  fundamental  rights  of  the realm,  as  the  fabrication  of  boroughs,  which  is  the  fabrication  of a  court  parliament,  and  the  exclusion  of  a  constitutional  com-  j, mons,  and  which  is  a  subversion,  not  of  the  fundamental  laws,  j| but   of  the   constitutional  law-giver;  you  banish  that  family  fori other  acts,  but  you  retain  that  act  by  which  you  have  banished the  commons.     The  birth  of  the  borough  inundation   was  the destruction    of    liberty   and    property.      James    I.,    who    made  . that  inundation,  by  that  means  destroyed  the  titles  of  his  Irish subjects  to  their  lands;  the  robbery  of  his  liberty  was  followed by  the  robbery  of  his  property.     This  king  had  an  instrument more  subtile  and  more  pliable  than  the  sword,  and,  against  the liberty  of  the  subject,  more  cold  and  deadly;  a  court  influence that  palls   itself  in  the  covering  of  the  constitution,  and  in  her' name  plants  the  dagger — a  Borough  Parliament".*' Lord  Fitzwilliam,  in  a  letter  to  Plowden,  the  historian,  dated 26th  Sept,  1803,  observes:  "  This  work  has  brought  before  the public  this  truth,  little  known  and  little  thought  of,  that  the Irish  nation  has  consisted  of  two  distinct  and  separate  people,  the  i English  and  the  native  Irish,  the  conqueror  and  the  conquered; and  that  this  distinction  has  been  systematically  and  industriously kept  up,  not  by  the  animosity  of  the  conquered,  but  by  the policy  of  the  conqueror". f The  janissaries  of  this  system  of  government,  the  ascendency faction  of  Ireland,   are   thus   characterized  by   Grattan,    in  his *  Grattan's  valedictory  address,  quoted  in  the  speech  of  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl of  Clare,  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  Ireland,  on  the Union,  February  10,  1800. +  "  Grattan's  Life",  by  his  Son,  vol.  v.,  p.  235. OBJECT  AND  DESIGN  OF  THIS  WORK.  199 well-known  letter,  dated  from  Twickenham,  November  9,  1798, referring  to  "  that  Irish  faction  which  stands  at  the  head  of  a bloody  combination" : — "  I  look  on  them  as  the  cause  of  every  evil  that  has  of  late fallen  on  their  country.      I  protest  that  I  do  not  know  a  faction which,  considering  the  very  small  measure  of  their  credit  and ability,  has  done  so   much   mischief  to  their  king  and  country. They  opposed  the  restoration  of  the  constitution  of  Ireland ;  they afterwards  endeavoured  to  betray  and  undermine  it ;  they  intro- !  duced  a  system  of  corruption   unknown  in  the  annals  of  parlia- ;  ment.     They  then  proclaimed  that  corruption  so  loudly,  so  scan- I  dalously,  and  so  broadly,  that  one  of  them  was  obliged  to  deny !  in  one  house  the  notorious   expressions  he  had  used  in  another. \  They  accompanied  these  offences  by  an  abominable  petulance  of i  invective,  uttered  from  time  to  time  against  the  great  body  of  the people  of  Ireland ;  and  having,  by  •  such  proceedings  and  such discourse,  lost  their   affection,  they  resorted  to  a  system  of  coer- cion to  support  a  system  of  torture,  attendant  on  a  conspiracy  of which  their  crimes  was  the  cause ;  and  now  their  country  displays a  most  extraordinary  contest,  when  an  Englishman  at  the  head of  its  government  struggles  to  spare  the  Irish  people,  and  an  Irish faction  presses  to  shed  their  blood.     I  repeat  it,  I  do  not  know  a faction  more  dangerous,  more  malignant,  or  more  sanguinary". CHAPTER  VIII. THE  FIRST  DESIGNS  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN  WERE  DIRECTED  MAINLY  TO REFORM  AND  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  THE  ASCENDENCY  FACTION.  HAPPY WOULD  IT  HAVE  BEEN  FOR  THEM  AND  THEIR  COUNTRY,  IF  THEIR  EFFORTS HAD    NOT   EXTENDED    FARTHER. (The  political  convulsions  which  agitated  Europe  at  the  close  of (the  last  and   the  commencement  of  the   present  century,   have !  passed  from  the  turmoil  of  cotemporary  events,  to  take  their  place for  ever  in  the  sober  records  of  history.     The  shadows,  clouds, !  and  darkness,  which  the  heat  of  -passions,  the  fury  of  parties,  and the  violence  of  selfish  interest,  threw  around  every  event  of  that period,  have  been  dissipated  and  dispelled  since  the  passions  have cooled,  the  parties  disappeared,  and  the  interests  dwindled  away, which  were  then  predominant.     England  can  do  justice  to  the reformers  of  1794;  can  bear  to  have  their  merits  shown  and  their errors  displayed.     Scotland  has   already   enrolled   the   names  of 200  THE  OBJECT  AND  DESIGN Muir  and  Palmer  in  the  list  of  those  who  have  loved  their  coun- try "  not  wisely,  but  too  well".  It  remained  that  the  history  of the  United  Irishmen  should  be  written  fearlessly  and  fairly;  that the  wrongs  by  which  they  were  goaded  to  resistance,  the  nature of  the  political  evils  they  desired  to  remove,  the  good  at  which they  aimed,  and  the  errors  into  which  they  were  betrayed,  should be  inquired  into  and  set  forth. However  party  writers  may  labour  to  distort  events,  sooner  or later  facts  will  make  themselves  known,  and  show  their  strength in  their  original  dimensions.  It  is  well  that  men  of  the  present generation  should  know  how  few  are  the  years  which  suffice  to wither  away  the  veil  which  corruption  and  venality  or  treachery have  had  drawn  over  their  delinquencies ;  how  soon  the  sons  may be  compelled  to  blush  for  their  fathers'  deeds,  and  destined  to suffer  for  them.  Faction  is  proverbially  short-sighted ;  but  in Ireland  it  seems  to  be  stone-blind — neither  enlightened  by  the past,  nor  speculating  on  the  future. To  elucidate  a  period  of  Irish,  or  rather  British  history,  which the  most  unscrupulous  of  all  factions  has  made  a  favourite  subject of  its  mendacious  productions,  has  been  the  great  object  of  the writer  of  these  volumes.  Setting  out  with  a  determination  "  to extenuate  nought,  and  to  set  down  nought  in  malice",  he  has  de- voted  time,  labour,  and  expense,  to  the  task  of  collecting  docu- ments, which,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  must  soon  have been  lost  irrevocably, — documents  from  which  any  reasonable reader,  unprejudiced  by  party,  may  be  able  to  form  a  correct estimate  of  the  motives  and  actions  of  men  who  have  hitherto been  praised,  and  blamed  with  very  little  reference  to  the  real circumstances  of  their  conduct  or  their  principles. The  object  of  this  work  is  not  to  revive  the  remembrance  of past  evils,  with  the  view  of  promoting  any  party  interest,  but with  the  design  of  preventing  the  possibility  of  the  recurrence of  the  crimes  and  sufferings  of  those  bad  times.  The  policy  of former  governmental  regime  in  Ireland,  which  availed  itself  of the  agency  of  an  intolerant,  sanguinary,  insolent,  selfish,  trucu- lent, and  overbearing  faction  (far  less  fanatical  than  hypocriti- cal), for  the  accomplishment  of  purposes  of  state,  has  ceased  to exist ;  but  the  spirit  of  that  faction  has  undergone  no  change,  and with  diminished  power  to  indulge  its  savage  instincts,  the  ac- tivity of  its  ancient  enmities  to  the  faith  and  civil  rights  of  the great  mass  of  the  Irish  people,  is  displayed  ever  and  anon  as  pro- minently as  ever,  in  sordid  efforts  to  make  its  influence  seem formidable  to  government,  and  its  services  worthy  of  being  bought or  remunerated  in  any  manner. It  is  not  unprofitable,  even  now,  to  reflect  on  the  iise  which OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  201 partizans  of  tins  ascendency  faction  made  of  their  power  in  those bad  times,  when  every  man  who  became  obnoxious  to  their body,  by  talcing  a  prominent  part  in  any  political  proceedings opposed  to  their  views  and  interests,  was  accounted  disaffected  to the  state ;  and  even  when  loyal  men,  indignant  at  the  treatment they  received,  were  driven  by  unfounded  accusations  and  dis- honourable suspicions  into  criminal  courses.  It  behoves  the  per- sons who  take  any  leading  part  in  liberal  politics,  to  recur  a  little to  past  events,  and  to  recall  the  first  agitation  of  the  question  of reform  in  Ireland,  and  the  subsequent  late  of  a  great  number  of the  men  who  were  its  early  advocates. In  Ireland  the  ascendency  party  marked  out  its  political  oppo- nents at  that  period,  as  covert  traitors,  who  were  to  be  legally removed  at  a  convenient  opportunity.  It  panted  only  for  the exercise  of  "  that  vigour  beyond  the  law",  which  was  the  privi- lege of  its  exclusive  loyalty.  Its  victims  were  not  the  least  influ- ential, the  least  estimable,  the  most  insignificant  of  the  opposing party.  The  public  service  was  made  the  pretext  for  the  destruc- tion of  opponents,  and  with  those  pretexts  they  filled  the  prisons of  the  land. Little  do  the  people  of  England  know  of  the  class  of  persons who  were  driven  into  rebellion  in  1798  in  Ireland.  They  may probably  have  heard  that  a  number  of  obscure,  ill  disposed,  and reckless  men  had  engaged  in  an  unnatural  and  unprovoked  in- surrection, and  were  executed;  that  the  leaders  of  it  were  poor, discontented,  ill-disposed  wretches,  persons  of  no  standing  in society,  Papists  of  ultramontane  principles,  under  the  guidance  of priests  goaded  or  seduced  into  sedition.  If  Englishmen  read  this work,  they  will  find  that  a  great  portion  of  the  leaders  of  the United  Irishmen  were  gentlemen  by  birth,  education,  and  pro- fession ;  many  of  them  celebrated  for  their  talents,  respected  for their  private  worth ;  several  of  them  scholars  who  had  distin- guished themselves  in  the  University  of  Dublin;  the  majority  of them  members  of  the  Established  Church;  some  of  them  Pres- byterian ministers ;  few,  if  any,  of  them  who  did  not  exert  more or  less  influence  over  their  countrymen.  While  Scotland  pre- serves the  memory  of  those  who  fell  in  the  Rebellion  of  1745, — while  their  lives  and  actions  are  recorded  by  loyal  Scotchmen, and  read  by  loyal  Englishmen,  there  can  be  no  reason  why  the reminiscences  of  the  Irish  Rebellion  of  1798,  and  of  those  who unfortunately  were  engaged  in  it,  should  not  be  faithfully  re- corded, without  prejudice  to  the  loyalty  of  the  writer  or  the reader  of  their  history. We  have  outlived  the  wrongs  that  made  rebels  of  these  men. In  our  times  their  descendents  are  possessed  of  rights,  for  the 202  THE  OBJECT  AND  DESIGN enjoyment  of  which  they  have  reason  to  be  good  and  loyal  sub- jecta.     It  is  now,  not  only  their  duty,  but  their  interest  to  be  so. Their  fathers  lived  at  a  period  when  the  great  body  of  the people  laboured  under  grievous  wrongs.  They  thought,  perhaps erroneously,  that  "  tyranny  was  not  government,  and  that allegiance  was  due  only  to  protection". There  is  a  degree  of  oppression,  which  we  are  told  by  Divine authority,  drives  even  "  wise  men  mad".  Whether  the  wrongs of  the  Irish  people,  and  their  sufferings  at  the  hands  of  the domineering  faction  in  power  in  this  country,  under  the  Pale policy  and  under  the  penal  code,  amounted  to  that  degree  of  ex- asperation, the  reader  must  determine.  Their  leaders  certainly acted  on  that  belief,  that  their  grievances  had  reached,  and passed,  the  limits  of  human  patience. One  who  has  seen  the  miserable  effects  of  political  commotions and  revolutions  in  other  countries,  is  not  likely  to  regard  engage- ment  in  similar  struggles  as  the  result,  at  all  times,  of  the  exer- cise of  the  highest  courage  or  the  purest  patriotism, — or  to  con- sider the  advantages  obtained  by  force  or  violence,  on  many occasions,  worth  the  perils,  terrors,  and  penalties  of  the  strife. In  the  times  of  the  United  Irishmen,  that  dependence  on  the power  of  public  opinion  for  the  redress  of  political  grievances, which  has  now  happily  superseded  the  employment  of  physical force,  was  unknown,  and  every  political  measure  of  great  magni- tude was  carried  either  by  the  menace  of  violence,  or  recourse  to the  demonstration  of  it. No  party  seemed  sensible  of  the  awful  responsibility  of  those, who  "  let  loose  the  dogs  of  war"  on  the  country ;  and  the  leading men  of  the  society  of  United  Irishmen,  who  first  had  recourse  to violent  means  for  effecting  their  objects,  were  themselves  less aggrieved  by  the  unjust  and  partial  laws  they  sought  to  overturn, than  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  who  were  oppressed  and  borne down  by  them. But  where  there  is  tyranny  that  "  grinds  the  faces  of  the  poor" and  galls  the  hearts  of  the  people,  it  is  not  the  wise  or  the  reflect- ing who  are  first  driven  to  revolt,  but  the  multitude,  whose  pas- sions are  exasperated,  whose  labour  is  robbed,  or  privileges  in- vaded; who  are  goaded  to  madness  by  a  bad  government,  and,  in the  first  outbreak  of  their  fury,  whose  vengeance  bursts  forth  in the  form  of  a  wild  justice,  bootless  of  results,  badly  directed,  inde- finite in  its  objects,  and,  at  the  onset,  striking  at  all  around,  like a  drunken  man  in  a  quarrel,  dealing  blows,  no  matter  how  or where  they  fall. At  the  commencement  of  such  struggles,  the  first  movers  never act  in  the  way  which  those  who  reflect  on  their  movements  might OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  203 suppose  best  calculated  to  enable  them  to  redress  their  wrongs. They  proceed  from  one  false  step  to  another,  till  their  cause  is brought  to  the  brink  of  ruin. If  that  cause  were  just,  it  is  at  such  -a  juncture  that  a  wise  man, who  loved  his  country  and  compassionated  the  people,  were  he called  upon  to  take  a  part  in  their  struggle,  would  deem  it  his duty  to  put  these  questions  to  himself: — 1.  Have  the  wrongs  that  are  complained  of,  and  the  dangers which  menace  the  community,  reached  that  point,  when  to  leave the  people  without  guidance,  is  to  leave  them  to  destruction  ? 2.  Are  the  people  in  rebellion,  or  about  to  engage  in  it,  em- barked in  a  good  and  righteous  cause  ? 3.  Are  they  likely  to  succeed  ? 4.  Are  they  sure  to  be  bettered  by  success  ? 5.  Have  they  risen  in  defence,  not  only  of  civil  rights  and material  interests,  but  of  the  highest  interests  of  all,  those  of  reli- gion, outraged  to  the  last  degree  of  impiety  or  intolerance? 6.  Have  their  discontents  arisen  from  the  temporary  or  the permanent  pressure  of  physical  sufferings  ? 7.  Have  they  overrated  the  value  of  the  rights  or  privileges they  are  seeking  to  obtain? 8.  Have  they  been  misled  by  ambitious  and  designing  men, or  been  goaded  into  rebellion  by  tyrants  for  their  own  wicked ends  ? 9.  Can  their  wrongs  be  redressed  without  resistance? 10.  Who  is  to  decide  for  the  people  when  resistance  is  allow- able or  likely  to  be  successful? 11.  At  what  period  of  oppression  does  the  law  of  nature justify  resistance  to  the  laws  of  man? 12.  In  the  Divine  law,  what  sanction  is  there  to  be  found for  resistance  to  constituted  authority  ? These  are  questions  it  would  behove  a  conscientious  man  to put  to  himself,  and  to  have  answered  satisfactorily,  before  he stirred  in  the  cause  of  a  revolted  people.  These  are  questions that  could  not  be  seriously  asked  and  truthfully  replied  to  with- out leading  to  the  conclusion  that  the  results  of  revolutions  have seldom  realized  the  expectations  that  have  been  formed  of benefits  to  be  obtained  by  civil  war,  and  without  bringing  the inquirer  to  Cicero's  opinion  on  this  subject,  "  Iniquissimam pacem,  justissimo  bello  antifero". The  grand  question,  in  which  all  the  preceding  queries  are  in- volved, is  one  which,  on  political  grounds  alone,  can  never  be argued  with  advantage  to  rulers  or  the  ruled. The  "  appeal  to  Heaven",  as  recourse  to  the  sword  has  been impiously  termed,  has  been  too  often  made  without  a  due  con- 201  THE  OBJECT  AND  DESIGN sideration  of  tlie  importance  of  the  foregoing  inquiries,  before those  who  decided  on  questions  which  thus  involved  the  interests of  an  entire  people  adopted  such  an  alternative.  Sir  James Macintosh  has  well  observed:  "Though  the  solution  of  this tremendous  problem  requires  the  calmest  exercise  of  reason, the  circumstances  which  bring  it  forward  commonly  call  forth mightier  agents,  which  disturb  and  overpower  the  under- standing. "  In  conjunctures  so  awful,  when  men  feel  more  than  they reason,  their  conduct  is  chiefly  governed  by  the  boldness  or  the weakness  of  their  nature,  by  their  love  of  liberty  or  their  attach- ment to  quiet,  by  their  proneness  or  slowness  to  fellow-feeling with  their  countrymen". He  tells  us,  "  in  such  a  conflict  there  is  little  quiet  left  for moral  deliberation.  Yet,  by  the  immutable  principles  of  mora- lity, and  by  them  alone,  must  the  historian  try  the  conduct  of all  men,  before  he  allows  himself  to  consider  all  the  circum- stances of  time,  place,  opinion,  principle,  example,  temptation, and  obstacle,  which,  though  they  never  authorize  a  removal  of the  everlasting  landmarks  of  right  and  wrong,  ought  to  be  well weighed  in  allotting  a  due  degree  of  commendation  or  censure  to O  DO human  actions".* A  conversation  between  Moore  and  Lord  John  Russell,  re- specting the  difficulties  of  treating  of  the  times  and  men  of  1798, deserves  attention. "  In  the  course  of  our  conversation",  says  Moore,  in  his Diary,  June  20,  1831,  "in  speaking  of  the  danger  of  such  a work,  in  the  present  excited  state  of  the  public  mind,  I  said : Why,  the  subject  has  become  historical;  and  I  don't  see  why  it should  be  more  dangerous  than  your  own  Life  of  Lord  Wm.  Russell would  be,  if  published  just  now.  To  this  Lord  John  answered (but  too  truly),  in  his  little  quiet  way:  Ah,  that's  a  quarrel  that has  long  since  been  made  up:  not  so  with  the  Irish  question ".f This  argument  would  better  serve  to  support  the  policy  of making  up  the  quarrel,  than  to  prove  the  expediency  of  suppres- sing the  history  of  it.  If  sixty  years  did  not  give  an  historical character  to  the  subject  of  a  rebellion,  the  addition  to  that  period of  a  century,  if  all  due  governmental  means  were  not  taken  "to make  up  the  quarrel",  would  not  answer  the  purpose  of  divesting that  subject  of  a  political  aspect. Bacon  was  of  opinion  that  "  it  greatly  concerned  the  shepherds of  people  to  know  the  prognostics  of  state  tempests"4     But  now *  "  History  of  the  Revolution  of  1688".         t  "  Moore's  Memoirs",  vol.  vi.,  p.  298. %  "Bacon's  Essays",  ed.  1742,  vol.  i,  p.  77. OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  205 it  seems  to  be  considered  a  sort  of  political  "  bienseance",  to  re- probate the  act  of  referring  to  the  history  of  the  rebellion  of 1798,  as  a  renewal  of  painful  recollections,  which  ought  not  to  be recalled.  The  desire  to  biiry  in  oblivion  the  wrongs  of  the  in- jured, is  one  of  those  benevolent  recommendations  whose  cheap charity  is  intended  to  cover  a  multitude  of  sins  against  humanity and  justice.  The  recommendation,  however,  evinces  a  more tender  regard  for  the  character  of  evil-doers,  than  any  feeling  of regret  for  the  ills  that  have  been  inflicted  or  endured.  So  long as  the  persons  who  hold  this  language  are  not  called  upon  to  look upon  the  sufferings  of  a  maltreated  people,  or  that  the  outrages committed  on  the  latter  are  not  done  at  their  own  door,  the danger  of  the  repetition  of  such  evils  is  of  little  moment,  compared with  the  injury  done  by  the  publication  of  them  to  the  character of  an  expiring  faction  whose  interests  they  had  formerly  espoused, or  compared  with  the  expense  of  sensibility  which  a  knowledge of  those  evils  miijht  occasion. They  have  no  objection  to  the  history  of  the  wrongs  of  the people  of  any  other  portion  of  the  globe,  but  there  is  something sacred  in  atrocities  perpetrated  in  Ireland.  They  are  regarded  by such  persons  with  a  feeling  it  is  not  easy  to  define,  wherein  pride and  prejudice  predominate,  combined  with  a  vague  recollection of  the  oppressors  having  been  originally  of  their  own  land  and lineage,  and  with  a  disposition  to  recognize  the  justice  of  the old  plea  for  plunder  and  oppression,  namely,  the  barbarity  of  the spoiled  and  the  enslaved. It  would  seem  as  if  such  persons  thought  that  the  laws  of  God and  man  might  be  outraged  with  impunity,  if  a  decent  covering was  only  thrown  over  the  naked  enormities ;  and  once  they  had been  shrouded  by  those  who  had  perpetrated  them,  that  it  was  an act  of  indecorum  to  lift  the  pall. There  is  a  mawkish  sensibility  very  prevalent  in  this  country, which  resembles  a  good  deal  the  intense  selfishness  of  Goethe  in his  latter  years,  who  never  suffered  his  friends,  or  his  domestics, to  speak  in  the  presence  of  himself  or  his  family,  of  any  calamity that  might  have  happened  in  his  immediate  neighbourhood.  He could  pour  forth  tears,  or  cause  those  of  others  to  flow,  over romantic  sorrows,  but  he  had  none  to  shed  for  the  real  miseries of  life  around  him ;  and,  rather  than  pain  his  feelings,  he,  in  his old  age,  deprived  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  administering relief  to  the  unfortunate. This  feeling  of  reluctance  to  be  incommoded  by  the  disclosure of  sufferings,  which  do  not  fall  under  personal  or  immediate  obser- vation, influences  the  conduct  of  a  very  large  class  of  persons when  they  hear  of  the  wrongs  that  have  been  inflicted  on  our / 2()(i  THE  OBJKCT  AND  DKSIGN people.  They  shrug  their  shoulders  at  the  recital,  and  wonder why  the  Irish  have  not  been  at  peace,  have  never  ceased  to  make an  outcry  of  their  wrongs,  and  to  wrangle  among  themselves  ! The  fact  is,  though  Orangcism  in  England  is  not  in  repute, and  its  Irish  orgies,  like  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  are  a  little  too incomprehensible  at  times  to  be  objects  of  unmixed  admiration, there  is  no  mistake,  in  respect  to  the  repugnance  that  unfortu- nately is  felt  to  any  statement  of  the  wrongs  of  the  Irish  people, which  have  existed.  It  is  not  because  there  is  any  pecular  affec- tion for  the  Sirrs,  the  Sandys,  the  Swans,  the  Beresfords,  the Castlereaghs,  or  Reynolds,  but  that  a  mortal  prejudice  has  existed against  the  Irish  people. It  requires  in  France  all  the  genius  of  Mignet  and  Thiers  to consecrate  the  doctrine  of  fatalism,  as  applied  to  the  consideration of  terrible  events,  and  of  atrocities  on  a  grand  scale,  like  those  of the  French  Revolution.  We  have  the  doctrine  in  our  own country ;  but  we  have  only  the  pitiful  talents  of  a  Musgrave,  or persons  of  his  school  connected  with  the  Orange  press  in  England, to  transform  political  atrocities  into  political  beatitudes.  With them  the  end  always  sanctifies  the  means;  "  ils  ne  vous  disent  pas — admirez  Marat,  mais  admirez  ses  oeuvres:  le  meurtrier  n'est  pas beau,  e'est  le  meurtre  qui  est  divin".* But  some  of  them  do  contend  that  not  only  the  murderous  acts are  useful,  but  the  Marats  of  our  country  are  men  to  be  admired and  rewarded  as  a  matter  of  course.  This  goes  far  beyond  the  sys- tem of  Thiers.  "  According  to  his  doctrine",  says  Chateaubriand, "it  is  necessary  that  the  historian  should  recount  the  greatest  atro- cities without  indignation,  and  speak  of  the  highest  virtues  without love :  that  with  a  frozen  glance  he  should  regard  society  as  sub- mitted to  certain  irresistible  laws,  so  that  each  event  should  take place  as  it  must  inevitably  happen". Those,  however,  who  think,  with  Chateaubriand,  that  an  act  of cruelty  can  never  be  useful,  or  one  of  injustice  never  necessary — who  bear  in  mind  that  the  remembrance  of  a  single  iniquitous condemnation,  that  of  Socrates,  "  has  traversed  twenty  centuries, to  stigmatize  his  judges  and  executioners" — are  not  likely  to  adopt this  system,  or  to  deem  it  advisable,  if  practicable,  for  those  who have  to  recount  great  acts  of  barbarity,  to  divest  themselves  of all  that  is  humane  in  their  feelings,  and  retain  only  their  powers of  perception  and  examination,  to  find  in  every  massacre,  or  exten- sive violation  of  justice,  something  that  may  turn  to  the  account  of our  political  opinions.  Hardly  any  motive  could  induce  a  man, who  was  not  an  atheist  or  the   hireling  of  a   faction,  to  wade *  "  Etudes  Historiques",  par  le  Vicomte  de  Chateaubriand,  p.  277. OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  207 through  the  iniquities  of  1798,  and  to  give  a  faithful  account  of the  events  or  the  actors  in  the  scenes  of  that  dark  period,  except the  hatred  of  oppression,  injustice,  and  inhumanity. That  motive,  I  avow,  induced  me  to  take  up  this  subject.  The circumstances  in  which  I  have  been  placed,  in  connection  with the  efforts  that  have  been  made  for  the  suppression  of  slavery  and the  slave  trade,  during  many  years  past,  were  not  calculated  to make  a  man  a  bad  hater  of  oppression  in  any  country.  In  fact, the  struggle  against  slavery,  whether  in  the  West  Indies  or  on the  shores  of  Africa,  served,  in  my  case,  as  an  apprenticeship  to the  cause  of  general  freedom,  and  tended  to  make  contrasts  be- tween personal  and  political  slavery  familiar  to  me.  I  could  not understand  that  sort  of  philanthropy  which  was  to  be  permitted to  battle  only  for  the  interests  of  humanity  and  justice  when  they were  outraged  in  the  persons  of  black  men,  and  to  make  the  world ring  with  the  echoes  of  the  cart-whip  and  the  cries  of  the  slaves who  were  four  thousand  miles  off;  to  have  one  set  of  nerves  ex- quisitely sensitive  to  the  sufferings  of  men  who  were  victims  to the  cupidity  of  West  India  planters,  and  another,  callous  and  in- sensible to  the  wrongs  of  those  who  were  persecuted  at  home. Whether  African  negroes  were  held  "  guilty  of  a  skin  not  coloured like  our  own",  or  the  "  mere  Irishry"  were  deemed  culpable  of  a creed  not  conformed  to  the  fashion  of  their  provincial  bashaws, the  same  spirit  of  injustice  in  either  case  prevailed  ;  and  to  pretend to  sympathize  alone  with  the  victims  who  happened  to  be  natives of  Africa  or  descendents  of  Africans,  it  seemed  to  me,  would  be a  spurious  kind  of  benevolence.  The  cruelties  inflicted  on  the Indians  of  the  new  world  were  reprobated  by  mankind,  their authors  were  stigmatized  by  our  historians  as  men  of  barbarous and  sanguinary  disposition.  The  cruelties  perpetrated  on  the  peo- ple of  Ireland  in  1798  were  chiefly  the  results  of  the  iniquitous measures  of  which  Lords  Camden,  Clare,  and  Castlereagh,  were the  authors  or  advisers,  and  for  the  guilt  of  which  these  noble lords  must  ever  be  considered  responsible,  but  not  chiefly  culpa- ble. The  great  culprit  was  the  British  minister,  William  Pitt, whose  policy  required  such  atrocities  for  its  accomplishment.  A licentious  soldiery  and  an  infuriated  faction  were  let  loose  on  the country.  The  free  quarter  system,  and  the  general  practice  of scourging  people,  for  the  purpose  of  extorting  confessions  of  cri- minality, were  carried  into  effect  with  the  lull  knowledge,  the silent  sanction,  and  virtual  approval  of  those  agents  of  his  in  the Irish  government. For  their  memories  it  mitrht  be  wished  that  Ireland  had  no  his- tory,  but  for  their  country  it  is  not  to  be  desired  that  the  story  of her  wrongs  should  be  consigned  to  oblivion. / 208  THE  OBJECT  AND  DESIGN And  I  might  ask  how  was  that  history  to  be  told,  and  to  leave the  public  conduct  of  the  Clares,  the  Castlereaghs,  and  Cooks, uncensured  ? Were  the  subordinate  agents  of  the  government, — the  spies  and the  informers,  the  terrorists  and  the  lictors  of  that  day — the  O'Briens, and  the  Reynolds,  the  Beresfords,  and  the  Sirrs,  Sandys,  and  Swans, the  men  who  "  measured  their  consequence  by  the  coffins  of  their victims",  and  estimated  their  services  by  the  injuries  they  inflicted on  the  people, — were  they  alone,  the  official  insects  of  the  hour,  to be  preserved  in  the  amber  of  the  eloquent  invective  of  a  Curran  or a  Grattan,  while  the  acts  of  their  exalted  employers  and  abettors were  to  be  sponged  out  of  our  memories,  and  the  tablet  over- written with  reminiscences  of  their  rank,  and  the  better  qualities which  in  private  life  they  might  have  exhibited  ? In  modern  times  the  cruelties  committed  by  slave  dealers  on the  coast  of  Africa  caused  even  the  introduction  into  our  official vocabulary  of  such  epithets  as  "miscreants",  "monsters",  "enemies to  the  human  race",  etc.,  etc.;  for  with  such  epithets  we  find  the parliamentary  slave  trade  papers  teem.  The  tortures,  however, inflicted  in  Ireland  on  human  beings  who  were  more  immediately entitled  to  British  sympathy,  because  they  were,  more  within  reach of  its  protection,  in  point  of  national  consanguinity  who  were more  of  its  own  flesh,  and  in  respect  to  religious  relationship, bound  to  it  in  stricter  bonds  of  Christian  fellowship,  deserved,  in my  humble  opinion,  to  be  placed  in  the  same  category  of  crimes as  those  in  which  are  recorded  the  atrocities  of  the  Spaniards  and Portuguese,  and  to  be  ranked  among  the  worst  outrages  on  huma- nity that  have  ever  been  committed.  We  are  fully  as  subject  as the  people  of  any  other  country  on  the  face  of  the  Earth  to  the  fit- ful influence  of  that  variable  atmosphere  of  the  feelings,  which modifies  our  notions  of  the  obligations  of  benevolence,  and  carries a  spirit  of  conventional  Christianity  into  our  dealings  with  the wrongs  and  grievances  which  are  brought  before  us,  which  at  one period  and  for  one  class  of  sufferers  enlivens  sensibility,  and  at another  time  and  for  another  description  of  unfortunates  stifles every  emotion  of  compassion. The  nature  of  oppression  is  surely  the  same  wherever  it  is  prac- tised, whether  the  violaters  of  human  rights  be  Spaniards,  Portu- guese, or  members  of  any  portion  of  the  British  empire ;  whether they  lived  in  a  bygone  age,  or  within  our  own  remembrance ;  in whatever  language  their  acts  are  execrated ;  whether  their  infamy is  connected  with  the  names  of  the  Conquistador es  of  the  new world,  and  the  slave-dealing  ravagers  of  a  large  portion  of  the  old, or  with  those  of  the  abettors  of  torture  and  cruelty  in  a  country which  was  governed  by  British  laws,  or  with  the  names  of  Lords & AIM  AND  OBJECT  OF  THIS  WORK.  ^W^Sf*%     209 Clare  and  Castlereagh  in  one  of  the  darkest  pages  of  the  history  of British  rule  in  Ireland. I  am  well  aware  that  it  would  not  only  be  conformable  to Christian  charity,  but  most  highly  conducive  to  human  happiness, were  we  to  bear  in  mind  the  infirmities  of  our  nature  in  all  our dealings  with  the  faults,  and  even  the  crimes,  of  our  fellow-men, and,  to  use  the  words  of  a  very  wise  man  (Sir  James  Stephen), if  we  were  to  consider  that,  "  after  all,  the  men  we  depreciate  are our  kinsmen",  instead  of  crucifying  their  misdeeds,  if  we  occu- pied our  thoughts  with  thankful  emotions  that  we  had  been placed  in  happier  circumstances  than  those  persons  had  been surrounded  by,  and  that  we  had  not  been  subjected  to  the  same temptations,  by  the  possession  of  power,  without  limits  to  its exercise,  and  of  interests  that  were  incompatible  with  the  natural rights  or  civil  privileges  of  other  men. The  only  good  that  can  arise  from  the  history  of  such  times  as those  of  1798,  and  from  preserving  the  remembrance  of  the  enor- mities committed  in  them,  is  the  prevention  of  similar  evils,  by pointing  out  the  inevitable  result  of  them  in  the  long  run,  the  ca- lamities which  overtake  the  perpetrators  of  cruel  and  barbarous acts,  the  retributive  justice,  slow  but  sure,  which,  sooner  or later,  visits  every  signal  violation  of  humanity  with  its  proper punishment. I  fully  admit,  in  aiming  at  similar  objects,  charity  oftentimes  is grievously  offended,  and  by  those  who  treat  of  such  times,  the prominent  actor  in  each  scene  is  too  often  looked  upon  as  "  a  hero or  a  fiend". Men  forget,  in  treating  of  those  whose  deeds  they  condemn, that  the  actors  are  "  their  own  kinsmen",  and,  when  speaking  of them  with  ignominy  and  contempt,  to  use  the  words  of  Isaiah, that  "  they  despise  their  own  flesh". Amongst  the  papers  of  the  United  Irishmen  which  have  fallen into  my  hands,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  one  of  them  by  Sir  J. Egerton  Brydges,  I  find  the  following  passage,  speaking  of  the obligations  which  those  who  love  letters,  owe  to  the  characters  of the  votaries  of  learning : — "  To  me,  literature  has  always  appeared  one  of  the  very  few  un- changing and  inexhaustible  balms  of  life,  and  if  we  love  litera- ture, it  seems  to  me  very  strange  not  to  feel  a  warm  benevolence towards  its  professors". It  would  be  well  if  literary  men  felt  that  this  obligation  of  be- nevolence applies  not  only  to  one  class,  but  to  all  persons  whose deeds  they  have  to  deal  with ;  but  it  is  one  thing  to  feel  that  it is  thus  applicable.,  and  another  to  carry  the  conviction  into  prac- tical effect. vol.  i.  15 210  AIM    AND    OBJKCT  OF I  have  endeavoured  to  place  the  characters  and  the  acts  of  the men  who  are  the  subjects  of  the  various  memoirs  in  these  volumes in  their  true  light  before  the  public,  most  of  whom,  in  their  pri- vate characters,  had  been  grievously  traduced  and  vilified  by  the malignant  press  which  is  at  the  command  of  Orangeism  in  both countries,  and,  by  a  faithful  exhibition  of  the  crimes  and  calami- ties of  civil  war,  to  contribute  (as  far  as  it  was  in  my  power  to effect  this  object)  to  prevent  the  entertainment  of  a  thought,  un- accompanied with  horror,  of  a  recurrence  to  the  evils  which  it  has been  my  painful  task  to  record. In  the  performance  of  this  undertaking  I  would  beg  leave  to observe,  if  I  have  not  brought  abilities  to  the  task  worthy  of  its character,  perhaps  the  humble  merit  may  be  accorded  to  my  efforts of  having  devoted  to  this  work  a  vast  amount  of  labour  in  the  col-! lection  of  the  materials   and  the   verification  of  disputed  facts.: There  is  little  danger,  perhaps,  of  an  exaggerated  opinion  being formed  of  the  extent  to  which  that  labour  has  been  carried.  I  com-j menced  this  work  in  1836,  with  the  determination  of  bringing  the! subjects  of  it  fully  before  the  people  of  England,  to  get  a  hearing from   them  for  the  history  of  the  men  engaged  in  the  rebellion of  1798.     That  determination  was  based  on  the  conviction  that the  people  of  England,  in  common  fairness,  were  bound  to  hear' what  those  men  had  to  attempt  to  say  in  their  own  defence,  or those  most  closely  connected  with  them,  who  considered  them-j selves  charged  with  the  protection  of  their  memories;  inasmuch: as  their  character,  conduct,  and  proceedings  had  heretofore  only been  made  known  to  them  by  their  mortal  enemies. In  dealing  with  the  authors  of  those  many  acts  of  injustice  and! inhumanity  it  has  been  necessary  to  refer  to  in  this  work,  though; I  am  fully  aware  of  the  error  of  considering  the  conduct  of  such individuals  too  much   apart  from  the   circumstances  by   which1 their   passions  were   engaged,  their  proceedings  entrained,  and' their  interests  arrayed  against  the  better  feelings  of  their  nature/ there  is  another  error  which,  in  common  with  many  writers  onj the  subject  of  the  rebellion  of  1798, 1  am  conscious  of  having  been betrayed  into,  not  less  to  be  reproved,  namely,  that  of  devoting too  much  attention  to  the  subordinate  agents  of  the  government to  the  reprobation  of  the  miscreants  by  whom  the  various  tor- tures   of  scourging,   picketing,  pitch-capping,  and  half-hangind were  inflicted,  or  the  wretches  of  that   train  of  stipendiary  in-: formers,  best  known  by  the  appellation  of  "  the  battalion  of  testi- mony", drilled,   dieted,   and   dressed   up  for  production   on  the trials    of  persons    charged    with    offences    against    the    state,    as reputable   witnesses,   by  the   Verres  of  his  day,   the   redoubted] Major  Sirr,  and  his  compeers. "  THE  LIVES  AND  TIMES  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN".  211 Too  much  notice  has  been  taken  of  the  vices  of  those  menials of  the  government  of  that  day,  for  "  servants  must  their  masters' minds  fulfil";  and  a  great  deal  too  much  impunity  has  been  ac- corded to  the  crimes  of  the  prime  minister,  who  tolerated  and countenanced,  or  left  unpunished,  their  atrocious  acts ;  for  minis- ters must  know  it  is  their  misfortune,  as "  It  is  the  curse  of  kings  to  be  attended By  slaves  that  take  their  humour  for  a  warrant To  break  within  the  bloody  house  of  life, And,  on  the  winking  of  authority, To  understand  a  law". The  conduct  of  the  men  whose  lives  and  actions  are  the  sub- .  ject  of  this  work,  it  would  be  absurd  to  consider  apart  from  the I  nature  of  the  government  under  which  they  lived.     In  forming j  any  opinion  of  their  conduct  in  relation  to  it,  the  grand  question I  for  consideration  is,  whether  the  system  of  corruption,  rapacity, terror,  and  injustice  under  which  Ireland  was  ruled  at  the  period i  in  question,  deserved  the  name   of  government,   or  had  totally departed    from   all   those   original   principles    and  intentions  on ,  which  it  claimed  to  be  founded,  and  with  which  it  was  presumed to  be  endowed  for  the  public  good. The  aim  and  end  of  the  government  of  Ireland  in   1798  was to  perpetuate  oppression,  and  break  down  the  national  spirit  and national  independence  that  menaced  its  existence ;  to  make  the people  servile  and  powerless,  and  to  keep  them  so,  by  fomenting religious    dissensions;   to   promote   the    interests  of  a  miserable minority,  while  affecting  to  ignore  the  sordid  views  that  were covered,  but  not  concealed,  by  the  veil  of  a  holy  zeal  for  religious interests ;  to  bestow  all  its  honours,  patronage,  and  protection  on that  small  section  of  the  community  which  my  Lord  Stanley,  in one  of  his  fitful  moods,  was  pleased  to  call  "  the  remnant  of  an expiring  faction".     Against  this  government  the  society  of  United Irishmen  reared  its  head   and  raised  its  hand,  and  failed  in  a daring  struggle  with  its  power.     Whether  it  deserved  success,  or took  the  best  means  to  insure  it,  are  questions  which  the  perusal of  these  volumes  may  enable  the  reader  to  determine.     As  far  as my  own  experience  goes,  and  it  has  not  been  confined  to  very jnarrow  local  limits,  the  results  I  have  witnessed  in  various  coun- tries of  recourse  to  violent  measures,  in  the  resistance  of  oppres- sion, even  where  they  have  been  momentarily  successful,  would [lead  me  to  look  for  surer  grounds  of  hope  for  liberty,  and  a  better |lot  for  the  great  body  of  the  people  in  any  country,  in  the  absti- nence from  physical  force  proceedings,  and  the  employment  only of  moral  means  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  the  wicked  objects 212  AIM  AND  OBJECT  OF of  a  bad  government.  That  experience  would  not  lead  me  to think  lightly  of  the  evils  of  civil  war,  nor  to  indulge  very  flat- tering hopes  of  any  lasting  benefits  accruing  from  it,  nor  to  build in  the  air  "  chateaux  d'Espagne",  nor  Utopian  theories,  based  on notions  of  the  perfectibility  of  human  beings.  The  day  dream of  young  philosophy  does  not  long  outlast  that  sort  of  practical knowledge  of  the  realities  of  revolts  and  revolutions.  However great  might  be  the  success  or  extensive  the  changes  effected  by them,  the  disorders  of  society  and  the  miseries  of  mankind,  it  still might  be  feared,  would  have  to  be  encountered  and  endured,  and traces  and  fragments  of  the  wreck  of  man's  original  intelligence, it  might  be  expected,  would  continue  to  the  end  of  time  to obstruct  and  to  impede  the  best  designs  for  the  advancement  of human  happiness. Is  there  no  resource  left  after  all  but  the  sword  to  remedy  the evils  of  bad  government?  Are  there  no  means  but  those  of violence  to  resolve  or  to  repair  the  bond  of  union  ?  There  is,  at all  events,  an  overruling  mind  that  watches  over  the  destinies  of nations,  that  regulates  the  movements  which  determine  the  rise and  fall  of  empires, — a  compensating  power  that  adjusts  the  balance in  all  political  contingencies,  that  ultimately  restores  the  equili- brium, or  at  least  lessens  the  weight  of  preponderating  evil ! All  experience  tends  to  show  us  that  the  day  of  reckoning  for a  people's  wrongs,  come  it  slow  or  come  it  fast,  is  sure  to  arrive;  ; and  we  have  only  to  turn  our  eyes  to  the  events  that  are  passing in  countries  that  once  almost  vied  in  prosperity  and  colonial  great-  ; ness  with  our  own,  to  see  that,  the  measure  of  the  iniquity  of  their governments  having  been  filled  up,  the  hand  of  Divine  retri- bution has  been  laid  heavily  upon  them. Who  can  reflect  on  the  calamities  that  have  fallen  on  Spain and  Portugal — on  the  loss  of  the  immense  possessions  of  the  for- mer,  the  succession  of  revolutions  that  has  followed  the  ordinary course  of  government,  as  it  were  in  the  natural  order  of  cause  and effect,  for  the  last  five-and-twenty  years ;  can  look  on  religion trampled  under  foot,  its  temples  pillaged,  its  ministers  despised and  spoiled  ;  party  after  party  succeeding  each  other;  one  military despotism  treading  on  the  heels  of  another;  proscription  and  deci- mation  the  rule  of  each,  the  people  plundered  by  all — without feeling  that  the  heavy  hand  of  Divine  retribution  has  been  laid upon  that  land  in  punishment  of  its  terrible  violations  of  humanity and  justice  in  the  New  World  ?  Who,  without  this  conviction,  can consider  the  condition  of  the  adjoining  kingdom  of  Portugal,  its past,  its  present  visitations,  the  destruction  of  its  power,  the  vain  re- sult of  all  its  discoveries  and  conquests  in  both  hemispheres ;  its  chi-  j valry  broken  in  Africa,  the  most  warlike  of  its  kings  slain  in  battle "  THE  LIVES  AND  TIMES  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN".  213 with  barbarians,  the  most  powerful  of  its  armies  routed  by  them, and  so  signally  defeated  as  never  again  to  be  restored  to  former strength;  its  valuable  possessions  in  America,  in  Africa,  and India,  wrested  from  its  enfeebled  grasp;  the  visitation  of  awful calamities  on  its  proudest  cities,  thousands  of  whose  citizens,  and the  guilty  gains  of  their  nefarious  traffic,  have  been  swallowed up,  or  consumed,  or  swept  away  in  a  few  hours,  in  the  course  of which,  earthquake,  conflagration,  and  inundation  have  combined their  terrors;  and  in  one  memorable  instance,  at  the  very  hour  in which  the  churches  of  a  great  city  were  crowded  with  inhabi- tants, and  on  the  very  day  when  the  celebration  of  a  particular festival  caused  the  people  to  congregate  in  them,  laid  two-thirds of  a  large  metropolis  in  ruin.  Who  can  contemplate  the  conse- quent scourges  of  pestilence  and  famine,  and  the  crowning  cala- mity of  this  frightful  series  of  unfortunate  events,  the  establish- ment of  the  despotism  of  the  ruthless,  tyrannical,  and  sanguinary Pombal,  and  not  feel  that  the  crimes  of  Portugal  and  its  rulers against  humanity  had  "pierced  the  clouds"?  Its  present  con- dition, its  pride,  its  poverty — its  revenue  dwindled  away,  its expenditure  augmented — a  history  that  is  a  continuous  record  of wars  of  succession,  engendered  by  the  folly  and  unnatural  dissen- sions of  its  sovereigns  and  their  sons,  a  military  government,  a ministry  chosen  and  changed  by  means  of  revolutions,  a  foreign debt  of  nine  millions  to  the  money-lenders  of  Great  Britain,  a plundered  church,  a  venal  magistracy,  a  sordid,  rapacious  "bureau- cracy", a  wrecked  nobility,  and  poverty  everywhere  staring people  in  the  face — who  can  ponder  on  circumstances  such  as these,  and  not  feel  that  God  has  a  controversy  with  the  people and  the  rulers  of  the  land  ? Other  nations  would  do  well  to  profit  by  the  examples  of Divine  retribution  which  those  countries  afford.  The  laws  of humanity  and  justice  are  not  outraged  with  impunity ;  the  wrongs of  nations  are  never  suffered  to  pass  unpunished,  and  the  cry  of the  oppressed  will  be  heard,  whether  of  the  poor  in  the  ill-ruled land,  borne  down  by  rapacious  proprietary  power,  or  of  the  mul- titude driven  to  madness  by  state  oppression.  The  due  time  of retribution,  and  the  fitting  instruments  of  it,  are  known  only  to Him  to  whom  the  vindication  of  those  laws  belongs. The  force  of  public  opinion,  constituted  as  it  now  is,  exercises a  mighty  influence  over  oppression,  by  bringing  it  into  per- plexity, disrepute,  and  disability  for  evil,  and  serves  as  the  pal- ladium of  downcast  liberty,  to  enable  it,  when  it  has  been  beaten down  for  a  time,  to  rise  up  under  its  shelter,  to  renew  a  bloodless fight  with  tyranny,  and  in  every  change  of  circumstances  and  of fortune,  in  the  conflict  with  corruption,  avarice,  or  despotism, 214  AIM  AND  OBJECT  OF still  to  enable  it  to  linger  on  the  field,  and  take  advantage  of  the public  enemy  at  every  opening  in  its  mail.  There  are  times, however,  when  publie  opinion  has  no  such  power  and  no  such Held  for  its  legitimate  warfare— when  it  has  no  such  weapons  to oppose  to  tyranny,  and  the  times  of  which  this  work  treats  were peculiarly  of  that  description. But  even  in  the  worst  of  times  and  in  the  most  despotic  coun- tries, Providence  seems  to  direct  the  career  of  a  small  mass  of virtue  and  intelligence  that  tyranny  cannot  subdue,  that  mammon cannot  corrupt,  nor  prevailing  folly,  ignorance,  nor  debasement discourage  nor  obstruct ;  that  under  good  report  and  bad  report pursues  the  even  tenor  of  its  way,  and,  unsuspected  and  unno- ticed, undermines  the  fastnesses  of  despotism,  working  onward like  the  worm  in  the  book,  that  pierces  every  day  page  after  page, till  at  length  it  makes  its  way  through  all  its  substance. I  have  noticed,  even  in  countries  where  despotism  is  supposed to  be  all-powerful,  an  undercurrent  of  political  literature  that flows  smoothly  and  silently,  and  wends  its  way  through  the  land without  attracting  much  observation,  till  it  becomes  a  broad  stream at  length,  on  which  the  bark  of  freedom  and  enlightenment  is. borne  bravely  onward. And  in  the  execution  of  this  arduous  undertaking,  which,  at times,  I  have  felt  as  if  it  never  would  be  accomplished,  and  at  others, as  if  it  had  been  better  for  me  and  mine  that  it  had  never  been commenced,  it  only  remains  for  me  to  express  my  gratitude  to those  persons  by  whom  I  have  been  assisted  with  information,  and entrusted  with  valuable  documents,  and  have  thus  been  enabled to  bring  my  work  to  a  successful  termination,  and  in  an  especial manner  to  persons  diametrically  opposed  to  me  in  religious  as  well as  political  opinions — to  English  people  in  particular,  given  to literature,  or  engaged  in  periodical  publications. I  would  also  beg  to  acknowledge  the  obligations  which  I  owe to  a  noble  English  lord,  whose  name,  in  early  life,  was  connected with  the  names  of  the  great  and  good  men  of  a  former  and  more brilliant  era  in  English  parliamentary  history,  who  were  friends to  Ireland  and  its  people.  To  Lord  Brougham  I  am  indebted for  an  introduction  to  the  first  living  French  historian,  wherein  his lordship  called  on  that  distinguished  person  to  facilitate,  by  every means  in  his  power,  the  object  I  had  in  view — the  elucidation  of an  important  period  of  Irish  history — by  obtaining  access  for  me to  documents  connected  with  it,  that  exist  in  certain  public  offices in  Paris. I  make  this  acknowledgment  with  pleasure  and  with  gratitude to  his  lordship.  I  put  forward  no  pretensions  to  the  merit  of  hav- ing done  the  full  justice  to  my  subject  that  it  required.     I  am "  THE  LIVES  AND  TIMES  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN".  J;15 quite  sensible  how  much  the  work  falls  short  of  its  requirements; but  I  am  conscious  of  having  done  more  than  has  been  hitherto effected  towards  collecting  materials  that  will  serve  for  a  faithful history  of  a  very  memorable  period  in  the  annals  of  British  impe- rial rule,  and  a  record  of  some  of  the  most  remarkable  men  that Ireland  ever  produced.  The  result  of  those  labours  has  been  to bring  together  a  mass  of  information,  which,  but  for  such  efforts, must,  to  a  great  extent,  have  perished  with  individuals,  who were  actors  in  the  struggle  of  1798,  over  a  great  many  of  whom the  grave  has  closed  since  my  researches  were  commenced. I  will  conclude  this  historical  review  with  a  brief  repetition of  my  objects  in  writing  this  work: — To  do  justice  to  the dead,  and  a  service  to  the  living,  by  deterring  rulers  who would  be  tyrants  from  pursuing  the  policy  of  1798,  and men  of  extravagant  or  lightly-weighed  opinions  from  ill-con- sidered projects  against  oppression,  whose  driftless  efforts  against potent  despotism  never  fail  to  give  new  strength  to  the  latter : to  exhibit  the  evils  of  bad  government;  the  mischievous agency  of  spies,  informers,  stipendiary  swearers,  and  fanatical  ad- herents ;  the  foul  crime  of  exasperating  popular  feeling,  or  exag- gerating the  sense  of  public  wrongs ;  to  make  the  wickedness fully  known  of  fomenting  rebellion  for  state  purposes,  and  then employing  savage  and  inhuman  means  to  defeat  it ;  to  convince the  people,  moreover,  of  the  folly  of  entering  into  secret  associa- tions with  the  idea  of  keeping  plans  against  oppression  unknown through  the  instrumentality  of  oaths  and  tests;  by  showing  the manifold  dangers,  in  such  times,  to  which  integrity  and  innocence are  exposed  from  temptations  of  all  kinds  to  treachery ;  and, lastly,  by  directing  attention  to  the  great  fact  of  modern  times — the  power  of  breaking  down  bad  government  when  there  is  a stage  for  public  opinion,  a  virtuous  people,  and  earnest  leaders, resolutely  honest,  by  peaceful  means,  and  by  resistance  of  a  passive kind  to  all  the  illegalities  and  acts  of  violence  of  any  administra- tion that  departs  from  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  created — namely,  for  the  distribution  of  justice,  equal  and  impartial,  to all  classes  of  the  community. The  people,  under  such  circumstances,  have  other  and  better means  of  protection  than  those  which  involve  great  sufferings  and uncertain  issues.  The  redress  they  seek  is  to  be  obtained  by  a peaceful  struggle  with  oppression,  legitimate  in  its  nature,  and,  if defeated  for  a  time,  not  necessarily  fatal  in  its  consequences  to  the cause  of  freedom.  They  must  make  no  offensive  wars,  and,  if they  who  represent  them  undertake,  with  their  consent,  to  pay for  wars  made  on  them,  or  on  other  countries,  unjustly,  they  de- serve to  live  and  die  under  the  dominion  of"  sword  law".    In  the 216  ORIGIN  AND  ORGANIZATION time  of  the  second  Richard  the  question  with  the  ruling  powers was — "  How  shall  we  do  for  money  for  these  wars?" There  was  then  virtually  no  constitutional  voice  to  answer  that demand,  nor,  indeed,  at  a  much  later  period.  In  our  time  the people  are  held  to  have  a  voice  in  the  great  inquest  of  the  nation. They  must  teach  their  representatives  to  return  a  decisive  answer to  all  applications  for  the  means  of  waging  wars  which  are  unjust and  unnecessary  to  them.  "  The  nation's  money  can  be  only given  to  government  in  order  to  enable  it  to  protect  and  benefit the  people;  for  the  glory  of  the  empire  and  the  true  greatness  of the  sovereign,  is  comprised  in  one  object,  which  should  be  the aim  and  end  of  all  good  governments — namely,  the  grand  design of  making  the  people  happy".  I  take  it  for  granted  either  that the  people  are  represented,  or  have  a  light  to  be  so.  But  if  they are  not,  they  must  be  represented,  unless  they  should  be  unworthy of  freedom,  or  unable  to  make  their  just  demands  to  be  heard  by their  rulers  with  due  attention. One  object  more  I  have  had  in  view, — to  expose  and  prevent  a recurrence  to  a  system  or  government  carried  on  by  means  of  dis- sensions,  rancours,  and  divisions,  industriously  fomented,  by  reli- gious animosities  made  subservient  to  a  policy  that  might  be  sup- posed  to  prevail  only  in  a  heathen  land.  That  policy  I  have endeavoured  to  expose  the  results  of  in  these  volumes.  It  pre- vailed for  centuries  before  Tone  was  born,  and  was  in  being  when this  mournful  epitome  of  Irish  history  was  written. "  God  made  the  land ;  and  all  His  works  are  good  : Man  made  the  laws ;  and  all  they  breath'd  was  blood. Unhallowed  annals  of  six  hundred  years ! A  code  of  blood,  a  history  of  tears". CHAPTER  IX. ORIGIN,  ORGANIZATION,  AND  NEGOCIATIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN. It  is  not  only  epidemic  diseases  which,  under  peculiar  circum- stances, assume  a  contagious  character,  but  epidemic  influences  of a  moral  nature,  widely  disseminated,  which  at  certain  periods  ac- quire a  particular  degree  of  activity,  when  all  opinions  that  are brought  into  contact  with  them  become  infected  by  the  same virus,  and  the  result  is,  a  predominant  impulse  to  think,  act,  and move  in  one  common  direction. OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  •  217 This  is  the  rationale,  in  fact,  of  all  great  impulsive  movements of  a  popular  kind,  when  masses  of  people  combine  simultaneously and  conspire  in  several  places  at  the  same  time,  for  a  special object,  no  matter  how  indefinite  and  impracticable  it  may  be, or  of  what  magnitude, — for  a  religious  crusade,  an  exodus,  a revolt,  or  a  reform. The  contagion  of  the  American  revolt  was  productive  in Ireland  of  that  sturdy  spirit  of  nationality  and  love  of  in- dependence which  called  into  existence  the  Volunteer  Asso- ciation. The  contagion  of  the  French  Revolution  of  1789,  communi- cated  those  influences  to  Irish  politics  which  eventuated  in  the formation  of  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen. Early  in  the  month  of  October,  1791,  some  of  the  Catholic leaders  attempted  to  form  a  society  "  instituted  for  the  purpose of  promoting  unanimity  amongst  Irishmen,  and  removing  reli- gious prejudices".  This  society  was  projected  previously  to  the formation  of  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen.  The  attempt  was not  successful,  but  the  idea  was  caught  at,  and  embodied  in  the formation  of  a  society  in  Belfast  called  the  Society  of  United Irishmen.  The  declaration  of  the  former  society,  though very  remarkable  and  worthy  of  notice,  is  not  alluded  to  by Tone. DECLARATION   OF   THE   SOCIETY   INSTITUTED   FOR   THE  PURPOSE  OF  PROMOTING UNANIMITY  AMONGST  IRISHMEN,  AND  REMOVING  RELIGIOUS  PREJUDICES. "In  the  present  enlightened  and  improving  period  of  society,  it is  not  for  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  alone  to  continue  silent. Not  accused  of  any  crime,  not  conscious  of  any  delinquency, they  suffer  a  privation  of  rights  and  conveniences,  the  penalty  re- served in  wise  states  for  offences  of  atrocious  magnitude.  It  does not  become  them,  whilst,  with  liberality  ever  to  be  gratefully  re- membered, many  descriptions  of  their  fellow-citizens  compas- sionate their  situation,  to  seem  indifferent  to  the  desirable  and, they  hope,  not  distant  event  of  their  emancipation.  They  wish to  ascertain  upon  what  terms  they  may  venture  to  settle  in  a country  which  they  love  with  the  rational  preference  of  men,  not the  simplicity  of  puerile  acquiescence.  It  is  not  for  the  Irish Catholics,  armed  as  their  cause  is  with  reason  and  justice,  like public  foes  to  seek  advantage  from  public  calamity.  They  ought to  advance  their  claim  at  a  time  most  favourable  to  discussion, when  the  condition  of  the  empire  is  flourishing  and  tranquil. They  might  seem  culpable  to  their  country,  if,  affecting  to  dis- 218  ORIGIN  AND  ORGANIZATION semble  what  it  were  unmanly  not  to  feel,  they  reserved  their pretensions  in  ambuscade  to  augment  the  perplexities  of  some critical  emergency.  They  should  be  culpable  to  posterity,  if  they omitted  to  profit  by  the  general  inclination  of  public  sentiment. They  should  be  culpable  to  themselves,  if  they  suffered  an  impu- tation to  subsist,  that  in  the  extent  of  the  British  territory  they alone  submit  without  repining  to  a  mortifying  and  oppressive bondage,  degrading  to  themselves  and  pernicious  to  their  country. They  conceive  that  in  the  present  state  ol  things  their  silence might  be  received  as  evidence  of  such  dispositions. "Influenced  by  these  considerations,  and  instructed  by  a  recent transaction  that,  although  laws  may  be  shameful  and  preposterous, there  is  no  security  that  they  shall  not  be  enforced — for  even  in a  philosophic  age  there  will  be  bigots  and  tyrants  where  the votaries  of  freedom  are  most  sanguine — a  number  of  Roman  Ca- tholics resident  in  Dublin  have  formed  themselves  into  a  society, which  they  invite  their  fellow-sufferers  throughout  the  nation  to unite  with,  which  shall  have  for  its  object  to  consider  and  indi- vidually to  support  with  all  their  zeal  and  personal  influence, such  measures,  not  inconsistent  with  their  duty  to  the  civil  magis- trate, as  shall  appear  likely  to  relieve  them  from  the  oppressions and  disqualifications  imposed  in  this  country  on  persons  professing the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  We  therefore  do  unanimously resolve — "  That  we  will,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  endeavour,  by  all legal  and  constitutional  means,  to  procure  the  repeal  of  the  laws by  which  we  are  aggrieved  as  Roman  Catholics.  That  we  wrill promote  repeated  applications  to  every  branch  of  the  legislature for  that  purpose,  and  assist  such  applications  by  all  means  of legal  influence  which  it  shall  at  any  time  be  possible  for  us  to exert It  would  be  tedious,  it  might  prove  disgusting,  to  recount  each individual  Grievance  under  which  we  suffer.  The  Roman  Catho- lies  seem  preserved  in  this  land  but  as  a  source  of  revenue.  The whole  legislative,  the  whole  executive,  the  whole  judicial  power of  the  state  is  in  the  hands  of  men  over  whom  they  have  no control,  and  with  whom  they  can  have  little  intercourse.  They are  prohibited  to  engage  in  any  mode  of  industry  from  which  it is  possible  to  debar  them  or  which  is  worth  the  monopoly.  They are  restricted  in  the  education  of  their  children.  As  conscien- tious men,  we  cannot  lightly  abandon  our  religion;  as  prudent men,  we  hesitate  to  engage  in  controversial  study :  the  wisest  have been  bewildered  in  such  pursuits,  and  they  are  for  the  most  part incompatible  with  our  necessary  occupations.  Nor  is  there  any moral  advantage  held  out  as  an  inducement  to  change  our  creed. OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  219 It  is  not  pretended  that  we  should  become  better  men  or  more dutiful  subjects,  but  merely  experimentalists  in  religion  seek  to gratify  their  caprice  by  forcing  us  from  our  habits  of  education into  the  perplexing  labyrinth  of  theology. "  The  liberty  of  Ireland  to  those  of  our  communion  is  a  cala- mity, and  their  misfortunes  seem  likely  to  increase  as  the  coun- try shall  improve  in  prosperity  and  freedom.  They  may  look with  envy  to  the  subjects  of  an  arbitrary  monarch,  and  contrast that  government,  in  which  one  great  tyrant  ravages  the  land, with  the  thousand  inferior  despots  whom  at  every  instant  they must  encounter.  They  have  the  bustle  and  cumbersome  forms without  the  advantages  of  liberty.  The  octennial  period,  at which  the  delegated  trust  of  legislation  is  revoked,  and  his  im- portance restored  to  the  constituent,  returns  but  to  disturb  their tranquillity  and  revive  the  recollection  of  their  debasement.  All .the  activity,  all  the  popular  arts  of  electioneering  canvass,  enforce the  idea  of  their  insignificance ;  they  exemplify  it  too.  Witness the  various  preferences  given  by  persons  of  rank  to  not  always the  most  deserving  among  our  Protestant  countrymen — a  pre- ference nearly  as  detrimental  to  the  independent  Protestants  as to  us. "  There  exists  not  on  their  behalf  any  control  over  power.  They have  felt  the  truth  of  this  assertion  when,  in  this  age  of  tolera- tion, even  within  the  last  eight  years,  several  new  penal  statutes have  been  enacted  against  them.  They  experience  it  daily,  not alone  in  the  great  deliberations  of  the  nation,  but  in  the  little concerns  of  minute  districts;  not  alone  in  the  levy  of  public money  for  the  service  of  the  state,  but  in  the  local  imposition  of county  and  parochial  taxes.  We  appeal  to  our  rulers,  we  appeal to  Ireland,  we  appeal  to  Europe,  if  we  deserve/a  place  in  society, should  we  seem  willing  to  insinuate  that  such  a  situation  is  not severely  unacceptable ! "  We  are  satisfied  that  the  mere  repeal  of  the  laws  against  us will  prove  but  feebly  beneficial,  unless  the  act  be  sanctioned  by the  concurrence  of  our  Protestant  brethren,  and  those  jealousies removed  by  which  the  social  intercourse  of  private  life  is  inter- rupted. It  is  time  we  should  cease  to  be  distinct  nations  forcibly enclosed  within  the  limits  of  one  island.  It  shall  be  a  capital object  of  our  institution  to  encourage  the  spirit  of  harmony  and sentiments  of  affection  which  the  ties  of  common  interest  and common  country  ought,  ere  now,  to  have  inspired.  Countrymen, too  long  have  we  suffered  ourselves  to  be  opposed  in  rival  fac- tions to  each  other,  the  sport  of  those  who  felt  no  tenderness  for either.  Why  should  a  diversity  of  sentiment,  so  usual  where  the matter  in  debate  is  abstruse  or  important,  separate  those  whom 220  ORIGIN  AND  ORGANIZATION Heaven  placed  together  for  mutual  benefit  and  consolation? Objects  material  in  their  day  produced  hostility  between  our ancestors.  The  causes  of  that  discord  have  ceased  to  exist;  let the  enmity  too  perish.  Let  it  be  the  duty  of  the  present  and  of future  ages  ito  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  unnatural  and  cala- mitous dissension  ;  except  in  the  actual  discharge  of  the  religious duties  which  conscience  renders  inevitable,  we  wish  there  never shall  be  found  a  trace  of  difference  which  may  possibly  divide  us into  distinct  communities. "  The  ill  effects  of  those  restrictions  are  not  confined  to  those  of our  religion ;  they  extend  to  every  individual  and  every  public body  in  the  nation ;  under  the  weight  of  them  industry  is  de- pressed ;  under  their  influence  public  spirit  is  enervated.  It  is the  interest  of  every  man  in  Irelcmd  that  the  entire  code  should  be abolished;  it  is  the  interest  of  the  crown,  as  it 'must  promote  the general  happiness  of  the  subjects;  it  is  the  interest  of  the  great, as  it  will  serve  to  tranquillize  the  country  and  to  encourage industry ;  it  is  the  additional  interest  of  the  middle  and  inferior ranks,  as  it  must  impart  new  importance  to  their  sentiments,  and to  the  expression  of  them.  We  call  upon  every  order  in  the state,  not  alone  by  their  benevolence  and  justice,  but  by  their patriotism  and  self-interest,  to  cooperate  with  our  exertions. It  adds  the  insult  of  mockery  to  the  misfortune  of  the  Irish  Catho- lics, that  the  number  of  persons  aggrieved,  which  in  every  other instance  is  an  inducement  to  redress,  is  a  reason  alleged  to  procras- tinate their  relief,  and  an  argument  used  to  impose  silence  on their  murmurs.  Is  it  their  act  that  a  multitude  of  Irishmen  are aggregated  by  common  grievance,  and  classed  in  one  great  com- munity of  fellow-sufferers  ?  Why  accuse  them  of  hostility  to  the constitution  ?  They  earnestly  solicit  to  participate  in  its  advan- tages. Why  suspect  them  of  enmity  to  their  country  ?  They desire  to  contract  with  it  closer  ties,  which  shall  decide  them  to consign  their  posterity  irrevocably  to  its  bosom.  We  envy  not its  endowments  to  the  Established  Church;  adversity  has  in- structed us  that  all  the  consolations  which  our  religion  promises are  most  faithfully  and  tenderly  administered  by  pastors  with moderate  appointments,  a  free  gift  of  gratitude  to  the  kindest benefactors.  Fastidiously  excluded  from  the  constitution,  we  can pronounce  on  it  but  as  aliens  by  speculation.  We  discern  in  it the  means  of  much  happiness ;  we  regret  that  its  symmetry  is  not complete;  a  chasm  remains,  which  might  be  filled  with  advan- tage by  the  Roman  Catholics ;  we  have  neither  passion  nor  inte- rest at  variance  with  the  order  of  things  it  professes  to  establish. We  desire  only  that  property  in  our  hands  may  have  its  natural weight,  and  merit  in  our  children  its  rational  encouragement. OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  221 We  have  sworn  allegiance  to  our  sovereign,  and  the  very  evils we  complain  of  prove  how  inviolable  is  our  attachment  to  such obligations.  We  respect  the  peerage,  the  ornament  of  the  state and  the  bulwark  of  the  people;  interposing,  as  we  hope  the  Irish Catholics  will  experience,  mediatory  good  offices  between  autho- rity and  the  objects  of  it.  We  solicit  a  share  of  interest  in  the existence  of  the  Commons.  Do  you  require  an  additional  test? We  offer  one  more  unequivocal  than  a  volume  of  abjurations — we  hope  to  be  free,  and  will  endeavour  to  be  united.  Do  you require  new  proofs  of  our  sincerity  ?  We  stood  by  you  in  the exigencies  of  our  country.  We  extend  our  hands,  the  pledge  of cordiality.  Who  is  he  that  calls  himself  a  friend  to  Ireland,  and will  refuse  us? "If  the  applications  on  behalf  of  the  Irish  Catholics  are  complied with,  they  can  never  have  an  occasion — if  rejected,  they  can- not have  an  interest, — to  interrupt  the  public  harmony.  Engaged, for  the  most  part,  in  the  various  departments  of  commerce,  they are  concerned,  not  less  than  any  other  class  of  citizens,  to  cultivate the  blessings  of  tranquillity :  individually,  we  have  more  at  stake than  some  who  presume  to  falsify  our  motives  and  calumniate  our actions.  The  Roman  Catholic  body  measured  strength  with  the power  of  the  state,  and  was  vanquished,  when  it  possessed  a  force that  never  more  can  be  exerted,  and  was  opposed  to  enemies  far less  numerous  than  now  it  should  encounter.  The  confiscations of  that  period  are  confirmed  to  the  present  occupiers  by  immemo- rial possession,  by  the  utter  impossibility  of  ascertaining  the  ori- ginal proprietors,  by  the  personal  and  pecuniary  interest  of  almost every  Roman  Catholic  in  the  land  to  maintain  the  settlement. Many  of  our  communion  already  have,  and  still  more  are  likely  to embark  their  property  on  titles  derived  under  those  forfeitures.  It is  not  from  the  wealthy,  attached  to  their  present  enjoyment,  that commotion  is  to  be  apprehended :  it  is  not  from  the  indus- trious ;  a  single  year  of  anarchy  must  prove  fatal  to  their  compe- tence: it  is  not  from  the  poor,  a  wretched  band  of  slaves,  moul- dering under  these  bad  laws,  and  only  made  use  of  to  degrade  the Irish  Catholics  to  a  rabble,  when  it  is  convenient  to  despise  them. We  are  willing  to  forget  that  any  besides  the  present  race  ever existed  on  this  island.  We  long  have  been  willing  to  forget  it, if  our  recollection  were  not  kept  alive  by  what  we  suffer,  and  by the  celebration  of  festivals,  memorable  only  as  they  denote  the era  and  the  events  from  whence  we  date  our  bondage. "  We  will  endeavour  by  temperate  but  unremitting  assiduity  to procure  the  benefit  of  that  constitution  which,  of  all  our  fellow- subjects,  is  denied  alone  to  those  of  our  persuasion.  We  are amenable  to  all  the  decrees  of  the  state,  we  contribute  to  all  its 222  AIM  AND  OBJECT  OF exigencies ;  we  are  still  to  be  informed  upon  what  grounds  its advantages  are  made  a  monopoly  to  our  exclusion.  We  challenge an  investigation  of  our  principles  and  conduct;  we  feel  not  in  our- selves, we  know  not  that  there  is  in  our  brethren,  a  deficiency  of manly  spirit,  of  capacity,  or  virtue,  which  ought  to  assign  to  the Irish  Roman  Catholic  an  inferior  rank  among  the  creatures  of  our Common  Father.  If  we  have  a  crime,  it  is  to  have  slept  over  our chains;  our  cause  is  the  cause  of  justice  and  our  country.  We solicit  counsel  and  assistance  from  all  to  whom  these  sacred  names do  not  present  themselves  unheeded. "  To  the  patronage  of  the  lettered  we  peculiarly  recommend  our- selves ;  where  talents  have  arisen  amongst  us,  they  have  been  com- pelled to  seek  refuge  in  a  foreign  country,  or  they  have  perished in  their  infancy,  robbed  of  the  hope  that  animates,  curtailed  of the  education  that  invigorates  them.  We  claim  as  of  right  the benefit  of  open  trial  and  candid  discussion ;  when  overpowered by  the  administration  of  an  extensive  empire,  the  British  Senate did  not  refuse  its  attention  to  the  unfortunate  exiles  of  Africa.  If in  this  enlightened  age  it  is  still  our  doom  to  suffer,  we  submit; but  at  least,  let  us  learn  what  imputation  of  crimes  can  instigate, or  what  motives  of  expediency  can  account  for,  the  denun- ciation of  that  heavy  judgment.  If  loyalty,  which  strong  temp- tations could  never  alienate;  if  exemplary  good  conduct  under the  most  trying  circumstances ;  if  reverence  to  a  constitution, which  in  our  native  land  we  are  forbidden  to  approach,  be  insuffi- cient to  remove  unjust  aspersions,  and  entitle  us  to  the  kindness and  confidence  of  our  brethren,  we  may  be  at  least  instructed bow  we  should  atone  for  what  we  cannot  deem  inexpiable — the political  errors  or  misfortunes  of  our  ancestors". The  Society  of  the  United  Irishmen  was  formed  in  Belfast  in the  month  of  October,  1791,  by  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  a  young barrister  of  remarkable  talent,  then  in  his  twenty-eighth  year.  A political  club,  composed  of  the  liberal  volunteers  of  that  city,  un- der the  guidance  of  a  secret  committee,  had  been  previously  in existence,  the  leading  members  of  which  club  were  Neilson,  Rus- sell, Simms,  Sinclair,  M'Tier,  M'Cabe,  Digges,  Bryson,  Jordan, etc.  Tone,  in  his  Diary,  says,  he  went  down  to  Belfast  on  the 11th  of  October,  1791,  by  invitation  of  the  members  of  this  club, and  "  on  the  12th  did  business  with  the  secret  committee,  who  are not  known  or  suspected  of  cooperating,  but  who,  in  fact,  direct the  movements  in  Belfast".  He  at  once  set  about  remodelling certain  resolutions  of  this  association.  On  the  18th.  of  October, Tone  speaks  of  the  first  regular  meeting  of  the  United  Irishmen which  he  attended  in  Belfast ;  twenty  members  present ;  the  club consisting  of  thirty-six  original  members. "  THE  LIVES  AND  TIMES  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN".  223 The  declaration  of  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen,  drawn  np by  Tone,  and  read  at  the  first  general  meeting,  the  18th  of  Oc- tober, 1791,  in  Belfast,  stated,  "  the  great  measure  essential  to  the prosperity  and  freedom  of  Ireland  was  an  equal  representation  of all  the  people  of  Ireland".  The  great  evil  was  English  influence. "  We  have  no  national  government.  We  are  ruled  by  English- men and  the  servants  of  Englishmen,  whose  object  is  the  interest of  another  country,  whose  instrument  is  corruption,  and  whose strength  is  the  weakness  of  Ireland:  and  these  men  have  the whole  of  the  power  and  patronage  of  the  country  as  means  to seduce  and  to  subdue  the  honesty  and  the  spirit  of  her  represen- tatives in  the  legislature",  etc. To  effect  their  objects  the  declaration  states,  "  The  Society of  United  Irishmen  has  been  formed".  The  following  resolutions were  proposed  and  carried : — "  1st.  That  the  weight  of  English  influence  in  the  government of  this  country  is  so  great  as  to  require  a  cordial  union  among  all the  people  of  Ireland,  to  maintain  that  balance  which  is  essential to  the  preservation  of  our  liberties  and  the  extension  of  our  com- merce. "  2nd.  That  the  sole  constitutional  mode  by  which  this  influence can  be  opposed  is  by  a  complete  and  radical  reform  of  the  repre- sentation of  the  people  in  parliament. "  3rd.  That  no  reform  is  just  which  does  not  include  Irishmen of  every  religious  persuasion".* In  the  month  of  November,  1791,  Tone,  having  returned  to Dublin,  consulted  with  Napper  Tandy  about  the  formation  of another  society  like  that  of  Belfast,  in  Dublin ;  and,  in  a  few weeks,  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen  was  established  in  the capital. The  first  chairman  of  the  meetings  in  Dublin  was  the  Hon. Simon  Butler,  and  the  first  secretary,  James  Napper  Tandy.  It is  worthy  of  attention  that  both  Tone  and  Tandy  at  this  period were  republicans,  and  yet  the  society  they  founded  was  formed expressly  to  obtain  a  reform  in  parliament  and  the  abolition  of  the penal  code.  In  fact,  whatever  their  own  views  were  with  respect  to republicanism  or  separation,  the  great  body  of  the  original  members looked  to  the  achievement  of  reform  alone ;  and  even  Tone  himself says:  "  At  this  time  the  establishment  of  a  republic  was  not  the immediate  object  of  my  speculations:  my  object  was  to  secure  the independence  of  my  country  under  any  form  of  government",  etc. Tone  states,  "  the  club  was  scarcely  formed  before  he  lost  all pretensions  to  anything  like  influence  in  their  measures".     That *  Vide  "  Life  of  T.  W.  Tone".     Washington  edition,  vol.  i. 224  ORIGIN  AND  ORGANIZATION he  "  sunk  into  obscurity  in  the  club,  which,  however,  he  had the  satisfaction  to  see  daily  increasing  in  numbers  and  impor- tance". The  first  meeting  of  the  Dublin  Society  of  United  Irishmen took  place  at  the  Eagle  Tavern,  in  Eustace  Street,  the  9  th  of November,  1791,  the  Hon.  Simon  Butler  in  the  chair,  James Napper  Tandy  secretary.  The  declaration  and  resolutions  of  the Belfast   Society  were   adopted  at  that  meeting. CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  UNITED   IRISHMEN   OF  THE  CITY  OF  DUBLIN, AS    FIRST    AGREED    UPON. The  society  is  constituted  for  the  purpose  of  forwarding  a brotherhood  of  affection,  an  identity  of  interests,  a  communion  of rights,  and  an  union  of  power,  among  Irishmen  of  all  religious persuasions,  and  thereby  obtaining  an  impartial  and  adequate  re- presentation of  the  nation  in  parliament. The  members  of  this  society  are  either  ordinary  or  honorary. Such  persons  only  are  eligible  as  honorary  members  who  have distinguished  themselves  by  promoting  the  liberties  of  mankind, and  are  not  inhabitants  of  Ireland. Every  candidate  for  admission  into  the  society,  whether  as  an ordinary  or  honorary  member,  shall  be  proposed  by  two  ordi- nary members,  who  shall  sign  a  certificate  of  his  being,  from  their knowledge  of  him,  a  fit  person  to  be  admitted,  that  he  has  seen the  test,  and  is  willing  to  take  it.  This  certificate,  delivered  to the  secretary,  shall  be  read  from  the  chair  at  the  ensuing  meeting of  the  society ;  and  on  the  next  subsequent  night  of  meeting,  the society  shall  proceed  to  the  election.  The  names  and  additions of  the  candidate,  with  the  names  of  those  by  whom  he  has  been proposed,  shall  be  inserted  in  the  summons  for  the  night  of  elec- tion. The  election  shall  be  conducted  by  ballot,  and  if  one-fifth of  the  number  of  beans  be  black,  the  candidate  stands  rejected. The  election,  with  respect  to  an  ordinary  member,  shall  be  void if  he  does  not  attend  within  four  meetings  afterwards,  unless  he can  plead  some  reasonable  excuse  for  his  absence. Every  person  elected  a  member  of  the  society,  whether  hono- rary or  ordinary,  shall,  previous  to  his  admission,  take  and  sub- scribe the  following  test: — "  I,  A.  B.,  in  the  presence  of  God,  do  pledge  myself  to  my country,  that  I  will  use  all  my  abilities  and  influence  in  the  at- tainment of  an  impartial  and  adequate  representation  of  the  Irish nation  in  parliament;  and  as  a  means  of  absolute  and  immediate necessity  in  the  establishment  of  this  chief  good  of  Ireland,  I  will endeavour,  as  much  as  lies  in  my  ability,  to  forward  a  brother- OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  225 hood  of  affection,  an  identity  of  interests,  a  communion  of  rights, and  an  union  of  power,  among  Irishmen  of  all  religious  persua- sions, without  which  every  reform  in  parliament  must  be  partial, not  national,  inadequate  to  the  wants,  delusive  to  the  wishes,  and insufficient  for  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  this  country". A  member  of  another  society  of  United  Irishmmen  being  intro- duced to  the  president  by  a  member  of  this  society,  shall,  upon !  producing  a  certificate,  signed  by  the  secretary,  and  sealed  with the  seal  of  the  society  to  which  he  belongs,  and  taking  the  before- i  mentioned  test,  be  thereupon  admitted  to  attend  the  sittings  of 1  this  society. The  officers  of  the  society  shall  consist  of  a  president,  treasurer, ;  and  secretary,  who  shall  be  severally  elected  every  three  months, viz.,  on  every  first  night  of  meeting  in  the  months  of  November, February,  May,  and  August ;  the  election  to  be  determined  by !  each  member  present  writing  on  a  piece  of  paper  the  names  of j  the  object  of  his  choice,  and  putting  it  into  a  box.  The  majo- I  rity  of  votes  shall  decide.  If  the  votes  are  equal  the  president 'shall  have  a  casting  voice.  No  person  shall  be  capable  of I  being  reelected  to  any  office  for  the  quarter  next  succeeding  the 1  determination  of  his  office.  In  case  of  an  occasional  vacancy  in j  any  office  by  death,  or  otherwise,  the  society  shall,  on  the  next !  night  of  meeting,  elect  a  person  to  the  same  for  the  remainder  of jthe  quarter. The  society  shall  meet  on  every  second  Friday  night ;  oftener jif  necessary.  The  chair  shall  be  taken  at  eight  o'clock  from  29th [September  to  the  25th  of  March,  and  at  nine  o'clock,  from  the J25th  of  March  to  the  29th  of  September.  Fifteen  members  shall iform  a  quorum.  No  new  business  shall  be  introduced  after  ten o'clock. Every  respect  and  deference  shall  be  paid  to  the  president. jHis  chair  shall  be  raised  three  steps  above  the  seats  of  the  mem- bers ;  the  treasurer  and  secretary  shall  have  seats  under  him,  two steps  above  the  seats  of  the  members.  On  his  rising  from  his ichair  and  taking  off  his  hat,  there  must  be  silence,  and  the  mem- bers be  seated.  He  shall  be  judge  of  order  and  propriety,  be  em- ipowered  to  direct  an  apology,  and  to  fine  refractory  members ^n  any  sum  not  above  one  crown.  If  the  member  refuse  to  pay ]the  fine,  or  make  the  apology,  he  is  thereupon  expelled  from  the society. There  shall  be  a  committee  of  constitution,  of  finance,  of  cor- 'respondence,  and  of  accommodation.  The  committee  of  consti- tution shall  consist  of  nine  members ;  that  of  finance,  of  seven members ;  that  of  correspondence,  of  five  members.  Each  com- mittee shall,  independent  of  occasional  reports,  make  general  re- VOL.  I.  16 22G  tone's  avowal  of  views ports  on  every  quarterly  meeting.     The  treasurer  shall  be  under the  direction  of  the  committee  of  finance,  and  the  secretary  under  j the  direction  of  the  committee  of  correspondence.     The  election for  committees  shall  be  on  every  quarterly  meeting,  and  decided  j by  the  majority  of  votes. In  order  to  defray  the  necessary  expenses,  and  establish  a fund  for  the  use  of  the  society,  each  ordinary  member  shall,  on his  election,  pay  to  the  treasurer,  by  those  who  proposed  him, one  guinea  admission  fee,  and  also  one  guinea  annually,  by  half- yearly  payments,  on  every  first  night  of  meeting  in  November and  May ;  the  first  payment  thereof  to  be  on  the  first  night of  meeting  in  November,  1792.  On  every  quarterly  meeting; following,  the  names  of  the  defaulters,  as  they  appear  in  the  trea- sury-book, shall  be  read  from  the  chair.  If  any  member,  after , the  second  reading,  neglect  to  pay  his  subscription,  he  shall  be excluded  the  society,  unless  he  can  show  some  reasonable  excuse for  his  default. The  secretary  shall  be  furnished  with  the  following  seal : — viz.,! a  harp— at  the  top,  "lam  new  strung" ;  at  the  bottom,  "I  will  be heard" ;  and  on  the  exergue,  "Society  of  United  Irishmen  of  Dublin". No  motion  for  an  alteration  of,  or  addition  to,  the  constitution shall  be  made  but  at  the  quarterly  meetings,  and  notice  of  such motion  shall  be  given  fourteen  days  previous  to  those  meetings. If  upon  such  motion  the  society  shall  see  ground  for  the  proposed; alteration  or  addition,  the  same  shall  be  referred  to  the  proper committee,  with  instructions  to  report  on  the  next  night  of  meet-, ing  their  opinions  thereon ;  and  upon  such  report  the  question shall  be  decided  by  the  society. Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  the  original  and  principal  founder  of the  institution,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  one  of  his  friends  at  Belfast. containing  the  resolutions  and  declarations  written  by  him,  upon which  the  institution  was  founded,  observed — "  The  foregoing  contain  my  true  and  sincere  opinion  of  the: state  of  this  country,  so  far  as  in  the  present  juncture  it  may  bei advisable  to  publish  it.  They  certainly  fall  short  of  the  truth.; but  truth  itself  must  sometimes  condescend  to  temporize.  My unalterable  opinion  is,  that  the  bane  of  Irish  prosperity  is  in  the influence  of  England ;  I  believe  that  influence  will  ever  be  ex- tended while  the  connexion  between  the  two  countries  continues nevertheless,  as  I  know  that  opinion  is  for  the  present  too  hardy though  a  very  little  time  may  establish  it  universally,  I  have  no' made  it  a  part  of  the  resolutions.  I  have  only  proposed  to  sel up  a  reformed  parliament  as  a  barrier  against  that  mischief  which ! IN  FORMATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY.  227 every  honest  man  that  will  open  his  eyes  must  see  in  every instance  overbears  the  interest  of  Ireland :  I  have  not  said  one word  that  looks  like  a  wish  for  separation,' though  I  give  it  to you  and  your  friends  as  rny  most  decided  opinion,  that  such  an event  would  be  a  regeneration  to  this  country. "  I  have,  you  will  see,  alluded  to  the  resolutions  of  the  Whig Club,  and  I  have  differed  with  them  in  degree  only — that  is,  I think,  and  I  am  sure,  they  do  not  go  far  enough ;  they  are  not !  sincere  friends  to  the  popular  cause ;  they  dread  the  people  as !  much  as  the  Castle  does.     It  may  be  objected  that  an  implied ■  difference  of  sentiment  between  them  and  the  people  will  weaken i  both:  I  think  otherwise.     If  they  do  not  join  you  in  supporting I  a  reform  in  parliament,  they  do  not  deserve  support  themselves ; |  apply  the  touchstone — if  they  stand  the  trial,  well ;  if  they  fail, |  they  are  false  and  hollow,  and  the  sooner  they  are  detected  the !  better ;  what  signifies  p'eddling  with  their  superficial  measures  ? !  They  are  good  so  far  as  they  go,  but  for  the  people  to  spend j  their  strength  in  pursuit  of  such,  would  be  just  as  wise  as  for  a !  man  who  has  a  mortification  in  his  bowels  to  be  very  solicitous I  about  a  plaister  for  his  fore  finger.     To  be  candid,  I  dare  say ,that  my  Lord  Charlemont,  and  I  am  pretty  sure  that  Mr.  Grat- jtan,  would  hesitate  very  much  at  the  resolutions  which  I  send ; but  I  only  beg  you  will  dismiss  your  respect  for  great  names ; read  over  the  resolutions  and  what  I  have  now  said,  and  then j  determine  impartially  between  us.     I  have  alluded  to  the  Catho- lics, but  so  remotely  as  I  hope  not  to  alarm  the  most  cautious Protestant ;  it  is  wicked  nonsense  to  talk  of  a  reform  in  Ireland in  which  they  shall  not  have  their  due  share. "  I  have,  in  the  third  resolution,  conceded  very  far  indeed  to what  I  consider  as  vulgar  and  ignorant  prejudices:  look  at  France and  America ;  the  Pope  burnt  in  effigy  at  Paris ;  the  English Catholics  seceding  from  his  church.  A  thousand  arguments crowd  on  me,  but  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  dwell  on  them.  I hope  you  will  find  this  resolution  sufficiently  guarded  and  cool. I  have  been  purposely  vague  and  indefinite ;  and  I  must  say, men  who  would  seek  a  reform,  and  admit  that  indispensable  step, have  different  notions  both  of  expediency  and  justice  from  any that  I  can  conceive. "  I  think  the  best  opportunity  for  publishing  them  will  be  on the  14th  of  July ;  I  learn  there  is  to  be  a  commemoration  of  the French  Revolution,  that  morning  star  of  liberty  to  Ireland.  The Volunteers,  if  they  approve  of  the  plan,  may  then  adopt  it,  and I  have  so  worded  it  as  to  leave  them  an  opportunity.  I  have left,  as  you  see,  a  blank  for  the  name,  which,  I  am  clearly  of opinion,  should  be,  '  The  Society  of  United  Irishmen'' ". 228  PROCEEDINGS  OF Circular,  dated  Friday,  December  30,  1791. SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN  OF  DUBLIN. The  Honourable  Simon  Butler,  Chairman. "  Resolved  unanimously,  that  the  following  circular  letter,  re- ported by  our  Committee  of  Correspondence,  be  adopted  and printed : — "  This  letter  is  addressed  to  you  from  the  Corresponding  Com- mittee of  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen  in  Dublin. "  We  annex  the  declaration  of  political  principles  which  we have  subscribed,  and  the  test  which  we  have  taken,  as  a  social and  sacred  compact  to  bind  vis  more  closely  together. "  The  object  of  this  institution  is  to  make  an  United  Society of  the  Irish  Nation ;  to  make  all  Irishmen  Citizens — all  Citizens  I Irishmen;  nothing  appearing  to  us  more  natural  at  all  times,  and at  this  crisis  of  Europe  more  seasonable,  than  that  those  who  have common  interests  and  common  enemies,  who  suffer  common wrongs,  and  lay  claim  to  common  rights,  should  know  each  other, and  should  act  together.  In  our  opinion,  ignorance  has  been  the demon  of  discord,  which  has  so  long  deprived  Irishmen,  not  only of  the  blessings  of  well-regulated  government,  but  even  the common  benefits  of  civil  society.  Peace  in  this  island  has hitherto  been  a  peace  on  the  principles  and  with  the  conse-  ■ quences  of  civil  war.  For  a  century  past,  there  has,  indeed,  been tranquillity,  but  to  most  of  our  dear  countrymen  it  has  been  the tranquillity  of  a  dungeon ;  and  if  the  land  has  lately  prospered,  it has  been  owing  to  the  goodness  of  Providence,  and  the  strong efforts  of  human  nature,  resisting  and  overcoming  the  malignant influence  of  a  miserable  administration. "  To  resist  this  influence,  which  rules  by  discord  and  embroils by  system,  it  is  vain  to  act  as  individuals  or  as  parties ;  it  becomes necessary,  by  an  union  of  minds,  and  a  knowledge  of  each  other, to  will  and  act  as  a  nation.     To  know  each  other  is  to  know  our- ; selves — the  weakness  of  one,  and  the  strength  of  many.     Union,  '■ therefore,  is  power ;  it  is  wisdom ;  it  must  prove  liberty. "  Our  design,  therefore,  in  forming  this  society,  is  to  give  an example,  which,  when  well  followed,  must  collect  the  public  will, and  concentrate  the  public  power,  into  one  solid  mass,  the  effect  o/j which,  once  put  in  motion,  must  be  rapid,  momentous,  and  conse- quential. "  In  thus  associating,  we  have  thought  little  about  our  ances- tors, much  of  our  posterity.     Are  we  for  ever  to  walk  like  beasts ' of  prey,  over  fields  which  these  ancestors  stained  with  blood  ?    In  j looking  back,  we  see  nothing  on  the   one  part  but  savage  force, THE  SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  229 succeeded  by  savage  policy;  on  the  other,  an  unfortunate  nation, 1  scattered  and  peeled,  meted  out,   and  trodden  down !'     We  see a  mutual  intolerance,  and  a  common  carnage  of  the  first  moral emotions  of  the  heart  which  lead  us  to  esteem  and  place  confi- dence in  our  fellow-creatures.      We  see  this,  and  are  silent.     But we  gladly  look  forward  to  brighter  prospects ;  to  a  people  united in  the  fellowship  of  freedom ;  to  a  parliament  the  express  image of  the  people;  to  a  prosperity  established  on  civil,  political,  and ;  religious   liberty;   to   a  peace — not  the  gloomy  and    precarious |  stillness  of  men  brooding  over  their  wrongs,  but  that  stable  tran- |  quillity  which  rests  on  the  rights  of  human  nature,  and  leans  on j  the  arms  by  which  these  rights  are  to  be  maintained. "  Our  principal  rule  of  conduct  has  been  to  attend  to  those ;  things  in  which  we  agree,  to  exclude  from  our  thoughts  those  in 1  which  we  differ.     We  agree  in  knowing  what  are  our  rights,  and !  in  daring  to  assert  them.     If  the  rights  of  men  be  duties  to  God, }  we  are,  in  this  respect,  of  one  religion.     Our  creed  of  civil  faith is  the  same.      We  a^ree  in  thinking  that  there  is  not  an  indivi- |  dual  among  our  millions,  whose  happiness  can  be  established  on j  any  foundation  so  rational  and  so  solid,  as  on  the  happiness  of  the i  whole   community.      We  agree,   therefore,   in   the    necessity  of j  giving  political  value  and  station  to  the  great  majority  of  the !  people ;  and  we  think  that  whoever  desires  an  amended  constitu- !  tion,  without  including  the  great  body  of  the  people,  must  on  his own  principles  be  convicted  of  political  persecution  and  political monopoly.     If  the  present  electors  be  themselves  a  morbid  part of  our  constitution,  where  are  we   to  recur  for  redress   but  to the  whole  community?     'A  more  unjust  and  absurd  constitution cannot  be  devised,  than  that  which  condemns  the  natives  of  a country  to  perpetual  servitude,  under  the  arbitrary  dominion  of Strangers  and  slaves'. "  We  agree  in  thinking,  that  the  first  and  most  indispensable condition  of  the  laws  in  a  free  state,  is  the  assent  of  those  whose obedience  they  require,  and  for  whose  benefit  only  they  are  de- signed. Without,  therefore,  an  impartial  and  adequate  represen- tation of  the  community,  we  agree  in  declaring,  we  can  have  no constitution,  no  country,  no  Ireland.  Without  this,  our  late revolution  we  declare  to  be  fallacious  and  ideal — a  thing  much talked  of,  but  neither  felt  nor  seen.  The  act  of  Irish  sovereignty has  been  merely  tossed  out  of  the  English  Houses  into  the  ca- binet of  the  Minister;  and  nothing  remains  to  the  people,  who  of right  are  everything,  but  a  servile  majesty  and  a  ragged  inde- pendence. "  We  call  most  earnestly  on  every  great  and  good  man,  who  at the  late  era  spoke  or  acted  for  his  country,  to  consider  less  of  what 230  PROCEEDINGS  OF was  done,  than  of  what  there  remains  to  do.  We  call  upon  their senatorial  wisdom  to  consider  the  monstrous  and  immeasurable distance  which  separates,  in  this  island,  the  ranks  of  social  life, makes  labour  ineffectual,  taxation  unproductive,  and  divides  the nation  into  petty  despotism  and  public  misery.  We  call  upon their  tutelar  genius  to  remember,  that  government  is  instituted  to remedy,  not  to  render  more  grievous,  the  natural  inequalities  of mankind,  and  that,  unless  the  rights  of  the  whole  community  be asserted,  anarchy  (we  cannot  call  it  government)  must  continue to  prevail,  when  the  strong  tyrannize,  the  rich  oppress,  and  the mass  are  brayed  as  in  a  mortar.  We  call  upon  them,  therefore,  to build  their  arguments  and  their  actions  on  the  broad  platform  of general  good. "  Let  not  the  rights  of  nature  be  enjoyed  merely  by  connivance, and  the  rights  of  conscience  merely  by  toleration.  If  you  raise up  a  prone  people,  let  it  not  be  merely  to  their  knees.  Let  the nation  stand.  Then  will  it  cast  away  the  bad  habit  of  servitude, which  has  brought  with  it  indolence,  ignorance,  and  extinction  of our  faculties — an  abandonment  of  our  very  nature.  Then  will every  right  obtained,  every  franchise  exerted,  prove  a  seed  of sobriety,  industry,  and  regard  to  character,  and  the  manners  of the  people  will  be  formed  on  the  model  of  their  free  constitu- tion. "  This  rapid  exposition  of  our  principles,  our  object,  and  our rule  of  conduct,  must  naturally  suggest  the  wish  of  multiplying similar  societies,  and  the  propriety  of  addressing  such  a  desire  to you.     Is  it  necessary  for  us  to  request  that  you  will  hold  out  your hand  and  open  your  heart  to  your  countryman,  townsman,  neigh- bour?    Can  you  form  a  hope  for  political  redemption,  and  by political  penalties,  or  civil  excommunications,  withhold  the  rights of  nature  from  your  brother  ?      We  beseech  you  to  rally  all  the friends  of  liberty  within  your  circle  round  a  society  of  this  kind as  a  centre.     Draw  together  your  best  and  bravest  thoughts,  your best  and  bravest  men.      You  will  experience,  as  we  have  done,  that these  points  of  union  icill  quickly  attract  numbers,  while  the  assem- blage of  such  societies,  acting  in  concert,  moving  as  one  body,  with one  impulse  and  one  direction,  will,  in  no  long  time,  become,  not parts  of  the  nation,  but  the  nation  itself,  speaking  with  its  voice, expressing  its  will,  resistless  in  its  power.     We  again  entreat you  to  look  around  for  men  fit  to  form  those  stable  supports  on which  Ireland  may  rest  the  lever  of  liberty.     If  there  be  but  ten, take  those  ten.      If  there  be  but  two,  take  those  two,  and  trust with  confidence  to  the  sincerity  of  your  intention,  the  justice  of your  cause,  and  the  support  of  your  country. Two  objects  interest  the  nation:   A  plan  of  representation,  and THE  SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  231 the  means  of  accomplishing  it.  These  societies  will  be  a  most powerful  means.  But  a  popular  plan  would  itself  be  a  means  for its  own  accomplishment.  We  have,  therefore,  to  request  that you  will  favour  us  with  your  ideas  respecting  the  plan  which  ap- pears to  you  most  eligible  and  practicable,  on  the  present  more enlarged  and  liberal  principles  which  actuate  the  people ;  at  the same  time  giving  your  sentiments  upon  our  national  coalition,  on the  means  of  promoting  it,  and  on  the  political  state  and  disposi- tion of  the  country  or  town  where  you  reside.  We  know  what resistance  will  be  made  to  your  patriotic  efforts  by  those  who triumph  in  the  disunion  and  degradation  of  their  country.  The greater  the  necessity  for  reform,  the  greater  will  be  the  resistance. We  know  that  there  is  much  spirit  that  requires  being  brought into  mass,  as  well  as  much  massy  body  that  must  be  refined  into spirit.  We  have  many  enemies,  and  no  enemy  is  contemptible. We  do  not  despise  the  enemies  of  the  union,  the  liberty,  and  the peace  of  Ireland,  but  we  are  not  of  a  nature,  nor  have  we  encou- raged the  habit  of  fearing  any  man,  or  any  body  of  men,  in  an honest  and  honourable  cause.  In  great  undertakings  like  the present,  we  declare  that  we  have  found  it  always  more  difficult  to attempt  than  to  accomplish.  The  people  of  Ireland  must  perform all  that  they  wish,  if  they  attempt  all  that  they  can. "  Signed  by  order, "  James  Napper  Tandy,  Sec." At  the  different  meetings  of  the  society,  in  1791  and  1792,  the language  used  was  uniformly  bold,  and  violent,  and  imprudent.  At the  close  of  the  latter  year,  at  a  meeting  of  which  William  Drennan was  chairman,  and  Archibald  Hamilton  Rowan  secretary,  an  ad- dress was  submitted,  in  which  a  convention  was  proposed,  and  the object  of  the  society  was  declared  to  be,  "  a  national  legislature, and  its  means  an  union  of  the  people.  The  government  is  called on,  if  it  has  a  sincere  regard  for  the  safety  of  the  constitution,  to coincide  with  the  people  in  the  speedy  reform  of  its  abuses,  and not  by  an  obstinate  adherence  to  them,  to  drive  the  people  into  re- publicanism". 232  PROCEEDINGS  OF EXTRACT    FROM    AN    ADDRESS    FROM    THE     SOCIETY    OF    UNITED    IRISHMEN    IN DUBLIN  TO  THE  DELEGATES  FOR  PROMOTING  A  REFORM  IN  SCOTLAND.* William  Drennan,  Chairman. Archibald  Hamilton  Rowan,  Secretary. "November  23,  1792. "We  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  in  the  spirit  of  civil union,  in  the  fellowship  of  a  just  and  common  cause.  We  greatly rejoice  that  the  spirit  of  freedom  moves  over  Scotland;  that  the light  seems  to  break  from  the  chaos  of  her  internal  government ; and  that  a  country  so  respectable  for  her  attainments  in  science, in  arts,  and  in  arms,  for  men  of  literary  eminence,  for  the  intelli- gence and  morality  of  her  people,  now  acts  from  a  conviction  of the  union  between  virtue,  letters,  and  liberty,  and  now  rises  to distinction,  not  by  a  calm,  contented,  secret  wish  for  a  reform  in parliament,  but  by  openly,  actively,  and  urgently  willing  it,  with the  unity  and  energy  of  an  embodied  nation.  We  rejoice  that you  do  not  consider  yourselves  as  merged  and  melted  down into  another  country,  but  that  in  this  great  national  question,  you are  still  Scotland — the  land  where  Buchanan  wrote,  and  Fletcher spoke,  and  Wallace  fought. "Away  from  us  and  our  children  these  puerile  antipathies,  so unworthy  of  the  manhood  of  nations,  which  insulate  individuals as  well  as  countries,  and  drive  the  citizen  back  to  the  savage  ! We  esteem  and  we  respect  you.  We  pay  merited  honour  to  a nation,  in  general  well  educated  and  well  informed,  because  we know  that  the  ignorance  of  the  people  is  the  cause  and  effect  of all  civil  and  religious  despotism.  We  honour  a  nation  regular  in their  lives,  and  strict  in  their  manners,  because  we  conceive  pri- vate morality  to  be  the  only  secure  foundation  of  public  policy. We  honour  a  nation  eminent  for  men  of  genius,  and  we  trust  that they  will  now  exert  themselves,  not  so  much  in  perusing  and penning  the  histories  of  other  countries,  as  in  making  their  own  a subject  for  the  historian.  May  we  venture  to  observe  to  them, that  mankind  have  been  too  retrospective,  canonized  antiquity, and  undervalued  themselves.  Man  has  reposed  on  ruins,  and rested  his  head  on  some  fragments  of  the  temple  of  liberty,  or  at most,  amused  himself  in  pacing  the  measurement  of  the  edifice, and  nicely  limiting  its  proportions,  not  reflecting  that  this  temple is  truly  catholic,  the  ample  Earth  its  area,  and  the  arch  of  Hea- ven its  dome. *  Written  by  Dr.  Drennan. THE  SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  233 "  We  will  lay  open  to  you  our  own  hearts.  Our  cause  is  your cause.  If  there  is  to  be  a  struggle  between  us,  let  it  be  which nation  shall  be  foremost  in  the  race  of  mind;  let  this  be  the noble  animosity  kindled  between  us,  who  shall  first  attain  that free  constitution,  from  which  both  are  equidistant — who  shall  first be  the  saviour  of  the  empire. "  In  this  society,  and  its  affiliated  societies,  the  Catholic  and the  Presbyterian  are  at  this  instant  holding  out  their  hands  and opening  their  hearts  to  each  other ;  agreeing  in  principles,  con- curring in  practice.  We  unite  for  immediate,  ample,  and  sub- stantial justice  to  the  Catholics,  and  when  that  is  attained,  a  com- bined exertion  for  reform  in  parliament  is  the  condition  of  our compact  and  the  seal  of  our  communion. "  Universal  emancipation,  with  representative-  legislature,  is  the polar  principle  which  guides  our  society,  and  shall  guide  it through  all  the  tumult  of  factions  and  fluctuations  of  parties.  It is  not  upon  a  coalition  of  opposition  with  ministry  that  we  de- pend, but  upon  a  coalition  of  Irishmen  with  Irishmen,  and  in  that coalition  alone,  we  find  an  object  worthy  of  reform,  and  at  the same  time  the  strength  and  sinew  both  to  attain  and  secure it.  It  is  not  upon  external  circumstances,  upon  the  pledge  of man  or  minister,  we  depend,  but  upon  the  internal  energy  of  the Irish  nation.  We  will  not  buy  or  borrow  liberty  from  America or  France,  but  manufacture  it  ourselves,  and  work  it  up  with those  materials  which  the  hearts  of  Irishmen  furnish  them  with  at home.  We  do  not  worship  the  British,  far  less  the  Irish,  consti- tution, as  sent  down  from  Heaven,  hut  we  consider  it  as  human workmanship,  which  man  has  made  and  man  can  mend.  An  un- alterable constitution,  whatever  he  its  nature,  must  he  despotism. It  is  not  the  constitution  hut  the  people  which  ought  to  he  invio- lable, and  it  is  time  to  recognize  and  renovate  the  rights  of  the English,  the  Scotch,  and  the  Irish  natio?is  —  rights  which  can neither  be  bought  nor  sold,  granted  by  charter,  or  forestalled  by monopoly,  but  which  nature  dictates  as  the  birth-right  of  all,  and which  it  is  the  business  of  a  constitution  to  define,  to  enforce,  and to  establish.  If  government  has  a  sincere  regard  for  the  safety  of the  constitution,  let  them  coincide  with  the  people  in  the  speedy reform  of  its  abuses,  and  not  by  an  obstinate  adherence  to  them, drive  that  people  into  republicanism. "  We  have  told  you  what  our  situation  was,  what  it  is,  what  it ought  to  be:  our  end,  a  national  legislature;  our  means,  an  union of  the  whole  people.  Let  this  union  extend  throughout  the empire;  let  all  unite  for  all,  or  each  man  suffer  for  all.  In  each county  let  the  people  assemble,  in  peaceful  and  constitutional convention".... 234 ADDRESS  OF  THE  SOCIETY HIE    SOCIETY    OF    UNITED    IRISHMEN,    AT    DUBLIN,    TO   THE    VOLUNTEERS    OF IRELAND. William  Drennan,  Chairman. Archibald  Hamilton  Rowan,  Secretary. "  December  14,  17'J'2. "  Citizen  Soldiers, "     "  You  first  took  up  arms  to  protect  your  country  from  foreign enemies  and  from  domestic  disturbance.     For  the  same  purposes it  now  becomes  necessary  that  you  should  resume  them.     A  pro- clamation has  been  issued  in  England  for  embodying  the  militia ; and  a  proclamation  has  been  issued  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant  and Council  in  Ireland,  for  repressing  all  seditious  associations.     In consequence  of  both  these  proclamations,  it  is  reasonable  to  appre- hend danger  from  abroad  and  danger  at  home.     From  whence but  from   apprehended  danger  are  those  menacing  preparations for  war  drawn  through  the  streets  of  this  capital,  or  whence,  if not  to  create  that  internal  commotion  which  was  not  found,  to shake  that  credit  which  was  not  affected,  to  blast  that  Volunteer honour  which  was  hitherto  inviolate,  are  those  terrible  suggestions and  rumours  and  whispers  that  meet  us  at  every  corner,  and  agi- tate, at  least,  our  old  men,  our  women,  and  children.   Whatever  be the  motive,  or  from  whatever  quarter  it  arises,  alarm  has  arisen, and  you,  Volunteers  of  Ireland,  are  thus  summoned  to  arms at  the  instance  of  government,  as  well   as   by  the  responsibility attached  to  your  character,  and  the  permanent  obligations  of  your institution.     We  will  not  at  this  day  condescend  to  quote  autho- rities for  the  right  of  having  and  of  using  arms,  but  we  will  cry aloud,  even  amidst  the  storm  raised  by  the  witchcraft  of  a  procla- mation, that  to  your  formation  was  owing  the  peace  and  protec- tion of  this  island ;  to  your  relaxation  has  been  owing  its  relapse into  impotence  and  insignificance ;  to  your  renovation  must  be owing  its  future  freedom  and  its  present   tranquillity.     You  are therefore  summoned  to  arms,  in  order  to  preserve  your  country in  that  guarded  quiet  which  may  secure  it  from  external  hostility, and  to  maintain  that  internal  regimen  throughout  the  land,  which, superseding  a  notorious  police  or  a  suspected  militia,  may  pre- serve the  blessings  of  peace  by  a  vigilant  preparation  for  war. "  Citizen  Soldiers,  to  arms !  Take  up  the  shield  of  freedom  and the  pledges  of  peace — peace,  the  motive  and  end  of  your  virtuous institution.  War,  an  occasional  duty,  ought  never  to  be  made  an occupation.  Every  man  should  become  a  soldier  in  the  defence of  his  rights;  no  man  ought  to  continue  a  soldier  for  offending TO  THE  VOLUNTEERS.  235 the  rights  of  others.  The  sacrifice  of  life  in  the  service  of  our country  is  a  duty  much  too  honourable  to  be  entrusted  to  merce- naries, and  at  this  time,  when  your  country  has  by  public  autho- rity been  declared  in  danger,  we  conjure  you,  by  your  interest, your  duty,  and  your  glory,  to  stand  to  your  arms,  and  in  spite  of a  fencible  militia,  in  virtue  of  two  proclamations,  to  maintain good  order  in  your  vicinage  and  tranquillity  in  Ireland.  It  is only  by  the  military  array  of  men  in  whom  they  confide,  whom they  have  been  accustomed  to  revere  as  the  guardians  of  domestic peace,  the  protectors  of  their  liberties  and  lives,  that  the  present agitation  of  the  people  can  be  stilled,  that  tumult  and  licentious- ness can  be  repressed,  obedience  secured  to  existing  law,  and  a calm  confidence  diffused  through  the  public  mind  in  the  speedy resurrection  of  a  free  constitution — of  liberty  and  equality — words which  we  use  for  an  opportunity  of  repelling  calumny,  and  of saying  that,  by  liberty  we  never  understood  unlimited  freedom, nor  by  equality  the  levelling  of  property  or  the  destruction  of  sub- ordination. This  is  a  calumny  invented  by  that  faction  or  that  gang which  misrepresents  the  King  to  the  people,  and  the  people  to the  King,  traduces  one-half  of  the  nation  to  cajole  the  other,  and by  keeping  up  distrust  and  division,  wishes  to  continue  the  proud arbitrators  of  the  fortune  and  fate  of  Ireland.  Liberty  is  the exercise  of  all  our  rights,  natural  and  political,  secured  to  us  and our  posterity  by  a  real  representation  of  the  people ;  and  equality is  the  extension  of  the  constituent  to  the  fullest  dimensions  of  the constitution  of  the  elective  franchise  to  the  whole  body  of  the  people, to  the  end  that  government,  which  is  collective  power,  may  be guided  by  collective  will,  and  that  legislation  may  originate  from public  reason,  keep  pace  with  public  improvement,  and  termi- nate in  public  happiness.  If  our  constitution  be  imperfect,  no- thing but  a  reform  in  representation  will  rectify  its  abuses;  if it  be  perfect,  nothing  but  the  same  reform  will  perpetuate  its blessings. "  We  now  address  you  as  citizens,  for  to  be  citizens  you  be- came soldiers ;  nor  can  we  help  xcishing  that  all  soldiers  partaking the  passions  and  interests  of  the  people,  would  remember  that  they were  once  citizens,  that  seduction  made  them  soldiers,  '  but  nature made  them  men\  We  address  you  without  any  authority  save that  of  reason ;  and  if  we  obtain  the  coincidence  of  public  opi- nion, it  is  neither  by  force  nor  stratagem,  for  we  have  no  power to  terrify,  no  artifice  to  cajole,  no  fund  to  seduce.  Here  we  sit, without  mace  or  beadle,  neither  a  mystery,  nor  a  craft,  nor  a corporation.  In  four  words  lies  all  our  power — universal emancipation  and  representative  legislature;  yet  we  are confident  that  on  the  pivot  of  this  principle,  a  convention — still 236  ADDRESS  TO  THE  VOLUNTEERS. less,  a  society — less  still,  a  single  man,  would  he  able,  first  to move  and  then  to  raise  the  ivorld.  We  therefore  wish  for  Catho- lic emancipation  without  any  modification ;  but  still  we  consider this  necessary  enfranchisement  as  merely  the  portal  to  the  temple of  national  freedom.  Wide  as  this  entrance  is — wide  enough  to admit  three  millions — it  is  narrow  when  compared  to  the  capa- city and  comprehension  of  our  beloved  principle,  which  takes  in every  individual  of  the  Irish  nation,  casts  an  equal  eye  over  the whole  island,  embraces  all  that  think,  and  feels  for  all  that  suffer. The  Catholic  cause  is  subordinate  to  ova-  cause,  and  included  in it;  for  as  United  Irishmen  we  adhere  to  no  sect  but  to  society, to  no  creed  but  Christianity,  to  no  party  but  the  whole  people. In  the  sincerity  of  our  souls  do  we  desire  Catholic  emancipation ; but  were  it  obtained  to-morrow,  to-morrow  would  toe  go  on,  as  we do  to-day,  in  the  pursuit  of  that  reform  which  would  still  be  want- ing to  ratify  their  liberties  as  well  as  our  own. "  For  both  these  purposes,  it  appears  necessary  that  provincial conventions  should  assemble  preparatory  to  the  convention  of  the Protestant  people.  The  delegates  of  the  Catholic  body  are  not justified  in  communicating  with  individuals,  or  even  bodies  of  in- ferior authority,  and  therefore  an  assembly  of  a  similar  nature  and organization  is  necessary  to  establish  an  intercourse  of  sentiment, an  uniformity  of  conduct,  an  united  cause,  and  an  united  nation. If  a  convention  on  the  one  part  does  not  soon  follow,  and  is  not soon  connected  with  that  on  the  other,  the  common  cause  will  split into  the  partial  interest ;  the  people  will  relax  into  inattention and  inertness ;  the  union  of  affection  and  exertion  will  dissolve, and  too  probably  some  local  insurrection,  instigated  by  the  malig- nity of  our  common  enemy,  may  commit  the  character,  and  risk the  tranquillity  of  the  island,  which  can  be  obviated  only  by  the influence  of  an  assembly  arising  from,  assimilated  with  the  people, and  whose  spirit  may  be  as  it  were  knit  with  the  soul  of  the  na- tion. Unless  the  sense  of  the  Protestant  people  be  on  their  part  as fairly  collected  and  as  judiciously  directed,  unless  individual  exer- tion consolidates  into  collective  strength,  unless  the  particles  unite into  mass,  we  may  perhaps  serve  some  person  or  some  party  for a  little,  but  the  public  not  at  all.  The  nation  is  neither  insolent nor  rebellious  nor  seditious.  While  it  knows  its  rights  it  is  unwil- ling to  manifest  its  powers.  It  would  rather  supplicate  adminis- tration to  anticipate  revolution  by  a  well-timed  reform,  and  to  save their  country  in  mercy  to  themselves. "  The  15th  of  February  approaches,  a  day  ever  memorable  in the  annals  of  this  country  as  the  birth-day  of  New  Ireland.  Let parochial  meetings  be  held  as  soon  as  possible.  Let  each  parish return  delegates.  Let  the  sense  of  Ulster  be  again  declared  from UNITED  IRISHMEN'S  PLAN  OF  REFORM.  237 Dungannon  on  a  day  auspicious  to  union,  peace,  and  freedom,  and the  spirit  of  the  north  will  again  become  the  spirit  of  the  nation. The  civil  assembly  ought  to  claim  the  attendance  of  the  military associations,  and  we  have  addressed  you,  citizen  soldiers,  on  this  sub- ject, from  the  belief  that  your  body,  uniting  conviction  with  zeal, and  zeal  with  activity,  may  have  much  influence  over  our  coun- trymen, your  relations  and  friends.  We  offer  only  a  general  outline to  the  public,  and  meaning  to  address  Ireland,  we  presume  not  at present  to  fill  up  the  plan,  or  preoccupy  the  mode  of  its  execution. We  have  thought  it  our  duty  to  speak :  answer  us  by  actions ; you  have  taken  time  for  consideration.  Fourteen  long  years  have elapsed  since  the  rise  of  your  associations;  and  in  1782  did  you imagine  that  in  1792  this  nation  would  still  remain  unrepre- sented? How  many  nations  in  the  interval  have  gotten  the  start of  Ireland  ?  How  many  of  our  countrymen  have  sank  into  the grave  ?" EXTRACTS  FROM  AN  ADDRESS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN  OF  DUBLIN to  the  people  of  ireland,  propounding  a  plan  of  reform. "  People  of  Ireland, "  We  now  submit  to  your  consideration  a  plan  for  your equal  representation  in  the  House  of  Commons.  In  framing  it, we  have  disregarded  the  many  overcharged  accusations,  which we  hear  daily  made  by  the  prejudiced  and  the  corrupt,  against the  people,  their  independence,  integrity,  and  understanding. We  are,  ourselves,  but  a  portion  of  the  people;  and  that  appella- tion, we  feel,  confers  more  real  honour  and  importance  than  can, in  these  times,  be  derived  from  places,  pensions,  or  titles.  As  little have  we  consulted  the  sentiments  of  administration  or  of  opposi- tion. We  have  attentively  observed  them  both,  and  whatever  we may  hope  of  some  members  of  the  latter,  ice  firmly  believe  that both  those  parties  are  equally  averse  from  the  measure  of  adequate reform.  If  we  had  no  other  reason  for  that  opinion,  the  plan  laid before  parliament  in  the  last  session,  under  the  auspices  of  opposi- tion, might  convince  us  of  the  melancholy  truth.  Thus  circum- stanced, then,  distrusting  all  parties,  we  hold  it  the  right  and  the duty  of  every  man  in  the  nation  to  examine,  deliberate,  and  de- cide for  himself  on  that  important  measure.  As  a  portion  of  the people  (for  in  no  other  capacity,  we  again  repeat  it,  do  we  pre- sume to  address  you)  we  suggest  to  you  our  ideas,  by  which  we would  provide  to  preserve  the  popular  part  of  the  legislature,  un- 238  PLAN    OF    REFORM influenced  by,  and  independent  of,  the  other  two  parts,  and  to effectuate  that  essential  principle  of  justice  and  of  our  constitution, that  every  man  has  the  right  of  voting,  through  the  medium  of his  representative,  for  the  law  by  which  he  is  bound :  that  sacred principle,  for  which  America  fought,  and  by  which  Ireland  was emancipated  from  British  supremacy !  If  our  ideas  are  right, which  we  feel  an  honest  conviction  they  are,  adopt  them ;  if wrong,  discussion  will  detect  their  errors,  and  ice  at  least  shall  be always  found  ready  to  profit  by,  and  conform  ourselves  to,  the sentiments  of  the  people. "  Our  present  state  of  representation  is  charged  with  being  un- equal, unjust,  and  by  no  means  calculated  to  express  your  delibe- rate will  on  any  subject  of  general  importance.  We  have  endea- voured to  point  out  the  remedies  of  those  evils  by  a  more  equal distribution  of  political  power  and  liberty,  by  doing  justice,  and  by anxiously  providing  that  your  deliberate  will  shall  be  at  all  times accurately  expressed  in  your  own  branch  of  the  legislature.  If these  are  not  the  principles  of  good  government,  we  have  yet  to learn  from  the  placemen  and  pensioners  that  flit  about  the  Castle in  what  the  science  of  politics  can  consist.  But  we  know  they are,  and  we  are  bold  to  say,  that  the  more  a  government carries  these  principles  into  effect  the  nearer  it  approaches  to perfection. "  We  believe  it  will  be  said  that  our  plan,  however  just,  is  im- practicable in  the  present  state  of  this  country.  If  any  part  of  that impracticability  should  be  supposed  to  result  from  the  interested resistance  of  borough  proprietors,  although  we  never  will  consent to  compromise  the  public  right,  yet  we,  for  our  parts,  might  not hesitate  to  purchase  the  public  peace  by  an  adequate  compensation. At  all  events  it  rests  with  you,  countrymen,  not  with  us,  to  re- move the  objection. To  you  among  our  countrymen,  for  whose  welfare  we  have peculiarly  laboured  from  the  first  moment  of  our  institution,  and the  contemplation  of  whose  prosperity  will  more  than  compensate us  for  the  sufferings  we  may  have  endured,  for  the  culumnies  with which  we  are  aspersed,  and  for  those  which  the  publication  of this  unpalatable  plan  will  call  down  upon  us, — to  you,  the  poorer classes  of  the  community,  we  now  address  ourselves.  We  are  told you  are  ignorant ;  we  wish  you  to  enjoy  liberty,  without  which no  people  was  ever  enlightened.  We  are  told  you  are  uneducated and  immoral ;  we  wish  you  to  be  educated,  and  your  morality improved,  by  the  most  rapid  of  all  instructors — a  good  govern- ment. Do  you  find  yourselves  sunk  in  poverty  and  wretchedness? Are  you  overloaded  with  burdens  you  are  little  able  to  bear?  Do you  feel  many  grievances  which  it  would  be  tedious,  and  might  be OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  239 unsafe,  to  mention?  Believe  us,  they  can  all  be  redressed  by  such a  reform  as  will  give  you  your  just  proportion  of  influence  in  the legislature,  and  by  such  a  measure  only.  To  that,  therefore, we  wish  to  rivet  all  your  attention". A  PLAN  OF  AN  EQUAL  REPRESENTATION  OF  THE  TEOPLE  OF  IRELAND  IN  THE HOUSE  OF  COMMONS,  PREPARED  FOR  PUBLIC  CONSIDERATION  BY  THE  SOCIETY OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN  OF  DUBLIN. "  I.  That  the  nation,  for  the  purpose  of  representation  solely, should  be  divided  into  three  hundred  electorates,  formed  by  a combination  of  parishes,  and  as  nearly  as  possible  equal  in  point of  population. "II.  That  each  electorate  should  return  one  representative  to parliament. "  III.  That  each  electorate  should,  for  the  convenience  of  car- rying on  the  elections  at  the  same  time,  be  subdivided  into  a  suffi- cient number  of  parts. "  IV.  That  there  should  be  a  returning  officer  for  each  elec- torate, and  a  deputy  returning  officer  for  each  subdivision,  to  be respectively  elected. "  V.  That  the  electors  of  the  electorate  should  vote,  each  in  the subdivision  in  which  he  is  registered,  and  has  resided  as  herein- after specified. "  VI.  That  the  returning  officers  of  the  subdivisions  should severally  return  their  respective  polls  to  the  returning  officer of  the  electorate,  who  should  tot  up  the  whole,  and  return  the person  having  a  majority  of  votes,  as  the  representative  in  par- liament. "  VII.  That  every  man  possessing  the  right  of  suffrage  for  a representative  in  parliament  should  exercise  it  in  his  own  person only. "  VIII.  That  no  person  should  have  a  right  to  vote  in  more than  one  electorate  at  the  same  election. "  IX.  That  every  male  of  sound  mind,  ivho  has  attained  the  full age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  actually  dwelt,  or  maintained  a family  establishment,  in  any  electorate  for  six  months  of  the  twelve immediately  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  election  (pro- vided his  residence  or  maintaining  a  family  establishment  be  duly registered),  should  be  entitled  to  vote  for  the  representative  of  the electorate. "  X.  That  there  should  be  a  registering  officer,  and  a  registry 240  PLAN  OF  REFORM of  residence  in  every  subdivision  of  each  electorate;  and  that  in all  questions  concerning  residence,  the  registry  should  be  consi- dered as  conclusive  evidence. "  XI.  That  all  elections  in  the  nation  should  commence  and close  on  the  same  day. "  XII.  That  the  votes  of  all  electors  should  be  given  by  voice and  not  by  ballot. "  XIII.  That  no  oath  of  any  kind  should  be  taken  by  any elector. "  XIV.  That  the  full  age  of  twenty-five  years  should  be  a necessary  qualification  to  entitle  any  man  to  be  a  represen- tative. "  XV.  That  residence  within  the  electorate  should  not,  but that  residence  within  the  kingdom  should,  be  a  necessary  qualifi- cation for  a  representative. "  XVI.  That  no  property  qualification  should  be  necessary  to entitle  any  man  to  be  a  representative. "  XVII.  That  any  person  having  a  pension,  or  holding  a  place in  the  executive  or  judicial  departments,  should  be  thereby  dis- qualified from  being  a  representative. "  XVIII.  That  representatives  should  receive  a  reasonable  sti- pend for  their  services. "  XIX.  That  every  representative  should,  on  taking  his  seat, swear  that  neither  he,  nor  any  person  to  promote  his  interest,  with his  privity,  gave  or  was  to  give  any  bribe  for  the  suffrage  of  any voter. "  XX.  That  any  representative  convicted  by  a  jury  of  having acted  contrary  to  the  substance  of  the  above  oath,  should  be  for ever  disqualified  from  sitting  or  voting  in  parliament. "  XXI.  That  parliament  should  be  annual. "  XXII.  That  a  representative  should  be  at  liberty  to  re- sign his  delegation  upon  giving  sufficient  notice  to  his  consti- tuents. "  XXIII.  That  absence  from  duty  for  should  vacate the  seat  of  a  representative". How  the  reform  efforts  of  the  United  Irishmen  were  viewed  in parliament,  and  by  some  remarkable  members  of  it,  we  may  learn from  the  following  extracts  from  the  published  report  of  the  de- bate on  Reform,  the  10th  February,  1 793.  _ One  of  the  speakers,  Sir  Boyle  Roche,  it  is  not  publicly  known, was  then  ambitious  of  a  peerage.  From  the  original  Precis  Book of  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  of  the  application  of  various  persons  for  ap- pointments, dignities,  and  preferments  during  his  viceroyalty,  I make  the  following  extract. REFORM  QUESTION  IN  PARLIAMENT.  241 "  12th  January,  1795.  Sir  Boyle  Roche  wishes  to  be  made  a peer,  and  desires  to  know  whether  Lord  W(estrnoreland)  recom- mended him". REFORM    QUESTION — IRISH    COMMOMS,   10TH  FEBRUARY,   1793. "  Mr.  Forbes  moved,  '  that  the  returning  officer,  town  clerk, or  the  person  who  is  entrusted  with  the  books,  do  return  to  this house  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  electors  in  each  borough  in  this kingdom,  and  their  qualification  to  use  the  right  of  the  elective franchise,  and  that  they  do  attend  this  house  this  day  fortnight, and  give  information  touching  the  same'. "Right  Hon.  Sir  Hercules  Langrishe— Mr.  Speaker,  when  a few  days  ago  a  proposition  similar  to  the  present  was  offered  to this  house,  I  opposed  it,  as  the  information  it  would  produce  must be  imperfect;  as  it  might  in  its  effects  be  injurious  to  the  parties concerned;  as  it  was  utterly  useless  for  the  purposes  it  professed, and  in  its  inference  and  operation  could  not  but  prove  detri- mental to  the  public.  On  the  same  grounds,  sir,  I  shall  oppose the  present  motion,  as  being  liable  to  the  same  objections:  that the  information  to  be  derived  from  it  must  be  imperfect,  no  man can  doubt,  who  considers  that  in  many  instances  the  corporation books  do  not  contain  a  list  of  the  respective  voters ;  as,  besides those  entered  in  the  books,  several  are  entitled  to  freedom  by birth,  service,  or  marriage ;  several  became  electors  by  freehold, or  residence,  or  dockets,  as  the  case  may  be,  which,  as  they  are always  variable,  are  not  cognizable  by  the  town  clerk  or  other officer.  Sir,  laying  before  parliament  the  corporation  books,  or returns  of  the  state  of  every  borough  in  Ireland,  must  be  ex- tremely injurious;  it  will  be  a  sort  of  parliament  quo  warranto against  the  boroughs ;  it  will  expose  lapses  and  omissions,  and produce  pernicious  litigation.  The  measure  is  utterly  useless  as to  the  purpose  professed ;  for  parliamentary  reform  is  a  measure not  to  be  grounded  on  arithmetical  calculation,  but  on  general acknowledged  principles;  and  everybody  knows  there  are  bo- roughs that  contain  few  constituents ;  everybody  knows  that  the people  are  not  equally  represented :  they  never  were  so,  for  if  it were  so,  we  should  not  have  the  blessings  of  the  British  constitu- tion, but  the  scourge  of  a  democracy. "  Sir  Boyle  Roche — Sir,  this  is  the  critical  period  in  which every  loyal  subject  should  declare  his  sentiments  in  the  boldest and  most  public  manner,  and  express  his  disapprobation  of  any measure  that  may  be  conceived  to  be  an  encouragement  to  the propagation  of  French  principles;  and  as  I  consider  a  parlia- VOL.  i.  17 242  Silt  BOYLE  110CHE   AND  SIR  JONAH  BARRINGTON. mentary  reform  to  have  that  direct  tendency,  I  openly  enter  my protest  against  it.  I  consider  it  as  a  masked  battery,  under  the protection  and  covert  of  which  the  Dungannon  reformers,  the society  called  United  Irishmen,  the  Defenders,  and  Break-of-day Boys,  are  advancing  to  the  foot  of  the  glacis  of  the  citadel  of  the constitution,  there  to  make  a  lodgment,  and  the  garrison  is  called upon  to  defend  itself.  I  am  very  glad,  however,  that  this  sub- ject has  been  opened  in  the  committee,  that  the  public  may  see the  futility  and  wickedness  of  it.  This  is  the  third  or  fourth night  we  have  sat  upon  it,  and  I  ask  whether  the  reformers  have brought  forth  any  plan  that  the  greatest  madman  amongst  us would  agree  to  ?  La  Fayette  was  a  great  reformer ;  he  and  his party  (amongst  whom  were  many  of  the  principal  nobility  of France)  began  with  the  abuses  of  the  monarchy.  As  they  pro- ceeded, the  epidemic  madness  seized  them,  and  they  thought  it necessary  to  sacrifice  to  public  clamour  their  immunities,  their honours,  their  seignories,  which  in  fact  to  them  were  their boroughs,  handed  down  to  them  by  their  ancestors.  Whilst they  were  thus  going  on  reforming  themselves  and  the  state, there  was  a  bloody  Jacobin  party  observing  their  motions,  and took  the  first  opportunity  of  jumping  on  their  necks,  cutting their  throats,  and  of  burying  them,  the  monarchy  and  monarch, in  the  same  grave. "  Mr.  Barrington  —  Sir,  having  been  personally  called  upon  by an  honourable  member  (Mr.  Forbes)  to  give  my  reason  why  I conceived  the  present  opposition  were  not  popular,  I  feel  it  my duty  not  to  decline  the  question.  The  honourable  member  has urged  it,  and  he  shall  be  indulged.  The  gentlemen  who  at  this period  very  justly  style  themselves  the  opposition  of  Ireland,  are  i becoming  unpopular,  because  their  principles  are  suspicious,  their  ! systems  dangerous,  and  their  conduct  inconsistent ;  the  eyes  of Ireland  are  opening  to  them,  penetration  is  alive,  and  the  popu- lar imposture  can  no  longer  sail  under  the  false  colours  of  public virtue.  Their  principle  is  obviously  to  supplant  the  government and  not  to  serve  the  people ;  their  contests  are  contests  for  favour and  not  struggles  for  liberty ;  their  system  is  a  system  of  imita- tion and  not  the  course  of  wisdom.  The  house  has  sat  little  • more  than  three  weeks,  and  some  gentlemen  have  affected  to agitate  the  public  mind,  because  within  that  short  period  a  gene-  j ral  revolution,  in  both  church  and  state,  has  not  been  effected ;  a confusion  of  measures  is  necessary  for  their  purpose ;  at  the  same period,  things  jumbled  together  in  one  unintelligible  chaos,  in the  form  of  bills  and  motions— every  species  of  innovation  they can  think  of-  external  reform,  internal  reform,  ecclesiastical rights,  military  arrangements,  civil  restriction,  religious  emanci- LORD  CASTLEkEAGH  A   REFORMER.  24  '.') pation,   prerogative,  finance,  legislation,  and  religion,  all   to  be modified  in  one  week;  but,  as  Hudibras  says  — '  Some  men  carry  things  so  even 'Tween  this  world,  and  Hell,  and  Heaven, Without  the  least  offence  to  either, They  freely  jumble  all  together'. "Hon.  Robert   Stewart  [the  future  Lord  Castlereagh]  —  Sir, |  I  certainly  think  the  conduct  of  administration  on  this  subject |  totally  unintelligible.      Their  prevarication   through  the   whole i  of  the  business  is  obvious,  and  they  have  been  guilty  of  special pleading  to  every  motion  that  has  been   proposed.  "  Why  did !  administration  grant  _  the  committee,  but  to  inquire? — and  how i  can  they  inquire   without  the   materials  called  for?     I  should I  advise  them  rather  to  oppose   fairly  and    openly  than    in    this j  insidious   and   cowardly  manner.      It  certainly  would   be  more J  candid  and  becoming  in    administration   to   stand  forward  and |  resist  a  reform.     To  establish  a  moderate  and  reformed  system I  is  the   only   way   to   secure    strength    to  the    throne,   and    this i  system  cannot  be  established  without  changing  the  present  one. j  Sir,  if  administration  is  sincere  in  redressing  the  grievances  of the  people,  they  may  depend  on  receiving  from  me  my  warmest j  support.     I  am  ready  to  vote  any  money  from  my  constituents i  to  support  the  established  form  of  government,  but  I  will  vote I  none  to  support  the  abuses  and  vices  of  the  constitution.      To j  give  government  too  much  strength  while  they  are  determined I  to  support  those   vices,  would  be  to  give    men  an    instrument {for   their  own  destruction,  and   could  tend  only  to  establish   a I  military  government.     Notwithstanding,  sir,  all  that  had  been (said  of  the  difficulty  of  effecting  a  reform,   I  think  a  reasonable system,   such  as  would  gratify  all  reasonable  men,  might-  very (easily  be  devised,  and  this  would  render  the  government  of  this country  extremely  easy ;  for,  in  fact,  the  difficulties  of  adminis- tration hitherto  have  arisen  rather  from  supporting  the  present Iruinous  system,  than  from  any  opposition  that  has  been  made  to {the  necessary  measures  of  government.     It  was  the  vices  of  this existing  system  that  has  driven  the  public  mind  into  a  state  of agitation:  if  they  were  suffered  to  pore  longer  over  those  vices,  it would  be  impossible,  in  times  like  these,  to  foresee  what  follies  they might  adopt.     Being  of  this  mind,  I  shall  certainly  vote  for  it". From  the  early  part  of  1793,  it  is  evident  a  revolution  was looked  to,  for  reform  and  Catholic  emancipation,  and  that  some of  the  principal  leaders  looked  for  something  more  than  either. At  a  meeting  of  the   society  in   February,    1793,   the  Hon. 244  ADDRESS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN Simon  Butler  in  the  chair,  Oliver  Bond  secretary,  a  declaration was  proposed  and  adopted  by  the  meeting,  pronouncing  the  pro- ceedings of  the  Secret  Committee  of  the  House  of  Lords  ap- pointed to  inquire  into  the  recent  disturbances,  in  compelling witnesses  to  answer  interrogatories  on  oath,  compromising  them- selves, and  directed  principally  to  the  discovery  of  evidence  in support  of  prosecutions  already  commenced,  to  be  illegal.  For this  offence  Messrs.  Butler  and  Bond  were  subsequently  brought  to the  bar  of  the  House  of  Lords ;  and  on  admitting  the  declaration  to have  been  put  from  the  chair  and  carried  at  the  meeting  in  ques- tion, the  judgment  of  the  house  was  pronounced  by  the  Lord  Chan- cellor, each  of  the  prisoners  to  be  imprisoned  for  six  months,  and to  pay  a  fine  of  £500  to  the  King.* EXTRACTS  FROM  ADDRESS  OF  SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN  OF  DUBLIN,  TO THE  IRISH  NATION. William  Drennan,  Chairman. Archibald  Hamilton  Rowan,  Secretary, "  January  27th,  1793. "  It  is  our  right  and  our  duty  at  this  time,  and  at  all  times,  to communicate  our  opinion  to  the  public,  whatever  may  be  its  { success ;  and  under  the  protection  of  a  free  press,  itself  protected  | by  a  jury,  judges  of  law  as  well  as  fact,  we  will  never  be  afraid; to  speak  freely  what  we  freely  think,  appealing  for  the  purity of  our  intentions  to  the  world;  and  as  far  as  these  intentions  are: manifested  by  word,  writing,  and  action,  appealing  to  the  justness i of  our  cause  and  the  judgment  of  our  country. "On  the  9th  of  November,   1791,  was  this  society  founded. We  and  our  beloved  brethren  of  Belfast  first  began  that  civic! union,  which,  if  a  nation  be  a  society  united  for  mutual  advan-j tage,  has  made  Ireland  a  nation ;  and  at  a  time  when  all  wished, many  willed,  and  few  spoke,  and  fewer  acted,  we,  Catholics  and Protestants,  joined  our  hands  and  our  hearts  together,  sunk  every distinctive  appellation  in  the  name  Irishman,  and  in  the  presence of  God,  devoted  ourselves  to  universal  enfranchisement  and  a real  representation  of  all  the  people  in  parliament.     On  this  rock of  right  our  little  ark  found  a  resting-place;  gradually,  though  not] slowly,  throughout  the  country,  other  stations  of  safety  appeared, and  what  before  was  agitated,  became  firm  and  fertile  land.    From that  time  have  the  body  and  spirit  of  our  societies  increased,  until *  Vide  Appendix,  vol.  ii. WRITTEN  BY  DR.  DRENNAN.  245 selfish  corporations,  sunk  into  conscious  insignificance,  have  given way  to  a  grand  incorporation  of  the  Irish  people. "  We  have,  in  our  digest  of  the  penal  laws,  addressed  ourselves successfully  to  the  good  sense,  humanity,  and  generous  indigna- tion of  all  Ireland,  convincing  public  reason,  alarming  public  con- science, and  holding  up  this  collection  of  bloody  fragments  as  a terrible  memorial  of  government  without  justice,  and  of  legality without  constitution.  It  has  been  our  rule  and  our  practice  never to  enter  into  compromise  or  composition  with  a  noxious  princi- j  pie,   and  we  have  therefore  set  our  face  and  lifted   our  voice !  against  this  persecuting  and  pusillanimous  code,  as  against  the j  murderer  of  our  brother,  eager  to  erase  the  whole   of  it  from  the i  statute-book  as  it  erased  our  countrymen  from  the  state,  and  wish- ;  ing  to  proscribe  such  an  incongruous  and  monstrous  conjunction of  terms  as  Penal  Law,  not  only  from  a  digest  of  the  laws,  but from  the  dictionary  of  the  language. "  It  has  appeared  our  duty  in  times  such  as  these,  when  the head  is  nothing  without  the  heart,  and  with  men  such  as  we  op- pose, not  only  to  write  and  speak,  but  to  act  and  suffer ;  to  reckon nothing  hazardous,  provided  it  was  necessary ;  to  come  forward with  the  intrepidity  which  a  good  cause  inspires  and  a  backward people  required ;  in  going  far  ourselves  to  make  others  to  follow faster,  though  all  the  time  conjuring  us  to  retreat;  in  short,  to make  the  retrograde  stationary,  and  the  stationary  progressive ;  to quicken  the  dead,  and  add  a  soul  to  the  living. "  Knowing  that  what  the  tongue  is  to  the  man,  the  press  is  to the  people,  though  nearly  blasted  in  our  cradle  by  the  sorcery  of solicitors  of  law  and  general  attorneys,  we  have  persisted  with courageous  perseverance  to  rally  around  this  forlorn  hope  of  free- dom, and  to  maintain  this  citadel  of  the  constitution  at  the  risk  of personal  security,  property,  and  all  that  was  dear  to  us.  They have  come  to  us  with  a  writ  and  a  warrant  and  an  ex-ojjicio  in- formation, but  we  have  come  to  them  in  the  name  of  the  genius of  the  British  constitution  and  the  majesty  of  the  people  of  Ire- land. Is  sedrtion  against  the  officers  of  administration  to  exercise the  criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  country,  and  is  sedition  against the  people  to  walk  by  with  arrogant  impunity  ? "  We  have  defended  the  violated  liberty  of  the  subject  against the  undefined  and  voracious  privilege  of  the  House  of  Commons, treating  with  merited  scorn  the  insolent  menaces  of  men  inflated with  office ;  and  not  only  have  we  maintained  the  rights  of  the people  at  the  bar  of  this  branch  of  the  legislature,  but  we  have, at  the  bench  of  judicature,  vindicated  the  right  of  the  nation,  its real  independence  and  supremacy ;  demonstrating  that  general  in- violability was  made  transmissible  to  one  or  many  deputies,  to the  utter  extinction  of  responsibility— the  evasion  of  criminality, 246  ADDRESS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN and  that  the  executive  power  of  imperial  and  independent  Ire- land was  merely  a  dangling  appendage  to  the  great  seal  of  Great Britain.  Not  a  man  so  low  that,  if  oppressed  by  an  assumption of  power,  civil  or  military,  has  not  met  with  our  counsel,  our purse,  and  our  protection ;  not  a  man  so  high,  that  if  acting  con- trary to  popular  right  or  public  independence,  we  have  not  de- nounced at  the  judgment  seat  of  justice  and  at  the  equitable  tri- bunal of  public  opinion. "  We  have  encountered  much  calumny.     We  have,  among  a thousand    contradictory    epithets,    been  called    republicans    and levellers,  as  if,  by  artfully  making  the  terms  appear  synonymous, their  nature  could  be  made  the  same;  as  if  a  republican  were a   leveller,   or   a  leveller    a  republican;   as  if   the  only  leveller was  not  the  despot  who  crushes  with  an  iron  sceptre  every  rank and  degree  of  society  into  one ;  as  if  republican  or  democratic energy  was  not — as  well  as  aristocratical  privilege  or  regal  preroga- tive— sanctioned  by  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  constitution, by  all  those  memorable  precedents  which  form  its  first  features, and  by  which  the  just  and  virtuous  struggles  of  our  ancestors,  re- cognized by  successive  generations,  point  out  to  their  posterity when  they  ought  to  interpose,  and  how  long  they  ought  to  suffer. In  his  words,  whose  name  rests  unknown,  but  whose  fame  is  im- mortal,* we  desire  '  that  the  constitution  may  preserve  its  monar- chical form,  but  we  would  have  the  manners  of  the  people  purely and  strictly  republican'.     Are  you  not  sensible  that  this  cry  of republicanism,  as  the  clamour  against  Catholic  delegation,  has  been raised  and  prolonged  by  the  mischievous  malignity  of  the  lowest gossips  of  government,  merely  to  drown  the  general  voice  for reform,  like   the   state   manoeuvre   which   ordered   a  flourish    of trumpets  and  alarm  of  drums   at  the   side  of  suffering  patriots, when  they  wished  to  address  themselves  to  the  reason  and  justice  of the  people?     But  we  will  speak,  and  you  will  hear.     Yes,  coun- trymen, we  do  desire  that  extended  liberty  which,  may  allow  you, as   citizens,  to  do  what  you  will,  provided   you   do  not  injure another,  or  rather  to  do  all  the  good  you  can  to  others  without doing  injustice  to  yourself.     Yes,  countrymen,  we  do  wish  for  an equality  of  rights,  which  is  constitutional;  not  an  equality  of  pro- perty, which  is  impossible.     Yes,  countrymen,  we   do  long  for another  equality,  and  we  hope  yet  to  see  it  realized — an  equality consisting  in  the  power  of  every  father  of  a  family  to  acquire  by labour  either  of  mind  or  body,  something  beyond  a  mere  subsis- tence, some  little  capital,  to  prove,  in  case  of  sickness,  old  age,  or misfortune,  a  safeguard  for  his  body  and  for  his  soul ;  a  hallowed *  Junius. WRITTEN  BY  DR.  DRENNAN.  247 hoard  that  may  lift  him  above  the  hard  necessity  which  struccdes between  conscience  and  corruption ;  that  may  keep  his  heart  whole and  his  spirit  erect,  while  his  body  bends  beneath  its  burden; make  him  fling  away  the  wages  of  venality,  and  proudly  return to  a  humble  home,  where  a  constitution  that  looks  alike  on  the palace  and  the  hovel,  may  stand  at  his  hearth  a  tutelar  divinity, and  spread  the  asgis  of  equal  law  to  guard  him  from  the  revenge of  those  who  offered  the  bribe,  and  offered  it  in  vain. "  We  have  addressed  the  friends  of  the  people  in  England,  and have  received  their  concurrence,  their  thanks,  and  their  gratula- tion.  We  have  addressed  the  Volunteers.  Deliverers  of  this injured  land,  have  we  done  wrong?  if  we  have,  tear  your  colours from  the  staff,  reverse  your  arms,  muffle  your  drums,  beat  a  fune- ral march  for  Ireland,  and  then  abandon  the  corpse  to  fencibles, to  militia,  to  invalids,  and  dismounted  dragoons.  If  we  have  not done  wrong — and  we  swear  by  the  revolution  of  '82  that  we  have not, — go  on  with  the  zeal  of  enterprising  virtue,  and  a  sense  of your  own  importance,  to  exercise  that  right  of  self-defence  which belongs  to  the  nation,  and  to  infuse  constitutional  energy  into  the public  will  for  the  public  good. "We  address  }'our  understanding — the  common  sense  of  the common  weal — and  we  ask  you,  is  it  not  a  truth,  that  where  the people  do  not  participate  in  the  legislature  by  a  delegation  of  re- presentatives, freely,  fairly,  and  frequently  elected,  there  can  be no  public  liberty  ?  Is  it  not  the  fact  that  in  this  country  there  is no  representative  legislature,  because  the  people  are  not  represen- ted in  the  legislature,  and  have  no  partnership  in  the  constitution? If  it  be  the  principle  of  the  constitution,  that  it  is  the  right  of every  commoner  in  this  realm  to  have  a  vote  in  the  election  of  his representative,  and  that  without  such  vote,  no  man  can  be  actu- ally represented,  it  is  our  wish,  in  that  case,  to  renovate  that  con- stitution, and  to  revive  its  suspended  animation,  by  giving  free motion  and  full  play  to  its  vital  principle.  If,  on  the  other  hand, the  constitution  does  not  fully  provide  for  an  impartial  and  ade- quate representation  of  all  the  people ;  if  it  be  more  exclusive than  inclusive  in  its  nature;  if  it  be  a  monopoly,  a  privilege,  or  a prerogative ;  in  that  case  it  is  our  desire  to  alter  it;  for  what  is  the constitution  to  us  if  we  are  as  nothing  to  the  constitution?  Is  the constitution  made  for  you,  or  you  for  it?  If  the  people  do  not constitute  a  part  of  it,  what  is  it  to  them  more  than  the  ghost  of Alfred?  and  what  are  principles  without  practice,  which  they bear  and  read,  to  practice  without  principles,  which  they  see  and feci  ?"  etc.* *  The  above  nrss  written  by  Dr.  Drc  man. 248  BOND  AND  BUTLEK HOUSE    OF    LORDS. Friday,  March  1,  1793. The  Honourable  Simon  Butler  and  Mr.  Oliver  Bond  appeared at  the  bar  in  pursuance  of  their  summonses. Lord  Mountjoy  proposed  that  the  following  paper,  which  he had  read  on  the  night  preceding,  and  which  had  the  names  of the  persons  at  the  bar  prefixed  to  it,  should  be  submitted  to  their inspection. "  UNITED    IRISHMEN    OF    DUBLIN. "  Hon.  Simon  Butler,  Chairman. "  Oliver  Bond,  Secretary. "  24th  February,  1793. "  When  a  committee  of  secrecy  was  first  appointed  by  the House  of  Lords  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  risings  in  certain counties  of  this  kingdom,  although  this  society  well  foresaw  the danger  of  abuse  to  which  such  an  institution  was  subject,  yet  it was  restrained  from  expressing  that  opinion,  by  the  utility  of  the professed  object,  and  by  the  hope  that  the  presence  and  advice  of the  two  first  judicial  officers  of  this  country  would  prevent  that committee  from  doing  those  illegal  acts,  which  less  informed  men might  in  such  a  situation  commit. "  But  since  it  has  thought  fit  to  change  itself  from  a  committee to  inquire  into  the  risings  in  certain  counties  of  this  kingdom,  into an  inquisition  to  scrutinize  the  private  principles  and  secret thoughts  of  individuals ;  since  it  has  not  confined  itself  to  simple inquiries  and  voluntary  informations,  but  has  assumed  the  right and  exercised  the  power  of  compelling  attendance  and  enforcing answers  upon  oath  to  personal  interrogatories  tending  to  criminate the  party  examined ;  since  its  researches  are  not  confined  to  the professed  purposes  of  its  institution,  but  directed  principally  to the  discovery  of  evidence  in  support  of  prosecutions  hitherto  com- menced, and  utterly  unconnected  with  the  cause  of  the  tumults  it was  appointed  to  investigate ;  since  in  its  proceedings  it  has  vio- lated well-ascertained  principles  of  law,  this  society  feels  itself compelled  to  warn  the  public  mind,  and  point  the  public  attention to  the  following  observations: — "  That  the  House  of  Lords  can  act  only  in  a  legislative  or •     v    •   i  Jo judicial  capacity. "That  in  its  legislative  capacity  it  has  no  authority  to  administer an  oath. COMMITTED  TO  NEWGATE.  249 "  That  in  its  judicial  capacity  it  has  a  right  to  administer  an oath ;  but  that  capacity  extends  only  to  error  and  appeal,  except in  cases  of  impeachment  and  trial  of  a  peer,  in  which  alone  the House  of  Lords  exercises  an  original  jurisdiction. "  That  the  House  of  Lords,  as  a  court,  has  no  right  to  act  by delegation. "  That  the  committee  of  secrecy  possesses  no  authority  but  what it  derives  by  delegation  from  the  House  of  Lords. "  That  as  the  House  of  Lords  does  not  possess  any  jurisdiction in  the  subject  matter  referred  to  the  committee;  and  as,  even  if  it did,  it  could  not  delegate  the  same,  it  necessarily  follows  that  the committee  has  not  judicial  authority,  and  cannot  administer  an oath. "  That  even  if  the  committee  of  secrecy  acted  as  a  court,  its proceedings  ought  not  to  be  secret. "  That  no  court  has  a  right  to  exhibit  personal  interrogatories upon  oath,  the  answers  to  which  may  criminate  the  party  exa- mined, except  at  the  desire  of  the  party,  and  with  a  view  to  purge him  from  a  contempt. "  That  it  was  the  principal  vice  of  the  courts  High  of  Commission and  Star  Chamber,  to  examine  upon  personal  interrogatories,  to convict  the  party  examined ;  and  that  those  courts  were  abolished because  their  proceedings  were  illegal,  unconstitutional,  and  op- pressive". This  paper  was  accordingly  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Mr. Butler,  by  the  gentleman  usher;  after  he  had  seen  it  he  was asked  by  Lord  Mountjoy  if  that  paper,  bearing  his  name,  was printed  by  his  directions  or  authority. Mr.  Butler  said,  that  the  paper  contained  a  declaration  of  the Society  of  United  Irishmen  of  the  city  of  Dublin,  and  bore  date the  24th  of  February,  1793;  that  he  presided  at  the  meeting; that  as  chairman,  he  put  the  question  on  the  several  paragraphs, according  as  they  were  handed  to  him  by  the  committee  which had  been  appointed  to  prepare  them;  that  he  was  then,  and  is still,  satisfied  that  every  paragraph  of  that  declaration  was  agree- able to  law  and  the  principles  of  the  constitution. Lord  Mountjoy  said  that  Mr.  Butler  had  not  yet  answered  whe- ther he  authorized  the  publication. Mr.  Butler  replied,  that  he  meant  to  give  the  fullest  information on  the  subject;  he  did  authorize  the  publication,  he  authorized  it in  common  with  every  individual  of  the  society. Mr.  Bond  was  then  interrogated.  He  was  asked  whether  he had  signed  the  paper:  he  replied  that  neither  lie  nor  Mr.  Butler had  signed  the  paper.     The  resolutions  of  the  society  are  referred ^50  BOND  AND  BUTLER. to  the  committee  of  correspondence  for  publication.  The  com- mittee cause  the  names  of  the  chairman  and  secretary  to  be  pre- fixed to  every  publication.  That  as  secretary  he  delivered  this declaration  to  the  committee  of  correspondence.  And,  on  being asked  by  Lord  Clonmel  whether  he  delivered  it  to  the  committee for  the  purpose  of  publication,  and  whether  he  thereby  authorized the  publication,  he  replied  in  the  affirmative. The  Lord  Chancellor  then  asked  Mr.  Butler  whether  he  had anything  further  to  add.  Mr.  Butler  said,  that  he  attended  to answer  questions :  that  if  his  lordship  had  any  questions  to  ask, he  (Mr.  Butler)  was  ready  to  answer. Mr.  Butler  and  Mr.  Bond  were  ordered  to  withdraw,  but  not to  leave  the  house. They  were  shortly  afterwards  again  ordered  to  the  bar,  and  the following  resolutions,  agreed  to  by  the  House  in  their  absence, having  been  read,  viz. : — "  That  the  said  paper  was  a  false,  scandalous,  and  seditious libel ;  a  high  breach  of  the  privileges  of  this  House,  tending  to disturb  the  public  peace,  and  questioning  the  authority  of  this High  Court  of  Parliament. "  That  Simon  Butler  and  Oliver  Bond  having  confessed  that they  had  authorized  the  same  to  be  printed,  should  be  taken  into custody". They  were  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  gentleman  usher, and  ordered  to  withdraw  in  such  custody. In  some  time  afterwards  they  were  brought  to  the  bar  in  cus- tody of  the  gentleman  usher. The  Lord  Chancellor,  after  reciting  the  foregoing  resolutions, spoke  to  the  following  purport:  "Simon  Butler  and  Oliver  Bond, you  were  called  to  the  bar  to  answer  for  a  libel  on  this  High Court  of  Parliament;  you  have  confessed  that  such  libel,  which, for  its  presumption,  ignorance,  and  mischievous  tendency,  is  un- precedented, wTas  printed  by  your  authority.  You,  Simon  Butler, cannot  plead  ignorance  in  extenuation ;  your  noble  birth,  your education,  the  honourable  profession  to  which  you  belong,  his Majesty's  gown,  which  you  wear,  and  to  which  you  now  stand  a disgrace,  gave  you  the  advantages  of  knowledge,  and  are  strong circumstances  of  aggravation  of  your  guilt.  It  remains  for  me to  pronounce  the  judgment  of  the  house,  which  is,  that  you  Simon Butler  and  Oliver  Bond,  be  imprisoned  for  six  months  in  the  goal of  Newgate ;  that  each  of  you  pay  a  fine  to  the  king  of  £500 ;  and that  you  are  not  to  be  discharged  from  your  confinement  till  such fine  be  paid". SUMMARY  OF  THE  PROCEEDINGS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  251 They  were  taken  from  the  bar,  and  in  a  short  time  after  con- veyed in  a  coach  to  Newgate,  under  the  escort  of  fifty  or  sixty soldiers,  and  directions  of  Alderman  Warren. EXTRACT  FROM  ADDRESS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN  TO  THE  FE0PLE  OF  IRELAND. Beauchamp  Bagenel  Harvey,  Chairman. Thomas  Russell,  Secretary. "March  3,  1793. "We  have  often  addressed  you  in  your  cause;  suffer  us  for once  to  address  you  in  our  own.  Two  of  the  officers  of  our  society have  been  thrown  into  a  common  prison  for  the  discharge  of  their duty.  A  procedure  so  extraordinary  demands  that  we  should  lay before  you  the  whole  of  that  conduct  which  has  brought  upon  the society  so  strong  an  exertion  of  power. "  The  Society  of  United  Irishmen  was  formed  in  November, 1791.  Their  principles,  their  motives,  and  their  objects,  were  set forth  in  their  Declaration  and  their  Test.  At  that  period  the spirit  of  this  nation  was  at  the  lowest  ebb ;  the  great  religious sects  were  disunited  ;  the  Protestants  were  disheartened  and  sunk by  the  memorable  defeat  of  their  convention  in  1783;  the  Catho- lics, without  allies  or  supporters,  accustomed  to  look  to  adminis- tration alone  for  relief,  dared  scarcely  aspire  to  hope  for  the  low- est degree  of  emancipation,  and  even  that  hope  was  repelled  with contumely  and  disdain ;  administration  was  omnipotent,  opposi- tion was  feeble,  and  the  people  were — nothing. "  Such  was  the  situation  of  Ireland,  when  in  Belfast  and  in Dublin  two  societies  were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  effectuating an  union  of  the  religious  sects  and  a  parliamentary  reform.  From the  instant  of  their  formation  a  new  era  commenced ;  the  public has  been  roused  from  their  stupor,  the  ancient  energy  of  the  land is  again  called  forth,  and  the  people  seem  determined,  in  the  spi- rit of  1782,  to  demand  and  to  obtain  their  long-lost  lights. "  The  first  measure  of  the  United  Irishmen  was,  a  declaration in  favour  of  the  full  and  complete  emancipation  of  the  Catholics. What  was  the  consequence?  The  moment  that  great  and  op- pressed body  saw  itself  supported  by  a  single  ally,  they  spurned the  vile  subjection  in  which  they  had  been  so  long  held,  and  with the  heavy  yoke  of  the  penal  laws  yet  hanging  on  their  necks, they  summoned  their  representatives  from  the  four  provinces  of the  kingdom,  and  with  the  determined  voice  of  millions,  they called  upon  their  sovereign  for  a  total  abolition  of  that  abominable and  bloody  code :  a  code,  the  extent  and  severity  of  which  was 252  SUMMARY  OF  THE  PROCEEDINGS first  made  known  by  a  report  set  forth  by  tins  society,  and  compiled  ■ by  the  knowledge  and  industry  of  that  man  who  is  now  the  victim of  his  disinterested  patriotism,  and  who,  in  publishing  to  the  world the    abominations   of  intolerance,  bigotry,   and  persecution,   has committed  a  sin  against  corruption  which  can  never  be  forgiven. "If  the  knowledge  of  that  penal  code  has  been  useful — if  the complete  union  of  the  religious  sects  has  been  beneficial — if  the emancipation  of  Catholics  be  good  for  Ireland — then  may  this society  claim  some  merit  and  some  support  from  their  countrymen. "In  1791,  there  was  not  a  body  of  men  in  Ireland  that  ven- tured to  speak,  or  scarce  to  think,  of  reform.  The  utmost  length that  patriots  of  that  clay  went,  was  to  attack  a  few  of  the  outworks of  corruption :  the  societies  of  United  Irishmen  stormed  her  in  the citadel.  They  did  not  fritter  down  the  public  spirit,  or  distract the  public  attention  by  a  variety  of  petty  measures ;  they  were  not afraid  to  clip  the  wings  of  peculation  too  close,  or  to  cut  up  the trade  of  parliament  by  the  roots.  They  demanded  a  parliamen- tary reform,  and  what  has  been  the  consequence?  The  cry  has been  reechoed  from  county  to  county,  and  from  province  to  pro- vince, till  every  honest  man  in  the  nation  has  become  ardent  in the  pursuit,  and  even  the  tardy  and  lingering  justice  of  parlia- ment has  been  forced  into  a  recognition  of  the  principle.  If,  then, reform  be  good  for  Ireland,  this  society,  which  first  renewed  the pursuit  of  that  great  object,  may  claim  some  merit  and  some  sup- port from  their  countrymen. "  At  the  opening  of  this  session  every  man  thought  that  the unanimous  wish  of  the  nation  on  the  two  great  questions  must  be gratified — that  the  Catholics  must  be  completely  emancipated, and  a  radical  reform  in  parliament  effectuated:  but  this  delu- sion was  soon  removed.  It  was  suddenly  discovered  that  it  was necessary  to  have  a  strong  government  in  Ireland ;  a  war  was  de- clared against  France,  ruinous  to  the  rising  prosperity  of  this country;  20,000  regular  troops,  and  16,000  militia  were  voted, and  the  famous  gunpowder  bill  passed,  by  the  unanimous  consent of  all  parties  in  parliament;  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen,  a vigilant  sentinel  for  the  public  good,  warned  their  countrymen  of the  danger  impending  over  their  liberty  and  their  commerce. They  knew  in  doing  so  they  were  exposing  themselves  to  the  fury of  government ;  but  they  disregarded  their  own  private  safety when  the  good  of  their  country  was  at  stake.  They  could  not hope  to  stop  these  measures,  for  they  had  no  power ;  but  what  they could,  they  did;  they  lodged  their  solemn  protest  against  them before  the  great  tribunal  of  the  nation. "  In  the  progress  of  the  present  session,  it  was  thought  neces- sary by  the  House  of  Lords  to  establish  a  secret  committee,  to  in- vestigate  the  cause  of  the  disturbances  now  existing  in  a  few AND  PROSECUTIONS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  253 counties  in  this  kingdom.  The  examination  of  several  indivi- duals having  transpired,  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen  felt  it their  duty  to  step  forward  again,  and  to  give  such  information  to their  countrymen  as  might  be  necessary  for  their  guidance.  They stated  a  few  plain  principles,  which  they  did  then  and  do  now conceive  to  be  sound  constitutional  law ;  but  now  the  measure  of their  offences  was  full,  and  the  heavy  hand  of  power,  so  long withheld,  was  to  fall  with  treble  weight  upon  their  heads.  Their chairman,  the  Hon.  Simon  Butler,  and  their  secretary,  Mr.  Oliver Bond,  were  summoned  before  the  House  of  Lords;  they  were called  upon  to  avow  or  disavow  the  publication :  they  avowed  it at  once  with  the  spirit  and  magnanimity  of  men  who  deserved to  be  free.  For  this,  they  have  been  sentenced,  with  a  severity unexampled  in  the  parliamentary  annals  of  this  country,  to  be imprisoned  in  Newgate  for  six  months,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  £500 each,  and  to  remain  in  prison  until  the  said  fines  be  paid.  By this  sentence,  two  gentlemen,  one  of  noble  birth,  of  great  talents, and  elevated  situation  in  an  honourable  profession ;  the  other  a merchant  of  the  fairest  character,  the  highest  respectability,  and in  great  and  extensive  business,  are  torn  away  from  their  fami- lies and  connexions,  carried  through  the  streets  with  a  military guard,  and  plunged  like  felons  into  the  common  gaol,  where  they are  in  an  instant  confined  among  the  vilest  malefactors,  the  dross and  scum  of  the  Earth,  and  this  sentence  teas  pronounced  by  a  body, xcho  are  at  once  judges  and  parties — icho  measure  the  offence,  propor- tion the  punishment,  and  from  whose  sentence  there  lies  no  appeal. "  We  do  not  mention  here  criminal  prosecutions,  instituted against  several  of  our  members  in  the  courts  of  law,  for  publish- ing and  distributing  our  address  to  the  Volunteers  of  Ireland ; respect  for  the  existing  laws  of  our  country  imposes  upon  us  a silence  which  no  provocation  shall  induce  us  to  break ;  ice  know when  juries  intervene  that  justice  icillbe  done. "  Such  is  the  history  of  the  society,  and  such  are  the  enormi- ties which  have  drawn  upon  them  the  persecution  under  which they  now  labour.  Their  prime  offence  is  their  devoted  attach- ment to  reform;  an  attachment  which,  in  the  eyes  of  a  bad  admi- nistration, includes  all  political  sin ;  their  next  offence  is  an  ar- dent wish  for  a  complete  and  total,  not  a  partial  and  illusory, emancipation  of  the  Catholics ;  their  next  offence  is  having  pub- lished a  strong  censure  on  the  impending  ruinous  war,  on  the militia  and  gunpowder  acts;  and,  finally,  the  crowning  offence, for  which  those  officers  now  lie  in  gaol,  by  order  of  the  House  of Lords,  is  having  instructed  their  countrymen  in  what  they  con- ceive to  be  the  law  of  the  land,  for  the  guidance  of  those  who might  be  summoned  before  the  secret  committee",  etc. 254  ADDRESS  OF  SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN UNITED    IRISHMEN  OF  DUBLIN. Henry  Sheaves,  President. Edward  Joseph  Lewins,  Secretary. Address  to  their  Catholic  Countrymen. "  June  7,  1 793. "  Fellow-Citizens, "  We  hasten  to  recognize,  under  this  new  and  endearing  title, a  people  tried  by  experience  and  schooled  by  adversity;  who have  signalized  their  loyalty  amidst  all  the  rigours  of  the  law ; who  have  proved  their  fidelity  to  a  constitution  which,  with respect  to  them,  violated  all  its  own  principles ;  and  who  have set  an  example  of  patient  perdurance  in  religious  faith,  while  for a  century  they  experienced  a  persecution  equally  abhorrent  from every  maxim  of  good  government  and  every  principle  of  genuine Christianity.  We  congratulate  our  country  on  such  a  large addition  to  tire  public  domain  of  mind,  the  cultivation  and  pro- duce of  wliich  may  in  some  degree  compensate  for  past  waste and  negligence.  We  congratulate  the  empire  that  the  loss  of three  millions  across  the  Atlantic  is  supplied  by  the  timely  acqui- sition of  the  same  number  at  home.  We  congratulate  the  con- stitution that  new  life  is  transfused  into  its  veins  at  a  period  of decay  and  decrepitude;  and  we  trust  that  the  heroism  which suffered  with  such  constancy  for  the  sake  of  religion,  will  now change  into  a  heroism  that  shall  act  with  equal  steadiness  and consistency  for  the  freedom,  the  honour,  and  the  independence of  this  country. "By  the  wise  benevolence  of  the  sovereign,  by  the  enlightened spirit  of  the  times — by  the  union  of  religious  persuasions  for  the good  of  civil  society — by  the  spirit,  prudence,  and  consistency  of the  Catholic  Committee,  who,  during  their  whole  existence,  were true  to  the  trust  reposed  in  them,  and  whose  last  breath  sancti- fied the  expediency  and  necessity  of  a  parliamentary  reform — by these  causes,  along  with  other  fortunate  coincidences,  you  have been  admitted  into  the  outer  court  of  the  constitution.  Look around  you — but  without  superstitious  awe  or  idolatrous  prostra- tion, for  the  edifice  you  enter  is  not  a  temple,  but  a  dwelling. Enter,  therefore,  with  erect  heads,  and  yet  with  grateful  hearts; grateful  to  your  king — grateful  to  your  country ;  attached  to  the constitution  by  manly  principle,  not  by  childish  prejudice;  faith- ful to  your  friends  through  every  change,  either  of  their  fortune or    your   own ;    and    if  not  forgetful   of  the  virulence    of  your TO  THE  CATHOLICS  OF  IRELAND.  255 enemies,  having  always  the  magnanimity  to  pity  and  to  despise them. "  Loving  the  constitution  rationally,  not  devoted  merely  to  its infirmities — loving  it  too  well  to  dote  upon  its  abuses,  you  must shortly  be  sensible  that,  without  reform,  the  balance  of  the  elec- tive franchise  will  be  more  off  the  centre  than  before,  the  in- equality of  popular  representation  more  glaring  and  monstrous, the  disproportion  more  enormous  between  the  number  of  electors in  thirty-two  counties  and  that  in  the  boroughs  from  which  you are  excluded.  What  was  kept  close  and  corrupt  before  will  be close  and  corrupt  still ;  common  right  will  still  be  private  pro- perty, and  the  constitution  will  be  imprisoned  under  the  lock and  key  of  corporations.  The  era  of  your  enfranchisement  will therefore  eventually  work  the  weal  or  woe  of  Ireland.  We  do trust  that  you  will  not  be  incorporated  merely  with  the  body  of the  constitution  without  adding  to  its  spirit.  You  are  called into  citizenship  not  to  sanction  abuse,  but  to  discountenance  it; not  to  accumulate  corruption,  but  to  meliorate  manners  and  infuse into  society  purer  practice  and  sounder  morality ;  always  sepa- rating, in  thought  and  action,  misgovernment  and  maladminis- tration from  the  good  sense  and  right  reason  natural  to  and coeval  with  the  constitiition,  and  always  remembering  that nothing  can  be  good  for  any  part  of  the  nation  which  has  not for  its  object  the  interest  of  the  whole. "  Fellow-citizens ! — We  speak  to  you  with  much  earnestness of  affection,  repeating,  with  sincerest  pleasure,  that  tender  and domestic  appellation  which  binds  us  into  one  people.  But  what is  it  which  has  lately  made  and  must  keep  us  one  ?  Not  the  soil we  inhabit,  not  the  lanmiasc  we  use,  but  0m*  singleness  of  sen- tunent  respecting  one  great  political  truth,  our  indivisible  union on  the  main  object  of  general  interest — a  parliamentary  reform. This  is  the  civic  faith  for  which  this  society  exists,  and  lor  which it  suffers  under  a  persecution  that  still,  as  of  old,  savage  in  its nature,  though  somewhat  smoother  in  its  form,  wreaks  its  mighty vengeance  on  person  and  property,  or  exerts  its  puny  malice  to ruin  us  in  the  professions  by  which  we  live,  merely  for  an  un- daunted adherence  to  a  single  good  and  glorious  principle,  which has  always  animated  our  publications  and  will  always  regulate our  practice.  We  conjure  you,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  to remember,  with  the  respect  due  to  such  authority,  the  last  words, the  political  will  and  testament  of  a  body  of  men  who  have deserved  so  well  of  their  constituents  and  of  their  country. Never  forget  them — never  forsake  them  !  Let  this  principle  of reform  live  in  your  practice,  and  give  energy  to  the  new  charac- ter you  are  about  to  sustain,  for  the  glory  or  the  disgrace  of Ireland",  etc. 25G  ADDRESS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN  ON  THE  WAR. THE  SOCIETY    OF    UNITED  IRISHMEN,    DUBLIN,  TO  THE  TEOPLE  OF  IRELAND. Henry  Shcares,  President. William  Levingston  Webb,  Secretary. "June  21st,  1793. "  When  the  present  war  first  threatened  this  nation  with  the calamities  under  which  it  has  since  groaned,  and  by  which  it  isi at  this  moment  almost  overwhelmed,  we  warned  you  of  the  ap-i proaching  danger,  and  sought   by  a  timely  caution  to  avert  thei consequent  ruin.     We  told  you  it  was  a  measure  fraught  with  \ destruction  to  your  infant  manufactures,  to  your  growing  com-j merce,  and  to  your  almost  mature  spirit.     How  far  the  predic-  j tion  we  then  uttered  has  been  justified  by  the  event,  let  the  sur- rounding  miseries  of  this  country  determine : — an  expiring  and  • nearly  extinguished  credit,  the  pride  of  commerce  humbled  and  j disgraced,    the    cries    of    famine    reechoed   through    increasing  > thousands  of  your  manufacturers,  discarded  from  the  exercise  of  I their  honest  labour,  driven  into  penury  and  inaction,  and  com- 1 polled  to  seek  an  uncertain  subsistence  from  the  humanity  of  i their  more  affluent,  though  less  industrious  fellow-citizens.     Such  I are  the  effects,  and  such  were  the  predicted  consequences,  of  a war  commenced  without  provocation,  and  which,  if  suffered  to continue  a  few  months  longer,  must  inevitably  produce  national  | shame,  national  bankruptcy,  and  national  destruction. "  We  declared  that  the  persecution  of  principles  was  the  real object  of  the  war,  whatever  pretexts  may  be  laid  out.     Judge  of this  assertion  also  by  the  event.     Behold  the  external  invasion  i against   liberty    seconded    by   internal    outrages   on    your   most  j valued  rights ;  behold  your  band  of  patriots,  once  embodied  and exulting  in   the   glorious  cause  of  freedom — once  the  pride  of Ireland,  and  the  admiration  of  attentive  Europe — your  Volun- teers, now  insulted  and  disarmed ;  behold  your  loved,  your  re-   : vered,  your  idolized  palladium,  the  trial  by  jury,  profaned  and violated — trampled  in  the  dust  by  the  unhallowed  foot  of  unde-   | fined  privilege ;  behold  your  faithful  friends,  for  daring  to  step forward  in  your  defence,  dragged  to   a  loathsome  prison,  and loaded   with  every  injury  which   falsehood  and  tyranny  could suggest. "  What  has  been  the  case?  Although  the  war  has  yet  existed but  a  few  months,  its  dire  effects  have  already  pierced  the  very marrow  of  society.  Those,  indeed,  who  advised  to  plunge  you into  all  its  horrors  have  not  suffered  the  slightest  inconveniencies : but  is  there  an  artificer  of  any  description,  a  manufacturer  of  any denomination,  a  single  Irishman  who  lives  by  his  honest  industry, ADDRESS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN  TO  BOND  AND  BUTLER.         257 who  lias  not  wholly  or  in  part  been  deprived  of  his  means  of sustenance  ?  All  export  is  destroyed  except  the  export  of  specie, wrung  from  the  hard  hand  of  labour  to  pamper  the  luxury  of absentees.  Every  trade  is  suspended,  except  the  trade  of  cor- ruption, which  flourishes  by  the  impoverishment  of  this  devoted soil. "  Assemble  in  your  parishes,  in  your  towns,  in  your  counties, and  in  your  provinces;  there  speak  forth  your  sentiments,  and let  your  will  be  known.     With  the  firm  voice  of  injured  millions !  require  a  peace ;  pursue  the  example  of  the  Catholic  Convention I  — unite  order  with  spirit,  tranquillity  with  action.     Like  them, i  carry  your  wishes  to  the  throne  itself,  and  fear  not  for  their  suc- i  cess ;  but  like  them,  whilst  you  seek  a  remedy  for  your  present ,  sufferings,  ever  remember  that  a  radical  reform  in  the  system  of i  representation  is  the  only  means  of  avoiding  a  repetition  of  them. i  Call  on  your  king  to  chain  down  the  monster  war,  which  has I  devoured  your  commerce,  which  gorges  its  hateful  appetite  by I  preying   on  the  wretchedness   of  your  manufacturers,   and  en- ;  slaving  them  for  life,  the  instruments  of  tyranny  and  slaughter ; call  on  him  to  spurn  from  his  councils  those  who  shall  assert  that you  are  bound  to  rob  and  to  be  robbed,  to  murder  and  to  be murdered,  to  inflict  and  to  endure  all  the  complicated  miseries of  war,  because  an   unfeeling  policy  should  dictate  the  horrid act ;  call  on  him  to  give  you  peace",  etc. ADDRESS   OF   THE    SOCIETY   OF   UNITED   IRISHMEN   OF    DUBLIN. John  Sheares,  Chairman. W.  B.  Webb,  Secretary. "  16th  August,  1793. "  To  the  Hon.  Simon  Butler  and  Oliver  Bond,  Esq. "  Gentlemen,  our  dear  and  respected  Friends  ! "  On  the  first  of  March  we  saw  you  enter  into  prison,  with  an jair  and  manner  that  testified  not  only  a  serene  and  settled  con- iviction  in  the  justice  of  your  cause,  but  a  cheerful  confidence  in ;  your  own  fortitude  to  sustain  all  the  consequences  that  an  attach- iment  to  this  cause  might  bring  upon  you:  and  we  now  see  you, !  after  an  imprisonment  of  six  months,  come  out  with  the  same  un- i  bending  spirit ;  in  the  same  health  of  body  ;  with  the  same  alacrity }  of  mind;  both  preserved  sound  and  unaltered,  probably  from  the same  cause — that  vital  energy  which  a  sense  of  unmerited  suffering vol.  i.  18 258  ADDRESS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN and  the  consciousness  of  doing  our  duty  never  fail  to  communi- cate. It  is  this  conscious  sense  of  unmerited  injury  that  refreshes the  soul  amidst  the  closest  confinement,  blows  up  the  spark  of life,  and  invigorates  both  the  head  and  the  heart;  this,  which made  Mirabeau  write  for  liberty  in  a  dungeon,  while  his  enemies conspired  against  it  in  the  ante-chamber ;  this,  which  expanded the  soul  of  Raleigh,  gave  it  power  to  wander  at  large,  and,  in  spite of  bars,  in  defiance  of  gaolers,  to  leave  the  narrow  cell  where his  body  lay,  and  write  for  posterity,  a  History  of  the  World. "  Notwithstanding  the  irresistible  argument  of  six  months'  im- prisonment in  a  common  gaol,  we  are  still  inclined  to  lament  that the  law  and  custom  of  parliament  should  ever  have  entered  into a  contest  with  the  liberty  of  the  press  and  the  rights  of  the people,  and  that  a  discretionary  power  of  punishment  should  so often  supersede  the  ordinary  course  of  criminal  jurisdiction  and the  sacred  trial  by  jury.  We  continue  still  inclined  to  believe that  all  undefined  and  irresponsible  power,  by  whatever  person or  body  assumed,  is  in  its  nature  despotic,  and  that  the  vigilance of  the  people  and  the  censorship  of  the  press  are  the  only  means of  guarding  against  its  deadening  influence,  and  preserving  those barriers  which  the  spirit  of  free  government  ought  to  place  be-i tween  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  departments.  We still  think  that  particular  and  anxious  care  ought  to  be  taken, never  to  mingle  and  confound  the  legislative  and  judicial  powers,  I for  the  conjunction  is  politically  incestuous,  and  the  production is  alwavs  a  monster. J "  Gentlemen,  your  country  is  much  your  debtor.    But  we  must ! suppose  you  by  this  time  too  well  experienced  in  the  mutability of  public  opinion,  to  expect  that  she  will  for  the  present  acknow-  j ledge  the  debt,  much  less  return  the   obligation ;  that  she  will either  sympathise  with  what  you  have  suffered  or  partake  in  our  i heartfelt  joy  at  your  enlargement.     Indeed,  you  will  scarcely  now  | know  your  country,  in  a  few  months  so  much  altered.  Indisposed to  condole  or  to  congratulate,   desponding  without  reason,   ex- 1 hausted  without  effort,  she  sits  on  the  ground  in  a  fit  of  mental alienation,  unconscious  of  her  real  malady,  scared  at  every  wins-  j per;  her  thousand  ears  open  for  falsehoods  from  abroad,  her  thou-  ' sand  eyes  shut  against  the  truth  at  home ;  worked  up  by  false suggestions  and  artful  insinuations  to  such  a  madness  of  suspicion  i as  makes  her  mistake   her  dearest  friends  for  her  deadliest  foes,  j and  revile  the  only  society  which  ever  pursued  her  welfare  with  ; spirit  and  perseverance,  as  attempting  at  her  life  with  the  torch of  an  incendiary  and  the  dagger  of  an  assassin. "  From  a  public,  thus  inquisitive  about  the  affairs  of  other  peo- ple, thus  incurious  about  its  own,  thus  deluded — we  were  going TO  BOND  AXD  BUTLER.  259 to  say,  in  language  of  high  authority,  thus  besotted — we  appeal for  your  fame,  and  our  own  justification,  to  the  same  public,  in  a more  collected,  a  more  sober,  a  more  dignified  moment ;  when the  perishable  politics  of  party  in  place  and  party  out  of  place, shall  have  passed  away  like  the  almanack  of  the  year ;  when  the light  shall  break  in  on  an  underworking  family  compact,  whose business  it  has  been  to  conceal  the  real  situation  and  sentiments of  this  country  from  the  immediate  councils  of  the  sovereign ; when  a  compromising,  parleying,  panic-struck  opposition,  nego- ciating  without  authority,  surrendering  without  condition,  shall repent  of  their  pusillanimous  credulity;  and  when  the  nation shall  dare  to  acknowledge  as  a  truth,  what  in  its  conscience  it i  feels  as  a  fact,  that  those  only  are  her  friends  who  stand  up  while !  all  are  prostrate  around  them,  and  call  aloud  on  ministry  and  on j  opposition  for  reform,  radical,  comprehensive,  immediate ;  such as  will  nationalize  liberty,  and  make  this  country  cease  to  be what  it  has  been  well  described,  '  a  heavy-handed,  unfeeling  aris- tocracy over  a  people  ferocious  and  rendered  desperate  by  po- verty and  wretchedness'.  But  if  such  a  time  should  not  soon arrive—  if  this  country  should  remain  still  abused  and  contented, there  is  a  world  elsewhere.  Wherever  freedom  is,  there  is  our country,  and  there  ought  to  be  our  home.  Let  this  government take  care.  Let  them  think  of  depopulation,  and  tremble.  Who makes  the  rich  ? — the  poor.  What  makes  the  shuttle  fly,  and  the plough  cleave  the  furrows? — the  poor.  Should  the  poor  emi- grate, what  would  become  of  you,  proud,  powerful,  silly  men ! What  would  become  of  you  if  the  ears  of  corn  should  wither  on the  stalk,  and  the  labours  of  the  loom  should  cease  ?  Who  would feed  you  then,  if  hungry,  or  clothe  you  when  naked  ?  Give  the poor  a  country,  or  you  will  lose  one  yourselves.  Mankind,  like other  commodities,  will  follow  the  demand,  and,  if  depreciated here  below  all  value,  will  fly  to  a  better  market. "  Gentlemen,  we  again  salute  you  with  great  respect  and  affec- tion, as  friends  and  brothers.  We  salute  you,  in  the  unity  of  an honest  and  an  honourable  cause.  May  you  receive  the  reward of  your  sufferings,  and  triumph  in  the  freedom  of  your  country". The  Honourable  Simon  Butler  and  Oliver  Bond,  Esq.,  returned an  answer,  from  which  the  following  extract  is  taken : — "  We  received  the  honour  of  your  spirited  and  affectionate address  with  equal  pride  and  gratitude.  You  have  done  justice to  the  feelings  which  have  supported  us  under  our  imprisonment; and,  if  our  situation  required  adventitious  consolation,  the  pa- triotic attention  of  our  numerous  friends  has  most  amply  supplied it.     Our  sufferings  have  not  warped  our  understandings ;  and  we 260  ROWAN  PROSECUTED. still  think  that  we  only  discharge  an  indispensable  duty  while  we treat  all  public  topics  with  free  discussion,  preserving  a  due  re- spect for  the  public  peace  and  the  laws  of  the  land.  We  will only  boast  of  our  constitution  when  it  knows  no  power  which  is not  responsible.  Prerogative,  founded  upon  the  salutary  maxim that  the  king  can  do  no  wrong,  held  forth  at  all  times  some  relief in  the  responsibility  of  the  minister ;  but  privilege,  which  arro- gates to  itself  a  like  constitutional  principle,  precludes  all  resource whatsoever  against  its  illegal  or  arbitrary  exercise;  acknowledg- ing no  control,  no  corrective,  it  regards  not  the  forms  of  law ; and  while  it  remains  undefined  and  irresponsible,  there  is  no  safety in  the  land.  We  have  thought  it  our  duty  to  seek  redress,  but we  sought  it  in  vain.  We  have  not  even  received  countenance in  the  quarter  where  the  nation  might  have  looked  for  support. We  have  not,  however,  submitted ;  we  have  suffered",  etc. For  distributing  the  address  of  the  United  Irishmen  to  the Volunteers,  A.  H.  Rowan,  in  January,  1794,  was  prosecuted  for a  seditious  libel,  sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment,  and  a  fine of  £500. It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  seditious  libel  was  uttered  in  the  year 17i)2  and  the  prosecution  did  not  take  place  till  the  year  17U4. It  was  at  this  celebrated  trial  that  Curran  made  a  speech  never to  be  forgotten  in  Ireland,  and  parts  of  which  furnish  specimens of  oratory  more  widely  diffused  in  England  and  America,  and more  frequently  cited,  than  any  passages  in  the  appeals  of  orators dead  or  living.  One  passage  in  that  speech  is  better  remem- bered and  more  generally  admired  than  any  separate  portion  of an  address  ever  delivered  at  the  bar  in  either  country — that wherein  he  refers  to  the  words  included  in  the  libel,  "  Universal emancipation".  "  I  speak  in  the  spirit  of  British  law,  which makes  liberty  commensurate  with  and  inseparable  from  British soil;  which  proclaims  even  to  the  stranger  and  the  sojourner,  the moment  he  sets  his  foot  upon  British  earth,  that  the  ground  on which  he  treads  is  holy,  and  consecrated  by  the  genius  of  univer- sal emancipation.  No  matter  in  what  language  his  doom  may have  been  pronounced;  no  matter  what  complexion  incompatible with  freedom  an  Indian  or  an  African  sun  may  have  burnt  upon him ;  no  matter  in  what  disastrous  battle  his  liberty  may  have been  cloven  down;  no  matter  with  what  solemnities  he  may have  been  devoted  upon  the  altar  of  slavery ;  the  first  moment he  touches  the  sacred  soil  of  Britain,  the  altar  and  the  god  sink together  in  the  dust,  his  soul  walks  abroad  in  her  own  majesty, his  body  swells  beyond  the  measure  of  his  chains  that  burst from  around  him,    and  he  stands  redeemed,    regenerated,  and ORIGIN  OF  PACKING  JURIES.  261 disenthralled   by  the  irresistible  genius   of  universal  emancipa- tion  . The  postponement  of  the  trial  was  attributed,  and  not  without justice,  by  Mr.  Rowan  and  his  friends,  to  the  arrangements  re- quired for  the  new  plan  that  had  been  devised  of  securing  a conviction,  in  cases  similar  to  the  present,  through  the  medium of  packed  juries,  by  the  intervention  of  hirelings  of  government placed  in  the  office  of  sheriffs.  This  matter  it  was  found  im- possible to  accomplish  before  the  early  part  of  the  year  1794, when  one  Jenkins,  and  that  Cimmerian  zealot,  John  Gifford, were  thrust  into  the  shrievalty.  But  this  trial  not  only  exhibited the  adoption  of  the  new  jury-packing  system — a  darker  feature was  also  presented,  in  the  employment  of  wretches  without  cha- racter or  credit  to  act  as  witnesses. On  Rowan's  trial,  a  disreputable  and  a  worthless  man,  of  the name  of  Lyster,  was  the  principal  witness  against  the  accused.  His evidence  of  Rowan's  having  distributed  the  libellous  paper  was false ;  it  was  declared  to  be  so  by  Rowan  himself  at  the  trial ;  and the  able  and  enlightened  editor  of  his  autobiography,  the  Rev. Dr.  Drummond,  states  that  Rowan  was  not  the  man  who  distri- buted the  libel  on  the  occasion  sworn  to,  but  a  person  of  the name  of  Willis,  a  skinner,  formerly  a  member  of  the  Volunteer association.* It  would  be  now  useless  to  refer  to  this  fact,  but  that  it  shows- the  influence  which  the  recourse  to  packed  juries,  and  the  em- ployment of  perjured  witnesses,  had  on  the  minds  of  the  people, and  especially  on  the  conduct  of  their  leaders,  at  this  period.  So long  as  the  fountains  of  justice  were  believed  to  be  even  mode- rately pure — so  long  as  it  was  unknown  that  they  were  poisoned at  their  very  source,  there  were  some  bounds  to  the  popular  dis- content. The  language  of  the  liberals  of  that  day  might  be  bold, violent,  and  intemperate — not  more  so,  nay,  not  so  much  so,  as the  language  used  with  impunity  at  political  societies  in  the present  day;  but  the  people  still  had  privileges  and  advantages to  lose  by  sedition,  and  the  most  valuable  of  all  was  the  trial  by jury,  which  had  now,  in  public  opinion,  ceased  to  be  a  safeguard or  a  security  to  the  people. The  Society  of  United  Irishmen,  on  the  7th  February,  1794, presented  an  address  to  Mr.  Rowan,  then  undergoing  the  sen- tence of  imprisonment  in  Newgate,  in  which,  after  expressing *  Hamilton  Rowan,  Dr.  Drummond  states,  was  mistaken  by  the  informer Lyster  for  a  man  of  the  name  of  Willis,  who  had  distributed  the  printed  paper for  which  he  (Rowan)  was  prosecuted.  But  Benjamin  Binns,  one  well  acquainted with  the  events  of  that  period,  informed  me  this  statement  was  an  error — that the  paper  in  question  was  distributed  by  his  brother,  Alderman  Binns,  now  of Philadelphia. 262  THE  BACK  LANE  PARLIAMENT. the  obligations  the  country  was  under  to  him  for  his  bold  asser- tion of  its  rights,  and  its  sympathy  with  his  sufferings  in  its cause,  the  society  observed:  "Although  corruption  has  been leagued  with  falsehood  to  misrepresent  and  vilify  this  society, we  have  reposed  in  honest  confidence  on  the  consoling  reflection, that  we  should  at  all  times  find  an  impregnable  barrier  in  '  the trial  by  jury',  wherein  character  and  intention  should  be  regarded as  unerring  guides  to  justice.  But  while  we  have  been  earnestly endeavourine;  to  establish  the  constitutional  rights  of  our  country, we  suddenly  find  ourselves  at  a  loss  for  this  first  and  last  stake  of a  free  'people;  for  the  trial  by  jury  loses  its  whole  value  when  the sheriff  or  the  panel  is  under  the  influence  of  interest,  prejudice, or  delusion,  and  that  battery  which  liberty  and  wisdom  united to  construct  for  the  security  of  the  people,  is  turned  against  them. However,  in  defiance  of  that  system  of  proscription,  which  is  no longer  confined  to  a  particular  persuasion,  but  which  visits  with vengeance  every  effort  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  we  trust  you  are assured  of  our  inflexible  determination  to  pursue  the  great  object of  our  association — an  equal  and  impartial  representation  of  the people  in  parliament — an  object  from  which  no  chance  or  change, no  slander,  no  persecution,  no  oppression,  shall  deter  us". In  1794  the  violence  of  the  language,  and  the  publicity  with which  the  daring  proceedings  of  the  United  Irishmen  were  car- ried on,  brought  the  vengeance  of  government  on  their  society. On  the  4th  of  May,  their  ordinary  place  of  meeting,  the  Tailors' Hall,  in  Back  Lane,  was  attacked  by  the  police,  their  meeting dispersed,  and  their  papers  seized.*     The  leaders  had  been  suc- *  The  Tailors'  Hall,  in  Back  Lane,  had  become  the  arena  of  liberal  and  demo- cratic politics,  and  also  of  the  agitation  of  the  Roman  Catholic  question,  as  the old  Tholsel  had  previously  been  of  national  and  corporate  struggles.  The  Thol- sel,  apart  of  the  facade  of  which  now  only  remains,  was  erected  in  1GS3;  it derived  its  name  from  the  toll-stall,  where  the  impost  on  goods  received  into  the city  was  taken.  It  was  situate  in  Nicholas  Street,  near  Christ  Church.  In  1703 the  city  of  Dublin  gave  a  grand  entertainment  in  the  Tholsel  to  the  Duke  and Duchess  of  Ormond,  when  the  "  corporations  marched  through  the  city  to  the banquet,  with  their  several  pageants".  Here  the  lord  mayor,  aldermen,  and  com- mons transacted  their  business,  and  the  merchants  met  on  'change  in  a  spacious hall  in  the  upper  part  of  the  building.  In  1779,  a  meeting  was  held  in  the Tholsel,  at  which  resolutions  were  passed  "  against  the  use  of  English  manufac- tures till  the  grievances  were  redressed".  James  Napper  Tandy  took  the  fore- most part  in  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting. The  Tholsel,  as  the  corporation  waxed  more  loyal,  ceased  to  be  the  Crown  and Anchor  of  the  popular  party.  The  Tailors'  Hall  was  the  first  public  place  of  ren- dezvous of  the  Roman  Catholic  Committee,  and  it  became  the  theatre  of  the  ear- liest performances  of  the  United  Irishmen.  From  the  meetings  of  both  bodies  it acquired  the  name  of  the  Back  Lane  Parliament.  James  Napper  Tandy,  as  "  a patriot"  and  an  alderman,  figured  for  a  time  at  both  places  ;  but  when  "  the  alder- men of  Skinners'Alley"  quarrelled  with  then-  democratic  brother,  the  Back  Lane Parliament  became  the  sole  arena  of  Tandy's  ground  and  lofty  "  patriotic  tum- blings". NEW  ORGANIZATION  OF   UNITED  IRISHMEN.  263 j  cessively   prosecuted   and  imprisoned ;  many  of  the   timid  and i  more  prudent  part  of  the  members  seceded  from  the  society ;  the j  more  determined  and  indignant,  and  especially  the  republican :'  portion  of  the  body,  remained,  and  in  1795  gave  a  new  charac- 1  tier  to  the  association,  still  called  the  "  Society  of  United  Irish- men".    The  original  test  of  the  society  was  changed  into  an  oath I  of  secrecy  and  fidelity;  its  original  objects — reform  and  emanci- !  pation — were  now  merged  in  aims  amounting  to  revolution  and j  the  establishment  of  a  republican  government.     These  designs, j  however,  were  not  ostensibly  set  forth ;  for  a  great  number  of  the j  members,  and  even  of  the  leaders,   were  not  prepared  to  travel i  beyond  the   Hounslow  limit   of  reformation.     The  proceedings i  of  the   society  ceased  to  be   of  a  public  nature ;    the  wording of  its  declaration  was  so  altered  as  to  embrace  the  views  both  of reformers  and  republicans,   and  the   original   explanation  of  its grand  aim  and   end — the   equal  representation  of  the  'people  in parliament — was  now  changed  into  the  phrase,  "  a  full  represen- tation of  all  the  people  of  Ireland" ;  thus  adding  the  word  "  all", and  omitting  the  word  "  parliament". The  civil  organization  of  the  society  was  likewise  modified ; the  arrangement  was  perfected  of  committees,  called  baronial, county,  and  provincial.  The  inferior  societies  originally  wrere composed  of  thirty-six  members :  in  the  new  organization  each association  was  limited  to  twelve,  including  a  secretary  and  trea- surer. The  secretaries  of  five  of  these  societies  formed  a  lower baronial  committee,  and  had  the  immediate  direction  of  the  five societies  from  which  they  had  been  taken.  From  each  lower baronial  committee  one  member  was  delegated  to  an  upper  baro- nial committee,  which  had  the  superintendence  and  direction  of all  the  lower  baronial  ones  in  the  several  counties. In  each  of  the  four  provinces  there  was  a  subordinate  direc- tory, composed  of  two  or  three  members  of  the  society  delegated to  a  provincial  committee,  which  had  the  general  superintendence of  the  several  committees  of  that  province. In  the  capital,  the  executive  directory  was  composed  of  five persons,  balloted  for  and  elected  by  the  provincial  directories. The  knowledge  of  the  persons  elected  for  the  executive  direc- tory was  confined  to  the  secretaries  of  the  provincial  committees, and  not  reported  to  the  electors ;  and  the  executive  directory, thus  composed,  exercised  the  supreme  and  uncontrolled  com- mand of  the  whole  body  of  the  union. The  orders  of  the  executive  were  communicated  to  one  mem- ber only  of  each  provincial  committee,  and  so  on  in  succession to  the  secretary  of  each  upper  and  lower  baronial  committee  of the  subordinate  societies,  by  whom  they  eventually  were  given 264  NEW  ORGANIZATION  OF to  the  general  body  of  the  society.  The  plan  was  considered by  the  executive  to  be  admirably  calculated  to  baffle  detection. The  key-note  of  the  new  overture  of  their  declaration  and  re- organization was  evidently  representation.  The  attraction  of such  an  extensive  mechanism  of  election  and  delegation,  for  a people  who  had  been  vainly  struggling  for  the  acquisition  or extension  of  the  elective  franchise,  no  doubt  was  the  great  in- ducement with  the  directory  for  the  adoption  of  this  complicated and  widely-extending  system  of  organization. The  organization  of  the  United  Irish  system,  after  the  change made  in  it  from  a  civil  to  a  military  organization,  and  the  pro- gress of  its  plans  at  home  and  abroad,  is  accurately  and  compen- diously set  forth  in  the  report  from  the  Secret  Committee  of  the House  of  Lords,  dated  30th  August,  1798,  after  the  examina- tion of  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Arthur  O'Connor,  Samuel  Neil- son,  Oliver  Bond,  and  John  Hughes,  and  based  chiefly  on that  examination.  The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  that report : — "  It  appears  to  your  committee  that  the  organization,  as  it  is called,  by  which  the  directory  of  the  Irish  union  was  enabled  to levy  a  revolutionary  army,  was  completed  in  the  province  of Ulster  on  the  10th  of  May,  1795;  that  the  scheme  of  extend- ing it  to  the  other  provinces  was  adopted  at  an  early  period by  the  Irish  directory;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  it  made any  considerable  progress  beyond  the  northern  province  before the  autumn  of  1796,  when  emissaries  were  sent  into  the  pro- vince of  Leinster  to  propagate  the  system.  The  inferior  societies at  their  original  institution  consisted  each  of  thirty-six  mem- bers; they  were,  however,  afterwards  reduced  to  twelve;  these twelve  chose  a  secretary  and  a  treasurer,  and  the  secretaries of  live  of  these  societies  formed  what  was  called  a  lower  baronial committee,  which  had  the  immediate  direction  and  superin- tendence of  the  five  societies  who  thus  contributed  to  its  insti- tution. From  each  lower  baronial  committee  thus  constituted, one  member  was  delegated  to  an  upper  baronial  committee, which  in  like  manner  assumed  and  exercised  the  superinten- dence and  direction  of  all  the  lower  baronial  committees  in the  several  counties.  The  next  superior  committees  were,  in populous  towns,  distinguished  by  the  name  of  district  commit- tees, and  in  counties  by  the  name  of  county  committees,  and were  composed  of  members  delegated  by  the  upper  baronials. Each  upper  baronial  committee  delegated  one  of  its  members  to the  district  or  county  committee,  and  these  district  or  county committees  had  the  superintendence  and  direction  of  all  the upper  baronials  who  contributed  to  their  institution.     Having SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  265 thus  organized  the  several  counties  and  populous  towns,  a  sub- ordinate directory  was  erected  in  each  of  the  four  provinces, composed  of  two  members  or  three,  according  to  the  extent  and population  of  the  districts  which  they  represented,  who  were delegated  to  a  provincial  committee,  which  had  the  immediate direction  and  superintendence  of  the  several  county  and  district committees  in  each  of  the  four  provinces,  and  a  general  execu- tive directory,  composed  of  five  persons,  was  elected  by  the  pro- vincial directories,  but  the  election  was  so  managed  that  none but  the  secretaries  of  the  provincials  knew  on  whom  the  election fell.  It  was  made  by  ballot,  but  not  reported  to  the  electors ;  the appointment  was  notified  only  to  those  on  whom  the  election devolved,  and  the  executive  directory  thus  composed  assumed and  exercised  the  supreme  and  uncontrolled  command  of  the whole  body  of  the  union. "  The  manner  of  communicating  the  orders  issued  by  the  exe- cutive directory  was  peculiarly  calculated  to  baffle  detection. One  member  of  the  executive  alone  communicated  with  one member  of  each  provincial  committee  or  directory.  The  order was  transmitted  by  him  to  the  secretary  of  each  county  or  dis- trict committee  in  his  province.  The  secretaries  of  the  county and  district  committees  communicated  with  the  secretaries  of  the upper  baronials  in  each  county ;  they  communicated  with  the secretaries  of  the  lower  baronial  committees,  who  gave  the  order to  the  secretaries  of  each  subordinate  committee,  by  whom it  was  given  to  the  several  inferior  members  of  the  nnion. It  appears  that  the  leaders  and  directors  of  this  conspiracy, having  completed  this  their  revolutionary  system  in  the  pro- vince of  Ulster  so  early  as  the  10th  of  May,  1795,  and  having made  considerable  progress  in  establishing  it  in  the  autumn  and winter  of  1796  in  the  province  of  Leinster,  proceeded  at  that period  to  convert  it  into  a  military  shape  and  form,  for  the  un- disguised project  of  rebellion;  and  this  project  has  been  dis- tinctly and  unequivocally  acknowledged  by  the  aforesaid  Arthur O'Connor,  William  James  M'Nevin,  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  and Oliver  Bond,  who  have  confessed  themselves  to  have  been  lead- ing and  active  members  of  this  conspiracy,  as  will  appear  more distinctly  to  your  lordships  from  the  confessions  which  they  have made  before  your  committee. "  From  the  confessions  of  these  persons  it  appears  that  the military  organization,  as  they  termed  it,  was  grafted  on  the civil.  That  the  secretary  of  each  subordinate  society  com- posed of  twelve,  was  appointed  their  petty  or  non-commis- sioned officer;  that  the  delegate  of  five  societies  to  a  lower baronial    committee,    was    commonly    appointed    captain    of   a '26Q  SECOND   SOCIETY  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN. company,  composed  of  the  five  societies  who  had  so  delegated him,  and  who  made  up  the  number  of  sixty  privates ;  and  that the  delegate  of  ten  lower  baronials  to  the  upper  or  district  com- mittee was  commonly  appointed  colonel  of  a  battalion,   which was  thus  composed  of  six  hundred  men.     That  the  colonels  of battalions  in  each  county  sent  in  the  names  of  three  persons  to the  executive  directory  of  the  union,  one  of  whom  was  appointed by  them  adjutant-general  of  the  county,  whose  duty  it  was  to receive  and  communicate  military  orders  from  the  executive  to the  colonels  of  battalions,  and  in  general  to  act  as  officers  of  the revolutionary  staff.     In  addition  to  this  establishment,  it  appears that  a  military  committee  was  appointed   (at  a  later  period)  by the  executive  directory  to  prepare  a  regular  plan  for  assisting  a French  army,  if  any  such  should  make  a  landing  in  this  king- dom, by  directing  the  national  military  force,  as  it  was  called,  to cooperate  with  them,  or  to  form  a  regular  plan  of  insurrection, in  case  it  should  be   ordered,  without  waiting  for  French   as- sistance".* CHAPTER  X. NEW  ORGANIZATION    OF  THE   SOCIETY  OF    UNITED  IRISHMEN  —  EXTENDED  AIMS, REVOLUTIONARY  PLANS,  AND  MILITARY  ASPECT  OF  ITS  PROCEEDINGS. The  new  organization  of  the  society  of  United  Irishmen  was completed  on  the  10th  of  May,  1795;  separation  and  a  republi- can government  became  the  fixed  objects  of  its  principal  leaders, but  not  the  avowed  ones  till  a  little  later,  when,  at  the  conclu- sion of  every  meeting,  the  chairman  was  obliged  to  inform  the members  of  each  society,  "  they  had  undertaken  no  light  matter", and  he  was  directed  to  ask  every  delegate  present  what  were  his views  and  his  understanding  of  those  of  his  society,  and  each individual  was  expected  to  reply,  "  a  republican  government  and a  separation  from  England". t Early  in  1794,  however,  the  question  had  been  mooted  of  solicit- ing the  cooperation  of  France,  and  a  person  was  appointed  to  go on  that  mission ;  but  various  circumstances  conspired  to  prevent  his departure,  till  the  trial  of  Jackson,  an  emissary  of  the  French government,   brought   to   general   notice   the    intentions    of  the *  Lords'  Committee  Secret  Report,  1798. t    Vide  "Pieces  of  Irish  History",  p.   109. SECOND  SOCIETY  OF    UNITED    IRISHMEN.  2G7 French  with  respect  to  invasion ;  and  at  this  period  Tone,  who was  implicated  more  or  less  in  Jackson's  guilt,  and  permitted  to go  to  America,  was  solicited  by  certain  persons  in  Ireland  to  set forth  to  the  French  government,  through  its  agents  in  America, on  his  arrival  there,  "  the  state  of  Ireland  and  its  dispositions". These  dispositions  are  to  be  gathered  from  a  communication  ad- dressed to  Tone  in  America,  and  published  in  the  Life  of  Tone, by  his  son,  styled,  "  A  Letter  from  one  of  the  Chief  Catholic Leaders  in  Dublin,  September  3rd,  1795",  wherein  Tone  is  told "  to  remember  and  to  execute  his  garden  conversation".  This letter  was  written  by  John  Keogh. Reference  is  made  also  in  Tone's  diary  to  a  conversation  which had  taken  place  a  day  or  two  previously  to  his  departure  from  Dub- lin, at  Emmet's  country  residence  at  Rathfarnham.  The  persons present  were  Emmet,  Tone,  and  Russell.  Tone's  account  of  this interview  is  told  in  simple  and  expressive  language.  "  A  short time  before  my  departure",  he  says,  "  my  friend  Russell  being in  town,  he  and  I  walked  out  together  to  see  Emmet,  who  has  a charming  villa  there.  He  showed  us  a  little  study,  of  an  ellip- tical form,  which  he  was  building  at  the  bottom  of  the  lawn, and  which  he  said  he  would  consecrate  to  our  meetings,  if  ever we  lived  to  see  our  country  emancipated. "  I  begged  of  him,  if  he  intended  Russell  to  be  of  the  party, in  addition  to  the  books  and  maps  it  would  naturally  contain,  to fit  up  a  small  cellaret,  capable  of  holding  a  few  dozens  of  his  best claret.     He  showed  me  that  he  had  not  omitted  that  circum- stance, which  he  acknowledged  to  be  essential,  and  we  both  ral- lied Russell  with  considerable  success.     As  we  walked  together towards  town,  I  opened  my  plan  to  them  both.     I  told  them  I considered  my  compromise  with  government  to  extend  no  further than  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  and  the  moment  I  landed  I  was to  follow  any  plan  that  might  suggest  itself  for  the  emancipation of  my  country.     I  then  proceeded  to  tell  them  that  my  intention was,  immediately  on  my  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  to  wait  on  the French  minister,  to  detail  to  him  fully  the  situation  of  affairs  in Ireland,    and    endeavour    to    obtain    a   recommendation   to    the French  government,  and  having  succeeded  so  far,  to  leave  my family  in  America,  set  off  immediately  for  Paris,  and  apply,  in the  name  of  my  country,  for  the  assistance  of  France  to  enable us  to  assert  our  independence.     It  is  unnecessary,  I  believe,  to say  that  this  plan  met  with  the  warmest  approbation  and  sup- port, both  from  Russell  and  Emmet ;  we  shook  hands,  and  having repeated   our  professions   of  unalterable  regard   and   esteem  for each  other,  we  parted ;  and  this  was  the  last  interview  which  I was  so  happy  as  to  have  with   these  two  invaluable  friends  to- 2G8  SECOND   SOCIETY  OF   UNITED  IRISHMEN. getter.  I  remember  it  was  in  a  little  triangular  field  that  this conversation  took  place,  and  Emmet  remarked,  that  it  was  in  one like  it,  in  Switzerland,  where  William  Tell  and  his  associates planned  the  downfall  of  the  tyranny  of  Austria".* Tone  took  his  departure  from  Dublin  on  the  20th  of  May, 1795,  and  the  conversation  alluded  to  having  taken  place  im- mediately after  Jackson's  trial  at  the  latter  end  of  April,  this suggestion  of  the  employment  of  force,  with  the  concurrence  of. Emmet  and  Russell,  must  have  been  made  in  the  month  of  May, 1795.  O'Connor,  on  his  examination  before  the  secret  committee in  1798,  stated  that  the  executive  had  sent  to  seek  an  alliance with  France  in  May,  179G,  which  was  formed  in  the  August  fol- lowing— "  the  first  entered  into  between  the  Irish  Union  and  the French  Government".t The  opinion,  however,  of  the  necessity  and  advantage  of  inde- pendence and  separation,  had  been  declared  so  early  as  the  year 1790,  in  a  private  letter  addressed  by  Tone  to  his  friend  Russell, which  subsequently  fell  into  the  hands  of  government.  "  In  form- ing this  theory  (Tone  says,  in  reference  to  his  political  sentiments  in 1790),  I  was  exceedingly  assisted  by  an  old  friend  of  mine,  Sir Laurence  Parsons  (the  late  Lord  Rosse),  and  it  was  he  who  first turned  my  attention  to  this  great  question,  but  I  very  soon  ran  far ahead  of  my  master.  It  is,  in  fact,  to  him  I  am  indebted  for  the first  comprehensive  view  of  the  actual  situation  of  Ireland ;  what his  conduct  might  be  in  a  crisis  I  know  not,  but  I  can  answer  for the  truth  and  justice  of  his  theory"'.? The  congenial  sentiments  of  Sir  Laurence  Parsons  at  this  period with  Mr.  Tone's,  on  the  subjects  alluded  to,  are  found  expressed strongly  enough  in  a  poem  on  the  state  of  Ireland,  by  Sir  Lau- rence Parsons,  the  following  lines  of  which  may  be  taken  as  a sample  of  its  political  tendency  :§ "  What,  though  with  haughty  arrogance  and  pride .England  shall  o'er  this  long-duped  country  stride, And  lay  on  stripe  on  stripe,  and  shame  on  shame, And  brand  to  all  eternity  its  name : 'T  is  right  well  done.     Bear  all,  and  more,  I  say, Nay,  ten  times  more,  and  then  for  more  still  pray. What  state  in  something  would  not  foremost  be  ? She  strives  for  shame,  thou  for  servility. The  other  nations  of  the  Earth,  now  fired To  noblest  deeds,  by  noblest  minds  inspired, High  in  the  realms  of  glory  write  a  name, Wreath'd  round  with  Liberty's  immortal  flame : *  "  Tone's  Life",  vol.  i.  p.  125.     Washington  edition, t  "Memoir  of  the  Examination  of  O'Connor,  Emmett,  and  M'Nevin",  p.  48. t  "  Tone's  Life",  vol.  i.  p.  32.  §  "  Tone's  Life',  vol.  i.  p.  5GL SECOND   SOCIETY  OF   UNITED  IRISHMEN.  269 'T  is  thine  to  creep  a  path  obscure,  unknown, The  palm  of  ev'ry  meanness  all  thine  own. #  *  *  *  * Search  your  own  breast:  in  abject  letters  there Read  why  you  still  the  tinsell'd  slav'ry  wear : Though  Britain,  with  a  trembling  hand,  untied The  fetters  fashion'd  in  her  power  and  pride, Still  are  you  slaves,  in  baser  chains  entwin'd, For  though  your  limbs  are  free,  youre  slaves  in  mind". Tone  unfortunately  acted  on  his  opinion,  and  was  doomed  to  an ignominious  death.  Sir  Laurence  Parsons  was  fortunate  enough  to outlive  his  early  principle,  succeeded  to  a  title,  forgot  the  wrongs that  had  been  the  subject  of  his  poetry,  frequented  the  fashionable circles  of  London,  and  died  a  loyal  subject — the  whole  amount  of praise  his  lordship's  public  career  had  any  claim  to.  The  men who  perished  in  these  disastrous  times  on  the  scaffold,  might  have become  as  loyal  subjects  as  Sir  Laurence  Parsons,  if  mercy  had more  influence  in  the  councils  of  the  rulers  of  the  land  in  those days. After  the  Indemnity  and  Insurrection  Acts  had  been  moved by  the  attorney-general,  and  the  system  of  coercion  and  extermi- nation in  the  north  had  received  the  sanction  of  those  laws,  an important  meeting  of  tlie  executive  took  place  in  May,  1796,  and it  was  determined,  as  if  for  the  first  time,  that  no  constitutional means  of  opposing  oppression  were  available,  and  that  assistance must  be  sought  from  a  foreign  power. The  report  of  the  Lords'  Committee  of  1798  gives  the  follow- ing account  of  the  negociations  with  France : — "It  appears  to  your  committee  that,  early  in  the  year  1796,  a proposition  was  made  from  the  executive  directory  of  the  French Republic,  by  Theobald  Wolie  Tone,  late  a  barrister  of  this  country, who  absconded  shortly  after  the  conviction  of  a  man  of  the  name of  Jackson,  for  treason,  in  the  year  1794,  to  the  executive  direc- tory of  the  Irish  Union,  that  a  French  army  should  be  sent  to Ireland  to  assist  the  republicans  of  this  country  in  subverting  the monarchy  and  separating  Ireland  from  the  British  Crown.  Messrs. Arthur  O'Connor,  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  William  M'Nevin,  and Oliver  Bond,  all  of  whom  have  been  members  of  the  Irish  repub- lican directory,  have  depose'd  that  this  was  the  first  communication within  their  knowledge  which  took  place  between  the  Irish  and French  directories,  and  that  the  proposition  originally  moved  from France.  Your  committee,  however,  are  of  opinion,  that  the  com- munication thus  made  to  the  Irish  directory  through  Mr.  Tone, must  have  taken  place  in  consequence  of  an  application  originating with  some  members  of  the  Irish  Union,  inasmuch  as  it  appears  by the  report  of  the  secret  committee  of  this  house,  made  in  the  last 270  COMMUNICATIONS  OF.  UNITED  IRISHMEN session  of  parliament,  that  a  messenger  had  been  despatched  by the  Society  of  United  Irishmen  to  the  executive  directory  of  the French  Republic,  upon  a  treasonable  mission,  between  the  month of  June,  1795,  and  the  month  of  January,  1796,  at  which  time the  messenger  so  sent  had  returned  to  Ireland ;  and  your  com- mittee have  strong  reason  to  believe  that  Edward  John  Lewins, who  now  is,  and  has  been  for  a  considerable  time,  the  accredited resident  ambassador  of  the  Irish  rebellious  union  to  the  French Republic,  was  the  person  thus  despatched  in  the  summer  of  1795. It  appears  to  your  committee  that  the  proposition  so  made  by  the French  directory,  of  assistance  to  the  rebels  of  this  kingdom,  was taken  into  consideration   by  the  executive  directory  of  the  Irish Union  immediately  after  it  was  communicated  to  them ;  that  they did  agree  to  accept  the  proffered  assistance,  and  that  their  de- termination was  made   known   to  the   directory  of  the  French Republic    by   a  special   messenger;    and  your  committee   have strong   reason    to    believe,   that   the  invasion    of  this  kingdom which  was  afterwards  attempted,   was  fully  arranged  at  an  in- terview which    took   place    in   Switzerland    in    the   summer    of 1796,  near  the  French  frontier,  between  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, the  aforesaid  Mr.  Arthur  O'Connor,  and  General  Hoche.     It  ap- pears that  in   the  month  of  October   or  November,  1796,  the hostile  armament  which  soon  after  appeared  in  Bantry  Bay,  was announced  to   the   Irish   directory   by   a   special  messenger  de- spatched from  France,  who  was  also  instructed  to  inquire  into  the state  of  preparation  in   which  this  country  stood;   which  arma- ment was  then  stated  to   the  Irish  directory  to  consist  of  15,000 troops,  together  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  arms  and  ammu- nition intended  for  the  use  of  the  Irish  republican  union.     In  a few  days  after  the  departure  of  the  messenger  who  had  been  thus sent  to  announce  the  speedy  arrival   of  this   armament   on  the coasts  of  this  kingdom,  it  appears  to  your  committee  that  a  letter from  France  was  received  by  the  Irish  directory,  which  was  con- sidered by  them  as  authentic,   stating  that  the  projected  descent was  postponed  for  some  months ;  and  to  this  circumstance  it  has been  fairly  acknowledged  to  your  committee,  by  one  of  the  Irish directory,  that  this  country  was  indebted  for  the  good  conduct  of the  people  in  the  province  of  Munster  when  the  enemy  appeared in  Bantry  Bay.     He  has  confessed  that  these  contradictory  com- munications threw  the  Irish  directory  off  their  guard,  in  conse- quence of  which  they  omitted  to  prepare  the  people  for  the  recep- tion of  the  enemy.  He  has  confessed  that  the  people  were  loyal  be- cause they  were  left  to  themselves.    It  appears  to  your  committee that  after  the  attempt  to  invade  this  kingdom  in  December,  1796, had  failed,    the    Irish   directory    renewed    their    solicitations   to WITH  THE  FRENCH  GOVERNMENT.  271 France  for  assistance,  and  it  was  determined  by  them  to  establish a  regular  communication  and  correspondence  with  the  Directory of  France,  by  a  resident  accredited  Irish  minister  at  Paris.  Ac- cordingly it  appears  that,  in  April,  1797,  Edward  John  Lewins, of  this  city,  attorney-at-law,  was  despatched  from  hence,  under the  assumed  name  of  Thompson,  to  act  as  the  minister  of  the Irish  republican  directory  at  Paris.  That  he  went  by  way  of Hamburgh,  where  he  obtained  a  letter  of  credence  from  the French  minister  to  General  Hoche,  with  whom  he  had  a  con- ference at  Frankfort,  from  whence  he  proceeded  to  Paris,  where he  has  continued  to  reside  from  that  time,  as  the  minister  of the  executive  directory  of  the  republic  of  Ireland.  It  appears that,  in  June,  1797,  a  second  messenger,  Dr.  William  James M'Nevin,  was  despatched  by  the  same  directory  to  Paris,  with more  precise  instructions  than  they  were  enabled  to  give  to Lewins,  and  that  M'Nevin  also  took  Hamburgh  in  his  way, where,  finding  some  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  passport  from Rheynhart,  the  French  minister,  to  enable  him  to  go  to  Paris, he  presented  a  memoir  in  writing  to  that  minister,  contain- ing the  substance  of  his  instructions  from  his  employers,  to  be transmitted  to  the  directory  of  the  French  republic.  M'Nevin has  stated  to  your  committee  the  principal  points  of  this  memoir, in  which  it  was  recommended  particularly  to  the  directory  of  the French  Republic,  on  their  next  attack  on  this  kingdom,  rather  to make  a  landing  at  Oysterhaven  than  at  Bantry,  as  the  reduction of  the  city  of  Cork  would  be  thereby  considerably  facilitated ; and  he  has  stated  that  it  also  contained  every  species  of  informa- tion which  occurred  to  the  Irish  directory  as  useful  to  the  enemy in  their  projected  invasion  of  this  kingdom,  the  particulars  of which  your  committee  forbear  further  to  detail,  as  they  have  an- nexed the  said  M'Nevin's  confession  made  to  them  by  way  of appendix  to  this  report.  It  appears  that  the  said  M'Nevin having  obtained  a  passport  from  the  French  minister  at  Ham- burgh, soon  after  the  delivery  of  his  memoir  to  him,  proceeded directly  to  Paris,  where  he  had  several  conferences  with  some of  the  ministers  of  the  French  Republic,  in  which  he  pressed strongly  upon  them  the  advantages  of  a  second  armament against  this  kingdom,  in  which  an  additional  supply  of  arms was  represented  as  necessary,  from  the  seizure  which  had  been made,  by  order  of  government,  of  arms  which  had  been  collected for  rebellion  in  the  northern  province ;  and  the  expenses  of  this armament,  as  well  as  of  that  which  had  already  failed,  he  under- took, for  the  Irish  directory,  should  be  defrayed  on  the  establish- ment of  a  republic  in  Ireland;  and  in  these  conferences,  it  appears to  your  committee,   that  it  was    strongly   impressed    upon    the 272  COMMUNICATIONS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN French  directory  to  make  the  separation  of  Ireland  from  the  king- dom of  Great  Britain  an  indispensable  condition  of  any  treaty  of peace  which  might  be  concluded  in  consequence  of  the  negocia- tion  which  then  depended  at  Lisle.  The  better  to  impress  his arguments,  a  second  written  memoir  was  presented  by  the  said M'Nevin,  enforcing,  as  strongly  as  he  could,  everything  which he  had  theretofore  urged  to  encourage  the  invasion  of  this  king- dom by  a  French  force,  and  to  induce  the  directory  of  the French  Republic  to  continue  the  war  with  Great  Britain  until Ireland  should  be  separated  from  the  British  crown ;  and  it  ap- pears that  M'Nevin  was  further  instructed  to  negociate  a  loan  of half  a  million  in  France  or  Spain  for  the  Irish  directory,  on  the security  of  the  revolution  which  they  meditated,  but  that  in this  object  of  his  mission  he  failed  altogether.  It  appears  that immediately  after  the  negociation  at  Lisle  was  broken  off,  in- formation of  it  was  sent  from  France  to  the  Irish  directory,  with assurances  that  the  French  government  would  never  abandon the  cause  of  the  Irish  Union,  nor  make  peace  with  Great Britain,  until  the  separation  of  Ireland  from  the  British  crown was  effected,  and  with  fresh  assurances  of  a  speedy  invasion, which  have  frequently  been  renewed  since  that  period.  It  ap- pears that  the  said  M'Nevin  returned  to  this  kingdom  in  Octo- ber, 1797,  when  he  made  his  report  to  the  Irish  directory  of the  result  of  his  mission,  and  that  they  might  rely  with  confi- dence on  the  promised  succours  from  France ;  and  it  has  also  ap- peared that,  in  July  or  August,  1797,  the  Irish  directory  received a  despatch  from  their  minister  at  Paris,  announcing*  the  Dutch armament  in  the  Texel,  intended  against  this  kingdom,  which Was  baffled  and  discomfited  by  the  ever-memorable  and  per- severing valour  of  the  British  fleet  commanded  by  Lord  Duncan. It  appears  that  three  several  despatches  have  been  received  by the  Irish  directory  from  their  minister  at  Paris,  since  October, 1797;  the  two  first  contained  a  renewal  generally  of  the  former assurances  of  friendship  and  support  given  by  the  directory  of  the French  Republic ;  the  last  announced  that  the  projected  invasion of  Ireland  would  be  made  in  the  month  of  April,  1798.  And  it appears  that  a  despatch  for  the  directory  of  the  French  republic, earnestly  pressing  for  the  promised  succours,  was  made  up  by  the Irish  directory,  late  in  December,  1797,  or  early  in  Jamiary, 1798,  which  one  of  them  undertook  to  have  conveyed  to  France, but  that  the  attempt  failed.  It  has  been  stated  to  your  committee by  one  of  the  rebel  directory  of  Ireland,  who  was  privy  to  this act  of  treason,  that  the  despatch  was  not  to  be  sent  through  Great Britain,  but  he  did  not  explain  to  your  committee  any  reason  on WITH  THE  FRENCH  GOVERNMENT.  273 which  this  assertion  was  founded,  nor  any  other  route  by  which this  messenger  was  to  make  his  way  to  France".* The  account  given  of  the  negociations  in  1797,  in  the  Memoir of  M'Neven,  Emmet,  and  O'Connor,  is  to  the  following  effect: — "In  November,  1796,  an  agent,  a  native  of  France,  from  the French  Republic,  arrived  in  Ireland,  and  communicated  to  the directory  the  intention  of  the  French  government  to  send  the assistance  required,  and  a  large  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition ; and  in  the  month  of  December  following  the  attempt  at  invasion was  made  at  Ban  try  Bay". One  of  the  principal  causes  of  its  signal  miscarriage  was  attri- buted by  the  directory  of  the  United  Irishmen  to  the  circum- stance of  being  left  by  the  French  government  in  total  ignorance of  the  part  of  the  coast  where  the  descent  was  to  be  made.  Arthur O'Connor,  however,  stated  to  me,  in  1842,  there  were  two  persons then  living  who  had  a  knowledge  of  the  place  where  the  disem- barkation was  originally  intended  to  have  been  effected. "In  March,  1797,  another  agent,  Mr.  Lewins,   an  attorney  of Dublin,  had  been  sent  by  the  directory  to  France,  to  press  on  the j  government  the  fulfilment  of  its  promise  of  another  expedition, j  and  to  effect  a  loan  of  half  a  million.     The  difficulties,  however, i  of  the  French  government  at  this  period  stood  in  the  way  of  the J  success  of  the  application,  and  another  agent,  Dr.  M'Neven,  was despatched  in  the  month  of  June,  to  impress  on  the  French  go- vernment the  immediate  necessity  of  granting  the  succour  that had  been  applied  for.     Dr.  M'Neven  was  unable  to  proceed  be- yond  Hamburgh,    where   he   communicated — imprudently — in writing  to  the  French  minister  the  object  of  his  mission.     The force  required  was  10,000  men,  at  the  most,  and  5,000  at  the  least, and  about  40,000  stand  of  arms.     Dr.  M'Neven,  after  some  time, !  was  allowed  to  proceed  to  Paris,  and  there  renewed  with  the i  government  the  solicitations  of  the  directory  for  immediate  assist- ance.    Dr.  M'Neven  returned  to  Ireland  in  October,  1797,  when jhe  reported  to  the  directory  the  result  of  his  mission — that  they i  might  rely  with  confidence  on  the  promised  succours  from  France. !  Lewins  remained  in  Paris,  the  accredited  agent  of  the  directory. !ln  July  or  August,  1797,  the  directory  received  a  communication from  him,  announcing  the  Dutch  armament  in  the  Texel,  in- I tended  for  Ireland,  being  about  to  be  despatched.     That  expedi- tion, however,  was  totally  discomfited  by  the  British  fleet  under Lord  Duncan.      The  last  application  for  French  succour  _  was attempted  to  be  made  in  January,  1798,  but  that  attempt  failed; *  Lords'  Secret  Committee  Report. VOL.  I.  19 274  LORD  MALMESBURY. and  the  last  communication  from  Lewins  to  the  directory,  with  [ the  new  promise  of  assistance,  was  in  the  latter  part  of  1797,  I stating  that  an  invasion  of  Ireland  would  take  place  in  the  month of  April,  1798. LORD  MALMESBURY'S  DIPLOMATIC  MISSIONS  IN  1796  AND   1797. The  French  expedition  for  the  coast  of  Ireland  in  1 796,  and the  Dutch  one,  with  a  similar  destination,  in  1797,  had  a  pacific influence  on  Mr.  Pitt,  which  may  fairly  be  inferred  to  have  been the  occasion  of  Lord  Malmesbury's  mission  to  Paris  in  1796,  and to  Lisle  in  1797.  In  the  recent  remarkable  work,  entitled  Diary and  Correspondence  of  Lord  Malmesbury,  we  have  a  very  detailed account  of  both  missions,  but,  strange  to  say,  not  a  syllable  is  to  be found  in  his  journals  or  letters  either  of  the  Brest  expedition  un- der Hoche,  which  was  preparing  for  departure  while  his  lordship was  in  Paris  in  close  underhand  communication  with  Talleyrand, except  a  memorandum,  dated  the  13th  November,  in  relation  to the  unimportant  circumstance  of  its  being  reported  that  eleven  sail of  the  line  were  ready  for  sea,  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand men  embarked,  and  that  the  expedition  meditated  an  attempt  on Ireland. His  lordship  arrived  early  in  October,  1796,  in  Paris,  at  the precise  time  Hoche  was  hurrying  on  his  preparations  at  Brest. His  instructions,  he  states,  were  to  make  earnest  overtures  to  the French  government  to  put  an  end  to  the  war.  The  directory  then consisted  of  Barras,  Rewbell,  La  Reveillere  Lepaux,  Carnot,  and Letourneur.  Two  of  the  directory  are  said  to  have  been  traitors to  their  country,  and  in  treasonable  communication  then  and  pre- viously with  the  English  government. The  Brest  expedition,  consisting  of  seventeen  sail  of  the  line, thirteen  frigates,  and  15,000  men,  sailed  on  the  17th  December, and  on  the  19th  Lord  Malmesbury  was  ordered  to  quit  Paris within  twenty-four  hours. The  dismissal  of  the  negociator,  however,  was  too  late  to  pre- vent the  secret  of  Hoche's  expedition  being  communicated  to England,  and  effectual  means  taken  to  disconcert  the  plans  of Hoche.  But  not  one  word  on  the  subject  do  we  find  in  the Diary  and  Correspondence  of  Lord  Malmesbury.  A  secret  agent of  the  French  government,  named  Moutrand,*  was  placed  at  this *  Moutrand  died  in  Paris  in  1843. HIS  DIPLOMATIC  MISSIONS  IN  1796-97,  275 time  about  Lord  Malmesbuiy,  "pour  lui  tirer  les  vers  du  nez",  while his  lordship  had  likewise  his  secret  agents  about  the  French  Minis- ter of  Foreign  Affairs,  to  ascertain  the  designs  of  the  Irish  am- bassador, Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  and  to  prevent  the  latter  from counteracting  his  efforts  to  negociate  a  peace.  Tone  did  effec- tually counteract  his  lordship's  efforts,  but  the  latter,  in  his  turn, enabled  his  government  to  counteract  the  most  formidable  plans that  were  ever  formed  for  the  separation  of  Ireland  from  England. This  was  one  of  the  occasions  "  when  in  one  line  two  crafts directly  meet",  and  we  eventually  have  "  the  engineer  hoist  with his  own  petard". In  June,  1797,  Lord  Malmesbury  was  again  despatched  by  Mr. Pitt  to  Lisle,  to  treat  for  peace  with  the  French  government.  The Dutch  expedition  intended  for  the  invasion  of  Ireland  was  then preparing  in  the  Scheldt,  but  not  one  syllable  do  we  find  about  it in  those  journals  and  correspondence,  Avhich  are  crammed  with  such minute  diplomatic  details  on  almost  every  other  subject  of  conti- nental importance.  The  mutiny  in  the  fleet  at  the  Nore,  then  exist- ing, is  mentioned  by  his  lordship  on  the  eve  of  his  setting  out. The  directory  was  then  composed  of  Barthelemi,  Barras,  Carnot, La  Reveillere  Lepaux,  and  Rewbell.  In  the  month  of  July  the  Mi- nister for  Foreign  Affairs  was  Talleyrand.  Two  of  the  directory  are said  by  French  historians  to  have  been  traitors  to  their  country ; and  though  Malmesbury  does  not  say  so,  it  is  confidently  affirmed by  well  informed  French  people,  that  Carnot  and  Barthelemi were  in  the  pay  of  England. The  French  ministers  sent  by  the  directory  to  Lisle  to  treat with  Lord  Malmesbnry,  were  Le  Tourneur,  Pleville  le  Pelley, and  Maret;  the  latter  had  been  officially  employed  in  England, and  was  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Pitt.  Maret  is  plainly  shown  by Lord  Malmesbury  to  have  been  the  agent  of  some  foreign  power inimical  to  his  country.  He  held  constant  clandestine  commu- nications with  Lord  Malmesbury  through  a  British  resident  at Lisle,  a  Mr.  Cunningham,  and  also  a  relative  of  Maret's,  a  Mon- sieur Pein.  In  the  first  interview  between  Pein  and  Mr.  Wesley, one  of  the  attaches  of  the  British  Minister,  on  the  part  of  Lord Malmesbury,  the  former  stated  that  "Maret  was  the  intimate  friend of  Barthelemi,  through  whose  means  he  had  been  appointed  one of  the  ministers  to  treat  for  peace  with  England,  and  therefore  his sentiments  could  not  be  doubted,  as  it  was  well  known  Barthelemi was  sincerely  desirous  for  the  restoration  of  peace.  Mr.  Pein  added that  Maret  had  his  suspicions  with  respect  to  the  intentions  of the  directory".  In  plain  English,  Maret  and  Barthelemi  were traitors  to  their  own  government.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance that  upwards  of  two  years  before  the  publication  of  Lord  Mai- 27(1  LORD  MALMESBURY. mesburys  Memoirs,  from  which  this  account  is  taken,  I  men- tioned, on  the  authority  of  one  of  Tone's  northern  friends,  Mr. Jordan,  living  in  Liverpool  in  1842,  in  the  former  edition  of  this work,  that  a  nobleman,  one  of  the  Irish  Privy  Councillors,  had confidentially  stated,  in  1797,  that  the  English  government  was in  possession  of  all  the  projects  of  the  United  Irishmen  then  carrying on  in  Holland  through  one  of  the  French  directory — Barthelemi. Thiers  says — "  Carnot  et  Barthelemi  votaient  pour,  qu'on  ac- ceptat  les  conditions  de  l'Angleterre  les  trois  autres  directeurs soutenaicnt  l'opinion  contraire". Talleyrand  all  this  time,  we  find  from  Mr.  Canning's  commu- nications to  Lord  Malmeshury  and  Mr.  Ellis,  was  in  secret  cor- respondence with  English  agents.  He  alludes  to  Talleyrand's letters  against  his  own  government  and  colleagues,  to  Mr.  Smith, and  states,  at  page  453,  vol.  ii.,  that  Barthelemi  was  at  this period  largely  gambling  in  the  English  funds.  In  a  letter  of  Tal- leyrand's, quoted  by  Canning,  addressed  to  Robert  Smith,  Esq., dated  27th  July,  1797,  he  says,  respecting  the  negociations  at Lille,  and  the  warlike  plans  of  Charles  Delacroix — "  My  wish is  good,   but  I  have  a  great  deal  to  do— must  take  patience adieu". — Vol.  iii.,  p.  457.  We  find  no  reference  in  Lord Malmeshury 's  journals  to  the  proposal  of  a  bribe  to  one  of  the directory  made  to  Charles  Delacroix,  in  1796,  by  his  lordship, as  we  are  informed  by  Thiers,  in  his  History  of  the  Revolution. _  Lord  Malmeshury,  in  his  diary,  19th  August,  says,  "  Mr.  Mel- ville, of  Boston,  in  America,  makes  the  same  offer  as  to  Barras". In  a  note  referring  to  this  sentence,  it  is  said  that  "  a  person named  Potter  came  to  Lord  M.  ■  at  the  beginning  of  the  negocia- tion,  stating  that  he  was  sent  by  Barras  to  say  that  if  the  govern- ment would  pay  that  director  £100,000,  he  would  insure  the peace.  Lord  M.,  believing  the  offer  to  be  unauthorized  by Barras,  or  only  a  trap  laid  for  him  by  the  directory,  paid  no attention  to  it". — Memoirs,  etc.,  of  Earl  of  Malmeshury. About  the  same  time  Lord  Malmeshury  received  an  anony- mous letter  from  Paris,  bearing  very  strong  marks  of  Talley- rand's composition,  setting  forth  the  exertions  the  writer  was making  to  promote  English  views  in  the  government. Of  Maret's  treason  to  his  country  no  doubt  is  left.  Even  the private  signals  are  detailed  which  were  established  between  him and  Lord  Malmeshury,  to  be  made  at  the  conferences  between the  negociators  and  his  lordship,  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving Maret's  colleagues,  the  other  two  French  negociators.  "The sign  agreed  upon  was  Maret's  taking  his  handkerchief  out  of  one pocket  and  returning  it  into  the  other". — Vol.  iii.,  p.  451. In  the  various  records  of  baseness  which  are  to  be  found  in  the HIS  DIPLOMATIC  MISSIONS  IN  1796-97.  277 Harris  Papers,  there  is  one  of  an  Abbe  Dumontel,   who  wrote to  Lord  Malmesbury,   stating  that  he  was  connected  with  the !  British  Minister  at  Stuttgard,  Mr.  Drake,  who  was  implicated  in |  Pichegru's  conspiracy  against  the  French  government,  and  was turned  out  of  the  country  in  consequence  of  the  disclosure.    Lord Malmesbury  refused  to  see  him,  and  it  turned  out  that  the  Abbe was  an  agent  of  the  government  employed  to  entrap  Lord  Malmes- bury.    Another  priest,  a  British  subject,  a  Jesuit  in  the  pay  of the  British   government,  communicated  also  with  his  lordship, but  no  particulnrs  are  given  of  the  mission  of  this  reverend  gen- tleman.    Early  in  September,  1797,  two  of  the  Directors  impli- cated in   Pichegru's  conspiracy,   Carnot   and  Barthelemi,   were banished,  and  the  fact  of  British  diplomatic  agents  being  engaged in  that  conspiracy,  while  another  British  diplomatist  was  nego- tiating a  peace  with  the  same  government,  which  Maret's  agents were  conspiring  to  overthrow,  caused  the  negociations  at  Lisle  to be  broken  off,  and  on  the  18th  of  September  Lord  Malmesbury set  out  for  England.     There  is  a  complete  silence  in  his  journals respecting  the    expedition    for   Ireland   then    preparing  in    the Scheldt;  but  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  his  lordship  made  good use  of  his  time,  and  laid  the  train  for  that  unaccountable  catas- trophe which  put  an  end  to  that  expedition.      On  the  9th  of October,  Admiral  Winter,  without  rhyme  or  reason,  in  sight  of  a British  fleet  of  superior  force,  put  to  sea,  and  on  the  11th,  after  a hard-fought  action  with  Admiral  Duncan,  off  Camperdown,  the Dutch  admiral,  with  almost  all  his  fleet,  was  captured. At  the  end  of  the  negociations  in  1797,  Lord  Malmesbury writes  to  Mr.  Pitt,  that  "  the  violent  revolution  which  has taken  place  in  Paris,  has  overset  all  our  hopes,  and  defeated  all our  reasonings.  I  consider  it  as  the  most  unlucky  event  that could  have  happened".  The  naivete  of  this  language  is  very amusing.  The  violent  revolution  complained  of  was  nothing more  than  the  detection  of  a  foul  conspiracy  planned  in  England, and  assisted  abroad  by  British  official  agents.  The  detection  of the  two  traitors  in  the  Directory,  who  were  privy  to  it,  which Lord  Malmesbury  so  pathetically  laments  the  consequences  of, was  occasioned  by  the  discovery  of  the  papers  at  Venice  of  the chief  conspirator — agent  cVetrangeres,  in  reference  to  which  disco- very Lord  Malmesbury  expresses  his  fears  that  "  all  Wickham's attempts  to  produce  a  counter-revolution  would  come  out  in  the latter".  He  observes  likewise,  "  Pichegru,  who  was  chief  of  the royalist  conspiracy,  was  to  receive,  as  the  price  of  a  restoration, the  baton  of  a  marshal,-  the  governorship  of  Alsace,  the  chateau of  Chambord,  £40,000  in  money,  and  £8,000  a  year". The  course  pursued  by  Mr.   Pitt  at  this  time  was  somewhat 278  tone's  mission singular.  He  had  a  minister  negotiating  a  peace  at  Lisle;  lie  had another  at  Stuttgard  conspiring  to  upset  the  government  he  was treating  with ;  and  a  third  agent  elsewhere,  the  disclosure  of whose  attempts  Lord  Malmesbury  seemed  to  apprehend  as an  affair  that  would  be  disgraceful  to  his  government ;  and, strange  to  say,  this  very  conspiracy,  which  Wickham  and  Drake were  labouring  to  make  successful,  proved  "  the  most  unlucky event  (to  British  interests)  that  could  have  happened". The  late  Mr.  Sheil,  in  1826,  in  reference  to  the  three  expeditions undertaken  in  France,  with  a  view  to  the  invasion  of  this  country, puts  that  subject,  if  not  in  a  clearer  light,  in  a  more  vivid  manner, at  least,  before  us,  than  has  been  done  by  any  other  writer.  He  said : "  I  hold    a  book   in  my  hand   which    has    recently  arrived here  from  America,  and  in  which  there  is  a  remarkable  passage, illustrative  of  the  necessity  of  opposition  to  secret  societies,  and to  all  ill-organized   associations  among  the  peasantry,  of  which spoliation  is  the  object,  and  of  which  their  own  destruction  must be  the  result.     The  book  to  which  I  refer,  is  the  life  of  the unfortunate    and  deluded   Theobald  Wolfe  Tone.     Of  his  cha- racter, upon  this  occasion  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  anything, except  that  he  was  loved  and  prized  by  all  who  knew  him.     He was  chivalrous,  aspiring,  and  enthusiastic,  and  possessed  not  only of  great  talents,  but,  what  is  in  politics  of  still  more  importance, of  dauntless  determination.     In  the  diary  which  he  kept  in  Paris, when  engaged  in  a  guilty  enterprise  for  the  invasion  of  Ireland, he  states  that  the  late  General  Clarke,  who  was  afterwards  Duke of  Feltre,  conceived  that  a  system   which,   during  the  French revolution,  was  called  chouannerie,  and  which  corresponds  with the  Captain-Rockism  of  this  country,  would  be  of  use  in  Ireland, and  that,  through  its  means,   the  government  might  be  embar- rassed, and  the  people  might  be  prepared  for  a  general  junction with  an  invading  force.      Tone  objected  utterly  to  this  proposi- tion.    He  said,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  would  lead  to  unavailing atrocities,  in  the  promotion  of  which  no  good  man  could  assist; and  that,  in  the  second  place,  it  would  produce  a  barbarous  and irregular  warfare,  which  it  would  be  extremely  easy  to  suppress, and  which  would  give  the  government  the  opportunity  of  passing coercive  laws,  of  introducing  a  military  police,  and  crushing  the spirit  of  the  people.     That  Wolfe  Tone  was  right,  events  have fully  proved.     The  supporters  of  ascendency  ought  to  look  pale in  turning  over  the  memoirs  of  Tone.     I  wTould  fain  commend them  to  the  nocturnal  vigils  of  the  cabinet ;  and  if  there  be  any man  who,  in  reading  what  I  say,  shall  be  disposed  to  smile,  I would  bid  him  to  recollect  that  a  fleet,  composed  of  seventeen sail  of  the  line,  with  15,000  Frenchmen  on  board,  an  immense IN  FRANCE,  AND  ITS  RESULTS.  279 park  of  artillery,  and  50,000  stand  of  arms,  to  support  an  in- |   surgent  population,  ought  to  awaken  reflections,  of  which  scorn should  not  constitute  a  part.     I  allude  to  the  expedition  from Brest  in  the  year  1796,  which  Tone  projected,  and  which  was commanded  by  Hoche.     It  is  necessary  to  be  in  possession  of  the exact  circumstances  in  which  Tone  was  placed,  in  order  to  judge how  much  was   accomplished  by  a  single  man  in  the  midst  of difficulties,  which  it  is  almost  wonderful  that  he  should  have surmounted.     In  the  year  1795,  Tone  retired  to  America  with his  wife  (an  incomparable  woman)  and  two  children.     He  had £800  in  the  world.     At  first  he  formed  an  intention  of  remain- ing in  the  United  States ;  but  Tone  was  one  of  those  restless spirits  who  feel  that  they  are  born  for  great  undertakings,  if  not for  great  achievements,  and  who,  though  they  may  not  be  able to  wed  themselves  to  Fortune,  woo  her  at  all  hazards.     He  set sail  for  France  with  no  more  than  one  hundred  guineas  in  his pocket.     He  arrived  at  Havre  on  the  1st  of  February,  1796,  and proceeded  at  once  to  Paris.     When  he  was  placed  in  the  midst of  that  city,  and  stood  upon  the  Pont-Neuf,  he  looked  upon  the vast  array  of  palaces  turned  into  the  domiciles  of  democracy ;  he saw  the  metropolis  of  France  in  all  its  vastness,  and  he  felt  what Seneca  has  so  well  expressed — '  urbs  magna,  magna  solitudo' ; still,  although  without  a  friend  or  an  acquaintance,  poor,  desolate as  it  were,  and  shipwrecked  upon  France,  his  great  and  vast design  did  not  leave  him.     He  was  sufficiently  daring  to  present himself  to  the  minister  of  war,  Charles  Lecroix.     What  were  his chief  credentials  ?     Two  votes  of  thanks  from  the  Catholic  Com- mittee.    He  scarcely  knew  a  word  of  the  French  language,  yet he  succeeded  in  communicating  his  views  to  Lecroix.     The  lat- per  referred  him  to  General  Clarke,  the  son  of  an  Irishman,  and who  had  been  in  Ireland  himself.     It  is  not  improper  to  observe in  this  place  the  extraordinary  ignorance  of  General  Clarke  re- specting his  father's  country.     Clarke  asked  Tone  two  of  the most    extraordinary    questions    that  ever  were  proposed:    first, whether  Lord  Clare  would  join  in  an  insurrection?  and  secondly, whether  the  Irish,  who,  he  heard,  were  addicted  to  regal  govern- ment, would  be  disposed  to  put  the  Duke  of  York  on  the  throne  ? The  French  have   become  better  acquainted  with  the  state  of Ireland,  and  therefore  how  much  more  imperatively  necessary  is it  to  conciliate  the  Irish  people.     It  was  with  the  utmost  diffi- culty that  Tone  could  break  through  the  crust  of  prejudices  with which  Clarke's  mind  was  covered.     He  took  at  last  a  wise  deter- mination, and  went  directly  to  Carnot,  the  president  of  the  direc- tory of  France.      Carnot   was  justly   called  the   '  Organizer  of Victory',  and  he  was  induced  to  extend  his  genius  for  organiza- 280  tone's  mission tion  to  Ireland.  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone  succeeded  so  far  as  to induce  the  French  government  to  determine  upon  an  invasion  of this  country.  At  first  the  project  was  lamely  and  imperfectly got  up,  but  to  prevail  to  any  extent  was  to  do  much.  It  is really  matter  for  surprise  that  such  a  man  as  Tone,  without  rank, fortune,  or  a  single  friend,  could  accomplish  so  much.  Yet  it remains  to  be  seen  that  Tone  did  much  more  than  has  hitherto appeared.  The  French  at  first  proposed  to  send  only  2,000 men :  Tone  saw  at  once  that  such  a  measure  would  be  utterly absurd.  By  much  ado,  he  persuaded  them  to  increase  the  army to  8,000,  with  50,000  stand  of  arms.  At  length  Hoche,  a general  of  great  fame,  was  induced  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of the  expedition;  and  as  he  felt  that  great  objects  must  be  attained by  great  means,  he  required  15,000  men,  an  artillery  force,  a large  supply  of  cannon,  and  arms  for  the  insurgent  population: such  was  the  force  that  sailed  from  Brest.  There  were  seven- teen ships  of  the  line  in  attendance  upon  the  army.  It  was Wolfe  Tone  who  accomplished  all  this;  but  that  navigation, fortunately  for  Ireland,  was  not  happy  for  Tone.  A  storm  sepa- rated the  fleet.  The  ships  had  to  pass  through  a  strait  called the  '  Raz',  which  caused  them  to  part.  Hoche  was  driven  back, with  seven  ships  of  the  line;  but  ten  sail  of  the  line,  with  6,000 troops  and  an  abundance  of  arms,  commanded  by  Grouchy, reached  the  Irish  coast.  Tone  says  that  he  was  so  near  the land  that  he  could  have  thrown  a  biscuit  on  shore ;  a  landing might  have  been  most  easily  effected.  But  the  instructions  of the  directory  were  that  they  should  proceed  to  Bantry  Bay: there  they  did  proceed,  and  for  five  days — mark  it !  five  days — ten  French  sail  of  the  line  lay  in  one  of  our  harbours,  having  a body  of  troops  on  board  who,  with  the  aid  of  the  people  (and they  had  muskets  for  them)  might  have  marched  to  Dublin.  It may  be  here  remarked  that  Grouchy  was  the  commander.  Tone says,  '  All  now  rests  upon  Grouchy ;  I  hope  he  may  turn  out well'.  ■  Grouchy  did  not  turn  out  well.  Twice  had  this  man  the destinies  of  nations  in  his  hands,  and  twice  he  abused  his  trust. The  expedition  failed.  Pious  men  attributed  the  failure  to  Pro- vidence, and  navigators  to  the  wind.  I  put  this  plain  question: if  steam  vessels  were  then  in  use,  would  not  the  event  have  been different?  I  answer — had  steam  vessels  been  at  that  time  in use,  the  expedition  would  not  have  failed ;  or,  in  other  words, 15,000  Frenchmen  would  have  landed,  with  arms  sufficient  for the  array  of  an  immense  population.  The  failure  of  the  enter- prise did  not  break  the  spirit  of  Wolfe  Tone.  In  the  year  1797 another  expedition  was  prepared  in  the  Texel,  which  consisted oi  fifteen  sail  of  the  "line,   eleven  frigates,  and  several  sloops. IN  FRANCE,  AND  ITS  RESUI/fS.  281 There  were   14,000  men  on  board.     A  second  time  the  winds, •  the   only    unsubsidized    allies   of  England',    conspired  in    her favour :  the  foul  weather  prevented  them  from  sailing.     A  third expedition  was  undertaken,  and  had  it  been  executed  with  the sagacity  with  which  it  was  planned,  the  result  might  have  been different.     But  Humbert,  who  had  no  reputation  as  ageneral, and  did  not  deserve  any,  precipitated  events,  and  by  his  absur- dity frustrated  the  whole  project.     Yet  the   1,200  men  com- manded by  Humbert  arrived  at   Castlebar,   and  struck   terror through  Ireland.     Lord   Cornwallis   advanced   with  the  whole British   army  to   meet  him.     Tone   fell   into  the   hands   of  _  his enemies,  and  anticipated  the  executioner.     Men  risk  their  lives for  a  shilling  a  day — mount  the  breach  for  a  commission— perish for  a  word ;  it  is  not  to  be  wondered,  then,  that  such  a  man  as Tone  should,  for  the  accomplishment  of  such  great  ends  as  he proposed  to  himself,  '  have  set  his  life  upon  a  cast' ;  and  as  it  is to  be  feared  that,  so  long  as  human  nature  continues  as  it  is,  in- dividuals will  be  always  readily  found  with  a  passion  for  political adventure,  and  who  will  '  stand  the  hazard  of  the  die',  it  would be  wise  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  snatch  the  dice  from the  hands  of  such  men,  and,  if  I  may  so  say,  to  leave  them  no table  for  their  desperate  game.     I  have  not  introduced  the  name of  Wolfe  Tone  for  the  purpose  of  panegyric ;  nay,  I  witt  go  fur- ther,  and  hope  to   content  his   old  friend   and  companion^  the present  attorney-general,  when  I  say  that  I  regard  his  projects with  strong  and  unaffected  condemnation.     In  any  convulsion which  may  take  place  in  Ireland,  it  is  likely  that  the  individuals who  are  most  active  in  Catholic  affairs  would  be  amongst^  the first  victims.     The  humblest  man  amongst   us  is  substantially interested  in  arresting  those  disasters,   of  which  we  have  had already  some  sort  of  experience :  he  who  lives  on  the  ground- floor  ought  not  to  wish  the  roof  to  fall  in.     But,  while  my  ardent wishes  are  offered  up  for  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  my  coun- try, I  own  that  my  apprehensions  are  differently  directed.     If  I refer  to  the  past,  it  is  because  I  consider  it  an  image  of  the  future. In  incidents  gone  by,  it  is  easy  to  discover  the  archetypes  of events  that  may  yet  come.     Let  me,  then,  put  this  question — if a  single  man,  without  fame,  rank,  influence,  or  authority,  un- known and  unrecognized,  was,  by  dint  of  his  unaided  talents  and his  spirit  of  enterprise,  able,  in  the  space  of  two  years,  to  effect three  expeditions  against  Ireland,  what  might  not  be  dreaded^  in other  circumstances  ?     When  Tone  embarked  in  his  enterprise, there  were  but  three  millions  of  Catholics — now  there  are  at  least six;  secondly,   the  French  are   at  present  infinitely  better  ac- quainted with  the  state  of  Ireland ;  thirdly,  the  Irish  clergy  were, 282  MILITARY  ORGANIZATION in  1796,  opposed  to  the  deists  of  the  republic:  Wolfe  Tone  says they  cannot  '  be  relied  on'.  Dr.  Troy  was  persuaded  to  fulmi- nate anathemas  against  the  United  Irishmen,  and  fling  the  inno- cuous lightning  of  excommunication  against  the  abettors  of  the French.  Now,  I  hold  excommunication  to  be  of  exceeding  good and  proper  efficacy  in  all  matters  of  private  and  personal  im- morality; but  in  politics,  excommunication  is  of  no  avail". Such  are  the  dangers  with  which  the  empire  was  menaced  by these  expeditions.  Who  can  reflect  on  the  magnitude  of  such dangers,  without  wondering  at  the  folly  of  governing  a  people for  the  benefit  of  a  faction,  whose  ascendency  could  not  be  main- tained without  involving  the  government  which  could  tolerate  its oppression,  and  affect  to  be  imposed  on  by  the  vain  assumption  of its  exclusive  loyalty,  in  the  hostility  which  its  intolerance  and arrogance  called  forth  ? CHAPTER  XL MILITARY  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN. The  military  organization  was  engrafted  on  the  civil,  and  origi- nated in  Ulster  about  the  latter  end  of  1796,  and  in  Leinster  at the  beginning  of  1797.  On  the  19th  of  February,  1798,  the  pro- vincial committee  of  the  latter  passed  a  resolution,  "  that  they would  not  be  diverted  from  their  purpose  by  anything  which could  be  done  in  parliament",  and  this  resolution  was  communi- cated to  the  directory.  By  the  new  organization,  the  civil  officers received  military  titles:  the  secretary  of  each  society  of  twelve was  called  a  petty  officer,  each  delegate  of  five  societies  a  captain, having  sixty  men  under  his  command,  and  the  delegate  of  ten lower  baronial  societies  was  usually  the  colonel:  each  battalion being  composed  of  six  hundred  men.  The  colonels  of  each  county sent  in  the  names  of  three  persons  to  the  directory,  one  of  whom was  appointed  by  it  adjutant-general  of  the  county,  who  commu- nicated directly  with  the  executive.  The  total  number  of  mem- bers of  the  union  who  had  taken  the  test  amounted  to  500,000; the  total  number  capable  of  bearing  arms,  and  counted  on  by  the directory  as  an  available  force,  was  from  280,000  to  300,000. A  military  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Dublin  executive in  February,  1798;  its  duty  was  to  prepare  a  plan  of  cooperation OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  283 with  the  French  when  they  should  land,  or  of  insurrection,  in case  they  should  be  forced  to  it  before  the  arrival  of  the  French, which  the  directory  was  determined,  if  possible,  to  avoid.  In  the. memoir  delivered  to  the  Irish  government  by  Messrs.  Emmet, O'Connor,  and  M'Neven,  it  is  stated  that  none  of  them  "  were members  of  the  united  system  until  September  or  October  of  the year  1796".  Emmet  became  a  member  of  the  directory  in  the month  of  January,  1797,  and  continued  to  act  in  it  till  the  month of  May,  he  was  again  appointed  to  it  in  the  month  of  December, and  continued  to  belong  to  it  till  the  12th  of  March,  1798,  when the  arrests  took  place.  Dr.  M'Neven  became  a  member  of  the new  organization  in  September  or  October,  1796;  having  pre- viously been  secretary  to  the  executive  directory,  he  became  a member  of  it  about  November,  1797,  and  continued  to  be  one until  March,  1798.  Arthur  O'Connor  became  a  United  Irish- man, and  a  member  of  the  directory,  in  November,  1796,  and continued  to  belong  to  it  until  January,  1798,  when  he  left  Ire- land, and  his  place  in  the  directory  was  then  filled  up.  Oliver Bond  became  a  member  of  the  northern  executive,  and,  in  1797, was  elected  a  member  of  the  directory-general,  but  declined  to act  officially,  continuing,  however,  to  be  in  its  confidence,  and  to be  consulted  with  on  all  affairs  of  moment.  Richard  M'Cormick,  a stuff  manufacturer  of  Mark's  Alley,  formerly  secretary  of  the  Ca- tholic Committee,  was  the  other  member  of  the  directory,  though not  ostensibly  or  by  specific  appointment  belonging  to  it.  At one  period  Lord  Cloncurry  was  a  member  of  the  directory,  but states  that  he  took  no  active  part  in  its  proceedings. Though  a  national  committee  was  a  part  of  the  plan  of  the  ori- ginal organization,  the  election  of  national  delegates  did  not  take place  till  the  beginning  of  December,  1797,  and  then  only  par- tially. There  was  no  detailed  plan  of  organization  formed  by  the  Dub- lin directory  previously  to  March,  1798.  There  was  one  drawn up  in  April  or  May,  1797,  for  the  north,  but  the  plan  wTas  given up,  and  the  writing  destroyed. With  respect  to  the  entire  force  armed  throughout  the  country, as  estimated  by  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  when  a  rising  was eventually  determined  on  in  the  month  of  May,  1798,  the  particu- lars arc  specified  in  a  document  presented  by  Lord  Edward  to that  man  whose  name  and  notoriety  are  never  likely  to*be  forgot- ten, in  his  own  country  at  least — to  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds  the informer.  The  document  referred  to  is  dated  26th  February, 1798. 284 MILITARY  ORGANIZATION Armed  men. Finances  in  hand. Ulster      . 110,990 £436     2     4 Minister  . 100,634 147  17     2 Kildare    . 10,863 110  17     7 Wicklow 12,895 93     6     4 Dublin    . 3,010 37     2     6 Dublin  City     . 2,177 321  17  11 Queen's  County 11,689 91     2     1 King's  County 3,600 21  11     3 Carlow    . 9,414 49     2  10 Kilkenny 624 10     2     3 Meath      . 1,400 171     2     1 Total       .     279,896         £1,485     4     9 By  this  document  it  would  appear  that  the  total  number  of armed  men  throughout  the  country  was  estimated  by  Lord Edward  at  279,896. But  from  another  source,  and  one  whose  authenticity  is  un- questionable, the  writer  has  reason  to  know  that  Lord  Edward imagined  that  when  once  he  had  raised  the  standard  of  revolt, 100,000  effective  men  only  might  be  immediately  expected  to rally  round  it. Lord  Edward's  precise  views  on  the  subject  of  the  rising  of the  people,  have  never  been  given  to  the  public ;  they  are  now laid  before  it,  in  the  following  memorandum  of  a  conversation with  one  who  possessed  his  entire  confidence,  who  communicated with  him  on  the  subject  of  the  contemplated  rising  immediately before  its  intended  outbreak,  and  who  fruitlessly  endeavoured  to dissuade  him  from  it.  On  the  accuracy  of  the  information  given respecting  this  matter,  the  most  implicit  confidence  may  be  re- posed. The  person  in  question,  W.  M.,  met  Lord  E.  Fitzgerald  by appointment  at  the  Shakespeare  Gallery,  Exchequer  Street,  about one  month  before  the  arrests  in  March,  to  confer  with  the  dele- gates from  the  different  counties  respecting  the  projected  rising. After  Lord  Edward  had  received  the  different  reports  of  the number  of  men  ready  for  the  field  in  the  different  counties,  he called  on  the  gentleman  above  referred  to  for  his  opinion.  Lord Edward  said,  "  he  deeply  regretted  his  friend  should  have  with- drawn himself  so  long  from  any  active  interference  in  the  busi- ness of  the  Union,  and  that  one  in  whose  judgment  he  so  much confided  should  stand  aloof  at  such  a  moment:  if  he  unfor- tunately persisted  in  so  doing,  the  friends  of  the  Union  might  be led  to  imagine  he  had  deserted  them  in  the  hour  of  need;  that he,  Lord  Fitzgerald,  had  determined  on  an  immediate  and  gene- OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  285 ral  rising  of  the  people,  their  impatience  for  which  was  no  longer to  be  restrained,  nor,  with  advantage  to  the  cause,  to  be  resisted". He  then  appealed  to  the  delegates  for  the  truth  of  this  assertion, and  his  opinion  was  confirmed  by  them.     His  friend,  it  is  well  to state,  had  withdrawn  himself  from  the  Union  about  the  beginning of  the  year,  when  the  system  was  changed  from  a  civil  to  a  mili- tary organization.    He  could  only  regard  this  change  as  one  likely to  direct  the  attention  of  their  opponents  to  their  proceedings.    In fact,  the  people  had  not  been  sworn  in  exclusively  at  this  time,  ex- cept in  the  North,  and  no  great  danger  was  apprehended  by  the government  from  them.     But  when  the  system  was  changed,  and secretaries,  and  chairmen,  and  delegates,  were  called  captains,  and colonels,  and  adjutant-generals,  a  military  aspect  was  given  to  the business  of  the  Union,  the  government  became  necessarily  alarmed, and  recourse  was  had  to  spies  and  informers.     The  danger  of  this course  was  obvious  to  W.  M.,  and  to  all  those  who  felt  that  any  pre- mature display  of  military  preparation  must  prove  fatal  to  their cause.     In  any  similar  combination,  W.  M.,  and  T.  A.  Emmet thought  the  people  should  be  left  alone,  and  that  the  system  only needed  to  be  previously  well  organized  among  the  leaders,  and,  in due  time,  the  people  would  rise  if  they  felt  themselves  oppressed. W.  M.  particularly  deprecated  the  want  of  caution  in  the  leaders, in  confiding  in  strangers,  and  speaking  and  writing  rashly  and  in- tern perately  on  the  subject  of  the  Union.    On  the  Sunday  previous to  the  arrests,  W.  M.  had  declined  an  introduction  to  Reynolds,  at Jackson's  in  Church  Street,  notwithstanding  M'Cann's  recommen- dation of  him  as  "one  of  the  best  and  honestest  men  in  the  Union". He  had  avoided  Reynolds,  because  he  did  not  like  his  character. He  informed  Lord  Edward,  though  he  had.  taken  no  part  for  some time  in  the  affairs  of  the  Union,  he  did  not  cease  to  give  his  opinion when  consulted,  and  especially  by  Lord.  Edward,  though  he  was well  aware,  when  once  his  lordship  had  made  up  his  mind  on  a point,   he  was  little   influenced    by  the    counsel   of   any   man. When  Lord  Edward  had  spoken  of  his  deserting  the  cause,  the latter  felt  hurt  at  his  observation,  and  replied  in  strong  terms  that he  had  not  deserted  the  cause  of  the  people,  nor  betrayed  their cause ;  but  those  people  had  done  so,  who  had  precipitated  mea- sures prematurely  taken,  which  did  not  afford  the  least  promise of  success.     "  My  lord",  said  he,  "  I  am  not  a  person  to  desert  a cause  in  which  I  have  embarked.    I  knew  the  dangers  of  it  when I  joined  it:  were  those   dangers  only  for  myself,  or  the  friends about  me,   I  am  not  the  man  to  be  deterred  by  the  consideration of  what  may  happen  to  myself  or  them — we  might  fall,  but  the cause  might  not  fail;  and,  so  long  as  the  country  was  served,  it would   matter  little ;    but  when  I  know  the  step  that  you  are 286  MILITARY  ORGANIZATION taking  will  involve  that  cause  in  the  greatest  difficulties,  my fears  are  great — I  tremble  for  the  result.  My  lord,  all  the  ser- vices that  you  or  your  noble  house  have  ever  rendered  to  the country,  or  ever  can  render  to  it,  will  never  make  amends  to  the people  for  the  misery  and  wretchedness  the  failure  of  your present  plans  will  cause  them".  "  I  tell  you",  replied  Lord Edward  impetuously,  "  the  chances  of  success  are  greatly  in favour  of  our  attempt:  examine  these  papers — here  are  returns which  show  that  one  hundred  thousand  armed  men  may  be counted  on  to  take  the  field".  "  My  lord",  replied  Mr.  M., "  it  is  one  thing  to  have  a  hundred  thousand  men  on  paper,  and another  in  the  field.  A  hundred  thousand  men  on  paper  will not  furnish  fifty  thousand  in  array.  I,  for  one,  am  enrolled amongst  the  number;  but  I  candidly  tell  you,  you  will  not  find me  in  your  ranks.  You  know  for  what  objects  we  joined  this union,  and  what  means  we  reckoned  on  for  carrying  them  into effect.  Fifteen  thousand  Frenchmen  were  considered  essential to  our  undertaking.  If  they  were  so  at  that  time,  still  more  so are  they  now,  when  our  warlike  aspect  has  caused  the  government to  pour  troops  into  the  country".  What !"  said  Lord  Edward, "  would  you  attempt  nothing  without  these  fifteen  thousand  men — would  you  not  be  satisfied  with  ten  thousand?"  "  I  would,  my lord",  replied  his  friend,  "  if  the  aid  of  the  fifteen  could  not  be procured". "  But",  continued  Lord  Edward,  "  if  even  the  ten  could  not be  got,  what  would  you  do  then  ?" "  I  would  then  accept  of  five,  my  lord",  was  the  reply. "  But",  said  Lord  Edward,  fixing  his  eyes  with  great  earnest- ness on  him,  "  we  cannot  get  five  thousand,  and  with  respect  to the  larger  force  we  originally  wished  for,  had  we  succeeded  with so  large  a  body  of  French  troops,  we  might  have  found  it  difficult enough  to  get  rid  of  our  allies".  To  this  it  was  replied,  "  Mv lord,  if  we  found  it  possible  to  get  rid  of  our  enemies,  ten  times as  numerous  as  our  allies,  we  could  have  little  difficulty  in  getting rid  of  the  latter  when  necessity  required  it". "  But,  I  tell  you  we  cannot",  said  Lord  Edward,  "  get  even the  five  thousand  you  speak  of,  and  when  you  know  that  we cannot,  will  you  desert  our  cause?"  The  eyes  of  the  delegates were  turned  on  the  person  thus  addressed.  He  felt  that  Lord Edward  had  put  the  matter  in  such  a  light  before  those  present, that  he  would  have  been  branded  as  a  traitor  if  he  abandoned  the cause  while  there  was  a  ray  of  hope  for  its  success. "  My  lord",  said  he,  "  if  five  thousand  men  could  not  be  ob- tained, I  would  seek  the  assistance  of  a  sufficient  number  of French  officers  to  head  our  people,  and  with  three  hundred  of OF  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  287 these,  perhaps  we  might  be  justified  in  making  an  effort  for  inde- pendence, but  not  without  them.  What  military  men  have  we of  our  own  to  lead  our  unfortunate  people  into  action  against  a disciplined  army?" Lord  Edward  ridiculed  the  idea  of  there  being  anything  like discipline  at  that  time  in  the  English  army.  "  Besides,  the  num- bers", he  said,  "  of  the  United  Irishmen  would  more  than  coun- terbalance any  superiority  in  the  discipline  of  their  enemies". "  My  lord",  said  his  friend,  "  we  must  not  be  deceived;  they are  disciplined,  and  our  people  are  not:  if  the  latter  are  repulsed and  broken,  who  is  to  reform  their  lines?  Once  thrown  into disorder,  the  greater  their  numbers  the  greater  will  be  the  havoc made  amongst  them". Lord  Edward  said,  "  without  risking  a  general  engagement, he  would  be  able  to  get  possession  of  Dublin". "  Suppose  you  did,  my  lord",  was  the  reply,  "  the  possession  of the  capital  would  not  insure  success ;  and  even  when  you  had taken  the  city,  if  the  citizens  asked  to  see  the  army  of  their  brave deliverers,  which  might  be  encamped  in  the  Phoenix  Park,  the citizens  would  naturally  expect  to  see  some  military  evolutions performed,  some  sort  of  military  array,  exhibited  on  such  an  oc- casion. Who  would  there  be,  my  lord,  to  put  the  people  through these  evolutions?  What  officers  have  you  to  teach  them  one  mi- litary manoeuvre ;  and  if  they  were  suddenly  attacked  by  an  army in  the  rere,  what  leader  accustomed  to  the  field  have  you  to  bring them  with  any  advantage  to  the  attack?  You,  my  lord,  are  the only  military  man  amongst  us,  but  you  cannot  be  everywhere  you are  required ;  and  the  misfortune  is,  you  delegate  your  authority to  those  whom  you  think  are  like  yourself:  but  they  are  not  like you :  we  have  no  such  persons  amongst  us". The  delegates  here  assented  to  the  justice  of  these  remarks,  de- claring that  the  proposal  for  the  aid  of  the  French  officers  was  a reasonable  one,  and  they  were  proceeding  to  remonstrate,  when Lord  Edward  impatiently  reminded  them  that  they  had  no  assist- ance to  expect  from  France,  and  that,  consequently,  the  determi- nation had  been  come  to  to  prepare  the  country  for  an  immediate rising. Lord  Edward  and  his  friend,  nevertheless,  parted  with  the same  feelings  of  cordiality  and  confidence  in  each  other  that  had always  subsisted  between  them. That  remarkable  person,  one  of  the  profoundest  thinkers  of  his time,  who  knew  the  young  lord  better  than  any  of  his  associates, the  late  W.  M.,  says:  "Lord  Edward  teas  the  noblest-minded  of human  beings.  He  had  no  deceit,  no  selfishness,  no  meanness,  no duplicity  in  his  nature ;  he  was  all  frankness,  openness,  and  gene- 283  MILITARY  ORGANIZATION rosity ;  but  he  was  not  the  man  to  conduct  a  revolution  to  a  suc- cessful issue.  That  man  was  Thomas  Addis  Emmet".  Perhaps if  he  had  said  the  men  to  effect  that  object  were  Arthur  O'Connor and  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  provided  they  could  have  acted through  such  a  struggle,  and  to  its  end,  in  concert  and  with singleness  of  purpose,  his  opinion  might  be  better  founded. For  nearly  four  years  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen  went  on conspiring,  secretly,  as  they  thought,  directing  all  their  machinery to  bear  on  one  point,  organization.  This  mania  for  organizing seems  to  have  taken  possession  of  the  minds  of  the  leaders^  of all  intellectual  grades,  with  few  exceptions.  This  organization was  a  work  of  supererogation ;  there  was  no  need  of  it ;  it  was  very essential  and  useful  to  "the  spies  and  informers,  the  agents  of  the system  of  terror ;  the  scourgers  and  the  hangmen  got  many  a  good stroke  of  work  by  it.  This  system  of  organizing  was  not  calculated to  escape  notice  or  to  baffle  detection.  It  tended  directly  to  excite suspicion ;  and  while  its  machinery  of  pass-words  and  secret  signs induced  a  false  security  and  confidence  in  ability  to  keep  treason- able plans  concealed,  it  ultimately  and  almost  invariably  led  to  dis- covery. There  was  too  much  military  theorizing  in  this  organizing system,  and  political  economy  mingled  with  bluster  and  bragga- docio ;  and  there  was  too  little  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  of human  nature,  and  of  common  sense,  in  the  meanstaken  of  giving a  military  character  all  at  once  to  a  people  unhabituated  to  arms, but  always  ready  to  handle  any  weapon  in  their  way  in  a  cause which  they  had  at  heart.  There  was  too  much  marching  and  coun- termarching to  and  fro,  from  baronial  to  baronial — too  much  mar- shalling of  men  on  paper,  vapouring  in  newspapers,  barking  where the  parties  could  not  bite,  to  lead  to  any  otherresult  than  that  of nurturing  agents  for  the  destruction  of  confiding  parties  in  the bosom  of  their  societies.  Even  the  man  of  most  mind  in  that  conspi- racy, Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  was  lamentably  mistaken  in  his  view of  the  matchless  fidelity  of  the  members  of  the  Union.  One  man of  infamous  celebrity,  at  a  later  date,  in  the  society  of  the  United Irishmen,  of  most  importance  as  an  informer,  was  only  then  sus- pected by  Emmet;  but  in  the  lapse  of  years  the  facts  which  have transpired  in  relation  to  the  question  of  the  continuance  or  discon- tinuance of  pensions,  and  the  nature  of  the  services  for  which they  had  been  granted,  have  brought  the  names  of  individuals connected  with  the  society,  whose  fidelity  to  it  was_  considered  by its  leaders  as  beyond  all  suspicion,  into  juxtaposition  with  those of  Messrs.  Reynolds  and  Armstrong;  and  in  this  catalogue  of treachery,  the  names  of  persons  are  to  be  found  who  were  at  the same  time  the  prominent  partizans — nay,  the  professional  advo- cates—of the  party  committed  in  this  unfortunate  struggle,  and DISCLOSURE  OF  SECRETS  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  289 the  secret  agents  and  paid  servants  of  the  government,  employed as  spies  on  their  own  accomplices  and  companions.  The  treason of  these  men  to  their  comrades,  no  doubt,  was  serviceable  to  go- vernment— nay  more,  beneficial  to  the  country  itself;  but  the traitors  were  despicable,  even  then,  in  the  sight  of  their  em- ployers, and  cannot  be  otherwise  now  in  the  eyes  of  their  suc- cessors. Every  important  proceeding  of  the  United  Irishmen was  known  to  government.  Lord  Clare  acknowledged,  in  a  debate in  the  English  House  of  Lords,  in  1801,  that  "  the  United  Irish- men who  negociated  with  the  Irish  government  in  1798,  had disclosed  nothing  which  the  king's  ministers  were  not  acquainted with  before".  Then  why  did  they  suffer  the  conspiracy  to  go  on  ? To  promote  rebellion,  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  down  the strength  of  the  country,  in  order  to  effect  the  unpopular  measure of  the  Union.  Carnot,  the  director,  in  August,  1797,  told  Dr- M'Neven,  that  the  policy  of  Mr.  Pitt  was  known  to  the  Directory ; "  that  a  union  was  Mr.  Pitt's  object  in  his  vexatious  treatment  of Ireland".* In  Emmet's  examination  before  the  secret  committee  of  the House  of  Lords,  he  was  asked  by  Lord  Clare :  "  Did  you  not think  the  government  very  foolish  to  let  you  proceed  so  long  as you  did?"  To  which  Emmet  replied:  "No,  my  lord;  whatever I  imputed  to  government,  I  did  not  accuse  them  of  folly ;  I  knew we  were  very  attentively  watched". f But  Emmet  did  not  know  that,  however  cautious  they  had been,  the  most  secret  proceedings  of  the  directors  had  been  dis- closed to  government,  even  prior  to  the  application  to  France  for assistance ;  and  the  knowledge  of  their  negociation  with  foreign states,  we  are  told  by  M'Neven,  was  in  the  full  possession  of  go- vernment, and  that  "  knowledge  was  obtained  by  some  person  in the  pay  of  England  and  the  confidence  of  France". The  memoir  which  the  Irish  directory  had  addressed  to  the French  government,  demanding  military  assistance,  in  1797,  with which  Dr.  M'Neven  was  charged,  the  same  gentleman  was  asto- nished to  find  an  authentic  copy  of,  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Cooke, the  Irish  secretary  in  1798. The  betrayers  of  their  society  were  not  the  poor  or  inferior members  of  it ;  some  of  them  were  high  in  the  confidence  of  the directory;  others  not  sworn  in,  but  trusted  with  its  concerns, learned  in  the  law,  social  in  their  habits,  liberal  in  their  politics, prodigal  in  their  expenses,  needy  in  their  circumstances,  and therefore  covetous  of  money;  loose  in  their  public  and  private principles,  therefore  open  to  temptation. *  Vide  "  Memoir  of  the  Examination  of  the  State  Prisoners",  etc.        t  Ibid. vol  i.  20 290  DISCLOSURE    OF    SECRETS The  want  of  good  faith,  however,  was  not  alone  on  the  side  of  ! the  disaffected ;  in  the  closets  of  the  most  influential  friends  and  , agents  of  government,  there  existed  channels  of  communication with  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen,  by  means  of  which  the most  important  measures  of  the  administration  were  made  known to  the  directory,  and  to  others  in  the  confidence  of  its  members,  \ which  frequently  baffled  the  designs  of  government,  and  discon- certed the  plans  of  the  law  officers  of  the  crown,  in  the  course  of  j the  proceedings  instituted  against  the  members  of  this  society. Arthur  O'Connor,  on  his  examination  before  the  secret  com- mittee of  the  House  of  Lords,  stated  that  "minute  information  of  : every  act  of  the  Irish  government  was  obtained  by  the  executive  , directory".* A  person  in  the  employment  of  government,  necessarily  entrusted  j with  all  important  matters,  was  habitually  visited  by  two  members  j of  the  society,  and  when  measures  of  moment  to  it  were  under  con-  j sideration,  the  knowledge  of  them  was  obtained  from  this  source,  j On  one  occasion,  when  this  official  was  waited  on  by  these  j members  of  the  society  (persons  of  unquestionable  veracity,  from  j one  of  whom,  Mr.  W.  M ,  I  have  this  statement),  they  were  I warned  to  be  silent  on  certain  subjects,  that  a  dangerous  man  was in  the  adjoining  room,  and  that  person  was  Mr.  Walter  Cox.  With which  party  he  was  then  most  heartily  disposed  to  play  fast  and loose,  it  would  be  difficult  to  say,  but  Cox,  at  that  period,  was the  editor  of  an  infamous  journal  called  The  Union  Star,  which advocated  the  assassination  of  the  persons  supposed  to  be  obnox-  i ious  to  the  United  Irishmen;  and  that  journal,  which  professed to  be  established  for  the  especial  advocacy  of  their  cause,  had  been repeatedly  repudiated  by  the  society,  and  its  principles  denounced in  The  Press,  the  organ  of  the  United  Irishmen :  yet  Cox  never  i ceased  to  possess  the  confidence  of  Arthur  O'Connor  and  many others  of  the  leaders. The  fact  seems  to  have  escaped  the  notice  both  of  the  govern- ment and  of  the  United  Irishmen,  that,  on  whatever  side  there  is  a deviation  from  humane,  moderate,  and  justifiable  proceedings,  there is  no  confidence  to  be  reposed  in  the  fidelity  of  the  agency  em- ployed  in  promoting  violent  or  unlawful  measures.  The  adminis- tration  of  that  day  had  not  the  slightest  suspicion  that  many  of the  most  important  measures  which  it  meditated,  and  some  of  its most  secret  designs,  were  known  to  the  directory  of  the  United Irishmen ;  but  that  such  was  the  fact  there  is  unquestionable  evi- dence— the  evidence  of  members  of  that  directory — of  two  of  them especially,  on  whose  veracity  even  Lord  Clare  had  a  perfect  reliance *  Vide  "  Memoirs  of  the  Examination",  etc. OF    PRIVY   COUNCIL.  291 There  were  channels  of  communication,  the  existence  of  which would  now  hardly  be  believed,  between  the  agents  of  government and  the  emissaries  of  the  United  Irishmen.  On  Dr.  M'Neven's authority  I  am  enabled  to  state,  that  amongst  those  who  were privately  known  to  be  favourable  to  their  views,  was  a  member of  the  privy  council  and  a  general  officer  then  serving  in  the army.  The  time  has  not  yet  come  when  more  may  be  said  on the  subject;  the  general  statement  of  the  fact,  however,  ought to  be  made ;  and  the  lesson  may  be  useful,  whether  it  works  upon the  fears  of  tyranny  or  treason. In  the  course  of  the  inquiries  connected  with  this  work,  it  has come  to  the  author's  knowledge,  that  the  expenses  of  the  defence of  the  United  Irishmen  have  been  borne  by  officers  of  distinction at  that  period.  In  one  case,  I  was  informed  by  Bernard  Duggan, a  person  deeply  implicated  in  the  rebellion,  some  of  whose  ex- ploits are  mentioned  in  Sir  Richard  Musgrave's  history,  that  his life  would  have  been  forfeited,  had  it  not  been  for  the  ample  and timely  pecuniary  assistance  sent  him  by  an  officer  serving  in  that part  of  the  country  where  he  was  then  imprisoned,  to  whom  he was  utterly  unknown.  That  assistance,  which  enabled  him  to procure  legal  assistance  on  his  trial,  was  sent  to  him  by  a  Colonel Lumm. While  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  was  concealed  in  the  house  of Murphy,  we  are  informed  by  Mr.  Moore,  that  he  was  in  the  habit of  "  receiving  the  visits  of  two  or  three  persons,  among  whom were,  if  he  was  rightly  informed,  Major  Plunkett  and  another military  gentleman  of  the  rank  of  colonel,  named  Lumm".* Teeling,  in  his  Personal  Narrative  of  the  Irish  Rebellion, speaking  of  the  persons  who,  in  the  relative  situations  in  which they  stood  with  the  government,  must  have  made  great  sacrifices and  incurred  considerable  risk  in  communicating  with  the  leaders of  the  United  Irishmen,  says,  "  I  was  one  evening  in  conversa- tion with  Lord  Edward,  when  Colonel  L entered  his  apart- ment, accompanied  by  two  gentlemen  with  whose  persons  I  was unacquainted,  but  who,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  were  members of  the  Irish  legislature.  The  colonel,  after  embracing  Lord  Ed- ward with  the  warmest  affection,  laid  on  his  table  a  large  canvas purse  filled  with  gold,  and  smiling  at  his  lordship,  while  he  tapped I  him  on  the  shoulder,  'There',  said  he;  'there,  my  lord,  is  pro- \  vision  for '.      A  few  hours  more  would  have  placed  Lord I  Edward  at  the  head  of  the  troops  of  Kildare".t  In  the  month  of May,  1798,  Colonel  Lumm  was  arrested  in  England,  and  brought to  Dublin  in  custody  of  a  king's  messenger. *  Vide   "Lord  E.  Fitzgerald's  Life  and  Death",  by  Moore,  vol.   ii.,  p.  50. American  edition, t  Vide  "Teeling's  Personal  Narrative",  etc.,  p  117. 292  THE    USE    OF    TORTURE CHAPTER  XII. • TIIE  USE  OF  TORTURE  TO  EXTORT  CONFESSIONS  OF  GUILT  OF  TREASON,  OR  IN- FORMATION AGAINST  SUSPECTED  PERSONS,  FOR  THE  PREMATURE  EXPLOSION AND  SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  REBELLION. Of  all  the  barbarities  that  disgraced  this  calamitous  conflict, whether  on  the  part  of  ultra-loyalists,  a  licentious  soldiery,  or  of infuriated  rebels,  the  recurrence  to  the  use  of  torture  for  the  pur- pose of  inspiring  terror,  of  detecting  crime,  or  of  revenging  wrongs, was  the  most  atrocious.  If  this  inhuman  custom,  now,  happily, universally  execrated  and  exploded  in  all  civilized  countries,  had been  only  partially  practised,  and  not  systematically  pursued ;  if the  scene  of  its  infliction  had  been  in  distant  districts,  in  wild  and lawless  places,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  civil  and  judicial  powers, and  not  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  seat  of  government itself;  if  the  actors  were  persons  of  no  distinction,  of  no  rank  in society,  instead  of  functionaries  exercising  authority — whose  pro- ceedings, though  denied,  were  never  repudiated  by  it — the  pro- ceedings might  be  considered  as  the  excesses  which  are  usually the  unfortunate  concomitants  of  civil  warfare.  It  would  now  be, not  only  a  painful  task,  but  a  culpable  act,  to  rake  up  the  recol- lection of  such  enormities,  if  the  denunciation  of  them  were  not calculated  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  their  repetition. The  extraordinary  fact,  that  the  employment  of  torture  in  the suppression  of  the  Irish  Rebellion  in  1798,  called  forth  no  general expression  of  public  indignation  in  England,  can  only  be  ac- counted for  by  the  political  circumstances  of  the  time,  which made  it  necessary  to  keep  the  people  of  that  country  in  ignorance of  the  means  which  had  been  adopted  to  effect  a  measure  which they  were  taught  to  consider  so  advantageous  to  their  interests  as the  Union. It  is  better  that  the  wicked  policy  of  a  reckless  minister  should be  exposed,  than  that  the  humanity  of  a  generous  and  enlightened people  should  be  left  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of  inconsistency  in the  mode  and  manner  of  its  exhibition.  If  the  same  pains  had been  taken  to  palliate  or  conceal  the  cruelties  of  exalted  indivi- duals in  our  distant  colonies,  like  those  perpetrated  in  Goree  or Trinidad,  which  have  been  employed  to  hoodwink  public  opinion in  England  with  regard  to  the  cruelties  inflicted  on  the  people  of Ireland,  the  loud  voice  of  public  reprobation  would  never  have been  raised  in  condemnation  of  the  scourging  to  death  of  the  un- fortunate soldier,  or  the  tortures  inflicted  on  the  poor  Mulatto  girl. To  ignorance  alone  of  the  use  of  torture  in  1 798,  can  be  attri- in  1797  and  1798.  293 buted  the  impunity — so  far  as  the  silence  on  this  subject,  of  pub- lic opinion  in  England  may  be  so  considered — with  which  these horrid  outrages  against  humanity  have  been  perpetrated  in  Ire- land. For,  otherwise,  what  idea  could  be  formed  of  the  spirit  of philanthropy  which  carries  its  sympathies  to  the  remotest  regions of  the  globe — which  extends  its  protection  to  the  victims  of cruelty  and  rapacity,  of  every  creed  and  clime,  no  matter  of  what complexion  accounted  by  their  oppressors  "incompatible  with freedom" — no  matter  of  what  modes  and  customs  derogatory  to our  ideas  of  refinement  and  civilization,  and  degrading  to  man's nature, — if  it  could  yet  withhold  its  sympathy  from  those  who are  nearest  to  its  influence,  and,  therefore,  especially  entitled  to it?  The  same  mighty  spirit  that  called  forth  the  indignation  of the  people  of  England  against  the  oppressors  in  the  West  Indies, that  caused  the  echoes  of  the  cries  of  Negro  slaves  to  resound  in the  ears  of  the  English  people  while  one  human  being  was  left subject  to  the  lash,  would  surely  have  roused  the  lion- heart  of England  to  an  ebullition  of  noble  resentment,  at  the  first  intimation of  the  outrages  on  humanity  that  were  committed  on  the  Irish people  in  the  Riding  School  of  Beresford,  the  Prevost  of  Sandys, the  Exchange,  Custom-House,  and  other  public  buildings  of  the capital,  and  at  the  drum-head  courts-martial  in  Wicklow,  Wex- ford, and  Kildare,  if  there  were  not  mighty  influences  at  work, that  rendered  communication  between  the  victims  of  cruelty  and the  advocates  of  mercy,  more  difficult  across  the  Irish  Channel than  it  ever  proved  across  the  wide  waters  of  the  Atlantic.  What is  there  in  the  fearful  pictures  that  have  been  drawn  of  the  imple- ments of  torture  formerly  in  use  in  the  West  Indies — the  cart- whip,  and  the  collars,  and  the  thumb-screws,  of  the  slave-holders — more  horrifying  than  the  representation  which  every  history  of this  rebellion  of  1798  gives  of  the  scourges  and  the  triangles,  the pitch -caps  and  gunpowder  conflagrations,  the  picketings  and half-hangings,  and  other  modes  and  instruments  of  torture,  indi- cative of  an  inventive  spirit  of  barbarity  that  the  ingenuity  of Spanish  cruelty  itself  has  not  surpassed  ? These  cruelties,  indeed,  were  practised  on  people  in  rebellion —  not  unfrequently  on  persons  only  suspected  of  so  being — or whose  creed  was  regarded  in  too  many  cases  as  prima  facie  evi- dence of  disaffection ;  but  the  use  of  torture  was  abhorrent  to  the spirit  of  the  laws  under  which  they  lived ;  and  even  if  the  enor- mity of  the  crime  with  which  they  were  charged  gave  a  co- lourable pretext  for  the  employment  of  rigorous  means  and  sum- mary modes  of  execution,  in  cases  where  capital  punishments were  thought  to  be  required,  cruelty  in  the  infliction  of  them cannot  be  defended,  and  should  not  escape  the  reprobation  of  all Christian  men. 29-4  THE    USE    OF    TORTURE The  infliction  of  torture  on  the  most  abject  or  unruly  colonial slaves,  never  found  an  advocacy  in  English  philanthropy,  how- ever outrageous  the  conduct  of  Negro  rebels  might  have  been  in any  of  those  periodical  rebellions  which  constituted  epochs  in the  history  of  slavery,  or  marked  their  suppression  with  circum- stances of  signal  cruelty.  No  provocation  on  the  part  of  the rebellious  slave  was  ever  regarded  as  an  apology  for  barbarous punishment  inflicted  on  him;  "  the  guilty  evidence  of  a  skin  not coloured  like  our  own",  was  never  admitted  as  an  excuse  for  the application  of  the  torture  of  the  cart- whip,  to  elicit  a  confession  of his  guilt,  however  guilty  he  might  be.  The  criminality  of  the suspected  rebel  nearer  home,  though  his  conduct  were  equally infuriated,  can  hardly  be  judged  by  a  less  merciful  rule  of  ethics; the  guilty  evidence  of  a  creed,  for  which  he  might  not  be  more accountable  than  the  Negro  for  his  complexion,  could  hardly justify  the  laceration  of  his  person  for  the  discovery  of  the  crime imputed  to  him. To  denounce  the  application  of  torture  in  the  case  of  one  part of  the  human  race,  in  one  quarter  of  the  globe,  at  one  particular period,  and  under  any  peculiar  circumstances  of  society,  and  not to  recognize  the  savagery  of  the  practice  at  all  times,  in  all  places, and  cry  out  against  its  infliction  on  all  pleas  and  pretences,  would be  a  spurious  philanthropy,  which  would  justly  deserve  to  be universally  scouted  and  contemned. The  recent  atrocities  committed  in  Damascus  on  the  unfortu- nate Jews  of  that  city,  no  sooner  were  made  known  in  England, than  the  outrages  perpetrated  on  these  victims  of  fanaticism  and rapacity,  called  forth  the  general  indignation  of  the  press  and people  of  this  country,  and  the  sufferings  of  these  poor  strangers promptly  awakened  the  sympathies  of  Englishmen  of  all  parties. The  victims  of  oriental  barbarity  were  indeed  few  in  comparison with  those  of  terrorism  and  cruelty  in  Ireland ;  the  whole  number of  persons  subjected  to  the  torture  of  the  "  courbash"  in  Damascus, did  not  constitute  one-thousandth  part  of  the  numbers  tied  up  to the  triangles  and  tortured  with  the  scourge,  or  tormented  with the  pitch-caps,  in  the  Irish  prisons  and  prevosts  in  the  year  1798. Can  it  be  imagined  that  humanity  admits  of  one  measure  of compassion  for  the  sufferings  of  the  Jews  of  Damascus,  and  an- other for  those  of  the  Christians  of  Ireland?  It  cannot  be  ad- mitted without  injustice  to  the  character  of  British  philanthropy, nor  can  the  difference  in  the  manifestation  of  public  opinion  in both  cases  be  reconciled,  without  referring  to  the  fact  of  the publicity  that  was  given  to  the  one,  by  the  powerful  influence  of the  wealth  and  station  of  the  leaders  of  the  Jewish  people  in Great  Britain,  and  the  studious  concealment,  in  the  other,  of  the in  1797  and  1798.  295 enormities  committed  on  the  part  of  an  administration  which had  broken  down  the  power  and  the  credit  of  its  opponents. The  fact  of  the  employment  of  torture,  as  an  ordinary  mode of  proceeding  in  the  examination  of  suspected  rebels  in  1798, has  never  been  denied,  except  by  Lord  Castlereagh  in  a  qualified form.     It  has  been  openly  avowed  and  defended  by  members  of the  Irish  government,  by  the  perpetrators  of  it,  and  by  their  ad- vocates in  parliament.     In  the  debate  in  the  English  House  of Commons,  in  March,  1801,  on  the  Irish  Martial  Law  Bill,  in reply  to  an  observation  with  respect  to  the  use  of  torture,  made by  Mr.  Taylor,  Lord  Castlereagh  had  certainly  the  boldness  to affirm,  that  "torture  never  was  inflicted  in  Ireland,  with  the knowledge,    authority,    or   approbation    of   government".      Mr. John  Claudius  Beresford,  who  was  the  most  competent  of  all men  to  speak  on  that  subject,  observed,  that  "  it  was  unmanly  to deny  torture,  as  it  was  notoriously  practised " ;  and  in  a  subse- quent debate  in  the  House   of  Lords,  on  another  occasion,  in the  imperial  parliament,   Lord  Clare  avowed  the  practice,  and defended  it  on  the  grounds  of  its  necessity.     But  the  intemperate zeal  of  Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  the  unscrupulous  advocate  of  Lord Castlereagh's  policy   (for  it  was  chiefly  during  his  connection with   government   that   these    tortures   were   inflicted),    carried him  to  the  extent  of  not  only  attributing  the  suppression  of the  rebellion  to  the  use  of  torture,  but  even  of  defending  it  on the  authority  of  no  less  a  person  than  the  humane  and  enlightened Marquis  of  Beccaria,  whose  words  in  reference  to  punishments,  he cites  in  defence  of  this  practice,  and,  true  to  his  ruling  passion,  per- verts the  meaning  of  his  authority  to  suit  his  purpose.    The  follow- ing are  the  words  he  quotes :  "  Among  a  people  hardly  yet  emerged from  barbarity,  punishments  should  be  more  severe,  as  strong  im- pressions are  required".     Little  did  the  benevolent  Beccaria  ima- gine that  a  line  of  his  admirable  book  should  ever  be  cited  by such  a  man  as  Musgrave  in  support  of  his  sanguinary  sentiments  ! It  did  not  suit  the  purpose  of  this  writer  to  cite  Beccaria's express  condemnation  of  the  use  of  torture,  as  an  absurd  as  well as  a  barbarous  mode  of  eliciting  truth  or  of  detecting  crime. "  To  discover  the  truth",  says  Beccaria,  "  by  this  method,  is  a problem  which  may  be  better  solved  by  a  mathematician  than  by a  judge ;  and  it  may  be  thus  stated :  The  force  of  the  muscles  and the  sensibility  of  the  nerves  of  an  innocent  person  being  given,  it is  required  to  find  the  degree  of  pain  necessary  to  make  him confess  himself  guilty  of  a  crime". But  Beccaria's  condemnation  of  torture  was  not  wanted  in  these countries,  to  prohibit  its  infliction,  in  any  circumstances  and under  any  form,     Blackstone  might  have  informed  Lord  Clare, 2M THE    USK    OF    TORTURE when  he  acknowledged  its  employment,  or  Musgrave,  when  he defended  its  infliction,  that  "  the  trial  by  rack  is  utterly  unknown to  the  law  of  England" :  or  these  men  might  have  learned  from  an- other legal  authority,  Lord  Ellenborough,  in  the  debate  of  1801,  on the  Irish  Martial  Law  Bill,  "  that  it  cannot  but  be  known  to every  one,  that  neither  martial  law,  nor  any  other  law,  human  or divine,  can  justify  or  authorize  its  infliction". The  reasoning  of  Sir  Richard  Musgrave  on  the  advantages  of torture  and  the  beneficial  effects  of  its  inniction,  will  appear  to the  people  of  England  more  indicative  of  the  wisdom  of  our  an- cestors in  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century,  than  of  the  humani- zation  of  their  posterity  in  the  eighteenth  or  nineteenth  age.  In a  chapter  of  his  History  of  the  Rebellion,  entitled  "  Observa- tions on  Whipping  and  Free  Quarters",  we  find  the  following statement:  "To  disarm  the  disaffected  was  impossible,  because their  arms  were  concealed;  and  to  discover  all  the  traitors  was equally  so,  because  they  were  bound  by  oaths  of  secrecy,  and  the strongest  sanction  of  their  religion,  not  to  impeach  their  fellow- traitors. "  But  suppose  the  fullest  information  could  be  obtained  of  the guilt  of  every  individual,  it  would  have  been  impracticable  to arrest  and  commit  the  multitude.  Some  men  of  discernment  and fortitude  perceived  that  some  new  expedient  must  be  adopted  to prevent  the  subversion  of  government  and  the  destruction  of society,  and  whipping  was  resorted  to".*  The  men  of  "  discern- ment and  fortitude"  included  Sir  Richard  Musgrave  himself, Mr.  John  Claudius  Beresford,  Sir  John  Judkin  Fitzgerald,  the High  Sheriff  of  Tipperary,  Hunter  Gowan,  Hawtrey  White, Archibald  Jacob  Hamilton,  and  James  Boyd,  magistrates  of  the county  Wexford,  Lord  Kingston,  Messrs.  Hepenstal,  Love,  and Sandys,  several  military  gentlemen,  and  a  host  of  subordinate functionaries,  many  of  whom  were  liberally  rewarded,  pensioned, and  promoted,  for  the  very  services  which  Lord  Castlereagh  de- nied all  knowledge  of  in  the  British  House  of  Commons. The  sentiments  of  Sir  Richard  Musgrave  are,  unfortunately, still  those  of  a  great  portion  of  his  party  in  Ireland,  with  whom the  doctrine,  "  salus  factionis  suprema  lex  ",  prevails  over  every other  obligation. "  That  man",  says  Musgrave,  "  who  would  balance  between the  slight  infractions  of  the  constitution  in  inflicting  a  few  stripes on  the  body  of  a  perjured  traitor,!  and  the  loss  of  many  lives * Musgrave's  "History  of  the  Irish  Rebellion",  appendix,  p.  178. t  During  the  period  of  the  Whiteboy  outrages,  when  Sir  Richard  Musgrave ■was  high  sheriff  of  the  county  Waterford,  finding  some  difficulty  in  procuring  an executioner  to  inflict  the  punishment  of  whipping  on  a  Whiteboy,  he  performed the  office  himself,  and  with  all  the  zeal  of  an  amateur. in  1797  and  1798.  297 and  much  property,  must  renounce  all  pretensions  to  wisdom  and patriotism. "  As  to  the  violation  of  the  forms  of  the  law  by  this  practice, it  should  be  recollected  that  the  law  of  nature,  which  suggested the  necessity  of  it,  supersedes  all  positive  institutions,  as  it  is  im- printed on  the  heart  of  man  for  the  preservation  of  his  creatures — as  it  speaks  strongly  and  instinctively,  and  as  its  end  will  be baffled  by  the  slowness  of  deliberation".* At  Castle  Otway,  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  the  champion  of torture  instances  the  necessity  and  efficacy  of  this  measure : "  Cook  Otway,  Esq.  (says  Sir  Richard),  a  gentleman  noted  for his  loyalty,  was  the  most  active  person  in  the  county  of  Tip- perary, next  to  Colonel  Fitzgerald,  in  putting  down  rebellion,  for which  he  was  afterwards  persecuted.  He  raised  a  yeomanry corps,  but  was  afterwards  obliged  to  disband  the  Popish  members, as  they  had  taken  the  United  Irishmen's  oath.  The  preservation of  the  metropolis  from  carnage,  plunder,  and  conflagration,  must in  a  great  measure  be  imputed  to  it,  as  traitors,  on  being  whipped, revealed  the  most  important  secrets,  and  confessed  where  great quantities  of  arms  were  concealed".  What  other  evidence  can  be  re- quired to  prove  the  general  practice  of  torture  at  this  period,  and the  extent  of  the  evil  which  imposed  the  embarrassing  necessity  on Lord  Castlereagh  of  making  a  solemn  denial  of  all  knowledge  of its  existence  ?  The  fact  of  its  existence,  indeed,  could  not  be denied,  for  his  own  colleagues  admitted  it.  The  existence  of  it, then,  even  without  his  knowledge,  left  the  character  of  the  go- vernment open  to  the  charge  of  extraordinary  remissness,  for  it certainly  was  the  duty  of  the  leading  member  of  that  government to  have  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  measures  which  were taken  for  the  suppression  of  that  rebellion,  and  it  was  his  duty  to have  protected  the  people  against  the  violation  of  the  laws  on the  part  of  the  subordinate  agents  of  government.  The  rebel- lion did  not  break  out  till  May,  1798,  and,  to  use  the  memo- rable words  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  even  then  "  measures  were taken  by  government  to  cause  its  premature  explosion":  words which  include  the  craft,  cruelty,  and  cold-blooded,  deliberate wickedness  of  the  politics  of  a  Machiavelli,  the  principles  of  a Thug,  and  the  perverted  tastes  and  feelings  of  a  eunuch,  in  the exercise  of  power  and  authority,  displayed  in  acts  of  sly  malig- nity, and  stealthy,  vindictive  turpitude,  perpetrated  on  pretence of  serving  purposes  of  state. So  early  as  1797,  Grattan  described  such  acts  as  having  been practised  by  Lord  Camden's  government  in  Ireland : — *  Sir  Richard  Musgrave's  "History  and  Appendix",  p.  178. 298  THE    USE    OF    TORTURE "  The  Convention  Bill,  the  Gunpowder  Bill,  the  Indemnity Bill,  the  second  Indemnity  Bill,  the  Insurrection  Bill,  the  sus- pension of  the  habeas  corpus,  General  Lake's  proclamation  by order  of  government,  the  approbation  afforded  to  that  proclama- tion, the  subsequent  proclamation  of  government,  more  military and  decisive ;  the  order  to  the  military  to  act  without  waiting  for the  civil  power ;  the  imprisonment  of  the  middle  orders  without law ;  the  detaining  them  in  prison  without  bringing  them  to  trial ; the  transporting  them  without  law ;  burning  their  houses ;  burning their    villages;    murdering   them;    crimes,   many  of   which  are public,  and  many  committed   which  are   concealed  by  the  sup- pression of  a  free  press  by  military  force;  the  preventing  the legal  meetings  of  counties   to    petition  his  majesty,  by  orders acknowledged  to  be  given  to  the  military  to  disperse  them,  sub- verting the  subjects'  right  to  petition ;  and  finally,  the  introduc- tion  of  practices  not  only  unknown  to   law,   but  unknown  to civilized  and  Christian  countries.     Such  has  been  the  working  of the  borough  system ;  nor  could  such  measures  have  taken  place but  for  that  system."*      The  perfect  despotism  that  then  existed in  Ireland,  Grattan  said  had  produced  universal  disgust,  discon- tent, and  indignation.    A  member  of  the  government  had  threat- ened the  opposition  for  denouncing  that  system  of  coercion.    He said :  "  In  former  times  half  a  million  had  been  expended  to  break down  an  opposition :  half  a  million  more  might  have  been  ex- pended in  breaking  down  another".   The  parliament  was  to  be  cor- rupted, the  people  to  be  coerced.    The  governmental  agent  of  co- ercion was  sent  forth  to  put  down  discontent.    "He  destroyed libery ;  he  consumed  the  press ;  he  burned  houses — and  he  failed. Recal  your  murderer,  we  said,  and  in  his  place  despatch  our messenger — try  conciliation.     You  have  declared  you  wish  the people  should  rebel ;  to  which  we  answer,  God  forbid !     Rather let  them  weary  the  royal  ear  with  petitions,  and  let  the  dove  be again  sent  to  the  king ;  it  may  bring  back  the  olive ;  and  as  to you,  thou  mad  minister !  who  pour  in  regiment  after  regiment to  dragoon  the  Irish,  because  you  have  forfeited  their  affections, we  beseech,  we  supplicate,  we  admonish,  reconcile  the  people. Combat  revolution  by  reform :  let  blood  be  your  last  experiment". The  author  of  a  recent  publication,  under  the  signature  of  "  A Country  Gentleman" — a  person,  I  presume,  not  unknown  to  Mr. W.  Fletcher,  a  son  of  the  venerable  and  just  judge  of  that  name — makes  the  following  observation  on  the  subject  before  us: — "  Thousands  were  tortured  with  the  connivance  of  government, and  multitudes  condemned  to  death,  in  defiance  of  every  principle *  Grattan's  "Address  to  Ilis  Fellow-Citizeus''.     1797. in  1797  and  1798.  299 of  law  and  justice".  .  .  .  "It  has  often  been  asserted,  and the  writer  believes  with  perfect  truth,  that  the  Irish  rebellion  was fomented  and  encouraged  by  government  for  the  purpose  of  carry- ing the  Union  into  effect".  .  .  .  "  Many  were  suspected  of being  rebels,  who  were  perfectly  innocent ;  multitudes  were  falsely accused,  and  not  a  few  judicially  murdered1'.* A  few  brief  extracts  from  Lord  Moira's  speech  in  the  English House  of  Lords,  on  the  22nd  of  November,  1797,  will  corrobo- rate the  preceding  statements.  His  lordship,  on  that  occasion, brought  the  subject  of  the  torture,  then  in  full  practice  in  Ireland, before  the  notice  of  their  lordships.  He  said :  "  When  I  troubled your  lordships  with  my  observations  upon  the  state  of  Ireland, last  year,  I  spoke  upon  documents  certain  and  incontrovertible ; I  address  you  this  day,  my  lords,  upon  documents  equally  sure and  staple.  Before  God  and  my  country,  I  speak  of  what  I  have seen  myself.  But  in  what  I  shall  think  it  necessary  to  say  upon this  subject,  I  feel  that  I  must  take  grounds  of  a  restrictive  nature. .  .  .  What  I  have  to  speak  of  are  not  solitary  and  insulated measures,  nor  partial  abuses,  but  what  is  adopted  as  the  system  of government ;  I  do  not  talk  of  a  casual  system,  but  of  one  delibe- rately determined  upon  and  regularly  persevered  in. "  When  we  hear  of  a  military  government,  we  must  expect excesses  which  are  not  all,  I  acknowledge,  attributable  to  govern- ment, but  these  I  lay  out  of  my  consideration :  I  will  speak  only of  the  excesses  that  belong  to  and  proceed  from  the  system  pur- sued by  the  administration  of  Ireland.  .  .  .  My  lords,  I  have seen  in  Ireland  the  most  absurd,  as  well  as  the  most  disgusting tyranny  that  any  nation  ever  groaned  under.  I  have  been  myself a  witness  of  it  in  many  instances ;  I  have  seen  it  practised  and unchecked ;  and  the  effects  that  have  resulted  from  it  have  been such  as  I  have  stated  to  your  lordships.  I  have  said,  that  if  such a  tyranny  be  persevered  in,  the  consequence  must  inevitably  be the  deepest  and  most  universal  discontent,  and  even  hatred,  to  the English  name.  I  have  seen  in  that  country  a  marked  distinction made  between  the  English  and  Irish.  I  have  seen  troops  that have  been  sent  full  of  this  prejudice — that  every  inhabitant  in  that kingdom  is  a  rebel  to  the  British  government.  I  have  seen  the most  wanton  insults  practised  upon  men  of  all  ranks  and  condi- tions. I  have  seen  the  most  grievous  oppressions  exercised,  in consequence  of  a  presumption  that  the  person  who  was  the  unfor- tunate object  of  such  oppression,  was  in  hostility  to  the  govern- ment; and  yet  that  has  been  done  in  a  part  of  the  country  as  quiet and  as  free  from  disturbance  as  the  city  of  London.     Who  states *  "Lights  and  Shadows  of  Whigs  and  Tories-',  1841,  p.  100. 300  THE    USE    OF    TORTURE these  tilings,  my  lords,  should,  I  know,  be  prepared  with  proofs. I  am  prepared  with  them.      Many  circumstances  I  know  of  my own  knowledge,  others  I  have  received  from  such  channels  as will  not  permit  me  to  hesitate  one   moment  in  giving  credit  to  I thorn. His  lordship  then  observed,  that  from  education  and  early habits,  the  Curfew  was  ever  considered  by  Britons  as  a  badge  of slavery  and  oppression.  It  was  then  practised  in  Ireland  with  a brutal  rigour.  He  had  known  an  instance  where  a  master  of  a house  had  in  vain  begged  to  be  allowed  the  use  of  a  candle,  to enable  the  mother  to  administer  relief  to  her  daughter  struggling in  convulsive  fits.  In  former  times,  it  had  been  the  custom  for Englishmen  to  hold  the  infamous  proceedings  of  the  Inquisition in  detestation :  one  of  the  greatest  horrors  with  which  it  was  at- tended was,  that  the  person,  ignorant  of  the  crime  laid  to  his charge,  or  of  his  accuser,  was  torn  from  his  family,  immured  in  a prison,  kept  in  the  most  cruel  uncertainty  as  to  the  period  of  his confinement  or  the  fate  which  awaited  him.  To  this  injustice, abhorred  by  Protestants  in  the  practice  of  the  Inquisition,  were  the people  of  Ireland  exposed.  All  confidence,  all  security,  were taken  away.  In  alluding  to  the  Inquisition,  he  had  omitted  to mention  one  of  its  characteristic  features :  if  the  supposed  culprit refused  to  acknowledge  the  crime  with  which  he  was  charged,  he was  put  to  the  rack,  to  extort  confession  of  Avhatever  crime  was alleged  against  him  by  the  pressure  of  torture.  The  same  pro- ceedings had  been  introduced  in  Ireland.  When  a  man  was taken  up  on  suspicion,  he  was  put  to  the  torture ;  nay,  if  he  were merely  accused  of  concealing  the  guilt  of  another.  The  rack, indeed,  was  not  at  hand ;  but  the  punishment  of  picketing  was  in practice,  which  had  been  for  some  years  abolished,  as  too  inhu- man even  in  the  dragoon  service.  He  had  known  a  man,  in  order to  extort  confession  of  a  supposed  crime,  or  of  that  of  some  of  his neighbours,  picketed  until  he  actually  fainted ;  picketed  a  second time  until  he  fainted  again ;  as  soon  as  he  came  to  himself, picketed  a  third  time,  until  he  once  more  fainted:  and  all  upon mere  suspicion  !  Nor  was  this  the  only  species  of  torture:  many had  been  taken  and  hung  up  until  they  were  half  dead,  and  then threatened  with  a  repetition  of  the  cruel  treatment,  unless  they made  confession  of  the  imputed  guilt.  These  were  not  particular acts  of  cruelty,  exercised  by  men  abusing  the  power  committed to  them,  but  they  formed  a  part  of  our  system.  They  were  no- torious, and  no  person  could  say  who  would  be  the  next  victim of  this  oppression  and  cruelty,  which  he  saw  others  endure. This,  however,  was  not  all;  their  lordships,  no  doubt,  would  re- collect the  famous  proclamation  issued  by  a  military  commander in  1797  and  1798.  301 in  Ireland,  requiring  the  people  to  give  up  their  arms;  it  never was  denied  that  this  proclamation  was  illegal,  though  defended  on some  supposed  necessity ;  but  it  was  not  surprising  that  any  reluc- tance had  been  shown  to  comply  with  it  by  men  who  conceived the  constitution  gave  them  a  right  to  keep  arms  in  their  houses for  their  own  defence ;  and  they  could  not  but  feel  indignation  in being  called  upon  to  give  up  their  right.  In  the  execution  of the  order,  the  greatest  cruelties  had  been  committed :  if  any  one was  suspected  to  have  concealed  weapons  of  defence,  his  house, his  furniture,  and  all  his  property  was  burnt:  but  this  was  not  all; if  it  were  supposed  that  any  .district  had  not  surrendered  all  the arms  which  it  contained,  a  party  was  sent  out  to  collect  the number  at  which  it  was  rated;  and  in  the  execution  of  this  order, thirty  houses  were  sometimes  burnt  down  in  a  single  night. Officers  took  upon  themselves  to  decide  discretionally  the  quan- tity of  arms,  and  upon  their  opinions  these  fatal  consequences  fol- lowed. Many  such  cases  might  be  enumerated ;  but,  from  pru- dential motives,  he  wished  to  draw  a  veil  over  more  aggravated facts,  which  he  covld  have  stated,  and  which  he  was  willing  to attest  before  the  Privy  Council,  or  at  their  lordships'  bar. The  government  at  this  period,  it  is  needless  to  say,  issued  no proclamations,  and  published  no  precise  instructions  to  their  func- tionaries to  inflict  these  tortures.  It  would  not  have  done  at  the close  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  have  addressed  Lord  Camden  in the  barbarous  terms  addressed,  in  the  sixteenth,  to  the  Deputy Carew.  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  1598,  in  her  instructions  to  Carew, the  Deputy  of  Munster,  on  his  going  over  to  carry  "  her  gracious pleasure"  into  effect,  authorizes  him  and  her  officers,  "  to  put  sus- pected Irish  to  the  rack,  and  to  torture  them  when  they  should find  it  convenient".*  The  laissez  /aire  mode  of  accomplishing the  same  object  answered  every  purpose  at  a  smaller  expense  of official  character.  Outrages  on  a  larger  scale  than  any  I  have referred  to  were  practised  in  Ireland  in  1798,  by  its  armed Orange  bands,  with  entire  impunity. The  sufferings  of  the  Irish  people  were  brought  before  the English  House  of  Lords  on  Wednesday,  June  27,  1798.  The Earl  of  Bessborough  moved  the  following  address,  which  was seconded  by  the  Earl  of  Suffolk:  — "  That  an  humble  address  be  presented  to  the  King,  to  state to  his  Majesty  the  advice  and  request  of  this  house,  that  he would  be  graciously  pleased  to  take  into  his  royal  consideration the  calamitous  state  of  his  kingdom  of  Ireland,  and  that,  when, under  the  blessings  of  divine  Providence,  the  rebellion  now  ex- *"PacataHibernia". 302  THE    USE    OF    TORTURE isting  in  that  kingdom  shall  have  been  suppressed,  such  a  spirit of  conciliation  may  be  adopted  as  may  tend  most  effectually  and most  speedily  to  restore  to  that  afflicted  country  the  blessings  of peace  and  good  government;  and  also  to  implore  his  Majesty,  in the  administration  of  affairs  of  Ireland,  to  employ  such  persons as  may  possess  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  insure  to  them the  permanence  of  a  just  and  lenient  system  of  government". It  was  supported  by  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  Lord  Holland,  etc., and  opposed  by  Lord  Auckland,  Lord  Grenville,  the  Bishop  of Rochester,  etc. The  house  then  divided:  for  the  address,  contents  18;  non- contents,  34:  majority  16,  independent  of  proxies. The  Duke  of  Bedford  then  moved  the  following  resolution : — "  Resolved,  That  this  house,  understanding  it  to  be  a  matter of  public  notoriety  that  the  system  of  coercion  has  been  enforced in  Ireland  with  a  rigour  shocking  to  humanity,  and  particularly, that  scourges  and  other  tortures  have  been  employed  for  the  pur- pose of  extorting  confessions,  a  practice  justly  held  in  abhorrence in  every  part  of  the  (civilized)  world;  and  that  houses  and buildings  have  been  set  fire  to — a  mode  of  punishment  that  can tend  only  to  the  most  pernicious  consequences,  and  that  seldom or  ever  falls  on  the  guilty,  but,  on  the  contrary,  on  the  landlord, the  wife  and  children  of  the  criminals,  who,  however  iniquitous the  husband  or  father,  ought  always  to  be  spared  and  protected, is  of  opinion  that  an  immediate  stop  should  be  put  to  practices so  disgraceful  to  the  British  name ;  and  that  our  best  hopes  of restoring  permanent  tranquillity  to  Ireland  must  arise  from  a change  of  system  as  far  as  depends  on  the  executive  government, together  with  a  removal  from  their  stations  of  those  persons  by whose  advice  those  atrocities  have  been  perpetrated,  and  with  re- gard to  whom  the  afflicted  people  of  Ireland  can  feel  no  senti- ments but  those  of  resentment  and  horror". On  a  division,  it  was  negatived :  contents,  17;  non-contents, 44:  majority,  27. The  late  Lord  Holland,  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  Whig  Party,, edited  by  his  son,  thus  speaks  of  the  reign  of  terror  of  Irish Orangeism,  and  uthe  clemency"  of  Lord  Camden's  rule  in Ireland : — "  The  premature  and  ill-concerted  insurrections  which  followed in  the  Catholic  districts,  were  quelled,  rather  in  consequence  of want  of  concert  and  skill  in  the  insurgents,  than  of  any  good conduct  or  discipline  of  the  king's  troops,  whom  Sir  Ralph Abercrombie  described  very  honestly,  as  formidable  to  no  one but  their  friends.  That  experienced  and  upright  commander  had been  removed  from  his  command,  even  after  those  just   and in  1797  and  1798.  303 spirited  general  orders,  in  which  the  remarkable  judgment  just quoted  was  conveyed.  His  recal  was  hailed  as  a  triumph  by  the Orange  faction,  and  they  contrived,  about  the  same  time,  to  get rid  of  Mr.  Secretary  Pelham,  who,  though  somewhat  time- serving, was  a  good-natured  and  a  prudent  man.  Indeed,  sur- rounded as  they  were  with  burning  cottages,  tortured  backs,  and frequent  executions,  they  were  yet  full  of  their  sneers  at  what they  whimsically  termed  '  the  clemency'  of  the  government,  and the  weak  character  of  their  Viceroy,  Lord  Camden —  The  fact is  incontrovertible,  that  the  people  of  Ireland  were  driven  to  resis- tance, which,  possibly,  they  meditated  before,  by  the  free  quarters and  expenses  of  the  soldiery,  which  were  such  as  are  not  permitted in  civilized  warfare,  even  in  an  enemy  s  country.  Trials,  if  they must  so  be  called,  were  carried  on  without  number  under  martial law.  It  often  happened  that  three  officers  composed  the  court, and  that  of  the  three,  two  were  under  age,  and  the  third  an  officer of  the  yeomanry  or  militia,  who  had  sworn,  in  his  Orange  lodge, eternal  hatred  to  the  people  over  whom  he  was  thus  constituted a  judge.  Floggings,  picketings,  death,  were  the  usual  sen- tences, and  these  were  sometimes  commuted  into  banishment, serving  in  the  fleet,  or  transference  to  a  foreign  service.  Many were  sold  at  so  much  per  head  to  the  Prussians.  Other  more legal,  but  not  more  horrible,  outrages  were  daily  committed by  the  different  corps  under  the  command  of  government. Even  in  the  streets  of  Dublin  a  man  was  shot  and  robbed of  £30,  on  the  loose  recollection  of  a  soldier's  having  seen  him  in the  battle  of  Kilcalley,  and  no  proceeding  was  instituted  to  ascer- tain the  rnurder  or  prosecute  the  murderer.  Lord  Wycombe, who  was  in  Dublin,  and  who  was  himself  shot  at  by  a  sentinel between  Black  Rock  and  that  city,  wrote  to  me  many  details  of similar  outrages,  which  he  had  ascertained  to  be  true.  Dr.  Dick- son (Lord  Bishop  of  Down)  assured  me  that  he  had  seen  families returning  peaceably  from  mass,  assailed,  without  provocation,  by drunken  troops  and  yeomanry,  and  the  ivives  and  daughters  ex- posed to  every  species  of  indignity,  brutality,  and  outrage,  from which  neither  his  remonstrances,  nor  those  of  other  Protestant gentlemen,  could  rescue  them.  The  subsequent  Indemnity  Acts deprived  of  redress  the  victims  of  this  wide-spread  cruelty".  So much  for  Lord  Holland's  glance  at  the  Reign  of  Terror  in Ireland. On  the  trial  of  Mr.  Finnerty,  in  1810,  for  a  libel  on  Lord Castlereagh,  that  gentleman  submitted  a  number  of  affidavits  to the  court  in  proof  of  the  ordinary  and  systematic  employment  of torture  during  the  period  that  Lord  Castlereagh  filled  the  office of  chief  secretary  in  Ireland.     In  the  address  of  Mr.  Finnerty,  in 304  THE    USE    OF    TORTURE his  defence  on  tliat  occasion,  in  reference  to  an  observation  of Lord  Holt — "  that  a  man's  omission  of  his  duty  should  be  taken as  a  presumption  of  his  guilt",  he  said,  "  If  it  be  pretended  that Lord  Castlereagh  did  not  order  torture,  that  pretence  will  not avail  when  you  recollect  the  affidavits  that  I  have  read — when you  see  that  such  cruelty  has  been  committed  in  the  Royal  Ex- change, which  immediately  adjoins  the  Castle,  and  from  which the  cries  of  the  sufferers  might  have  been  heard  in  Lord  Castle- reagh's  office,  where  his  personal  interposition,  where  the  mere expression  of  his  will,  might  have  prevented  the  continuance  of the  torture. "  Doubts  have  been  sometimes  expressed  here",  said  Mr.  Fin- nerty,  "as  to  the  actual  infliction  of  torture  in  Ireland ;  indeed  I  un- derstand that  many  persons  of  high  rank  in  this  country  have  been persuaded  to  doubt  on  the  subject;  and  I  am  not  surprised  at  it, for  I  have  myself  heard  Lord  Castlereagh  in  this  country  publicly declare  that  it  was  not  practised  with  the  knowledge,  approbation, or  authority  of  government.  The  government,  indeed,  not  to  know of  it ! — that  government  which  had  such  a  system  of  espionage established  in  the  country  as  threw  that  of  Fouche  into  the  shade, which  enabled  them  to  ascertain  what  was  passing  in  every hamlet  and  village  in  the  land — to  be  ignorant  of  what  was  noto- riously taking  place  in  the  most  public  parts  of  Dublin,  under the  direction  of  the  immediate  agents  and  confidential  friends  of government,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Castle,  in  such  a situation  that  the  screams  of  the  sufferers  might  have  been audible  in  the  very  offices  where  the  ministers  of  government met  to  perform  their  functions.  The  pretence  of  ignorance, therefore,  on  the  part  of  government,  of  such  notorious  transac- tions, is  quite  preposterous". But  it  is  not  on  the  authority  of  persons  who  might  be  supposed to  be  inimical  to  the  administration  of  that  period,  that  the  charge rests,  of  connivance  at  the  use  of  torture  and  at  the  preferment  of its  perpetrators  to  places  of  honour  and  emolument. No  specific  orders,  undoubtedly,  emanated  from  the  govern- ment to  Mr.  Beresford  to  convert  the  Riding  School  into  a  scourg- ing-hall  —  to  Mr.  Hepenstal  to  make  a  walking  gallows  of  his person — to  Mr.  Love  for  the  half  hanging  of  suspected  rebels  at Kilkea  Castle  —  to  Mr.  Hunter  Gowan  for  burning  down  the cabins  of  the  Croppies — to  the  high  sheriff  of  Tipperary,  for  the laceration  of  the  peasant's  back,  of  which  Sir  John  Moore  was  an eye-witness — to  Captain  Swaine  for  the  picketings  at  Prosperous, or  Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  to  write  a  treatise  in  defence  of  torture ; and  to  all  the  other  gentlemen  of  "  discernment  and  fortitude"  to adopt  "  the  new  expedient"  for  the  discovery  of  crime. in  1797  and  1798.  305 The  admitted  policy  of  Lord  Castlereagh  was,  to  accelerate  the explosion  of  the  insurrection  in  order  to  confound  the  plans  of its  leaders.  For  this  purpose  it  was  necessary  to  drive  the people  mad  with  terror;  and  the  subordinate  agents  of  this  policy were  allowed  to  take  their  own  ways  of  accomplishing  the  minis- ter's designs. These  gentlemen  were  therefore  honoured  with  the  confidence of  government,  and  rewarded  with  its  gifts.  J.  C.  Beresford  was considered  entitled  to  both ;  Fitzgerald  was  created  a  baronet  in 1801 ;  A.  H.  Gowan  was  placed  on  the  pension  list;  Sir  Richard Musgrave  obtained  the  office  of  Receiver  of  the  Customs,  with  a salary  of  £1,200  a-year,  to  mark  the  sense  entertained  of  his  hu- manity ;  and  the  subordinate  officers  who  most  notoriously  evinced the  exuberance  of  their  zeal  in  the  discovery  of  disaffection,  who punished  the  disaffected  with  a  "  vigour  beyond  the  law",  were promoted  in  their  several  departments.  With  the  exception of  Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  there  is  hardly  an  instance  of  a  cotem- porary  writer  on  the  subject  of  the  rebellion,  who  has  not ascribed  to  the  administration  of  that  time,  a  knowledge  of  the enormities  that  were  committed  on  the  Irish  people.  Sir  Jonah Barrington,  whose  political  tendencies  were  certainly  not  on  the side  of  the  insurgents,  states,  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  I?ish  Union, that  "  Mr.  Pitt  counted  on  the  expertness  of  the  Irish  govern- ment to  effect  a  premature  explosion.  Free  quarters  were  now ordered  on  the  Irish  population".  He  adds  in  a  note :  "  This measure  was  resorted  to,  with  all  its  attendant  horrors,  through- out some  of  the  best  parts  of  Ireland,  previous  to  the  insurrec- tion. "  Slow  tortures  were  inflicted,  under  the  pretence  of  extorting confession ;  the  people  were  driven  to  madness.  General  Aber- crombie,  who  succeeded  as  commander-in-chief,  was  not  permitted to  abate  these  enormities,  and  therefore  resigned  with  disgust. Ireland  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  anarchy,  and  exposed  to  crime and  cruelties  to  which  no  nation  had  ever  been  subject.  The people  could  no  longer  bear  their  miseries.  Mr.  Pitt's  object  was now  effected.  These  sanguinary  proceedings  will,  in  the  opinion of  posterity,  be  placed  to  the  account  of  those  who  might  have prevented  them".* On  the  same  subject,  the  Rev.  James  Gordon,  rector  of  Kil- legny,  in  the  diocese  of  Ferns,  a  gentleman,  to  use  his  own  words, "  wholly  British  by  descent",  and  "  his  natural  bias  on  the  side  of Protestantism  and  loyalty",!  states  that  "  great  numbers  of  houses were  burned,  with  their  furniture,  where  concealed  arms  were *  Barrington's  "Memoirs  of  the  Irish  Union",  vol.  ii.,  p.  248. t  Gordon's  "  History  of  the  Rehellion  of  1 708",  pp.  65,  G6,  76. VOL.  I.  21 306  THE  USE  OF  TORTURE found,  or  meetings  of  the  United  Irishmen  had  been  held,  or whose  occupants  had  been  guilty  of  the  fabrication  of  pikes,  or  of other  practices  for  the  promotion  of  the  conspiracy.  Many  of  the common  people,  and  some  even  in  circumstances  superior  to  that class,  particularly  in  the  city  of  Dublin,  were  scourged,  some picketed,  or  otherwise  put  to  pain,  to  -force  a  confession  of  con- cealed arms  or  plots. "  To  authorize  the  burning  of  houses  and  furniture,  the  wisdom of  administration  may  have  seen  as  good  reason  as  for  other  acts of  severity,  though  to  me  and  many  others  that  reason  is  not clear". John  Claudius  Beresford,  the  sanguinary  terrorist  of  1797  and 1798,  was  born  in  1766.  He  was  the  third  son  of  the  Right Hon.  John  Beresford,  and  grandson  of  the"  first  Earl  of  Tyrone. He  represented  the  city  of  Dublin  in  the  Irish  parliament.  He was  the  commandant  of  the  merchant's  corps  of  yeomanry ;  and the  scourge  and  the  pitch-cap,  in  his  hands,  did  much  to  make his  memory  very  dear  to  the  Orangemen  of  Ireland.  He  had gone  through  many  vicissitudes  in  his  long  career :  he  had  been  a banker  and  a  bankrupt,  a  terrorist  in  1798,  a  flaming  anti-Union patriot  in  1800,  secretary  of  the  grand  lodge  of  Orangemen,  and for  a  lengthened  period  agent  to  the  Hon.  the  Irish  Society  over their  estates  in  Derry. In  1806,  he  was  elected,  for  the  county  of  Waterford,  and again  at  the  general  election  in  the  same  year,  and  also  in  1807. He  served  the  office  of  lord  mayor  for  the  city  of  Dublin  with great  hospitality  and  very  singular  popularity.  On  one  occasion, the  populace  of  the  Liberty  made  beasts  of  burden  of  themselves, yoked  themselves  to  his  carriage,  and  drew  him  through  the streets  in  triumph. In  his  latter  days,  it  is  said,  he  was  charitable,  tolerant,  and,  it is  to  be  hoped,  repentant  of  his  grievous  crimes  against  humanity in  his  early  days.  He  married,  in  1795,  a  Scotch  lady  of  the  name of  Menzes,  and  spent  his  latter  days  in  the  vicinity  of  Coleraine. In  1813,  John  Claudius  Beresford,  the  quondam  terrorist, highly  influential  member  of  parliament,  head  of  a  great  faction and  family  of  factious  men,  jobbers,  and  "undertakers",  master  of the  Riding  School  in  Marlborough  Street,  and  of  a  bank  in  Beres- ford Place,  was  a  bankrupt  in  fame,  fortune,  and  physical  power, a  miserable  wreck  of  humanity,  a  wretched  spectacle  of  a  broken man,  grim  and  ghastly  to  behold — emaciated,  gaunt,  and  feeble ; shabby  in  his  attire ;  a  solitary  man,  stalking  through  the  streets of  his  native  city,  like  one  of  those  uncomfortable  shades  of whom  we  read,  on  the  shores  of  Leuce — a  poor,  unhappy  ghost, restless  and  forlorn. in  1797  and  1798.  307 John  C.  Beresford  died  in  Newtownlimavady,  on  the  2nd  or 3rd  of  July,  1846,  and  was  interred  in  the  family  vault,  at  a little  church  about  seven  miles  from  Dungiven,  on  the  Derry line  of  road. For  illustrations  of  some  of  the  preceding  statements,  let  us glance  our  eyes  over  the  following  notices  of  passing  occurrences in  the  daily  prints  during  the  reign  of  terror. The  Press,  January  20,  1798. "  In  addition  to  the  catalogue  of  tortures  and  massacres  com- mitted on  the  men  of  Ireland  by  a  set  of  wretches  styling  them- selves friends  to  the  constitution,  the  following  fact,  which  hap- pened in  Carnew,  a  small  town  in  an  improclaimed  barony  in the  county  of  Wichlow,  may  be  depended  on  as  strictly  true. "  About  a  fortnight  ago,  a  person  of  the  name  of  Patrick Doyle,  charged  with  speaking  some  improper  words  when  in  a state  of  intoxication,  was  taken  prisoner  by  some  soldiers,  and confined   in  the   barrack    of  Carnew.     Shortly   after    his    being taken  into  custody,  a  Mr.  B and  a  Mr.  M'C came into  the  barrack-yard,  and  wanted  Doyle  to  confess  his  guilt,  and to  give  information  against  persons  disaffected  to  government. Doyle  declared  his  innocence  in  the  most  positive  manner,  and absolutely  denied  having  any  knowledge  of  disaffected  persons. His  answers  not  pleasing  these  gentlemen,  they  determined  to torture  him  into  others  more  agreeable,  and  for  this  purpose  they had  him  suspended  by  a  penny  cord;  the  unfortunate  man  was in  that  situation  for  some  time,  but  at  length  the  cord  broke,  and he  came  to  the  ground.  His  sanguinary  executioners,  not  satis- fied  with   the  tortures  they  had  already  inflicted  on   him,   got another  cord,  and  hung  him  up  a  second  time,  Mr.  B at the  same  time  declaring  that  if  that  cord  were  not  strong  enough to  do  the  business,  he  would  provide  a  shilling  rope ;  however, he  was  saved  the  trouble  and  expense,  for  when  the  second  cord broke  the  unfortunate  victim  fell  to  the  ground  apparently  life- less, with  his  tongue  forced  to  great  length  withoutside  his mouth,    and   whilst   he  lay  in    that  situation,   the   son   of  Mr. B (a  son  worthy  of  such  a  father)  repeatedly  kicked  him and  otherwise  abused  him.  By  the  humane  exertions  of  some women  the  tongue  of  the  unhappy  man  was  got  into  its  place, and  he  was  restored  to  life;  but  it  had  been  better  for  him  to have  died  under  the  hands  of  his  butchers,  for  he  is  ever  since deprived  of  his  reason". 308 THE  WALKING   GALLOWS. HEPENSTAL. From  The  Press  newspaper,  January  11,  1798. "  A  lieutenant,  well  known  by  the  name  of  the  Walking Gallows,  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  the  regiment,  marched  to  a place  called  Gardenstown  in  your  county;  they  went  to  the house  of  an  old  man  (named  Carroll)  of  seventy  years  and  up- wards, and  asked  for  arms,  and  having  promised  protection  and indemnity,  the  old  man  delivered  up  to  this  monster  three  guns, which  he  no  sooner  received,  than  he  with  his  own  hands  shot the  old  man  through  the  heart,  and  then  had  his  sons  (two  young men)  butchered,  burned  and  destroyed  their  house,  com,  hay, and,  in  short,  every  property  they  possessed.  The  wife  and child  of  one  of  the  sons  were  enclosed  in  the  house  when  set fire  to,  and  would  have  been  burned  had  not  one  of  the  soldiers begged  their  lives  from  the  officer,  but  on  the  condition  that  if the  bitch  (using  his  own  words)  made  the  least  noise,  they should  share  the  same  fate  as  the  rest  of  the  family.  This  bloody transaction  happened  about  two  o'clock  on  Monday  morning,  the 19th  of  June  last.  He  then  pressed  a  car,  on  which  the  three dead  bodies  were  thrown,  and  from  thence  went  to  a  village called  Moyvore,  took  into  custody  three  men,  named  Henry Smith,  John  Smith,  and  Michael  Murray,  under  pretence  of their  being  United  Irishmen,  and  having  tied  them  to  the  car  on. which  the  mangled  bodies  of  the  Carrolls  were  placed,  they were  marched  about  three  miles,  possing  in  the  blood  of  their murdered  neighbours,  and  at  three  o'clock  on  the  same  day  were shot  on  the  fair  green  of  Ballymore ;  and  so  universal  was  the panic,  that  a  man  could  not  be  procured  to  inter  the  six  dead bodies :  the  sad  office  was  obliged  to  be  done  by  women.  The lieutenant,  on  the  morning  of  this  deliberate  and  sanguinary murder,  invited  several  gentlemen  to  stay  and  see  what  he  called partridge  shooting.  It  may  not  be  improper  to  remark,  that Lord  Oxmantown  remonstrated  with  the  officers  on  the  mons- trous cruelty  of  putting  these  men  to  death,  who  might,  if  tried by  the  laws  of  their  country,  appear  innocent.  He  begged  and mtreated  to  have  them  sent  to  jail,  and  prosecuted  according  to law  (if  any  proof  could  be  brought  against  them),  but  his  hu- mane efforts  proved  fruitless ;  the  men  were  murdered !" Amongst  the  admissions  of  the  witnesses  of  those  times,  of  the means  they  took  to  extort  confessions  of  guilt,  there  is  one  of the  same  lieutenant  (Hepenstal  of  the  Wicklow  Militia),  which is  distinguished  for  the  coolness  of  its  effrontery,  and  the  atrocious- THE  WALKING  GALLOWS.  309 ness  of  the  crimes  openly  acknowledged.  Hepenstal  was  a  native  of the  county  Wicklow,  had  been  educated  at  the  school  of  a  pious Catholic  priest  in  Clarendon  Street,  Dublin,  of  the  name  of Gallagher,  his  mother  being  of  the  Catholic  religion ;  a  sister  of his  was  married  to  the  notorious  Dr.  Duigenan.  lie  was  brought up  to  the  business  of  an  apothecary,  but,  in  1795,  renounced the  pestle  for  the  sword — and  halter.  Being  a  man  of  Hercu- lean stature,  he  made  a  gallows  of  his  person,  and  literally  hung numbers  of  persons  over  his  shoulder. At  the  trial  of  Hyland,  in  September,  1797,  at  the  Athy assizes,  under  the  Whiteboy  Act,  Hepenstal,  being  examined touching  the  mode  of  procuring  evidence  from  the  witness against  the  prisoner,  said  on  examination,  "  he  had  used  some threats,  and  pricked  him  with  a  bayonet1' ;  and  when  cross-exa- mined by  Mr.  M'Nally,  said,  "  this  prisoner  had  also  been pricked  with  a  bayonet,  to  induce  him  to  confess:  a  rope  had been  put  about  his  neck,  which  was  thrown  over  his  (Hepen- sfal's)  shoulder ;  he  then  pulled  the  rope  and  drew  the  prisoner up,  and  he  was  hung  in  this  way  for  a  short  time,  but  continued sulky,  and  confessed  nothing".  Whereupon  Mr.  M'Nally  said, "  Then  you  acted  the  executioner,  and  played  the  part  of  a  gal- lows?" "Yes,  please  your  honour",  was  the  reply  of  Lieutenant Hepenstal. The  Solicitor-General,  Mr.  Toler,  who  tried  the  case,  in  his charge  to  the  jury,  regretted  the  treatment  of  the  prisoner;  "but it  was  an  error  such  as  a  young  and  gallant  officer  might  fall  into, warmed  by  resentment".  Sir  Jonah  Barrington  was  one  of  the counsel  for  the  crown.     The  prisoner  was  found  guilty. The  memory  of  this  infamous  man  has  received  its  deserts  at the  hands  of  a  clerical  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Barrett,  in  the form  of  an  epitaph: — "  Here  lie  the  bones  of  Hepenstal, Judge,  jury,  gallows,  rope,  and  all". Hepenstal  died  about  1813;  his  remains  were  interred  in  the burying-ground  of  St.  Andrew's  church,  Dublin. Dublin  Evening  Post,  7th  February,  1798. "  A  few  days  ago  a  party  of  dragoons  entered  the  house  of  a poor  cottager  in  one  of  those  parts  which  have  been  declared  out of  the  peace.  After  shooting  the  poor  old  woman  to  whom  it belonged,  with  more  than  savage  barbarity,,  the  officer  command- ing violated  the  person  of  her  daughter.     He  was  taken  into  cus- 310  THE    USE    OF    TORTURE tody  by  a  guard  of  the  regiment  to  which  he  belonged  (9th Dragoons),  who  showed  as  much  indignation  at  the  unnatural and  unmanly  crime  with  which  he  stands  charged,  as  any  private citizen  could  do,  and  with  an  alacrity  that  does  honour  to  this old  and  respectable  regiment,  lodged  him  in  the  jail  of  Carlo w. He  bore  until  this  time  a  good  character  in  his  regiment,  and  has a  brother  a  lieutenant  in  Lord  Drogheda's  Light  Horse". WICKLOW  ATROCITIES  OF  1798. From  the  Irish  Magazine  of  December,  1811. "  There  lived  in  the  year  1798,  at  Upper  Newcastle,  county  of Wicklow,  an  aged  man  of  the  name  Richard  Neill,  a  poor  farmer. This  man's  son,  Michael,  had  rendered  himself  particularly  ob- noxious to  the  Orangemen  of  the  neighbourhood,  bv  the  con- tempt  he  uniformly  treated  them  with.  He  was  handsome  and athletic,  and  frequently  would  exhibit  his  strength  and  uncommon activity,  chastising  the  cowards,  whenever  he  detected  them  in any  act  of  outrage  or  riot.  This  raised  an  implacable  hostility  in the  minds  of  those  fellows  against  young  Neill,  which  the  suspen- sion of  the  laws,  and  a  license  to  military  outrages,  in  the  years 1797  and  1798,  gave  them  every  authority  to  gratify.  As  every assassin  who  had  a  military  uniform,  felt  himself  authorized  to shoot  and  murder  every  other  person  he  met  (see  Wooloughan's Trial),  the  enemies  of  Neill  did  not  omit  to  use  this  plenitude  of power  in  its  fullest  extent,  and  among  other  game  wrote  down young  Neill  in  their  book  of  proscriptions.  They  had  a  conside- rable accession  of  strength  in  the  Ancient  Britons,  who  also  en- tered into  all  the  spirit  of  plunder  and  murder  then  in  such  leading estimation. "  A  party  of  those  huntsmen,  formed  of  the  Newtown  Mount Kennedy  Cavalry  and  Ancient  Britons,  surrounded  Neill's  house in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  after  breaking  the  doors  and  win- dows, they  entered  the  house,  denouncing  destruction  to  the wretched  inmates.  During  the  struggle  to  get  admittance,  young Neill  contrived  to  secrete  himself,  but  was  soon  called  out  from  his hiding-place  by  the  impulse  of  filial  piety,  as  the  murderers  were beginning  to  torture  his  father,  then  more  than  seventy  years  of age,  to  make  him  discover  to  them  the  retreat-  of  the  son.  The groans  of  the  father  were  so  loud  and  affecting,  that  the  generous son  could  no  longer  think  of  saving  himself,  and  his  parent  suf- fering under  the  most  acute  torments.  He  burst  in  among  the armed  banditti,  and  was  immediately  seized  and  handcuffed. Then  binding  his  hands  to  the  saddle  of  one  of  the  hoi-ses,  the party  mounted  and  galloped  away  to  Newtown  Mount  Kennedy, in  1797  and  1798.  311 dragging  the  unfortunate  Neill  with  the  rapid  horses  a  journey  of two  miles.  When  they  arrived,  they  were  joined  by  their  com- panions in  blood,  huzzaing  and  blaspheming  in  the  most  fran- tic manner.  Maimed  and  mangled  as  he  was,  they  flung  him  on the  iloor  of  the  guard -house,  where  he  fell,  without  uttering one  complaint.  He  raised  himself  on  his  knees,  and  in  silent prayer  addressed  his  God.  When  the  wretches  discovered  him  in this  attitude,  they  called  the  unfortunate  youth  every  opprobrious name — Papist,  rebel,  etc.  They  then  proceeded  to  goad  him  with the  points  of  their  swords,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  guard-house was  filled  with  Ancient  Britons,  who  joined  in  the  amusement. Rendered  desperate,  and  entertaining  no  idea  of  mercy  from  his torturers,  he  flung  himself  among  them,  and  succeeded  several times  in  knocking  down  such  of  them  as  he  could  close  with,  as he  had  nothing  but  his  hands  to  use.  At  length,  and  after  much difficulty,  they  succeeded  in  knocking  him  down,  when  one fellow  stood  on  his  neck,  while  another  amused  his  comrades  by repeatedly  driving  his  spurs  into  poor  Neill's  face.  Though nearly  blinded,  and  wounded  in  every  part  of  the  body,  his strength  remaining  not  much  diminished,  he  took  up  a  fourteen- pound  weight  that  lay  where  he  fell,  jumped  on  his  feet,  wound it  by  the  ring  round  his  head,  and  with  the  other  hand  held  one of  the  Ancient  Britons,  until  he  laid  him  dead  with  the  iron weight,  and  then,  using  all  his  remaining  strength,  he  flung  it from  him  among  the  crowd.  Disarmed  and  nearly  exhausted,  a fellow  of  the  name  of  James  Williams  ran  him  through  the  body with  a  bayonet ;  he  fell,  and  they  bound  his  hands,  put  a  rope  on his  neck,  dragged  him  to  the  next  gallows,  where  they  finished his  life  and  sufferings,  and  exposed  his  naked  body  for  several days  after". Belfast  Newspaper,  April  6,  1798. "  At  the  Naas  assizes,  April  22,  Ensign  James  Battry,  of  the Dumbartonshire  Fencibles,  tried  for  an  assault  with  intent  to ravish  Mary  Ryan,  who,  with  her  brother,  had  been  confined  in his  guard-room  on  the  3rd  of  October,  1797 — acquitted,  though the  offence  was  clearly  proved  by  the  brother  and  sister,  and another  prisoner,  James  Dunn". From  the  Dublin  Journal,  July  13,  1798. "  Clarke,  who  received  punishment  on  Saturday,  the  9th  inst., for  treasonable  practices,  and  against  whom  new  charges  of  an important  nature  had  been  exhibited,  died  in  our  gaol  on  the night  of  the  following  Tuesday.      Wednesday  the  coroner's  in- 312  TORTURE  INFLICT  KB quest  sat  upon  him,  and  returned  the  following  verdict :  '  We  find and  believe  the  death  of  the  deceased,  Thomas  Clarke,  was  occa- sioned by  poison1 ". TORTURE,  ADMINISTRATION  OF,    IN    1798,    AT  THE    HANDS  OF   THOMAS  JUDKIN FITZGERALD,     HIGH     SHERIFF     OF     TIPPEEARY.  CASE     OF     MR.    BERNARD WEIGHT,    OF   CLONMEL. In  speaking  of  the  tortures  inflicted  on  the  gentry,  the  Rev. Mr.  Gordon,  a  Protestant  clergyman,  says:  "Mr.  Thomas  J. Fitzgerald  seized  in  Clonmel  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Wright, against  whom  no  grounds  of  suspicion  could  be  conjectured  by his  neighbours,  caused  five  hundred  lashes  to  be  inflicted  on  him in  the  severest  manner,  and  confined  him  several  days,  without permitting  his  wounds  to  be  dressed,  so  that  his  recovery  from such  a  state  of  laceration  could  hardly  have  been  expected.  In a  trial  at  law,  after  the  rebellion,  on  an  action  of  damages brought  by  Wright  against  this  magistrate,  the  innocence  of  the plaintiff  appeared  so  manifest,  even  at  a  time  when  prejudice  ran amazingly  high  against  persons  accused  of  disloyalty,  that  the defendant  was  sentenced  to  pay  £500  to  his  prosecutor.  Many other  actions  on  similar  grounds  would  have  been  commenced,  if the  parliament  had  not  put  a  stop  to  such  proceedings  by  an  act of  indemnity  for  all  errors  committed  by  magistrates  from  sup- posed zeal  for  the  public  service.  A  letter,  written  in  the  French language,  found  in  the  pocket  of  Wright,  was  hastily  considered as  a  proof  of  guilt,  though  the  letter  was  of  a  perfectly  innocent nature". We  must  have  recourse  to  the  reports  of  Irish  parliamentary proceedings  for  further  insight  into  the  exploits  of  Mr.  T.  J. Fitzgerald,  the  history  of  whose  life  and  loyalty  is  written  in legible  characters  on  the  backs  of  great  numbers  of  his  country- men. "  At  the  assizes  in  Clonmel,  March  14,  1799,  the  trial  took place  of  an  action  brought  by  Mr.  Bernard  Wright,  a  teacher  of the  French  language,  against  Thomas  Judkin  Fitzgerald,  Esq., late  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Tippcrary.  The  damages  were  laid at  £1,000.  The  trial  took  place  before  Lord  Yelverton  and Judge  Chamberlain.  The  first  witness  examined,  WTilliam  Ni- cholson, Esq.,  deposed,  that  he  knew  both  plaintiff  and  defen- dant; plaintiff,  on  hearing  the  high  sheriff  had  expressed  an  in- tention of  arresting  him  (Wright),  immediately  went  to  surrender himself  to   a   magistrate.     The  magistrate   not   being   at  home, ON  MR.  BERNARD  WRIGHT.  313 witness  accompanied  plaintiff  to  the  high  sheriff.  Witness  told the  latter  Wright  had  come  to  surrender  himself;  on  which  the high  sheriff  said  to  Wright:  "  Full  on  your  knees,  and  receive your  sentence,  for  yon  are  a  rebel,  and  you  have  been  a  principal in  the  rebellion:  you  have  to  receive  Jive  hundred  lashes,  and  then  to be  shot\  Whereon  Wright  prayed  for  time,  hoped  he  would get  a  trial,  and  if  he  was  not  found  innocent,  he  would  submit  to any  punishment.  Defendant  answered :  '  What !  speak  jaiter sentence  has  been  passed  !' " (The  Hon.  Mr.  Yelverton,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  his statement  of  these  proceedings,  said,  the  words  used  by  Fitzgerald were:  "  What!  you  Carmelite  rascal!  do  you  dare  to  speak  after sentence?"  and  then  struck  him,  and  sent  him  off  to  prison;  and next  day  the  unhappy  man  was  dragged  to  a  ladder,  in  Clonmel Street,  to  undergo  his  sentence.) "  The  witness,  Nicholson,  swore  that  he  endeavoured  in  vain to  persuade  the  high  sheriff  to  have  the  plaintiff  tried,  and  to convince  him  of  Wright's  innocence,  '  whom  he  had  known  from his  childhood,  and  had  always  known  to  be  a  loyal  man'. "  Solomon  Watson,  a  Quaker,  affirmed,  that  on  the  29th  of  May, 1798,  the  high  sheriff  told  witness  he  was  going  to  whip  a  set  of rebels.  '  Saw  Wright  brought  to  the  ladder  under  a  guard ;  had his  hands  to  his  face,  seemed  to  be  praying ;  saw  him  on  his  knees at  the  ladder.  Defendant,  the  high  sheriff,  pulled  off  Wright's hat,  stamped  on  it,  dragged  him  by  the  hair,  struck  him  with his  sword,  and  kicked  him ;  blood  flowed ;  and  then  dragged  him to  the  ladder;  selected  some  strong  men,  and  cried,  '  Tie  up  ci- tizen Wright !  tie  up  citizen  Wright !' "Witness  further  deposed,  that  Wright  begged  to  have  a  clergy- man, but  his  request  was  refused ;  then  the  flogging  began.  '  De- fendant ordered  first  fifty  lashes.  Pie  pulled  a  paper,  written  in French,  out  of  his  pocket,  gave  it  to  Major  Riall  as  furnishing his  reasons  for  flogging  Wright.  Major  Riall  read  the  paper,  and returned  it.  Defendant  then  ordered  fifty  lashes  more,  after which  he  asked  how  many  lashes  Wright  had  received;  being answered  one  hundred,  he  said :  '  Cut  the  waistband  of  the  rascal's breeches,  and  give  him  fifty  there'.  The  lashes  were  inflicted severely ;  defendant  then  asked  for  a  rope ;  was  angry  there  was no  rope ;  desired  a  rope  to  be  got  ready,  while  he  went  to  the general  for  an  order  to  hang  him.  Defendant  went  down  the street  towards  the  general's  lodgings.  Wright  was  left  tied  up during  this  time,  from  a  quarter  to  half  an  hour.  Could  not  say during  this  time  whether  the  crowd  had  loosed  the  cords;  if  not, he  remained  tied  while  defendant  was  absent.  When  defendant returned,  he  ordered  Wright  back  to  jail,  saying  he  would  flog 314  TORTURE  INFLICTED liim  again  the  next  day*  saw  Wright  sent  back  to  jail  under  a, guard'. "  Major  Riall  being  examined,  deposed,  that  he  did  not  arrive at  the  place  of  carrying  the  flogging  into  effect  before  Wright , had  received  fifty  lashes.     The  high  sheriff  produced  two  papers, one  of  which  being  in  French,   he   (the   high  sheriff)  did   not, understand,  but  gave  it  to  hiin  to  read,  as  containing  matter  that, furnished  ground  for  the  flogging.     Witness  read  the  paper,  and returned  it,  saying  it  was  in  no  wise  treasonable ;  that  it  was  from a  French  gentleman,  the  Baron  de  Clues,  making  an  excuse  for not  keeping  an  appointment,  being  obliged  to  wait  on  Sir  Lau- rence  Parsons  (subsequently   Lord   Rosse).     Wright,   however, was  flogged  after  witness  had  explained  the  nature  of  the  letter to  the  high  sheriff.     Witness  then  went  away.     Next  day  accom- panied  the  high  sheriff  to  see  Wright  in  the  gaol.      Saw  him , kneeling  on  his  bed,  while  they  were   speaking  to  him,  being unable  to  lie  down  with  soreness.     Witness  further  deposed,  that he  knew  of  three  innocent  persons  being  flogged,  whom  he  be- lieved  to  be  innocent,  of  whom  Wright  was  one. "  (Solomon  Watson  had  previously  deposed,  in  his  evidence, to  his  knowledge  of  the  defendant  having  flogged  some  la- bourers  on  account  of  the  kind  of  waistcoats  they  wore.  He had  known  defendant  knock  down  an  old  man  in  the  street  . for  not  taking  off  his  hat  to  him,  and  he  saw  a  lad  of  sixteen years  of  age  leap  into  the  river  to  escape  a  repetition  of  a  flog- ging from  him.) "  The  high  sheriff,  '  in  an  animated  speech',  which  took  nearly two  hours  to  deliver,  defended  the  practice  of  flogging  generally, as  a  means  of  obtaining  discoveries  of  treasonable  secrets ;  that  he had  flogged  a  man  named  Nipper,  alias  Dwyer,  who  confessed that  Wright  was  a  secretary  of  the  United  Irishmen,  '  and  this information  he  could  not  get  before  the  flogging'.  Ke  insisted on  the  utility  of  his  efforts  to  obtain  confessions  from  suspected traitors :  when  every  other  means  of  discovering  the  truth  failed, '  he  had  a  right  even  to  cut  of  their  heads'. "  This  mode  of  arriving  at  truth,  rather  disturbed  the  gravity of  the  court. "  The  Rev.  T.  Prior,  fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  being produced  to  prove  the  moral  and  loyal  character  of  plaintiff,  de- posed that  '  he  had  known  Bernard  Wright  from  his  earliest youth,  and  that  he  had  always  conducted  himself  as  an  orderly, loyal,  and  moral  man'. "Judge  Chamberlain,  in  charging  the  jury,  said:  'The  jury were  not  to  imagine  the  legislature,  by  enabling  magistrates  to justify  their  acts  under  the  Indemnity  Bill,  had  released  them ON  MR.  BERNARD  WRIGHT.  315 from  the  feelings  of  humanity,  and  the  obligations  of  justice  in the  exercise  of  power,  even  in  putting  down  rebellion. "The  jury  retired,  and  found  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiff,  for  five hundred  pounds,  and  six  pence  costs. "On  the  6th  of  April,  1799,  T.  Judkin  Fitzgerald  petitioned the  House  of  Commons,  '  praying  to  be  indemnified  for  certain acts  done  by  him  in  the  suppression  of  the  late  rebellion'.  The acts  specified  were  the  infliction  of  corporal  punishment,  of whipping,  on  many  persons  of  whose  guilt  he  had  secret  infor- mation, but  no  public  evidence.  Petitioner  said,  not  being  able to  disclose  the  information  on  which  he  acted,  '  the  learned judges  who  had  presided  at  a  late  trial  (Wright  v.  Fitzgerald), were  of  opinion,  in  point  of  law,  that  unless  petitioner  produced information  on  oath  of  the  ground  on  which  he  acted,  that  his case  could  not  fall  within  the  provisions  of  the  Indemnity  Act passed  last  session'. "  Mr.  Secretary  Cooke  bore  testimony  to  '  the  national  services performed  by  the  petitioner'. "A  Bill  of  Indemnity  was  passed  in  the  Irish  parliament,  in accordance  with  the  prayer  of  the  petitioner,  and  immediately after  an  application  was  made  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  in the  Court  of  Exchequer,  to  set  aside  the  verdict  obtained  against him  by  Mr.  Wright,  which  application  was  dismissed  with  full costs".* In  the  parliamentary  proceedings,  "  on  the  petition  of  T.  J. Fitzgerald,  Esq.,  praying  for  indemnity  for  certain  acts  done  by him  in  the  suppression  of  rebellion",  April  6th,  1799,  Lord Matthew  supported  the  petition,  and  bore  testimony  to  the  con- duct of  Mr.  Fitzgerald :  "he  was  an  extremely  active,  spirited, and  meritorious  magistrate". The  Hon.  Mr.  Yelverton  opposed  the  petition,  on  the  ground of  "  there  not  being  found  a  scintilla  of  suspicion  against  the plaintiff,  Wright,  to  justify  the  unparallelled  cruelties  exercised  on him". Mr.  Yelverton,  in  stating  the  facts  of  the  case,  read  the  letter in  the  French  language,  which  had  been  shown  to  Major  Riall by  the  all-mighty  sheriff  of  Tipperary,  as  a  justification  of  the scourging  of  a  respectable  gentleman,  a  peaceable  man,  of  literary habits  and  pursuits,  who  was  designated  a  scoundrel,  whom  the sheriff  would  be  justified  in  flogging  to  death,  and  which  letter, Mr.  Yelverton  said,  had  been  translated  in  these  words  to  Mr. Fitzgerald  by  Major  Riall,  on  the  spot,  at  the  place  of  execution, in  one  of  the  intervals  of  the  flogging: — *  Report  of  the  trial  Wright  v.  Fitzgerald. 316  TORTURE  INFLICTED "  Sir, — I  am  extremely  sorry  I  cannot  wait  on  you  at  the  hour appointed,  being  unavoidably  obliged  to  attend   Sir   Laurence  | l'arsons.  "  Your's, "  To  B.  Wright,  Esq.  "  BaRON    Clues". The  Hon.  Mr.  Yelverton  proceeded  to  state,  that  "  notwith- standing this  translation,  which  Major  Riall  read  to  Mr.  Fitz- gerald, he  ordered  fifty  lashes  more  to  be  inflicted,  and  with  such peculiar  severity,  that,  horrid  to  relate,  the  intestines  of  the bleeding  man  could  be  perceived  convulsed  through  his  wounds ! Mr.  Fitzgerald  finding  he  could  not  continue  the  action  of  his cat-o'-nine-tails  on  that  part  where  he  was  cutting  his  way  into his  body,  ordered  the  waistband  of  his  breeches  to  be  cut  open, and  had  fifty  more  lashes  inflicted  there.  He  then  left  the  man bleeding  and  suspended,  while  he  went  to  the  barracks  to  demand a  file  of  men  to  come  and  shoot  him ;  but  being  refused  by  the general,  he  ordered  him  back  to  prison,  where  he  was  confined  i in  a  small  dark  room,  with  no  other  furniture  than  a  wretched pallet  of  straw,  without  covering,  and  here  he  remained  six  or seven  days  without  any  medical  assistance". "  Gracious  God !"  said  Mr.  Yelverton,  "  will  any  man  say  that such  conduct  is  to  be  sanctioned  and  indemnified  by  this  house  ? I  would  be  one  of  the  last  men  to  refuse  every  reasonable  indem- nity to  loyal  magistrates,  for  acts  done  in  the  performance  of their  duty  for  the  suppression  of  rebellion,  but  I  will  never  vote for  protection  and  indemnity  to  a  bloody  tyrant,  whose  conduct, though  it  may  have  produced  good  in  some  instances,  has  been productive  of  infinitely  more  mischief:  and  on  these  grounds  I will  give  this  petition  every  resistance  in  my  power". Mr.  John  Claudius  Beresford  defended  the  conduct  of  the high  sheriff. The  Hon.  F.  Hely  Hutchinson  opposed  the  indemnity.  He deprecated  the  conduct  of  Fitzgerald  in  the  case  of  Wright. "  He  teas  himself  present  when  similar  acts  were  committed  by Mr.  Fitzgerald,  whose  zeal  had  led  him  to  deeds  of  horror.  In the  town  of  Clogheen  there  was  a  man  of  some  property  and good  character,  who  kept  an  inn ;  and  this  man  was  brought  out of  his  house  by  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  tied  up  to  a  ladder,  and  whipped. When  he  had  received  some  lashes,  Mr.  Fitzgerald  asked  him, 'Who  swore  you?'  The  man  answered  he  never  was  sworn. After  a  few  more  stripes  the  question  was  repeated,  and  received with  a  similar  answer.  The  remedy  was  resumed  for  the  sup- posed obstinacy,  with  this  additional  suggestion:  '  If  you  do  not confess,  Til  cut  you  to  deatJi.  The  man,  unable  to  bear  the torture  any  longer,   then   did   name  a  person  who  he  said  had ON  MR.  BERNARD  WRIGIIT.  317 sworn  him ;  but  the  moment  he  was  cut  down,  he  said  to  Lord Cahir,  '  The  man  never  swore  me ;  but  he  (Fitzgerald)  '  said  he would  cut  me  to  death  if  I  did  not  accuse  somebody,  and  to  save my  life  I  told  the  lie'".* The  Attorney-General  defended  the  petitioner,  and  advocated the  proposed  indemnity  bill.  It  passed  the  house  by  a  large  ma- jority. Mr.  Fitzgerald,  emboldened  by  his  success,  then  applied to  the  Court  of  Exchequer  to  set  aside  the  verdict  obtained  against him  by  Wright,  but  his  application  was  dismissed  with  full  costs. Mr.  Cooke,  too,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  bore  testimony  "  to the  national  services  of  the  petitioner".! The  government  of  that  clay,  or  rather  Lords  Camden,  Castle- reagh,  and  Clare,  were  represented  on  that  honourable  occa- sion by  Mr.  Secretary  Cooke  in  the  House  of  Commons; they  defended,  through  him,  the  terrible  attrocities  of  Mr.  T.  J. Fitzgerald,!  and  by  so  doing,  they  accepted  all  the  responsibility of  his  acts,  and  so  doing,  most  heavily  they  charged  their  souls with  tlie  guilt  of  sanguinary  crimes  of  astounding  atrocity. In  reference  to  the  barbarities  committed  on  the  bodies  of executed  rebels,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gordon§  says:  "Many  instances might  be  given  of  men,  who,  at  the  hazard  of  their  own  lives, concealed  and  maintained  loyalists  until  the  storm  passed  away. On  the  other  hand,  many  might  be  given  of  cruelties  committed by  persons  not  natives  of  Ireland.  I  shall  mention  only  one  act, not  of  what  I  shall  call  cruelty,  since  no  pain  was  inflicted,  but ferocity,  not  calculated  to  soften  the  rancour  of  the  insurgents. Some  soldiers  of  the  Ancient  British  regiment  cut  open  the  dead body  of  Father  Michael  Murphy,  after  the  battle  of  Arklow,  took out  his  heart,  roasted  his  body,  and  oiled  their  boots  with  the grease  which  dripped  from  it". Mr.  Edward  Hay,  in  his  history  of  the  insurrection  of  the county  of  Wexford,  states: — "  In  Enniscorthy,  Ross,  and  Gorey,  several  persons  were  not only  put  to  the  torture  in  the  usual  manner,  but  a  great  number of  houses  were  burnt,  and  measures  of  the  strongest  coercion were  practised,  although  the  people  continued  to  flock  to  the different  magistrates  for  protection.     Mr.  Perry,  of  Inch,  a  Pro- *  "  Report  of  Proceedings  hi  the  House  of  Commons  on  Petition  of  T.  J.  Fitz- gerald", p.  38. t  Mr.  Edward  Cooke  arrived  in  Dublin  the  24th  March,  1 784,  having  been  ap- pointed under -secretary  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  Mr.  Orde  being  then  chief secretary  (See  ''  Cary's  Volunteer  Journal",  25th  March,  1784). %  Thomas  Judkin  Fitzgerald,  of  Lisheen,  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  received  the honour  of  knighthood  for  his  services  in  1798.     He  died  in  Cork  in  October,  1810. §  Vide  "Gordon's  History  of  the  Rebellion",  p.  212. 318  TORTURE    INFLICTED. tcstant  gentleman,  was  seized  on  and  brought  a  prisoner  to Gorey,  guarded  by  tlie  North  Cork  militia,  one  of  whom  (the noted  serjeant,  nicknamed  Tom  the  Devil)  gave  him  woful  expe- rience of  his  ingenuity  and  adroitness  at  devising  torment.  As  a specimen  of  his  savoir  /aire,  he  cut  off  the  hair  of  his  head  very closely,  put  the  sign  of  the  cross  from  the  front  to  the  back,  and transversely  from  car  to  ear  closer  still;  and  probably,  a  pitched cap  not  being  in  readiness,  gunpowder  was  mixed  through  the hair,  which  was  then  set  on  fire,  and  the  shocking  process repeated,  until  every  atom  of  hair  that  remained  could  be  easily pulled  out  by  the  roots ;  and  still  a  burning  candle  was  continu- ally applied  until  the  entire  was  completely  singed  away,  and  the head  left  totally  and  miserably  blistered".* "It  is  said  that  the  North  Cork  regiment  were  the  inventors — they  certainly  were  the  introducers — of  pitch-cap  torture  into  the county  of  Wexford.  Any  person  having  his  hair  cut  short,  and therefore  called  a  croppy  (by  which  the  soldiery  designated  an United  Irishman),  on  being  pointed  out  by  some  loyal  neigh- bour, was  immediately  seized  and  brought  into  a  guard-house, where  caps,  either  of  coarse  linen  or  strong  brown  paper,  be- smeared inside  with  pitch,  were  always  kept  ready  for  service. The  unfortunate  victim  had  one  of  these,  well  heated,  compressed on  his  head,  and  when  judged  of  a  proper  coolness,  so  that  it could  not  be  easily  pulled  off,  the  sufferer  was  turned  out,  amidst the  horrid  acclamations  of  the  merciless  torturers".! "  Mr.  Hunter  Gowan  had,  for  many  years,  distinguished  him- self by  his  activity  in  apprehending  robbers,  for  which  he  was rewarded  by  a  pension  of  £100  per  annum ;  and  it  is  much  to  be wished  that  every  one  who  has  obtained  a  pension,  had  as  well deserved  it.  Now  exalted  to  the  rank  of  magistrate,  and  pro- moted to  be  captain  of  a  corps  of  yeomen,  he  was  zealous  in  ex- ertions to  inspire  the  people  about  Gorey  with  dutiful  submission to  the  magistracy  and  a  respectful  awe  of  the  yeomanry.  On  a public  day  in  the  week  preceding  the  insurrection,  the  town  of Gorey  beheld  the  triumphal  entry  of  Mr.  Gowan  at  the  head  of his  corps,  with  his  sword  drawn,  and  a  human  finger  stuck  upon the  point  of  it. "  With  this  trophy  he  marched  into  the  town,  parading  up  and down  the  streets  several  times,  so  that  there  was  not  a  person  in Gorey  who  did  not  witness  this  exhibition,  while,  in  the  mean time,  the  triumphant  corps  displayed  all  the  devices  of  Orange- men. After  the  labour  and  fatigue  of  the  day,  Mr.  Gowan  and his  men  retired  to  a  public-house  to  refresh  themselves,  and  like *  Vide  Hay's  "Insurrection  of  the  County  of  Wexford",  p.  181. t  Ibid.,  p.  57. THE  PITCH-CAP,  PICKET,  AND  TRIANGLES.  319 true  blades  of  game,  their  punch  was  stirred  about  with  the  finger that  had  graced  their  ovation,  in  imitation  of  keen  fox-hunters, who  whisk  a  bowl  of  punch  with  the  brush  of  a  fox  before  their boozino-  commences.  This  captain  and  magistrate  afterwards went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Jones,  where  his  daughters  were,  and, while  taking  a  snack  that  was  set  before  him,  he  bragged  of havino-  blooded  his  corps  that  day,  and  that  they  were  as  staunch bloodhounds  as  any  in  the  world.  The  daughters  begged  of  their father  to  show  them  the  croppy  finger,  which  he  deliberately took  from  his  pocket  and  handed  to  them.  Misses  dandled  it about  with  senseless  exultation,  at  which  a  young  lady  present hid  her  face  with  her  hands,  to  avoid  the  horrid  sight.  Mr. Gowan,  perceiving  this,  took  the  finger  from  his  daughter,  and archly  dropped  into  the  disgusted  lady's  bosom.  She  instantly fainted,  and  thus  the  scene  ended  !  Mr.  Gowan  constantly  boasted of  this  and  similar  heroic  actions,  which  he  repeated  in  the  pre- sence of  Brigade  Major  Fitzgerald,  on  whom  he  waited  officially; but  so  far  from  meeting  with  his  wonted  applause,  the  major obliged  him  instantly  to  leave  the  company.* "  Enniscovthy  and  its  neighbourhood  were  similarly  protected by  the  activity  of  Archibald  Hamilton  Jacob,  aided  by  the  yeo- men cavalry,  thoroughly  equipped  for  this  kind  of  service.  They scoured  the  country,  having  in  their  train  a  regular  executioner, completely  appointed  with  his  implements — a  hanging-rope  and cat-o'-nine-tails.  Many  detections  and  consequent  prosecutions  of United  Irishmen  soon  followed.  A  law  had  been  recently enacted,  that  magistrates,  upon  their  own  authority,  could  sen- tence to  transportation  persons  accused  and  convicted  before them.  Great  numbers  were  accordingly  taken  up,  prosecuted, and  condemned.  Some,  however,  appealed  to  an  adjournment  of a  quarter-sessions,  held  in  Wexford  on  the  23rd  of  May,  in  the county  court-house,  at  which  three-and-twenty  magistrates,  from different  parts  of  the  county,  attended. "  In  the  course  of  the  trials  on  these  appeals,  in  the  public court-house  of  Wexford,  Mr.  Archibald  Hamilton  Jacob  appeared as  evidence  against  the  prisoners,  and  publicly  avowed  the  happy discoveries  he  had  made  in  consequence  of  inflicting  the  torture. Many  instances  of  whipping  and  strangulation  he  particularly  de- tailed, with  a  degree  of  self-approbation  and  complacency  that clearly  demonstrated  how  highly  he  was  pleased  to  rate  the  merit of  his  own  great  and  loyal  services".! "  On  the  21st  of  June,  the  town  of  Enniscorthy  having  been  re- taken by  the  king's  troops,   the   house  in  which  the  sick  and *  Vide  "  Hay's  Insurrection  of  the  county  of  Wexford",  p.  70. t  Ibid.,  p.  71. 320  ATROCITIES  OF  THE  HESSIANS. wounded  of  the  rebel  party  were  placed,  was  set  on  fire,  and above  thirty  of  the  unfortunate  inmates  perished.  The  Hessian troops  distinguished  themselves  particularly  on  this  occasion. The  Rev.  James  Gordon,  a  Protestant  clergyman,  in  speaking  of this  atrocious  proceeding,  says  he  was  "  informed  by  a  surgeon that  the  burning  was  accidental ;  the  bed-clothes  being  set  on  fire by  the  wadding  of  the  soldiers'  guns,  who  were  shooting  the  pa- tients in  their  beds". The  son  of  the  late  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds,  in  his  recent  unsuc- cessful and  ill-judged  effort  to  vindicate  the  memory  of  his  father, in  recounting  the  various  atrocities  committed  by  the  rebels,  is compelled  to  acknowledge  that  their  barbarities  were  equalled, and  sometimes  provoked,  by  the  massacres  of  their  opponents. "  At  the  same  time",  says  this  gentleman,  "  that  numerous  acts  of equal  atrocity,  and  still  less  justifiable,  were,  during  the  same period,  and  for  some  time  previous  to  the  breaking  out  of  the rebellion,  committed  by  the  opposite  party.  I  say,  still  less  justi- fiable, because  they  were  urged  and  frequently  countenanced  by the  actual  presence  of  persons  of  distinction,  who  indulged  their brutality  under  the  assumed  mask  of  loyalty.  Such  was  the murder  of  Mr.  Johnstone,  of  Narraghmore,  as  I  have  already  re- lated ;  the  burning  of  the  rebel  hospital  in  Enniscorthy,  with  all the  rebel  sick  and  wounded  it  contained,  to  the  number  of  above thirty  persons  (Cloney  states  the  number  put  to  death  on  the occasion  was  seventy-six) ;  the  massacre  of  above  fifty  unresisting individuals,  by  a  party  of  the  military,  under  the  command  of Lieutenant  Gordon,  of  the  yeomanry  cavalry,  which  provoked the  massacre  of  Bloody  Friday ;  the  slaughter  of  upwards  of  two hundred  men,  after  they  had  surrendered  on  terms  of  capitulation to  General  Dundas,  on  the  Curragh  of  Kildare;  the  numerous murders  committed  in  cold  blood,  in  retaliation  for  those  com- mitted by  the  outlaws  under  Holt  and  Hacket ;  the  flogging  of suspected  persons,  and  throwing  salt  into  their  wTounds,  to  extort confession,  and  other  acts  of  a  similar  nature".* Mr.  Gordon  says,  "  The  Hessians  exceeded  the  other  troops in  the  business  of  depredation,  and  many  loyalists  who  escaped from  the  rebels,  were  put  to  death  by  these  foreigners.  To  send such  troops  into  the  country,  in  such  a  state  of  affairs,  was,  in my  humble  opinion,  a  wrong  step  in  government,  who  cannot  be supposed  indifferent  to  the  lives  of  loyal  subjects.  By  what  in- fluence the  plundering  was  permitted  so  long  to  the  soldiery,  in some  parts  of  the  country,  after  the  rebellion  was  quelled,  I  shall not  at  present  pretend  to  state.      The  publication  of  some  facts, *  Vide  "  Life  of  Thomas  Reynolds",  by  his  Son,  vol.  ii.,  p.  337. MILITARY  OUTRAGES  AND  TORTURE  IK  WEXFORD.  321 of  which  I  have  acquired  information,  may  not  perhaps  be  as yet  safe.  On  the  arrival  of  the  Marquis  of  Huntley,  however, with  his  regiment  of  Scottish  Highlanders,  in  Gorey,  the  scene was  totally  altered.  To  the  immortal  honour  of  this  regiment, its  behaviour  was  such  as,  if  it  were  universal  among  soldiers, would  render  a  military  government  amiable.  To  the  astonishment of  the,  until  then,  miserably  harassed  peasantry,  not  the  smallest trifle,  even  a  drink  of  buttermilk,  would  any  of  these  High- landers accept  without  the  payment  of  at  least  the  full  value". Here  are  the  items  in  the  two  accounts  of  savagery,  namelv, of  the  Wexford  rebels  on  one  side,  and  of  the  armed  Orangemen and  terrorists  in  authority  on  the  other,  and  the  balance  of  blood- guiltiness  and  barbarity  struck  by  Thomas  Cloney,  an  eye-witness of  many  of  the  occurrences  he  relates,  but  no  participator  in  their barbarities. The  executions  that  followed  courts-martial,  be  it  observed,  are not  taken  into  account  by  Cloney,  though  many  of  them,  as- suredly, had  all  the  leading  characteristics  of  cold-blooded  mur- ders ;  and  amongst  the  latter,  not  a  few  out  of  the  sixty -six  exe- cutions related  by  Musgrave,  "  from  the  retaking  of  the  town  of Wexford,  June  21,  1798,  to  December,  1800*." "  I  have  now",  says  Cloney,  "  to  direct  the  reader's  attention  to a  comparative  statement  of  the  outrages  respectively  perpetrated by  the  magistrates,  military,  yeomanry,  and  insurgents,  in  the county  of  Wexford,  in  the  year  1798.  Nothing,  certainly,  can be  more  remote  from  my  intention  than  to  exhibit  this  melan- choly list  for  the  purpose  of  reviving  almost  defunct  prejudices. I  think  I  shall  obtain  credit  with  my  countrymen  for  the  decla- ration I  now  make,  a  declaration  founded  upon  long  and  intimate knowledge  of  Protestant  worth,  that  a  more  honourable  race  of  men never  existed  than  the  good  Protestants  of  the  county  of  Wexford. "  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  supposed  that  I  mean  to  charge  one outrage  committed  in  the  county  of  Wexford  against  Protestants, as  such.  The  perpetrators  were  certainly  encouraged  and  hal- looed on  by  men  of  rank  and  persons  in  official  station,  who called  themselves  Protestants,  but  men  whom  1  call  practical  in- fidels. Their  wretched  dupes  were  motley  aggregates  of  yeomen and  military,  composed  indiscriminately  of  Protestants,  Catholics, and  Dissenters.  These  numerical  statements  which  are  sub- joined, have  been,  in  some  instances,  taken  from  the  books  of Gordon,  Hay,  and  Alexander;   but   those    accounts   which  are *  Musgrave's  "Appendix",  p.  160. vol.  i.  22 322  MILITARY  OUTRAGES marked  '  private  memoranda',  were  obtained  from  the  traditional details  of  the  surviving  children  and  relations  of  those  who  had been  murdered : — "  Statement  of  outrages  perpetrated  by  the  magistracy,  yeomanry, and  king's  troops,  in  the  county  Wexford,  in  the  year  1798. "  Page  64.  Driscol,  a  hermit,  from  Camolin  Wood, flogged  and  half-  hanged  three  times  by  Tottenham's Ross  Yeomen — Alexander.  -  -  1 "  Page  65.      Fitzpatrick,  a  country  school-master,  flogged by  same — ditto.  -  -  -  1 "  Denis  M'Donnell,  dropped  dead  in  a  grove  near  Mr. Gordon's  house,  with  fear  of  being  flogged — Gordon.  1 "  Doctor  Healy,  a  most  respectable  and  inoffensive  gentle- man and  physician,  flogged  almost  to  death  by  the Ross  Yeomen — Hay.  -  -  1 "  Flogged  by  a  corps  of  Yeomen,  under  the  superinten- dence of  a  magistrate,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ennis- corthy,  it  appeared  on  the  trials  of  appeals  at  Wexford, under  the  Insurrection  Act,  on  the  23rd  May,  1798 — Private  memoranda.     -  -  -  -       17 "  Page  70.  Flogged  to  death  by  Hunter  Gowan's  Yeo- men, a  peasant,  whose  finger  was  brought  into  Gorey by  Go  wan  on  the  point  of  his  sword — Hay.  -         1 "  Page  76.  Burned  from  its  roots,  by  Tom  the  Devil,  of the  South  Cork  Militia,  the  hair  of  Mr.  Perry's  head, who  was  afterwards  hanged — Hay. "  Flogged  and  pitch-capped  in  the  town  of  Carnew,  before the  insurrection — Private  memoranda.         -  -       14 "  Page  78.  Flogged  almost  to  death  by  a  corps  of  Yeo- men, commanded  by  a  magistrate,  at  Ballaghkeene, on  the  24th  of  May,  1798— Hay.  -  -         2 "  Page  79.     Hanged  in  the  town  of  Enniscorthy,  by  the Yeomen,  previous  to  the  insurrection,  without  trial —  2 "  Shot  by  the  Wexford   Yeomen  Cavalry,  in  cold  blood, the  day  they  arrested  John  Colclough — Hay.  —        6 "  Shot  at  Dunlaven,  by  the  yeomanry,  without  a  trial — Hay.  -  -  -  -  -       34 "  Page  76.  Shot,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1798,  in  the  ball- alley,  at  Carnew,  without  any  form  of  trial — Play.       -       26 "  Page  135.  Shot  by  Hawtry  White's  Yeomen,  on  the 27th  May,  between  Oulart  and  Gorey,  men  and  boys —Hay.        - "  Page  135.     Shot,  in  Gorey,  by  the  Tinnehely  and  Wing- 1 28 AND  TORTURE  IN  WEXFORD.  323 field  Yeomanry,  and  without  trial,  eleven  farmers,  who had  been  taken  out  of  their  beds  within  a  mile  and  a- half  of  the  town — Hay.  -  -  -       11 "Page  150.  Shot,  by  the  military,  at  New  Ross,  General Harvey's  Aide-de-Camp,  Mr.  Matt.  Furlong — Private memoranda.  -  -  -  \ "  Hanged  in  Enniscorthy,  a  drummer  of  the  North  Cork Militia,  for  refusing  to  beat  his  drum  to  the  tune  of  the 1  Boyne  Water' — Hay.  -  -  -1 "  Page  153.  Burned  by  the  military,  at  New  Ross, wounded  men  who  had  taken  refuge  there  during  the battle — Hay.  -  -  .  -       78 "  Page  158.     Shot  by  the  Yeomen  of  Gorey,  in  his  own garden,  Mr.  Kenny,  of  Ballycanew — Hay.    -  -       1 "  Shot  by  Ogle's  Blues,  at   Mayglass,    in  running    away from  Wexford— Hay.  -  -  -         2 I  Shot  by  the  military  and  yeomen  at  same  place,  seven men  and  four  women  —  Hay.        -  -  -       1 1 "  Page  105.     Shot  near  Scarawalsh,  an  idiot  nephew  to  the parish  priest — Hay.     -  -  -  -  1 "  Shot  by  the  Newtownbarry  Yeomen,  in  that  town,  after the  retreat  from  Vinegar  Hill,  and  left  in  the  streets  to be  torn  by  pigs — Hay.  -  -  .9 "  T  iolated  and  murdered,  near  Ballaghkeene,  by  the  Hom- perg  Dragoons,  after  the  retreat  from  Vinegar  Hill, seven  young  to  omen — Private  memoranda.  -         7 "  Bayoneted  in  Enniscorthy,  after  the  defeat  at  Vinegar Hill,  by  the  military,  twelve  men  and  three  women — Private  memoranda.     -  -  -  -       15 "  Murdered  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Limerick  Hill,  by  the army  encamped  there — Private  memoranda.  -       13 "  Burned  in  the  insurgent  hospital  at  Enniscorthy,  by  the military  and  yeomen,  after  the  defeat  at  Vinegar  Hill — Private  memoranda.  -  -  .76 "  Shot  by  the  yeomen  infantry  and  cavalry,  in  cold  blood, in  the  retreat  from  Kilthomas  Hill — Private  mem.       -       42 "  Murdered  on  the  road  between  Vinegar  Hill  and  Gorey, after  the  defeat  of  the  insurgents,  by  the  yeomanry, sixteen  men,  nine  women,  six  children — Private  mem.       31 "  Murdered  in  the  hospital  of  Wexford,  by  the  yeomen and  military,  after  General  Lake  entered  the  town, sick  and  wounded — Private  memoranda.      -  -       57 "  Shot  by  the  yeomanry  in  the  village  of  Aughrim,  nine men  and  three  women — Private  memoranda.  -       12 "  Shot  at  Moneymore,  at  Mr.  Cloney's  house,  a  very  old 324  MILITARY  OUTRAGES  IN  WEXFORD sportsman,  who  came  from  the  county  Carlo w  to  in- quire for  the  author,  called  Shawn  Rooe,  alias  John Doyle — Private  memoranda.         -  -  1 "  Shot  at  same  place,  an  aged  and  most  innocent  and  inof- fensive man  with  a  large  family,  Richard  Mullett,  and while  struggling  for  death,  a  pike  thrust  through  his nose  into  his  head,  by  which  he  died  in  the  most  ex- cruciating torture — Private  memoranda.       -  1 "  Shot  by  the  King's  County  Militia  and  some  yeomanry, near  Carrigrew,  disarmed  insurgents — Private  mem.  28 "  Shot  by  the  military,  near  Killoughrim  Woods,  indus- trious, inoffensive  farmers,  entirely  unconnected  with the  persons  concealed  in  those  woods — Private  mem.  38 "  Murdered  by  the  supplementary  yeomen,  alias  the  black mob,  between  Gorey  and  Arklow,  seventeen  men  and five  women  — Private  memoranda.  -  .       22 "  Men,  women,  and  children,  ...     72$ "  Murdered  at  Kilcomney,  by  Sir  C.  Asgill's  troops,  at least  -  -  -  -  -     140 866 "  The  foregoing  are  the  numbers  only  of  those  victims  of  mili- tary outrage,  in  cold  blood,  of  which  a  very  imperfect  account has  been  kept  by  some  of  the  surviving  relatives  of  the  sufferers; but  if  I  were  to  set  down  the  whole  number  of  those  who  are reported  to  have  innocently  fallen  by  the  muskets  and  bayonets of  a  cruel  and  licentious  military  and  yeomanry,  it  would  more than  double  the  amount  of  what  I  have  stated.  The  burning  of New  Ross  suburbs,  with  its  inhabitants  enclosed  in  their  cottages, although  mentioned  by  Mr.  Hay,  I  do  not  calculate.  I  now  pre-  ■ sent  the  reader  with  a  detail  of  all  the  outrages  perpetrated  by the  insurgents  in  cold  blood,  which  I  could  collect.  No  doubt, individuals  may  have  unfortunately  fallen  in  some  quarters,  an account  of  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover.  I  certainly should  not  conceal  or  suppress  such  an  account  on  one  side  no more  than  I  would  on  the  other.  It  should  never  be  forgotten  . how  much  the  people  were  wronged  by  Sir  Richard  Musgrave ;  1 he  returned  the  names  of  many  individuals  murdered  in  cold blood  during  the  insurrection,  who  lived  for  many  years  after, nay,  some  of  whom  are,  I  believe,  living  to  this  day.  And  he unblushingly  returned  a  great  number  killed  in  battle  as  having been  murdered  in  cold  blood. OUTRAGES  BY  WEXFORD  INSURGENTS.  325 "  Murdered  by  the  insurgents  in  Wexford,  immediately after  their  entry,  Mr.  John  Boyd — Hay.      -  -         1 "  Mr.  Turner — ditto.  -  -         1 "  Two  Murphys,  Catholics— ditto.  -  -         2 "  George  Sparrow — ditto.  -  -         1 "  Ensign  Harman,  on  returning  from  General  Moore — ditto.         1 "  On  the  bridge  of  Wexford,  20th  June— ditto    -  -       36 "  In  the  parish  of  Davidstown,  during  the  insurrection — Private  memoranda.     -  -  -  -  5 "  Of  the  Wexford  Militia,  on  the  ridge  of  mountains  near Castlecomer — Private  memoranda.  -  7 "  On  Vinegar  Hill— Hay.  -  -  84 "  In  Enniscorthy,  on  the  day  of  the  first  battle,  when  the insurgents  discovered  the  drummer  hanging  in  the Rev.  Mr.  Handcock's  lodgings — Hay  -  -       14 "  Shot  by  the  insurgents,  near  Carnew,  a  black  trumpeter, belonging  to  the  Ancient  Britons — Hay.     -  -  1 "  Mr.  Hay  states  that  there  were  but  eighty  persons  suf- fered death  at  Scullabogue.  Sir  R.  Musgrave  men- tions, if  my  memory  does  not  err,  184.  I  have  reason to  say,  that  between  those  that  were  shot,  and  those burned  in  the  barn,  the  number  Avas  about  100,  of whom  it  is  said  eight  were  Catholics.*  -  -  100 257 Mr.  Charles  H.  Teeling,  in  his  History  of  the  Rebellion, speaks  in  similar  terms  to  those  of  Cloney  of  the  tortures  and  free quarters  of  1798.  This  gentleman  was  arrested  in  1796  on  a charge  of  treason,  by  Lord  Castlereagh ;  but  whoever  was  acquain- ted with  him,  friend  or  foe  to  his  political  sentiments,  knew  him  to be  an  honest  man,  and  incapable  of  misrepresenting  facts,  the knowledge  of  which  few  men  had  fuller  opportunities  of  obtaining. In  speaking  of  his  arrest,  he  says :  "  I  was  the  first  victim  to the  political  apostacy  of  Lord  Castlereagh.  On  the  16th  of September,  1796,  while  yet  in  my  eighteenth  year,  I  was  arrested by  him  on  a  charge  of  high  treason.  The  manner  of  my  arrest was  as  novel  as  mysterious,  and  the  hand  which  executed  it  the last  from  which  I  could  have  suspected  an  act  of  unkindness. Lord  Castlereagh  was  the  personal  friend  of  my  father,  who admired  him  as  the  earliest  advocate  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. "In  the  year,  1790,  the  representation  of  Down  was  con- tested, and  the  independence  of  that  great  and  populous  county *  Cloney '§  "Personal  Narrative",  p.  216—219. 32G  teeling's  account threatened,  through  the  powerful  influence  of  the  Downshire family,  and  a  combination  of  local  interests  hostile  to  the  rights of  the  people.  Lord  Castlereagh,  then  the  Honourable  Robert Stewart,  was  selected  by  his  countrymen  for  his  talents  and  his patriotism,  and  after  the  most  obstinate  contest  ever  witnessed in  Ireland  he  was  triumphantly  returned  to  parliament,  not  only by  the  suffrages,  but  by  the  pecuniary  assistance,  of  the  friends of  civil  and  religious  liberty. "  The  penal  laws  at  this  time  operated  against  my  father's  per- sonal exercise  of  the  elective  franchise,  but  neither  his  fortune nor  his  best  personal  exertions  were  unemployed  in  the  service  of his  friend". After  describing  his  having  passed  the  evening  preceding  his arrest  at  a  party  in  the  neighbourhood,  he  says:  "Accompanying my  father,  the  following  morning,  on  a  short  excursion  on  horse- back, we  were  met  by  Lord  Castlereagh,  who  accosted  us  with his  usual  courtesy^  and  politeness.  We  had  proceeded  up  the streets  together,  when,  having  reached  the  house  of  his  noble relative,  the  Marquis  of  Headford,  we  were  about  to  take  leave  of his  lordship ;  '  I  regret',  said  he,  addressing  my  father,  '  that  your son  cannot  accompany  you',  conducting  me,  at  the  same  time, through  the  outer  gate,  which,  to  my  inexpressible  astonishment, was  instantly  closed ;  and  I  found  myself  surrounded  by  a  mili- tary guard. "  My  father  entered,  and  with  a  firm  and  determined  com- posure inquired  the  cause  of  the  arrest.  '  High  treason  !'  replied his  lordship.  Our  interview  was  short:  my  father  was  not  per- mitted to  remain.  My  horse  was  led  home  by  a  faithful  do- mestic ;  but  to  that  home  I  never  returned". The  young  man  was  sent  to  Dublin,  committed  to  Newgate, and  kept  in  confinement  there  till  the  latter  part  of  1797,  when, broken  down  in  health,  he  was  indebted  to  the  humanity  of  Mr. Secretary  Cooke  for  his  release,  on  condition  of  surrendering himself,  if  called  on  by  the  government ;  but  he  was  left  unmo- lested. His  father's  house,  in  the  meantime,  had  been  assailed by  the  military,  and  his  entire  establishment,  in  the  course  of  a few  hours,  had  been  left  a  desolate  ruin.* With  regard  to  the  cruelties  practised  on  the  people,  Teeling observes :  "  It  was  notorious  that  in  the  districts  where  the (United)  system  had  made  the  least  progress,  the  greatest  acts  of outrage  were  perpetrated  under  the  sanction  of  the  government ; and  in  those  quarters  where  the  inhabitants  were  remarkable  for a  peaceful  demeanour,  moral  disposition,  and  obedience  to  the *  C.  Teeliug's  "Narrative",  p.  15. OF  MILITARY  OUTRAGES  IN  WEXFORD.  327 laws,  every  principle  of  justice  and  humanity  was  violated. Wexford,  which  was  the  scene  of  the  greatest  military  atrocity, and,  consequently,  the  boldest  and  most  effectual  in  resistance, was,  at  this  period,  less  identified  with  the  organized  system  than any  county  in  Ireland.  Of  this  fact  government  was  perfectly aware ;  and  it  was  only  when  the  outraged  feelings  of  human nature  were  no  longer  able  to  bear  the  torture  of  the  scourge,  the blaze  of  incendiarism,  and  the  base  violation  of  female  virtue,  that Wexford  rose  as  one  man. "  From  the  humble  cot  to  the  stately  mansion,  no  property, no  person,  was  secure".  After  detailing  the  various  atrocities committed  in  the  way  of  flogging,  half-hanging,  the  pitch-cap practice,  etc.,  he  adds:  "The  torture  practised  in  those  days  of Ireland's  misery,  has  not  been  equalled  in  the  annals  of  the  most barbarous  nation,  and  the  world  has  been  astonished  at  the  close of  the  eighteenth  century,  with  acts,  which  the  eye  views  with horror  and  the  heart  sickens  to  record,  not  only  on  the  most trivial,  but  most  groundless  occasions :  it  was  inflicted  without mercy,  on  every  age  and  on  every  condition.  In  the  centre  of the  city  of  Dublin,  the  heart-rending  exhibition  was  presented  of a  human  being  rushing  from  the  infernal  depot  of  torture  and death,  his  person  besmeared  with  a  burning  preparation  of  tur- pentine and  pitch,  plunging,  in  his  distraction,  into  the  Liffey, and  terminating  at  once  his  sufferings  and  his  life. "A  melancholy  transaction  occurred  in  the  town  of  Drogheda. — The  unhappy  victim  was  a  young  man  of  delicate  frame ;  he had  been  sentenced  to  five  hundred  lashes,  and  received  a  portion with  firmness,  but  dreading  lest  bodily  suffering  might  subdue the  fortitude  of  his  mind,  he  requested  that  the  remainder  of  his punishment  should  be  suspended  and  his  information  taken. Being  liberated  from  the  triangles,  he  directed  his  executioners to  a  certain  garden,  where  he  informed  them  arms  were  concealed. In  their  absence,  he  deliberately  cut  his  throat.  They  were  not discovered,  for  no  arms  were  there. "  About  the  same  period,  and  in  the  same  populous  town,  the unfortunate  Bergan  was  tortured  to  death.  He  was  an  honest, upright  citizen,  and  a  man  of  unimpeachable  moral  character. He  was  seized  on  by  those  vampires,  and  in  the  most  public street  stripped  of  his  clothes,  placed  in  a  horizontal  position  on  a cart,  and  torn  with  the  cat-o'-nine-tails,  long  after  the  vital  spark was  extinct.  The  alleged  pretence  for  the  perpetration  of  this horrid  outrage,  was  that  a  small  gold  ring  had  been  discovered on  his  finger  bearing  a  national  device — the  shamrock  of  his unfortunate  country". *  Teeling's  "  Narrative",  p.  138. 328  DEFENCE  OF  THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR. A  Dublin  newspaper,  a  few  years  ago,  commented  on  the  use of  torture  in  Ireland  in  1797  and  1798,  and  compared  the  bru- tality of  it  with  the  barbarity  of  similar  practices  on  the  con- tinent, then  strongly  reprobated  in  England.  The  Irish  reign  of terror,  and  Major  Sirr  and  his  compeers,  found  a  zealous  advo- cate in  a  correspondent  of  a  London  newspaper.  The  writer says : — "  The  allusion  made  to  Major  Sirr  is  as  untrue  as  the  malig- nancy towards  England  is  shameful. "  I  happened  to  know  Major  Sirr  at  the  period  alluded  to.  I was  quartered  in  Dublin  with  my  regiment  before  and  when  the rebellion  of  1798  broke  out,  and  remained  in  that  garrison  some time  after  the  23rd  of  May.  I  also  happened  to  be  attached  to the  picket  guard  that  Major  Sirr  directed  to  meet  him  at Murphy's,  the  feather  merchant,  in  Thomas  Street,  on  the  eve- ning (I  think)  of  the  6th  of  June,  1798,  when  and  where  Lord Edward  Fitzgerald  was  taken.  In  consequence  of  this  trans- action I  became  more  intimate  with  Major  Sirr,  and  in  justice  to his  memory  I  think  it  my  duty  to  state,  that  if  he  had  ever  been guilty  of  the  base  and  unmanly  conduct  of  flogging  the  wives and  sisters  of  rebels,  I  must  have  heard  or  known  of  it.  I  am sure  he  never  did ;  and,  what  is  more,  although  I  served  through the  entire  rebellion  in  the  counties  south  of  Dublin,  and  wit- nessed a  good  deal  of  what  was  going  on  at  that  eventful  and  un- fortunate period,  yet  I  never  saw  nor  even  heard  of  any  cruelty  or dishonour  practised  by  any  person  connected  ivith  the  army  to- wards any  females". The  writer  might,  with  more  prudence  than  he  has  displayed, have  limited  his  defence  of  the  reign  of  terror  to  the  exculpation of  one  of  the  principal  actors  in  it  from  the  charge  of  torturing rebels  or  suspected  persons  with  his  own  hands.  Sirr's  advocate, however,  says  he  has  had  great  experience  of  the  affairs  of  1798, and  "  he  never  heard  of  any  cruelty  or  dishonour  practised  by  any person  connected  with  the  army  towards  any  females".  As  it  is possible  this  marvellously  strange  assertion  may  be  credited in  England,  the  following  accounts  of  Irish  torturings  in  our reign  of  terror  are  given  to  the  public.  And  it  may  be  ob-  . served,  if  the  writer  above  referred  to  had  said  he  had  never heard  an  instance  of  any  insult  or  dishonour  on  the  part  of  the rebels  to  women  who  had  fallen  into  their  hands,  he  could  not  be contradicted. "  In  one  point",  says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gordon,  "  I  think  we must  allow  some  praise  to  the  rebels.  Amid  all  their  atrocities, the  chastity  of  the  fair  sex  was  respected.     I  have  not  been  able DENIAL  OF  OUTRAGES  OFFERED  TO  WOMEN.  329 to  ascertain  one  instance  to  the  contrary  in  the  county  of  Wex- ford, though  many  beautiful  young  women  were  absolutely  in their  power".* The  instances,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  of  dishonour  and  insult  to women  of  the  people  by  the  Orange  military  rabble,  are  by  no means  few.  I  will  refer  to  one  or  two  cases  noticed  in  the  public prints : — Dublin  Evening  Post,  March  3,  1798. "  Whereas  William  Vennell,  lieutenant  in  his  Majesty's  89th regiment  of  foot,  and  Thady  Lawler,  lieutenant  in  the  Clare light  company,  attached  to  the  said  regiment,  stand  charged  on oath  with  having  forcibly  and  violently  committed  a  rape  on Catherine  Finn,  a  prisoner  in  charge  of  the  guard  whereof  the said  Lawler  was  officer ; "  We,  the  undersigned  officers  of  the  89th  regiment,  at  head quarters,  desirous  of  testifying  to  the  country  our  abhorrence  and detestation  of  such  inhuman  and  infamous  conduct,  and  being determined,  as  far  as  lies  in  our  power,  to  bring  the  said  William Vennell  to  justice,  do  hereby  offer  a  reward  of  one  hundred guineas  to  any  person  or  persons  who  will  apprehend  and  lodge him  in  any  of  his  majesty's  jails,  within  the  space  of  six  months from  the  date  hereof,  which  reward  will  be  paid  on  application to  the  commanding  officer  of  said  regiment. "  Said  William  Vennell  is  about  twenty  years  of  age,  about  five feet  six  inches  high,  round  face,  ruddy  complexion,  fair  hair,  and rather  inn-kneed. "  William  Stewart,  Lieut.-Col." The  reader  is  referred  to  Lord  Holland's  account  of  the  state- ment made  to  him  by  Dr.  Dickson,  Lord  Bishop  of  Down  (at page  303),  who  assured  his  lordship,  "  that  he  had  seen  families returning  peaceably  from  Mass  assailed,  without  provocation,  by drunken  troops  and  yeomanry,  and  the  wives  and  daughters  ex- posed to  every  species  of  indignity,  brutality,  and  outrage,  from which,  neither  his  remonstrances,  nor  those  of  other  Protestant gentlemen,  could  rescue  them1.  But  the  friend  of  Major  Sirr, and  the  enliglitener  of  the  British  public  on  the  subject  of  the rebellion  of  1798,  "  never  saiv  nor  even  heard  of  any  cruelty  or dishonour  practised  by  any  person  connected  with  the  army  toivards females!  .'T The  reader  is  referred  to  Cloney's  statement  of  the  outrages committed  on  the  people  in  the  county  Wexford  in  1798,  by  the *  "History  of  the  Irish  Rebellion",  by  Rev.  James  Gordon,  p.  213. 330  WOMEN  TORTURED  IN  1798. military  and  magisterial  terrorists  (at  page  322) ;  and  there  he will  find  an  account  of  seven  young  women  violated  and  mur- dered, near  Ballaghkeene,  by  the  Homperg  Dragoons,  after  the retreat  from  Vinegar  Hill;  and  on  the  same  awful  record,  ac- counts of  four  women  being  shot  on  one  occasion  (after  the  flight of  the  rebels  from  Wexford),  of  three  women  being  bayoneted in  Enniscorthy  after  the  defeat  at  Vinegar  Hill,  of  nine  women and  six  children  being  slain  by  the  yeomanry  between  Vinegar  Hill and  Gorey,  on  the  high  road,  of  three  women  being  shot  by  the yeomanry  in  the  village  of  Aughrim,  and  of  four  women  being murdered  by  "  the  supplementary  yeomen"  between  Gorey  and Arklow. The  torture  of  women,  by  pricking  their  arms  and  shoulders with  bayonets,  to  extort  information  relative  to  fugitives  of  their families,  masters,  and  neighbours  suspected  of  treasonable  prac- tises, though  not  pursued  systematically,  or  with  the  cognizance and  sanction  of  the  higher  power,  most  unquestionably  occurred at  the  hands  of  that  yeomanry  rabble,  who  were  formidable,  in Lord  Cornwallis's  opinion,  to  all  except  the  enemy,  in  the  pre- sence, too,  of  those  demons,  yclept  captains  and  majors,  some  of whom  figured  in  those  times  on  the  bench,  scoured  rural  dis- tricts, and  swaggered  in  the  streets  as  gentlemen  of  unequivocal loyalty  and  undoubted  authority,  albeit  in  their  character,  posi- tion, principles,  and  conduct  in  private  life,  exceedingly  question- able and  equivocal The  tortures  inflicted  on  Anne  Devlin,  the  servant  of  Robert Emmet,  I  have  given  an  account  of  in  the  memoir  of  the  latter. She  was  half  hanged  from  the  back-band  of  a  car,  the  shafts being  elevated  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  temporary  gallows — a common  contrivance  of  the  terrorists  of  those  times.  The  ac- count of  her  sufferings  I  had  from  her  own  lips,  on  the  spot where  these  atrocities  were  perpetrated.  "When  she  was  taken down,  her  shoulders  and  the  upper  parts  of  her  arms  were  pricked with  bayonets,  the  cicatrized  marks  of  which  I  have  seen  and felt. In  1798,  a  man  (if  indeed  the  person  referred  to  deserved that  name),  a  colonel  of  a  militia  regiment,  was  governor  of New  Geneva  barracks,  which,  during  the  rebellion,  had  been converted  into  a  monster  prison,  where  hundreds  of  persons  sus- pected of  treason,  or  of  a  creed  or  political  opinions  to  justify  the appearance  of  suspicion,  were  cast  into  jail  without  the  inter- vention of  judge  or  jury.  New  Geneva  served  as  a  depot  for the  victims  of  Protestant  ascendency  selected  for  transportation to  the  salt  mines  of  the  King  of  Prussia. The  atrocious  cruelties  inflicted  on  the  state  prisoners  confine THE  USE  OF  TORTURE  IN  THE  CAPITAL.  331 in  this  stronghold  are  hardly  credible.  A  great  number  of the  prisoners  in  this  place  were  of  respectable  Roman  Catholic families.  The  privations  and  persecutions  they  were  subjected to  were  intolerable  and  rigorous  beyond  anything  known  of  the prisoners  elsewhere.  The  female  relatives  of  the  prisoners  who visited  the  latter,  were  subjected  to  insults  and  indignities,  which were  not  unfrequently  witnessed  by  the  commandant. Mrs.  O'Neill  came  to  the  prison  called  New  Geneva  in  1798, from  the  county  Antrim  (a  distance  of  nearly  one  hundred  and fifty  miles),  to  take  leave  of  her  son,  a  young  man,  who  was  in that  place  of  confinement  under  sentence  of  transportation,  and, like  many  others  of  his  associates,  was  destined  to  pass  the  re- mainder of  his  days  in  the  salt  mines  of  the  King  of  Prussia. Mrs.  O'Neill  could  only  get  access  to  her  son  by  bribing  some  of the  officials  of  the  prison  depot.  The  act  of  bribery  was  dis- covered after  the  interview  had  been  gained  with  the  son,  who was  a  person  of  superior  manners  and  education,  and  had  been intended  for  the  priesthood.  The  painful  nature  of  this  meeting so  affected  the  poor  mother  that  her  cries  of  anguish  and  sorrow were  heard  by  every  one  in  the  prison.  She  was  separated violently  from  her  son,  and  carried  before  the  colonel  who commanded  the  garrison  of  New  Geneva,  to  account  for  the  crime of  gaining  access  to  her  son  without  the  sanction  of  the  former. The  unfortunate  mother  was  delivered  up  to  the  tender  mercies of  the  soldiers,  taken  to  the  court  yard  of  the  fortress,  and  tossed in  a  blanket  for  several  minutes.  After  this  barbarous  outrage she  was  stripped  almost  naked  by  the  military  ruffians  of  the garrison,  and  thus  divested  of  apparel,  the  body  of  this  respec- table woman  was  subjected  to  every  insult  and  annoyance  that could  be  devised:  the  shouts  of  the  savages  in  military  costume who  assisted  in  this  brutal  pastime  of  female  blanketing  were heard  by  the  people  with  dismay  and  horror.  The  pastime ceased;  the  maltreated  woman  was  released  from  their  hands,  a few  rags  were  thrown  to  her,  she  crawled  to  a  neighbouring cabin,  and  there  it  is  stated  she  died  of  the  tortures  she  under- went at  the  hands  of  the  military  terrorists  of  New  Geneva. Those  who  desire  more  minute  particulars  of  this  case  may refer  to  Cox's  Hibernian  Magazine  for  January,  1815,  p.  52. The  whipping  of  an  aged  woman  in  Kildare,  is  related  by  Cox in  The  Irish  Magazine  for  October,  1813,  p.  437. It  is  in  vain,  utterly  futile  and  fruitless,  to  deny  the  constant use  of  torture  in  1797  and  1798,  in  the  Riding  House,  Marlbo- rough Street:,  under  the  direction  of  John  Claudius  Beresford, and  in  the  Prevot  Prison  in  the  Royal  Barracks,  then  governed by  Major  Sandys,  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Secretary  Cooke  (Lord 332  PRIESTS  TORTURED  IN   1708. Castlereagh's  chief  official  in  the  secretary's  office) ;  occasionally, too,  in  the  Royal  Exchange,  and  in  the  small  vacant  space  ad- joining the  entrance  to  the  Upper  Castle  Yard,  immediately  be- hind the  offices  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  and  having  on  the  opposite side  the  back  part  of  the  Exchange,  where,  under  the  very  win- dows of  Lord  Castlereagh's  office,  the  triangles  were  set  up  for fastening  the  wretches  to,  who  were  flogged,  tortured  even  to death. There  two  remarkable  executions  took  place.  A  young  Do- minican clergyman  named  Bush,  and  a  Quaker  named  Shaw, were  scourged,  by  the  command  and  under  the  eyes  of  Lord Kingsborough,  and  with  such  severity  that  the  latter  is  said to  have  died  from  the  effects  of  his  punishment.  A  youn<r man,  wholly  innocent  of  treasonable  designs,  of  the  name  of Purcell,  educated  for  the  Church  (the  son  of  an  industrious  me- chanic, a  master-nailor  of  Stoney batter),  whom  I  afterwards  knew long  and  intimately  in  the  ministry,  a  most  worthy  and  holy man,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  for  many  years  a  curate  of  Bridge Street  chapel,  and  but  recently  (in  the  beginning  of  the  present year)  deceased,  was  scourged  in  the  Prevot,  in  the  Royal  Bar- racks, along  with  his  father,  by  the  command  of  Major  Sandys, being  tied  by  the  wrists,  and  fastened  to  the  same  iron  hook  in the  prison  wall,  stripped  to  the  waist,  and  flogged  alternately  by a  Negro  executioner,  and  at  every  blow  the  major  calling  on  the son  to  inform  against  the  father ;  and  when  no  effect  was  pro- duced on  the  poor  youth,  terrifying  the  father  with  diabolical threats,  to  make  him  hang  his  own  son.  When  the  monster Sandys — the  brother-in-law  of  Cooke,  Lord  Castlereagh's  secre- tary— put  an  end  to  the  long-protracted  torture,  the  two  Pur- cells,  father  and  son,  alike  exhausted,  were  dragged  to  their  cells in  a  state,  apparently,  of  men  more  dead  than  living. The  case  of  one  of  the  tortured  priests  in  1798,  will  serve  for an  illustration  of  the  savage  proceedings  adopted  against  several of  his  order  at  that  time.  We  are  indebted  to  the  stupid  bi- gotry of  Lord  Chancellor  Redesdale,  as  it  was  displayed  in  a trashy,  insolent  letter  addressed  to  Lord  Fingall,  September  6, 1803,  for  the  authentic  statement  of  this  most  striking  case  of horrible  cruelty  and  injustice.  Lord  Redesdale  said,  in  his  pole- mical epistle :  "  I  am  assured  from  very  high  and  respectable  autho- rity, that,  at  least  in  one  district,  the  priests  who  were  instru- mental in  saving  the  lives  of  the  loyalists  in  the  late  rebellion, are  universally  discountenanced  by  their  superiors;  and  that a  priest  pi^cved  to  have  been  guilty  of  sanctioning  murders  in 1798,  transported  to  Botany  Bay,  and  since  pardoned  by  the mercy  of  government,  has  been  brought  back  in  triumph  by  the PRIESTS  TORTURED  IN   1798.  333 same  superiors,  to  what,  in  defiance  of  the  law,  he  calls  his parish,  and  there  placed  as  a  martyr,  in  a  manner  the  most  in- sulting to  the  feelings  of  the  Protestants,  to  the  justice  of  the country,  and  to  that  government  to  whose  lenity  he  owes  his  re- demption from  the  punishment  due  to  his  crimes". Lord  Fingall  felt  that  it  was  incumbent  on  him  to  inquire  into the  case  of  this  sanguinary  priest,  who  had  been  transported  and pardoned,  and  whose  return  to  his  own  parish  had  been  so  insult- ing to  the  feelings  of  the  Protestants.  Lord  Fingall  found  the sanguinary  priest  was  a  virtuous  ecclesiastic,  of  unblemished  life and  manners,  innocent  of  all  political  crime,  who  had  been  bar- barously persecuted,  most  inhumanly  tortured,  unjustly  con- demned to  transportation  ;  and  on  the  representations  of  his bishop,  the  loyal  prelate,  Dr.  Coppinger,  had  been  restored  to  his liberty  and  his  country.  Lord  Fingall  published  an  account, drawn  up  by  this  clergyman,  of  his  sufferings,  entitled,  "  The Humble  Remonstrance  of  the  Rev.  Peter  O'Neil,  Roman  Catholic Parish  Priest  of  Ballymacoda,  county  of  Cork",  from  which  the following  passages  are  extracted: "  Under  a  full  conviction  that  an  appeal  to  the  God  of  Truth in  support  of  known  falsehood,  would  be  nothing  less  than  a  call upon  Him  to  expunge  my  name  for  ever  from  the  book  of  life, to  withhold  from  me  all  participation  in  the  merits  of  my  Re- deemer, to  doom,  of  its  own  nature,  my  soul  to  never-ending misery,  I  now  most  solemnly  swear,  in  the  presence  of  the  mighty God,  upon  His  holy  Gospel,  first,  that  I  was  never  an  United Irishman ;  that  I  never  took  that  oath  ;  that  I  never  encouraged, advised,  or  permitted  others  to  take  it ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that I  dissuaded  others  from  taking  it,  some  of  whom  have  had  the generosity  to  make  affidavit  of  my  exertions  in  this  behalf;  and there  are  those  who  have  candidly  added,  that  they  would  have taken  it,  had  I  not  prevented  them "  I  shall  now  proceed  to  the  particulars  of  my  case: — Immedi- ately upon  my  arrest,  I  was  brought  into  Youghal,  where,  without any  previous  trial,  I  was  confined  in  a  loathsome  receptacle  of  the barrack,  called  the  black  hole,  rendered  still  more  offensive  by the  stench  of  the  common  necessary  adjoining  it.  In  that  dun- geon I  remained  from  Friday  until  Monday,  when  I  was  conduc- ted to  the  Ball  Alley  to  receive  my  punishment.  No  trial  had  yet intervened,  nor  ever  after.  I  was  stripped  and  tied  up,  six soldiers  stood  forth  for  this  operation;  some  of  them  right-handed, some  of  them  left-handed  men,  two  at  a  time  (as  I  judge  from  the quickness  of  the  lashes),  and  relieved  at  intervals,  until  I  had  re- ceived two  hundred  and  seventy-five  lashes,  and  so  deeply  in- flicted, that  my  back  and  the  points  of  my  shoulders  were  quite 334  ATROCITIES  COMMITTED bared  of  the  flesh.  At  that  moment,  a  letter  was  handed  to  the officer  presiding,  written,  I  understand,  in  my  favour  by  the  late Hon.  Capt.  O'Brien,  of  Rostellan.  It  happily  interrupted  my punishment ;  but  I  had  not  hitherto  shaken  the  triangle,  a  dis- play of  feeling  which  it  seems  was  eagerly  expected  from  me.  To accelerate  that  spectacle,  a  wire  cat  was  introduced,  armed  with scraps  of  tin  or  lead  (I  judge  from  the  effect  and  description given  me).  Whatever  were  its  appendages,  I  cannot  easily forget  the  power  of  it.  In  defiance  of  shame,  my  waistband  was cut  for  the  finishing  strokes  of  this  lacerating  instrument.  The very  first  lash,  as  it  renewed  all  my  pangs,  and  shot  convvdsive agony  through  my  entire  frame,  made  me  shake  the  triangle  in- deed. A  second  infliction  of  it  penetrated  my  loins,  and  tore them  excruciatingly ;  the  third  maintained  the  tremulous  exhi- tion  long  enough — the  spectators  were  satisfied". But  the  satisfaction  was  of  short  duration.  The  following  day, the  unfortunate  lacerated  priest  was  threatened  with  a  repetition of  the  torture  of  the  preceding  day,  if  he  did  not  give  under  his hand  an  admission  of  guilt.  Terror-stricken,  after  various  pro- testations of  innocence,  he  at  length  consented,  to  satisfy  the honourable  gentlemen  by  whom  he  was  menaced.  So,  in  the terrible  perplexity  of  mortal  fear  and  frightful  suffering,  he  wrote to  his  brother,  for  the  gentlemen,  some  lines  to  the  effect  that  he deserved  his  sufferings.  The  moment  the  terrorists  left  their victim,  the  tortured  priest  wrote  two  letters,  solemnly  proclaim- ing his  innocence,  and  declaring  the  circumstances  under  which he  had  written  to  his  brother  as  he  had  done. The  atrocities  that  were  committed  in  Antrim,  after  the  defeat of  the  rebels,  were  of  the  usual  character  of  the  yeomanry outrages.  The  following  account  of  the  melancholy  fate  of  Mr. Quin,  of  Antrim,  and  his  daughter,  was  given  to  me  by  a  gentle- man of  that  town,  of  high  character,  one  who  had  a  personal knowledge  of  the  circumstance,  and  in  some  of  the  matters connected  with  it  a  closer  acquaintance  than  was  consistent  at that  period  with  the  security  of  life  itself: — "  Mr.  Quin  lived  in  Antrim,  near  the  head  of  the  street  that leads  to  Belfast.  After  the  rebels  had  fled,  some  cannon  were placed  by  the  military  in  a  position  to  play  upon  the  houses.  A shot  struck  the  house  next  to  Quin's,  when  he  and  his  daughter, a  lovely  girl  of  sixteen,  fled  through  the  garden  towards  Bel- mont, and  had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance,  when  they  were shot  down  by  the  yeomen  or  militia,  who  had  orders  to  shoot every  person  in  coloured  clothes.  They  were  buried  where  they fell,   and  it  was  said  that  the  beautiful  long  hair   of  the  girl ON  WOMEN  IN  1798.  335 was  partly  above  the  ground  waving  in  the  wind  for  many- days.  This  was  the  fact,  and  I  recollect  it  excited  more  sympa- thy among  the  poor  people  than  many  horrid  barbarities  of  the time;  she  was  a  sweet  lively  girl,  much  beloved.  Their  rela- tive, the  present  Mr.  Quin,  lived  in  a  distant  town.  As  soon as  he  dare  venture  to  the  spot,  he  had  his  father  and  sister  de- cently interred  in  the  neighbouring  burying  ground". A  Presbyterian  clergyman  of  respectability  in  Belfast  ad- dressed to  me  the  following  communication  in  Feb.,  1844: — "  Permit  me  to  correct  an  inaccuracy  in  your  relation  of  the tragical  fate  of  Mr.  and  Miss  Quin,  who  were  killed  at  the  battle of  Antrim.  I  am  sorry  to  say  there  was  a  third  victim,  the brother  of  the  young  lady.  All  perished  under  the  same  volley, and  were  buried  where  they  fell.  The  bodies  were  not  removed. A  considerable  time  elapsed  before  any  friends  dare  visit  the place ;  and  when  the  two  remaining  brothers  did  so,  they  judged it  better  not  to  disturb  the  remains.  They,  however,  enclosed the  spot,  and  planted  a  few  willows  round  the  grave. "  This  account  I  received  from  Mr.  Arthur  Quin,  the  only remaining  member  of  the  family,  who  is  a  member  of  my  congre- gation.— Respectfully  yours,  J.  P." There  were  many  such  murders  as  those  of  the  Quins  during the  twenty -four  or  forty-eight  hours  after  the  engagement  at  An- trim. One  of  the  military  atrocities,  the  most  cruel  and  unpro- voked (says  my  informant  of  Antrim),  was  that  of  James  M'Adam and  the  two  Mr.  Johnstons.  These  men  had  been  appointed  by the  authorities  in  Ballymena,  to  convey  and  see  deposited  at  the military  camp  beside  Shane's  Castle,  several  cartloads  of  arms which  the  people  had  delivered  up  after  the  skirmish  in  that town.  They  had  deposited  these  arms  at  the  camp,  and  had passed  through  Antrim  on  their  way  to  relatives  who  resided  a mile  or  two  from  Antrim.  On  passing  the  avenue  of  Mercka- more  Abbey,  the  residence  of  Mr.  Allison,  which  was  then  in  the act  of  being  burned  and  destroyed  by  a  party  of  the  22nd  light dragoons,  from  Antrim—  (these  lawless  and  unrestrained  troops had,  no  doubt,  revelled  in  Mr.  Allison's  cellar) — our  unfortunate friends,  in  riding  past,  happened  to  attract  notice,  when  they  were shot  down,  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  the  road  ditch.  Their horses  were  sold  by  auction  in  Antrim  by  the  military.  Some humane  persons  had  the  bodies  buried  the  next  day  in  the  grave- yard hardby. James  M'Adam  was  a  millwright  and  builder,  who  had  erec- ted most  of  the  bleach-mills  for  many  miles  round  that  centre  of 338        NEILSON,  A  LAD  OF  FIFTEEN,  PUT  TO  DEATH. the  linen  manufacture;  of  course  he  was  generally  known,  and from  everything  I  could  learn  afterwards  (I  was  then  very- young),  he  was  much  esteemed  by  all  classes;  by  the  linen  mer- chants and  bleachers  as  clever  and  conscientious  in  his  profession, and  by  others  as  a  sincere  friend  and  good  neighbour.  Mr.  John Johnson  was  a  respectable  cattle  dealer,  and  Mr.  Andrew Johnson  was  in  the  linen  business;  none  of  these  men  were  en- gaged in  the  insurrection. In  gratitude  to  the  memory  of  the  late  venerable  rector  of Antrim,  Mr.  Macartney,  and  as  a  tribute  to  his  humanity  and goodness,  I  must  relate  the  following  anecdote : — The  son  of  Mr.  M'Adam  was  then  a  little  boy  of  fourteen, and  had  gone  to  business  with  two  persons  who  were  both  in- volved, and  had  made  themselves  obnoxious  to  Mr.  Macartney. The  one  was  in  prison,  the  other  had  been  wounded  and  fled, their  house  was  wrecked,  and  the  goods  all  destroyed.  M'Adam's boy  was  a  wanderer  in  the  streets  several  days  after  the  fight. '  He went  up  to  Mr.  Macartney  in  the  street,  and  asked  him  to  give him  a  pass  to  go  home;  he  (Mr.  Macartney)  said  something  that frightened  him,  but  the  next  moment  asked  him  his  name,  and the  name  of  his  father  and  mother,  and  where  they  were  from ; he  said  he  knew  who  they  were,  and  spoke  rather  angrily,  but  he immediately  turned  to  the  boy,  took  him  by  the  hand,  got  him  a red  ribbon  to  put  into  his  hat,  and  went  with  him  along  the  road that  leads  by  the  steeple  to  Ballymena,  and  enabled  the  poor  lad to  reach  his  home  in  safety. The  fate  of  William  Neilson,  the  son  of  a  poor  widow,  who  was put  to  death  after  the  battle  of  Antrim,  was  not  less  shocking  to humanity  than  that  of  the  daughter  of  the  unfortunate  Quin. The  particulars  of  this  case  were  communicated  to  Miss M'Cracken  by  the  mother  and  sister  of  young  Neilson,  and  by Miss  M'Cracken  to  the  author. There  was  a  poor  widow  of  the  name  of  Neilson,  living  in the  village  of  Ballycarry,  near  Carrickfergus,  who  had  four  sons and  two  daughters;  her  second  son,  Samuel,  had  been  taken prisoner  on  account  of  fire-arms  having  been  found  in  the  house, but  was  liberated  on  the  2nd  of  June,  on  giving  bail.  On  the memorable  7th  of  June,  the  people  assembled  for  the  purpose  of going  to  Antrim  In  the  same  neighbourhood  there  happened that  day  to  be  a  man  from  Carrickfergus,  of  the  name  of  Cuth- bert,  a  pensioner,  who  was  in  the  house  of  one  M'Ternan.  It was  considered  advisable  not  to  let  him  return  to  Carrick- fergus. William  Neilson,  a  lad  of  fifteen  years,  being  young  and enthusiastic  in  the  cause  in  which  his  elder  brothers  were  engaged, offered  to  be  one  of  a  party  to  go  to  M'Ternan's  house,  to  make ATROCITIES  IN  THE  NORTH.  337 a  prisoner  of  Cuthbert,   and   take  him  with  them  to  Doneo-ore Hill,  the  place  where  the  people  assembled  previously  to  their marching  on  Antrim.     William,  after  all  was  over,  returned  to his  mother's  house,  no  fear  being  entertained  by  his  friends  for him  on  account  of  his  extreme  youth.     He  was  taken  and  tried by  court  martial,  and  sent  back  to  prison.     The  boy  seemed  to be  quite  unconscious  of  his  intended  fate.     When  his  friends visited  him,  they  found  him  amusing  himself  with  his  brothers. "  At  midnight  an  order  came  for  his  removal.     He  was  torn ;  from  the  arms  of  his  eldest  brother,  John,  who  was  confined  in j  the  same  cell,  and  hurried  to  the  new  jail,   where  his  second \  brother    Sam   was  confined.      He    was   offered  his  pardon,   on condition  of  giving  information  against  the  leaders  at  Antrim. I  He  rejected  the  proposal;   strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  in- !  duce  him  to  alter  his  determination,  but  they  had  no  effect  upon j  him.     He  requested  that  his  own  minister  should  be  brought  to J  him,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bankhead.     This  request  was  granted,  and  he |  spent_  the  remainder  of  the  night  with  that  gentleman.     In  the I  morning  he  begged  he  might  be  allowed  to  see  his  brother  Sam ; I  that  wish  was  also  complied  with.  The  brother  expected  he  would j  share  thesame  fate;  the  fear  of  it,  however,  did  not  prevent  his j  encouraging  William  to  persist  in  his  determination.  The  boy  was j  then  brought  to  his  native  village,  Ballycarry,  and  within  a  mile '  of  the  town  he  was  met  by  his  distracted  mother,  who  was  then  on her  way  to  visit  her  imprisoned  family.  She  made  her  way  through the  soldiery,  who  endeavoured  to  keep  her  back,  but  the  poor boy  caught  her  hand,  exclaiming,  'Oh!  my  mother !' when  he was  dragged  from  her.     She  then  threw  herself  in  the  midst  of the  cavalry,   at  the  feet  of  Richard  Kerr,   Esq.,  her  landlord, requesting  to  be  allowed  to  speak  one  word  to  her  poor  child ;  he j  ordered  her  to  '  get  out  of  his  way,  or  he  would  be  obliged  to ride  over  her'.    Her  son  was  brought  to  her  door  to  be  executed; but  he  requested  he  might  not  die  there.     He  was  then  taken  to the  end  of  the  village.     His  presence  of  mind  never  forsook  him. He  made  a  last  effort  in  behalf  of  his  brothers,  begging  that  his death  might  expiate  their  offences,  and  that  his  body  might  be given  to  his  mother,  which  last  request  was  granted.     His  body was  brought  to  his  mother's,  and  strict  orders   given  that  no persons  should  attend  at  his  wake.     That  night  some   cavalry surrounded  the  house   and    forbid   any  strangers   to  attend  the funeral.     The  next  morning  being  the  Sabbath,  he  was  followed to  the  place  of  interment  by  his  almost  distracted  mother,  his little  brother,  and  two  younger  sisters,  all  who  were  not  in  con- finement.    His  brother  John  was  never  brought  to  trial,  but  had to  sign  a  paper  consenting  to  his  banishment  for  seven  years,  his vol  i.  23 338  ATROCITIES  IN  THE  NORTH. second  brother  Samuel  for  life.  William's  death  took  place  the latter  end  of  June,  1798.  His  brothers  sailed  from  Belfast  in May,  1799.  They  were  taken  by  the  French,  and  the  passengers being  in  general  exiles,  were  treated  with  kindness.  The  vessel was  retaken  by  the  English,  and  sent  to  the  West  Indies. Samuel  died  on  the  voyage :  John  contrived  to  make  his  escape, and  got  to  America.  Their  mother  had  been  a  schoolmistress, and  had  managed  to  get  John  bound  to  the  first  architect  in Belfast,  Mr.  Hunter.  He  left  a  wife  and  child.  He  followed with  success  the  business  of  a  builder  in  America,  and  was employed  by  some  of  the  first  people  there.  While  engaged  in building  for  President  Madison,  he  attracted  the  notice  of  Mrs. Madison;  and  that  lady,  moved  by  the  sad  story  of  his brother's  fate,  showed,  by  many  acts  of  kindness,  the  interest  she took  in  his  welfare.     He  died  in  America,  1827. "  The  first  part  of  this  account  was  given  me  by  his  sister ;  but I  remember  his  mother  telling  me  that  when  William  was  told  at the  place  of  execution  to  cover  his  face,  as  was  usual  on  such occasions,  he  refused,  saying,  '  he  had  done  nothing  to  be ashamed  of.  His  mother  represented  him  as  a  very  handsome boy,  fair  and  blooming,  with  light  hair,  and  with  his  open  shirt neck,  looking  even  younger  than  he  was.  Mr.  Kerr  offered  his mother  ten  guineas  to  give  up  her  house,  which  she  indignantly refused.  She  was  at  the  time  extremely  poor,  and  obliged  to seek  assistance  from  others.  Some  time  afterwards  she  left  the place  and  went  to  live  in  Island  Magee,  as  everything  surrounding her  in  the  place  of  her  bereavement  daily  reminded  her  of  the loss  of  her  poor  boy". Mr.  William  Freckleton,  of  Belfast,  informs  me  of  an  occur- rence, on  the  authority  of  a  brave  officer  in  the  king's  service — Lieutenant  Lind,  now  residing  in  Cookstown.* The  occurrence  related  by  this  brave  officer  took  place  at  Lis- burn  in  1798.     It  is  stamped  on  his  memory  in  characters  which time  has  not  effaced  in  the  slightest  degree :  it  was  the  first^  occa-  j sion  of  seeing  blood  shed  by  soldiers,  and  on  this  occasion  it  was not   in    war.     Lieutenant    Lind  observed  a  party  of  dragoons  j escorting  a  prisoner  into  town.     The  prisoner  was  a  remarkably  : fine,  manly-looking  man,  in  the  uniform  of  an  officer.     As  the party  and  their  prisoner  were  proceeding  along,  a  yeoman  rushed *  Lieutenant  Lind  commenced  his  military  career  at  the  battle  of  Ballinahinch, and  terminated  it  with  glory  at  Waterloo,  having  fought  in  every  pitched  battle throughout  the  Peninsular  war,  and  in  the  last  at  "Waterloo,  while  leading  on  a company  of  the  71st  regiment,  received  a  grape-shot  wound  in  the  upper  part  of the  chest,  which  he  marvellously  survived,,  though  reported  in  the  returns  of  the casualties  of  the  day  as  mortally  wounded. ATROCITIES  IN  KILDARE.  339 forward  in  the  midst  of  the  dragoons,  and  stabbed  the  prisoner through  the  back  with  a  bayonet.  Lind  saw  the  blood  gush forth,  and  the  stabbed  man  drop  down  dead.  The  murderer escaped,  but  not  with  the  connivance  of  the  dragoons :  they  exhi- bited the  utmost  horror  and  indignation.  Probably  they  had  not been  long  on  service  in  Ireland,  and  were  unaccustomed  to  those little  escapades  of  Orange  yeomanry  loyalty. ATROCITIES    IN    KILDARE. \Letter  of  the  Rev.  P.  Dunne,  P.P.  of  Naas,  to  the  Most  Rev. Dr.  Troy. "  My   Lord, — I  have    remarked   in    the    account  which    Sir iRichard  Musgrave  has  given  in  his  book  on  the  late  rebellion, jthat  he  has  in  the  article  regarding  Naas  made  very  great  mis- statements.     I   recollect   he    says    that    a    Captain    Davis    was jwounded,  etc.     Not  one  word  regarding  that  fact  is  true.     There ;was  no  Captain  Davis  in  the  garrison  at  the  time.     A  Captain Davis  came  in  a  short  time  after,  who  is  yet  alive.     All  the officers  in  the  garrison  of  Naas  know  this  to  be  the  case.     Sir Richard  Musgrave  also  states  that  there  were  five  hundred  rebels killed  in  the  attack  on  Naas.     The  officers  then  serving  in  the army  can  give  testimony,  as  they  were  eye-witnesses,  that  more than  nine  or  ten  rebels  did  not  fall  in  that  attack ;  but  in  the course  of  three  or  four  hours  after  it,  fifty-seven  of  the  number, crowded  together  in  the  street,  were  killed,  many  of  them  coming out  of  their  doors  when  their  huts  were  set  on  fire,  and  others Itaken  out  of  their  houses,  or  from  their  gardens,  and  brought  to ithe  ship,  as  the  expression  was,  and  were  hanged  in  the  street.    I knew  two  men,  one  named  Cardiff,  the  other  Costello,  son  and son-in-law  of  Mr.  William  Costello,  who  lived  near  Craddocstown, on  the  Baltimore  road,  who  were  called  out  of  their  field  when at  work,  by  a  horseman,  who,  getting  ill  on  the  road,  was  not able  to  go  forward  with  his  party  to  Baltimore :  they,  relying  on their   innocence,   and   thinking  they    were  only    going  to  jail, walked  on  quietly  with  the  single  dragoon  and  were  hanged.    The same  day,  a  young  man  named  Walsh  was  brought  into  Naas, who  was  said  by  a  female  to  be  the  person  who  shot  Captain Swaine  in  the  action  of  Prosperous.     It  is  well  known  at  present 340  ATROCITIES  IN  KILDARE, he  was  not  within  sixteen  miles  of  Prosperous  at  the  time  of  the action  there ;  he,  however,  was  taken  without  any  form  of  trial to  the  ship,  and  there  hanged,  dragged  naked  through  the  street  , to  the  lower  end  of  the  town,  and  there  set  fire  to,  and  when  left half  burned,  his  body  opened,  his  heart  taken  out  and  placed  on  , the  top  of  a  house,  where  it  remained  until  taken  down  by  the military,  who  marched  into  the  town  about  nine  weeks  after. When  the  body  was  almost  consumed,  a  large  piece  of  it  was brought  into  the  next  house,  where  Mrs.  Nowlan,  who  owned, was  obliged  to  give  a  knife,  fork,  and  plate,  and  an  old  woman named  Daniel  was  obliged  to  bring  salt ;  these  two  women  heard them  say  that  Paddy  ate  sweet,  and  confirmed  it  with  a  damn their  eyes.  These  two  women  are  still  living  and  worthy  of  i credit,  being  deemed  honest  and  respectable  in  their  line  and situation  of  life.  Another  fact  misstated,  or  rather  falsely asserted,  in  the  book  alluded  to  above:  Sir  R.  Musgrave  says there  was  a  man  named  Cullen,  who  was  charged  with  firing three  shots  at  a  yeoman,  and  that  a  person  named  Kennedy,  who was  to  prosecute,  said  Cullen  was  seen  speaking  to  a  priest  by  Mr. Kemmis,  the  Crown-Solicitor,  through  the  bars  of  the  jail,  and, in  consequence  of  this  conversation,  said  Kennedy  denied  what he  before  had  said  regarding  Cullen.  Perhaps  a  more  hardy falsehood  than  this  could  not  be  advanced.  Mr.  Kennedy,  whose character  entitles  him  to  credit,  will,  I  dare  say,  if  asked,  de- clare  that  not  one  word,  so  far  as  regards  him  (Kennedy)  or  the  ; priest,  is  true ;  neither  is  it  possible  it  could  be  true,  as  no  man  of the  name  of  Kennedy  was  in  the  jail  to  prosecute  Cullen.  The only  prosecutor  was  Serjeant  James  Tallant,  who  said  that Cullen  charged  and  fired  three  shots  at  him,  but  when  asked  by counsel  why  he  did  not  fire  at  Cullen  whilst  he  was  charging  and firing  three  shots  at  him,  the  prosecutor  answered  that  Cullen  was in  a  sand-pit.  But  the  court,  not  satisfied  with  this  answer,  further asked  the  prosecutor,  did  not  the  same  view  which  enabled  him to  see  Cullen  charge  and  discharge  several  shots,  allow  him  also an  opportunity  to  fire  at  least  one  shot  at  Cullen  ?  Cullen  partly owes  his  life  to  the  unsatisfactory  manner  in  which  the  prosecutor answered  this.  When  it  could  not  be  proved  that  Cullen  was  a yeoman,  it  excited  additional  zeal  in  his  counsel  to  petition  the  ; court  to  save  a  point  of  law ;  and  the  court  humanely  thought  i proper  to  extend  the  royal  clemency.  The  matter  was  laid  before the  twelve  judges.  Cullen  was  brought  forward  at  the  following assizes,  and  acquitted. "Mr.  Kemmis,  the  crown  solicitor;  Cullen's  advocates,  Coun- sellors C.  Ball  and  Espinasse;  Baron  Smith,   the  judge  before  i whom    Cullen  was  tried  ;   the  grand  and    petty  juries    of  the RELATED  BY  FITZGERALD  OF  GERALDINE.  341 successive  assizes  of  Naas  and  Athy,  bore  testimony  that  thus Cullcn's  life  was  saved,  and  not  by  the  pretended  solicitation  or interference  of  a  priest. "  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  etc.  etc,. (signed)         "  P.  Dunne,  P.P. 11  Most  Kev.  Dr.  Troy". [Copied,  for  R.  R.  M.,  by  Mr.  Peter  Clinch,  from  a  document in  the  hand- writing  of  Dr.  Troy,  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  of Dublin,  April  7,  1836.] BARBARITIES  COMMITTED  IN  KILDARE. Letter  from    T.   Fitzgerald,    Esq.,    Geraldine,    Co.  Kildare,   to James  Bernard  Clinch,  Esq. "  Geraldine,  Dec.  20,  1802. "  Dear  Sir, — Absence  from  home  prevented  my  answering your  letter  prior  to  this  period,  as  I  would  feel  particular satisfaction  in  having  it  in  my  power  to  communicate  to  you  any satisfactory  communication. "When  I  was  examined  before  the  council  in  June,  1798, Arthur  Wolfe,  then  Attorney- General,  now  Lord  Kilwarden, interrogated  me,  if  I  had  not  among  my  papers  the  Orangeman's oath  ?  I  replied,  that  I  had  an  oath,  which  was  enclosed  under cover  to  me  by  post,  entitled  the  Orangeman's  oath;  and  the words  were  written  upon  the  cover, — '  Rely  upon  it,  Sir,  the Orange  system  is  rapidly  increasing  about  the  town  of  Athy. The  Attorney-General  then  asked,  '  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  do  you  con- ceive it  possible  that  any  gentleman,  or  any  person  of  principle or  education,  could  take  such  an  oath?'  I  answered,  I  believe  it to  be  the  Armagh  oath.  The  oath  I  do  not  recollect,  nor  did  I, at  the  time,  understand  it;  it  spoke  of  rivers  of  blood,  of  wading through  the  Red  Sea,  and  a  brotherhood,  etc.  Many  frivolous, absurd,  and  contradictory  questions  were  put  to  me,  particularly by  the  late  unprincipled  Lord  Clare,  to  which  I  was  an  entire stranger.  Lord  Camden  and  the  majority  of  the  council  were polite  and  attentive. "  After  my  examination  closed,  I  prayed  leave  to  observe to  his  Excellency,  and  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen  present,  that there  was  one  circumstance  which  appeared  unfavourable  to  me. An  awful  silence  followed ;  when  I  observed,  '  That  noble lord  (pointing  to  Lord  Clare)  thought  proper  to  supersede  me  as 342  ATROCITIES  IN  KILDARE. a  magistrate  of  my  county ;  upon  which  occasion  I  did  myself the  honour  of  addressing  your  Excellency  (Lord  Camden),  re- questing an  investigation  of  my  conduct.  Your  Excellency  did politely  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  my  letter,  referring  me  to  the Lord  Chancellor,  to  whose  department  the  transaction  belonged. I  then  addressed  the  Lord  Chancellor,  who  did  not  think  proper to  condescend  to  answer  my  letter.  I  now  call  upon  his  lordship to  state  any  solitary  instance  wherein  I  either  neglected  my  duty or  overacted'.  After  waiting  a  few  moments  in  vain  for  a  reply, I  observed,  that  '  it  appeared  easier  to  his  lordship  to  reconcile  to his  honour  and  justice  leaving  an  unfavourable  impression  of  me, than  I  could  reconcile  the  propriety  of  such  conduct  to  my  mind'. His  lordship  was  so  irritated,  that  he  rose  from  the  table,  and walked  in  an  agitated  manner  about  the  room.  During  the  re- mainder of  his  life  he  was  a  most  inveterate  enemy  of  mine. Lord  Camden  appeared  highly  gratified  at  my  observing  upon his  lordship. "  Upon  the  28th  of  April,  1798,  my  house,  offices,  and  grounds, which  are  very  considerable,  were  taken  possession  of  by  120 cavalry  and  infantry,  and  twelve  officers,  who  possessed  them- selves of  all  kinds  of  property  within  and  without,  and  what  they could  not  consume  sent  to  Athy  barracks.  They  continued  in possession  about  thirty  days,  until  the  press  of  the  times  obliged them  to  change  their  position.  Upon  the  approach  of  the military,  my  wife  and  family,  of  course,  were  obliged  to  fly  my habitation,  without  the  shortest  previous  intimation,  and  I  was sent,  under  a  military  escort,  to  Dublin,  where,  after  an  arrest  of ninety-one  days,  I  was  liberated,  without  the  slightest  specific charge  of  any  kind.  At  the  time  of  my  arrest,  I  commanded  as respectable  a  corps  of  cavalry  as  any  in  the  kingdom,  containing fifty-six  in  number,  and  not  the  slightest  impropriety  was  ever attached  to  any  of  its  members.  From  the  time  the  military  pos- sessed themselves  of  my  residence,  the  most  iniquitous  enormities were  everywhere  practised  upon  the  people  of  the  country ;  their houses  plundered,  their  stock  of  all  kinds  seized,  driven  to  the barracks,  and  sold  by  auction ;  their  persons  arrested,  and  sen- tenced to  be  flogged,  at  the  arbitrary  will  of  the  most  despicable wretches  of  the  community.  A  man  of  the  name  of  Thomas James  Rawson,  of  the  lowest  order,  the  offal  of  a  dunghill,  had every  person  tortured  and  stripped,  as  his  cannibal  will  directed. He  would  seat  himself  in  a  chair  in  the  centre  of  a  ring  formed around  the  triangles,  the  miserable  victims  kneeling  tinder  the  tri- angle until  they  would  be  spotted  over  with  the  blood  of  the  others. People  of  the  name  of  Cronin  were  thus  treated.  He  made  the father  kneel  under  the  son   while  flogging,   the  son  under  the ATROCITIES  IN  CARLOW.  343 father,  until  they  were  mutually  covered  with  the  blood  of  each other:  this  without  any  specific  crime,  only  what  was  termed S  speculation',  to  make  them  '  lohistle1.  They  gave  an  innocent man  five  hundred  lashes  (as  they  were  afterwards  obliged  to acknowledge).  The  man  considering  himself  dying,  requested  a priest.  They  dressed  a  soldier  in  black  clothes,  and  sent  him  to the  unfortunate  man  as  a  clergyman,  who,  however,  detected  the imposture. "  With  much  esteem,  your  most  faithful, "  T.    Fitzgerald. "To  James  Bernard  Clinch,  Esq." The  savagery  of  the  Carlow  slaughter  and  conflagrations, chiefly  by  the  yeomanry,  after  the  defeat  and  flight  or  conceal- ment of  the  rebels,  during  a  period  of  eight  or  ten  days,  in  the month  of  May,  1798,  is  certainly  not  exceeded  by  any  atrocity  of Haynau  in  Hungary.  In  cold  blood,  between  400  and  500  de- fenceless people  were  put  to  death  in  this  sole  massacre  of  the Irish  reign  of  terror.  There  are  men  still  living  who  remember its  horror. In  this  Carlow  exhibition  of  Lord  Camden's  notion  of  "  vigo- rous measures",  the  bodies  of  men  coolly  murdered  were  flung into  the  flames  of  the  burning  houses  of  suspected  or  obnoxious parties. A  terrible  barbarity  that  was  practised  in  Wicklow  and  Wex- ford on  some  occasions,  was  also  resorted  to  in  Carlow  on  four occasions,  of  flogging  prisoners  first,  and  hanging  them  immedi- ately they  were  taken  down,  from  the  backhands  of  cars  or  from triangles.  A  child  under  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age  was threatened  with  the  punishment  of  half  hanging,  in  order  to  ex- tort information  to  implicate  suspected  parties.  The  terrified child  was  actually  suspended  from  the  backhand  of  a  car,  when  a captain  of  the  Carlow  militia  had  the  child  taken  down.  What would  the  brewers  and  draymen  of  Austria  have  to  say  to  these Haynaus  of  Orangeism  let  loose  on  the  Irish  people,  if  perad- venture  these  yeomanry  heroes  and  shoneen  justices  visited  the Barclay  and  Perkins  premises  of  Vienna? What  would  Christendom  say,  if  they  beheld  an  exhibition that  was  made  in  the  public  streets  of  Carlow,  of  a  representation  of the  Redeemer  of  mankind  borne  on  the  point  of  a  bayonet?  and yet  this  spectacle  was  seen  approvingly  by  men  exercising  power and  authority  in  a  Christian  land.  In  the  midst  of  the  Carlow  mas- sacre, "  an  Orange  trumpeter  was  seen  parading  with  a  wooden crucifix  stuck  on  his  bayonet,  crying :  '  Behold  the  wooden Jesus"'—  Cox,  February,  1817,  p.  79. 344  ATROCITIES  IN  CARLOW. Every  massacre  of  the  people  in  1798  was  hailed  as  a  great victory,  and  received  with  exultation.  The  slaughter  of  the  un- resisting capitulated  people  at  the  Gibbet  Rath  of  Kildare,  was regarded  as  a  vigorous  measure  which  the  emergencies  of  the  time required.  The  rebels,  according  to  Sir  R.  Musgrave,  amounted  to about  3,000  in  number;  they  had  entered  into  terms  with General  Dundas,  and  were  assembled  at  a  place  that  had  been  a Danish  fort,  called  the  Gibbet  Rath.  Having  offered  terms  of submission  to  General  Dundas  on  the  26th  of  May,  that  general despatched  General  Welford  to  receive  their  arms  and  grant them  protections.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  latter,  however,  on the  3rd  of  June,  the  multitude  of  unresisting  people  were  suddenly attacked  by  Sir  James  Duff,  who,  having  galloped  into  the  plain, disposed  his  army  in  order  of  battle,  and  with  the  assistance  of Lord  Roden's  Fencible  Cavalry,  fell  upon  the  astonished  multi- tude, as  Sir  Richard  Musgrave  states,  "  pell  mell".  Three  hun- dred and  fifty  men  under  terms  of  capitulation,  admitted  into  the king's  peace  and  promised  his  protection,  were  mowed  down  in cold  blood,  at  a  place  known  to  every  peasant  in  Kildare  as  "  the Place  of  Slaughter",  as  well  remembered  as  Mullaghmast  itself, the  Gibbet  Rath  of  the  Curragh  of  Kildare. The  massacre  took  place  on  the  3rd  of  June ;  the  terms  of surrender  were  made  by  one  Perkins,  a  rebel  leader,  on  the  part of  the  insurgents,  and  General  Dundas  on  the  part  of  the  govern- ment, and  with  its  express  sanction  and  permission  for  them,  on delivering  up  their  arms,  to  return  to  their  homes.  Their  leader and  his  brother  were  to  be  likewise  pardoned  and  set  at  liberty. It  was  when  the  people  were  assembled  at  the  appointed  place, to  comply  with  these  conditions,  that  Sir  James  Duff,  at  the  head of  600  men,  then  on  his  march  from  Limerick,  proceeded  to  the place  to  procure  the  surrendered  weapons.  One  of  the  insurgents, before  giving  up  his  musket,  discharged  it  in  the  air,  barrel  up- wards ;  this  simple  act  was  immediately  construed  into  a  hostile proceeding,  and  the  troops  fell  on  the  astounded  multitude,  and the  latter  fled  with  the  utmost  precipitation,  and  were  pursued and  slaughtered  without  mercy  by  a  party  of  Fencible  Cavalry, called  "  Lord  Jocelyn's  Foxhunters".*  According  to  the  Rev. James  Gordon,  upwards  of  200  fell  on  this  occasion;  Sir  R. Musgrave  states  350. No  part  of  the  infamy  of  this  proceeding  attaches  to  General Dundas.  The  massacre  took  place  without  his  knowledge  or  his sanction.  His  conduct  throughout  the  rebellion  was  that  of  a humane  and  a  brave  man. *  Vide  Gordon's  "  Rebellion",  p.  100. ATROCITIES  IN  CARLOW.  345 The  scene  of  the  massacre  of  the  peasantry  on  the  hill  of Kilcomney,  in  the  county  of  Carlow,  is  one  that  reeks  with reminiscences  of  the  bloody  deeds  of  that  "  beau  sabreur"  of 1798,  Sir  Charles  Asgill. The  Wexford  insurgents  were  encountered  by  Sir  Charles  at Gore's  Bridge ;  they  fled  at  his  approach,  and  as  they  fled,  they were  still  pursued  and  slaughtered.  All  this  is  fair,  no  doubt,  in war — in  Ireland. The  massacre  at  Kilcomney,  by  the  yeomanry  and  militia  force under  the  command  of  Sir  Charles  Asgill,  Cloney  states,  amounted to  140  individuals.  The  slaughter  took  place  on  the  26th  of June.* The  band  of  rebels,  who,  in  their  flight  from  Scollagh  Gap,  in their  attempt  to  get  back  to  Wexford,  had  directed  their  march through  Kilcomney,  were  attacked  by  the  army  under  Sir Charles  Asgill ;  they  fled,  and  were  pursued  upwards  of  six miles,  having  lost,  according  to  Gordon,  two  or  three  hundred. It  was  after  the  disappearance  of  the  rebels  that  the  unfortunate and  peaceful  people  of  Kilcomney  were  slaughtered  in  their  homes. Asgill's  exploits  on  this  occasion  are  given  by  one  of  the  rebels, who  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  the  sabres  of  his  band — by Thomas  Cloney. "  The  defenceless  inhabitants  of  an  unoffending  and  most peaceable  district — men,  women,  and  children — were  butchered this  day  (he  says),  and  neither  age,  sex,  nor  infirmity,  could obtain  exemption  from  the  common  fate ;  they  were  all  slaugh- tered without  mercy".  He  gives  the  names  of  a  vast  number  of the  victims,  whose  only  crime  was,  that  a  band  of  rebels,  when pursued,  had  fled  through  their  district.  A  hundred  and  forty, he  states,  were  slaughtered  in  this  way,  and,  amongst  the  sufferers, he  speaks  of  a  man  of  the  name  of  Patrick  Fitzpatrick.  When his  cabin  was  entered  by  the  marauders,  his  poor  wife,  with  an infant  in  her  arms,  ran  to  her  husband's  side,  and,  while  endea- vouring to  protect  him,  a  volley  was  poured  into  them,  and  they fell  dead  at  the  same  moment.  The  cabin  was  then  set  fire  to  as a  matter  of  course  over  the  heads  of  the  children  of  this  un- fortunate couple — six  in  number;  and  five  of  them,  "poor  in- nocent creatures",  ran  into  a  neighbour's  house  who  had  escaped the  massacre,  one  of  them  crying  out,  "  My  daddy  is  killed — my mammy  is  killed — and  the  pigs  are  drinking  their  blood".  The infant  that  was  left  in  the  dead  mother's  arms,  Cloney  states,  a  few years  ago  was  still  living,  and  was  called  Terence  Fitzpatrick. A  poor  woman  of  the  name  of  Kealy,  an  aunt  of  theirs,  took  the *  Vide  Cloney 's  "Rebellion",  p.  82. 346 ATROCITIES  IN  WEXFOltD. children  home,  and  when  her  scanty  means  were  exhausted  for  their support,  she  became  a  beggar  to  get  them  bread :  the  neighbours helped  her — they  gave  her  assistance,  and  God,  in  His  mercy  to her,  enabled  her  to  bring  them  up.  There  may  be  no  space  in the  records  of  the  noble  deeds  of  woman  for  the  goodness  of  this poor  creature;  but  her  conduct  will  not  be  forgotten,  at  all events,  on  that  day  when  virtue  is  destined  to  receive  its  own exceeding  great  reward — the  ample  recompense  of  all  its  suffer- ings and  sacrifices  here  below,  and  where  the  man  of  blood  will find  no  act  of  indemnity  available  for  his  sanguinary  and  inhuman deeds. The  massacre  of  the  unhappy  prisoners  at  Carnew,  convicted of  no  crime — imprisoned  on  mere  suspicion — taken  out  of  the  jail on  the  25th  of  May,  and  deliberately  shot  in  the  ball-alley  by  the yeomen  and  a  party  of  the  Antrim  militia,  in  the  presence  of  their officers,*  is  an  incident  that  probably  never  reached  the  ears  of the  people  of  England.  Had  it  taken  place  in  India  or  Australia, the  perpetrators  of  it  would  have  been  denounced  and  reprobated ; butthe  victims  of  this  atrocity  were  Irish,  and,  at  that  unhappy period,  there  was  no  people  in  the  world  whose  sufferings  and oppression  were  held  entitled  to  so  little  Christian  sympathy. A  striking  instance  of  the  kind  of  encouragement  given  to  the loyalty  of  the  Catholic  members  of  the  yeomanry  corps  at  this period,  is  recorded  by  Sir  Richard  Musgrave.  On  the  3rd  of May,  Captain  Ryves,  who  commanded  the  yeomanry  at  Dunlavin, the  rebels  having  made  their  appearance  in  his  neighbourhood : "  The  captain",  says  Sir  Richard,  "  marched  out  of  the  town with  a  party  of  yeomanry  cavalry,  to  encounter  the  rebels,  but they  were  so  numerous  and  desperate  that  he  was  obliged  to  re- turn, after  some  of  his  men  had  been  marked.  The  officers, having  conferrred  for  some  time,  were  of  opinion  that  some  of  the yeomen,  who  had  been  disarmed,  and  were  at  that  time  in  prison for  being  notorious  traitors,  should  be  shot.  Nineteen,  therefore, of  the  Saunders  Grove  corps,  and  nine  of  the  Narramore,  were immediately  led  out,  and  suffered  death.  It  may  be  said,  in excuse  for  this  act  of  severe  and  summary  justice,  that  they would  have  joined  the  numerous  bodies  of  rebels  who  were moving  round,  and  at  that  period  threatened  the  town".f Thus,  the  suspected  yeomen  were  deliberately  taken  out  of prison,  and  put  to  death — "pour  encourager  les  autres". The  Roman  Catholic  gentlemen  who  had  the  presumption  to join  the  yeomanry  corps,  were,  in  numerous  instances,  treated  as rebels  in  disguise,  and,  on  some  occasions,  were  even  driven  into t* Vide  "  Hay's  Insurrection  of  the  County  of  Wexford",  p.  76. Vide  "  Musgrave's  History  of  the  Rebellion",  p.  243. ATROCITIES  IN  KILDARE.  347 rebellion.  In  fact,  no  means  were  left  untried  to  prevent  those  of this  persuasion  from  manifesting  their  zeal  in  the  king's  service, and  to  bring  them  under  the  suspicion  of  countenancing  those  of their  communion  who  were  disaffected. Throughout  the  country,  the  total  loss  on  both  sides,  in  this rebellion  is  estimated  by  Plowden,  Moore,  Curran,  and  Barring- ton,  at  about  70,000;  20,000  on  the  side  of  government,  and 50,000  on  that  of  the  insurgents.  It  is  generally  admitted  by all,  but  more  especially  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gordon,  that  very  many more  were  put  to  death  in  cold  blood,  than  perished  in  the  field of  battle.  The  number  of  deaths  arising  from  torture  or  mas- sacre, where  no  resistance  was  offered,  during  the  year  1798, forms  the  far  greater  portion  of  the  total  number  slain  in  this contest.  The  words  of  Mr.  Gordon  are:  "I  have  reason  to think,  more  men  than  fell  in  battle  were  slain  in  cold  blood. No  quarter  was  given  to  persons  taken  prisoners  as  rebels,  with or  without  arms".* In  detailing  these  enormities,  it  would  be  to  make  one's  self the  accomplice  of  ferocity,  to  attribute  all  the  barbarity  of  these disastrous  times  to  one  party  only,  and  to  shut  one's  eyes  against the  inhuman  acts  of  its  opponents.  It  is  in  vain  to  refer  to  the barbarities  of  the  Orangemen,  to  the  previous  scourgings,  the house-burnings,  and  the  various  military  excesses,  for  an  apology, or  even  a  palliation,  of  the  wicked  deeds  done  at  Scullabogue,  on the  Bridge  of  Wexford,  and  at  Vinegar  Hill.  There  may  be some  allowance  made  for  the  frenzy  which  has  driven  men  to the  resistance  of  tyrannical  authority ;  but  there  can  be  none  for the  dastardly  revenge  of  armed  men  over  their  defenceless enemies. I  have  not  gone  through  the  revolting  process  of  inquiring  into these  loathsome  details  without  feelings  of  repugnance,  not  unfre- quently  almost  insurmountable :  but  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  take away  one  iota  from  the  infamy  which  belongs  to  the  excesses  of the  insurgents.  My  object  is  to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  either party  ever  to  recur  to  the  practice  of  such  enormities ;  to  show  the members  of  a  partizan  administration  (if  ever  there  should,  unfor- tunately for  Ireland,  be  one  in  power  there  like  that  of  1798),  that a  cruel  and  remorseless  policy,  whatever  efforts  may  be  made  to conceal  its  wickedness,  sooner  or  later  will  be  brought  to  light,  and its  authors  reprobated  by  all  good  men.  It  matters  not  under  what garb  of  loyalty  they  may  permit  the  agents  of  its  policy  to  lav  the mischief  which  it  provoked  or  aggravated  to  the  charge  of  a people  infuriated  by  them :  in  tolerating,   countenancing,  or  re- *Vide  Gordon's  "History  of  the  Kebcllion",  p.  2C9. 348  ATROCITIES  IN  WEXFORD. compensing  the  excesses  of  their  subordinate  agents,  they  become responsible  for  them. Of  the  atrocious  massacre  committed  by  the  rebels  on  their  pri- soners on  the  5th  of  June,  Sir  Richard  Musgrave  states,  that "  184  Protestants  were  burned  in  the  barn  of  Scullabogue",  and that  "  37  were  shot  in  front  of  it".  In  all,  by  his  statement,  225 ; of  which  number,  he  subsequently  states,  "  a  few  Romanists  were put  to  death  in  the  barn". "  The  barn  was  thirty-four  feet  long,  and  fifteen  feet  wide,  and the  walls  were  but  twelve  feet  high".  The  number  described  by Musgrave,  in  a  space  like  this,  must  have  perished  by  suffocation. Government  accounts  give  the  same  number  as  Sir  Richard  Mus- grave. Cloney  states  that  the  total  number  massacred  in  this  mur- derous business,  was  about  one  hundred,  of  which  number  sixteen were  Catholics. Mr.  Hay,  on  the  authority  of  the  most  respectable  persons  in the  neighbourhood  in  which  the  nefarious  transaction  took  place, estimates  the  number  at  eighty.  The  murders  committed  by  the rebels  on  the  bridge  of  Wexford,  on  the  20th  of  June,  Sir  Richard Musgrave  estimates  at  ninety-seven,  after  five  hours'  unceasing slaughter ;  Hay  and  others,  at  thirty-six. The  massacre  by  the  rebels  at  Vinegar  Hill,  Sir  Richard  Mus- grave states,  "  he  was  assured  exceeded  five  hundred";  Gordon says,  "  the  number  was  little  short  of  four  hundred" ;  and  Hay, "  eighty-four". These  are  the  three  signal  massacres  in  which  the  rebels  mani- fested their  barbarity.  An  atrocity  on  a  smaller  scale  than  the preceding  ones,  was  committed  by  them  at  Enniscorthy,  when, according  to  Hay,  they  put  fourteen  unfortunate  persons  to  death in  cold  blood.  The  total  number  thus  slain  in  all  these  mas- sacres, Cloney  estimates  at  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven,  and  the veracious  Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  at  more  than  treble  that  amount. Independently  of  the  above-mentioned  massacres  on  the  part of  the  rabble  of  the  insurgents,  there  were  many  instances  of murders  of  individuals,  accompanied  by  acts  of  abominable  cruelty, and  in  some  cases,  but  very  few  indeed,  where  circumstances showed  religious  animosity  to  have  been  the  motive  for  the murders.  The  name  of  Orangeism  had  been  made  so  detestable to  the  people,  by  the  outrages  committed  on  them  by  the  mem- bers of  that  institution  wherever  it  gained  a  footing,  that  their fury  in  some  cases  was  directed  against  Protestants  and  Catholics indiscriminately,  who  were  not  known  to  be  favourable  to  their views.  The  fate  of  the  sixteen  victims  of  their  own  creed,  sup- posed to  have  leanings  to  Orangeism,  at  Scullabogue,  was  a  proof DESTRUCTION  OF  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHAPELS.  349 of  this  feeling ;  and  throughout  the  rebellion  there  was  an  abun- dant evidence  of  their  frenzy  being  more  the  impulse  of  a  wild resentment  against  Orangeism,  than  any  spirit  of  hostility  to  the sovereign  or  the  state. ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHAT-ELS    DESTROYED  BY  UNKNOWN    TERSONS    DURING    AND SINCE    THE   LATE    REBELLION. In  the  Archdiocese  of  Dublin. County  of  Wicklow : — Roundwood      -  -                  -  June  20,  1798 Annamoe           -  -                 -  June  28,  1799 Kilpatrick         -  -                 -  Oct.  11,  1798 Ballinvolagh     -  -                 -  Oct.  11,  1798 Castletown        -  -                 -  Nov.  1798 Ashford            -  -                 -  Jan.  25,  1799 Boomaley          -  -                  -  Jan.  25,  1799 Johnstown        -  -                  -  April  20,  1799 Castledermot     -  -                  -  March  20,  1799 The  windows  of  Wicklow  chapel  broken,  and  part  of  the  new chapel  at  Newbridge   destroyed  by  fire,  in  January  and  May, 1799. In  the  Diocese  of  Ferns. County  of  Wexford : — Boolavogue  (Whitsunday)  May  27,  1798 Maglass             -  -                  -  May  30,  1798 Ramsgrange     -  -                 -  June  19,  1798 Ballymurrin,  slated  -                  -  June  22,  1798 Drumgold         -  -                 -  June  21,  1798 Gorey                -  -                 -  Aug.  4,  1798 Annacorra         -  -                 -  Sept.  2,  1798 Crane                -  -                 -  Sept.  17,  1798 Ballyduff          -  -                 -  Oct  19,  1798 Rock                 -  -                 -  Oct.  12,  1798 River  Chapel   -  -                 -  Oct.  19,  1798 Monaseed  -                 -  Oct.  25,  1798 Clologue           -  -  Oct.  26,  1798 Killevcry           -  -                  -  Nov.  11,  1798 Ferns                 -  -                 -  Nov.  18,  1798 350  DESTRUCTION  OF  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHAPELS. Oulart  -  -  -  Nov.  28,  1798 Ballygarret  -  -  -  Jan.  15,  1799 Ballinamona  -  Jan.  18,-  1799 Askamore  -  -  -  Feb.  24,  1799 Murntown  -  -  -  April  24,  1799 Monomolin,  slated  -  -  May  3,  1799 Kilrush  -  -  May  15,  1799 In  the  Diocese  of  Kildare  and  Leighlin. County  Kildare:— Kildare  -  -  June  8,       1798 Queen's  County: — Stradbally  -  -  June  24,     1798 County  Carlow: — Clonmore  -  -  Mareh  6,    1799 Kilquiggan  -  -  March  24,  1799 N.B. — The  altars  and  windows  of  some  other  chapels,  in  dif- ferent places,  were  broken  or  injured. The  chapel  of  Dunboyne,  in  the  diocese  and  county  Meath, destroyed  in  May  or  June,  1798. Total  number  of  Chapels  destroyed  (in  five  counties). County  Wexford,  -  -       22 County  Wicklow,  -  -         9 County  Kildare  -  2 County  Carlow  -  1 Queen's  County  -  1 Total  number,  -         35 This  paper  has  been  carefully  copied  from  the  original  manu- script, in  the  handwriting  of  the  late  M.  R.  Dr.  Troy,  Roman Catholic  Archbishop  of  Dublin. The  total  number  of  chapels  damaged  or  destroyed  between 1798  and  1800,  throughout  the  country,  is  estimated  by  others at  sixty-nine. Poor  Dr.  Troy  was  greatly  mistaken  in  the  low  estimate  he formed  of  the  zeal  of  armed  Orangeism  for  the  good  of  religion in  the  county  Wexford. DESTRUCTION  OF  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHAPELS.  351 "  A  list  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Chapels  burned  in  the  county of  Wexford,  by  the  military  and  yeomanry,  in  1798,  1799,  1800, and  1801".  From  Personal  Narrative  of  Transactions  in  the County  of  Wexford,  etc.,  by  Thomas  Cloney,  page  221. "  Boolavogue,  27th  May,  1798,     - Maylass, Ramsgrange, Drumgoold,  21st  ditto, Ballymurrin,  ditto, Gorey,  24th  August,  - Anacurragh,  2nd  September, Crane,  17th  ditto, Rock,  12th  October, Ballyduff,  19th  ditto, River  Chapel,  ditto, Monaseed,  25th  ditto, Clologue,  26th  ditto, Killeveny,  11th  November, Ferns,  18th  ditto, Oulart,  28th  ditto, Castletown,  ditto, Ballygarret,  15th  January,  1799, Ballinamona,  18th  ditto, Askamore,  24th  February, Murrintown,  24th  April, Monamolin,  3rd  May, Kilrush,  15th  ditto, Marshalstown,  9th  June, Monfin,  10th  ditto, Crossabeg,  24th  ditto, Kilenurin,  29th  June, Monagier,  1st  July, Kiltayley,  10th  October, Glanbryan,  13th  March,  1800,    - Kaim,  ditto, Bally  makesy, Courtnacuddy,  12th  August,  1801, Davidstown,  set  fire  to,  but  saved, Burned,  thirty-three  Roman  Catholic  Chapels.  33 One  Protestant  church  (Old  Ross)  burned  in  conse- quence of  the  murder  of  an  unarmed  and  inoffensive Catholic  by  the  Ross  Yeomen". 352  THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  IN  IRELAND. Who  can  read  the  preceding  statements  without  perceiving  that many  analogies  are  discoverable  in  the  doings  and  dispositions, though  not  in  the  destinies,  of  the  terrorists  of  France  and  Ireland  ? Fouquiere  Tinvillc,  Henriot,  Marat,  Robespierre,  and  Danton, with  all  their  sang  froid  in  the  midst  of  human  sufferings,  stem, hardhearted,  unfeeling,  and  unscrupulous  men,  were  of  a  class that  had  its  representatives  similarly  constituted  in  our  own  reign of  terror  of  1797  and  1798  in  Ireland.  We  had  our  Castle- reaghs,  Carhamptons,  and  Clares,  and  they  might  have  disputed the  preeminence  in  guilt  with  many  of  the  state  criminals  of France  of  1792  and  1793.  We  had,  moreover,  our  truculent, sanguinary  Tolers  to  pit  against  the  Fouquiere  Tinvilles,  our  Jud- kin  Fitzgeralds  against  the  Marats,  our  Claudius  Beresfords  against the  Henriots ;  and  we  had  the  armed  Orangeism  of  Ireland  let loose  upon  the  people ;  and  its  ferocious  spirit  was  quite  as  mur- derous as  that  of  any  faction  of  fierce  and  ruthless  Jacobins,  at  the beck  of  Robespierre  or  Danton. The  power  and  position  of  the  terrorists  of  France  differed  from that  of  their  fellows  in  Ireland.  The  former  were  either  head  men in  the  state  or  the  partizans  of  some  faction  for  the  time  being  in possession  of  the  government.  They  generally  aimed  at  the  de- struction of  persons  of  the  same  rank  as  their  own,  or  superior  to it,  in  other  factions.  They  had  no  innate  hatred  against  the people  of  their  country,  no  detestation  of  their  creed,  no  abhor- rence of  their  race.  In  all  these  respects  they  differed  from  the Irish  terrorists.  Both,  however,  were  sanguinary,  savage,  and  un- relenting in  their  several  spheres  of  action  and  within  the  opera- tion of  it.  The  peasantry  of  Ireland,  however,  in  the  proportion which  they  bore  to  that  of  France,  suffered  in  all  probability more  in  the  years  1797  and  1798,  than  the  latter  did  at  the  hands of  their  tyrants  in  1792  and  1793. The  freedom  from  all  religious  and  moral  restraint  in  the  con- duct of  the  terrorists  of  those  times  was  not  less  manifest  in  Ire- land than  in  France.  I  have  inquired  a  great  deal,  and  exa- mined with  much  care  the  evidence  I  collected  with  respect  to the  atrocities  committed  on  the  people  of  both  countries  in  those times  of  terror,  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  there was  more  protection  in  France  to  be  expected  for  the  great  mass of  the  people  from  the  government  of  the  revolution,  than  was afforded  to  them  in  those  bad  times  in  Ireland  by  the  adminis- trators of  the  English  government.  The  British  constitution  had been  made  a  sophism  in  Ireland,  even  while  a  sort  of  parliamen- tary obligation  and  state  necessity  existed  there  for  keeping  up a  show  of  justice,  a  semblance  of  a  recognition  of  Christianity,  in governmental  forms,  an  affectation  of  anxiety  for  the  law's  supre- macy. THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  IN  IRELAND.  353 Terrible  sufferings  were  endured  by  the  Irish  people  in  1797 and  1798.  But  the  government  of  Ireland  of  that  time,  and  the British  minister,  William  Pitt,  who  guided  its  course,  were  deaf as  adders  to  all  complaints  of  these  sufferings.  We  need  not  ex- pend all  our  denunciations  on  the  crimes  and  the  state  criminals of  the  Convention  or  Directory  of  France.  We  may,  indeed, reserve  a  large'  share  of  well-merited  opprobrium  for  that  prime minister  of  England,  and  the  agents  of  his  government  in  Ireland, who  delivered  the  people  of  that  country  into  the  hands  of  the armed  Orangemen,  consigned  them  to  their  tender  mercies,  suf- fered them  to  be  harassed  by  the  free  quarter  system,  and  con- nived at  their  being  tortured,  and  indemnified  their  oppressors for  hunting  them  down,  for  scourging  or  picketing  them,  and casting  them  into  prison  on  small  pretexts  or  slight  suspicions. The  man  in  Ireland  of  our  terrorists  who,  perhaps,  resembled Robespierre  most  in  cool,  phlegmatic  insensibility,  and  calm,  un- ruffled, imperturbable  indifference  for  the  effusion  of  blood  in  the accomplishment  of  his  political  ends,  was  Lord  Castlereagh ;  I mean,  when  such  ends  involved  sanguinary  acts  that  were  not  to be  done  under  his  eye,  nor  to  be  performed  by  his  own  hand, for  Castlereagh  could  not  bear  the  sight  of  blood,  or  the  spectacle of  a  tortured  man,  or  an  execution. The  secret  of  Robespierre's  early  rise  and  seizure  of  power, was  a  vigilant  observance  of  the  actors  of  his  time,  and  of  the aspirants  to  political  notoriety,  which  made  him  familiar  with  the peculiarities,  the  passions,  the  opinions,  and  the  weaknesses  of  the public  men  of  his  time.  Such  was  the  secret,  too,  of  the  rise  of Robert  Stewart,  the  volunteer,  the  delegate  of  the  Convention  of Dungannon,  the  pledged  reformer,  the  member  of  parliament,  the corrupter  and  buyer-up  of  its  members ;  the  man  who  dallied  with sedition,  and  vaunted  of  having  caused  rebellion  to  explode  prema- turely, who  sought  in  that  rebellion  the  accomplishment  of  a  po- litical object,  and  achieved  it  for  his  master  at  the  expense,  be  it remembered,  of  more  blood  than  ever  Robespierre  caused  to  be shed— of  70,000  human  beings.* Robert  Stewart,  the  Robespierre  of  Ireland,  the  Castlereagh  of Camden's  reign  of  terror,  the  cold-blooded,  cruel,  crafty  politi- cian, who  could  smile  while  his  councils  were  deluging  his country  with  blood,  he,  like  Robespierre,  cared  not  how  much carnage  he  committed  in  the  prosecution  of  his  objects.  But Robespierre  died  on  the  scaffold  ;  Castlereagh  did  not.  The former  has  left  a  memory  that  smells  of  hot  blood.  The  latter  was not  a  better  man,  yet,  in  a  country  in  which  he  died  a  minister  of I    *  20,000  of  the  king's  troops,  and  50,000  of  the  people  perished  in  this  re- bellion. vol.  i.  24 I 354  THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  IN  IRELAND. state,  lie  has  left  a  name  that  is  read  on  a  tomb  in  Westminster Abbey.  When  he  died,  the  papers  of  all  kinds  of  politics, save  one  that  was  edited  and  written  by  a  coarse,  blunt,  vigo- rous-minded man  of  the  name  of  Cobbett,  eulogized  his  virtues.* Danton — the  able,  bold,  remorseless  Danton — had  his  peer amongst  our  men  in  power  in  1797  and  1798.  Lord  Clare,  in his  remarkable  perversion  of  great  mental  powers ;  in  audacious insolence  and  assumption ;  in  disregard  for  prindiple ;  in  fitful,  in- constant, ill-considered  manifestations  of  good  and  evil  qualities, applied  with  the  same  energy  to  good  or  evil  purposes,  was  the Danton  of  our  reign  of  terror.  Clare,  like  Danton,  was  always  in contradiction  with  himself.  John  Fitzgibbon,  Earl  of  Clare,  the Lord  High  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  was  of  a  character  very  similar to  ihat  of  Danton's.  He  was  bold  enough,  and  reckless  enough of  all  laws,  divine  and  human,  to  have  engaged  in  any  under- taking. His  actions  and  principles  were  so  constantly  at  variance, that  he  might  be  said  to  have  had  a  controversy  with  himself every  hour  in  the  day,  and  for  every  side  of  a  question  or  a  cause. *  When  the  Marquis  of  Londonderry  died,  the  morning  papers  gave  a  false  ac count  of  the  mode  and  manner  of  his  death.  Cobbett,  who  resided  near  Foots- cray,  was  enabled  to  publish  the  true  account,  which  he  did  in  his  "  Register", and  also  in  very  large  letters  on  a  placard,  which  was  placed  outside  his  shop door  in  Fleet  Street.  It  began  thus:  "People  of  England,  rejoice!  Castlereagh is  dead !"  Then  followed  some  words  respecting  his  self-inflicted  death,  of  a  very savage  character.  The  author  saw  this  placard,  and  was  present  at  his  lordship's funeral.  When  the  remains  were  taken  from  the  hearse,  at  the  entrance  to  West- minster Abbey,  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  two  princes  of  the  blood,  and  some  of  the ministers  of  state,  formed  on  either  side,  and  took  hold  of  the  pall,  and  at  that moment,  when  all  was  silent  and  solemn,  a  shout  of  a  vast  multitude  of  people  con- gregated about  the  porch,  and  partly  clustered  about  its  columns,  simultaneously arose,  and  at  the  sound  of  that  cheer,  Wellington,  and  the  royal  and  noble  dukes, and  other  exalted  persons  who  stood  beside  the  coffin,  seemed  shocked  and  horror- struck.  All  was  silent  again ;  there  was  no  disorder ;  the  Duke  of  Wellington stepped  forward,  and  looked  sternly  at  the  people  around  him.  The  bearers  of the  coffin  began  to  move,  and  the  Duke  had  to  fall  back  into  his  place  at  the right  side  of  it.  That  instant,  a  second  shout,  similar  to  the  former,  as  sudden, loud,  and  simultaneous,  was  given :  again  the  Duke  stepped  forward,  and  gave some  directions  to  those  around  him.  The  cortege  moved  on.  When  the  body passed  the  porch,  and  was  borne  into  the  abbey,  a  third  and  a  last  cheer  was given,  and  a  more  vociferous  one  than  either  of  the  former  shouts,  and  this  one was  accompanied  by  a  general  waving  of  hats  on  the  part  of  this  great  multitude, many  of  them  well-dressed  people.  That  all  this  proceeding  was  preconcerted and  executed  by  persons  who  were  under  some  kind  of  direction,  I  have  little doubt.  I  was  very  near  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  I  observed  him  closely. It  would  not  express  my  idea  of  the  effect  which  the  scene  had  on  him,  to  say  i that  he  was  horrorstruck.  He  was  astonished,  rather,  that  a  prime  minister,  a  j great  Tory  chief,  who  possessed  his  confidence,  and  with  whom  he  had  been  so closely  allied  in  politics,  and  of  late  especially  in  those  of  the  holy  alliance,  could be  so  unpopular,  or  that  any  number  of  Englishmen  should  dare,  in  public,  to manifest  their  feelings  of  hostility  to  his  policy,  by  thus  publicly  insulting  his remains.  My  impression  is  that  this  occurrence  made  a  deep  and  lasting  impres- sion on  Wellington,  one  which  shook  his  faith  in  the  permanence  of  the  good  old regime  of  Toryism. THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  IN  IRELAND.  355 One  day  for  the  altar,  and  another  for  the  scaffold ;  now  for  his country,  and  a  little  later  for  its  enemies ;  again,  for  ambition, and  then  for  pelf.  He  counselled  the  shedding  of  blood,  without stint  or  scruple,  in  1797  and  1798;  but  occasionally  he  did  gene- rous and  humane  acts,  when  his  personal  resentments  were  not concerned ;  but  when  they  were,  he  was  implacable  and  fiendish in  his  vindictiveness,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Sheares. Of  all  the  French  terrorists,  Fouquier  Tinville  is  probably  the man  whose  memory  is  held  in  the  greatest  abhorrence  and  disgust by  his  countrymen.  This  execrable  man  was  represented  in  Ire- land, in  its  bad  times,  by  an  unprincipled  legal  functionary,  an obdurate,  unjust,  and  unmerciful  judge — the  iniquitous  Toler, better  known  to  the  world  as  Lord  Norbury. Toler  possessed  all  Tinville's  inhumanity  of  disposition.     He manifested  the  same  unfeeling,  savage  nature  in  the  midst  of  the most  afflicting  circumstances ;  the  same  vulgar  levity  in  the  dis- charge of  his  official  duties;   the  same  thorough  contempt  for |  justice ;  and  was  singularly  scandalous  and  open  in  the  manifes- !  tation  of  contempt  for  all  appearance  of  judicial  decorum  or  com- j  mon  decency  in  the  exercise  of  his  functions. On  the  trial  of  John  Magee  for  libel,  in  1813,  O'Connell,  in i  his  memorable  speech  on  that  occasion,  thus  alludes  to  Toler, ]  when  employed  on  special  commissions  in  the  early  part  of  his i  career:    "Why,  in  one  circuit  during  the  administration  of  the cold-hearted  and  cruel  Camden,  there  were  one  hundred  indivi- duals tried  before  one  judge:  of  these,  ninety-eight  were  capitally convicted,  and  ninety-seven  hanged!      One  escaped,  but  he  was  a soldier,  who  murdered  a  peasant — a  thing  of  a  trivial  nature. Ninety-seven  victims  in  one  circuit//"* The  career  of  Toler,  like  that  of  Fouquier  Tinville,  was  one long  course  of  judicial  bloodshed,  so  that  it  might  probably  be said  of  him,  as  well  as  of  Fouquier  Tinville,  he  killed  more  in his  judicial  capacity  than  any  single  man  ever  slew  with  his  own hand  by  the  sword.  At  length  this  murderous  officer  of  justice was  brought  before  his  own  tribunal.  But  Tinville  was  tried  for his  multitudinous  murders,  and  condemned  the  6th  of  May, 1795.  He  was  charged — how  different  was  this  with  the  painted jsepulchres  of  justice  in  other  countries ! — he  was  charged  with [destroying  great  multitudes  of  people  under  pretence  of  conspi- racies and  seditions, — with  causing  between  sixty  and  eighty  in- dividuals to  be  tried,  on  one  occasion,  in  four  hours, — with .clearing  prisons  by  cartloads  of  prisoners,  without  trial,  or  even (depositions  against  them. *  Vide  "Memoir  and  Speeches  of  D.  O'Connell,  Esq.",  vol.  i.,  p.  498. 350  THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR  IN  IRELAND. The  evidence  against  him  disclosed  acts  of  wickedness  in  the way  of  perverting  justice  to  the  wills  and  whims  of  the  ruling  ' powers,  making  a  mockery,  a  delusion,  and  a  snare  of  the  form  i of  a  trial,  packing  and  intimidating  juries,  cramming  together  I people  en  masse  in  one  great  mesh  of  imputed  crime,  and  bringing to  trial  on  the  same  indictment  persons  often  who  had  no  pre- vious communication   or  connection,    and   finally    glutting  the scaffold  and  the  gibbet  with  daily  victims — acts  of  wickedness that  never  had  a  parallel  except  in  Ireland. It  was  proved  that  in  the  course  of  the  proceedings  on  the  : trials,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  stopping  the  defence  with  such  words as  these:  "  I  think,  citizens,  that  you  are  fully  convinced  of  the guilt  of  the  accused".  And  the  jurymen  then  used  generally  to declare,  "  Our  consciences  are  satisfied".  And  the  melodrama  of justice  commonly  terminated  with  a  sentence  of  death  delivered  en  ; gros,  and  a  carting  of  the  victims  of  the  unjust  judge  to  the  place of  execution.  It  was  proved  that  he  had  procured  the  conviction and  the  execution  of  forty-two  persons  on  one  occasion;  and when  some  doubt  had  been  expressed  to  him  of  the  policy  of putting  so  many  people  to  death  in  one  day,  and  the  possibility of  the  people  murmuring  at  it,  this  true  Toler  of  the  French tribunal  of  justice,  this  energetic  and  facetious  judge,  said, "  Never  mind:  justice  must  take  its  course". On  the  18th  of  April,  1795,  justice  did  take  its  course  in  his case:  this  iniquitous  judicial  functionary  was  guillotined.  Toler, the  ribald  judge,  stained  with  blood  shed  judicially,  and  obdurately wicked  to  the  end  of  his  infamous  career,  died  a  lord,  in  his  bed. Henriot,  the  lictor  of  Robespierre,  began  life  as  an  attorney's  ; clerk,  then  became  a  trader,  a  speculator  in  politics,  in  patriotism, a  brawler  in  patriotic  assemblies,  a  commander  of  the  National Guard  of  Paris,  and  eventually,  a  terrorist  and  a  man  of  blood. He  was  at  once  the  servile  sycophant  of  Robespierre,  his  bully, and  his  parasite.  It  seemed  to  him  to  be  an  honourable  employ- ment and  a  pastime  to  shed  blood  in  his  official  capacity.  He died  too  on  the  scaffold,  the  28th  of  July,  1794.  He  was  repre- sented  in  Ireland  by  John  Claudius  Beresford.  But  our  Henriot lived  unmolested,  and  died  in  some  repute  in  his  locality ;  and those  who  are  acquainted  with  his  career,  and  are  placed  in  dif- ferent circumstances  to  those  in  which  he  figured  in  early  life, have  abundant  reason  to  thank  Heaven  their  lot  was  cast  in  hap- pier  times,  and  at  their  outset  into  active  life  that  the  same  evil  in- fluences  were  not  in  operation,  which  his  passions,  his  prejudices, political  opinions,  and  the  infirmities  of  his  mind  were  exposed to.  John  Claudius  Beresford,  when  he  waxed  old,  lived  on  decent terms  with  Roman  Catholics,  nay,  even  went  out  of  his  way  to COST  OF  EXPLODING  AND  SUPPRESSING  THE  REBELLION.       357 promote  the  interests  of  some  men  who  had  suffered  much  in purse  and  person  in  1798.  In  private  life  he  bore  a  good  cha- racter. Perhaps  the  inclination  to  commit  sanguinary  and  in- human acts  had  died  away  with  the  bad  circumstances  of  public affairs  around  him.  Perhaps,  like  other  passions,  that  of  cruelty, in  the  course  of  time,  had  worn  itself  out,  and  in  the  spent  volcano of  terrorism,  in  latter  years,  there  might  be  scarcely  a  spark  to  be found  in  his  bosom.  At  all  events,  the  times  had  passed  away  for torturing  his  fellow-men  ;  the  taws  had  to  be  laid  aside ;  the  dominion of  brutal  passions,  freed  from  all  restraint,  was  at  an  end.  John Claudius  Beresford,  deprived  of  power,  ceased  to  be  a  monster. We  are  therefore  called  upon  by  the  advocates  of  his  politics  to refuse  credence  to  what  history  tells  us  of  his  enormities  when  he had  the  power  to  commit  them. Ali  Pacha,  of  Yanina,  was  as  mild  a  man  as  ever  cut  a  throat, and  of  a  loving  nature  in  his  family.  Claudius,  in  his  retirement from  public  life,  was  the  same  in  his:  the  Riding-School  atro- cities, picketings,  and  the  pitch-capping  were  never  recurred  to by  him,  even  in  conversation. Dionysius  the  tyrant,  we  are  told,  when  he  had  shed  blood enough  to  make  the  streets  of  Syracuse  slippery  with  gore,  fled  from the  vengeance  of  his  people,  and  passed  for  an  amiable  schoolmaster in  Corinth.  Dionysius  the  tyrant  could  enjoy  the  sight  of  exe- cutions of  men  and  women,  and  take  an  interest  in  the  pro- longation of  their  agonies,  but  the  cries  of  children  undergoing correction  distressed  him.  And  Sylla,  too,  after  he  had  butchered some  sixty  thousand  of  his  countrymen,  was  found  to  be  a  good neighbour,  very  quiet  and  inoffensive  in  his  retirement.  He could  not  have  been  more  so  than  our  Claudius  in  his  private life  in  his  latter  days. CHAPTER  XIII. COST    OF    PREMATURELY    EXPLODING    AND    SUPPRESSING    THE    REBELLION OF    1798. The  arrest  of  the  Sheares,  on  the  23rd  of  May,  1798,  was  the death-blow  to  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen.  From  the  date  of its  origin,  October,  1791,  having  existed  seven  years,  whether viewed  in  its  results,  the  character  of  its  members,  or  the  nature of  its  proceedings,  it  may  certainly  be  regarded  as  a  confederacy 358  COST  OF  EXPLODING  AND  SUPPRESSING which  no  political  or  revolutionary  society  that  has  gone  before it  has  surpassed  in  importance,  boldness  of  design,  and  devotion to  its  principles,  however  mistaken  those  belonging  to  it  may have  been. It  is  unnecessary  to  refer  more  at  large  "  to  the  well-timed measures  pursued"  to  cause  the  insurrection  to  explode;  the partial  outbreak  that  ensued,  deprived  of  its  leaders,  baffled in  its  original  designs,  was  sufficiently  formidable  to  require  a  mili- tary force  exceeding  137,000  men,  comprising  regulars,  militia, yeomanry,  and  volunteering  supernumeraries,  and  the  employ- ment of  six  general  officers,  to  suppress  it.  The  yeomanry  force alone,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Commons'  Secret  Committee of  1798,  "  exceeded  50,000,  and  might  have  been  increased  to  a much  greater  extent". The  total  number  of  the  rebels  who  had  risen  in  the  county  of Wexford,  Sir  Jonah  Barrington  estimates  at  35,000.  "  Wex- ford'', he  observes,  "  is  only  one  of  thirty-two  counties,  by  no means  the  most  populous,  and  far  from  the  most  extensive.  Had the  rising  been  general,  the  northern  counties  might  have  fur- nished us  many,  the  southern  counties  more,  and  the  midland  less than  Wexford ;  a  rough,  but,  no  doubt,  an  uncertain,  average may  be  drawn  from  these  data,  as  to  what  the  possible  or  probable amount  of  insurgents  might  have  been  throughout  the  entire kingdom,  if  the  struggle  had  been  protracted.  Enough,  at  least, will  be  ascertained  to  prove  that  the  rebellion  never  should  have been  permitted  to  arrive  at  that  dangerous  maturity.  It  is  equally clear,  that  had  the  rebels  possessed  arms,  officers,  and  discipline, their  numbers  would  soon  have  rendered  them  masters  of  the kingdom,  in  which  there  exists  not  one  fortress  capable  of  resist- ing a  twenty-four  hours'  investment".* With  respect  to  the  actual  force  of  the  United  Irishmen,  we find  in  the  province  of  Ulster  alone,  by  O'Connor's  evidence before  the  Secret  Committee  in  1797,  150,000  men  were  sworn and  enrolled  in  the  province  of  Ulster  alone.  When  Dr.  M'Neven was  asked  by  a  member  of  the  Secret  Committee  of  1798,  to what  number  he  thought  the  United  Irishmen  amounted  all  over the  kingdom,  he  replied:  "Those  who  have  taken  the  test,  do not,  I  am  convinced,  fall  short  of  500,000,  without  reckoning women  and  old  men.  The  number  regularly  organized  is  not less  than  300,000 ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  all  these  will  be  ready to  fight  for  the  liberty  of  Ireland,  when  they  get  a  fair  oppor- tunity".! *  Barrington's  "Memoirs  of  the  Irish  Union",  vol.  ii.,  p.  256. t  "  Memoir  of  Examinations",  etc.,  bv  Messrs.  Emmet,  O'Connor,  and  M'Neven, p.  74. THE  REBELLION  OF  1798.  359 •  The  suppression  of  this  rebellion,  and  the  accomplishment  of the  Union,  which  was  carried  into  effect  by  its  instrumentality, entailed  on  Great  Britain  an  enormous  expenditure. The  amount  of  the  claims  of  ,the  suffering  loyalists  for  their losses  sustained  in  1798,  laid  before  the  commissioners,  by  Sir Ricard  Musgrave's  statement,  was  £823,517  sterling;  but  in  1799, the  sum  total,  according  to  Gordon,  amounted  to  £1,023,000, of  which  more  than  half,  or  £515,000,  was  claimed  by  the  county of  Wexford;*  "but  who",  says  Mr.  Gordon,  "will  pretend  to compute  the  damages  of  the  croppies,  whose  houses  were  burned, or  effects  pillaged  or  destroyed,  and  who,  barred  from  compensa- tion, sent  no  estimate  to  the  commissioners?  Perhaps,  if  the whole  amount  of  the  detriment  sustained  by  this  unfortunate island,  in  consequence  of  the  united  conspiracy,  were  conjectured at  £2,000,000,  a  sum  of  such  magnitude  might  not  exceed,  or even  equal,  the  reality". The  purchase  of  the  Irish  parliament  for  the  accomplishment  of the  Union,  rendered  it  necessary  for  Lord  Castlereagh  to  intro- duce a  bill  into  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  beginning  of  De- cember, 1800,  for  the  purpose  of  "compensating  the  proprietors of  boroughs".  The  ugly  word  for  which  "  compensation"  stands, suggests  itself  at  once  to  every  mind;  the  fact  of  £1,500,000 having  been  spent  in  buying  up  the  Irish  parliament,  in  some ten  or  twelve  years  hence  will  appear,  not  only  a  sufficient  proof of  its  venality,  but  of  the  impolicy  as  well  as  wickedness  and profligacy  of  Pitt  and  Castlereagh. It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  loss  occasioned  in  this  rebellion, by  the  destruction  of  property  consequent  on  the  government privilege  of  free  quarters  enormities,  the  pillage  of  houses,  the burning  of  the  cabins  of  the  peasantry,  the  spoiling  of  towns  and villages — outrages  and  injuries  of  various  kinds  which  were  held entitled  to  no  compensation,  and  whose  perpetrators  were  indem- nified for  their  atrocities  by  a  special  act  of  parliament.  If  Mr. Gordon,  however,  imagined  that  £2,000,000  would  cover  the total  amount  of  the  value  of  property  destroyed  in  this  rebellion throughout  the  island,  he  was  exceedingly  mistaken.  Surely the  injuries  inflicted  on  the  property  of  loyalists  bore  no  pro- portion to  those  which  the  insurgents  and  the  Roman  Catholic people  generally,  who  were  considered  out  of  the  king's  peace, suffered  at  their  hands,  and  at  those  of  an  army  exceeding,  at  one *  Gordon's  "History  of  the  Rebellion".  By  later  writers,  however,  than Gordon,  we  learn  that  the  "suffering  loyalists",  for  several  years  after  the  re- bellion, instead  of  dying  off,  as  they  might  naturally  be  expected  to  do,  went  on, year  after  year,  adding  to  their  numbers,  until  the  jobbers  of  Protestant  ascen- dency netted  eventually  £1,500,000. 360  COST  OF  REBELLION  OF  1798- time,  137,000  men  turned  loose  upon  them.  And  yet,  the admitted  claims  of  the  "  suffering  loyalists'  eventually  amounted to  £1,500,000.  The  number  of  Roman  Catholic  places  of  wor- ship destroyed  during  the  rebellion,  or  immediately  subsequent to  it,  may  afford  some  criterion  by  which  we  can  judge  of  the number  and  extent  of  other  outrages  on  property  belonging  to persons  of  that  communion.  In  six  counties  alone,  by  the  state- ment of  the  Roman  Catholic  archbishop  of  Dublin  of  that  period, a  copy  of  which  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  procure  from  the  origi- nal document,  the  number  of  Roman  Catholic  places  of  worship utterly  destroyed  or  partly  demolished  during  1798-9,  amounted to  thirty -six;  and  from  another  document,  printed  some  years  ago in  America,  giving  a  list  of  the  chapels  destroyed  or  greatly  da- maged in  other  parts  of  the  country,  the  total  number  will  be  found to  amount  to  no  less  than  sixty-nine. If  the  razees  of  Sir  Charles  Asgill  in  the  counties  of  Carlow and  Kilkenny,  the  proceedings  of  Sir  T.  Judkin  Fitzgerald  in the  county  Tipperary,  of  Messrs.  Hawtrey  White,  Hunter  Gowan, and  Archibald  Hamilton  Jacob,  in  the  county  Wexford,  had been  traced  in  1797  and  1798,  and  the  smouldering  ashes  of the  houses  and  haggards  of  the  suspected  gentry,  the  smoking ruins  of  the  cabins  of  the  peasantry,  the  demolished  doors  and windows  and  trampled  crucifixes  of  the  people's  chapels,  the exploits  of  "  Burn-chapel  Whaley",  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Lord Chancellor  of  Ireland,  the  humbler  cabin  victories  of  the  Roch- forts,  Blayneys,  Kerrs,  Montgomerys,  Furlongs,  etc.,  had  been made  due  use  of,  in  this  track  of  true  inquiry,  it  might  have  fur- nished records  to  enable  us  to  form  some  idea  of  the  value  of property  of  the  suffering  people,  for  the  loss  of  which  they  were not  indemnified. As  to  the  expenses  the  government  had  to  encounter  and  defray, on  account  of  this  rebellion  and  its  consequences,  the  following calculation  may  give  some  approximate  idea  of  the  amount : — From  1797  to  1802,  the  cost  of  the  large  military force  that  was  kept  up  in  Ireland,  estimated  at £4,000,000  per  annum,  -  -  £16,000,000 Purchase  of  the  Irish  parliament,     -  -  1,500,000 Payment  of  claims  of  suffering  loyalists  -  1,500,000 Secret  service  money,  from  1797  to  1804  (from  offi- cial reports),  -  -  -  53,547 Secret  service  money  previous  to  21st  August,  1797, date  of  first  entry  in  preceding  account — say from  date  of  Jackson's  mission  in  1794,  esti- mated at                    ...                     20,000 EXPENDITURE  INCURRED  FOR  THE  UNION.  361 Probable  amount  of  pensions  paid  for  services  in suppression  of  the  rebellion  and  the  promotion of  the  Union,  to  the  present  time  -  1,200,000 Increased  expense  of  legal  proceedings  and  judicial tribunals  _-  -  -  500,000 Additional  expenditure  in  public  offices  consequent on  increased  duties  in  1798,  and  alterations  in establishments  attendant  on  the  Union,  the  re- moval of  parliamentary  archives,  and  compen- sation of  offices,  servants,  etc.,  -  -  800,000 £21,573,547 I  am  aware  that  the  amount  has  been  estimated  at  £30,000,000 by  some  writers,  and  at  nearly  double  that  amount  by  others. "In  three  counties",  it  has  been  said,  "its  suppression  cost £52,000,000;  what  would  it  have  been,  if  it  had  extended  to  the other  twenty-nine  counties?" I  have  set  down  the  items  which,  I  believe,  constituted  the bulk  of  the  expenditure  for  the  excitement,  premature  explosion, and  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  for  the  corruption,  purchase,  and abolition  of  the  Irish  parliament,  and  permanent  provision  for  the agents  of  Government  in  these  transactions;  and  that  amount, though  it  falls  short  of  all  the  calculations  I  have  seen  on  the subject,  I  have  given  as  the  nearest  approximation  to  the  actual expenditure  which  my  own  inquiries  have  led  to. The  reduction  of  Ireland  by  King  William  cost  England,  ac- cording to  Story,  £9,956,613;  being  the  "total  expense  of  Eng- lish regular  forces  in  Ireland  in  1689,  1690,  and  1691".  According to  Mr.  O'Callaghan,  a  very  able  and  accurate  historical  writer, the  author  of  The  Green  Book*  the  total  expense,  inclu- sive of  the  cost  of  the  militia  and  yeomanry  force,  was  about £11,000,000.  In  the  three  campaigns,  the  expenditure  is  esti- mated by  Story,  in  1689,  for  25,000  men;  in  1690,  for  41,000; and  in  1691,  for  about  37,000. The  population  of  Ireland,  at  the  Revolution,  did  not  exceed 1,500,000.  The  Catholic  portion  of  it  was  about  1,000,000 ;  and as  the  rebellion  was  a  "  Popish"  one,  the  subjection  of  that  portion of  the  million  capable  of  bearing  arms,  cost  William  three  cam- paigns, and  England  between  ten  and  eleven  millions  of  money. These  wars  of  William  cost  Ireland,  in  the  course  of  three  cam- paigns, the  lives  of  100,000  of  her  people,  and  left  300,000 *'  ruined  and  undone".     These  latter  incidents  in  the  history  of *  "  Green  Book",  p.  462. 362  MILITARY  FORCE  EMPLOYED William's  wars  in  Ireland  are  slight  events,  perhaps,  in  compa- rison with  their  successful  issue ;  but  the  ten  millions  of  pounds sterling  arc  mighty  matters  of  consideration  for  English  chan- cellors of  the  exchequer.  It  may  not  appear  very  surprising  that the  people  of  Ireland  should  connect  the  glorious  name  and  im- mortal memory  of  "  the  great  and  good  King  William"  with  cer- tain historical  data,  rather  painful  to  recur  to,  than  otherwise ; and  that  his  triumphs  cannot  be  recalled  at  the  orgies  of  Orangeism without  suggesting,  in  the  minds  of  one  party,  ideas  fraught  with mournful  reminiscences  of  defeat  and  carnage,  and  exhibiting most  ungenerous  feelings  on  the  part  of  their  opponents,  in  the celebration  of  the  blood-stained  successes  of  a  civil  war,  in  those calamities  of  a  most  savage  strife  in  the  worst  of  evil  times,  no Christian  people  should  exult. The  population  of  Ireland  in  1798  exceeded  four  millions.  In forty-five  years  the  population  had  more  than  doubled.  On  the authority  of  Emmet,  O'Connor,  and  M'Neven,  the  number  of United  Irishmen  enrolled  amounted  to  500,000 ;  the  number  they counted  on  as  an  effective  force  was  300,000.  At  the  close  of 1798,  the  military  force  in  Ireland,  including  the  troops  of  the  line, militia,  and  yeomanry,  amounted  to  137,590.* The  loss  on  the  part  of  the  king's  troops,  regulars,  militia,  and yeomanry,  in  this  rebellion  of  1798,  is  estimated  by  Plowden, Barrington,  Curran,  and  Moore,  at  20,000 ;  and  the  loss  on  the side  of  the  people,  at  50,000.     Total  loss,  70,000. In  the  preceding  page,  the  cost  of  fomenting  and  suppressing this  rebellion  (confined  to  three  counties),  and  thereby  of  effect- ing the  measure  of  the  Union,  was  shown,  at  the  very  lowest estimate,    to    have    amounted    to    nearly    twenty-two    millions, *  The  military  force  in  Ireland  immediately  after  the  rebellion,  in  1799 : — From  Parliamentary  Returns. The  Regulars,            -  -                -                -32,281 The  Militia,  -                                           2G,634 The  Yeomanry,          -  51,274 The  English  Militia,  -                                           24,201 Artillery,                    -  1,500 Commissariat,            -  1,700 137,590 These  figures  are  taken  from  a  report  of  the  parliamentary  proceedings  of  the 18th  of  February,  1799.  They  are  introduced  in  a  speech  of  Lord  Castlereagh, prefacing  a  motion  on  military  estimates.  He  did  not  think  that  one  man  could be  then  spared  of  the  137,590,  though  the  rebellion  was  completely  over,  and though  he  had  to  deal  with  a  population  only  one-half  'of  the  present.  We  have not  at  hand  the  means  of  ascertaining  the  force  of  1800,  but  there  is  ground for  concluding  that  it  was  over  that  of  1799,  though  the  time  of  the  rebellion was  still  farther  off  by  a  year. IN  SUPPRESSION  OF  REBELLION  363 or  more  than  six  times  the  amount  which  was  expended  in the  suppression  of  the  last  Canadian  rebellion,  which,  on  the authority  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  cost  three  millions  and  a-half.* To  go  to  war  with  Ireland,  and  accomplish  the  object  of  that war,  fifty-nine  years  ago,  when  Ireland  had  less  than  half  the amount  of  its  present  population,  cost  Great  Britain  upwards of  twenty  -  two  millions,  and  both  countries  a  loss  of  70,000 lives. The  preceding  details  were  intended  to  give  some  insight  into the  origin,  progress,  and  "  premature  explosion"  of  the  conspi- racy of  1798. A  full  and  faithful  history  of  the  rebellion  yet  remains  to  be written.  The  object  of  this  work  is  to  place  before  the  public the  scattered  memorials  of  it,  collected  from  those  who  were actors  in  that  struggle.  The  reminiscences  of  those  persons, it  seemed  to  me,  were  likely  to  perish  with  them,  had  no effort  been  made  in  their  latter  years  to  preserve  them.  Most  of these  persons  were  far  advanced  in  years  when  I  commenced  my labours  in  1836  ;  some,  indeed,  were  on  the  verge  of  the  grave, and  during  the  past  twenty-  one  years  (the  period  of  collecting  and publishing  these  materials),  the  greater  number  of  them  have died.  It  certainly  would  be  impossible,  at  this  date,  with  any probability  of  success,  to  set  about  commencing  the  same  task,  to which  I  have  devoted  so  much  labour  in  many  lands,  and,  I may  add,  so  much  money  in  the  accomplishment  of  it.  The men  of  1798  who  have  enabled  me  to  execute  this  undertaking have  passed  away,  with  very  few  exceptions. To  enter  into  any  detailed  account  of  the  conflicts  in  this  rebel- lion, the  military  operations,  or  results  of  the  successive  engage- ments, from  the  20th  of  May,  1798,  when  "the  rising"  of  the peasantry  commenced  in  the  counties  of  Kildare  and  Wicklow,  to the  8th  of  September,  when  the  French,  under  Humbert,  sur- rendered at  Ballinamuck — would  be  foreign  to  my  purpose.  The task  which  I  have  undertaken  to  accomplish,  is  to  illustrate  the events  of  a  very  stirring  epoch  of  Irish  history,  by  biographical notices  of  many  eminent  men  who  were  prominent  actors  in  it. The  persons  who  are  the  subjects  of  the  memoirs  contained in  the  succeeding  volumes,  are  those  whose  histories  are  most intimately  connected  with  events  or  proceedings,  to  which  I  have *  "Debate  on  the  Canadian  Corn  Importation  Question",  May  23,  1843: — Sir  Robert  Peel  said  :  "  They  found  that  a  rebellion  had  recently  existed  in  the colony  ;  that  the  cost  of  suppressing  that  rebellion  had  been,  by  direct  votes  of that  house,  little  short  of  two  millions  of  money ;  that  when  they  came  to  add  the additional  cost  of  maintaining  the  army  in  the  colony,  and  of  transporting  forces thither,  the  total  expense  was  in  realitj'  little  less  than  £3,500,000;  there  was  a force  in  Canada  of  no  less  than  twenty-two  battalions  of  Britisb  infantry". 364 CAUSES  OF  REBELLION. directed  attention  in  this  First  Series  of  Tlie  Lives  and  Times  of the  United  Irishmen. This  portion  of  my  subject  cannot  be  more  aptly  concluded than  in  the  words  of  a  man  who,  about  a  century  ago,  manifested extraordinary  power  in  his  political  writings,  and  enthusiasm  in his  zeal  and  attachment  to  the  liberties  of  his  country:  "There never  was  a  rebellion  or  insurrection  in  Ireland  that  was  not  ap- parently the  effect  of  an  unjust,  tyrannical  administration".* *  "  The  History  of  the  Kise,  Progress,  and  Suppression  of  several  late  Insur- rections".    London,  1760.     Page  44. APPENDIX    I. SECRET    SERVICE    MONEY    EXPENDITURE. ITEMS  EXTRACTED  FROM  AN  ORIGINAL  OFFICIAL  DOCU- MENT, HEADED  "  ACCOUNT  OF  SECRET  SERVICE  MONEY APPLIED  IN  DETECTING  TREASONABLE  CONSPIRACIES, PURSUANT  TO  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THE  CIVIL  LIST  ACT OF  1793". From  the  21st  of  August,  1797,  to  Sept.  30, 1801  ....  £38,419     8  0 And  from  Sept.  30,  1801,  to  March,  28,  1804     15,128     5  1 £53,547  13  1 THE    ACCOUNT    UP    TO    SEPTEMBER, "per  affidavit  of  mr.  cooke". 1797.  PAYMENTS.  £       S.       (I. Aug.  21.  E.  Cooke,  Esq.,  for  M.           .                .  50  0  0 „    22.  Newell   .                .                 .                 .  11  7  6 „     „     Mr.  Cooke  for  Darcy  Mahon  .                 .  20  0  0 Sept.   1.  Mr.  Cooke  for  M.  .                 .                 .  10  0  0 „     „     Kerr's  wife,  1  guinea;  Grey,   1  guinea; Mitchel,  1  guinea ;  ditto  Mr.  Cooke  for Magowan             .                 .  4  11  0 ?> >> £ 8. d. 20 0 0 77 17 10 100 0 0 100 0 0 45 10 0 20 0 0 200 0 0 366  APPENDIX  I. 1797.  PAYMENTS. Sept.    2.  Mr.  Cooke  for  Darcy  Mahon „       7.  Diet  and  lodging  bill  for  Mr.  Smith  and wife     .... „    11.  Sir  G.  F.  Hill „    12.  Mr.  Cooke  for  M.  . 16.  Jus.  Bell  in  search  of  offenders,  by  Sirr „     Dawes  for  Bird 26.  Mr.  Cooke  for  M.  . 29.  Watkins,    for   diet   of   Messrs.    Newell, Murdock,  Lowry,  Hayes,  Kane,  Har- per, Shaw,  O'Brien,  M'Dermot,  Kava- nagh,  Sandys Sent  to  Newell  by  post Mr.  Cooke  for  Masfowan 13.  Mary  Gamble,  for  13  weeks'  lodging  for Newell  and  Murdock Ditto  for  Boyle John  Coghlan  of  Clonard Mr.  Cooke  for  Mr.  Verner Mrs  Dawes  for  O'Brien's  clothes ,,     Keeper  of  Bridewell  for  Bell    Martin's diet,  21  weeks    .  .  .       12  16  10 32.  Dawes,  to  send  Smith  to  bring  him  to town  .  .  .       11     7     6 Nov.     3.  Bell  Martin,  to  take  her  out  of  town     .         5  13     9 ,,      4.  Mr.    Dutton,   by  desire   of  Lord   Car- hampton  .  .  .       11     7     6 ,,      6.  Allowance  for  13  men  in  the  Tower  for one  week,  per  Major  Sirr  .  .       14  15     9 ,,      9.  Lowry  3  gs.,  Newell  3  gs.,  and  Newell (again),  to  go  out  of  town ,,    10.  J.  Pollock,  per  Rt. ,,    15.  Ditto. „    22.  Mr.  Cooke  for  Nicholls ,,    23.  Serj.  Dtmn  of  the  Invalids,  going  with Grey  to  Derry ,,     ,,     J.  Pollock,  Esq. »> 30. Oct. 5. 5) 13. J5 5. >J 23. ?> 19. 11 23. 228  9 11* 10  0 0 4  11 0 6  16 6 10  4 9 20  0 0 22  15 0 4  18 9* 18 4 0 100 0 0 50 0 0 10 0 0 3 8 3 25 3 9 SECRET   SERVICE  MONEY  EXPENDITURE.  367 1798.  PAYMENTS. Nov.  27.  Capt,  A.  M'Nevin „    28.  Mr.  Cooke  for  M'Carry „    29.  J.  Pollock,  Esq.      . ,,     ,,     Subsistence  of  13  men  in  the  Tower   .  . „    30.  Smith      .... Dec.    8.  A.  Worthington,  balance   of  account  in advance „    11.  J.  Pollock,  Esq. „    12.  O'Brien  for  a  great  coat;  Grey,  Mitchell, and  Wheatley,  one  guinea  each ;  Lind- sey,  two  guineas „     ,,     Cooke,  to  send  to  Newell ,,    13.  Patrickson,     for    diet    and    lodging    of Smith  and  wife  in  the  Co.  Wicklow    . „    14.  W.  B.  Swan  in  search  of  offenders „    15.  Mr.  Darcy  Mahon ,,    18.  Smith „     „     Mr.  Cooke,  for  F y ,,    19.  R.  Marshall,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Pelham ,,    20.  Jos.  Nugent,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Cooke ,,     ,,     Smith,  for  clothes ,,     ,,     Col.  Longfield,  for  soldiers  of  the  Cork Militia  .  .  127     8     0 „    22.  Wm.   Morriss,   for  15   days'  lodging  of Smith  and  wife,  to  21st  Dec. „    23.  Mr.  Collins,  sent  to  him  in  London ,,     ,,     W.  Atkinson,  of  Belfast,  expenses  and allowance   for  going   to    England   in search  of  Magee ,,     „     Earl  Carhampton,  for  Ferris (Ferris  to  have  £100  per  annum  from  Dec.) 29.  Ben.  Eves,  of  Blessington,  what  he  ad- vanced to  Johnston,  alias  Smith  .       14     4     4£ 55 £ s. d. 150 0 0 50 0 0 20 0 0 14 15 9 5 13 9 45 10 0 300 0 0 5 13 9 20 0 0 9 2 0 20 0 0 50 0 0 10 0 0 11 7 6 159 5 0 5 13 9 20 0 0 14 9 3 108 0 0 65 0 0 200 0 0 1798. Jan.     1.  Lindsay  of  the  Fifeshire  Fencibles,  re- turning to  Glasgow  .  20     0     0 368 APPENDIX  I. 1798. Jan. 4 »j »» ji 5 » 8 5) ?> >> 13 ?J »» 5) 18 »» 20. » 7> ?> ?» i» 22 ?> 23 ?J 25 i> 27 1) 29 Feb. 2 16. 21. )) 29 Mar. 6 »> 8 »> 13 ») 14 j? 15 PAYMENTS. Capt.  Coulson Serj.  Chapman  and  John  Connell Lord  Enniskillen,  for  Capt.  St.  George Cole,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Pelham Serjeant  Denis  M'Gawley,  of  the  Ros- common Militia,  by  desire  of  Lord Carhampton Mr.  Marshall,  by  desire  of  Lord  Pelham Mr.  Dutton Mr.  Cooke,  for  Mr.  Higsfins *  Do Mr.  Cooke,  for  Jus.  Bell Wheatley,    Mitchell,    Grey,    Chapman, Baynsham,  and  Travers,  1  guinea  each Mr.  Smith Mr.  Cooke  for  Mr.  Bell Major  Sirr  for  Bourke Wheatley,  to  take  him  home Mr.  Cooke  for  Corbett Major  Sirr  for  M'Cann Mr.  Cooke  for  Warren The  Hon   C.  Sherrington,  what  he  paid Newell Mr.  Cooke  for  Mr.  Bell Mr.  O'Bri—  from  the  North Mr.  Cooke  for  B. Newell,  on  going  to  England Mr.  Pollock  for  I.  W.  H. Mr.  Cooke  (Mr.  Cope) Rev.  Mr.  Vignolles,  by  direction  of  Mr Pelham Mr.  Dawes  for  Joyce's  clothes Wra.  Logan,  police  constable,  on  going into  the  country Mr.  Philip  Gahan,  by  direction  of  Mr Cooke Serj.  Chapman,  to  send  his  wife  to  Cork and  brinw  her  back O £  s.  d. 30  0  0 9  2  0 100  0  0 22  15  0 113  15  0 68     5  0 100    0  0 50    0  0 6  16  6 10    0  0 40  13 5  13 20    0  0 20    0  0 5  13 2     5 9 9 9 6 22  15  0 40  13  9 13  13  0 10  0  0 56  17  6 56  17  6 341     5  5i 6  16  6 4  15  2i 22  15  0 1     2  9 11  7  6 SECRET    SERVICE    MONEY. 1798.  PAYMENTS. Mar.  16.  Mr.  Swan,  expenses  of  coach  and  guards, etc.  at  Mr.  Bond's ,,     ,,     Mr.   George  Murdock,   by   direction  of Mr.  Cooke ,,    20.  Lowry,  by  direction   of  Mr.  Cooke,  on Lord  Castlereagh's  letter „     ,,     The  two  Joyces,  to  take  them  home „    21.  Mr.  Lee's  220  gs.,  by  direction  of  Mr. Cooke „    22.  Major  Sirr,  for  Brennan,  by  direction  of Mr.  Cooke „    26.  J.  Welsh,  expenses  of  bringing  Keleher and  Wilson  from  Cork „    27.  Mr.  Godfrey's  expense  of  coach-hire  to Arklow „    28.  Mr.  Cooke „     „     Chapman,  to  buy  clothes  on  his  going back  to  Cork „    29.  Mr.  Lindsay,  for  Mr.  Bell ,,     ,,     Mr.  Cooke,  for  Mr.  Swan „    28.  Major  Sirr,  for  Lennan  and  his  two  sons, who  attended  at  Roscommon  .         5  13     9 „    30.  Travers,  to  buy  clothes  on  his  going  to Trim  .  .  .  4  11     0 „  31.  Major  Sirr,  for  Brennan  .  .       22  15     0 i Apr.   2.  Lord  Enniskillen,  for  Captain  Henry  St. George  Cole        .  .  .     160     0     0 „     3.  Mr.  Cooke  {qy.  Mr.  Vemer)  .       11     7     6 I     6.  Ditto,  per  his  note  .  .     100     0     0 „     7.  Major  Sirr,    for  Doran,  M'Alister,  and Magrath,  expenses  coming  home  from the  assizes  .  .  .       10     4     9 „     „     Oliver  Carleton,  on  going  to  Mr.  O'Con- nor's trial  in  England „     ,,     Sir  George  Hill,  for  a  man  going  to  ditto „     „     Mr.  Dutton,  going  to  England  to  attend Quigley's  trial VOL.  I. 369 £ 5. d. 23 13 6 150 0 0 5 11 13 7 9 6 250 5 0 22 15 0 34 2 6 3 100 19 0 1 0 3 20 100 8 0 0 3 0 0 115  0 0 11  7 6 34  11 0 25 370  APPENDIX    I. 1798.  PAYMENTS.  £        S.      (I. Apr.  20.  J.  Armit  (account  of  Oliver  Carlcton), for  expenses  of  a  man  sent  by  Sir  G. Hill  to  attend  Quigley's  trial ,,    21.  Major  Bruce,   for  soldiers   of  trie  Cork militia,  looking  for  Trenor „    23.  Mr.   Brownlow,    going    to  Whitehaven for  Sampson ,,    27.  Darcy  Mahon „     „     J.  Pollock,  on  going  to  England May     3.  George   Hobbs,  by  desire  of  Mr.  Roch- fort,  of  Co.  Carlow ,,     ,,     Major   Sirr,  for  Bourke's  widow,  3  gs., Edward  Joyce,  1  g. ,,     „     Grey,  for  clothes  and  lodging,  by  Mr. Cooke's  desire „     ,,     Lowry,  by  desire  of  Lord  Castlereagh    . ,,     „     Lord  Carhampton's  bill  to  Mr.  Luttrell, on  account  of  James  Ferris,  to  1st  of May ,,    12.  Hon.  R.  Annesley,  per  Mr.  Swan ,,     ,,     Mr.  Medlicott,  by  desire  of  Mr.  Cooke  . ,,     ,,     Major  Sirr,  for  Brennan „    14.  Counsellor  Townsend,  what  he  advanced in    Cork    to   two    persons   to    attend O'Connor's  trial  .  .       34     2     6 „    19.  Lowry,  to  buy  clothes,  and  in  full,  by Mr.  Cooke's  desire „    24.  Bill  remitted  to  Wright,  alias  Lawler     . ,,    31.  C.  Brennan „     „    Mr.    William    Edgar,   by   Mr.    Cooke's desire June  6.  Mr.  Jennings „    12.  Mr.   Dutton,   by  desire   of  Lord  Castle- 34 11 0 1 2 9 11 7 6 100 0 0 110 0 0 20 0 0 4 11 0 4 11 0 2 5 6 54 3 4 50 0 0 5 13 9 11 7 6 reagh 5 13 9 32 17 0 22 15 0 100 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 100 0 0 13.  Mr.  Swan,  by  Mr.  Cooke's  desire „    Mr.  Dennis,  for  Mr.  Ryan's  widow,  by ditto  .  .  .     100     0    0 SECRET  SERVICE  MONEY. 371 1798. June  15. „    20. 55         55 „    21. „  30. July  4. 55  55 55  55 „  19. „  25. „  26. 55  )5 „  30. 55 31 Aug .  7. 55 16 55 17 PAYMENTS. J.  Pollock,  Esq.,  bill  from  London F.  H.  Discovery  of  L.  E.  F. Mr.  Sproule Mr.  Stewart,  Surgeon-general,  for  atten- dance on  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, viz. :  Mr.  Garnett,  who  sat  in  the room,  £22  15s.;  Mr.  Kinsley,  for  at- tending him  in  a  delirium,  £4  lis.; Surgeon  Leake,  sixteen  days,  £2,  at- tendance twice  a-day Fred.  Trench,  for  Bergan J.  C.  Beresford T.  M'Donnell,  for  eight  horses,  with  Dr Esmond  and  from  Naas,  8th  June Ensign  Murray,  York  regiment,  expenses of  bringing  priest  Martin  from  Rath drum Major  Sandys,  on  account  of  prisoners  in the  provost Earl  Enniskillen  for  Captain  Henry  St George  Cole Major  Sandys,  on  further  account  of  pri soners  in  the  provost Major    Sirr    for   pistols    for    Mr.    Rey nolds T.  Collins's  bill  for  London     . Mitchell,     to    pay    his    rent    and    buy clothes Mr.  Sproule Major  Sirr,  for  Serjeant  M'Dowall,  of the  Dumbarton  Fencibles J.  Magin,  per  rect. Ditto, Chaise  and  horses,  with  Sir  T.  Esmond and  Captain  Doyle,  from  Bray,  and returning  with  the  officers  who  guarded them £ s.    d. 109 7  6 1000 0  0 50 0  0 59 6 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 4     6     8 5 13. .9 100 0 0 37 10 0 200 0 0 9 2 0 54 17 6 5 13 9 30 0 0 11 7 6 700 0 0 56 17 6 2     3     4 1798. Aug.  18. 11       11 o72  APPENDIX    I. PAYMENTS. O'Brien    for  eight  men,  at  one  guinea, and  three  men  at  half-a-guinea Major   Sirr,    expenses    of  Conolly   from Droghcda  to  Belfast,  in  July,  and  Co- nolly and  Martin  from  Drogheda  to Dublin,  in  August J.  Pollock,  Esq.,  bill  to  F.  Carleton,  Esq., dated  Newry Serjeant   Lodwick    Hamilton,    Roscom- mon Militia,  by  desire  of  Lord  Car- hampton,  for  attendance  at  assizes  to prosecute ,,    27.  Mr.  Taggert  from   Newtownards,  by  de- sire of  Lord  Castlereagh „    28.  Mr.  Sproule ,,     ,,    Cahill   and    Charles   M'Fillan,    per   Mr. Marsden's  note    . „     ,,    Mr.  Pollock's  bill,  dated  Belfast Sept.  6.  Charles  M'Fillan      . „     7.  Mr.  Taggert  and  three  others,  for  attend- ing Secret  Committee  Co.  D. ,,    12.  Major    Sandys,    for   subsistence    of  pri- soners in  the  barracks ,,    14.  Lieutenant  Atkinson,  of  the  Louth  Mi- litia, expenses  of  bringing  La  Roche and  Teeling,  French  officers,  to  Dub- lin      . Mr.  Pollock's  bill,  Belfast Major  Sandy's  subsistence  of  prisoners Mr.  Sproule Mr.  Cooke Mr.  Ellis,  from  Enniskillen,  for  his  ex penses Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds F.    Dutton,  by  desire  of  Lord  Castle reagh ,,    19.  Mr.  Sproule ii     ii 11 22 11 24 )1 26 11 29 ct. 9 £      s.    d 10  16     H 6  18     8 56  17     6 22  15  0 10    0  0 50    0  0 4  11  6 56  17  6 20     0  0 54  11  0 58  16  8 16  14  10  i 56  17  6 100     0  0 24  14  7 10     0  0 20     0  0 1000     0  0 50     0  0 20     0  0 SECRET  SERVICE  MONEY.  373 1798.  PAYMENTS.  £        S.      d. Sept.  22.  Subsistence    at  Cork  of  the  Hills,   wit- nesses for  the  crown  .  74     4     9 ,,     ,,     Thomas  Collins's  bill  from  London         .       54     3     4 Oct.  24.  Mr.  Tucker,  of  King's  End,  for  M'Carry       20     0     0 „  27.  Mr.  O'Brien,  for  men— Grey,  Mitchell, Travers,  O'Neil,  Bourke,  Chambers, and  Lindsay  .  21     0  IO2 Nov.  12.  Major    Thackeray,    his  expenses    from Deny  with  T.  W.  Tone     .  28     8     9 „     16.  Mr.  T.  Reynolds  .  .  2000     0     0 ,,     17.  Lord  Carhampton's  bill  for  Ferris,  half year    .  .  .  54     3     4 „     20.  Bill  remitted  to  Wright,  alias  Lawler    .       32  14     0 „  ,,  Mr.  Nugent,  to  take  him  back  to  Eng- land   .  .  .  5  13     9 „  24.  Right  Hon.  D.  Browne  for  Flattelly, who  prosecuted  F.  French,  Esq.,  at Castlebar,  for  high  treason  .     100     0     0 ,,     29.  Bryan   Lennan,   by  direction    of  Lord Castlereagh         .  .  30     0     0 Dec.     8.  E.  Cooke,  Esq.       .  .  .     500     0     0 ,,     15.  For  informer  respecting  O'Neill,  Major Sirr     .  .  .  .       11     7     6 „     „     Mr.  John  Mahon,  by  direction  of  Mr. Cooke  .  .  .     200     0     0 ,,  ,,  William  Plunkett  for  attending  courts- martial  at  Castlebar  .  .     227   10     0 „     31.  Major    Sirr  for   six  men  as   Christmas boxes  .  .  6  16     6 ,,     „     Mr.  Pollock  for  two  persons,  £50  each    .     100     0     0 1799. Jan.      1.  Major  Sirr  .  .  .       500     0     0 „       5.  Thomas  Lennan  to  take   him  to  Eng- land, by  direction  of  Lord  Castlereagh       12     0     0 „     12.  Grey,  Mitchell,  Bourke,  O'Neil,  Lindsay, and  Chambers  .  .  7   19     3 5> £ s. d. 100 0 0 1000 0 0 1137 10 0 300 0 0 55 5 0 22 15 0 1 19 0 22 15 0 10 0 0 200 0 0 75 0 0 10 0 0 374  APPENDIX    I. 1799.  PAYMENTS. Jan.    18.  W.  B.  Swan,  per  Mr.  Cooke's  order 19.  Mr.  T.  Reynolds,  per  receipt 23.  J.  Pollock,  Esq.      . „     24.  Rev.  George  Lambert,  per  Mr.  Cooke's note ,,     26.  Mr.  Collins's  bill,  dated  London Feb.     9.  Mr.  Cooke  for  N.   . ,,       ,,    O'Brien,  expenses  for  three  men  to  Bray, two  days'  coach  hire „     12.  Sir  J.  Blaquiere  for  Leonard  Cornwall    . ,,     15.  Serjeant  Daley,  per  Mr.  Cooke's  note     . „     16.  J.  Pollock  for  T.  W.  £150,  G.  M.  £50 „     20.  Earl  of  Enniskillen,  for  Captain  H.  St. George  Cole „     22.  Major  Sirr,  for  O'Kean,  to  take  him  away „     23.  Mr.  Crofton,  for  three  men  of  Mohill,  co. Leitrim  .  .  34     2     6 Mar.  4.  Mr.  Reynolds,  to  complete  £5000,  viz. : September  29,  £1000 ;  November  16, £2000 ;  and  January  19,  £1000  .  1000     0     0 „      2.  Thomas  Jones  Atkins,  per  Mr.  Marsden's note  .  .  •     113  15     0 „      5.  J.  Pollock  for  M'G.  sent  by  post  to  Bel- fast .  .  .       60     0    0 „      6.  Dr.  Harding,  for  the  Hills'  subsistence  at Cork  .  .  .       18     4     0 „    12.  Colonel  Jackson  for  Mr.  Moran,  by  di- rection of  Lord  Castlereagh „    15.  Marquis  of  Waterford,  for  Dr.  Hearn ,,    16.  Lord  Boyle,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Cooke  . „    19.  Oliver  Carleton,  Esq.,  for  Shea,  who  was to  prosecute  pikemakers      .  20     0    0 „    25.  Mr.  Marshall  for  Fred.  Dutton,  per  bill on  Harriss,  London  .  .     550     0     0 Apr.  18.  Mr.  Pollock,  per  receipt  .  50     0     0 ,,    20.  Right  Hon.  Denis  Biwn,   for   Michael Geraghty  .  .  .       50     0     0 100  0 0 70  0 0 100  0 0 SECRET  SERVICE  MONEY. 375 1799.  PAYMENTS. Apr.  25.  Sir  John   Carden,   for  Brown   and    Ca- liill „    27.  Thomas  ColHns's  bill,  dated  London May    1.  Thomas  Kearney,  recommended  by  Sir J.  Parnell,  from  Queen's  County J.  Pollock,  Esq.,  for  G.  M.  I. R.  Cornwall,  Esq.,  amount  advanced  by him  last  year  to   Kelly  and  Nowlan for  information,  as  per  account Mr.  Cooke  on  advance Bill  remitted  to  Wright,  alias  Lawler,  at Bath Henry  St.  George  Cole,  per  Lord  Ennis- killen,  one  quarter Cummins,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Cooke Mr.  Cooke  for  K. Mr.    Richard  Jennings,  of  London,  per Mr.  Robert  Norman Mr.  Marshall  for  what  he  paid  in  London by   Lord    Castlereagh's    direction,    to Dutton,    and    also    to    R.    Jennings, Mr.   Darcy    Mahon,    per    Mr.    Cooke's desire Mr.  Sproule,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Cooke Alexander  Worthington Support  of  the  Hills,    of  Cork,   to   Dr Harding ,,      4.  Mrs.   Carey,    in    full    discharge   of   Mr Carey's  demands ,,      5.  Mr.  Pollock,  account  of  G.  M.  I. „    14.  Mr.  Reynolds,  in  full  to  25th  March ,,     ,,    Lord  Carhampton,  for  Ferris,  half-a-year „    18.  Earl  of  Altamont,  by  direction  of  Lord Castlereagh,  for  Jennings    and  Con- mee,  two  priests,  £50  each;  Raffarell, £20;  Clerk,  £11  7s.  6d,  and  sheriff  of county  Mayo,  £53  3s.  <od.  . „      3. „     4. „     8. „     9- „  13. „  20. „  20. JJ 24 J» 27 J) )> June 3 £     s.  d. 100     0  0 55  10  0 56  17  6 50     0  0 73  18  9 400     0  0 54  17  6 37  10  0 5  13  9 50     0  o 200     0  0 111  0  10 100  0  0 28  8  9 50  0  0 27  6  3 100  0  0 50  0  0 1000  0  0 54  3  9 184  11     0 100 0 0 55 10 0 20 0 0 68 5 o 55 10 o 22 15 0 100 0 0 20 0 0 11 7 6 100 0 0 55 15 0 376  APPENDIX    I. 1799.  PAYMENTS.  £      S.       d. Junel9.  Mr.  Darcy  Malion  for  B.,  by  Mr.  Cooke's order „    28.  T.  Collins's  bill,  dated  London July    8.  Mr.  Cooke  for  Nicholson „      9.  Ross  Mahon  for  the  discovery  of  the  Har- dimana ,,    17.  T.  Collins,  bill  dated  London ,,    24.  Major  Sirr  for  Hugh  M'Laughlin ,,    25.  J.  Lindsay  to  take  him  home,  and  in  full of  all  demands ,,      „    Hugh  M'Laughlin,  per  Mr.  Marsden's  note „      „    Harper,  to  take  to  Mr.  Price's,  Saintfield, Co.  Down Aug.  3.  Mr.  Pollock,  for  G.  M.  I. ,,    23.  Thomas  Collins's  bill „    30.  Henry  St.  George  Cole,  by  Lord  Ennis- killen  .  .  .       37  10     0 ,,      „    Expenses  of  bringing   J.   Townley   and William  Wallace  to  Co.  Down,  to  pro- secute rebels        .  .  28     6     1 Oct.     1.  M'Gucken,  Belfast,  per  post,  by  direction  . of  Mr.  Cooke      .  .  .       50     0     0 „  19.  Henry  St.  George  Cole,  Esq.,  high  sheriff Co.  Waterford,  expenses  of  apprehend- ing and  convicting  rebels,  per  Col. Uniacke  .  '  .  .     100     0     0 „    22.  Sir  G.  F.  Hill,  for  M'Fillan,  Murphy, Honiton,  and  Birch ,,     ,,     Sir  C  Asgill,  for  Anglen,  a  priest Nov.     5.  Thomas  Collins's  bill,  dated  Gosport ,,      6.  Gerraghty,  per  Gustave  Rochfort „      9.  Major  Sirr,  for  discovery  of  attempt  to break  the  New  Gaol  .  .       22  15     0 ,,     ,,     Mr.  Marsden,  to  remit  to  —  an  English bank  note,  for  £50 Dec.    5.  Henry  St.  George  Cole,  Esq.,  one  quarter „    13    Mr.  Cooke 460 0 0 50 0 0 56 2 6 100 0 0 56  0 0 37  10 0 50  0 0 SRCREX  SERVICE  MONEY.  377 1799.  £     s.     d. Dec.  14.  Hanlon,  for  16  men  at  one  guinea,  and four  at  half-a-guinea  each  .       20     9     G „  19.  James  Flannigan,  by  order  of  the  lord- lieutenant  .  .  20     0     0 ,,  21.  Major  Sirr,  for  the  person  who  disco- vered Bermingham  .  17     1     3 „    27.  Serjeant  John  Lee,  by  direction  of  Mr. Cooke  .  .  .     100     0     0 „    28.  Hanlon  (and  his  twenty  men  as  before)  .       20     9     G 1800. Jan.     3.  Mr.  Cooke,  for  N.  :  -         5  13     9 ,,  ,,  O'Brien,  amount  paid  him  for  coach  hire with  prisoners,  per  account,  vouched by  Major  Sirr     .  .  19     4     0 „      7.  Mr.  Cooke,  for  K.  .  50     0     0 ,,    19.  H.  St.  George  Cole,  by  direction  of  Mr. Cooke  .  .  .     200     0     0 „     „     Justice  Drury         .  .  .     100     0     0 „    21.  Mr.  Pollock,  for  M'Gucken  .     100     0     0 ,,    27.  Colonel   Uniacke,    for   prosecutors,    Co. Waterford  .  .  .     200     0     0 „    31.  Henry  St.  George  Cole  .  .       37  10     0 Feb.     7.  Lord  Carhampton,  bill  for  Ferris's  allow- ance, half-year  .  54     3     4 „      9.  Mr.  Cooke,  for  Fitzgerald                        .     250     0     0 „    24.  Colonel  Fitzgerald,  of  North  Cork  Mili- tia, for  the  mother  of  Serjeant  Moore, killed  in  taking  a  rebel                          .       25     0     0 „    27.  Mr.  Cooke,  for  M.N.              .                 .     100     0     0 Mar.    6.  J.  Baker,  Col.  Uniacke's  note                   .     100     0     0 „    14.  Capt.    W.    Harris,   of  the    Killeshandra cavalry,  expenses  of  bringing  up  Mat- thew Tone,  September,  1798               .       20     G     3 Watkins,  for  Mr.  Dease  and  Mr.  Wal- dron's  diet  and  lodging,  December  and January,  to  the  24th  February            .     105  18     5 >>     >> 378 APPENDIX    I. „    19. „    21. May    2. 1800.  PAYMENTS. Mar.  18.  Mr.  Archer,  high  sheriff,  Co.  Wicklow „    21.  J.  Pollock,  for  T.  W. April   1.  M'Gucken,  per  Mr.  Marsden „      3.  Coleman,  per  letter  from  E.  D.  Wilson Esq. ,,     ,,     Clothes  for  Coleman  and  Burns,  in  the Tower,  per  Major  Sirr ,,     ,,     Mr.  Thomas  Collins's  bill,  dated  Domi nica  .  ... Sir    Richard    Musgrave,    for    Michael Burke,  to  take  him  to  England Ditto  for  ditto,  13  weeks'  allowance  in advance,  from  12th  April Hon.  W.  W.  Pole,  for  informers,  Queen's County Mr.  Ram,  for  Serjeant  Tuttle,  who  prose- cuted Wexford  rebels Lord  Rossmore,  for  the  widow  Portland, whose    house     at    Newtown    Mount Kennedy  was  destroyed  by  the  officer commanding  when  the  rebels  attacked the  town Henry  St.  George  Cole,  one  quarter Henry  St.  George  Cole,  by  Col.  Uniacke Andrew  M'Neven,  by  post  to  Carrick- fergus Mr.  Cooke,  for  N. M'Gucken,  per  Mr.  Marsden ,,     ,,     Coleman ,,    17.  Col.  Jones,  Leitrim  Militia,  expenses  of executing  Dunn  and  Cottin,  two  rebels, at  Naas  and  Ballymore  Eustace,  De- cember, 1799 ,,     „     Earl  Carhampton,  for  Ferris,  half  a-year July     1.  Bryan  Lennon,  in  full  and  positive  dis- charge of  all  demands ,,    16.  Alexander  M'Donnell,  per  Mr.  Marsden !> 5 5) 22 5) 23 J une 11 £     s.  d. 100     0  0 200     0  0 50    0  0 11     7  6 3     9  1 55  17  6 5  13  9 14  15  9 100     0  0 22  15  0 10  0  0 37  10  0 200  0  0 300  0  0 10  0  0 50  0  0 11  7  6 10  0  0 54  3  4 11  7  6 150  0  0 204 15 0 100 0 0 500 0 0 100 0 0 SECRET  SERVICE  MONEY.  379 1800.  PAYMENTS.  £        S.      d. July  17.  Major  Sirr,  for  Edward  Boyle,  Michael Fagan,  Michael  Higgins,  Daniel  Gore, James  Murphy,  John  Kearney,  30  gs. each,  in  full  discharge  of  their  claims for  service „  21.  Mr.  Pollock,  for  M'G. „    23.  Dr.  Harding,  from  Cork,  by  desire  of Lord  Castlereagh „    24.  Mr.  Pollock,  for  T.  W.  . ,,    26.  Isaac  Heron,  a  young  man  taken  up  and confined  in  the  tower  instead  of  an- other person,  who  dropped  a  paper  in England,  signed  Colclough Aug.    2.  Major  Sirr,  to  take  men  to  Hacketstown ,,      4.  R.   Harper,  to  take  him  to  the  assizes, Co.  Down,  and  back ,,      7.  H.  St.  George  Cole ,,    18.  James  Edward  Hill,  from  Cork ,,    27.  Major  Sirr,  per  Mr.  Trevor,  for Sept.  11.  Magan,  per  Mr.  Higgins Oct.     1.  Mr.  Marsden,  for  Murphy,  who  was  sent from  London „    13.  Mr.  Cooke „    14.  Captain  Fitzgerald,  per  Mr.  Cooke ,,    18.  Murphy  from  London,  by  desire  of  Mr. Marsden ,,    23.  Murphy,  to  return  to  London „    24.  Mr.  Cooke,  for  N. ,,     ,,     Henry    Laverty,    from    Portaferry,    by Lord  Castlereagh's  desire Nov.    2.  N.  per  Mr.  Cooke's  note ,,      7.  Henry  St.  George  Cole,  one  quarter  to October „    14.  Lord  Carhampton,  for  Ferris,  half  a-year ,,     ,,     Mr.  Cooke Nov.  18.  Neville,  for  Ann  Lewis,  £300,  for  W. Pollen  £200,  per  receipt  .     500     0     0 11  7 22  15 6 0 17  1 37  10 5  13 56  17 300  0 3 0 9 6 0 20  0 200  0 100  0 0 0 0 11  7 22   15 20  0 6 0 0 5  13 30  0 9 0 37  10 54  3 200  0 0 4 0 380 APPENDIX    I. 1800.  PAYMENTS.  X        5.      d. Dec.     3.  George  Clibborn,  per  receipt  .     500     0     0 ,,    24.  W.  Wright,  remitted  to  him  per  his  letter       54  15     0 1801. Jan.      1. Feb.     1. 12. 13. 2. „    10. Mar.    2. May  12. .,    14. ii 16. .,    21. Apr.  27. „    30. May    5. „    20. ,,    28. June    1. M'Gucken,  per  post  to  Belfast A.  M'Neven,  Carrickfergus,  per  his  letter Justice  Drury Major  Swan Mr.  Dudley  Hill,  of  Carlow,  expenses incurred  under  the  order  of  Sir  Charles Asgill,  in  1798 Wheatley,  in  full  of  all  demands Manders,  washing  for  Hughes  and  Conlan Mr.  Cooke,  for  N. To  bury  Chambers Major  Sirr,  for  Nowlan,  who  prosecuted at  Dundalk Mr.  Whitley,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Cooke Haughton,  to  release  his  clothes,  to  go  to Trim  assizes Hayden,   a  woman  who  gave  informa- tion of  the  murderers  of  Colonel  St. George Major  Sirr,  maintenance,  etc.,  of  James O'Brien  in  gaol Mr.  Cooke,  for  F.  . Mr.  Archer,  late  sheriff,  Co.  Wicklow    . Henry  St.  George  Cole,  one  quarter Henry  St.  George  Cole,  per  Col.  Uniacke Lord  Carhampton,  draft  for  Ferris Earl  of  Shannon,  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barry, Roman  Catholic  priest,  of   Cork,   at Mallow Lord  Tyrawley  for  Rev.  Charles  Doran, Roman  Catholic  priest,  at  Monaster- even,  instead  of  a  warrant  of  concor- datum  for  the  last  year 100  0  0 140  10  0 100  0  0 113  15  0 55  17  2 115  2  9 11  7  6 20  0  0 5  13  9 17  1  3 40  19  0 5  13  9 20  0  0 21  2  6 200  0  0 70  0  0 37  10  0 200  0  0 54  3  4 100  0  0 20  0  0 SECRET    SERVICE  MONEY.  381 1801.  PAYMENTS.  £        S.       d. June    9.  Mr.  Marsden,  for  Cody  .  .     200     0     0 „    16.  Mr.    Pollock,  for    T.  W.,   repaid   from pension July     8.  James  Corran,  from  Portaferry,  by  Lord Castlereagh's  recommendation  .       20     0     0 ,,     ,,     To  Chapman  in   Cork,  for  one  year  and eleven    weeks,  at  one  guinea,  per  Mr. Turner „    25.  Mr.  Cooke,  for  K. „    27.  J.  Bell,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Cooke Aug.    8.  Mr.  Pollock,  for  Stockdale ,,    10.  Mr.    Marshall,    what   he     paid   for   the Beauties  of  the  Press ,,    20.  W.  Corbett,  by  directions  of  Mr.  Cooke ,,    21.    Edward   Lennan,    to  take  him  out   of town,  per  Mr.  Trevor ,,    27.    Henry  St.  George  Cole,  one  quarter Sept.  16.  Dr.  Macartney  of  Antrim,  for   candles and  firing  for  a  guard  in  1796  .         1   13     0 ,,     ,,     Lord  Longueville  for  the  Rev.  Michael Barry,  priest  at  Middleton  .     100     0     0 ,,     ,,     Thomas  King,   Esq.,  of  Rathdrum,  by order  of  Lord  Cornwallis  .     300     0     0 ,,    30.  Mr.  Cooke,  what  he  gave  to  Whelan  in London  .  .  21  13     4 Total  amount  applied,  according  to  Act  of  Par- liament, from  20th  August,  1797,  to 30th  September,  1801,  per  affidavit  of Edward  Cooke,  Esq.,  lodged  in  the Treasury         .  .  £38,419     8     0 71  13 100  0 200  0 5  13 3 0 0 9 1  2 358  10 9 0 3  8 37  10 6 0 Oct  .10.  Bryan  O'Reilly,  of  Lord  yeo- manry, who  apprehended  William Maroney,  by  Sir  C.  Asgill's  letter       .       56  17     6 £ s. d. 1 2 9 00 0 0 382  APPENDIX    I. 1801.  PAYMENTS. Oct.   19.  Hanlon,  to  bury  E.  Lennan ,,    30.  J.  Kcogli,  per  receipt „  „  To  trie  Cushrnore  corps,  for  apprehend- ing rebels  and  robbers,  by  R.  Power, sheriff,  Co.  Waterford  .  .     91     0     0 Nov.    7.  Hon.  Denis  Brown,  for  informer  against Rt.  Jordan  .  .  .     102     7     6 „    18.  Henry  St.  George  Cole,  one  quarter       .       37  10     0 „    25.  Lord  Carhampton's  bill  for  James  Ferris, half-a-year  -  .  54     3     4 Dec.    5.  W.  Wright  (alias  Lawler)  per  bill  re- mitted to  him  in  London  .       55     5     0 „  9.  Campbell,  for  the  use  of  his  rooms  in  the Castle,  for  Conlan,  Hughes,  etc.,  since June,  1798  .  .  .22  15     0 „    12.  Richard  Campsie,  in  full  of  all  his  claims, by  desire  of  Mr.  Abbott  .       56  17     6 „  31.  Major  Sirr,  to  discharge  two  men  on  his list,  who  were  employed  in  the  Co.  at one  guinea  each  .  .       56  17     6 1802. Jan.  28.  Justice  Drury         .  .  .     100     0     0 Feb.     6.  Bryan  Ford,  who  came  from  Lord  Har- burton,  in  full  of  all  claims ,,     ,,     John  Hughes,  ditto ,,      8.  John  Cranny,  of  Athy,  ditto ,,    10.  Henry  St.  George  Cole „  11.  Mitchell,  in  full  of  his  claims  on  Govern- ment .  .  .     100     0    0 „  ,,  Captain  Graham,  what  he  advanced  to Henry  O'Hara,  of  Antrim,  per  Dr. Macartney's  letter  .  .       57  17     6 „     „     H.B.Cody  .  .  .     100     0     0 „  13.  Mr.  Cassidy,  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doran,  of Monastereven,  recommended  by  Lord Tyrawley  .  .  50     0     0 68     5 0 200     0 0 34     2 6 37  10 0 SECRET  SERVICE  MONEY. 383 1803. Feb.  13. »J  5> 20. 5>  J> >>  M )'  >> Mar.  27. Apr.     3. „      8. „    27. June    2. „    14. „    24. July     7 PAYMENTS. Coleman  from  Carrickfergus Major  Sirr,  for  John  Beckett,  Mrs.  Len- nan,  Mrs.  Dunn,  C.  M'Gauran,  John Kearney,  and  Dan  Cart — ,  in  full  of their  claims  on  Government J.  M'Gucken,  to  replace  £100  advanced to  him  16th  May,  1801,  but  after- wards stopped  out  of  his  pension Mr.  W.  Corbett,  per  agreement,  by  Mr. Pollock,  relative  to  Stockdale Campbell,  for  lodging  of  Hughes  and Conlan Worthington,  for  account  of  Boyle Major  Sirr,  for  Mrs.  O'Brien,  JohnNeill, Francis  Devlin,  John  Coughlan,  and T.  H.  Jackson,  in  full  of  their  claims Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  for  Michael Burke,  in  full  of  his  claims Marquis  Waterford,  for  sub-sheriff  and expenses  of  the  sheriff  of  the  county Earl  of  Shannon,  for  the  Rev.  Mr Barry,  parish  priest  of  Mallow Lord  Mayor,  for  R.  Lowther J.  C.  Beresford,  Esq.-,  amount  of  an  ac count  of  money  expended  for  Govern ment,  between  1798  and  1802 Richard  Grandy Coleman,  in  full  of  claims  for  his  ser vices  (appointed  tide-waiter) Hon.  St.  George  Cole,  one  quarter Bridget  Dolan,  per  Captain  Wainwright, Co.  Wicklow Thomas  Little,  of  Court  Duff,  Co.  Kil- dare,  for  exertions  in  bringing  of- fenders to  justice Captain  Prendergast,  Tipperary  Mi- litia, expenses  on  actions  against  him, for  proceedings, — rebels £      s.    d. 5  13     9 328  8  9 100  0  0 100  0  0 22  15  0 50  0  0 300  0  0 113  15  0 162  0  0 100    0  0 22  15  0 470  11     8| 100     0    0 34     2     6 37  10     0 22  15     0 100    0     0 34     2     6 38  fc APPENDIX    I. 1802.  PAYMENTS.  £       S.       (I July  14.  J.    Kelly,   from   Carlow,    in  full  of  his claims  (made  a  guager)  .     113  15     0 ,,  ,,  James  Corran,  of  Portaferry,  an  annual allowance  engaged  to  him  by  Lord Castlereagh         .  .  20     0     0 ,,    19.  Earl  Carhampton's  draft  for  Ferris  .        54     3     4 „    23.  H.  B.  Cody  .  .     100     0     0 ,,  30.  James  Edwin  Hill,  Philip  Hill,  John Hill,  and  Mary  Hill,  widow  of  Wm. Hill,  in  full  for  their  claims  for  ser- vices at  Cork  during  the  rebellion (£100  each)       .  .  .     400     0    0 Oct.   20.  E.  O'Neill,  in  full  of  all  claims  (made  a guager)  .  .  .     113  15     0 ,,    26.  Lord  Carhampton,  for  Ferris  .       54     3     4 Dec.  13.  Mr.  Oliver,   member  for  Co.  Limerick, per  Mr.  Marsden  .  .       34     2     6 „    14.  Mr.  Flint  .  .  .       21  14    0* ,,    15.  Francis    Magan,    by    direction    of    Mr. Orpen  .  .  .     500     0     0 „    16.  Mr.  Worthington,   for  Boyle,   in  full  of all  claims  .  .  .     200     0     0 „    18.  Mr.    Wright    (alias    Lawler),    bill    on London  .  .  55     7     6 „    20.  H.  B  Cody  .  .  .     100     0     0 „    23.  John  Conlan,  in  full  of  all  claims  .     315     0     0 1803. Feb.     2.  Mr.    John    Stockdale,    of    London,    for printing  Sheares'  trial,   1798,   by  di- rection of  Lord  Castlereagh  .       40   11     O2 ,,      7.  Richard  Grandy,  per  Loftus  Tottenham        50     0     0 „    10.  Justice  Drury          .                 .                 .     100     0     0 ,,    12.  Mr.  Pollock,  for  M'Gucken,  an  extra  al- lowance               .                 .  50     0     0 ,,     ,,     William   Corbett     (telegraph)     by    Mr. Marsden's  directions  .  34     2     6 SECRET    SERVICE    MONEY. 385 1803. Feb. 16 5? 5> 1> 19 Mar. 28 ?> 29 Apr. 2. »» »> 5? 7 May 2 >> 14 ?> 21 „    27. >»  5> June    1. „  10. „  13. „  14. „  18. 55 20. 55 25. July 16. n 28. Aug. 5. PAYMENTS. H.  B.  Cody Mr.  Marsden,  for  T.  W. Major  Sirr,  for  Carroll Captain  Bruce,  to  remit  to  Londonderry, for  two  years'  allowance  to  Thomas Townley,  £30;  James  Gordon,  £20; and  Charles  Young,  £20 Lord  Erris,  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Neligan     . F.  Magan,  by  post  to  Philipstown Major  Sirr,  for  Wicklow  Mountains Ditto  for  Mr.  Cox Mr.  Marsden,  for  Quigley Mr.  William  Corbett,  for  Kennedy Richard  Chapman,  in  full  of  his  claims for  his  services  to  Government William  Corbett Major  Sirr,  for  Boyle,  Carroll,  and Smith Mr.  Giffard,  for  M'Owen,  of  Co.  Wex- ford Rev.  R.  Woodward,  for  Mr.  Knox,  for the  Rev.  Thomas  Barry,  P.P.,  of  Mal- low Mr.  Pollock,  for  D.  and  M. Henry  Ellis,  of  Rochbrook,   Kilkenny for  two  years'  allowance Major  Sirr,  for  Hay  den  , Lord  Carhampton's  bill  for  Ferris,  half- a-year Marquis  of  Sligo,  for  persons  who  appre hended  Thomas  Gibbons H.  B.  Cody Mr.  Pollock,  for  J.  M'G William  Wright  (alias  Lawler),  bill  re mitted  to  London Major  Sirr,  for  informer William  Corbett £  s.  d. 100  0  0 100  0  0 5  13  9 70  0  0 200  0  0 100  0  0 7  19  3 11  7 40  0  0 11  7  6 6 113  15  0 50  0  0 22   15  0 11  7  6 100  0  0 20  0  0 60  0  0 22  15  0 54  3  4 VOL.  I. 56 17 6 00 0 0 00 0 0 57 10 0 17 1 3 50 0 26 0 386 APPENDIX    I. 1803. Aug. 8 >) 10 i) 11 11 16 Aug. 23 25 26 „    27. „    31. 15  11 Sept.    1. 55 13 51 14 1) 15 55 15 11 19 55 26 Oct.     8. 51  51 „  12. ,,  13. 51  55 „  14. 15. ii     ii 51  51 PAYMENTS. Majur  Swan,  carriage-hire  lor  prisoners Mr.  GifFard,  lor  informer A.  Sneyd,  expense  of  bringing  up  Ferral Kiernan,  a  prisoner Major  Sirr,  for  expenses Major  Sirr,  for  W.  A.  H.        . Mr.  Pollock,  for  L.  M.  100,  Co.  Meath £10 Major    Sirr,    fur    Boy  Ian,    Carroll,    an< Farrell John  Reilly Mr.  Dawes,  for  Nicholson Mr.  Giffard Mr.  Flint,  to  send  to  E. Major  Sirr,  for  Fleming Earl  Annesley,  for  Mrs.  Ford H.  B.  Cody Mr.  Marsden,  for  L.  M. Major  Sirr,  for  Fleming  and  others William    Corbett,    per    Mr.    Marsden'i note Mr.  Marsden,  to  send  M.  G. The  coachman  taken  at  Emmett's  depot compensation  for  his  loss  of  time,  etc. per  General  Dunn's  note Surgeon  Byrne,  for  attendance  on  How ley  and  Redmond Alex.  Worthington,  for  B. Mrs.  M'Cabe,  per  Mr.  Wickham's  note Mr.  Justice  Drury,  going  to  the  country Dr.  Trevor,  for  Ryan  and  Mahaffy Expenses  of  bringing  up  Stafford,  Quig ley,  and  Perrott Major  Sirr,  for  informer  for  Howley  and Condon Do.    for  Pat.  Farrell Do.    coach-hire  for  prisoners £  s.  d. 22  15  0 22  15  0 20  0  0 34  2  6 68  5  0 110  0  0 28  8  9 50  0  0 50  0  0 22  15  0 20  0  0 15  0  0 50  0  0 100  0  0 100  0  0 40  0  0 50  0  0 100  0  0 30  0  0 3  8  3 30  0  0 11  7  6 11  7  6 100  0  0 10  0  0 56  17  6 11  7  6 25  0  0 SECRET    SERVICE    MONEY. 387 1803. Oct.   19 Nov.    1. „      2. ?>     ?> 5>  >> I)  >> 5. „  15. »  17- „  17. „  23. „  25. „  26. »5  >) ?>  5> Dec. 1 » 2 ?> 5 5) 13 1) 16 >> 17 PAYMENTS. Capt.   Hepenstal,    for  the  persons  who discovered  pikes Colonel  Alexander,  for  bringing  Finney from  Liverpool James  Mallow,  half-a-year's  allowance     . Major  Sirr,  for  Carroll  and  Boy  Ian Do.    funeral  expenses  of  Hanlon Do.    for   assistant  in   his  office   for    six weeks W.  Corbett,  by  desire  of  Mr.  Marsden    . Finlay  &  Co.,  ace.  of  Richard  Jones  (to be  replaced  to  this  account  hereafter) Chaise  for  C.  Teeling  from  the  Naul Bishop  of  Derry  (Dr.  Knox)  by  direc- tion of  Mr.  Marsden Mr.  Flint  for  K.  £100  (returned  same day) Captain  Sutherland,  County  Wicklow   . Doyle  of  Ballymore,  for  loss  of  time  on trials,  per  Mr.  Flint Mr.  Flint,  for  L. Murphy,  Castle  Street,  for  five  days1  diet, two  men  from  Fort  George,  to  iden- tify Russell T.  W.,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Marsden Mr.  Flint,  for  Fleming  and  Finerty Callaghan,  who  gave  information  to  Gen Dunn  on  the  23rd  July Mr.  Flint,  for  Murphy Lord  Carhampton's  bill  for  Ferris,  half- a-year J.  M'Gucken,  per  Mr.  Marsden's  note Major  Sirr's  expenses  for  retaking  J Murray  or  Morgan Mr.  Flint,  per  Mr.  Wickham's  note,  Cox Subsistence  of  Mr.  Holmes  and  Cloney in  the  Tower £    5.  d. 5  13  9 15  10  9 10  0  0 22  15  0 11  7  6 13  13  0 50     0  0 1000     0  0 1     6  0 50     0  0 34     2  6 25     0  0 25     0  0 3  0  0 100     0  0 11     7  6 22  15  0 25     0  0 54     3  4 100     0  0 23  13  0 6*     5  6 4  11  0 388 APPENDIX  I. 1803.  PAYMENTS.  £      S.      d. Dec  10.  Mr.   Flint,    for  Farrell's  expenses   from. London  .  .  50     0     0 „    25.  Mr.  Flint,  for  Murphy  going  to  Belfast  .       25     0     0 31.  Mr.  James  Cahill,  of  Hospital,  County Limerick,  by  Mr.  Marsden's  directions on  Baron  M'Clelland's  recommendation       50     0     0 31.  Mr.  Flint,  for  M.   going  to  the  Isle  of Man  .  .  25     0     0 ii 1804. Jan. 11. ii 13. ii ii ii ii ii 25 ii 26 ii 27 Feb. 4 ii 7 ii 8 ii 9 ii 10 ii 13 ii 14 ii ii ii 15 ii 16 ii 21 Mar. 2 Captain  Cole,  of  the  Fermanagh  Militia, bringing  up  the  rebel  General  Clark  • H.  B.  Cody,  per  Mr.  Marsden's  note Ditto,  for  Campbell J.  Pollock,  for  Col.  Wolfe,  for  men  taken up  in  the  County  Kildare W.  Corbett,  by  Mr.  Marsden's  direction Chaise  from  Naas,  with  Fleming,  Cox, Keogh,  Finnerty,  and  Condon Right  Hon.  Col.  King,  for  Rev.  Mr.  Nel- ligan,  of  Ballina,  in  full W.  H.  Hume,  Esq.,  for  William  Mur- ray, who  assisted  in  bringing  in Dwyer,  etc. Mr.  Pollock,  for  M'G. Major  Sirr,  for  Ditton  to  Cork  (qy.  Dillon) Mr.  Flint,  for  Murphy Troy,  by  direction  of  Mr.  Marsden Richard  Grandy,  by  Loftus  Tottenham Mr.  Justice  Drury Mr.  Pollock,  for  E.  Herdry Mr.  Flint,  for  Lacey Mr.  Griffith,  for  Serjeant  Cox's  wife Mr.  St.  John,  per  Mr.  Marsden's  note John  Ditton  (qy.  Dillon) 17  10  0 100  0  0 22  15  0 113  15  0 100  0  0 3  19 50  0  0 32  2  (5 500  0  0 11  7  6 200  0  0 50  0  0 50  0  0 100  0  0 100  0  0 34  2  6 11  7  6 22  15  0 100  0  0 SECRET    SERVICE    MONEY.  389 [The  foregoing  extracted  items  are  the  principal  ones  that  are set  down  in  the  official  returns;  but  such  weekly  charges  as those  of  James  O'Brien,  for  the  pay  and  subsistence  of  his  staff of  spies  and  informers,  and  those,  likewise,  of  Hanlon,  for  the same  species  of  service,  are  only  inserted  herein  occasionally, to  show  the  nature  of  this  expenditure.] The  sum  total  of  the  various  payments,  made  from  the  21st  of August,  1797,  to  the  30th  of  September,  1801,  amounted  to £38,419  8s. The  sum  total  of  the  various  payments,  from  the  30th  of September,  1801,  to  the  28th  of  March,  1804,  amounted  to £15,128  5s.  Id. The  total  amount  is  £53,547  13s.  Id.* *  In,  the  preceding  official  account  of  recipients  of  secret  service  money,  the name  occurs  of  Mr.  William  Corbett.  The  author  thinks  it  right  to  mention, that  this  gentleman  held  an  office  in  the  Castle  connected  with  a  government press  for  printing  proclamations  and  other  state  papers  requiring  secrecy,  which confidential  post  he  discharged  the  duties  of  honourably ;  and  the  payments  made to  him,  I  think  it  right  to  state,  were  for  no  services  which  a  man  of  honour  and of  humanity  might  not  have  performed.  This  gentleman,  in  bad  times,  was  well known  to  persons  with  whom  I  am  closely  connected,  and  regarded  by  them  as a  man  of  great  worth,  probity,  and  humanity. R.  R.  M. 390 APPENDIX    IT. SECRET  SERVICE  MONEY    REVELATIONS, FROM    ORIGINAL    ACCOUNTS  AND    RECEIPTS    FOR  PENSIONS,    GRANTS,  AND ALLOWANCES. The  receipts  are  generally  endorsed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Lord  Lieute- nant for  the  time  being ;  the  date  and  amount  are  also  specified,  and  the particular  service  for  which  the  money  had  been  granted  is  indicated  by initials,  thus : — S.  S. 0.  A. S.  A. And  by  the  word  "  correspondent"  or  "  correspondence". receipts  for  payments  of  pensions  and  allowances,     copied    from original  documents. L.  M'N. "July  5,  1816. "  Received  from  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  seventy-five  pounds,  due  the  25th June  last.  "  I.  W." Endorsed,  5th  July,  1816.     £75.  L.  M'N. S.  A. This  document  is  exceedingly  important.  The  receipts,  with  few  ex- ceptions, are  for  quarterly  payments  of  pensions.  The  pension,  then,  of the  person  who  gave  the  above  receipt  may  be  presumed  to  be  £300 a-year.  The  initials  affixed  to  the  receipt  I.  W.  were  not  those  of  the party  who  signed  it,  as  the  endorsement  of  the  secretary  of  the  Lord  Lieu- tenant plainly  shows,  L.  M'N.  On  the  mysterious  motives  for  the  party concealing  his  name  and  using  false  initials,  and  being  allowed  to  do  so  by  the secretary  in  a  receipt  for  a  large  money  payment,  we  have  only  that  kind of  light  thrown,  that  shines  dimly  in  dark  places ;  but  still  there  is  a  great deal  to  be  discerned  in  the  three  significant  letters  on  the  back  of  the  docu- ment, L.  M'N.  I  have  compared  the  handwriting  in  the  body  of  the receipt  with  that  of  a  gentleman  who  was  in  the  receipt  of  a  pension  of £300  a  year,  and  who  bore  a  name,  the  initials  of  which  were  L.  M'N., and  I  found  the  writing  of  both  were  identical.     In  the  secret  service SECRET    SERVICES.  391 ing money  account   vouched  by  Mr.   Secretary  Cooke,    I   find   the   follow? entries  of  payments  made  to  T.  W. : — 1799. Feb.   16.  J.  Pollock,  for  T.  W.         .  .  .  £150     0     0 1800. Mar.  21.  J.  Pollock,  for  T.  W.         .  .  .     200     0     0 1801. June  16.  J.  Pollock,  for  T.  W.,  repaid  from  pension. 1803. Mar.  16.  Mr.  Marsden,  for  T.  W.     .  .  .     ]00     0     0 Nov.  26.  By  directions  of  Mr.  Marsden,  for  T.  W.  .     100     0     0 I  cannot  help  thinking  the  mysterious  gentleman,  the  ghost  of  whose  ser- vices ever  and  anon  rises  up  in  the  initials  T.  W.  in  the  official  list  of secret  service  payments  above  referred  to,  and  who  so  long  has  preserved his  incognito  in  them,  is  no  other  than  the  same  individual  who  figures  as I.  W.  in  the  original  receipt  for  his  quarterly  pension,  endorsed  L.  M'N., which  is  in  my  possession.  The  Secretary  of  State,  who  thus  endorsed that  document,  and  made  entries  of  the  several  secret  service  payments, may  have  easily  mistaken  the  first  initial,  for  it  is  only  with  the  aid  of glasses  of  considerable  magnifying  power  that  one  can  pronounce  with certainty  that  initial  is  an  I,  and  not  a  T. John  Pollock,  whose  name  figures  so  often  in  the  list  of  secret  service payments,  was  the  registrar  of  Judge  Downes,  third  Justice  of  the  King's Bench,  and  Clerk  of  the  Crown  jor  the  Leinster  circuit  in  1798.  This circumstance  deserves  attention,  for,  as  it  appears,  the  money  which passed  through  his  hands  was  always  for  persons  in  some  way  connected with  the  administration  of  justice,  as  the  perversion  of  it  and  the  corrup- tion of  its  agents  and  ministers,  in  official  parlance,  was  termed  in  1798. B.  B.  M. MALACHY    DWYER. "  Beceived  from  Edward  Wilson,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  thirteen  pounds  ster- ling, being  the  quarter's  allowance  from  Government,  commencing  the  8th of  March,  and  ending  the  8th  of  June,  1818. "  Dated  this  8th  June,  1818.  «  Malachy  Dwyer". "Beceived  the  same,  this  10th  of  June,  from  Thomas  Taylor,  Esq. "  Edward  Wilson". Witness  present,  J.  M'Donagh. The  signature  Malachy  Dwyer  is  in  the  handwriting  of  a  well-educated person.  Particular  attention  might  be  called  with  advantage  to  the  nature of  the  services  of  this  man. Mr.  Patten,  the  brother-in-law  of  T.  A.  Emmet,  informed  me,  that among  Bobert  Emmet's  confidential  agents  was  a  Wicklow  farmer,  named Malachy  Dwyer,  but  this  person   never  was  suspected.     There  is  a  very 392 APPENDIX    II. curious  account  of  a  person  named  Malachy  (no  sirname  mentioned)  in those  very  remarkable  papers  entitled  Robert  Emmet  and  his  Cotempo- raries,  published  in  the  London  and  Dublin  Magazine  for  1825,  and probably  written  by  the  late  Judge  Johnston,  the  author  of  Roche  Fer- moy's  Commentary  on  Tone's  Memoirs.  The  Malachy  therein  mentioned is  described  as  the  betrayer  of  his  friend,  Robert  Emmet. Who  gave  the  information  to  Major  Sirr  of  Emmet's  place  of  conceal- ment at  Harold's  Cross  ?  Who  borrowed  Emmet's  pistols  from  him  the morning  of  the  day  on  which  he  was  arrested  ?  Who  is  the  "  Lacey" who  received  from  the  Government,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1804, £34  2s.  6d.  ?  Lastly,  who  i3  the  Malachy  Dwyer,  in  the  receipt  of  a pension  of  £52  a  year  for  secret  services,  paid  to  him  through  the  hands of  Edward  Wilson  ? There  was  a  man  of  the  name  of  John  Dwyer  living  in  the  Glen  of Imaal,  in  comfortable  circumstances  in  1798;  he  was  a  captain  in  the United  Irish  cause.  His  house  was  burned  in  1798  by  the  yeomanry  ;  he was  shot  at  Dunlavin,  and  all  his  property  destroyed.  He  had  a  son, Darby  Dwyer,  lately  living  in  Fleet  Street,  who  kept  a  dairy.  But  I think  we  must  look  elsewhere  for  the  betrayer  of  Emmet. In  the  official  account  of  payments  of  Secret  Service  Money,  in  the  year 1803,  we  find  the  following  item  : — "November  5.     Finlay  and  Co.,  account  of  Eichard  Jones,  £1000". The  same  amount  as  that  which  was  paid  F.  H.,  for  the  discovery of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald.  Robert  Emmet  was  arrested  by  Major  Sirr on  the  25th  of  August,  1803,  a  little  more  than  two  months  previously  to the  payment  of  the  £1 000  into  Finlay's  bank  for  Richard  Jones.  Who  was this  gentleman,  Richard  Jones  ?  For  whom  was  the  money  paid  "  to account  of  Richard  Jones"  ? In  the  county  Wicklow  there  was  a  family  of  the  name  of  Jones,  of  Kil- lencarrig,  near  Delgany.  In  1815  there  was  a  brewery  kept  there  by  a family  of  that  name.  They  were  Protestants,  quiet  people,  who  did  not meddle  with  politics. In  the  county  Dublin,  at  Ballinascorney,  near  where  Emmet  was  con- cealed for  some  time,  there  was  also  a  family  of  the  name  of  Jones,  small farmers,  Catholics. There  was  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Jones,  the  Right  Hon.  Theophilus Jones,  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council,  a  collector  of  revenue.  In  1800, being  in  parliament,  he  voted  for  the  "  Union",  and  he  was  a  person  of some  distinction  in  1  798.  He  lived  at  Cork  Abbey,  Bray.  He  was  a humane,  good  man  in  "the  troubles",  and  interested  himself  much  for  the people. There  were  two  attorneys  of  the  name  Richard  Jones,  living  in  Dublin  at the  period  of  Emmet's  capture.  One  resided  in  Pitt  Street,  the  other  in Mercer  Street. A  small  farmer  of  the  name  of  Doyle,  holding  about  forty  acres  of  land SECRET    SERVICES.  393 near  Tallaght,  incurred  suspicion  of  betraying  Emmet  on  very  slight grounds.  He  had  afforded  shelter  to  Emmet  and  several  of  his  fugitive companions  three  days  after  the  failure  of  the  insurrection,  the  23rd of  July.  Doyle's  son  kept  a  public-house,  "  the  Half  Moon",  at  Harold's Cross.  Several  men  were  subsequently  arrested  there  under  peculiar  cir- cumstances. The  father  died  about  1 839,  and  a  pension  of  £50,  it  was  stated in  the  newspapers  at  the  time,  fell  in  to  the  government.  He  gave  evi- dence on  Emmet's  trial,  which  might  have  unjustly  created  suspicions  of him.  When  Emmet  was  concealed  at  Harold's  Cross,  young  Doyle  is said  to  have  supplied  him  with  milk,  eggs,  etc. Some  injustice  has  been  done  to  the  memory  of  a  brave  officer,  who  had been  in  the  Austrian  service.  There  was  a  young  man  named  Malachy Delany,  the  son  of  a  respectable  family  living  near  Mullaghmast,  who  had been  engaged  in  the  rebellion  of  1798,  and  also  in  the  insurrection  of  1803  ; he  accompanied  Eobert  Emmet  from  the  Continent  when  the  latter  came over  to  Ireland  on  his  unfortunate  expedition,  I  am  informed  by  Mr. Patten.  He  had  been  imprisoned  in  1803,  and  was  liberated.  He eventually  quitted  the  country,  and,  it  is  said,  got  into  the  Austrian service.  But  this  man,  from  the  best  sources  of  information,  I  am  enabled to  state,  was  not  more  brave  than  he  was  true  to  his  principles  and  his associates.  He  returned  to  Ireland,  and  died  in  March,  1807,  at  Finglass, in  the  vicinity  of  Dublin. FRANCIS  MAGAN. "  Received  from  William  Gregory,  Esq.,  by  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  fifty pounds  sterling,  for  the  quarter,  to  24th  December  last. "  Dublin,  January  22,  1816.  "  F.  Magan". Endorsed  by  Secretary  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  January,  1816.     £50. S.  A.  F.  Magan. Another  receipt  of  same  party  for  £50,  for  the  quarter  ending  Sept. 29,  1816,  signed  F.  Magan,  and  initialed  on  the  back,  S.  A. Mr.  Francis  Magan,  a  barrister  without  briefs,  a  Roman  Catholic,  an eccentric,  shy,  reserved,  and  timorous  person,  lived  in  1798,  and  till  the last  six  or  seven  years,  resided  at  No.  20  Usher's  Island. On  the  17th  of  May,  1798,  Major  Sirr,  from  some  person  having received  intelligence  that  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  would  be,  at  a  certain hour  that  night,  on  his  way  from  Lord  Moira's  house  on  Usher's  Island going  towards  Thomas  Street,  or  coming  from  Thomas  Street,  was  likely to  pass  by  the  back  premises,  it  is  conjectured,  of  Mr.  Magan,  to  Usher's Island,  took  his  measures  accordingly.  Taking  with  him  a  sufficient  number of  assistants  for  his  purpose,  and  accompanied  also  by  Messrs.  Ryan  and Emerson,  Major  Sirr  proceeded,  at  the  specified  time,  to  the  quarter  pointed out,  and  there  being  two  different  ways  (either  Watling  Street  or  Dirty Lane)  by  which  the  expected  party  might  come,  he  divided  his  force,  so  as to  intercept  them  by  either  road. ;i«)-i APPENDIX  II. A  similar  plan  happening  to  have  boen  adopted  by  Lord  Edward's  escort, there  took  place  in  each  of  these  two  streets  a  conflict  between  the  parties, and  Major  Sirr,  who  was  stationed  with  his  party  at  Dirty  Lane,  was  near losing  his  life  at  the  hands  of  W.  P.  M'Cabe.  This  statement,  however, rests  on  no  sure  foundation. But  Counsellor  Francis  Magan's  services  to  Government,  whatever  they were,  were  well  rewarded.  Besides  his  secret  pension  of  £200  a  year,  he enjoyed  a  lucrative  official  situation  in  the  Four  Courts  up  to  the  time  of  his decease.  He  was  one  of  the  commissioners  for  enclosing  commons.  The awards  of  the  commissioners  in  the  various  cases  which  were  brought before  them,  are  filed  in  the  Rolls'  Office,  each  basing  the  signature  of  the commissioners. In  the  preceding  Secret  Service  Money  lists  we  find  the  following entries : — Dec.  11,  1800,  Magan,  per  Mr.  Higgins,  .         .     £300. Dec.    15,    1802,    Francis   Magan,    by   direction    of  Mr. Open,  .  £500. CAPTAIN  RYAN  S  FAMILY. "  Received  from  the  Right  Hon.   Henry  Goulburn,   by   the  hands  of one   hundred  pounds  sterling,  ordered  to  be  paid  to  us  as  the daughters  of  the  late  Captain  Ryan,  etc.,*  for  half  year  ended  25th  day  of March,  1825.     April  25,  1825,  Kinsale. "Jane  Standish. "  Edward  Standish. "  Catherine  Carew". Endorsed,  19th  April,  1825.     Miss  Ryan.     S.  A. DR.    JOHN   BRENNAN. "  Received  from  William  Gregory,  Esq.,  fifty  pounds  sterling. "Oct.  11,  1825.  "John  Brenn-". Endorsed  by  Secretary  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  October  11,  1825. £50.  Dr.  Brennan. O.  A. There  is  an  evident  attempt  to  make  the  final  letters  of  the  name  in the  receipt  illegible.  The  Secretary's  endorsement,  however,  "Dr.  Brennan, £50,  O.  A.",  renders  the  attempt  useless. There  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  the  Dr.  John  Brennan  above  named, was  the  well-known  Wrestling  Doctor,  the  editor  of  the  Milesian  Maga- zine, who  was  pensioned  for  lampooning  the  Catholic  leaders  from  1816 *  [The  Captain  Ryan  who  volunteered  his  services  to  arrest  Lord  Edward Fitzgerald,  and  who  was  shot  by  the  latter. — R.  K.  M.] SECRET    SERVICES.  395 to  1825.  The  fact  of  Dr.  Brennan  having  a  pension  of  £200  a  rear  from Government,  was  unknown  to  any  of  his  friends  till  a  very  few  days  before his  death,  when,  as  I  have  been  informed  by  his  nephew,  the  late  P.  Clinch, Esq.,  that  in  his  delirium,  he  was  singing  snatches  of  his  own  satirical  songs, and  amongst  others,  very  frequently,  one  beginning  with  the  words  : — "  Barney,  Barney,  buck  or  doe, Who  will  with  the  petition  go  ?" When  he  used  to  wind  up  with  a  eulogy  on  this  stave  :  "  This  is  the song  which  got  me  my  two  hundred  a  year". — R.  R.  M. DR.    TREVOR. "  Received  from  Thomas  Taylor,  Esq.,  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds sterling,  ending  March  25,  1825. "Edward  Trevor".* Endorsed,  April  16,  1825.     Dr.  Trevor.     £250.  0.  A. REV.    THOMAS  BARRY. "  Mallow,  August  5,  1823. "Dear  Sir, — I  received  your  letter  enclosing  half  a  fifty-pound  note,  my half  year's  annuity,  for  which  I  am  very  thankful,  and  shortly  expect  the other  section,  and  remain  your  faithful  and  humble  servant, "  Thomas  Barry". Endorsed,  August  2,  1823.     Rev.  T.  Barry.     £50.     0.  A. The  Rev.  Thomas  Barry,  P.P.,  of  Mallow,  had  a  pension  of  £100,  be- sides he  received  frequent  payments  for  secret  services  (see  the  pub- lished accounts). May,   1801.     Earl  of  Shannon,  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barry, Roman  Catholic  priest  of  Cork,  at  Mallow,  .  .    £100     0     0 March   27,    1802.      Earl  of  Shannon,  for  the  Rev.  Mr. Barry,  P.P.,  of  Mallow, £100     0     0 June  1,  1803.     Rev.  R.  Woodward,   for  Mr.  Knox,  for the  Rev.  Thomas  Barry,  P.P.,  of  Mallow,  .  .    £100     0     0 R.  R.  M. *  Dr.  Edward  Trevor  died  in  Dublin  in  1837,  aged  seventy-six.  He  had  held the  office  of  Inspector-General  of  Prisons  in  Ireland  for  forty-six  years,  and  in the  reign  of  terror  left  nothing  undone  in  the  discharge  of  his  functions  to  render his  office  terribly  effective. 396 APPENDIX    II. JOHN   J.    DARKAGH,    ESQ. "Dublin,  October  17,  1815. "  Mr.  Taylor  has  left  with  us  one  hundred  pounds,  to  be  remitted  to John  Johnston  Darragh,  Esq. "  Thomas  Finlay  and  Co." Endorsed,  October  17,  1815.     £100.     Air.  T.  for  J.  J.  Darragh. S.  A. F.    CHAPMAN,    ESQ. "  Received  from  Thomas  Taylor,  Esq.,  two  hundred  and  six  pounds five  shillings,  and  two  pence,  on  account  of  Robert  Allan  &  Son,  Esqrs. "  Dublin,  13th  day  of  October,  1825.  For  Messrs.  Armit,  Borough,  and Co.  "F.  Chapman". Endorsed,  October  12,  1825.     Belfast  Newsletter.     £200.        S.  S. j.  bird,  alias  smith. "  Received  from  the  Government  of  Ireland,  per  William  Taylor,  Esq., one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds,  for  the  quarter  ended  the  24th December,  1813.  "J.  Smith. "Dublin,  January  7,  1814". Endorsed,  January,  1814.     £125.     Correspondent,  S.  S. John  Bird,  alias  "  John  Smith",  an  Englishman,  appears  to  have  been sent  over  to  Ireland  so  early  as  1795,  as  Jackson  had  been,  on  a  special mission.  He  commenced  operations  in  his  official  capacity,  in  the  columns of  Giffard's  Dublin  Journal.  He  played  fast  and  loose  with  the  Govern- ment and  with  their  enemies  ;  abandoned  for  a  short  time  the  cause  of  the Constitution  and  the  Church,  alias  the  service  of  Sirr  and  GifFard,  but soon  returned  to  his  first  love,  as  his  letters  to  the  Major  plainly  show, and  certain  original  receipts  would  seem  to  indicate,  for  Secret  Service payments,  bearing  the  signature,  J.  S. H.    T. "  Received  from  T.  Taylor,  Esq.,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds. "  January  5,  1820.  "  H.  T." Endorsed,  January  5,  1820.     £175.     Correspondent,  S.  S. ARCHDEACON    TRENCH. "  Sunday  morning. I  have  not  received  the  second  part  of  Mr.  O'Donnel's  bank  notes. SECRET    SERVICES.  397 Send  them  to  rne  at  the  Custom   House,   where  I  shall   be  to-morrow evening,  please  God. "Ever  affectionately  yours, "  A.  T. [Initials  nearly  illegible.] "  Maybe  you  or  Anne  or  Nancy  may  have  some  commission  for  me  at  the other  side.     I  intend  returning  speedily". Endorsed,  April  7,  1825.     Archdn.  Trench.    Rev.  E.  O'Donnell.  £30. O.A. R.    J.    SHARKEY,    ESQ.,    BARRISTER- AT-LAW. "Dublin,  January  6,  1820. "  Received  from  William  Gregory,  Esq.,  twenty-five  pounds,  a  quarter's allowance  due  to  Mrs.  Sharkey,  the  1st  inst. "R.  J.  Sharkey". Endorsed,  January  17,  1820.     Mrs.  Sharkey.     £25.  S.  S. THE   WIDOW   JORDAN. "Newtown  Barry,  November  19,  1819. "Received  from  Thomas  Taylor,  Esq.,  by  the  hands  of  Lieut.- Col.  Phayre, the  sum  9/  ten  pounds  sterling,  in  full  for  half  a  year's  annuity,  due  to  me the  29th  day  of  September  last. "  Elizabeth  Jordan". [Query,  "The  Colonel"  Phayre  of  Mr.  Finn's  Orange  Committee notoriety  ? — R.  R.  M.] "  Killoughnin,  Enniscorthy,  November  10,  1819. "Dear  Sir, — I  beg  leave  to  request  you  will  remit  me  £10,  the  amount of  the  Widow  Jordan's  annuity,  due  on  the  29th  of  September  last,  and  I shall  return  you  Mrs.  Jordan's  receipt  for  it. "  I  remain  very  faithfully  yours, "  Roworth  Phayre. "  I  beg  to  trouble  you  to  send  the  enclosed  to  my  son  by  the  first  post. "R.  P." Endorsed.     0.  A. THE  BELLANEYS. "  Dublin,  December  28,  1812. "  Received  from  Alexander  Marsden,  Esq.,  by  direction  of  the  Lord  Lieu- tenant, twenty  pounds  for  Mrs.  Sarah  Bellaney,  and  ten  pounds  for  her  son, "  Matthew  Craven". 398  APPENDIX  II. Endorsed,  December  28,  1812.     Mr.  Craven.     £30  for  Mrs.  Bellaney, £20  for  her  son.     S.  S. S.    STREATFIELD. "Dublin  Castle,  September  11,  1818. "  Received  of  Mr.  Taylor,  fifteen  pounds  for  my  journey  from  London. "  S.  Streatiteld". Endorsed.     S.  S. BRIDGET  CONNOR. "  Dublin  Castle,  October  30,  1819. "  Received  from  William  Gregory,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  forty  pounds,  being the  final  payment  that  is  to  be  made  me  for  my  services  as  a  witness. her "  Bridget    fxj  Connor". mark. Endorsed.     Final.     0.  A. LUKE    BRIEN. "  Received   from    William    Gregory,   Esq.,  ten  guineas,  for  July  and August  months,  1826. "  Luke  Brien". Endorsed,  August  15,  182G.     Luke  Brien.     £10  10s.     O.  A. ELLEN    CARROLL. "  Dungarvan,  October  6,  1825. "Dear  Sir, — I  received  one  half  of  five  pound  note,  on  the  4th  instant, and  I  beg  you  will  send  me  the  counterpart  as  soon  as  possible. "  I  remain,  dear  sir,  yours  truly, "  Ellen  Carroll. "  P.S. — Direct  it  to  Rev.  Stephen  Dixon,  parish  minister". Endorsed.     0.   A. SKCRKT  SERVICES.  399 MARY  ELDON. "  Received  from  John  Gregory,  Esq.,  per  T.  Taylor,  seven  pounds  ten shillings,  one  quarter  of  a  year's  pension  to  23rd  December,  1814. her "Mary  M    Eldon". mark Witness,  H.  Paine. Endorsed,  December  23,  1814.     £7  10s.     Mary  Eldon.     S.  A. CATHERINE    M'GRATH. "Received  from   William  Gregory,  Esq.,  twelve  pounds  ten  shillings, being  one  quarter  of  my  pension,  due  the  1st  July,  1824. "  Catherine  M'Gratii". Endorsed,  July  2,  1824.     Mrs.  M'Grath.     £12  10s.    S.  S. JAMES  GRAY,  OF  DUNGANNON. "Received  from  Sir  Charles  Sexton,  Bart.,  by  the  hands  of  Mr.  William Taylor,  twelve  pounds  ten  shillings  sterling,  being  one  quarter  of  my enauty,*  ending  and  drew  this  twenty-fifth  day  of  September,  eighteen hundred  and  fifteen.  Given  under  my  hand  at  Dungannon,  this  25th  day of  December. "James  Gray". Underneath  the  receipt,  on  the  same  piece  of  paper,  is  the  following remarkable  epistle  to  Secretary  Taylor  : — "  Sir, — In  my  last  I  took  the  liberty  of  letting  you  know  the  situation  of the  country ;  I  mean  the  middling  order  of  the  people,  who,  during  the harvest,  rented  farms  at  a  high  rate,  when  the  could  get  what  price  the pleased  for  their  cattle  and  their  grain.  Now  the  case  is  altered,  and these  articles  are  come  to  their  original  value,  which  disqualifies  them  to pay  them  high  rents,  and  tythes,  and  county  rates,  which  are  very  high, which  leaves  them  sully,  sulken,  and  discontented.  But  there  is  one  thing, the  tax  by  the  crown,  I  mean  the  hearth-money,  the  scarcely  feel,  which gives  me  a  ground  to  support  the  mildness  of  the  Government  with  success amongst  them.  They  feel  it  in  Scotland  as  well  as  here,  as  numbers  of  their farmers  who  have  failed  are  flocking  to  this  country,  looking  for  steward- ships, so  that  I  find  we  will  have  a  nation  of  malcontents,  of  which  I dread  the  consequence  more  than  anything  that  has  yet  happened.     If  the *  Sic  in  original. — R.  K.  M. 400  APPENDIX    II. causes  could  be  removed,  it  would  be  more  laudable  than  to  punish  the effects;  for,  trust  me,  that  is  only  to  confine  error  and  to  awaken  ven- geance, and  while  we  are  great  abroad,  might  create  evils  at  home,  that none  but  God  knows  what  the  end  of  them  might  be. "  1  remain,  sir,  your  obedient,  humble  servant, "  James  Gray.* "  This  is  wrote  by  my  unfortunate  son,  by  my  directions". Endorsed,  December,  1815.     £12  10s.     James  Gray.     S.  A. CHARLOTTE   EDWARDS. "  May  8,  1827. "  Received  from  Thomas  Taylor,  Esq.,  one  hundred  pounds,  being  one year's  pension  due  to  me  the  twenty-fifth  of  March  last. "  Charlotte  Edwards". Endorsed,  May  9,  1827.     Mrs.  Edwards.     £92  6s.  2d.     S.  S. RICHARD    HARPER. "  Dorset  Street,  Dublin,  December  30,  1815. "Received  from  William  Gregory,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  twelve  pounds  ten shillings,  for  one  quarter's  salary,  due  and  ending  the . . his "Richard  }*j    Harper". mark Witness  present,  James  Gaynor. (Endorsed) "  I  acknowledge  to  have  received  the  amount  of  the  enclosed  by  the messenger. his "Richard  jxj    Harper". mark. JAMES    GEOGHEGAN. "Received  from  William  Gregory,  Secretary,  Esq.,  by  the  hands  of Thomas  Taylor,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  twenty-five  pounds  sterling,  for  one quarter's  compensation,  commencing  the  5th  day  of  April,  and  ending  this 5th  of  July,  1823. "  James  Geoghegan". Endorsed,  July  10,  1823.     Mr.  James  Geoghegan.     £25.         S.  S. *  James  Gray  made  his  debut  on  the  state  trial  stage  as  a  witness  for  the  crown at  the  Londonderry  assizes,  Dec.,  1797,  at  the  trial  of  a  man  named  William M'Keever,  but  his  evidence  against  the  prisoner  was  not  believed  by  the  jury. The  man  was  acquitted  (Sec  Evening  Post,  23rd  December,  1797). SECRET    SERVICES.  401 EDWARD  NICHOLSON. "  Received  from  Government,  by  the  hands  of  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  the sum  of  twenty -five  pounds  sterling,  for  half  year's  salary,  ending  and  due the  29th  day  of  September,  1815. "  Edward  Nicholson". Endorsed,  October,  1815.     £25.     E.  Nicholson.     S.  A. MR.  SECRETARY  COOKE  TO  MR.  TAYLOR,  in  re  MR.  NICHOLSON. "November  2,  1800. "  Dear  Taylor, — I  spoke  to  you  yesterday  for  £30  ;  pray  enclose  |t,  and direct  the  letter  to  Mr.  Nicholson,  and  give  it  to  Dawes  to  deliver  to-day, who  knows  him.  I  will  settle  the  letter  you  sent  with  Lord  Castlereagh to-morrow. — Yours,  "  E.  0." Edward  Nicholson's  receipt,  dated  September  29,  1814,  for  half-year's "salary".     £25.     Endorsed.     S.  A. Nicholson's  name  figures  twice  in  the  official  accounts  of  payments  made for  secret  services. July  8,  1800.     Mr.  Cooke,  for  Nicholson,  .         .      £20     0     0 August  31,  1803.     Mr.  Dawes,  for  Nicholson,  .        50     0     0 R.  R.  M. JAMES  M'NAMARA. "  Irish  Office,  July  27,  1824. "  Received  of  Sir  C.  W.  Flint,  the  sum  of  ten  shillings,   agreeably  to Mr.  Goulburn's  desire. "  James  M'Namara".* JOHN    WILLCOCKS,    ESQ. "  Cashel,  April  25. "  Dear  Sir, — I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  23rd instant,  enclosing  half  a  note  for  ten  pounds  for  Catherine  Morony,  wit- ness in  the  case  of  three  men  convicted  of  breaking  into  her  mother's house. — Yours,  dear  sir,  faithfully, "  John  WiLLCOCKS.f "  Thomas  Tavlor,  Esq." 0.  A. *  One  of  the  Major's  men,  who  appears  to  have  been  settled  in  London  in  182-i and  182J,  and  during  that  time  in  receipt  of  the  abovenained  allowance. t  This  name  deserves  attention. vol.  i.  27 402 A1TENDIX    II. THE  DEAN  OF  RAPHOE. (Confidential). "  Treasury  Chambers,  May  6,  1825. "  My  Dear  Goulburn, — I  have  received  your  note  of  this  day,  enclosing £25,  the  remainder  of  the  moneys  on  account  of  the  Dean  of  Raphoe. — Ever  truly  yours,  "  George  Harrison. "  The  Eight  Hon.  Henry  Goulburn". DRESSING  UP  A  WITNESS  FOR  A  TRIAL  RESPECTING  THE  FRANKS  MURDER. October  24,  1825. To  one  quarter's  board,  etc.,  for  Mary  Myers,  from  June     £    s.    d. 25,  to  September  25,  1825,         .         .         .         .500 Articles  purchased  for  her  previous  to  her  going  to  Cork. A  pair  of  stockings, Four  pocket  handkerchiefs, Cap  and  trimmings, White  neckhandkerchief, Small  shawl, Calico  to  finish  gown,  purchased  by  Mr.  Marsden Muslin  frill, Rack  and  fine  hair  combs, Hand  basket, Cleaning  bonnet,    . Shoes  mending, Endorsed.  Mary  Myers,  one  of  the  witnesses  respecting  the  Franks murder,  board  and  clothing  three  mouths,  £5  18s.  7d.  October  25, 1825.  Rev.  M.  Farrell. £ 5.    d. 0 2     2 0 2     0 0 2     0 0 0  10 0 3     4 0 1     7 0 0  10 0 0  10 0 1     3 0 2     6 0 1     3 £5 18     7 J.  Matthews. THE   MAJOR'S  MEN. "  September  30,  1800. "Received  from  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  as  subsistence  for  the undernamed  men,  September  13,  1800  : — Mrs.  O.  Bryne, Edward  Hayes, Edward  Lennan, Thomas  Jackson, John  O'Neil, John  Hanlon, £ s.    d. 1 2     9 1 2     9 1 2     9 1 2     9 1 2     9 1 2     9 SECRET    SERVICES. 403 James  Kain, Richard  Harper, John  Becket, John  Caughlan, Daniel  Caar, Charles  M'Gowan, Francis  Deviling, "  Received  from  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  fourteen  pounds  four shillings  and  four  pence  half-penny  sterling,  value  received. "  John  Hanlon.* "  Henry  C.  Sirr". £ s. d. 1 2 9 1 2 9 1 2 9 1 2 9 0 11 41 0 11 41 0 11 H 4 4 41 AX    ACCOUNT    OF    MEN  S    MONEY, September  24,  1802. Henry  Battersby, James  Kane, Thomas  Jackson, Patrick  Farrell, Patrick  M'Cabe, John  Fleming, £ 1 1 1 1 1 1 5. 2 2 2 2 2 2 d. 9 9 9 9 9 9 £6  16     6 "  Received  from  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  six  pounds  sixteen shillings  and  six  pence  sterling. "  Henry  BATTERSBY".t Within  bill, Diet  do., Tower,  do., Washing  do., Six  Men, Two  do., (Signed) *  The  keeper  of  the  Tower ; — a  ruffian  of  Sirr's  band  in  1798,  who  was  shot  by Henry  Howley  in  1S03. t  Battersby  was  then  keeper  of  the  Tower ;  he  was  one  of  the  Major's  gang  in 1798. %  Numerous  other  receipts  of  Battersby's  are  extant,  down  to  1815,  when  the Major's  men  were  reduced  to  half-a-dozen. £ s. d. 6 16 6 3 8 0 O 7 7 101 1 2 9 10 4 9 6 16 6 £35 16 71  + •  2+ H.  C .  Sirr. 404 APPENDIX    II. Due  to  Henry  Battersby,  for  washing  for  the  Tower,  Dublin  Castle,  tl last  fortuight,  £1  2s.  9d. "  September  24,  1808. "  Received  from  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  one  pound  two  shil lings  and  nine  pence  sterling. "Henry  Battersby". THE    MAJORS    MEN. To  four  men, One  do., Ditto, Man  to  Kildare, Saturday,  July  18,  1812. £  s.  d. 6  16  G 3  8  3 2  5  6 2  5  6 £14  15     9 H.  C.  S. in Due  to  Henry  Battersby,  for  dieting  the  following  persons  this  lasl  t week,  viz. : — ■ Winifred  Kennedy,  seven  days,  at  6s.  6d.  .         .£256 Two  children,         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         12     9 £3     8     3 "  September  24,  1808, "  Received  from  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  three  pounds  eight shillings  and  three  pence  sterling. "  Henry  Battersby". AN    ACCOUNT    OF   MENS    MONEY. Henry  Battersby, James  Kane, Patrick  Farrell, Patrick  M'Cabe, Mrs.  Halpin, John  Fleming, £ 1 1 1 1 1 1 s.  d. 2     9 2 2 2 2 2 0 11 9 9 9 £6  16     6 "May2G,  1810.    j "  Received  from  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  six  pounds  sixteen, shillings  and  six  pence  sterling. "  Henry  Battersby". SECRET    SERVICES. 405 AN    ACCOUNT    OF    MENS    MONEY. £     s.    d Henry  Battersby, 12     9 James  Kane           . 12     9 Patt.  Farrell,          .... 1     2     9 Patt.  M'Cabe,         .... 1     2     9 John  Fleming,         .... 12     9 Thomas  Halpin,* 12     9 £6  16     6 "  December  3,  1814. "Received  from  William  Taylor,  Esq.,  the  sum  of  six  pounds  sixteen "  Henry  Battersby". lillings  and  six  pence  sterling. *  Halpin,  originally  a  gardener  in  the  employment  of  a  Mr.  Fawcett  of  Rath- drum,  was  an  informer  of  the  Major's  gang.  He  was  the  man  who  was  sent  for by  an  Orange  magistrate  of  Roscrea,  to  shoot  at  his  own  effigy,  and  for  which that  functionary  prosecuted  two  Catholic  distillers  in  Roscrea.  (See  O'Neill Daunt's  book,  "Ireland  and  its  Agitators",  p.  83).  Also,  "Madden's  Connexion of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland  with  the  Crown  of  England;  Correspondence  of  Magis- trates with  the  Government".)  Halpin  had  joined  Dwyer's  party  in  the Wicklow  mountains  prior  to  1803,  became  a  robber,  an  informer,  and  being  sus- pected of  treachery,  was  fired  at  by  Dwyer,  when  the  gun  burst,  and  Dwyer  lost a  finger.    He  was  a  gardener's  assistant,  some  years  ago,  with  Major  Sirr. 406 APPENDIX   III. THE  GOVERNMENTAL  SPY  AND  INFORMER  SYSTEM. The  history  of  the  Rebellion  of  1798,  like  that  of  every  other  civil  war, whatever  traits  of  heroism  may  be  discovered  in  the  conduct  of  individuals, is  a  record  of  crimes  and  sufferings,  which  it  is  not  for  the  interests  of  the  ! people  or  their  rulers,  should  be  buried  in  oblivion,  however  appalling  its  j details.     The  evils  that  are  inseparable  from  civil  war,  require  only  to  be  ; regarded  by  both  orders  as  calamities  which  extend  far  beyond  the  event  of  ; success  or  failure,  and  involve  considerations  of  higher  importance  than  those which  are  ordinarily  taken  into  account,  either  by  those  parties  who  rush  j into  revolt,  or  the  powers  who  resist  the  just,  or  even  the  unreasonable, demands  of  the  people.     It  is  indeed  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  evils  of  i civil  war ;  but  it  is  possible  to  overrate  the  prospective  advantages  which  j are  calculated  on  from  its  success,  and  to  overlook  the  sufferings  which  are  j the  inevitable  consequences  of  its  failure. It  is  not  alone  in  the  deadly  conflict,  in  the  outrages  on  humanity  com- mitted  in  the  frenzy  of  popular  commotion,  or  party  violence,  or  lawless power,  that  these  evils  are  to  be  met  with.     The  direst  of  them,  the  most  i revolting  and  humiliating  to  the  feelings  of  all  right-minded  men,  are  to  be   ! found  in  the  perfidious  wickedness  of  those  wretches  who  rise  in  troubled times  to  the  surface  of  society  from  the  obscurity  in  which  their  mischievous   \ propensities  had  previously  lain  innoxious.     These  are  the  men  whom  the people  in  revolt  must  expect  to  find  the  earliest  in  their  ranks,  the  most prominent  in  their  societies,  violent  in  their  councils,  conspicuous  where there  is  security,  and  backward  where  there  is  danger,  and  who,  while urging  on  their  associates,  skulk  behind  them,  and  bide  their  own  time  to betray  them  to  their  enemies. These  are  the  men  whom  the  leaders  of  the  people  must  expect  to  meet in  their  secret  assemblies,  to  mingle  with  in  private,  to  suffer  the  obtrusive familiarity  of,  unrebuked, — whose  intemperate  activity  it  is  ever  a  task  of difficulty  to  restrain,  whose  vicious  courses  they  cannot  or  dare  not  inter- fere with,  whom  they  vainly  imagine  to  find  steadfast  in  their  cause  in the  times  and  troubles  which  try  men's  souls,  and  eventually  encounter  in courts  of  justice,  or  trace  to  the  portals  of  people  of  authority,  shrinking from  observation,  and  lurking  about  the  offices  of  the  underlings  of  state. SPIES  AND  INFORMERS.  407 These  are  the  men  •whom  the  agents  of  government  find  fit  and  proper persons,  when  "the  times  are  out  of  joint",  to  defeat  the  objects  of  those who  are  inimical  to  their  principles  or  their  power, — wretches  whom  it  is easy  to  corrupt,  being  generally  not  only  infamous  and  dissolute  in  their  lives, but  singularly  open  and  scandalous  in  their  infamy.  The  employment  of  such men  makes  it  necessary  to  treat  them  with  consideration,  to  take  the  tute- lage of  their  testimony  into  charge,  to  condescend  to  hold  confidential communications  with  them,  to  wink  at  their  iniquities,  to  seem  unconscious of  their  veuality,  to  work  upon  their  vanity,  to  exaggerate  their  prepos- terous opinions  of  their  own  importance,  and  to  conceal  the  viler  features of  their  treachery  under  the  veil  of  a  solicitude  for  the  interests  of  justice or  the  welfare  of  their  country.  If  an  alliance  with  such  men  involve their  confederates  in  danger,  the  tutelage  of  their  testimony  cannot  be otherwise  than  revolting  to  the  feelings  of  their  employers.  It  is  impos- sible to  come  in  contact  with  them  without  loathing  the  individuals  whose services  are  called  into  requisition. In  either  case  the  consequences  of  the  confidence  that  is  betrayed,  or the  corruption  that  is  practised,  and  the  use  that  is  made  of  the  infamous agency  of  spies  and  informers,  are  such,  that  it  is  hard  to  say  whether the  danger  attendant  on  the  former,  or  the  degradation  on  the  latter,  is the  evil  most  to  be  apprehended  or  deplored. By  the  reports  of  the  Secret  Committees  of  the  Lords,  in  1793,  and of  both  houses  of  parliament  in  1797,  it  appears  that  the  government,  at a  very  early  period,  had  a  knowledge  of  the  conspiracy  carried  on  by  the United  Irish  Societies  in  the  provinces  of  Leinster  and  Ulster,  though  not of  the  persons  who  formed  the  directory  of  the  former  province.  A  regu- lar system  of  espionage  was  adopted  so  early  as  1795,  and  in  1796  there were  few  secrets  of  the  United  Irishmen  which  were  not  in  the  hands  of the  government.  It  seems  to  be  one  of  the  necessary  results  of  efforts  to establish  secret  societies,  that  the  more  the  secrecy  of  their  proceedings  is sought  to  be  secured  by  tests  and  oaths,  the  more  danger  is  incurred  of treachery,  and  the  more  difficult  it.  is  to  guard  agaiust  traitors  :  the  very anxiety  for  concealment  becomes  the  immediate  occasion  of  detection. Mr.  Cockayne,  in  179-1,  was  the  first  person  who  informed  the  govern- ment of  the  communication  between  France  and  Ireland.  The  agent  of the  French  government,  the  Rev.  W.  Jackson,  broached  his  mission  to Theobald  Wolfe  Tone  and  other  United  Irishmen,  at  the  house  of  Coun- sellor Leonard  M'Xally,  in  Dublin.  The  treasonable  communications were  carried  on  with  M'Xally's  knowledge  and  concurrence  ;  the  government was  apprised  of  the  fact  by  Cockayne ;  Jackson  was  tried  and  convicted, and  Tune  had  to  quit  the  country ;  but  M'Nally  was  not  molested,  aud being  an  United  Irishman,  and  being  generally  employed  as  the  pro- fessional advocate  of  the  persons  of  that  society  who  had  been  arrested and  arraigned  on  the  charge  of  treason,  his  means  of  acquiring  infor- mation were  very  considerable,  and  it  was  only  discovered  at  his  death that  government  had  availed  themselves  of  his  knowledge,  and  had  con- ferred a  pension  of  £300  a  year  upon  him  for  his  private  services. I  do  not  here  refer  to  the  ordinary  gang  of  spies  and  informers  domi- ciled at  the  Tower,  or  iu  the  purlieus  of  the  Castle,  under  Messrs.  Sin-, 408  APPENDIX    III. Swan,  Hanlon,  or  O'Brien.  These  form  "  the  hacks  of  the  department", of  which  I  shall  have  to  speak  hereafter,  and  "  the  battalion  of  testi- mony" in  general.  We  now  only  have  to  do  with  the  embarrassed,  needy, unprincipled  men  of  some  standing  in  society,  the  "half-mounted"  and "  squireen"  class  of  spies,  who  appeared  in  the  witness-box  in  the  garb of  gentlemen,  or  whispered  yet  unsworn  informations  in  the  ears  of  Mr. Cooke,  and  drew  their  bills  from  time  to  time  on  demand,  and  several of  whom,  after  all  the  enormous  sums  paid  to  them  during  the  rebellion, retired  from  business  on  their  pensions,  provided  with  the  means  of  a  res- pectable subsistence. Mr.  Frederick  Dutton,  who  at  an  early  period  was  employed  in  the north  as  an  informer,  and  had  been  sent  especially  to  Maidstone  to  insure the  conviction  of  O'Connor,  was  a  regular  informer  of  this  class,  a  most reckless  one  in  the  case  of  the  unfortunate  priest  Quigley,  in  whose  great- coat pocket,  by  mistake  for  Arthur  O'Connor's,  was  placed  the  treasonable paper  on  which  he  was  convicted.  Mr.  M'Gucken,  the  solicitor  of  the United  Irishmen,  was  another  of  the  private  informers,  who  was  intrusted with  the  defence  of  the  prisoners  charged  with  treason  in  Belfast,  and  at the  same  period  was  in  the  pay  of  government — was  largely  paid,  and ultimately  pensioned;  and  during  these  frightful  times  M'Gucken  con- tinued to  possess  the  confidence  of  the  United  Irishmen. For  upwards  of  twelve  mouths  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion several  members  of  the  Ulster  United  Irish  Society  were  likewise  in  the pay  of  government.  John  Edward  Newell  entered  on  his  duties  at  the Castle  the  13th  of  April,  1797,  and  retired  from  them  rather  abruptly, the  6th  of  February,  1798.  Nicholas  Maguan,  of  Saintfield,  in  the County  of  Down,  a  member  of  the  provincial  and  county  committees,  and also  described  in  the  report  of  1798  as  a  colonel  in  their  military  system, during  the  whole  of  1797,  and  down  to  June,  1798,  regularly  attended the  meetings  of  the  County  Down  United  Irish  Societies,  and  communi- cated to  the  Earl  of  Londonderry's  chaplain,  the  Rev.  John  Cleland,  a magistrate  of  that  county,  the  treasonable  proceedings  of  those  societies after  each  meeting. Mr.  John  Hughes,  a  bookseller  of  Belfast,  another  member  of  the United  Irish- Society,  was  apprehended  at  Newry,  and  brought  into  Belfast the  20th  of  October,  1797,  on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  and  the  same evening  was  liberated  on  bail.  Mr.  Hughes's  character  and  past  services, it  cannot  be  doubted,  obtained  for  him  an  indulgence  so  extraordinary  in those  times.  No  date  is  assigned  to  the  disclosures  of  Mr.  Hughes,  which were  subsequently  published  in  the  secret  report  of  1798 ;  but  there  is reason  to  believe  that  he  was  known  to  General  Barber  as  an  informer  in the  latter  part  of  1797.  On  the  7th  of  June,  1793,  this  man  again went  through  the  formal  process  of  an  arrest,  and  was  transmitted  to Dublin  for  special  service  there.  Another  member  of  the  United  Irish Society,  named  Bird,  alias  Smith,  had  from  the  same  period  been  in  the pay  of  government,  had  laid  informations  against  Neilson  and  several  of his  associates,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  1797,  like  Newell,  abrnptly  relin- quished his  employment.  Both  refused  to  come  forward  as  witnesses  on the  trials  of  Messrs.  M'Cracken,   Flanuagan,  Barret,  and  Burnside.     Mr. MR.  JOHN  HUGHES.  409 Thomas  Reynolds,  of  Kilkea  Castle,  at  length  supplied  whatever  evidence was  wanting  to  enable  government  to  complete  its  "  timely  measures". The  Leinster  delegates  were  apprehended  on  the  12th  of  March,  1798,  at the  house-  of  Oliver  Bond,  aud  the  strength  of  the  union  being  suffi- ciently broken  down,  there  remained  no  decent  pretext  for  avoiding  "  the premature  explosion  of  the  rebellion". The  arrest  of  the  Leinster  provincial  committee  at  Bond's,  and  the leading  members  of  the  union  the  day  following,  was  the  death-blow  to the  plans  of  their  society.  Four  members  of  the  directory,  on  whose talents  and  resources  alone  the  society  could  place  reasonable  reliance in  such  an  emergency,  were  no  longer  at  the  head  of  its  councils — Messrs. Emmet,  M'Neven,  O'Connor,  and  Jackson  were  in  the  hands  of  govern- ment. One  member  only  of  the  Leinster  Directory,  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, who  was  the  recognized  military  leader  of  the  whole  confederated  societies of  United  Irishmen,  for  a  short  time  baffled  the  vigilance  of  the  govern- ment ;  and  when  he  likewise  was  lost  to  the  cause  by  his  arrest  on  the 19th  of  May,  the  circumstances  of  the  society  were  as  desperate  as  they could  well  be. On  the  arrest  of  the  four  members  of  the  old  directory,  the  younger Sheares  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  new  one,  and  continued  to  belong to  it,  concerting  with  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  and  others  the  plan  of  the insurrection  which  broke  out  on  the  2ord  of  May,  two  days  previously  to which  both  brothers  were  arrested.  The  outline  of  the  plan  was  the surprisal  of  Dublin,  the  taking  of  the  Castle,  the  camp  at  Laughlinstown, the  artillery  station  at  Chapelizod  on  the  same  night,  and  simultaneous risings  in  the  counties  of  Dublin,  Wicklow,  and  Kildare. Had  Lord  Edward  lived  to  join  the  insurgents,  the  government  might have  had  cause  to  regret  the  trial  of  the  experiment  of  their  well-timed measures  for  the  explosion  of  the  insurrection. It  is  well  known  that  the  grand  object  of  the  directory  of  the  United Irishmen,  was  to  restrain  the  impatience  of  the  people,  and  to  prevent  a general  rising  unaided  by  the  French.  In  the  report  of  the  secret  com- mittee, it  is  fully  admitted  that  "until  the  middle  of  March,  1798,  the disaffected  entertained  no  serious  intention  of  hazarding  a  general  engage- ment independently  of  foreign  assistance ;  indeed,  the  opinion  of  the  most cautious  of  their  body  was  always  adverse  to  premature  exertion".  And further  on  the  report  states,  "  that  it  appears,  from  a  variety  of  evidence laid  before  your  committee,  that  the  rebellion  would  not  have  broken  out as  soon  as  it  did,  had  it  not  been  for  the  well-timed  measures  adopted  by government  subsequent  to  the  proclamation  of  the  lord  lieutenant  and council,  bearing  date  30th  of  March,  1798".  It  is  necessary  to  ascertain what  these  well-timed  measures  were.  On  the  examination  of  the  state prisoners  before  this  committee  in  August,  1798,  the  lord  chancellor  put the  following  question  to  Mr.  Emmet :  "  Pray,  Mr.  Emmet,  what  caused the  late  insurrection  ?"  To  which  Mr.  Emmet  replied :  "  The  free quarters,  house-burnings,  tortures,  and  the  military  executions,  in  the counties  of  Kildare,  Carlow,  and  Wicklow !"  Messrs.  M'Neven  and O'Connor  gave  similar  replies  to  the  same  query. 410  APPENDIX    III. Such  were  the  well-timed  measures  adopted  by  the  Irish  government  to cause  the  insurrection,  in  Lord  Castlereagh's  words,  "  to  explode",  when the  mischievous  designs  of  the  United  Irishmen  Society  had  been  long known  to  that  government,  and  so  fully,  that  one  of  its  leading  members declared  in  parliament,  "  that  the  state  prisoners  had  confessed  nothing which  had  not  been  known  to  them  before".  Why,  then,  did  they  not arrest  the  leaders  of  the  Leinster  societies  long  before,  and  prevent  the insurrection  which  at  length  broke  out  ? This  policy  of  allowing  a  people  to  go  into  rebellion,  when  the  leaders of  it  might  have  been  previously  seized,  and  their  plans  consequently  ob- structed and  deranged,  is  one  which,  in  the  recent  commotion  in  Upper Canada,  has  been  stigmatized  in  the  British  parliament  as  a  proceeding which  could  not  be  defended  on  any  grounds.  The  policy  (worthy  of Macchiavelli)  had  been  acted  on,  however,  by  Mr.  Pitt  so  early  as  1794, in  the  case  of  Jackson,  the  emissary  of  the  French  government,  who  had been  denounced  to  him  by  his  companion,  Cockayne.  On  Jackson's arrival  in  England,  Mr.  Pitt  was  informed  of  his  treasonable  designs  by Cockayne,  and  yet  he  suffered  the  traitor  to  proceed  to  Ireland  on  his mischievous  enterprise,  accompanied  by  the  informer,  to  open  his  mission to  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen  Society  in  that  country,  and  to inveigle  the  imprudent  and  unwary  persons  with  whom  he  was  put  in communication,  into  acts  of  treason. The  policy  which  dictated  such  a  proceeding,  truly  deserves  the  worst name  that  can  be  given  to  it.  The  duty  of  an  enlightened  minister  in these  days,  would  be  considered  by  all  parties,  to  prevent,  at  the  onset, the  accomplishment  of  such  designs ;  and  where  the  violence  of  political excitement  was  tending  towards  sedition,  before  the  heated  partizau  had precipitated  his  followers  and  himself  into  the  guilt  of  treason,  to  check  his course,  instead  of  accelerating  his  steps.  The  process,  however,  through which  the  unfortunate  country  had  to  pass  before  a  legislative  union  could be  carried,  was  not  to  be  interrupted.  Two  years  later,  Mr.  Harvey  M. Morres,  a  gentleman  of  rank,  and  a  magistrate  of  the  County  Tipperary, and  then  of  acknowledged  loyalty,  wrote  to  Mr.  Secretary  Cooke,  informing him  that  the  Orange  and  other  factious  societies  had  recently  spread  into that  county,  and  were  productive  of  mischievous  results,  which  would involve  the  country  in  insurrection  if  they  were  not  suppressed.  Mr. Moires  expressed  his  readiness  to  act  in  concert  with  the  government  in preventing  such  disorders,  and  discouraging  these  societies,  which  were exasperating  the  people.  Mr.  Secretary  Cooke  addressed  a  reply  to  this gentleman,  which  could  leave  no  doubt  on  his  mind  that  the  Orange societies  were  under  the  especial  protection  of  the  government,  and  the result  would  be  putting  the  people  out  of  the  king's  peace.  Mr.  Morres was  thanked  for  "  this  proof  of  his  zeal  and  loyalty",  but  was  informed the  government  saw  no  reason  for  acting  on  his  suggestions,  or  availing itself,  in  this  matter,  of  his  services. MR.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  411 THOMAS    REYNOLDS. The  person  whose  disclosures  of  the  designs  of  the  Leinster  societies  of United  Irishmen  Government  ultimately  availed  themselves  of,  was  Mr. Thomas  Beynolds,  a  silk  manufacturer  in  the  Liberty,  whose  business  had been  carried  on  at  9  Park  Street,  the  house  in  which  he  was  born  on  the 12th  of  March,  1771.  On  the  anniversary  of  that  day,  twenty-seven years  subsequently,  namely,  on  the  1 2th  of  March,  1798,  the  striking  in- cident in  the  drama  of  his  public  life  took  place  at  the  house  of  his  friend, Oliver  Bond,  in  Bridge  Street,  where  the  latter  and  fourteen  others  of  his associates,  delegates  from  various  societies  of  United  Irishmen,  holding  a provincial  meeting,  were  arrested  on  his  information.  The  following*  are the  names  and  residences  of  those  persons : — Bond,  Oliver,  13  Bridge  Street,  Dublin. Iters,  Peter,  Carlow. Kelly,  Lawrence,  Queen's  County. Bose,  James,  Windy  Arbour,  Dublin. Cummins,  George,  Kildare. Hudson,  Edward,  38  Grafton  Street,  Dublin. Lynch,  John,  31  Mary's  Abbey,  Dublin. Griffen,  Lawrence,  Carlow. Beynolds,  Thomas,  Culmuttin,  Kilkenny. M'Cann,  John,  159  Church  Street,  Dublin. Devine,  Patrick,  Ballymoney,  County  of  Dublin. Traynor  (or  Trenor),  Thomas,  Poolbeg  Street,  Dublin. Byrne,  William  Michael,  Park  Hill,  AVicklow. Martin,  Christopher,  Dunboyne,  Meath. Bannan,  Peter,  Portarlhigton. Bond  was  a  wholesale  woollen  draper,  who  had  acquired  considerable wealth  in  his  business :  Arthur  O'Connor  speaks  of  him  as  "  a  beloved friend,  whom  he  had  himself  brought  into  the  undertaking",  namely,  iuto the  society  of  United  Irishmen.  His  amiable  manners,  extensive  charities, and  generous  disposition,  had  endeared  him  to  his  fellow-citizens  of  all parties.  He  was  convicted  on  Beynolds's  evidence,  and  sentenced  to  be hanged,  but  was  ultimately  reprieved,  and  died  shortly  after  of  an  apo- plectic seizure,  in  Newgate. f  The  other  state  prisoners,  in  the  interval between  his  conviction  and  the  time  appointed  for  execution,  had  entered into  negotiations  with  government,  undertaking  to  make  a  full  disclosure of  their  plans,  reserving  the  names  of  the  parties  engaged  in  them,  in  con- sideration of  Bond's  life  being  spared  as  the  immediate  condition,  and  with *  The  house  of  Bond,  No.  13  Lower  Bridge  Street,  is  now  occupied  by  Messrs. Vance  and  Beers,  wholesale  woollen  drapers. t  Bond's  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Henry  Jackson.  After  her  husband's  death, she  proceeded  with  her  cluldren  to  America,  and  in  1811  was  living  in  opulence at  Baltimore. 412  APPENDIX    III. a  hope  of  a  final  stop  being  put  to  the  executions.     This  document,  signed by  seventy-two  of  the  state  prisoners,  is  dated  the  29th  July,  1798. While  these  terms  were  in  process  of  fulfilment  on  the  part  of  the  state prisoners  (but  only  the  day  before  the  document  was  formally  signed), William  Michael  Byrne  was  executed,  on  the  28th  of  July,  M'Cann  having previously  suffered  on  the  19  th  of  the  same  month. An  account  of  the  infraction  of  this  compact  with  respect  to  the  state prisoners  themselves,  and  who  had  been  given  to  understand  their  libera- tion, and  permission  to  go  abroad  within  a  specified  period,  would  have immediately  followed  their  performance  of  that  part  of  the  agreement  which belonged  to  them,  and  who  afterwards  were  detained  in  prison  for  upwards of  three  years,  will  be  found  more  particularly  detailed  in  the  succeeding volume. In  The  Life  of  Curran,  by  his  son,  an  anecdote  is  told  of  Reynolds, which  gives  some  idea  of  his  courage  and  self-possession.  The  account  is contradicted  by  the  son  of  this  man,  iu  his 'recent  work,  in  a  tone  in- tended, no  doubt,  to  persuade  the  world  that  truth  and  fidelity,  having beeu  banished  from  the  domain  of  history,  had  taken  refuge  in  the  bosom of  the  biographer  of  Thomas  Reynolds.  This  modest  gentleman  says, "  there  is  not  a  word  of  truth  or  probability  in  the  story"  related  by  Mr. Curran. The  particulars  of  the  occurrence,  however,  have  been  very  recently communicated  to  me  by  some  of  the  descendents  of  Thomas  Neilson,  whose veracity,  I  presume,  will  not  materially  suffer  by  a  comparison  with  that of  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds. The  scene  of  the  struggle  alluded  to  in  Mr.  Curran's  account  was  not, properly  speaking,  in  "the  Liberty",  but  in  the  neighbourhood  of  it;  and instead  of  any  personal  violence  having  been  used  by  Neilson  in  the  first instance,  on  his  meeting  Reynolds  iu  the  street,  he  stepped  before  him  in a  determined  manner,  and  informed  him  that  he  must  accompany  him  a little  farther,  to  a  friend's  house,  as  he  had  some  matters  of  importance  to mention  to  him. The  friends  of  Neilson  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  his  account  of  this occurrence,  and  of  his  manner,  in  describing  the  mode  of  putting  the startling  question  to  Reynolds  :  "  What  should  I  do  with  a  villain  who did"  so  and  so  ?  repeating  the  informer's  acts  of  treachery  to  his  compa- nions ;  and  the  latter's  cool  and  deliberate  answer :  "  You  should  shoot him  through  the  heart".  The  following  is  the  version  of  this  rencontre given  by  Mr.  Curran  :  — "  Upon  one  occasion  Reynolds  saved  himself  from  the  vengeance  of those  whom  he  had  betrayed,  in  a  way  that  was  more  creditable  to  his presence  of  mind.  Before  he  had  yet  publicly  declared  his  infidelity  to the  cause  of  the  United  Irishmen,  as  one  of  their  leaders,  Samuel  Neilson, was  passing  at  the  hour  of  midnight  through  the  streets  of  Dublin,  he suddenly  encountered  Reynolds,  standing  alone  and  unarmed.  Neilson, who  was  au  athletic  man,  and  armed,  rushed  upon  him,  and  commanded him,  upon  pain  of  instant  death,  to  be  silent  and  to  accompany  him. Reynolds  obeyed,  and  suffered  himself  to  be  dragged  along  through  several dark  and  narrow  lanes,  till  they  arrived  at  an  obscure  and  retired  passage MR.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  413 in  the  liberties  of  Dublin.  Here  Neilson  presented  a  pistol  to  his  pri- soner's breast :  '  What',  said  the  indignant  conspirator,  '  should  I  do  to the  villain  who  could  insinuate  himself  into  my  confidence  for  the  purpose of  betraying  me  ?'  Reynolds,  in  a  firm  tone,  replied,  '  You  should  shoot him  through  the  heart'.  Neilson  was  so  struck  by  this  reply,  that,  though his  suspicions  were  not  removed,  he  changed  his  purpose,  and  putting  up his  pistol,  allowed  the  other  to  retire". This  fact  is  given  as  related  by  an  eminent  Irish  barrister,  to  whom  it was  communicated  by  one  of  the  parties.* Mr.  Reynolds's  account  of  this  affair  is  thus  given  by  his  son. "  A  short  time  after  the  arrests  at  Bond's,  Neilson  met  my  father  in  the street,  and  taking  his  arm,  said  he  had  a  matter  to  talk  over  with  him, and  began  as  if  to  consult  about  what  could  be  done  for  those  in  arrest. They  were  then  near  Bond's  house,  and  Neilson  said  Mrs.  Bond  was anxious  to  see  my  father  on  the  subject,  and  as  he  himself  was  sought after  by  the  police,  he  could  not  stop  longer  in  the  street.  Under  this pretence  he  brought  my  father  into  the  house,  and  after  a  few  minutes' conversation,  requested  him  to  accompany  him  into  a  back  room  to  see Mrs.  Bond.  My  father  did  so  without  hesitation,  and  Neilson  led  the way  through  the  warehouses  on  the  middle  floor.  The  dwelling-house was  in  Bridge  Street ;  the  warehouses  went  back  for  at  least  two  hundred yards,  and  opened  by  large  crane  gates  into  a  mews  behind.  When  they had  reached  the  further  wareroom,  instead  of  Mrs.  Bond  they  were  met  by a  stout,  ill-looking  man,  whom  my  father  had  never  seen  before.  Neilson walked  up  to  the  man,  who  stood  near  the  crane  gate,  which  was  shut, and  after  whispering  to  him,  the  man  went  out  of  the  wareroom,  and  shut the  door  after  him.  Neilson  then  spoke  of  the  general  plans  of  the  United Irishmen  for  a  few  minutes,  when  the  other  man  returned  with  a  brace  of pistols  in  his  hand,  and  resumed  his  former  position.  Some  vague  suspi- cions now  flashed  across  my  father's  mind,  and  Neilson  abruptly  said, '  Reynolds,  you  have  not  a  minute  to  live !  you  are  the  man  who  betrayed the  delegates  !'  'And  dare  you  say  that?'  said  my  father,  darting  at  him. At  the  same  time  he  seized  him  by  the  collar  with  both  hands,  and  thrust him  back  upon  the  man  with  the  pistols,  with  such  force  that  the  crane- gate,  not  being  fastened,  opened  outwards  to  the  mews  on  being  pushed against,  and  the  man  fell  down  backwards  into  the  lane,  where  Neilson would  have  followed,  had  not  my  father  held  him  up.  Neilson  directly tnrned,  or  attempted  to  turn,  the  affair  into  a  joke,  saying,  '  0,  my  dear fellow,  how  could  you  be  so  violent  ?  I  assure  you  we' only  wished  to  try you ;  I  fear  you  have  killed  him !'  My  father  replied  that  he  neither understood  nor  relished  such  practical  jokes,  and  walked  out  of  the  ware- house, leaving  Neilson  to  take  such  care  as  he  pleased  of  his  companion below.  There  were  several  persons  in  the  house  who  had  been  dining  with Mrs.  Bond,  but  my  father  passed  through  the  hall  without  noticing  any one.  It  was  then  between  five  and  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  the month  of  March",  f  ' *  "Curran's  Life",  by  his  Son,  vol.  ii.,  p.  134. t  "Life  of  Thomas  Reynolds",  by  his  Son,  vol.  i.,  p.  201. 414  APPENDIX    III. The  scene  of  the  struggle  is,  no  doubt,  correctly  stated  in  the  preceding account,  and  some  of  the  circumstances  in  the  main  such  as  Reynolds describes  them.  The  consummate  assurance,  and  successful  assumption  of the  tone  and  manner  of  an  innocent  man,  injured  and  angered  by  the  sus- picion of  his  fidelity,  had  the  effect  of  completely  astounding  Reynolds's assailant,  and  in  his  momentary  confusion,  of  affording  the  man  he  had suspected  to  be  a  villain,  an  opportunity  of  effecting  his  escape.  As to  the  story  of  rushing  on  Neilson,  whom  he  acknowledges  to  have been  "  a  very  athletic  man",  of  his  doing  this  in  the  presence  of  another with  pistols  in  his  hands,  not  only  with  impunity,  but  with  such  actual violence  even  to  this  person  as  to  bring  him  to  the  ground ;  these  em- bellishments to  it  must  be  taken,  not  cum  grano,  but  cum  multis granis  salts,  and  an  adequate  allowance  for  the  statements  of  a  man like  Mr.  Reynolds,  who  Avas  desirous  of  giving  treachery  a  chivalrous aspect  of  loyalty  triumphing  over  extraordinary  perils,  and  of  having every  act  of  his  represented  as  a  movement  important  to  the  state,  and  des- tined to  be  written  in  biographical  heroics. It  is  a  very  strange  circumstance  that,  notwithstanding  Reynolds,  long previously  to  the  arrests,  had  been  shunned  by  several  of  the  more  dis- creet and  wary  of  the  United  Irishmen,  who  had  some  knowledge  of  his private  character  and  conduct  in  pecuniary  affairs,  he  was  still  trusted  by the  most  influential  of  their  leaders ;  nay,  even  after  the  arrests  at  Bond's, when  they  were  warned  against  him,  he  continued  to  be  received  by  several of  them  as  a  person  still  faithful  to  their  cause. Some  days  subsequently  to  the  arrests  at  Bond's,  there  had  been  a meeting  of  the  provincial  committee  at  the  Brazen  Head  hotel,  in  a  lane off  Bridge  Street.  This  meeting  was  attended,  amongst  others,  by  a gentleman  residing  in  New  Row,  in  the  entire  confidence  of  the  directory  ; and  from  my  own  knowledge  of  his  character,  I  should  say  there  was  no man  more  entitled  to  it,  on  whose  authority  the  facts  are  stated  which  will be  found  in  the  following  account. One  Michael  Reynolds,  of  Naas,  who  was  said  to  be  a  distant  relative to  Mr.  T.  Reynolds,  and  who  had  been  particularly  active  in  the  society and  useful  to  it,  attended  the  meeting.  This  young  man  addressed  the meeting  at  some  length  ;  he  said  that  circumstances  had  lately  transpired in  the  country,  and  steps,  with  regard  to  individuals,  had  been  taken  by government,  which  made  it  evident  that  a  traitor  was  in  their  camp,  who must  belong  to  one  of  the  country  committees,  and  one  who  held  a  high rank  in  their  society :  that  traitor,  he  said,  was  Thomas  Reynolds,  of Kilkea  Castle,  and  if  he  were  allowed  to  proceed  in  his  career,  they  and their  friends  would  soon  be  the  victims  of  his  treachery.  In  a  tone  and manner  which  left  an  indelible  impression  on  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  and which  the  person  I  allude  to  was  wont  to  speak  of  as  having  produced  an extraordinary  effect,  he  asked  if  the  society  were  to  be  permitted  to  be destroyed,  or  if  Reynolds  were  to  be  allowed  to  live ;  in  short,  he  demanded of  the  meeting  their  sanction  for  his  removal,  and  undertook  that  it should  be  promptly  effected. The  proposal  was  unanimously  and  properly  rejected  by  the  meeting. Michael  Reynolds  was  a  young  man  of  great  muscular  strength  and  ac- MR.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  415 tivity,  of  a  short  stature  and  dark  complexion,  and  somewhat  celebrated in  the  country  for  his  horsemanship. About  the  middle  of  April,  Reynolds  was  visited  by  a  Mr.  Kinselah "  who  called  on  him  for  the  purpose  of  informing  him  that  one  of  the brothers  Sheares  (who  after  the  arrests  of  the  12th  of  March,  had  as- sumed the  direction  of  the  conspiracy  in  Dublin)  had  arrived  at  Dr. Esmond's  house,  near  Naas,  and  having  called  a  private  meeting  of  some of  the  country  delegates,  had  informed  them  officially,  in  the  name  of  the directory,  that  Reynolds  was  the  man  who  had  caused  the  arrests  of  the 12th  of  March ;  upon  which  they  resolved  that  he  should  be  summoned  to attend  them  the  next  day  at  Bell's  (a  public  house  on  the  Curragh  of Kildare),  and  there  be  put  to  death,  unless  he  proved  beyond  all  doubt that  he  was  innocent  of  the  charge. On  M'Cann's  trial  Reynolds  stated  that  he  had  been  informed  "  the  accu- sation against  him,  on  which  he  was  to  be  tried,  had  been  brought  down from  Dublin  by  Michael  Reynolds  from  the  provincial  committee". "When  the  message  to  attend  this  meeting  was  brought  to  him,  his cousin,  Mr.  Dunn,  of  Leinster  Lodge,  happened  to  be  with  him,  and  on Reynolds's  refusal  to  attend,  the  messengers  went  away  sulky  and  discon- tented, and  he  attributed  the  preservation  of  his  life  to  the  presence  of Mr.  Dunn  on  this  occasion.* The  next  morning,  Mr.  Matthew  Kennaa,  a  respectable  farmer  in  the neighbourhood,  called  on  Reynolds,  and  urged  him  to  go  over  to  the  meet- ing. Reynolds  again  refused,  and  the  consequence  was,  young  Mr.  Rey- nolds states,  that  orders  were  issued  to  Kennaa  and  one  Murphy,  a butcher,  to  shoot  his  father,  and  on  the  18th  of  April  these  two  men rode  up  to  the  gate.  Kennaa  alighted  and  walked  up  to  Reynolds,  who was  in  a  field  superintending  some  labourers,  leaving  Murphy  in  care  of the  horses.  He  observed  that  Kennaa  seemed  much  confused,  and  was fumbling  in  his  breast  as  he  approached.  Reynolds  quickly  stepped  up  to him,  and  said,  "What  mischief  are  you  after  now,  Kennaa?"  and  putting his  hand  at  the  same  time  on  his  breast,  he  felt  a  pistol.  Mr.  Reynolds states  that  on  doing  this,  Kennaa  trembled  exceedingly,  and  made  no  re- sistance to  his  father's  taking  the  pistol ;  that  he  stammered  out  some expressions  of  respect  for  his  father,  and  acknowledged  that  he  came  for the  purpose  of  shooting  him ;  and  yet  Mr.  Reynolds  suffered  Mr.  Kennaa to  depart  unmolested,  though  there  were  twenty  work-people  in  the  field at  the  time  this  occurrence  took  place !  There  is  some  truth  in  this  ac- count, mixed  up  with  the  usual  embellishments  of  Mr.  Reynolds's  lively imagination ;  but  that  it  was  intended  to  assassinate  him,  and  that  specific orders  had  been  given  to  this  effect,  there  can  be  no  doubt. On  the  18th  of  March  he  attended  a  meeting  of  the  United  Irishmen, at  the  house  of  one  Reilly,  a  publican,  on  the  Curragh,  at  which  he  pro- duced a  letter  he  had  obtained  from  Lord  Edward,  recommending  the vacancies  occasioned  by  the  late  arrests  to  be  filled  up ;  but  a  discussion of  a  very  different  kind  was  immediately  introduced,  on  a  proposition  "to change  all  the  officers  of  the  county  meetings'  committees",  as  it  was  sup- *  "  Reynolds's  Life'',  by  his  Son,  vol.  i.  p.  221. 416  APPENDIX    III. posed  that  none  others  could  have  furnished  the  intelligence  on  which  the  j government  had  acted.  Reynolds  seconded  this  proposition^  he  being  at  ' the  time  one  of  the  officers  proposed  to  be  changed.  Dr.  John  Esmond was  then  appointed  to  the  place  of  Reynolds,  and  Michael  Reynolds,  of Naas,  in  the  place  of  Cummins,  who  had  been  arrested  at  Bond's.  The other  delegate  for  Kildare,  Mr.  Daly,  of  Kilcullen,  was  retained  in  office. At  this  meeting  the  question  of  the  recent  arrests  was  loudly  and  angrily discussed,  and  insinuations  were  dropped  which  could  not  leave  Mr- Reynolds  particularly  at  his  ease,  but  not  one  word  on  this  subject  ap- pears in  his  memoirs.  He  had  spent  the  night  before  at  Naas,  and  it appears  from  the  questions  put  to  him  on  Bond's  trial,  that,  for  the  pur- pose of  preserving  his  life,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  take  an  oath  that he  was  not  the  person  who  betrayed  the  secrets  of  the  society  which  led to  the  arrests  at  Bond's.  He  was  asked  about  an  oath  he  had  taken  on that  occasion,  with  reference  to  his  denial  of  the  charges  brought  against him ;  he  said,  "  I  do  not  deny  it,  nor  do  I  say  I  took  it,  I  was  so  alarmed — but  I  would  have  taken  one  if  desired.  When  the  United  Irishmen were  designing  to  kill  me,  I  took  an  oath  before  a  county  member  that  I had  not  ^betrayed  the  meeting  at  Bond's".* On  the  3rd  of  May,  Reynolds,  on  his  way  to  Dublin  from  Kildare,  was met  by  a  Mr.  Taylor,  and  warned  if  he  proceeded  on  his  journey  that  his life  would  be  taken,  as  a  party  at  no  great  distance  were  waiting  for  him. Reynolds  returned  to  Naas,  and  Taylor  proceeded  to  A  thy,  where,  being mistaken  for  Reynolds,  whom  he  resembled,  he  was  attacked  and  wounded with  a  pike  in  the  thigh.  Reynolds  took  refuge  in  the  house  of  an  inn- keeper of  the  name  of  M'Donuell,  where  he  slept  that  night.  Michael Reynolds  discovered  his  place  of  concealment,  and  made  a  proposition  to M'Donnell,  who  was  an  United  Irishman  also,  to  allow  him  and  some  of his  followers  to  enter  the  house  at  night  and  put  an  end  to  Reynolds. M'Donnell  opposed  the  project,  and  gave  notice  of  it  to  Reynolds,  who took  all  the  precautions  in  his  power  for  his  safety,  and  the  following morning  he  returned  to  Kilkea  Castle. But  there  is  one  circumstance  connected  with  Mr.  Reynolds's  denial  of the  charge  of  betraying  the  secrets  of  the  provincial  committee  at  Bond's, which  was  not  likely,  indeed,  to  be  found  in  his  son's  memoirs  of  his  life, nor  has  it  hitherto  been  noticed  in  any  published  account  of  the  affairs  of those  times.  It  will  be  found  to  afford  striking  evidence  of  the  baseness of  this  singularly  atrocious  miscreant. Felix  Rourke,  a  very  young  man,  of  great  zeal  in  the  cause  of  the  United Irishmen,  was  the  secretary  of  the  society  for  the  barony  of  Upper  Cross, in  the  county  of  Kildare,  and  his  friend,  Bartholomew  Mahon,  held the  same  situation  for  that  of  Newcastle.  They  were  appointed  to  meet the  baronial  committee  at  Naas,  and  subsequently  the  provincial  one,  as county  delegates.  About  the  period  of  their  latter  appointment,  I  am  in- formed by  Mahon,  a  very  trustworthy  man,  who  was  living  in  the city  of  Dublin  in  1803,  that  Mr.  Reynolds,  in  Kildare,  being  taxed with  being  an  informer,  or  one  at  least  of  the  county  delegates  who  must *  See  Bond's  Trial;  Ridgways  Report,  p.  202. MR.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  417 have  given  the  iiiformation  that  led  to  the  arrests  at  Bond's,  vehemently denied  the  charge ;  and  the  names  of  several  of  the  absent  members being  mentioned  in  the  course  of  this  discussion,  Reynolds  fixed  on  the name  of  Felix  Eourke,  then  almost  a  boy,  and,  from  his  humble  station, of  little  influence  with  the  leaders,  and  plainly  intimated  that  he  was the  person  who  was  to  be  suspected.  The  result  of  this  intimation  was, that  poor  Eourke,  a  person  who  subsequently  sealed  with  his  blood  his devotion  to  the  cause,  was  placed  on  his  trial  by  his  society.  My  infor- mant, Mahon,  was  present  on  this  occasion.  Eourke  burst  into  tears  when the  charge  was  repeated :  he  indignantly  repelled  it,  and  was  acquitted ; but  Mahon  states  that  his  life  was  in  the  greatest  peril. The  process  by  which  Eeynolds  was  led  from  his  treason  to  the  state, to  his  first  partial  disclosures  to  Mr.  Cope,  and  ultimate  complete  commu- nication of  all  the  secrets  of  his  society  in  his  sworn  informations,  it  is not  difficult  to  trace.  He  had  extensive  money-dealings  with  Mr.  Cope, and  difficulties  of  an  unpleasant  nature  arose  in  the  adjustment  of  those claims  which  that  gentleman  had  upon  him. At  his  father's  death,  he  owed  Mr.  Cope  £1000;  and  on  his  mother's quitting  business,  there  was  £4000  due  to  him.  For  these  amounts,  he ( Eeynolds)  gave  Mr.  Cope  a  mortgage  on  a  lease  of  lands  held  under  Sir  Duke Gifford,  and  a  bond  of  his  own  as  a  collateral  security.  Subsequently,  he paid  £1000  to  Mr.  Cope,  to  get  up,  as  he  asserted,  his  bond,  and  Mr.  Cope accepted  that  amount,  agreeing  to  run  the  risk  of  the  mortgage  on  the reversionary  lease  which  had  been  given  him.  In  the  meantime,  he continued  dealing  with  Cope,  till  he  (Eeynolds)  quit  business,  and had  to  lay  a  statement  of  his  affairs  before  his  creditors.  He  applied  to Mr,  Cope  for  the  securities  in  his  possession,  to  show  to  his  friends. At  that  period,  he  (Eeynolds)  owed  Cope  a  balance  of  £1000.  The securities  were  given  to  him,  and  soon  after,  Cope  called  on  him  for  a settlement  of  that  balance  of  £1000,  which  he  (Eeynolds)  then  repudiated, on  the  grounds  that  Mr.  Cope  had  received  benefit  from  his  mother's  and his  own  dealings  with  him;  and  he  (Eeynolds)  "had  no  right  to  have  his person  bound  for  a  debt  which  he  had  no  share  in  accumulating". Mr.  Cope  protested  against  this  repudiation  of  the  debt,  and  went  away stating  he  would  renew  his  demand  for  payment  in  a  week.  He  did  so, and  without  success;  whereupon  Mr.  Valentine  O'Connor,  another  mer- chant, wrote  to  him  (Eeynolds)  that  he  had  done  wrong  in  refusing  to acknowledge  the  debt  or  give  a  settlement  to  Cope ;  and  in  consequence of  this  letter,  he  (Reynolds)  immediately  returned  to  Mr.  Cope  a  voucher for  £1000  which  he  had  entrusted  to  him.  So,  by  Eeynolds's  own  ad- mission, at  the  time  of  his  disclosing  to  Cope  the  secrets  of  the  United Irishmen,  he  was  in  Cope's  debt  to  the  amount  of  £1000,  and  Cope  held securities  of  Eeynolds  to  that  amount,  on  which  he  could  at  any  moment proceed  against  him  (Eeynolds). This  circumstance  throws  a  great  deal  of  light  on  Mr.  Cope's  anxiety  to turn  Eeynolds  to  a  profitable  account  to  the  interests  of  Church  and  State, and  to  secure  Mr.  Eeynolds's  valuable  life  from  the  imminent  danger  which beset  it  while  he  continued  in  the  camp  and  councils  of  the  United  Irish- men. Similar  shifts  and  swindling  stratagems  to  get  rid  of  pecuniary vol.  i.  26 418  APPENDIX  III. obligations,  were  brought  to  light  at  the  other  trials  in  which  Reynolds was  a  witness.  It  was  proved  on  M'Cann's  trial,  and  partly  by  Reynolds's own  testimony,  that  he  had  obtained  a  sum  of  money  (£175)  from  a  poor old  servant  woman  of  his  family,  for  which  he  gave  her  his  bond  and  a note  of  hand  ;  that  a  wrong  date  was  put  to  the  note,  by  which  it  appeared, as  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner  asserted,  that  security  was  given  by Reynolds  while  he  was  under  age  ;  and  that  he  (Reynolds),  on  one  occasion, had  got  the  old  woman  to  give  him  the  bond  to  compare  certain  dates  of payments  of  interest,  and  that  he  had  given  back  hy  mistake  an  old  bond form,  which  had  lain  in  his  desk  as  a  precedent  for  drawing  up  such  secu- rities. Subsequently,  he  got  that  bond  from  her  also,  and  was  threatened by  an  attorney  with  proceedings  for  the  debt  due  to  the  old  woman,  and had  only  settled  that  debt  shortly  before  the  trial. The  differences  which  had  arisen  between  Cope  and  his  friend  and debtor,  made  it  necessary  for  Reynolds  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  his creditor,  and  to  evince  an  increased  desire  for  standing  well  in  his  esteem. Mr.  Cope,  in  the  latter  part  of  February,  1798,  took  occasion  to  accom- pany Reynolds  to  the  country  seat  of  Sir  Duke  Gifford,  to  get  some  signa- tures to  the  leases  which  had  been  mortgaged  to  him  (Cope),  and  in  the course  of  their  journey  he  contrived  to  sound  his  companion  on  the  sub- ject of  the  troubled  state  of  the  country. He  described  the  man  who  could  be  found  to  give  information  of  the designs  of  the  United  Irishmen  to  government  as  one  who  would  be  called the  saviour  of  his  country — who  would  have  the  highest  honours  and rewards  conferred  upon  him — a  seat  in  parliament,  and  £1,500  or  a  couple of  thousand  pounds  a  year  from  government. Reynolds  was  a  man  both  greedy  of  gain  and  ambitious  of  distinction, and,  as  his  letters  and  conduct  will  show,  utterly  indifferent  to  the  opinion of  people  of  his  own  humble  rank,  but  exceedingly  desirous  of  being thought  well  of  by  the  great,  and  of  being  privileged  to  communicate  with public  men  in  high  stations,  or  to  correspond  with  official  persons.  He intimated  to  Mr.  Cope  that  such  a  man  might  be  found,  but  he  would  not be  known  as  an  informer ;  he  would  not  come  forward  as  a  witness  against his  associates,  nor  have  his  name  communicated  to  government;  he  would accept  of  no  honours  or  rewards ;  but,  as  "  he  was  determined  to  quit  the country  for  a  time,  he  would  require  his  extraordinary  expenses  to  be  paid to  him,  or  other  damages  that  he  might  receive" ;  and  on  Mr.  Cope's  asking him  "  what  sum  would  cover  the  extraordinary  expenses  or  losses?"  Mr. Reynolds  replied  he  did  not  think  they  would  exceed  £500,  for  which sum  there  should  be  liberty  to  draw  on  him.  "  I  agreed  to  everything", says  Cope,  "  and  he,  Mr.  Reynolds,  gave  me  then  such  information  as  he was  possessed  of'.* I  think  it  most  probable  that  Mr.  Reynolds  said  no  more  than  what  he meant  on  this  occasion ;  and  that  he  really  believed  he  might  do  a  great service  to  his  friend  Mr.  Cope,  at  the  expense  of  the  general  interests  of the  society  to  which  he  belonged  himself,  without  having  to  swear  away the  lives  of  his  old  friends  and  associates. *  "  Ridgway's  Report  of  Oliver  Bond's  Trial",  p.  187. Mil.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  419 At  another  interview  with  Mr.  Cope,  he  was  induced  to  go  on  a  step farther  than  he  had  done  at  the  last  meeting :  he  was  led  to  make  dis- closures about  particular  societies,  and  eventually  about  particular  members of  them ;  but  he  still  objected  to  come  forward  as  a  witness  against  them  ; he  would,  in  fact,  only  enable  the  government  to  lay  hold  of  these  per- sons, and  leave  the  odium  of  convicting  them  on  the  evidence  of  other  in- formers. He  was  ready  to  sacrifice  his  friends,  but  not  to  be  known as  the  betrayer  of  them :  he  had  no  objection  to  their  being  taken  up  on his  information,  and  convicted,  and  executed,  but  he  was  ashamed  of being  seen  in  the  witness-box  against  them.  This,  in  all  probability,  is the  customary  process  through  which  the  minds  of  the  generality  of  those persons  who  turn  approvers  are  led,  before  any  one  of  them  stands  before the  public  with  the  brazen  front,  the  reckless  bearing,  and  hardened  breast of  a  hackneyed  informer.  "  The  gentleman"  informer  has  to  pass  through these  gradations  before  he  is  able  or  willing  to  bear  the  gaze  of  the  multi- tude, or  the  glance  of  the  prisoner,  his  former  friend  or  acquaintance,  ia the  dock ;  to  stand  before  the  crowded  court  in  the  character  of  an  ap- prover— a  criminal,  pardoned  for  the  purpose  of  criminating  his  com- panions ;  or  before  he  arrives  at  the  high  distinction  of  interchanging  smiles with  the  superintendents  of  police,  of  hanging  about  the  public  offices  of town-majors  and  crown-solicitors,  of  cultivating  the  acquaintance  of  clerks and  secretaries,  of  stipulating  with  men  in  authority  for  the  pieces  of silver,  or  dropping  hints  about  the  place  or  pension,  which  are  ultimately forced  on  his  reluctant  acceptance !  These  little  benefits  come,  of  course, in  the  progress  of  events,  at  the  tail  of  public  services — unbargained  for, unsolicited,  and  unsought.  The  delicacy  of  Reynolds's  sentiments  was hurt,  when  he  was  informed  by  Mr.  Cope  that  he  might  expect  to  be handsomely  rewarded  for  his  information.  Reynolds  protested  he  would accept  of  no  reward ;  but  he  had  no  objection  to  be  indemnified  for  his losses :  "  I  told  him",  says  Mr.  Reynolds,  "  that  neither  honour  nor  re- wards were  looked  for,  nor  would  be  accepted". The  arrests  at  Bond's  of  the  delegates  were  immediately  followed  up  by those  of  Thomas  Addis  Emmet  and  Dr.  William  James  M'Neven,  and, on  the  19th  of  May  following,  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald.  Mr.  Reynolds, however,  had  not  the  merit  of  having  brought  his  noble  friend  and  bene- factor to  the  scaffold ;  it  was  reserved  for  him,  after  the  death  of  that friend,  in  his  evidence  before  parliament,  to  lay  the  foundation  for  an  at- tainder, which  was  "  to  visit  the  cradle  of  his  unprotected  offspring  with want  and  misery". Reynolds's  father  had  married  a  lady  of  the  name  of  Fitzgerald,  "  the eldest  daughter  of  Thomas  Fitzgerald,  of  Kilmead,  in  the  county  of  Kil- dare,  a  descendent  of  the  Earls  of  Kildare,  and  consequently  a  relative  of the  Leinster  family".  Young  Reynolds  was  sent  abroad  and  completed his  studies  at  a  Jesuit  establishment  in  Flanders.  His  mother  carried  on the  business  in  Park  Street,  or  Ash  Street,  as  it  is  frequently  spoken  of, after  his  father's  death,  and  on  his  return  to  Ireland  he  resided  with  her. In  his  life,  written  by  his  son,  we  are  informed  that,  shortly  after  his return,  he  had  taken  his  mistress  to  a  masquerade-ball  at  the  Rotundo, and  had  given  her  a  very  valuable   diamond   ornament,  worth  £50   or 420 APPENDIX    III. £60,  which  his  mother  had  placed  in  his  hat,  and  a  sum,  moreover,  of £24  or  £25,  which  he  happened  to  have  in  his  pocket.  His  mother,  on his  return,  missed  the  diamond  ornament.  He  "  assured  her  it  should  be returned  in  a  day  or  two :  but  nothing  would  pacify  her :  she  called  it robbery,  and  vowed  she  would  send  the  constables  after  the  girl,  when  he remarked  that,  in  fact,  the  pin  was  his  property,  and  not  hers".*  The  piu, however,  it  is  admitted,  had  been  given  to  him  for  this  special  occasion  by his  mother  the  night  before. On  M'Caun's  trial,  Reynolds  said  it  was  true  he  had  been  charged with  having  a  skeleton  key  to  open  a  lock  of  an  iron  chest  belonging  to his  mother.  He  was  told  his  mother  had  said  so,  and  he  had  no  doubt she  believed  what  she  had  said.  He  had  been  accused,  he  said,  of stealing  his  mother's  trinkets  when  he  was  about  sixteen  years.  He  was also  charged,  he  said,  with  stealing  a  piece  of  lutestring  silk,  to  give  to  a girl ;  and  the  same  charge  regarded  his  mother's  jewels,  for  the  same  pur- pose. Counsel  for  the  prisoner  said :  "  Then  you  committed  the  theft, and  you  were  charged  with  stealing?"  Reynolds  answered:  "  I  tell  you the  charges  were  made,  and  I  took  the  things.  But  it  was  not  true about  the  skeleton  key  of  the  iron  chest".f It  was  not  only  with  his  mother's  ornaments  then  that  Mr.  Thomas  Rey- nolds made  free  ;  but  he  was  accused,  his  son  informs  us,  by  a  Mr.  Warren, who  had  the  management  of  his  mother's  business,  "  of  having  stolen  silks from  his  mother's  warehouse" — a  charge,  he  states,  which  was  made  at  the time  of  the  trials  of  1798,  for  the  purpose  of  injuring  his  father's  credit. "  The  fact  was",  continues  his  biographer,  "  his  mother  and  Mrs.  Warren had  continually  gowns  cut  from  any  silks  they  fancied  for  their  own  use, of  which  no  account  was  taken.  My  father  had,  twice  or  three  times,  a gown,  in  like  manner,  cut  off  for  this  young  woman ;  it  was  done  openly in  the  wareroom,  but  Warren  and  the  clerks  had  particular  charge  not  to tell  his  mother"4 In  1794,  Mr.  Reynolds  married  Miss  Harriet  Witherington,  whose sister  was  the  wife  of  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone.  With  this  lady  Mr.  Reynolds got  a  fortune  of  £1,500,  and,  on  his  marriage,  was  taken  into  partnership by  his  mother  and  her  then  co-partner,  Mr.  Warren.  In  1797,  the  whole affairs  of  the  house  were  in  his  hands.  The  property  was  then  incumbered with  debts,  young  Reynolds  states,  to  the  amount  of  £9,000,  of  which £5,000  was  due  to  Messrs.  Cope  and  Co.  There  appears,  however,  to have  been  sufficient  property  left  to  Thomas  Reynolds  to  meet  these  en- gagements :  he,  however,  had  to  enter  into  those  arrangements  with  the Messrs.  Cope  which  have  been  referred  to,  and  into  arrangements  of a  similar  nature  with  his  other  largest  creditors,  Messrs.  Jeffrey and  Co. Yet,  with  all  these  difficulties  and  desperate  expedients  to  surmount,  the broken  silk  manufacturer  of  Ash  Street  was  able  to  become  a  country gentleman  and  proprietor  of  Kilkea  Castle.  In  the  spring  of  1797,  Mr.  Rey- nolds made  an  application  to  the  Duke  of  Leinster  for  a  lease  of  the  lands  of *  "  Life  of  Thomas  Reynolds",  by  his  Son,  vol.  i.,  pp.  65,  67. t  Ridgway's  "  Report  of  M'Canns  Trial". X  Ibid. MR.   THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  421 ivilkea.  Through  the  interference  in  his  behalf  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald with  his  brother  (though  this  fact  is  denied  in  Mr.  Reynolds's  biography), lie  was  put  in  possession  of  Kilkea  Castle  and  about  350  acres  of  land,  "  of the  first  land  in  the  country" — on  paying  down  a  fine  of  £1000,  "the  re- served rent  amounting  to  no  more  than  £48  2s.  a-year"!*— terms  so  ad- vantageous as  could  only  have  been  obtained  by  friendly  interference,  in some  quarter,  with  the  owner  of  the  property. But  at  the  close  of  1797,  and  only  a  few  months  after  Mr.  Reynolds's transformation  into  a  country  gentleman,  there  was  one  creditor  of  his, namely,  his  own  mother,  whose  claims  on  that  hopeful  son  were  not  settled  ; and  in  July,  1798,  on  the  trial  of  W.  M.  Byrne,  it  was  admitted  by Reynolds,  it  had  been  rumoured  that  his  mother  had  been  settled  by  him. Under  cross-examination  on  that  trial,  being  asked  by  Mr.  Bushe :  "Were you  accused  of  giving  poison  to  your  mother?"  Reynolds  replied,  "I  heard that  Mr.  Witherington  had  said  so".  Mr.  Witherington  was  the  brother- in-law  of  this  cool  villain,  who,  had  he  lived  in  the  days  of  Palmer  and Bacon,  might  have  fared  very  differently  to  what  he  did  at  the  hands  of his  patrons,  Lords  Camden  and  Castlereagh. On  the  6th  of  November,  1797,  the  mother  of  Mr.  Reynolds  died  in Dublin,  after  a  short  illness :  her  medical  attendant  was  Dr.  M'Neven. Her  son  was  then  from  home,  and  did  not  arrive  in  town  till  the  morning after  her  decease.  On  the  retirement  of  this  lady  from  the  business  in  Park Street,  an  annuity  of  £200  a-year  had  been  settled  on  her  by  her  son. The  day  after  her  decease,  her  son,  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds,  arrived  in Dublin,  and  visited  the  remains  of  his  mother.  On  the  trial  of  William Michael  Byrne,  he  was  asked,  on  his  cross-examination,  if  he  recollected going  into  his  mother's  room  (on  his  arrival  from  the  country),  and  seeing a  person  taking  away  a  bottle  of  wine,  and  running  with  eagerness,  and saying  he  would  take  it  himself,  as  he  bad  sent  it?  To  which  question he  replied,  he  could  not  recollect  it,  because  it  never  happened.  The person,  however,  who  could  have  sworn  that  it  did  happen,  was  then in  Newgate  on  a  charge  of  treason :  that  person  was  Dr.  M'Neven,  and its  occurrence  he  plainly  spoke  of  as  one  of  which  he  was  cognizant.  That fact  I  have  from  Dr.  M'Neven's  own  lips. The  mother-in-law  of  Mr.  Reynolds,  Mrs.  Witherington,  died  at  Rey- nolds's house  in  Ash  Street,  in  April,  1797.  On  the  trial  of  Oliver  Bond, Mr.  Reynolds  was  cross-examined  at  some  length  respecting  this  lady's death.  The  following  are  the  questions  and  answers  on  this  subject,  as they  are  given  in  Ridgway's  report  of  the  trial : — Quest. — She  had  a  complaint  in  her  bowels  ? Ans. — She  had. Quest. — You  administered  medicine  ? Ans. — I  did  ;  tartar-emetic. Quest. — She  died  shortly  after  ? Ans. — She  took  it  on  Friday,  and  died  on  Sunday. Quest. — Did  you  give  her  any  other  potion  except  that  ? Ans. — No,  I  did  not. *  "Life  of  Thomas  Reynolds",  vol.  L,  p.  99. A22  APPENDIX    III. Quest. — Do  you  recollect,  Mr.  Reynolds,  being  charged,  iu  your  family, with  anything  touching  that  prescription  ? Ans. — Since  I  have  been  brought  up  to  Dublin,  I  have  heard  that  Major Witherington  said  I  poisoned  his  mother  with  tartar-emetic. Quest. — You  heard  that  ? Ans. — And  many  other  ill-natured  things  too. Quest. — Very  cruel ;  but  the  best  of  men — Ans. — May  err. Quest. — Did  you  hear  anything  about  a  pitched  sheet  for  the  poor  old lady  ? Ans. — I  did  ;  it  was  one  of  the  charges  of  the  funeral  bill,  which  bill  I paid.  She  was  a  very  large,  corpulent  woman ;  she  was  kept  till  her  son came  to  town,  and  she  could  not  be  kept  without  the  sheet. Quest. — Upon  what  day  ? Ans. — The  fourth  day  after  her  death :  she  could  not  be  kept  other- wise. On  M'Cann's  trial,  on  a  similar  cross-examination,  Mr.  Reynolds  stated, that  he  had  paid  into  her  hands  a  sum  of  £300,  about  a  fortnight  or  three weeks  before  her  death.  This  money,  it  appeared,  was  intended  to  be applied  by  her  towards  the  purchase  of  a  commission  for  one  of  her  sons, but  at  her  death  the  money  was  not  to  be  found.  It  is  proper  to  state that  on  this  trial  Mr.  Reynolds,  in  explanation  of  the  circumstance  regard- ing the  medicine  he  had  administered  to  his  mother-in-law,  said  that  "a Mr.  Fitzgerald,  a  relation  of  his  family,  who  had  been  an  apothecary  and had  quitted  business,  left  him  a  box  of  medicines,  containing  castor  oil, cream  of  tartar,  tartar  emetic,  and  such  things.  He  had  been  subject  to  a complaint  of  the  stomach,  for  which  Mr.  Fitzgerald  gave  him  a  quantity  of powders  in  small  papers,  which  he  kept  for  use,  and  found  great  relief from ;  they  had  saved  his  life,  and  he  had  asked  Mrs.  Reynolds  for  one  of these  papers  to  give  to  Mrs.  Witherington,  and  it  was  given  to  her".* At  one  or  other  of  the  several  trials  on  which  Mr.  Reynolds  gave evidence  against  the  prisoners  who  had  been  arrested  at  Bond's,  his  testi- mony was  sought  to  be  impeached,  and  the  following  persons  deposed that  they  did  not  believe  him  to  be  worthy  of  credit  on  his  oath  : — Mr.  Valentine  O'Connor,  a  merchant  of  the  city  of  Dublin. Mrs.  Mary  Molloy,  his  cousin,  a  nun. Major  Edward  Witherington,  his  brother-in-law. Mr.  Henry  Witherington,  ditto. Mr.  Warren,  his  mother's  former  partner  in  trade. Mr.  Peter  Sullivan,  a  clerk  of  Mr.  Reynolds. The  following  witnesses  were  produced  in  support  of  his  testimony,  and from  their  knowledge  of  his  character,  declared  their  belief  of  his  being entitled  to  credit  in  a  court  of  justice  :  — Mr.  Cope,  a  merchant  of  Dublin. *  "Ridgway's  Report  of  M'Cann's  Trial",  p.  28. MR.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  423 Mr.  Furlong,  an  attorney  of  Mr.  Reynolds. The  Rev.  Mr.  Kingsbury,  a  clergyman,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Kemmis,  the crown  solicitor. On  Bond's  trial,  Mr.  Reynolds  gave  a  detailed  account  of  the  several oaths  he  had  taken.  He  had  sworn  to  secrecy  on  being  made  a  member of  the  United  Irishmen's  Society.  He  had  taken  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  his captains  on  being  appointed  colonel.  He  had  taken  another,  before  a county  meeting,  that  he  had  not  betrayed  his  associates  at  Bond's.  He had  likewise  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  twice,  and  an  oath  before  the Privy  Council  once,  and  thrice  in  the  courts  of  justice,  namely,  on  the  trials of  Bond,  Byrne,  and  M'Cann.  Without  disparaging  the  services  of  Mr. Reynolds,  it  is  impossible  to  look  upon  him,  except  as  "a  kind  of  man  to whom  the  law  resorts- with  abhorrence  and  from  necessity,  in  order  to  set  the criminal  against  the  crime,  and  who  is  made  use  of  by  the  law,  for  the  same reasons  that  the  most  noxious  poisons  are  resorted  to  in  desperate  disorders".* It  would  have  been  unnecessary  to  have  gone  into  these  details,  but  for the  ill-judged  efforts  of  those  who  have  lately  undertaken  to  represent  Mr. Reynolds  rather  in  the  light  of  a  martyr  to  the  purity  and  disinterestedness of  his  patriotic  principles,  than  as  a  reluctant  witness,  induced  to  come  for- ward by  the  persuasions  of  an  influential  friend,  and  in  some  degree  willing to  be  convinced  of  his  former  errors,  and  to  regard  the  retrieval  of  his  ne- cessitous condition  as  one  of  the  casual  results  of  repentant  guilt. His  biographer,  however,  bitterly  complains  of  the  treatment  his  revered parent  received  from  the  government.  Before  it  was  known  in  the  country that  Mr.  Reynolds  had  been  converted  by  Mr.  Cope  from  the  evil  of  his  poli- tical ways,  or  had  been  sufficiently  long  in  the  company  of  Major  Sirr,  or  his domestic  chaplain,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gubbins,  to  become  a  new  man,  and wholly  separated  from  the  errors  of  his  Popish  ancestors,  the  military  took possession  of  Kilkea  Castle,  established  free  quarters  there,  and  spared Mr.  Reynolds  none  of  the  ravages  customary  on  such  occasions.  This place  of  old  had  been  the  scene  of  perfidy  and  bloodshed. In  1580,  the  Earl  of  Kildare  (Gerald,  the  eleventh  earl),  custodian under  Elizabeth  of  the  northern  border  of  the  English  pale,  and  lord  of Kilkea  Castle,  on  his  return  from  England,  where  he  had  been  impri- soned in  the  tower  on  suspicion  of  favouring  the  Irish,  to  give  his  royal mistress  a  proof  of  his  loyalty,  courted  the  acquaintance  of  his  neighbour, Fergus  O'Kelly,  of  Leix,  who  had  married  the  daughter  of  O'Byrne,  of  Glen- mure,  in  the  county  of  Wicklow  (subsequently  represented  by  the  Byrnes  of Cabinteely),  and  invited  him  to  Kilkea  Castle,  where  he  murdered  his guest,  and  then  communicated  this  treacherous  murder  to  the  queen,  as  a satisfactory  evidence  of  his  devotion  to  her  interests,  in  putting  to  death an  Irish  rebel.  He  obtained  the  O'Kelly  lands  as  the  reward  of  his fidelity,  and  demised  his  ill-gotten  possessions  to  his  natural  son,  Garret Fitzgerald.  This  Garret  left  a  son  named  Gerald,  long  remembered  in Kildare  for  his  barbarous  cruelties,  and  finally  for  his  reverse  of  fortune. f *  Curran's  speech  against  the  bill  of  attainder  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, t  See  Hardiman's  "Bardic  Remains',  vol.  i.,  p.  187,  and  the  "  Anthologia  Hi- bernica". 424  APPENDIX    III. Previously  to  the  arrests  at  Bond's  on  the  12th  of  March,  Mr.  Reynolds took  up  Ills  abode  in  Kilkea  Castle  ;  but  the  tables  were  turned  on  its  modern occupant :  he  who  might  reasonably  consider  himself  at  this  period  the supreme  arbiter  of  life  and  death,  was  himself  treated  in  his  own  house  as "  a  mere  Irishman".  His  sou  tells  us  that  "  his  father's  steward,  William Byrne,  Avas  flogged  and  tortured  to  make  him  discover  a  supposed  depot of  arms.  Lieutenant  Love,  of  the  9  th  Dragoons,  being  a  tall  man,  tied his  silk  sash  about  Byrne's  neck,  and  hung  him  over  his  shoulders,  while another  officer  flogged  him  until  he  became  insensible ;  and  similar  acts (he  continues)  obtained  for  Mr.  Love  the  soubriquet  of  the  walking  gal- lows".* As  this  marauding  had  been  duly  performed  in  the  king's  service, and  at  the  period  of  its  infliction  on  Kilkea  Castle,  its  owner,  unknown  to the  military,  was  a  whitewashed  rebel  restored  to  his  allegiance,  and  high in  the  favour  of  Cooke  and  Castlereagh,  he  sent  in  a  moderate  estimate  of the  property  destroyed  on  this  occasion,  "  conformably  to  the  terms  of  the act  for  indemnifying  suffering  loyalty",  amounting  only,  as  his  biographer informs  us,  to  the  sum  of  £12,760 — a  sum  which  he  declares  with  be- coming gravity  "  would  not  have  replaced  the  property  lost  by  one- half'.f Now,  if  this  be  true,  Mr.  Reynolds  previously  to  the  rebellion  must  have been  worth  £25,000.  How  did  it  happen  that  he  was  obliged  so  very recently  to  pass  bills  and  notes  for  such  paltry  sums  as  £10  and  £20  to the  old  servant,  Mrs.  Cahill  ? — that  on  giving  up  business  he  had  not  been able  to  pay  off  the  debts  of  the  firm,  without  coming  to  the  arrangements entered  into  with  Mr.  Cope  and  the  house  of  Jeffrey  ? — that  after  he  had made  his  disclosures  to  government,  and  previously  to  the  trials  taking place,  when  it  was  so  desirable  for  him  to  be  then  clear  of  the  suspicion  of having  turned  informer  for  the  sake  of  gain,  that  he  was  compelled  by  his necessities  to  draw  on  Mr.  Cope  for  the  sum  of  300  guineas,  and  again  for another  sum  of  £200  ? On  Bond's  trial,  when  asked  by  the  counsel  for*the  prisoner  when  he had  drawn  for  the  300,  he  replied  that  it  was  four  or  five  days  before  the arrests  at  Bond's,  and  the  time  of  drawing  for  the  other  200  was  when  he was  in  the  county  of  Kildare,  "  before  he  had  been  injured  by  the  mili- tary". "  But  he  had  determined  to  quit  the  kingdom  as  soon  as  Mrs. Reynolds,  who  was  then  in  her  confinement,  had  recovered,  aud  he  wanted to  pay  some  debts  before  he  went  away".i In  the  second  volume  of  his  work,  Mr.  Reynolds's  biographer  states  that Kilkea  Castle,  of  which  he  had  a  lease  for  three  lives  renewable  for  ever — estimating  the  360  acres  of  land  at  26s.  per  acre,  at  only  twenty  years' purchase,  was  worth  £8,100.  That  the  property  destroyed  by  the  troops, "duly  certified",  amounted  to  £12,760;  and  these  two  sums,  he  says, make  a  total  of  £19,860  actual  bond  fide  loss,  not  to  mention  other  losses which  he  has  shown  in  the  body  of  his  work.  "  Now",  he  asks,  "  what has  his  father  received  ?  A  sum  of  £500,  paid  to  him  at  the  time  when he  expected  to  be  enabled  to  quit  Ireland  till  the  storm  had  blown  over, *  "Life  of  Thomas  Reynolds",  vol.  i.,  p.  231.  f  Ibid. X  "Eidgway's  Report  of  Bond's  Trial",  p.  195. MR.   THOMAS  RKYNOLDS.  425 and  an  annuity  of  £1,000  Irish,  or  £920  English,  with  reversion  to  my mother,  my  brother,  and  myself".* The  statement  of  the  sacrifice  of  property  to  the  amount  of  £19,860, some  forty  years  ago,  might  have  been  of  some  avail,  but  it  would  be  as difficult  a  matter  now  to  sustain  it,  as  to  turn  it  to  any  profitable  account. Mr.  Moore  and  Dr.  Taylor,  the  able  author  of  the  History  of  the  Civil Wars  of  Ireland,  have  unhappily  fallen  under  the  displeasure  of  young Mr.  Reynolds,  for  presuming  to  think  that  the  necessities  of  his  father  had no  slight  share  in  the  proceedings  which  caused  Reynolds  to  appear  to  Mr. Cope  as  "  a  man  who  would  and  ought  to  be  placed  higher  in  his  country than  any  man  that  ever  was  in  it". His  biographer  has  put  some  very  serious  and  important  questions  on this  subject,  -which  deserve  to  be  answered.  I  have  taken  no  small  pains to  make  myself  acquainted  with  the  subject,  which  Mr.  Reynolds  has, perhaps  indiscreetly,  made  so  prominent  a  topic — and,  perluqis  a  little  too triumphantly  in  his  tone,  has  provoked  a  reply  to. "  Perhaps  (says  Mr.  Reynolds)  Mr.  Taylor  could  furnish  me  with  the records  from  which  he  discovered  that  my  father  was  distressed  for  want of  money".  He  may,  perhaps,  consider  Mr.  Moore's  Life  of  Lord  Edward Fitzgerald  as  a  record,  or  Mr.  Moore  himself  as  a  historian  of  small  value  ; but  as  I  shall  notice  his  work  in  another  place,  I  shall  confine  myself  for the  present  to  Mr.  Taylor.  "  From  what  source",  he  asks,  "  did  Mr. Taylor  discover  that  my  father  had  been  au  active  member  of  the  Union ; and,  above  all,  from  what  record  did  he  receive  the  foul  slander  that  he  had sold  the  secret  to  government  ?  Could  not  the  same  record  have  supplied him  with  the  price  also;  and  if  so,  wdiy  did  he  not  name  it?  From  what records  did  he  learn  that  my  father  had  insured  to  himself  by  his  conduct  even the  slightest  reward  ?     The  whole  accusation  is  false  as  it  is  malicious".t Either  Mr.  Reynolds  believes  that  his  questions  are  unanswerable,  or  that those  who  could  answer  them  are  not  willing  to  do  so.  Time,  however, has  unravelled  greater  mysteries  than  those  connected  with  the  name  and exploits  of  Mr.  Reynolds.  Documents,  whose  authenticity  cannot  be  called in  question,  are  in  existence,  and  furnish  irrefragable  proof  of  Mr.  T.  Rey- nolds having  received  for  his  disclosures,  within  a  term  of  six  months from  the  29th  of  September,  1798,  not  £500  only,  but  the  sum  of  £5,000, in  four  payments,  at  the  following  dates  and  in  the  following  amounts: — 1798,  Sept.  29,  Mr.  T.  Reynolds  received  £1,000 „       Nov.  16,  Ditto  ditto       2,000 1799,  Jan.  19,  Ditto  ditto       1,000 „       March  4,              Ditto  ditto       1,000 " — to  complete  £5,000".  And  moreover,  on  the  14th  of  June,  1799. Mr.  Reynolds  received  his  annuity  of  £1,000,  "in  full  to  the  25th  of March,  1799";  from  which  period  till  his  death,  the  18th  of  August, 1836,  his  pension  continued  to  be  paid  to  him. The  amount  of  that  pension  was  £1,000  Irish,  or  £920  Jlritish  :  he received  it  for  a  term  of  thirty-seven  years. *  "  Reynolds's  Life",  vol.  ii ,  p.  511. t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  103. 426  APPKNDIX    III. The  gross  amount  for  the  above  period,   at  £920 per  annum,  is  £34,040 Gratuity  before  the  trials  of  Bond,  M'Cann,   and Byrne  ...  -  -  500 Gratuities  between  September,  1798,  and  March  4, 1799 5,000 Post  office  agency  at  Lisbon,  salary  and  emolu- ments, four  years,  at  £1,400  per  annum  -  5,600 Consulship   at   Iceland,   two  years,   at   £300  per annum         -  -  -  -  -  600 £45,740 In  1810  he  was  appointed  to  the  post  office  agency  at  Lisbon,  where he  remained  nearly  four  years,  the  salary  and  emoluments  of  which  office averaged  £1,400  per  annum. In  1817  he  was  appointed  to  the  consulate  at  Iceland,  where  he  re- mained about  one  year,  on  a  salary  of  £300  per  annum.  He  returned  to England,  and  in  1819  weut  back  to  Copenhagen,  where  he  continued  a few  months,  and  then,  on  leave  of  absence,  repaired  to  France,  leaving  his son  to  act  in  his  stead  as  vice-consul,  in  which  office  he  continued  till 1822.  Another  son  obtained  a  lucrative  appointment  under  the  stamp office  department  at  Hull. This  enormous  sum  of  £45,740,  the  "  disinterested  friend  of  his  coun- try" received;  and  as  the  pension  on  the  Irish  civil  list  reverted  to  his widow  and  to  his  two  sons,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  were  in  the prime  of  life,  it  was  by  no  means  improbable  that  one  of  the  parties  might  sur- vive the  person  to  whom  it  was  originally  granted  some  five-and-twenty or  thirty  years ;  and  if  so,  the  people  of  Great  Britain  would  have  the further  gratification  of  paying  another  sum  of  twenty  or  five-and-twenty thousand  pounds  more  for  the  credit  of  Lord  Castlereagh's  government in  Ireland  (nominally  of  Lord  Camden's),  and  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to the  memory  and  worth  of  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds.  There  are  gentlemen  in the  British  parliament,  though  not  forgetful  of  the  services  of  Mr.  Reynolds and  others  of  his  class,  who  might  think  this  subject  deserving  of  their  at- tention, who  might  imagine  that  the  children  of  the  starving  operatives  of Leeds  and  Manchester  are  entitled  to  as  much  consideration  as  those  of the  gentlemen  who  made  orphans  of  so  many,  and  who  during  their  lives were  amply  rewarded  for  any  service  they  rendered  to  their  employers.* *  Providence  lias  been  pleased,  since  the  appearance  of  the  first  edition  of  this work,  in  1812,  to  remove  the  widow  of  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds  and  his  two  sons from  this  sinful  world.  The  eldest  son's  death  is  thus  noticed  in  the  Hull  Herald  of the  21th  of  July,  185G:  "Melton.— Yesterday,  in  his  62nd  year,  A.  F.  Reynolds, Esq.,  barrister-at-law,and  distributor  of  stamps  for  Hull  and  East-Riding".  The other  son  of  Mr.  Reynolds  was  connected  with  a  proselytizing  establishment  in  Paris, originally  founded  by  Lord  Roden,  and  supported  by  voluntary  subscriptions  of  Eng- lish visitants  to  the  French  capital.  Young  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds,  who,  like  his brother,  had  been  brought  up  in  the  religion  he  adopted  after  his  civil  conversion from  disaffection  to  loyalty,  became  a  lay  apostle  of  the  New  Jerusalem  Society of  Marbajuf,  a  collector  of  funds,  and  a  visitor  of  all  English  tourists  on  their MB.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  427 The  interference  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  with  regard  to  the  lease  of Kilkea  Castle,  in  favour  of  Reynolds,  is  called,  with  the  usual  modesty  of his  biographer,  "  a  piece  of  pure  invention  from  beginning  to  end". "  Early  in  1797  (this  gentleman  states)  his  father  took  from  the  Duke  of Leiuster  the  valuable  lease  of  the  castle  and  lands  of  Kilkea"  ;  that  "  he became  a  United  Irishman  in  February,  1797;  ttjat  in  November,  1797, Lord  Edward  called  on  his  father,  and  asked  him  to  take  his  place  as colonel  of  a  regiment  of  United  Irishmen,  enrolled  in  the  county  Kildare, for  a  short  time".  These  dates  are  rather  unfortunate  for  the  arduous  task of  whitewashing  the  character  of  Mr.  Reynolds's  friendship,  considering the  very  advantageous  terms  on  which  the  lease  was  granted  to  him,  and the  confidential  communications  between  Lord  Edward  and  Mr.  Reynolds, admitted  by  the  latter,  in  November,  1797,  the  very  month  of  his  obtain- ing the  lease  from  the  Duke  of  Leiuster. In  the  informations  given  upon  oath  by  Thomas  Reynolds,  and  after- wards confirmed  before  the  secret  committees  in  1798,  his  intimacy  with Lord  Edward  is  thus  alluded  to: — "Deponent  further  saith,  that  in  No- vember, 1797,  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  accompanied  by  Hugh  Wilson, met  deponent  upon  the  steps  of  the  Four  Courts,  and  told  him  that  he wished  to  speak  to  him  upon  very  particular  business ;  that  deponent  in- formed Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  he  would  be  found  in  Park  Street  if  he called  on  him  there ;  that  deponent  and  Lord  Edward  knew  each  other  only personally,  and  that  only  from  a  purchase  deponent  had  been  about  in  the county  of  Kildare  from  the  Duke  of  Leiuster".* Here  Reynolds  himself  acknowledges,  what  is  positively  denied  by  his son,  that  in  the  business  relating  to  the  purchase  from  the  Duke  of Leinster,  Mr.  Reynolds  had  a  personal  knowledge  of  Lord  Edward  Fitz- gerald. It  would  appear  from  young  Mr.  Reynolds's  work,  that  his  father  had  a sincere  regard  for  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald.  It  is  very  probable  that  he had  as  much  regard  for  his  lordship  as  it  was  in  his  nature  to  feel  for  any man — that  is  to  say,  he  had  no  personal  animosity  to  this  young  noble- man, and  after  the  arrests  at  Bond's,  perhaps,  had  nothing  to  gain  (when he  knew  the  secret  of  his  place  of  concealment)  by  betraying  him ;  for  the reward  of  £1000  for  his  apprehension  was  not  published  till  the  11th  of May,  and  Reynolds  was  not  then  in  town.  But  when  it  was  part  of  the duty  recpiired  of  him  by  his  employers  to  deprive  the  widow  and  children of  his  dead  friend  of  the  means  of  subsistence,  he  was  restrained  by  no compunctious  visitings  of  nature  from  swearing  away  the  property  of  that friend,  as  he  had  sworn  away  the  lives  of  his  associates. There  are  three  proofs  given  by  Mr.  Reynolds,  junior,  of  the  friendship of  his  father  for  Lord  Edward.  Two  clays  after  the  arrests  at  Bond's,  on his  information — (Lord  Edward  having  so  far  fortunately  escaped  that peril  by  the  accidental  circumstance  of  seeing  Major  Swan's  party  enter  the arrival  in  Paris.  Mr.  Reynolds,  junr.,  however,  fell  into  difficulties,  removed  from Paris,  and  ended  his  career  about  two  years  ago.     His  aged  mother,  the  widow of  the  informer,  had  died  a  short  time  previously.     So  all  the  parties  entitled  to receive  the  reversionary  pension  of  Tom  Reynolds  have  passed  away. *  "Report  of  Secret  Committee,  1798";  Appendix,  xvi ,  p.  132. 428  APPENDIX    III. house,  when  he,  Lord  Edward,  was  on  his  way  there,  at  the  corner  of Bridge  Street) — Reynolds  visited  Lord  Edward  at  his  place  of  conceal- ment, at  Dr.  Kennedy's  in  Aungier  Street,  and  discussed  with  his  lordship his  future  plans  as  to  his  concealment,  etc.  Mr.  Reynolds  discovered  "  he had  no  arms  of  any  sort  except  a  small  dagger,  and  lie  was  quite  unpro- vided with  cash,  which  ,was  then  scarce,  as  the  banks  had  stopped  all  issue of  gold.  My  father  called  on  him  again  on  the  evening  of  the  15th,  and brought  him  fifty  guineas  in  gold,  and  a  case  of  good  mounted  pistols,  with ammunition,  and  a  mould  for  casting  bullets".*  "  He  took  the  pistols, threw  a  cloak  over  his  shoulders,  and  left  the  house  accompanied  by  Mr. Lawless.  My  father  never  saw  him  more".  Poor  Lord  Edward  little imagined  from  what  source  that  money  had  been  derived,  or  that  he  and his  companions  had  been  betrayed  by  the  very  man  who  had  been  so recently  in  his  company,  and  who  had  already  drawn  on  the  agent  of government  for  the  first  portion  of  that  stipulated  sum  which  was  the reward  of  his  disclosures,  and  had  placed  a  part  of  the  price  of  his  friends' blood  in  his  hands,  under  the  semblance  of  an  act  of  kindness. The  present  of  the  pistols,  with  the  powder  and  bullet  mould,  for  the  pro- tection of  a  man,  whose  peril,  he  well  knew,  was  the  consequence  of  his own  treachery  to  him  and  his  associates,  was  worthy  of  Reynolds ;  villainy less  accomplished  could  hardly  have  devised  so  refined  an  act  of  specious perfidy.  It  was  a  particular  feature  of  Reynolds's  infamy,  that  he  seems to  have  felt  a  gratification  in  witnessing  the  effects  of  his  proceedings  on the  unfortunate  families  of  his  victims.  A  few  days  after  the  arrests  at Bond's,  he  paid  a  visit  of  condolence  to  Mrs.  Bond,  and  even  caressed  the child  she  was  holding  in  her  arms.  He  paid  a  similar  visit  of  simulated friendship  to  the  wife  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  on  the  16th  of  March. Mr.  Reynolds's  son  must  tell  the  particulars  of  this  interview.  "  She  (Lady Fitzgerald)  also  complained  of  a  want  of  gold  ;  my  father  told  her  he  had given  Lord  Edward  fifty  guineas  the  preceding  night,  and  would  send  her fifty  more  in  the  course  of  that  day,  which  promise  he  performed.  Neither of  these  sums  were  ever  repaid.  In  the  course  of  their  conversation,  my father  mentioned  his  intention  of  leaving  Ireland  for  a  time ;  on  which  she took  a  ring  from  her  finger  and  gave  it  to  him,  saying  she  hoped  to  hear from  him  if  he  should  have  anything  of  importance  to  communicate,  and that  she  would  not  attend  to  any  letter  purporting  to  come  from  him,  un- less it  were  sealed  with  that  ring,  which  was  a  small  red  cornelian, engraved  with  the  figure  of  a  dancing  satyr". f Mr.  Reynolds  having  deprived  himself  of  his  pistols  on  the  15th  of March,  the  act  was  considered  by  him,  and  at  a  later  period,  it  would seem,  was  recognized  by  government,  as  one  done  for  the  public  service, for  these  pistols  were  replaced  by  Major  Sirr,  and  the  bill  for  the  case purchased  on  that  occasion  by  the  major  for  his  friend,  was  duly  presented to  Mr.  Cooke,  and  the  subsequent  payment  of  it  was  not  forgotten. u1798,   July   26,   Major   Sirr,   for   pistols   for    Mr. Reynolds £9     2     0". *  '•  Life  of  Thomas  Reynolds",  vol.  ii.,  p.  210.  t  Ibid. MR.   THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  429 So  much  for  the  friendship's  offerings  of  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds. The  insatiable  cupidity  of  this  man  at  length  disgusted  the  adminis- tration in  both  countries,  and  when  his  importunities  were  disregarded,  in the  pathetic  language  of  his  son,  having  settled  Lis  accounts,  "  he  bade  an eternal  adieu  to  his  kindred  and  country,  and  arrived  with  his  family  in London,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1800".  This  melancholy  circumstance  for the  meditation  of  "  his  kindred  and  country",  is  certainly  narrated  in  very moving  terms,  but  the  nature  of  his  faithful  attachment  to  both,  could hardly  be  spoken  of  in  plain  and  simple  terms.  "  During  two  years", continues  his  son,  "  he  did  not  cease  to  urge  on  the  English  ministers  the promises  made  to  him  on  leaving  Ireland,  but  to  no  purpose  ;  he  received much  politeuess,  but  the  English  ministers  referred  him  to  the  Irish,  these again  referred  him  to  those  in  England,  until  at  length,  digusted  with  both, he  dropped  the  pursuit  and  applied  himself  exclusively  to  the  care  of  his family".* But  though  it  was  impossible  to  satiate  Mr.  Reynolds's  unquenchable thirst  for  gain,  notwithstanding  the  prodigal  liberality  with  which  the public  money  was  lavished  on  him,  it  seems  to  have  been  still  more difficult  to  appease  his  appetite  for  encomiums  on  his  public  conduct,  and he  was  constantly  addressing  letters  to  distinguished  persons,  representing himself  as  a  persecuted  patriot,  whom  love  for  his  country  had  subjected to  the  most  undeserved  animosity.  From  Lord  Limerick  he  extorted a  communication  in  1817,  in  which  he  states  "that  it  was  from  the  best and  most  disinterested  motives,  he  had  laid  open  the  conspiracy",  etc. Lord  Carleton,  formerly  chief  justice  of  the  king's  bench  in  Ireland,  the judge  who  presided  on  the  trial  of  the  Sheares,  addressed  another  letter to  Mr.  Reynolds  on  the  subject  of  his  conduct  in  1798  and  at  the  trials of  that  period,  and  his  lordship  gravely  informs  Mr.  Reynolds,  that  in  the whole  of  his  conduct,  "  he  had  behaved  with  consistency,  integrity, honour,  ability,  and  disinterestedness".  With  this  profound  legal  gentle- man's opinion  of  the  qualities  he  alludes  to,  we  may  form  some  idea  of those  qualities  that  were  formerly  looked  for  in  those  who  were  candidates for  elevation  to  the  bench. Sir  Jonah  Barrington,  in  his  Memoirs,  speaks  of  Reynolds  as  a  man who  so  far  differed  from  his  brother  conspirator,  Captain  Armstrong, "  that  the  latter  had  the  honour  of  an  officer  and  the  integrity  of  a  man  to sustain,  and  deliberately  sacrificed  both  ! !  " So  Sir  Jonah  corresponded  with  Mr.  Reynolds,  when  the  latter  was  at Lisbon ;  and  in  his  private  letters  to  him,  he  addresses  him  in  the  most affectionate  terms,  and  begins  his  epistles  with  the  most  endearing  ex- pressions. In  July,  1812,  one  of  his  letters  commences  with,  "My  dear Reynolds,  I  cannot  express  how  obliged  I  am  by  your  letter".  In  the same  communication,  he  addresses  him  "as  an  old  friend",  t  Considerinec the  person  he  addressed,  Sir  Jonah  must  have  entertained  notions  of  the obligation  which  friendship  imposes,  different  from  those  of  the  generality of  men,  whose  principles  are  fixed,  of  whatever  political  shade  they  may be.     Sir   Jonah,   however,   would   call   a  man  like  Reynolds  his  dearest *  "Life  of  Thomas  "Reynolds",  by  his  Son,  vol.  ii.,  p.  193. t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  352. 430  APPENDIX    III. friend  to-day,  and  on  the  following  one  would  chuckle  to  hear  him described  by  Curran  as  a  man,  like  O'Brien,  "who  measured  his  value  by the  coffins  of  his  victims,  and  in  the  field  of  evidence  appreciated  his fame,  as  the  Indian  warrior  does  in  fight,  by  the  number  of  scalps  with which  he  can  swell  his  victory". Lord  Chichester  (the  Mr.  Pelham  of  Lord  Camden's  administration) writes  to  Mr.  Reynolds  at  the  same  period,  informing  him  that  "  he  can estimate  his  services  more  accurately  than  any  other  person" ;  but  in  re- ferring to  some  speeches  in  Parliament,  not  complimentary  to  Mr.  Reynolds, he  tells  him  that  the  speeches,  in  all  probability,  were  never  made  in  the terms  used  in  the  papers,  and  concludes  with  advice  somewhat  equivocal, in  these  terms  : — "  I  cannot  help,  therefore,  recommending,  in  the  strongest manner,  your  silent  submission  to  this  unprovoked  and  unmerited  censure, conscious  of  enjoying  the  continuance  of  the  good  opinions  of  those,  who are  best  qualified  to  judge  of  your  merits  and  character". The  poor  old  "  Lord  Foozle"  of  1798,  Lord  Camden,  is  dragged  forward to  the  rescue  of  Reynolds's  character  :  he  speaks  of  his  "  most  disinterested" services,  and  tells  him  that  "  those  who  best  knew  his  conduct  have  en- deavoured to  show  their  good  opinion  of  him ;  Lord  Chichester,  Lord Castlereagh,  and  himself  having  each  rendered  him  (Reyuolds)  services  on account  of  that  opinion". Nothing  more  flattering  could  be  extorted  from  Lord  Castlereagh  than a  few  vague  sentences,  in  a  speech  of  his  on  the  11th  of  July,  1817,  in which  he  stated  that  "  Mr.  Reynolds  was  originally  engaged  in  treason, and  by  his  discovery  made  the  atonement".  And  further,  "  that  Mr. Reynolds  was  also  a  gentleman  in  considerable  respectable  circumstances, and  therefore  by  no  means  likely  to  prostitute  his  talents  for  the  public service".* In  1817  the  people  of  England,  who  had  given  themselves  very  little concern  about  Mr.  Reynolds's  doiugs  in  Ireland,  so  long  as  they  were  con- fiued  to  that  country,  took  the  alarm  rather  suddenly,  when  they  found  the subject  of  treason  in  England,  and  the  system  of  packing  the  juries  for the  trial  of  traitors,  connected  with  the  ominous  name  of  Mr.  Thomas Reynolds.  On  bills  being  found  by  the  grand  jury  of  Middlesex  against Dr.  Watson  and  four  others,  for  high  treason  (the  Spa-fields  rioters),  no sooner  was  Mr.  Reynolds's  name  discovered  on  the  pannel,  than  the  press of  England  took  the  alarm,  and  the  walls  of  parliament  rang  with  loud denunciations  against  the  Irish  informer. Lord  Castlereagh  plainly  saw  the  folly  of  the  attempt  to  resort  in  Eng- land to  the  old  practices  which  had  been  adopted  with  so  little  trouble in  the  sister  kingdom.  He  left  Mr.  Reynolds  to  his  fate ;  and  when  he threatened  to  publish  a  vindication  of  his  acts,  it  was  plainly  intimated to  him  that  it  was  the  pleasure  of  Lord  Castlereagh  that  he  should  be silent  on  these  subjects.  At  length  the  coolest  sarcasm  on  the  trouble- someness  of  an  importunate  candidate  for  public  employment  that  could be  indulged  in,  was  had  recourse  to  by  Lord  Castlereagh  in  1818,  when he  sent  that  ardent  patriot,  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds,  as  a  consul,  to  freeze in  Iceland.     In  October,   1818,  Reynolds,  having  sickened  of  his  Iceland *  "T.  Reynolds's  Life",  by  his  Son,  pp.  409,  421. Mil.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS.  431 consulship,  abandoned  his  post  and  returned  to  London.  On  his  arrival, Mr.  Planta  communicated  to  him  "  his  lordship's  extreme  surprise  and marked  displeasure,  at  his  having  quitted  his  public  duties  for  his  private affairs,  without  his  lordship's  previous  sanction".* On  the  Gth  of  December  he  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  Cooke  on  the subject  of  his  quitting  his  post :  and  in  reference  to  a  letter  of  Reynolds  to Lord  Camden  on  this  matter,  his  son  tells  us  he  said  to  him  :  "  You  are a  madman ;  you  are  an  imprudent  man :  I  tell  you  so  to  your  face ;  and you  were  always  an  imprudent  man,  and  never  will  be  otherwise.  I  tell you,  you  are  considered  as  a  passionate,  imprudent  man".  "  Mr.  Cooke", said  my  father,  "  if  I  was  not  so,  perhaps  Ireland  would  not  at  this  day be  a  part  of  the  British  empire  :  you  did  not  think  me  passionate  or  im- prudent in  1798".  "I  tell  you  again",  said  Mr.  Cooke,  "you  are  mad. Well,  what  do  you  intend  to  do  now  ?"  "  Really",  said  my  father,  "  I intend  to  do  nothing  at  all ;  I  suppose  Lord  Castlereagh,  on  his  return, will  settle  my  resignation''.^  Mr.  Reynolds  went  on  to  state  that  he had  taken  the  office  "  on  the  express  condition  of  living  where  he pleased  ;  and  his  affairs  being  urgent,  and  Lord  Castlereagh  being  absent, he  returned,  as  a  matter  of  course".  "  True",  continued  Mr.  Cooke ; "  but  Lord  Castlereagh  knows  you  to  be  a  very  imprudent  man,  and  he would  certainly  hesitate  at  allowing  you  to  be  in  London,  where  your imprudence  would  give  advantage  to  your  enemies,  to  bring  you  into trouble,  and  him  too.  He  does  not  like  you  to  be  in  London  :  I  tell  you fairly,  that  is  the  feeling" .X Mr.  Reynolds  took  his  leave,  after  informing  Mr.  Cooke  that  "  in  case he  continued  to  hold  this  consulship,  he  expected  to  be  treated  with  atten- tion and  consideration  by  the  British  ambassadors  wherever  he  settled,  and that  he  still  held  government  bound  to  provide  for  his  two  sons".  "  I  tell you  again",  said  Mr.  Cooke,  "  I'll  see  them  on  it". This  must  have  been  a  scene  that  Gay  would  have  delighted  to  have witnessed  and  to  have  depicted,  for  no  other  hand  could  have  done  justice to  the  little  differences  of  these  Peachums  and  Lockets  of  the  golden  days of  the  good  old  times  of  Camden  and  Company  in  Ireland. In  1822,  the  star  had  set  on  the  prosperity  of  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds. Mr.  Canning  had  come  into  power,  and  had  been  applied  to  by  him for  employment.  Young  Mr.  Reynolds  states  that  Mr.  Planta  commu- nicated to  his  father  Mr.  Canning's  final  determination,  not  to  employ any  member  of  our  family  in  his  department,  as  he  did  not  consider  him- self bound  by  Lord  Londonderry's  engagements".§ Mr.  Reynolds  deemed  the  time  was  come  to  retire  from  the  turmoil  of public  life :  he  fixed  his  abode  in  Paris,  rolled  about  in  his  green  chariot, gormandized  and  guzzled,  edified  the  godly,  who  have  their  little  Goshen in  Paris  separated  from  the  surrounding  heathenism  of  Romanism,  by  the fervour  of  his  zeal  for  his  new  religion,  and  died  in  that  city  the  18th  of August,  1836.  His  remains  were  brought  to  England,  and  were  buried in  one  of  the  vaults  of  the  village  church  of  Wilton,  in  Yorkshire.    Having *  "  Thomas  Reynolds's  Life",  by  his  Son,  vol.  ii.,  p.  429. f  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  443. t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  445.  §  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  497. 432  APPENDIX    III. spoken  much  of  this  man's  character,  and  by  no  means  favourably  of  it,  I freely  admit  that  lie  did  the  state  some  service,  and  that  he  was  possessed of  some  qualities,  wbich,  had  they  been  under  the  guidance  of  sound  prin- ciples, would  have  rendered  him  a  man  who  might  be-spoken  of  with- out repugnance :  his  courage  was  indomitable ;  his  presence  of  mind  was remarkable ;  he  was  cool  and  collected  on  occasions  that  eminently  re- quired calmness  and  deliberation.  His  own  immediate  family  appear  to have  been  attached  to  him ;  and  in  his  last  days  it  is  said,  and  I  presume not  to  call  in  question  the  truth  of  such  statement,  that  his  thoughts  were turned  to  futurity,  and  his  deportment  at  the  close  of  his  career,  that  of  a man  who  had  a  lively  sense  of  religion  :  that  nothing,  in  short,  in  life became  him  so  much  as  the  manner  of  his  leaving  it. The  Parisian  life  of  Mr.  Reynolds  was  made  the  subject  of  some  very  re- markable lines,  the  original  manuscript  of  which  fell  into  my  hands  in Paris  some  years  ago.  The  concluding  lines  of  this  singularly  terse  and vigorous  production  are  unfortunately  wanting,  but  enough  remains  for  an instalment  of  the  debt  of  Irish  justice  due  to  the  memory  of  Thomas Reynolds.  The  paper  on  which  these  lines  were  written,  a  half-sheet  of foolscap,  had  been  wrapped  round  some  butter,  purchased  in  a  grocery shop  in  Paris  by  the  wife  of  my  cousin,  Mr.  Edward  Byrne,  an  old resident  of  Paris  (of  No.  23  Place  Vendome),  and  was  given  me  by  the latter. "THE    SPY    INFORMER",    TOM    REYNOLDS. Lolling  at  his  Tile  ease  in  chariot  gay, His  face,  nay,  even  his  fearful  name  unbidden ! Uncloaked  abroad,  'neath  all  the  eyes  of  day, Which,  as  lie  passeth,  close,  while  breath  is  hush'd, — Unspat  upon,  untrampled  down,  uncrush'd, I've  seen  the  seven  fold  traitor ! — wretch,  curse-ridden By  a  whole  nation's  curse,  and  a  world's  scorn Heap'd  upon  that ! And,  God  !  he  hath  upborne, For  more  than  thirty  years,  on  the  broad  back Of  his  strong,  scoundrel  mind,  without  crack Or  cringe,  the  Atlas  burden  ! Look !  'tis  he, Who  for  the  pence  which  pay  his  luxury, Sold  all ! — friends,  honour,  country,  country's  cause, And  that  cause  freedom  !— freedom  against  laws Of  odious,  wanton  tyranny !     Who  sold Unto  the  gallows,  scourge,  or  dungeon-hold, The  wise,  the  noble,  high-hearted,  bold, And  with  them  humbler  thousands  ten  times  told ! And  this  of  his  own  choice !  not  even  led By  the  detested  craven's  shivering  dread. No;  this  of  his  own  free,  cool,  weighing  choice. His  ear  still  ringing  to  the  trumpet  voice Of  Freedom's  champions  on  her  council  day, Stealingly,  serpently,  he  slimed  his  way Unto  the  slave-master,  and  back  again To  Freedom's  fearless,  unsuspecting  men ; Till,  drop  by  drop,  he  marketted  away, At  cautious  pricing ;  for  "  no  blood  no  pay" — MR.    THOMAS    REYNOLDS.  433 The  veins  that  o'er  their  gallant  hearts  had  sway, With  all  which  through  a  nation's  bosom  play ! " Yea,  till  from  lordly  mansion  to  the  cot Of  the  unfed  peasant,  reigned  one  common  lot Of  torture,  and  of  carnage,  and  of  woe ! Yea,  till  the  household  blood  so  fast  did  flow, That,  help'd  by  women's  and  by  children's  tears, The  household  hearth  it  slaked  down  for  years  ! Again  look  at  him !     To  God's  house  to-day (For  he  dares  kneel,  and  he  pretends  to  pray !) Now  hath  he  come.     O'erfed,  on  bloated  limbs, Scarce  from  his  chariot  steps  can  he  descend ; Though  nought — nor  age,  remorse,  nor  shame — yet  dims That  cool,  hyena  eye  which  round  him  lowered, Hopeless  of  fellow  glance  from  fellow  friend, And  yet  so  quiet,  cruel  to  the  end, Might  almost  chill  a  brave  man  into  coward. Say  I  that  in  God's  house  he  should  not  kneel, And  pray,  and  be  forgiven,  if  he  feel That  scarlet  red  as  are  his  sin  and  woe, True  sorrow  may  not  "wash  them  white  as  snow"? I've  said,  I  thought  it  not ;  but  this  I  say, That  even  his  master,  Judas,  flung  away The  price  of  blood,  etc.  *  *  * Ccctera  desunt. Reference  to  the  man  above  described,  in  the  first  edition  of  this work,  and  to  his  name  and  exploits,  in  "  the  account  of  Secret  Service Money,  applied  in  Detecting  Treasonable  Conspiracies",  procured  for  the author  the  honour  of  the  following  complimentary  notice  of  his  labours, from  the  son  and  biographer  of  the  "  Tom  Reynolds  of  1798"  :  — LETTER  FROM  MR.  THOMAS  REYNOLDS. "  Faubourg  St.  Honor e,  Paris, "  July  16,  1842. "  Sir — My  attention  has  been  called  to  a  work  lately  published  by  you, in  which,  not  satisfied  with  repeating  the  thrice-told  and  often-refuted  ca- lumnies against  the  character  of  my  late  father,  you  also  make  a  direct attack  upon  me,  at  page  215  of  your  first  volume.  It  is  that  attack  Avhich induces  me  to  address  you.  I  see  that,  like  all  your  party,  you  stop  at nothing :  falsehood  or  truth  appears  indifferent  to  you.  As  regards  your extract  from  the  Secret  Service  Money,  it  is  an  evident  and  a  very  stupid forgery  ;  but  even  if  it  were  not  so,  it  is  for  you  to  show,  first,  that  it  is authentic,  and  next,  that  the  Thomas  Reynolds  therein  mentioned  was my  father ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  you  could  show  anything,  when  you  tell your  readers  that  F.  H.  means  John  Hughes.  I  shall,  however,  soon  de- monstrate to  the  public  that  there  happens  to  be  a  physical  impossibility  in its  having  been  my  father,  and  that,  probably,  the  whole  story  is  a  mere invention  of  your  own,  if,  indeed,  you  have  not  imported  it  from  that  land of  veracity  to  which  the  newspaper  puffs  tell  us  you  wandered  thrice  in search  of  your  documents.  I  know  not  what  your  Travels  in  the  East may  have  produced ;  but,   I   assure   you,  you  might  have  spared  your VOL.  I. 29 4,°)4  APPENDIX    III. journey  to  the  west,  where,  I  suppose,  you  also  discovered  that  my  father had  been  consul  at  Lisbon  for  four  years,  at  £1,400  a-year ;  whereas,  if you  had  only  wandered  to  the  west  end  of  the  town,  and  examined  any Red  Book,  from  1810  to  1814,  you  would  have  found  that  he  was  agent for  the  packets  at  Lisbon,  with  a  salary  of  £200  a-year.  But  a  falsehood more  or  less  to  you  and  your  party  does  not  signify,  if  you  can  only  attain your  object,  from  which,  thank  Heaven,  you  are  as  remote  as  heretofore. The  public  will  see  from  this  how  much  reliance  can  be  placed  on  your authentic  documents,  as  you  call  them,  at  page  240. "  Believe  me,  sir,  your  malice  is  all  in  vain  ;  the  man  whom  you  seek  to assail,  will  meet  you,  ere  many  years  are  passed,  at  the  bar  of  Him  who judges  righteously.  There  the  secrets  of  his  heart  and  of  yours  must be  revealed;  you  cannot  injure  him  now,  he  is  beyond  your  malice;  but, like  a  fiend,  as  is  shown  clearly  in  page  242,  you  would,  if  you  could, injure  me  ;  but  I  must  have  lived  very  much  in  vain,  if  the  dull  falsehoods of  yourself  or  your  accomplices  could  injure  me  in  the  estimation  of  the numerous  persons  to  whom  I  am  so  fortunate  as  to  be  known. "  I  shall  reserve  other  remarks  till  I  publish  them,  with  many  matters and  names  which  I  could  have  wished  to  leave  buried  in  oblivion. "  I  am,  sir, Your  humble  servant, "Thomas  Reynolds. "  To  Dr.  Madden,  London". Mr.  Reynolds,  the  son  of  Bond's  Reynolds,  of  Byrne's  Reynolds,  of M'Cauu's  Reynolds,  is  angry  that  he  has  been  detected  falsifying  facts  and figures,  in  his  efforts  to  pass  off  perfidy  for  patriotism,  and  the  lust  of  gold for  the  love  of  a  gracious  sovereign ;  in  short  it  offends  him  that  his  endea- vours have  been  foiled  by  me,  to  immortalize  his  father's  disinterestedness  in betraying  his  bosom  friends,  swearing  away  their  lives,  making  widows  of their  wives  and  orphans  of  their  children. Young  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds  would  come  before  the  public  as  an  injured  j man,  hurt  in  his  filial  charater,  when  he  was  bending  beneath  the  load  of  I a  father's  memory.     The  burden  he  bore  was  greater,  I  admit,  than  the ! "  pious  iEneas"  carried  on  his  shoulders  from  the  flames  of  Troy ;  the  un- dertaking was  more  arduous.     He  would  have  the  sympathy  of  the  public bestowed  on  him  ;  but  in  his  efforts  to  obtain  it,  it  is  clear  he  has  stopped! at  no  trifles  in  the  prosecution  of  his  bold  enterprise.     The  very  boldness  i of  that  attempt,  however,  it  is  obvious,   must  have  forced  the  duty  on some  person  of  examining  his  statements,  and  having  the  means  of  de-i tecting  their  errors,  they  were  disclosed  by  me. Amongst  the  grossest  of  them,  there  was  one  which  had  been  refuted  by  me very  fully,  namely,  the  mistake  respecting  the  amouut  of  blood-money  which had  leeu  received  by  his  father.      Young  Mr.  Reynolds  had  stated  that , his  father  had  only  received  £500  for  his  services  to  government  in  1798 ; whereas  it  was  clearly  proved,   by  the  publication  of  the  Secret  Service; Money  in  the  first  series  of  my  work,  that  he  had  received  £5,0<)0,  iuj four  payments,  between  the  29th  of  September,    1798,  and  the  4th  ofj March,  1799,  duly  set  down,  in  black  and  white,  in  the  handwriting  of; MR.    THOMAS    REYNOLDS.  435 {  Mr.  Secretary  Cooke.  Young  Mr.  Thomas  Reynolds  did  not  dream  of that  record  seeing  the  light  of  day  when  he  gave  to  the  world  his  bold book. There  are  but  two  assertions  in  his  letter  which  it  may  be  pardonable  in me  to  notice  seriously. In  reference  to  the  person  whose  initials  appear  in  the  list  of  receivers of  Secret  Service  Money,  prefixed  to  the  amount  "  £1,000  for  the  discovery of  Lord  E.  F."5  Mr.  Reynolds  says :  "  There  happens  to  be  a  physical impossibility  in  its  having  been  my  father"'  Now  Mr.  Reynolds  kuows perfectly  well  that  I  never  said,  nor  gave  it  to  be  understood,  I  thought that  his  father  was  that  traitor  whose  initials  are  given  in  the  official  docu- ment which  he  deems  "  a  mere  invention  of  my  own".  I  stated,  on  the contrary,  from  many  concurring  circumstances,  and  from  the  fact  of  the first  letter  of  those  initials  being  so  indistinctly  written  in  the  original  do- cument from  which  I  copied  it,  that  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish  whether the  letter  was  a  J  or  an  F,  although  bearing  more  resemblance  to  the latter,  that  Mr.  John  Hughes  might  possibly  be  the  person  referred  to under  those  initials,  and  I  adduced  some  reasons  that  seemed  to  me to  support  that  opinion.  So  that  Mr.  Reynolds  has  conjured  up  a calumny  of  his  own  imagining,  for  the  pupose  of  making  its  demolition  tell in  favour  of  his  other  offorts  to  refute  facts,  which  he  had  found  it  difficult to  deal  with. The  next  assertion  I  have  to  notice  is,  that  I  had  represented  his father's  salary,  at  Lisbon,  to  have  been  £1,400,  whereas  it  was  £200. In  this  short  statement  there  is  a  falsehood  and  a  quibble.  In  my  work I  estimated  the  receipts  of  his  office  "  for  four  years,  at  £1,400  per annum,  £5,600".  The  words  that  follow  admit  of  no  mistake:  "The salary  and  emoluments  of  which  office  averaged  £1,400  per  annum".  First Series,  vol.  i.,  p.  241. Since  the  receipt  of  Mr.  Reynolds's  letter  I  have  verified,  on  the  spot (in  Lisbon),  the  fact  stated  by  me  with  respect  to  the  amount  of  his  salary and  emoluments,  which  I  now  re-assert.  Mr.  Reynolds,  however,  would fain  have  it  believed  that  £200  a-year,  the  bare  amount  of  his  father's salary,  was  all  that  he  derived  from  his  office. That  office  was  miscalled  by  me ;  instead  of  Consular  Office,  it  should have  been  termed  Packet  and  Post  Office  Agency.  That  is  the  sole  mis- statement I  have  to  correct  in  my  notice  of  the  labours  of  either  of  the Reynoldses. Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  the  younger  Reynolds's  epistle  I  had written  a  reply  to  it  which  I  was  only  prevented  transmitting,  by  conside- rations that  were  urged  on  me  by  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  living Irishmen,  the  late  Mr.  O'Connell. In  that  letter  which  I  had  written  to  Mr.  Reynolds,  it  was  my  object  to !  convince  my  correspondent  that  he  had  done  too  much  credit  to  my  in- genuity ;  doubting,  as  I  did,  that  it  was  within  the  compass  of  the  malice of  any  individual  to  do  an  additional  injury  to  his  father's  memory;  that the  insinuation,  moreover,  of  the  existence  of  another  Tom  Reynolds,  whose name  had  been  mistaken  for  his  father's,  in  the  list  of  recipients  of  secret service  money,  was  a  foul  calumny  on  human  nature,  for  whose  honour  it 43G  APPENDIX    III. was  to  be  hoped,  that  two  men  of  his  father's  stamp  could  not  be  produced in  the  same  century ;  and  lastly,  that  the  meeting  with  his  parent,  with which  he  menaced  me,  in  the  other  world,  was  a  thing  too  fearful  to contemplate  without  a  shudder,  or  to  threaten  without  feelings  of  malevo- lence which  it  ill  became  a  gentleman  of  his  professed  piety  to  entertain. The  late  Dr.  Samuel  O'Sullivan  was  indiscreet  enough,  in  his  zeal  for Orangeism  and  the  terrorism  of  1798,  to  endeavour  to  tarnish  the  renown of  a  distinguished  Irishman  in  the  French  service,  to  cause  him  to  be  sus- pected of  treachery  in  1798,  similar  to  that  of  the  most  infamous  in- formers of  those  times.  He  placed  General  Corbett  in  the  same  category with  Reynolds. Is  the  disposition  of  a  miscreant  of  the  stamp  of  Reynolds  or  O'Brien  of that  nature  which  seeks  military  glory  for  its  own  sake,  gains  it  in  many well-fought  fields,  and  is  ever  found  ambitious  of  activity,  and  eager "  To  turn  e'en  danger  to  delight"? Those  who  think  so  are  evidently  unacquainted  with  the  habits  of  retired traitors — of  men  who  sell  their  associates  for  a  ready  money  price,  or  a place,  or  a  pension.  They  do  not  court  danger  in  the  field,  nor  "  seek  the bubble  reputation  in  the  cannon's  mouth".  Military  achievements  are  not to  their  taste ;  they  fear  death,  and  they  have  good  reason  to  be  afraid  of it ;  they  love  their  ease,  and  they  take  it  after  their  own  fashion ;  they pamper  their  appetites,  they  live  grossly,  they  are  given  to  gluttony,  or debauchery,  or  avarice;  they  have  sacrificed  their  sworn  friends,  their former  principles,  their  future  hopes,  for  gold ;  and  all  that  gold  can  give for  the  gratification  of  their  passions,  they  get.  When  they  die,  there  are none  to  mourn  for  them.  Their  names  recall  acts  that  all  good  men  hate. Their  epitaphs  are  written  in  red  characters.  For  inscriptions  of  this sort,  let  the  following  serve  for  a  model:  — "  In  this  desecrated  ground  lies  the  body  of Thomas  Reynolds. The  claims  of  his  memory  on  his  country  are  to  be  counted by  his  oaths ; His  services  to  be  estimated by  the  consequences  of  his  perfidy, The  banishments  and  executions  of  his  bosom  friends  ; The  merits  of  his  loyalty "  Are  to  be  measured  by  the  coffins  of  his  victims". He  bargained  with  a  menial  of  the  British  government,  and sold  his  cause  and  associates  for  money ; A  dealer  and  chapman  in  broken  vows, He  huckstered  and  higgled  with  men  in  authority  for  the  price  of  blood ; Of  the  wives  and  children  of  those  with whom  he  lived  in  amity,  he  made  Widows  and  Orphans, SIIEARES  ARMSTRONG.  437 without  compunction  or  remorse  ; The  number  of  the  lives  and  the  patrimonies  he had  sworn  away,  seemed  to  him  so  many  titles  to  distinction, and  proofs  of  heroic  virtue  ; The  obligations  he  owed  to  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, were  never  forgotten  nor  forgiven  by  him. Having  betrayed  all  his  friends,  forsaken  his  country, possessing  nothing  more,  except  his  creed,  to  barter,  change,  or  to  desert, He  abandoned  his  religion,  and,  in  the  decline  of  life, assumed  a  sanctimonious  demeanour, And  was  said  to  "  have  put  off  the  old  man". He  retained,  however,  to  the  last,  the  wages  of  the  iniquity of  his  early  life,  the  pension  for  which  he  caused  the blood  of  so  many  of  his  friends  to  be  shed  in  1798  ; And  this  produce  of  perfidy  enabled  him to  pamper  his  appetites,  and  live  and  die  in  luxury  in  a  foreign  land. He  renounced  none  of  his  enjoyments. The  stolid,  sense-cloyed,  soul-clogged  epicurean,  in  his  latter  years was  still  to  be  seen  lolling  in  his  chariot  at  his  ease, parading  his  unwieldy  person  in  all  public  places. Far  from  wincing  under  the  gaze  of  public  scorn,  he  met  it with  all  the  brazen  effrontery  of  his  insolent  regard, And  bore  "  the  Atlas  burden"  of  contempt "  on  the   broad  back  of  his   strong   scoundrel  mind", as  if  he  courted  contumely,  or  considered his  acts  of  villainy  services  of  state, on  which  the  eyes  of  Europe  were  fixed  with  admiration. Thus  lived,  and  at  last,  as  he  had  lived,  died, The   remorseless   renegado,    Thomas  Reynolds. Proditor!  Delator!  et  Sicarius  Infamis! Perfidus!  Gulosus!  Avar  us! Avidissimus  auri. JOHN  WARNEFORD  ARMSTRONG. The  gentleman  commonly  known  as  Sheares  Armstrong,  commenced  his public  career  in  179S  as  an  informer  against  two  barristers  of  the  name of  Sheares,  whose  hospitality  he  partook  of  on  a  memorable  occasion  at the  house  of  the  elder  brother,  when  the  aged  mother,  the  fond  wife, the  brother  and  the  sister  and#  the  children  of  the  host  were  present,  in 438  APPKNDIX    III. the  house  where  that  host  and  his  brother  were  destined  to  be  no  more, within  a  few  brief  hours  of  that  visit  to  it  of  Captain  John  Warneford Armstrong. On  the  12th  of  Jul)',  1798,  Henry  and  John  Sheares,  barristers-at-law, were  tried  and  convicted  on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  on  the  evidence  of Captain  John  W.  Armstrong,  an  officer  of  the  King's  County  Militia,  and on  that  evidence  were  hanged  the  14th  of  July,  1798.  In  the  memoir  of the  Sheares  ample  details  of  this  trial  will  be  found.  Here  it  is  only necessary  to  give  a  single  episode  in  the  tragedy  of  the  two  brothers,  and the  performance  of  a  gentleman  and  a  military  officer  bearing  the  king's commission  in  a  very  base  part  in  it,  thrust  upon  him,  by  his  own  account to  me,  by  Lord  Castlereagh.  On  Thursday,  the  10th  of  May,  1798, Armstrong  was  introduced  to  Henry  and  John  Sheares  at  Byrne's  the bookseller's,  in  Grafton  Street,  with  the  purpose  (the  result  of  a  settled plan  between  him,  Lord  Castlereagh,  his  colonel,  and  a  brother  officer  of the  name  of  ClibborD)  of  betraying  their  secrets  to  government.  He  was introduced  to  them,  he  said,  by  Byrne,  as  "  a  true  brother,  and  they  might depend  upon  him". At  that  meeting  sufficient  treason  was  propounded  by  the  unfortunate dupes  of  Armstrong  for  the  purpose  of  the  captain  and  his  employers.  On the  Sunday  following,  the  13th  of  May,  by  appointment,  Captain  Arm- strong went  to  the  house  of  Henry  Sheares  in  Baggot  Street.  "He  did not  remember  the  number,  but  it  was  on  the  right  hand  going  out  of town ;  his  (Henry  Sheares)  name  was  on  the  door". On  that  Sunday  evening  Captain  Armstrong  was  again  at  the  house  of Henry  Sheares. On  Wednesday,  the  16th  of  May,  between  five  and  six  o'clock  in  the evening,  the  gallant  captain  was  again  at  the  house  of  Henry  Sheares,  and closetted  with  the  younger  of  his  deluded  victims,  John,  in  the  library  of his  brother.  On  Thursday,  the  17th,  the  indefatigable  captain  was  again at  Henry  Sheares'  house,  Baggot  Street,  and  communicated  with  both brothers,  and  also  Surgeon  Lawless  —  subsequently  General  Lawless — a relative  of  Lord  Cloncurry.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  Thursday,  the 17th  of  May,  Captain  Armstrong  was  again  dogging  the  two  doomed brothers  at  the  house  of  Henry  Sheares.  On  Sunday,  the  20th  of  May, Captain  Armstrong  was  again  at  the  house  of  Henry  Sheares,  in  Baggot Street,  in  communication  with  both  brothers.  John  Sheares  at  that  meet- ing said,  "  he  had  called  that  day  at  Lawless's  (French  Street),  and  he believed  Lawless  had  absconded,  for  he,  Lawless,  had  been  denied  to  him". On  that  Sunday,  the  20th  of  May,  Captain  John  Warneford  Armstrong, by  the  instructions,  as  he  states,  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  dined  with  the Sheares  at  the  house  of  Henry ;  sat  with  his  two  victims  in  social  inter- course, in  the  company  of  their  old  mother  and  their  sister,  and  the  wife and  daughter  of  Henry  Sheares ;  ate  their  bread  and  drank  their  wine  ; was  hospitably  entertained  by  them,  and  kindly  received  by  the  females of  that  family ;  and  at  the  very  time  he  was  their  guest,  on  that  occasion he,  Captain  John  Warneford  Armstrong,  knew  that  his  host  and  his  brother were  to  to  be  arrested  the  day  following  on  the  charge  of  treason  that  was grounded  on  his  evidence.     On  Monday,  the  21st  May,   the  two  Sheares SHEARES    ARMSTRONG.  439 were  arrested,  and  were  lodged  in  Newgate.  The  day  previously  they bad  been  dispensing  hospitality  to  their  betrayer. On  the  day  they  were  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  namely,  on  the 12th  of  July,  Captain  J.  \V.  Armstrong,  on  his  oath,  made  a  statement respecting  Lord  Castlereagh's  participation  in  the  baseness  of  that  Sunday business  in  the  house  of  Henry  Sheares.  Counsel  for  the  crown  asked the  witness,  J.  W.  Armstrong,  "  Did  you  communicate  the  last  conver- sation (that  with  the  Sheares  on  Sunday,  the  20th  of  May)  to  any body  ?"  Answered — "  I  never  had  an  interview  with  the  Sheares  that  I had  not  one  with  Colonel  L'Estrange  and  Captain  Clibborn  and  my  Lord Castlereagh". Captain  John  Warueford  Armstrong,  now  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of his  age,  is  a  hale  old  man,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  faculties,  and  his honours,  and  his  rewards  —  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  a  grand  juror — a man  of  substance,  having  a  stake  in  the  soil,  and  a  calm  serenity  of  mind that  nothing  but  the  loss  of  a  valuable  testimonial  to  his  services  in  1798 has  ever  been  known  to  have  perturbed. CORRESPONDENCE  AND  DETAILS  OF  PERSONAL  COMMUNICATION  BETWEEN CAPTAIN  JOHN  WARNEFORD  ARMSTRONG  AND  R.  R.  MADDEN,  RESPECTING SOME  PASSAGES  IN  THE  WORK  OF  THE  LATTER,  IN  REFERENCE  TO  THE EVIDENCE  GIVEN  ON  THE  TRIAL  OF  HENRY  AND  JOHN  SHEARES  BY CAPTAIN    ARMSTRONG. No.  1. Captain  Armstrong  to  R.  R.  Madden. "  Ballycumber,  Clara,  Ireland, "  August  15,  1843. "  Sir, — I  have  lately  read  your  well  written,  entertaining,  and  inter- j  esting  History  of  the  United  Irishmen.     You  have  made  some  mistakes, which,  if  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  you,  I  could  point  out.     If  you ever  come  to  Ireland,  and  will  let  me  know,   I  will  go  to  Dublin  for  the purpose. "  Your  most  obedient  servant, (Signed)         "  J.  W.  Akmstrong. "To  R.  K.  Madden,  Esq.,  M.D." No.  2. R.  R.  Madden  to  Captain  Arm-trong. "  6  Salisbury  Street,  Strand,  London. "  September,  1843. "Sir, — I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note,  dated  15th August,  and  to  inform  you  that  it  only  reached  me  on  Saturday  last,  on my  arrival  in  this  city  from  the  continent. 440  APPENDIX    111. "  My  absence  from  London  was  the  cause  of  its  remaining  so  long  un- answered. "  I  conclude  I  am  addressing  the  Captain  J.  Warneford  Armstrong, whose  name  is  connected  with  the  history  of  some  of  those  ill-fated gentlemen  whose  lives  I  have  attempted  to  illustrate.  In  the  perfor- mance of  my  task,  it  is  probable  I  have  fallen  into  some  mistakes,  nay, it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  totally  avoided  error  in  the  treat- ment of  a  subject  which  makes  it  necessary  to  recur  to  records,  too  fre- quently found  not  so  much  of  facts,  as  of  the  conflicting  impressions  of them,  and  to  the  reminiscences  of  men  whose  faculties  have  to  be  carried back  to  events  which  happened  five-and-forty  years  ago. "  You  are  pleased  to  say  if  I  ever  come  to  Ireland  you  will  come  up  to Dublin  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  those  errors  to  me.  The  freedom with  which  I  have  treated  of  those  matters  in  which  your  name  has  been mixed  up,  makes  it  imperative  on  me  to  accept  the  profferred  information, in  order  that,  if  I  have  in  any  degree  done  injustice  to  you,  I  may,  to  the fullest  extent,  and  by  the  first  opportunity  afforded  me,  make  reparation for  it.  But  permit  me  at  the  same  time  to  say,  that,  with  the  information I  am  at  present  in  possession  of,  and  with  the  feelings  I  now  entertain  on those  points  to  which  I  have  referred  in  connection  with  your  name,  I have  nothing  to  unsay  or  wish  unsaid,  except  in  one  passage  respecting  a Capain  Armstrong  who  visited  Lady  Louisa  Connolly  shortly  after  the arrest  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald :  there  is  an  ambiguity  in  that  passage which  it  was  my  intention  to  clear  up  in  a  second  edition  of  my  work. "  I  had  no  idea  of  going  to  Ireland  just  now,  but  I  think  it  is  a  duty  I owe  to  truth  to  avail  myself  of  any  information  which  may  enable  me  to do  justice,  not  only  to  the  dead,  but  to  the  living  also,  in  whatever  rela- tion the  latter  may  stand  to  the  memory  of  the  former.  I  will,  God willing,  be  in  Dublin  on  Wednesday  or  Thursday  next,  and  on  my  arrival will  inform  you  of  my  address  there. "  I  am,  Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, (Signed)  "  R.  R.  Madden. "  To  Capt.  J.  W.  Armstrong, "  Ballycumber,  Clara,  Ireland". No.  3. R.  E.  Madden  to  Captain  Armstrong. "  15  Eathmines,  Dublin, "28th  Sept.,  1843. "  Sir, — I  beg  leave  to  apprise  you  of  my  arrival  in  Dublin.  Should  it suit  your  convenience  to  meet  me  on  Monday  next,  the  2nd  of  October,  at No.  15  Uathmines,  between  the  hours  of  one  and  two  in  the  afternoon,  I shall  be  in  readiness  to  communicate  with  you  respecting  those  errors  in my  recent  work  which  you  inform  me  I  have  fallen  into. "I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, "  R.  R.  Madden. "  To  Capt.  J.  W.  Armstrong, "  etc.,  etc.,  etc." SHEARES    ARMSTRONG.  441 No.  4. Captain  Armstrong  to  R.  R.  Madden. "  Ballycumber,  Clara, "  October  2,  1843. «  gm I  have  received  both  your  letters  :  the  first  arrived  here  when I  was  iu  Dublin,  tbe  second  came  also  when  1  was  absent  attending  the show  of  an  agricultural  society,  and  I  did  not  return  until  it  was  too  late to  write. "  I  am  obliged  to  be  in  Dublin  on  the  24th  instant,  and  if  yon  stay  so long  in  Dublin,  I  would  call  upon  you  on  the  25th ;  however,  if  it  should not"  be  convenient  for  you  to  do  so,  I  will  go  up  on  the  receipt  of  your letter. "  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, "  Your  most  obedient  servant, (Signed)         "  J.  W.  Armstrong. "To  R.  R.  Madden,  Esq., 15  Rathmines,  Dublin". No.  5. Captain  Armstrong  to  R.  R.  Madden. "  Ballycumber,  Clara, "October  4,  1843. Sir, I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter,  and  shall  go  to  Dublin to-morrow  morning,  and  shall  call  upon  you  on  Friday ;  you  must  perceive that  it  is  impossible  to  be  there  sooner. "  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, "  Your  most  obedient  servant, (Signed)  "J.  W.  Armstrong. "To  R.  R.  Madden,  Esq.,  M.D., "  15  Rathmines,  Dublin". Minutes  of  an  interview  of  R.  R.  Madden  with  Captain  J.  \5T.  Armstrong, the  6th  Oct.,  1843,  at  No.  15  Rathmines,  Dublin:  — "  October  G,  1843. "  Captain  John  Warneford  Armstrong  having  applied  to  me  by  letter for  an  interview,  with  reference  to  some  alleged  errors  in  the  first  series  of my  work,  The  Lives  and  Times  of  the  United  Irishmen,  I  met  him  by appointment  at  No.  15  Rathmines,  Dublin,   Counsellor  O'H -,  at  my request,  being  present. "  The  following  notes  of  the  leading  topics  of  Captain  Armstrong's  com- munication, were  taken  by  me  on  the  spot,  during  the  conversation  in  ques- tion : — "  At  page  65,  vol.  ii.,  Captain  Armstrong  referred  to  a  citation,  in  my work,  from  Mr.  Moore's  Life  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  respecting  the visit  of  a  Captain  Armstrong  to  Lady  Sarah  Napier,  after  the  arrests  at Bond's,  and  also  to  an  observation  of  mine  in  regard  to  that  visit.    Captain 4  t2  APPENDIX    III. Armstrong  states  that  '  he  never  visited  Lady  Sarah  Napier  at  any  period, i< iid.  that  he  was  not  acquainted  even  with  her  name'.  I  replied  to  Captain Armstrong  that,  subsequently  to  the  publication  of  the  first  series  of  my work,  I  had  received  a  communication  from  a  relative  of  Lady  Sarah Naper  (Major-General  William  Napier),  which  left  no  doubt  on  my  mind that  the  Captain  Armstrong  referred  to  on  that  occasion  was  a  gentleman somewhat  acquainted  with  the  Leinster  family,  whose  intentions  could  not be  called  in  question,  and  that  he,  Captain  John  Warneford  Armstrong, was  not  the  person  referred  to  in  the  above-mentioned  passage,  and  that, as  I  had  informed  him  in  my  reply  to  his  first  communication,  it  was  my intention  to  give  the  information  I  had  received  on  that  point,  in  the second  edition  of  my  work. "  At  page  88,  vol.  ii.,  first  series,  Captain  Armstrong  says,  in  reference to  his  first  interview  Avith  the  Sheares,  that  'it  was  not  sought  by  him,  it ■was  not  sought  by  the  government,  it  was  in  fact  unknown  to  them,  nor was  it  sought  by  the  Sheares.  It  was  sought  by  Byrne,  the  bookseller, whose  shop  he  frequented.  Byrne  believed  his  sentiments  to  be  similar  to his  own ;  he  said  one  day  to  some  person  in  the  shop,  pointing  to  the uniform,  which  he  (Captain  Armstrong)  wore  :  '  This  man  wears  a  uniform, and  he  is  a  croppy  fur  all  that'.  Captain  Armstrong  believes  the  wish  for the  introduction  to  the  Sheares  originated  with  Byrne.  Captain  Arm- strong states  that  the  assertion  in  Mr.  Curran's  work,  and  repeated  in mine,  that  on  the  occasion  of  dining  with  the  Sheares,  he  had  fondled  or caressed  the  children  of  Henry  Sheares,  was  utterly  unfounded ;  he  had never  done  so,  nor  had  Mrs.  Sheares  played  on  the  harp  for  him  ;  he  never recollected  having  seen  the  children  at  all,  but  there  was  a  young  lady  of about  fifteen  there,  whom  he  met  at  dinner.  The  day  he  dined  there  (and he  dined  there  only  once),  he  ivas  urged  by  Lord  Castlereagh  to  do  so.  It ivas  wrong  to  do  so,  and  he,  Captain  Armstrong ,  was  sorry  for  it;  but  he ic 'as  persuaded  by  Lord  Castlereagh  to  go  there  to  dine,  for  the  purpose  of getting  further  information. "  In  reference  to  an  observation  of  mine,  on  his  anxiety  to  join  his regiment  after  having  given  information  about  the  Sheares,  Captain  Arm- strong said,  '  When  he  acquainted  Lord  Castlereagh  with  his  desire  to  join his  regiment,  which  had  just  gone  into  the  county  Kildare  against  the rebels,  Lord  Castlereagh  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him,  not,  perhaps,  from any  anxiety  for  his  personal  safety  on  his  own  account,  but  on  account  of the  necessity  for  his  appearance  at  the  approaching  trial  of  the  Sheares. His,  Captain  Armstrong's,  reason  for  wishing  to  join  his  regiment  was, to  prevent  giving  people  a  pretext  for  imputing  his  absence,  at  such  a period,  to  cowardice'. "At  page  175,  vol.  ii.,  first  series,  in  reference  to  the  evidence  of  Mr. Drought,  respecting  Captain  Armstrong's  account  of  the  circumstances which  took  place  at  Blackmore  Hill  with  pikes  and  green  cockades,  when one  was  hanged,  another  was  shot,  and  the.  third  was  flogged,  Captain Armstrong  stated :  '  Drought's  evidence  was  false ;  it  is  true,  on  that occasion  one  man  was  shot,  one  man  was  hanged,  and  the  other  was whipped;  but  this  was  not  done  by  his  orders,  it  was  done  by  the  orders of  some  other  person'.      The  commanding  officer  was  Sir  James  Duff,  but SHEARES    ARMSTRONG.  443 he  does  not  say  it  was  done  by  his  orders.  /  asked  was  there  a  court- martial  held  on  the  occasion.  Captain  Armstrong  replied  there  was  no court-martial.  It  was  quite  sufficient  that  they  were  found  with  pikes  and green  cockades.  I  ashed  was  he,  Captain  Armstrong,  quite  certain  that all  the  men  had  pikes  and' green  cockades.  He  replied  he  did  not  know  for a  certainty,  but  believes,  and  is  pretty  sure  they  all  had.  There  was  an engagement  the  same  day,  after  this  event,  on  Blackmore  Hill  with  the  rebels. "At  page  177,  vol.  ii.,  first  series,  in  reference  to  the  evidence  of  Mr. Robert  Bride,  on  the  trial  of  the  Sheares,  respecting  some  expressions  of his  as  to  oaths  being  words,  and  words  being  as  wind,  or  some  such  terms, which  having  been  used  about  that  time  in  a  pamphlet  written  by , he,  Captain  Armstrong,  might  have  repeated,  but  protested  that  the  in- ference drawn  by  Mr.  Bride  from  these  careless  words,  about  the  obliga- tion of  an  oath,  was  erroneous,  and  that  he  never  doubted  the  solemn obligation  of  an  oath. "At  page  179,  vol.  ii.,  first  series,  Captain  Armstrong  referred  to  a statement  in  my  work,  respecting  the  name  of  Clibborn,  which  occurs  in the  account  of  secret  service  money,  being  supposed  by  me  to  have  been the  Captain  Clibborn  by  whose  advice  he  had  given  the  interview  to  the Sheares.  Captain  Armstrong  stated  that  this  sum  of  money  mentioned in  that  document  was  given  to  Mr.  George  Clibborn,  a  very  active  magis- trate in  the  county  Westmeath,  the  father  of  his  friend  Captain  John Clibborn,  and  not,  as  I  had  supposed,  to  the  latter,  for  expenses,  etc. He  supposed  that  the  money  was  not  given  as  a  reward  to  him  for secret  services,  but  to  meet  expenses  incurred  in  paying  for  such  services as  magistrates  are  in  the  habit  of  receiving. "  Captain  Armstrong  likewise  thinks  that  I  was  in  error  in  supposing the  report  of  the  secret  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  respecting the  conspiracy  of  the  United  Irishmen,  was  drawn  up  by  Lord  Castlereagh. It  was  drawn  up  by  a  gentleman  in  the  service  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  of  the name  of  Knox,  commonly  called  '  Spectacle  Knox'.  He  was  not  the brother  of  Lord  Northland  ;  he  acted  as  a  sort  of  private  secretary  to  Lord Castlereagh  ;  he  was  an  able,  clever  man. "  In  two  or  three  places  in  the  second  volume,  first  series,  Captain  Arm- strong refers  to  an  error  in  the  spelling  of  his  name,  the  letter  e  being omitted  in  the  name  Warueford.  He  also  corrects  the  error  of  calling him,  in  some  places,  Lieutenant  Armstrong,  instead  of  Captain.  In  con- clusion, Captain  Armstrong  states  that  he  never  was  a  United  Irishman ; that  he  never  was  an  Orangeman ;  that  the  original  interview  he  had referred  to  with  Lord  Castlereagh,  which  was  his  first  acquaintance  with him,  was  subsequent  to  his  (Captain  Armstrong's)  introduction  to  the Sheares.  That  when  Byrne  proposed  the  interview  to  him  with  the  Sheares, having  followed  him  out  to  the  door,  and  said  to  him  in  the  street,  '  Would you  have  any  objection  to  meet  the  Sheares  ?'  it  instantly  flashed  across  his mind  for  what  object  the  interview  was  sought ;  that  he  consented  to  it,  and immediately  went  to  his  friend  Captain  Clibborn,  and  was  advised  by  him to  meet  the  Sheares;  that  after  his  interview  with  them,  he  was  intro- duced by  Colonel  L'Estrange  to  Lord  Castlereagh ;  he  had  no  previous acquaintance  with  his  lordship. 1  1  1  APPENDIX    III. "  The  above  notes  were  read  over  to  Captain  Armstrong  by  me,  in  the presence  of  Counsellor  OT1 ,  and  the  correctness  of  them  was  assented to  by  him. /c.       A  f  "E.  E.  Madden. {Signed)  {«  Thomas  O'H ". The  preceding  minutes  of  my  communication  with  Captain  Armstrong, are  necessarily  confined  to  the  leading  topics  which  were  the  subject  of that  communication. I  now  proceed  to  give  a  memorandum  of  the  conversation,  drawn  up  on the  day  after  its  occurrence,  the  details  of  which  are  connected  with  the preceding  notes,  and  which  it  was  impossible  to  take  down  on  the  spot and  during  the  conversation. "  I  stated  to  Captain  Armstrong  that  it  was  unnecessary  for  me  to  offer him  any  apology  for  anything  I  had  written  on  the  subject  which  our interview  had  reference  to ;  our  views  respecting  it  were  altogether  diffe- rent ;  my  only  object  in  communicating  with  him  was  to  get  any  state- ment of  facts  which  he  might  offer,  and  to  give  publicity  to  it,  with  the view  of  promoting  the  interests  of  truth  and  justice. "Captain  Armstrong  said  his  principal  object  was  to  enable  me  to  correct some  errors  into  which  I  had  fallen.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  reading  a great  deal,  and  his  disposition  led  him  to  notice  errors  wherever  he  de- tected them,  and  even  to  take  the  trouble  of  pointing  them  out  to  the authors  of  the  works  in  which  he  found  them,  though  he  had  been  wholly  un- acquainted with  them.  He  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  in  reading,  and  expen- ded on  books,  in  fact,  more  money  than  he  could  afford ;  and  he  repeated, it  was  a  custom  of  his  to  notice  errors  and  inaccuracies  in  books,  and  to  point them  out  where  they  could  be  corrected.  With  respect  to  my  work,  he said,  '  It  is  evident  you  are  a  partizan,  and,  therefore,  your  proceedings are  of  a  partial  kind,  and  tinctured  with  prejudice ;  but  I  have  carefully read  your  work  (the  first  series),  and,  I  must  say,  the  account  of  the events  of  the  times  you  treat  of  is  given  with  extraordinary  correctness ;  it is  a  most  valuable  work,  and,  perhaps,  no  one  but  a  partizan  would  have bestowed  the  same  labour  on  it. "'My  conduct',  Captain  Armstrong  continued,  'you,  and  all  those  who think  as  you  do,  speak  of  in  terms  of  the  utmost  severity.  I  do  not complain  of  your  doing  so:  my  only  desire  is  to  set  you  right  as  to  facts. But  others  do  not  feel  as  you  do  with  respect  to  these  proceedings ;  they approve  of  them,  they  appreciate  my  motives,  they  know  the  necessity there  was  for  them,  and  the  fortunate  results  of  which  they  were  pro- ductive to  the  country.  Their  good  opinion  is  sufficient  for  me.  I  speak to  you  with  the  utmost  frankness  on  this  subject.  I  am  ready  to  answer any  question  you  choose  to  ask  me  ;  you  do  not  know  me,  and  may  imagine I  would  conceal  or  distort  facts.  I  am  a  plain,  straightforward  man,  and the  people  in  my  neighbourhood  know  me  perfectly  well,  and  would  trust me  with  anything,  and  confide  in  my  statement'. "  I  asked  Captain  Armstrong  if  he  did  not  state,  in  his  reply  to  the approbationary  address  of  the  officers  of  his  regiment,  in  respect  to  his proceedings  in  the  case  of  the  Sheares,  that  he  had  not  acted  in  this  busi- SHEARES    ARMSTRONG.  445 ness  from  any  interested  motives,  and  had  not  thus  acted  for  any  reward. Captain  Armstrong  replied,  that  he  never  said  he  had  received  no  reward  ; what  he  said  was,  that  it  was  not  with  the  expectation  of  getting  a  reward that  he  thus  acted.  I  observed  that  his  name  was  not  in  the  list  of  those who  had  been  receivers  of  the  secret  service  money.  Captain  Armstrong said  his  name  could  not  be  found  in  any  such  list,  for  the  reward  he received  was  a  pension,  conferred  on  him  by  act  of  parliament,  and  if  it had  not  thus  been  conferred  on  him  by  act  of  parliament,  the  late  govern- ment would  have  taken  it  from  him,  which  he,  Captain  Armstrong,  thought they  would  not  have  been  justified  in  doing. "  I  asked  Captain  Armstrong  if,  during  the  period  of  his  interviews with  the  Sheares,  he  had  any  communication  with  the  Lord  Chancellor Clare  in  regard  to  them.  He  replied  that  he  had  not.  I  asked  if  Lord Castlereagh  appeared  to  attach  any  peculiar  importance  to  the  apprehen- sion of  the  Sheares,  or  seemed  more  desirous  that  they  should  be  Jaid hold  of  than  any  other  of  the  known  or  suspected  leaders  who  were  then at  large.  Captain  Armstrong  replied  that  he  was  not  aware  of  such  being the  case ;  he  only  knew  that  Lord  Castlereagh  thought  their  detection  of great  importance,  and  had  persuaded  him  to  go  to  the  house ;  that  he would  not  have  gone  there  if  he  had  not  been  thus  urged  to  do  so.  It was  wrong,  he  believed,  indeed  he  felt  it  was  wrong,  to  have  gone  there and  to  have  dined  with  them.  It  was  only  that  part  of  the  business  he had  any  reason  to  regret. "  I  asked  who  was  present  on  that  occasion.  Captain  Armstrong  re- plied, there  were  three  ladies  present,  and  a  slip  of  a  girl,  about  fifteen,  and the  two  men.  The  ladies  were,  the  old  lady,  the  mother,  the  wife  of Henry,  and  the  sister  of  the  brothers.  The  young  girl  he  did  not  know who  she  was ;  she  might  be  the  daughter  of  Henry ;  he  did  not  know that  she  was ;  in  fact  he  never  remembered  seeing  any  of  his  children. I  asked  some  questions  respecting  their  position  at  table.  Captain  Arm- strong said,  '  The  dinner  table  was  a  large  one,  much  longer  than  this (pointing  to  the  one  before  him).  The  old  lady  sat  at  one  side,  the  wife of  Henry  sat  next  her,  the  sister  and  the  young  girl  at  the  other  side ; Henry  sat  at  one  end,  and  John  at  the  other ;  I  sat  next  John'. "  In  relation  to  my  account  of  this  interview,  Captain  Armstrong's chief  anxiety  seemed  to  be  to  remove  the  impression,  which  he  declared  to be  erroneous,  that  he  had  fondled  or  caressed  the  children  of  Henry Sheares.  He  said,  '  Indeed  I  never  was  fond  of  children  ;  it  was  not  a custom  of  mine ;  I  was  not  in  the  habit  of  taking  notice  of  children'. "  Captain  Armstrong  stated,  that  when  he  went  down  to  Kildare  to join  his  regiment,  he  was  escorted  down  by  four  hundred  men  for  his  pro- tection, and  two  field  pieces.  On  his  arrival  at  Kilcullen  there  were  no tidings  there  of  his  regiment,  so  he  joined  another  regiment,  then  on active  duty  in  that  neighbourhood. "  With  respect  to  Byrne,  the  bookseller,  Mr.  Armstrong  states  he  was quite  sure  that  Byrne  was  true  to  his  party,  and  believed  him  (Captain Armstrong)  to  be  favourable  to  its  views.  He  (Byrne)  formed  this  opinion from  his  conversation,  he  supposed,  iu  regard  to  some  measures  of  the government  which  he  disapproved  of,  especially  to  the  enforcement  of 446  APPENDIX    III. claims  for  certain  taxes  the  year  after  the  objects  taxed  had  been  given up  by  the  parties ;  and  also  for  assessed  taxes,  three  years  of  which  were required  to  be  paid  within  one  year,   and  nine  years  within   three  years. In  reply  to  a  question  of  Mr.  O'il n,  Captain  Armstrong  said,  Byrne was  not  prosecuted ;  he  was  permitted  to  go  to  America.  Captain  Arm- strong stated,  in  speaking  of  military  executions,  that  in  those  times  the orders  for  them  were  not  always  given  by  officers  in  command,  from  whom they  should  emanate,  but  the  subordinates  took  upon  themselves  often  to act  on  such  occasions. "  He  requested  me  to  read  an  address,  presented  to  him  by  the  colonel and  other  officers  of  his  regiment  in  1798,  in  approbation  of  his  conduct in  the  case  of  the  Sheares,  and  his  reply  to  it.  Having  read  aloud  these documents,  published  in  the  Dublin  Journal,  I  asked  Captain  Armstrong  if he  wished  to  have  them  inserted,  with  the  statement,  in  a  new  edition  of  my Avork.  He  replied  that  he  had  no  anxiety  for  their  publication  ;  it  was not  necessary  for  him  or  his  justification.  His  friends,  who  knew  his conduct,  the  motives  of  it,  and  its  results,  required  no  further  justification of  it  from  him. "  Counsellor  O'H n  said  he  considered  these  documents  historically important,  and  they  ought  to  be  published  injustice  to  Captain  Armstrong, as  well  as  for  enabling  persons  to  comprehend  the  state  of  public  feelings at  that  time.  Captain  Armstrong  assented  to  this  view,  and  communi- cated the  published  copies  of  these  documents  to  me,  which  are  appended to  this  statement. (Signed)         "  R.  R.  Madden". As  the  documents  referred  to  are  rather  extensive,  I  take  the  following notice  of  them,  and  the  transaction  which  brought  them  to  light,  from  the Nation  of  September  23,  1843  : "  The  man  who  betrayed  the  gifted  and  gallant  John  Sheares  (after Tone  and  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  the  ablest  of  the  United  Irishmen)  and his  unfortunate  brother  Henry — who  stole  into  their  confidence  to betray  it — the  man  who  was  one  hour  smiling  in  the  midst  of  their happy  family,  and  the  next  in  Castlereagh's  office,  retailing  their  con- versation to  the  law  officers  of  the  crown,  has  not  yet  left  the  public stage.  We  perceive,  by  the  Mercantile  Advertiser  of  last  night,  that he  is  not  ashamed  to  come  before  the  public  in  his  own  name,  and talk  boastingly  of  the  spoils  of  his  infamous  career. "  Head  Poltce  Office,  Friday. — Considerable  interest  was  created  in the  Head  Office  this  day,  by  the  appearance  of  the  once  celebrated  John AVarneford  Armstrong,  who  attended  to  prosecute  a  man  named  Egau  for robbery  of  several  articles  of  bijouterie  and  wearing  apparel ;  and  also Anthony  Willis,  of  Lower  Ormond  Quay,  for  purchasing  some  of  the  pro- perty, knowing  it  to  be  stolen. "  It  appeared,  by  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Armstrong,  that  on  the  night  of the  20th  of  March,  Ballycomber  House,  his  residence  in  the  King's  County, was  broken  open,  and  property  to  a  considerable  amount,  consisting  of watches,  rings,  a  gold  medal  (presented  to  him  by  the  Orangemen  of  the King's   County  for  his  services  in   prosecuting  to    conviction  John   and SHEARES    ARMSTRONG.  447 Henry  Sheares),  were  stolen  therefrom.  The  venerable  magistrate,  as  he is,  identified  several  articles,  among  which  was  the  red  case  which  for- merly contained  that  dear  relic — that  valuable  certificate  of  his  sincerity to  his  friends  and  his  loyalty  to  his  king. "  Barnes,  of  the  detective  police,  proved  the  discovery  of  the  watches |  and  rings  at  several  pawnbrokers  where  they  had  been  pledged  by Anthony  Willis,  and  also  the  seizure  of  several  articles  of  wearing  ap- parel, etc.,  on  Egan.  This  man,  it  appears,  was  a  servant  to  Mr.  Arm- strong. "  After  a  long  examination,  Sir  Nicholas  Fitzimon  agreed  to  take  two securities,  in  £25  each,  for  the  appearance  of  Willis  at  the  next  commis- sion, and  sent  Egan  for  trial  at  the  next  King's  County  assizes. "  The  readers  of  the  unfortunate  events  of  1798  may  wish  to  know how  looks  and  feels  one  of  the  most  remarkable  actors  in  the  tragic  por- tion of  the  scenes  then  represented. "  He  is  now  in  his  seventy-fourth  year,  and  appears  to  be  a  hale, strong  old  man.  He  has  a  mark  on  the  right  side  of  his  face,  which extends  from  the  forehead  to  the  side  of  the  mouth ;  it  was  made  (he says)  by  a  blow  from  a  dirk,  which  he  received  from  the  hand  of  a  rebel, as  he  was  about  to  proceed  to  Jersey  to  join  his  regiment.  He  is  in  great trouble  about  the  medal,  which,  no  doubt,  he  intended  as  an  heir-loom,  to pass  from  sire  to  son,  as  an  honourable  proof  of  the  loyalty  of  the  house of  Ballycomber". "  TO  CAPTAIN  JOHN  W.  ARMSTRONG,    KING'S  COUNTY  REGIMENT  OF  MILITIA. "  Dublin,  December  23,  1798. "  Sir, — I  am  directed  by  the  officers  of  the  King's  County  Regiment  to convey  to  you  the  enclosed,  which,  be  assured,  gives  me  much  satisfaction. "  Wm.  W.  Westenra, "  Lieut.-Colonel,  King's  County  Regiment". "  Malahide,  December  21,  1798. "  The  officers  of  the  King's  County  Regiment,  assembled  at  Malahide, came  to  a  resolution  to  convey  to  Captain  John  Warneford  Armstrong,  of the  aforesaid  regiment,  the  following,  engraved  on  a  medal:  — "  Sir, — Having  heard  of  late  that  your  conduct  respecting  Messrs. Sheares  has  been  in  some  instances,  thoughtlessly  as  injuriously,  reflected upon,  we  think  we  are  bound,  in  justice  to  you,  to  the  community,  and  to ourselves  as  a  body,  to  convey  to  you,  sir,  our  sentiments  on  that  occasion, and  to  assure  you  of  our  general  and  most  decided  approbation.  Had  we imagined  that  so  false  a  construction  could  have  been  put  upon  the motives  that  influenced  your  conduct,  we  should  ere  now  (though  sepa- rated as  our  regiment  has  been  during  the  late  rebellion)  have  declared the  sense  we  entertained  of  the  important  service  you  have  rendered  your country.  Great,  indeed,  was  the  value  of  your  information  ;  and  we,  who are  acquainted  with  all  the  circumstances,  know  that  your  conduct  was 448  APPENDIX    III. disinterested,  that  you  came  forward  without  the  expectation  of  reward and,  highly  sensible  of  the  danger  you  would  incur,  you  despised  it  for  the publicgood.  We  cannot  conclude  without  observing  that  you  acted  with the  private  approbation  of  your  friends  in  the  regiment ;  that  it  was  not a  busines  of  your  own  seeking:  it  was  forced  upon  you  by  the  infatuated men,  whose  conduct  Providence  seemed  to  direct,  in  making  an  attack upon  you,  so  insulting  to  your  feelings  as  an  officer  and  as  a  man. "  The  Officers  of  the  King's  County  Regiment". "  to  lieutenant-colonel  westenra,  king's  county  regiment. "Malahide,  December  24,  1798. "  Sir,— I  have  just  received  the  address  of  the  King's  County  Regi- ment, declaring  their  approbation  of  my  conduct ;  and  if  anything  could increase  the  pleasure  I  felt,  it  would  be  their  having  appointed  you,  sir,  to deliver  it  to  me — a  person  for  whom  I  entertain  so  high  a  respect,  and  of such  general  estimation  in  the  regiment.  I  beg  you  will  convey  to  them my  answer,  which  I  enclose. "  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, "  Your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, "  John  W.  Armstrong, "  Captain,  King's  Co.  Regiment". "MalaJbide,  December,  2-t,  1798. "  TO  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  KING'S  COUNTY  REGIMENT. "  Gentlemen, — So  flattering  and  honourable  a  testimony  of  your  ap- probation of  my  conduct  as  you  have  been  pleased  to  express,  and  the very  handsome  manner  in  which  you  have  had  it  conveyed  to  me,  calls forth  the  gratitude  and  thanks  of  my  heart.  To  preserve  your  good opinion  shall  be  my  unalterable  and  uniform  endeavour;  and  to  persevere in  such  conduct  is  the  best  return  I  can  make.  Dull,  indeed,  must  have been  my  feelings,  if  your  bright  and  distinguished  example  of  affectionate loyalty  to  our  beloved  sovereign  had  not  called  forth  every  particle  of vigour  which  I  possessed.  It  is  indisputably  true  that  I  was  not  actuated by  any  hope  of  reward,  nor  by  the  fear  of  punishment,  in  my  conduct with  regard  to  those  unfortunate  men  whom  I  was  obliged  to  prosecute. I  acted  from  a  purely  disinterested  principle,  to  serve  my  country,  and  I feel  perfectly  satisfied  in  the  consciousness  of  having  done  so.  Some people  are  of  opinion  that  they  were  acquaintances  of  mine :  the  fact  was otherwise. "  I  never  uttered  a  single  syllable  to  either  of  them  until  I  was  intro- duced to  them  on  Thursday,  the  10th  of  May,  and  they  were  taken  up  on the  21st.  Others  say,  and  indeed  it  is  the  only  thing  like  argument  offered on  the  occasion,  by  those  who  have  endeavoured  to  calumniate  me,  that  it was  improbable  that  they  should  put  their  lives  into  the  hands  of  a stranger.  To  this  point  the  answer  is  obvious :  the  insurrection  was  on the  eve  of  breaking  out — the  time  was  pressing — they  thought  I  might have  been  of  critical  service  to  them — it  was  worth  running  some  risk JOHN  HUGHES.  440 for ;  and,  surely,  in  the  course  of  their  proceedings  they  must  have  fre- quently put  themselves  in  the  power  of  as  great  strangers.  The  evidence of  Kearney  shows  this  pretty  clearly. "  The  only  question  that  can  admit  of  any  doubt  is,  whether,  under  the circumstances,  it  was  becoming  a  man  of  honour  to  act  as  I  have  done. I  must  observe,  that  I  put  myself  under  the  direction  of  my  colonel  and my  friend ;  I  acted  by  their  advice,  and,  if  I  have  done  anything  wrong, they  are  more  culpable  than  I ;  but  when  I  consider  the  dreadful  con- spiracy which  had  so  long  existed  in  the  kingdom,  whose  malignant  and desperate  purpose  had  for  many  years  been  at  work,  the  savage  barbarity which  had  marked  its  progress,  and  had  at  length  burst  forth  with  all  the horrors  of  rebellious  outrage,  to  overthrow  the  government,  and  to  subvert the  monarchy,  how  many  lives  might  probably  be  saved  by  a  timely  dis- covery of  the  principal  and  deep  concern  which  these  men  were  supposed to  have  in  the  business.  When  I  consider  all  these  points,  and  many more  which  occur  to  me,  I  have  great  doubt  whether  a  man  of  strict honour  would  not  be  justifiable  in  seeking  the  confidence  of  these  men  for the  purpose  of  detection.  But  mine  is  a  much  clearer  case.  These  men made  a  most  hostile  attack  upon  me — as  an  officer,  they  offered  me  the highest  insult,  and,  as  an  Irish  subject,  they  sought  (in  order  to  forward their  own  views)  to  involve  me  in  a  transaction  which  would,  probably, have  led  to  infamy  and  ruin.  I  am  confident  that  many  people  have  en- deavoured by  indirect  means  to  depreciate  me  in  the  general  esteem ;  some have  succeeded,  but  I  was  well  aware  that  such  would  be  the  endeavour  of the  disaffected.  So  certain  was  I  of  it,  that  nothing  but  the  zeal  I  was actuated  by  for  my  country's  welfare,  could  have  tempted  me  to  expose myself  to  the  public  view,  and  to  have  rendered  myself  so  very  unpopular as  I  have  done  by  thus  discharging  my  duty ;  a  duty  the  more  imperious, from  the  impossibility  of  any  other  person  being  able  to  frustrate  their plans  of  treason. "  I  believe  I  have  been  much  traduced ;  but  it  matters  me  little  what the  disaffected,  the  disloyal,  or  those  ignorant  of  the  circumstances  under which  I  acted,  may  think  of  my  conduct ;  it  was  not  to  gain  their  good wishes  that  I  risked  my  person  and  my  reputation.  I  am  rewarded*  when approved  of  by  men  possessing  as  much  honour,  principle,  and  spirit,  as any  I  am  acquainted  with.  I  shall  always  consider  as  the  most  fortunate event  of  my  life,  that  one  which  has  enabled  me  to  save  from  massacre  a multitude  of  my  fellow-subjects,. and  probably  all  my  brother  officers. "  I  remain,  with  every  sentiment  of  gratitude  and  regard, "  Gentlemen,  most  sincerely  yours, {Signed)         "  J.  W.  Armstrong". JOHN     HUGHES. John  Hughes,  a  bookseller  of  Belfast,  an  United  Irishman,  was  arrested in  October,  1797,  and,  nominally  at  least,  liberated,  but  taken  to  Dublin *  No  doubt  of  it,  honourable  Captain  W.  Armstrong ! VOL.   I.  30         . 450  APPENDIX    III. and  kept  under  the  surveillance  of  Major  Sirr  in  the  Castle  for  nearly  two years.  Terror  probably  first  made  this  man  the  betrayer  of  his  party.  From the  time  of  his  liberation  it  appears  he  was  in  constant  communication with  the  government  authorities.  He  was  employed  to  entrap  Grattan, and  swore  that  the  latter  was  cognizant  of  the  conspiracy  of  the  United Irishmen.  He  went  to  America,  and  with  the  wages  of  his  iniquity bought  slave  property  in  the  southern  states,  and  died  there  a  few years  ago. On  the  30th  of  April,  the  month  preceding  the  arrests,  Mr.  John  Hughes, accompanied  by  Samuel  Neilson,  visited  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  at  Cor- mick's  in  Thomas  Street,  where  he  was  then  in  concealment.  In  the report  from  the  Committee  of  Secrecy  of  the  House  of  Lords,  1798,  on the  examination  of  John  Hughes,  of  Belfast,  it  is  stated  by  the  latter  that he  went  to  Dublin  on  the  20th  of  April,  and  remained  there  about  nine days.  He  called  on  Samuel  Neilson,  and  went  to  Cormick's,  where  he found  Lord  Edward  playing  billiards  with  Lawless,  and  dined  there  with  them. About  the  28th  of  April  he  breakfasted  with  Neilson  at  the  house  of Mr.  Sweetman,  who  was  then  in  prison.  The  former  then  lived  at  his house.  Neilson  and  he  (the  same  day)  went  in  Mr.  Sweetman's  carriage to  Mr.  Grattan's  at  Tinnehinch.  He  states  that  Neilson  and  Grattan  had some  private  conversation,  and  after  some  general  conversation  about  the strength  of  the  United  Irishmen  in  the  north,  they  left  Mr.  Grattan's,  and on  their  way  back,  Neilson  informed  him  he  had  sworn  Mr.  Grattan.  On the  14th  or  15th  of  May,  Neilson  and  Lord  Edward  rode  out  to  recon- noitre the  approaches  to  Dublin  on  the  Kildare  side  :  they  were  stopped  and questioned  by  the  patrol  at  Palmerstown,  and  finally  allowed  to  proceed. Four  days  after  Lord  Edward's  arrest,  Neilson  was  arrested  by  Gregg, the  jailor,  in  front  of  Newgate,  where  he  had  been  reconnoitering  the prison,  with  a  view  to  the  liberation  of  Lord  Edward  and  the  other  state prisoners ;  a  large  number  of  men  being  in  readiness  to  attack  the  gaol, and  waiting  for  Neilson's  return  at  a  place  called  the  Barley  Fields. It  is  then  evident  that  Hughes  was  in  the  full  confidence  of  Neilson  ou the  28th  of  April :  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  ceased  to  be  so  pre- viously to  the  19th  of  May:  and  yet  during  this  period,  and  long  before it,  there  is  very  little  doubt  that  Hughes  was  an  informer. Neilson's  frank,   open,   unsuspecting   nature  was  well  known   to  the  i agents  of  government,  and  even  to  Lord  Castlereagh,  who  was  personally acquainted  with  Neilson,  and  on  one  occasion  had  visited  him  in  prison. Hughes,  it  is  probable,  was  set  upon  him  with  a  view  to  ascertain  his haunts,  and  to  enter  into  communication  with  his  friends,  for  the  special purpose  of  implicating  Grattan  and  of  discovering  Lord  Edward.     That  , his  perfidy  never  was  suspected  by  Neilson  during  their  intimacy,  there  ' are  many  proofs ;  and  still  more  that  Neilson's  fidelity  to  the  cause  he  had embarked  in  and  the  friends  he  was  associated  with,  was  never  called  in  , question  by  his  companions  and  fellow  prisoners,  by  Emmet,  M'Neven, O'Connor,  etc. ;  or  if  a  doubt  unfavourable  to  his  honesty  was  expressed by  John  Sheares  in  his  letter  to  Neilson,  wherein  he  endeavours  to  dis- suade him  from  attacking  the  jails,  it  must  be  considered  rather  in  the  ; light  of  an  angry  expostulation,   than  of  an  opinion  seriously  entertained and  deliberately  expressed. JOHN   HUGHES.  4o  1 This  man,  John  Hughes,  previously  to  the  rebellion,  was  in  comfortable circumstances,  and  bore  a  good  character  in  Belfast.  He  kept  a  large bookseller's  and  stationer's  shop  in  that  town.* In  his  evidence  before  the  Lords'  Committee  of  1798,  he  gives  tbe  fol- lowing account  of  his  career  as  a  United  Irishman.  He  became  a  member of  the  first  Society  of  United  Irishmen,  in  Belfast,  1793.  About  July, 1796,  he  joined  the  new  organization,  and  was  sworn  in  by  Robert  Orr,  a chandler.  There  was  no  oath  administered  in  the  former  society.  He formed  a  society  of  United  Irishmen  himself  in  Belfast  shortly  after  his admission,  and  that  society  consisted  of  Mr.  Robert  Hunter,  broker;  John Tisdall,  notary;  J.  M'Clean,  watchmaker;  S.  M'Clean,  merchant;  Thomas M'Donnell,  grocer;  J.  Luke,  linen  factor;  Hugh  Crawford,  linen  mer- chant ;  A.  M'Clean,  woollen  merchant ;  W.  Crawford,  ironmonger ;  H. Dunlap,  builder;  and  W.  Hogg,  linen  factor.  He  was  secretary  to  the society ;  he  swore  in  the  members  on  the  prayer-book,  f  furnished  each with  a  "constitution",  containing  the  test,  which  was  repeated  at  the table. In  November,  1796,  Bartholomew  Teeling,  of  Dundalk,  a  linen  mer- chant, prevailed  on  him  to  go  to  Dublin  to  extend  the  societies  there.  In Dublin  he  communicated  with  Edward  John  Lewins,  of  Beresford  Street. He  returned  to  Belfast  in  December,  1796.  From  motives  of  caution  he did  not  attend  the  societies,  but  in  the  day  time,  either  in  the  street  or  at his  own  house,  exerted  himself  amongst  the  young  men  of  his  acquaintance. Shortly  before  the  Lent  assizes  in  1797,  Mr.  M'Gucken,  the  attorney,  re- quested him  to  go  to  Dublin  to  arrange  for  Mr.  Curran's  engagement  for the  prisoners  in  the  several  jails  on  the  north-east  circuit,  who  were United  Irishmen.  A  hundred  guineas  for  each  and  every  town  he  would have  to  attend,  was  agreed  on. The  treasurer  of  the  United  Irishmen  for  the  county  Antrim,  was  Mr. Francis  Jordan,  of  Belfast,  and  he  collected  the  money  for  this  purpose. Among  the  subscribers  were  Mr.  Cunningham  Gregg,  twenty  guineas  ; Charles  Rankin,  twenty  guineas  ;  Robert  Thompson,  twenty  guineas.  The subscriptions  for  the  county  Antrim  amounted  to  £700  and  upwards,  and j  the  county  Down,  £900.  Mr.  Alexander  Lowry  was  the  treasurer  for Down.  In  the  beginning  of  June,  1797,  he  was  sent  for  to  Dublin,  but before  going,  had  an  oath  administered  to  him  by  Magennis,  that  he  would not  communicate  the  names  of  any  persons  he  should  be  introduced  to there.     In  Dublin  he  was  informed  by  Lowry  and  Teeling,  that  a  national *  The  house  where  Hughes  lived  in  Belfast,  was  lately  pointed  out  to  me,  No. 20  Bridge  Street,  within  a  few  paces  of  a  small,  old-fashioned  house,  where Thomas  M'Cabe,  who  designated  himself,  on  his  sign-board,  "  The  Irish  Slave", resided,  at  No.  6  North  Street,  within  two  doors  of  which  lived  Robert  Orr,  a gentleman  not  very  celebrated  for  his  loyalty ;  while  on  the  opposite  side,  the  site of  the  house  of  the  chief  founder  of  the  United  Irish  Society,  Samuel  Neilson,  is pointed  out,  at  the  bottom  of  Donegall  Street,  on  which  now  stands  the  Commer- cial Hall.  This  neighbourhood,  in  fact,  seems  to  have  been  a  little  focus  of  repub- licanism. t  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  oath  of  the  United  Irishmen  commonly  was administered  either  on  a  prayer  book  or  the  Scriptures,  and  it  mattered  not  what prayer  book  was  used,  the  same  book  serving  often  for  persons  of  different  reli- gions. 452  APPENDIX    III. meeting  was  about  being  held  of  delegates  from  the  different  provinces,  in order  to  get  a  general  return  of  the  strength  of  the  United  Irishmen,  to determine  whether  an  insurrection  would  then  be  practicable,  and  he  was to  report  on  the  strength  and  readiness  of  Down  and  Antrim.  He  ex- pressed his  opinion,  that  in  consequence  of  the  disarming,  the  generality  of the  people  would  not  rise.  He  was  afterwards  told  that  this  meeting  had taken  place  at  Jackson's  in  Church  Street.  Teeling  showed  him  a  map  of Ireland,  at  his  lodgings  in  Aungier  Street,  on  which  the  plan  of  the  insur- rection was  marked,  as  he  was  told,  by  some  Irish  officers  who  had  been in  the  Austrian  service,  and  who  had  expressed  their  opinion  that  the people  were  not  in  a  state  of  preparation  to  succeed,  being  deficient  in  arms and  ammunition. The  delegates  left  Dublin  to  orgauize  their  respective  counties.  They assembled  the  colonels  in  each  county,  to  issue  their  directions  for  getting their  regiments  into  readinesss.  The  colonels  of  the  county  Antrim  refused to  come  forward.  Those  of  the  county  Down  agreed  to  rise.  The  other counties  of  Ulster  were  disinclined  to  move,  and  therefore  the  intended rising  did  not  take  place. In  June,  1797,  Hughes  breakfasted  with  Teeling  in  Dublin,  and  met  Ma- gennis,  of  Balcaly,  Tony  M'Cann,  of  Dundalk,*  Mr.  Samuel  Turner,  Messrs. John  and  Patrick  Byrne,  of  Dundalk,  Colonel  James  Plunkett,  A.  Lowry, Mr.  Cumming,  of  Galway,  and  Dr.  M'Neven.  The  subject  of  their  confe- rence was  the  fitness  of  the  country  for  an  immediate  rising.  Teeling, Lowry,  and  M'Cann  were  in  favour  of  an  immediate  effort;  the  others were  afraid  that  the  people  were  not  sufficiently  prepared  for  it. He  left  Dublin  about  the  14th  of  June,  1797,  and  shortly  after  at- tended a  meeting  at  Randalstown,  where  there  was  much  difference  of opinion — one  party  being  adverse  to  action  without  foreign  aid,  and  an- other party,  with  whom  was  the  Rev.  A.  M'Mahon,  of  Holly  wood,  in  favour of  rising  on  their  own  resources.  The  meeting  broke  up  in  consequence  of the  division  among  the  Antrim  colonels.  M'Mahon  was  a  member  of  the Ulster  provincial  committee ;  he  told  the  meeting  he  was  one  of  the  seven colonels  of  the  county  Down  who  had  been  appointed  leaders,  and  that  he also  was  a  member  of  the  National  Executive.  Immediately  after  this meeting,  M'Mahon,  Rollo  Reid,  and  John  Magennis  (a  brother-in-law  of Teeling),  fled  to  Scotland,  and  M'Mahon  went  from  thence  to  France.  In the  latter  part  of  1797,  his  (Hughes's)  affairs  were  embarrassed,  and  he became  a  bankrupt.  "  He  did  not  attend  any  civil  or  military  meeting  of United  Irishmen  from  June,  17 '97,  till  the  month  of  March,  1798,  when  he surrendered  himself  under  the  commission  in  Dublin". The  remainder  of  this  man's  evidence  is  of  such  a  nature,  as  requires that  it  should  be  given  without  abridgment,  as  it  appears  in  the  report : — "  He  went  to  Dublin  on  the  20th  of  April,  and  remained  there  about nine  days.  He  called  on  Samuel  Neilson,  walked  with  him  to  Mr.  Cormick's, a  feather  merchant  in  Thomas  Street.     He  was  introduced  by  Neilson  to *  Subsequently  a  refugee,  living  in  Hamburgh,  where  Campbell  saw  him,  and on  becoming  acquainted  with  his  story,  wrote  that  beautiful  ballad,  "  The  Exile  i of  Erin". JOHN  HUGHES.  453 Cormick,  in  the  office.     Cormick  asked   them   to   go  up  stairs ;  he  and Neilson  went  up  stairs,  and  found  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  and  Mr.  Law- less, the  surgeon,  playing   billiards.     He  had   been  introduced  to   Lord Edward  about  a  year  before  by  Teeling ;  he  wa3  a  stranger  to  Lawless ;  so he  staid  about  an  hour ;  no  particular  conversations ;  was  invited  to  dine there  that  day,  and  did  so ;  the  company  were  Lord  Edward,  Lawless, Neilson,  Cormick,  and  his  Avife.      The  conversation  turned  upon  the  state of  the  country,  and  the  violent  measures  of  government  in  letting  the  army loose.     The  company  were  all  of  opinion  that  there  was  then  no  chance  of the  people  resisting  by  force  with  any  success.      He  was  also  introduced by  Gordon,  who  had  been  in  Newgate,  and  Robert  Orr,  of  Belfast,  chandler, I  to  Mr.  Rattigan,  the  timber  merchant  at  the  corner  of  Thomas  Street. 1  Rattigan  talked  to  him  on  the  state  of  the  country  and  of  the  city  of |  Dublin,  and  told  him  that  they  would  begin  the  insurrection  in  Dublin  by liberating  the  prisoners  in  Kilmainham.     Rattigan  showed  him  a  plan  of the  intended  attack  upon   Kilmainham.     Whilst  he  was  in  Dublin,  in April,  he  dined  with  Neilson  at  the  Brazen  Head.      Next  day,  Neilson called  him  up  at  five  o'clock,  and  they  went  to  Sweetman's,  near  Judge { Ghamberlaine's,  to  breakfast ;  Sweetman  was  then  in  prison,  but  Neilson |  lived  in  his  house.    Neilson  took  Sweetman's  carriage  to  Mr.  Grattan's,  and |  brought  him  along  with  him.    When  they  got  to  Mr.  Grattan's,  Neilson  told 1  him  he  had  something  to  say  to  Mr.  Grattan  in  private,  and  desired  him  to jtake  a  walk  in  the  demesne.     Neilson,  however,  introduced  him  to  Mr. I  Grattan  first,  and  Mr.  Grattan  ordered  a  servant  to  attend  him  to  show [him  the  grounds.      He  returned  in  about  half  an  hour.      Went  into  Mr. i  Grattan's  library ;  Neilson  and   Grattan  were  there  together.     Grattan j  asked  a  variety  of  questions   touching  the  state  of  the  country  in  the I  north  :  how  many  families  had  been  driven  out,  and  how  many  houses burned  by  the  government  or  the  Orangemen.     Grattan  said  he  supposed he  was  an  United  Irishman.     He  said  he  was.     Grattan  asked  him  how many   United   Irishmen   were  in  the    province.      He  said   he  reckoned 126,000.     Grattan  asked  him  how  many  Orangemen  there  were.     He said  about  12,000.     Grattan  made  no  particular  answer.     Neilson  and  he left  Grattan's  about   twelve  in  the  day ;  they  walked  to  their  carriage, which  was  at  Enniskerry ;  he  asked  Neilson  what  had  passed  between Grattan  and  him.      Neilson  evaded  the  question,  but  said  generally  that he  had  gone  down  to  Grattan  to  ask  him  whether  he  would  come  forward, and  that  he  had  sworn  him.     That   Grattan  promised  to  meet  him  in Dublin   before   the   next  Tuesday.      He   left  Dublin   that  evening,    and returned  to  Belfast.    He  has  known  the  Rev.  Steele  Dickson,  of  Portaferry, for  two  years  intimately. "On  Friday,  the  1st  of  June,  Dickson  told  him  that  he  was  one  of  the iadjutaut-generals  of  the  United  Irishmen's  forces  in  the  county  of  Down, and  that  he  (Dickson)  would  go  to  Ballynahinch,  and  remain  there  till Wednesday,  as  it  was  a  central  place,  from  which  he  could  issue  his  orders to  his  officers. "  In  February  last,  when  the  prisoners  were  trying  at  the  commission, Priest  Quigley  introduced  him  to  Citizen  Baily,  who  was  an  officer  in  the East  India  Company's  service,  and  lived  near  Canterbury,  and  also  to the  younger  Binns  from  England  ;  thinks  his  name  is  Benjamin. 454  APPENDIX "  Binns  told  him  he  had  distributed  most  of  the  printed  addresses,  enti- tled, '  United  Britons  to  the  United  Irishmen',  and  gave  him  a  copy,  and directed  him  to  print  an  edition  of  them,  etc. "  He  heard  a  Mr.  Bonham  came  with  Baily  and  Binns  from  London, and  was  the  delegate  from  England  to  Ireland  mentioned  in  the  paper. He  never  saw  Mr.  Bonham ;  either  Binns  or  Baily  told  him  that  the  ad- dress was  written  by  a  Mr.  Cosgrave  of  London,  etc. "  Quest. — You  have  said  that  you  were  introduced  to  Mr.  Grattan  by Samuel  Neilson,  at  his  house  in  Tinnehinch,  in  April  last :  recollect  your- self, and  say  whether  you  can  speak  with  certainty  as  to  that  fact  ? "  Ans. — I  certainly  can.  About  the  28th  of  April  last  I  went  to  Mr. Grattan's,  at  Tinnehinch,  with  Samuel  Neilson ;  on  going  into  the  house, we  were  showed  into  the  library.  Neilson  introduced  me  to  Mr.  Grattan, and  I  soon  after  walked  out,  aud  left  them  alone  for  full  half  an  hour.  I saw  a  printed  constitution  of  the  United  Irishmen  in  the  room. "  Quest. — Can  you  say  whether  Mr.  Grattan  knew  it  to  be  the  consti- tution of  United  Irishmen  ? "Ans. — I  can,  for  he  asked  me  some  questions  about  it.  He  asked me  also  a  variety  of  questions  about  the  state  of  the  north.  When  we were  going  away,  I  heard  Mr.  Grattan  tell  Neilson  that  he  would  be  in town  on  or  before  the  Tuesday  following ;  and  I  understood  from  Neilson that  Mr.  Grattan  had  visited  him  in  prison,  aud  on  our  return  to  town, Neilson  told  me  he  had  sworn  Mr.  Grattan". With  respect  to  Hughes's  evidence  in  reference  to  Mr.  Grattan. — Neilson,  on  his  examinatian  before  the  Lords  Committee,  being  informed that  "it  had  been  stated  to  the  committee  that  he  had  said  he  swore  Mr. Grattan",  replied  :  "  I  never  did  swear  Mr.  Grattan,  nor  have  I  ever  said that  I  swore  him".  Being  asked  "if  he  had  any  interviews  with  Mr. Grattan  since  his  liberation  from  confinement",  he  answered  :  "  I  was twice  with  Mr.  Grattan  at  Tinnehinch,  in  April,  1797.  I  either  showed Mr.  Grattan  the  last  constitution  of  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen,  or explained  it  to  him,  and  pressed  him  to  come  forward.  I  was  accompa- nied at  these  interviews  by  John  Sweetman  and  Oliver  Bond.  But  I  do not  believe  Mr.  Grattan  was  ever  an  United  Irishman". It  seems  as  if,  up  to  this  period,  the  date  of  his  examination,  9th  of August,  1798,  Neilson  had  been  still  in  ignorance  of  Hughes  having  made disclosures,  and  especially  of  having  given  information  of  their  visit,  about the  28th  of  April,  to  Mr.  Grattan ;  otherwise  Neilson  would  hardly  have omitted  any  mention  of  that  interview. But  after  his  examination  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  lord-chancellor, expressing  a  wish  to  correct  his  evidence,  "by  stating  that  he  had  another interview  with  Mr.  Grattan  in  company  with  Mr.  John  Hughes".* The  evidence  of  Hughes  is  the  most  specious  account  of  the  proceedings of  the  Ulster  leaders  that  is  to  be  found  among  the  statements  of  any  of *  Sir  Jonah  Barriugton,  in  his  "Memoirs  of  the  Union",  says,  when  Grattan was  denounced  in  the  Privy  Council,  in  1798,  by  Lord  Clare,  "Sir  John Blaquiere  and  Dennis  Brown,  though  adversaries,  resisted  the  obviously  vindic- tive attempt ". JOHN  HUGHES.  455 the  informers  given  in  the  secret  reports,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of that  of  Maguan  of  Saintfield. Even  those  of  the  Antrim  United  Irishmen  whose  lives  were  jeopardized by  the  disclosures  of  Hughes,  who  are  still  surviving  in  Belfast,  admit that  his  disclosures  in  many  points  were  truthful,  free  from  personal  malig- nity ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  importance  of  the  information  he  possessed and  gave  before  the  committee,  he  never  appeared  as  a  witness  at  the  trials of  any  of  those  persons  he  implicated  by  his  disclosures.  They  therefore speak  of  him  in  very  different  terms  from  those  in  which  they  are  accus- tomed to  discuss  the  exploits  of  other  informers. This  circumstance  on  more  than  one  occasion  surprised  me  a  good  deal ; but  the  cause  of  Mr.  Hughes  being  kept  back  at  a  crisis  when  evidence like  his  would  have  insured  the  conviction  of  the  Belfast  leaders,  with  few, if  indeed  with  any,  exceptions,  became  at  once  intelligible  enough  to  leave little  doubt  that  he  was  reserved  for  higher  functions  than  the  Reynoldses and  O'Briens,  and  more  important  objects  were  to  be  effected  by  him  than he  could  achieve  in  the  witness-box. This  man  has  carefully  suppressed  the  fact  in  his  evidence,  that  in  the year  1797  he  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  and  immediately after  being  brought  into  Belfast,  was  liberated  on  bail.  In  the  History  of Belfast  the  fact  is  stated  in  these  terms:  "  October  20th.— John  Hughes, bookseller  and  stationer  in  this  town,  having  been  apprehended  at  Newry on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  was  this  forenoon  brought  in  here  in  a  post- chaise,  escorted  by  a  party  of  light  dragoons,  and  lodged  in  the  Artillery Barracks.     In  the  same  evening  he  was  liberated  on  bail".* Immediately  after  his  liberation,  a  man  who  possessed  the  confidence  of Neilson,  Russell,  and  Robert  Emmet,  one  of  the  most  intelligent,  active, and  trusty  agents  of  these  persons,  both  in  1798  and  1803 — the  well known  James  Hope — had  an  interview  with  Hughes  at  his  house  in Church  Street.  The  particulars  of  that  interview  were  communicated  to me  by  Hope,  with  a  great  deal  of  other  valuable  information,  from  his  own written  documents. After  some  discourse  with  Hope  respecting  Hughes's  recent  liberation, Hughes  began  inveighing  against  the  inefficiency  of  the  person  who  was  then in  the  chief  command  of  the  Antrim  United  Irish  force,  Mr.  Sims:  he  attri- buted all  the  misfortunes  which  had  fallen  on  individuals  of  their  body,  to  the unfitness  of  this  man  for  the  post  assigned  to  him,  and  even  insinuated  that this  person  and  another  were  playing  fast  and  loose  with  the  cause,  and  were only  biding  their  time  to  abandon  or  betray  it.  He  plainly  said,  should he  be  again  arrested,  if  the  authorities  threatened  him  with  punishment  to extort  confession,  he  would  inform  them  of  all  he  knew  of  the  parties  re- ferred to.  After  some  further  conversation,  he  proposed  to  Hope  to  get rid  of  those  persons,  who  were  represented  by  him  (perhaps  not  altogether erroneously  either)  as  of  doubtful  zeal  and  earnestness  in  the  cause,  by  at once  giving  informations  against  them.  Hope  replied  by  pulling  a  pistol from  his  breast,  and  telling  him,  if  ever  he  repeated  such  a  proposition, he  would  shoot  him. *  "  History  of  Belfast',  p.  478. 45(5 APPENDIX  III. The  use  which  was  made  of  Hughes,  after  Lord  Edward's  arrest,  and  at the  period  too  when  he  had  his  head -quarters  at  the  Castle  in  Dublin,  is very  clearly  shown  in  the  narrative  of  the  confinement  and  exile  of  the Rev.  William  Steele  Dickson,  Presbyterian  minister  of  Portaferry,  in  the County  Down. Dr.  Dickson  was  arrested  on  the  4th  June,  1798,  in  consequence  of  the disclosures  made  by  Maguau  and  Hughes. During  his  confinement  in  the  house  called  the  Donegal  Arms,  then  the provost -prison  of  Belfast,  the  plan  was  carried  into  effect,  which  had  been very  generally  adopted  at  this  frightful  period  in  other  parts  of  the  coun- try, of  apprehending  some  of  the  least  suspected  informers,  and  having  it rumoured  abroad  that  such  persons  had  been  arrested  as  ringleaders  of  the rebels,  who  were  sure  to  be  convicted,  and  then  placing  these  persons among  the  unfortunate  prisoners,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  latter  fur- nish evidence  against  themselves  and  their  companions.  This  proceeding, which  would  hardly  be  had  recourse  to  in  any  civilized  country  in  these times,  is  thus  described  by  Dr.  Dickson,  from  his  own  sad  experience  of it:— "  The  first  of  these  persons,  of  whom  I  had  any  knowledge,  or  by  whom I  was  beset,  was  the  notorious  John  Hughes,  a  man  some  years  before  of considerable  respectability,  but  with  whom  I  never  had  any  particular  con- nection, or  even  intimate  acquaintance.     However,  he  was  fixed  on  as most  likely  to  succeed  in  entrapping  me  and  a  few  others.     With  a  view to  this,  opportunity  was  taken  to  excite  our  compassion,  either  on  the  day of,  or  after,  his  arrest.      We  were  entertained  with  a  fable  truly  affecting, '  that  there  was  no  hope  of  saving  his  life  ;  that  his  mind  was  deranged ; that  he  was  treated  with  great  cruelty  ;  and  that  he  was  placed  among  a crowd  of  poor  wretches,  with  whom  he  could  neither  have  conversation nor  comfort'.     This  pathetic  fiction  was  immediately  followed  with  an observation,  that  '  if  we  could  possibly  make  room  for  him,  taking  him  to us  would  be  an  act  of  the  greatest  charity'.     Completely  imposed  on  by the  tale,  we  instantly  yielded  to  the  application,  and  smothering,  though  we were,  received  him  into  our  stove.     On  his  entrance,  his  looks  and  manner were  wild,  unsettled,  and  strongly  marked  with  melancholy.     Afterwards, he  talked  in  a  desponding  tone  of  the  certainty  of  his  conviction,  and sometimes  of  a  secret  conspiracy  against  him,  in  which,  as  it  appeared,  he considered  some  of  us  as  concerned.      At  other  times  he  wrould  start  with seeming  horror,  and  exclaim  that  the  sentinel  was  about  to  shoot  him. On  the  whole,  though  he  sometimes  talked  soberly,  and  generally  listened attentively  to  our  conversation,  he  acted  his  part  so  well  at  intervals,  that during  two  nights  and  the  intermediate  day,  I  was  as  fully  convinced  of his  derangement  as  I  was  of  my  own  existence,  and  under  this  impression, not  only  prayed  with  him  and  for  him  in  his  seemingly  composed  moments, but  was  quite  delighted  with  the  wonderful  comfort  which  devotional  ex- ercises seemed  to  give  him.      Some  of  our  party,  however,  suspected  him of  imposture  from  the  first ;  and  their  suspicion  was  soon  confirmed  by  his being  removed  for  some  time  every  day  to  a  distant  apartment,  and  de- tained in  secret  conference.     His  total  removal  from  us  a  few  days  after- wards, and  his  symptoms  of  insanity  suddenly  disappearing,  certainty  sue- JOHN   HUGHES.  457 ceeded  suspicion,  and  bis  name  was  consigned  to  infamy,  together  with those  of  his  employers. "  Besides  Hughes,  other  informers  were  placed  among  us  about  the same  time,  one  of  whom  was  the  Mr.  Maguan  mentioned  by  him  in  bis  de- position, which  will  appear  afterwards.  He,  like  the  other,  was  committed under  the  most  dreadful  denunciations  of  vengeance,  and,  as  the  other  bad done,  expressed  the  most  lively  apprehensions  of  his  impending  fate,  even with  lamentations  and  tears.  He  made  bis  way  to  me  frequently  and under  various  pretexts  ;  sometimes  to  complain  of  his  melancholy  situation, sometimes  to  borrow  trifles,  and  at  others  to  affect  confidential  conversa- tion or  ask  advice."* With  respect  to  Mr.  Hughes,  the  circumstances  which  require  considera- tion, are  the  following  : — In  October,  1797,  he  is  arrested  and  charged  with  high  treason,  brought into  Belfast,  and  liberated  the  same  day  on  bail.  He  becomes  a  bankrupt the  same  year,  and  in  March,  1798,  he  surrenders  himself  under  the  com- mission in  Dublin. In  April,  between  the  20th  and  29th  of  that  month,  he  visited  Lord Edward  with  Neilson ;  about  the  28th  of  the  same  month,  accompanied by  Neilson,  he  also  visited  Mr.  Grattan.  On  the  19th  of  May,  Lord Edward  was  arrested.  Hughes's  services  are  found  employed  in  the  north in  the  beginning  of  the  next  month,  worming  himself  into  the  confidence  of Dr.  Steele  Dickson,  supposed  to  be  the  adjutant-general  of  the  county Down,  a  man,  of  all  others  of  the  Ulster  leaders,  against  whom  evidence was  most  desired.  For  this  purpose,  we  find  him  apprehended  on  the  7th of  June,  at  Belfast,!  and  the  immediate  object  of  this  colourable  arrest,  to place  him  in  confinement  with  the  prisoners  recently  taken  up  in  Belfast, in  order  to  obtain  further  and  still  fuller  evidence  of  their  guilt  from  some of  them.  Of  this  arrest,  as  well  as  of  the  former,  Mr.  Hughes  thought  it desirable  to  make  no  mention  in  his  evidence. Quarters  in  the  Castle  were  assigned  to  Mr.  Hughes  shortly  after  Lord Edward's  arrest.  The  following  data  will  afford  some  clue  to  the  period  of bis  residence  there  : — "  Dec.  9,  1801.— Campbell,  for  the  use  of  his  rooms  in  the  Castle  for Conlan  and  Hughes,  since  June,  1798,  £22  15s." Again  : — "  March  20,   1802.— Campbell,  for  lodging  of  Hughes  and  Conlan, £22  15s." It  would  seem  that  no  expenses  of  these  gentlemen  were  left  unde- fined ;  even  their  washing-bills  were  paid  for  them. "February  12,    1801.— Manders,   washing'  for  Hughes   and  Conlan, £11  7s.  Gd." *  Dr.  Dickson's  "  Narrative",  p.  63. t"  Belfast  History",  p.  484. 458  APPENDIX    III. So  that  from  June,  1798,  to  the  latter  end  of  March,  1802,  we  find the  head- quarters  of  Mr.  Hughes  were  at  the  Castle. The  reward  for  the  discovery  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  was  offered  on the  11th  of  May,  earned  on  the  19th,  and  paid  on  the  20th  of  the  month following,  to  F.  H.  The  reader  has  been  furnished  with  sufficient data  to  enable  him  to  determine  whether  those  initials  were  intended  to designate  this  man  or  some  other  individual ;  whether  the  similarity  of  the capital  letters  I  and  F  in  the  handwriting  in  question,  may  admit,  or  not, of  one  letter  being  mistaken  for  another;  and  lastly,  whether  the  same error  (intentional,  or  only  apparently  so)  had  occurred,  which  caused  the name  of  the  Saintfield  informer,  in  the  parliamentary  report  of  his  evidence, to  be  set  down  Nicholas  Maguan,  and  in  the  writteu  account  of  the  remu- neration of  his  services  (and  those  of  his  colleagues)  to  be  given  as  J. Magin.  Of  the  latter  person  it  may  not  be  foreign  to  the  subject  to  say  a few  words. This  Magin  (or  Maguan),  of  Saintfield,  in  the  county  of  Down, was  a  poor  man,  holding  a  few  acres  of  ground  in  the  neighbour- hood of  Saintfield.  In  the  Commons'  report  of  the  secret  committee,  he  is made  to  figure,  in  the  notice  of  his  evidence,  as  a  person  of  high  rank  and standing  in  his  society.  The  Rev.  John  Cleland,  who  had  been  private tutor  to  Lord  Castlereagh,  and  then  was  chaplain  and  agent,  both  private and  political,  of  the  Earl  of  Londonderry,  in  the  course  of  his  magisterial duties,  which  chiefly  consisted  in  hunting  after  informers  for  his  patron, and  arranging  with  the  sheriff  for  the  packing  of  the  juries,  who  were  to try  the  persons  who  were  informed  against  by  his  agents,  had  succeeded in  gaining  over  an  active  and  intelligent  member  of  the  Saintfield  society of  United  Irishmen  of  the  name  of  Magin.  This  man  reported  to  him, after  each  meeting  he  attended,  what  had  transpired ;  and  the  first meeting  he  made  a  disclosure  of  the  proceedings  of  was  that  of  the  pro- vincial meeting  of  Ulster,  held  on  the  14th  of  April,  1797 ;  and  he  regu- larly communicated  to  Cleland  the  proceedings  of  each  meeting,  up  to  the 31st  of  May,  1798,  which  was  the  last  he  appears  to  have  attended. Who  can  possibly  deny  that  government  had  been  in  full  possession  of the  plans  of  the  United  Irishmen  from  the  month  of  April,  1797,  through this  source  at  least,  not  to  mention  the  earlier  disclosures  made  to  them  by other  informers  ? If  the  services  rendered  by  this  man  are  to  be  estimated  by  the  amount of  their  reward,  they  must  have  been  considerable.  The  following  items, at  least,  will  give  some  idea  of  the  estimation  in  which  they  were  held  : — "Aug.  16,  1798 -J.  Magin  .         .         .         £700     0     0 „      17,     „  do.  ...  56  17     6" Notwithstanding  the  immense  sum  of  money  lavished  on  him,  from being  an  industrious,  honest  man  previously  to  his  new  pursuits  as  an  in- former, he  became  an  improvident,  indolent,  dissipated  person,  addicted  to gambling,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  his  easily-gotten  wealth  was gone,  and  he  had  to  earn  his  bread  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Belfast  as  a common  working  gardener,  and  in  this  employment  he  died  there,  a  few years  ago. JOHN  HUGHES.  459 Mr.  Macaulay,  parish  priest  of  Downpatrick,  speaking  of  Maginn  the  in- former, states  that  an  exposure  was  made  by  him  of  the  government  party, in  certain  letters  published  in  the  Dublin  Evening  Post,  some  time  in 1814,  or  thereabouts,  in  which  Maginn  charged  Lord  Castlereagh  with breaking  faith  with  him.  Mr.  Macaulay  says  he  knows  he  withstood  most tempting  offers  made  to  him  by  government,  to  induce  him  to  give,  in open  court,  the  evidence  he  furnished  in  private.  On  one  occasion,  one thousand  guiueas  were  offered  to  be  paid  down  on  the  spot  as  his  reward, if  he  convicted  a  particular  individual ;  but  in  vain.  Is  not  this  a  singular trait  of  character  ? The  late  Dr.  M'Donnell,  of  Belfast,  informed  the  author,  that,  wishing about  that  time  (1797),  to  improve  himself  in  practical  anatomy,  he  formed an  acquaintance  with  Maguan's  brother,  a  surgeon  in  the  navy ;  they  used to  meet  for  dissection.  On  one  occasion,  Dr.  M'Donnell  called  at  his lodgings  to  see  Surgeon  Maguan,  by  appointment ;  after  waiting  some  time, the  informer  come  in,  introduced  himself,  spoke  of  the  unsettled  state  of the  country,  of  his  respect  for  Dr.  M'Donnell,  told  him  he  had  been  ar- ranging Avith  the  parties  in  authority  the  names  of  the  persons  to  be  tried next ;  said  perhaps  he  would  like  to  see  the  list  of  names ;  laid  it  before him,  and  left  the  room.  Dr.  M'Donnell  read  over  the  list,  not  feeling  very comfortable,  it  may  be  imagined  ;  and  Maguan,  having  given  him  ample time,  returned  to  say  he  could  not  see  his  brother,  the  surgeon,  that  day. Dr.  M'Donnell,  not  knowing  how  to  act,  at  length  determined  to  see  Dr. White,  to  whom  he  gave  the  names  of  their  mutual  friends,  who  were marked  out  for  ruin. Of  Mr.  Hughes,  from  the  month  of  March,  1802,  when  his  last  expenses at  the  Castle  were  defrayed,  in  the  preceding  month,  we  find  the  only  pay- ment which  appears  made  to  him,  in  which  his  name  is  given  at  full length  : — "  Feb.  6,  1802— John  Hughes,  of ,  in  full of  all  claims,  £200     0     0" This  being  the  only  item  bearing  his  name,  when  the  enormous  sum  of money  received  by  Maguan  is  taken  into  account,  and  it  is  remembered  that the  evidence  of  Hughes  was  of  such  great  importance,  it  cannot  be  believed that  he  received  no  other  recompense. In  fact,  the  wording  of  the  entry  of  the  6th  of  February,  "  in  full  of  all demands",  shows  that  former  sums  had  been  paid,  if  any  judgment may  be  formed  from  similar  terms  in  reference  to  a  multitude  of  other cases  of  a  like  description,  when  the  persons  at  this  period  were  finally paid  off,  after  previous  payments.  No  such  items  in  connection  with  the name  of  Hughes  are  amongst  them. Yet  his  services  were  of  an  earlier  date,  and  of  more  importance,  thau most  of  them. In  1797,  M'Gucken  had  to  communicate  with  the  officers  of  that  de- partment of  the  government,  with  whom  lay  the  duty  of  granting  licenses to  king's  counsel  to  defend  prisoners  in  cases  of  criminal  prosecutions. M'Gucken  was  then  the  law-agent  of  the  prisoners  of  most  of  the  Antrim societies  of  United  Irishmen.     The  person  fixed  on  for  going  to  Dublin  to 50 0 0 100 0 0 50 0 0 50 0 0 100 0 0 4  GO  .        APPENDIX    III. procure  the  services  of  counsel  for  the  unfortunate  clients  of  this  gentleman was  Mr.  Hughes.  Treason  upon  treason  meets  our  eyes  at  every  step  of the  agents,  actors,  and  adversaries  too,  of  this  conspiracy.  It  is  painful to  trace  the  revolting  progress  of  such  perfidy,  but  it  is  needful  to  unmask and  to  expose  its  hideousness,  in  order  to  prevent  a  recurrence  to  the  use or  practice  of  its  wickedness. It  will  be  seen  that  M'Gucken's  "  services"  did  not  go  without  their reward  in  this  world. "  March  5,  1799.     J.  Pollock  for  M'Gucken,  sent to  him  by  post  to  Belfast  .         .         .         £60     0     0 "  October  1,  1799.  M'Gucken,  Belfast,  per  post, by  direction  of  Mr.  Cooke "January  2,   1800.      Mr.  Pollock  for  M'Gucken "April  1,  1800.  M'Gucken,  per  Mr.  Marsden's order  ....  .         . "June  11,1800.     M'Gucken,  per  ditto „      21,  1800.     Mr.  Pollock  for  M'Gucken      . "  January  1,  1801.  M'Gucken,  per  post  to  Bel- fast    100     0     0 "February  20,  1802.  J.  M'Gucken,  to  replace £100  advanced  to  him,  May  16,  1801,  but afterwards  stopped  out  of  his  pension  .  100     0     0 "  February  12,  1803.     Mr.  Pollock  for  M'Gucken, an  extra  allowance  .         .  .  .  50     0     0 "  June  25,  1803.     Mr.  Pollock  for  J.  M'Gucken,         £100     0     0 "  September  19,  1803.      Mr.  Marsden  to  send  to M'Gucken 100     0     0 "  December  5,  1803.  J.  M'Gucken,  per  Mr.  Mars- den's note  100     0     0 "  February  7,  1804.     Mr.  Pollock  for  M'Gucken  500     0     0" It  may  be  presumed,  from  these  large  sums,  and  his  pension  moreover, that  Mr.  M'Gucken  rendered  many  and  important  services. Though  the  first  item  which  bears  his  initials  is  dated  the  5th  of  March, 1799,  several  other  sums  of  a  previous  date  are  set  down,  with  the  name of  the  person  only  through  whom  the  succeeding  payments  were  chiefly made,  and  one  to  the  amount  of  £300. The  earliest  proof  of  Mr.  M'Gucken's  services  that  has  transpired,  was given  on  the  occasion  of  the  disappearance  of  six  brass  field-pieces  of  the Belfast  Volunteer  Corps,  the  property  of  the  town  of  Belfast,  which  General Nugent  issued  a  proclamation  to  be  given  up  to  him,  the  28th  May,  1798. Four  of  the  pieces  were  given  up  on  the  30th,  the  two  others  Mr.  Eobert Getty  was  held  responsible  for,  as  the  officer  of  that  corps,  in  whose  charge they  had  been  originally  placed.  The  pieces  having  been  carried  away clandestinely  long  before,  without  the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Getty,  it  was  not in  his  power  to  produce  them :  this  gentleman  was  arrested  and  sent  to  the provost.  This  measure  excited  much  surprise  in  Belfast,  even  at  a  period when  any  outrage  on  one  of  the  old  volunteers  of  independent  principles, excited  little.     Mr.  Getty  was  a  man  of  undoubted  loyalty ;  he  had  been, JOHN   HUGHES.  4C>  1 however,  one  of  the  early  advocates  of  Catholic  emancipation,  but  on  every political  subject  was  of  very  moderate  opinions.  In  those  times,  few  consi- derations weighed  against  the  secret  charges  of  a  recognized  informer. Mr.  Getty's  life  was  in  imminent  peril,  and,  probably,  if  the  crown-so- licitor, Mr.  Pollock,  had  not  visited  him  in  the  provost,  he  would  have been  hanged.  It  turned  out  that  some  charges,  but  utterly  unfounded ones,  had  been  laid  against  him.  Getty's  influence,  however,  and  high character,  triumphed  over  the  malignity  of  the  informer,  and  he  was released. It  was  only  in  the  year  1809  or  1810,  that  Mr.  Pollock  told  Getty, that  the  informer  against  him  was  Mr.  James  M'Gucken,  the  attorney. He  showed  Mr.  Getty  the  informations,  and  I  have  good  authority  for saying  there  was  no  truth  in  them.  Mr.  Getty  never  could  account  for this  proceeding ;  he  had  never  given  any  offence  to  this  man,  and  from his  early  advocacy  of  emancipation,  to  the  last  day  of  his  life,  Avas  a favourite  with  his  Roman  Catholic  townsmen,  to  which  body  M'Gucken belonged.  The  late  General  Coulson,  an  aide-de-camp  at  that  time  to General  Barber,  subsequently  informed  a  member  of  his  family,  that  one  of M'Gucken's  relations  had  been  arrested  by  him  in  1798,  of  whose  guilt there  was  not  the  slightest  doubt ;  he  was  allowed,  however,  to  escape, but  why,  he  did  not  know. In  the  year  1802,  there  being  no  longer  a  field  for  the  services  of  Mr. Hughes,  he  was  "  paid  off",  and  permitted,  like  Mr.  Reynolds,  to  "  bid  an eternal  farewell  to  his  friends  and  country".  His  loss,  like  that  of  Mr. Reynolds,  no  doubt,  was  borne  with  Christian  fortitude. His  acquaintances  in  Belfast  heard  no  more  of  him — where  he  went  to, or  what  became  of  him,  none  of  his  former  friends  knew.  It  was  only very  recently  I  obtained  any  information  that  could  be  relied  on  about him.  It  seems,  on  quitting  this  country  in  1802,  he  proceeded  to  Charles- town,  and  there  embarked  in  business.  About  ten  years  subsequently,  he came  over  from  America  to  Liverpool  with  a  cargo  of  merchandize.  He called  on  a  merchant  of  that  place,  Mr.  Francis  Jordan,  formerly  of  Bel- fast, and  stated  that  he  wished  to  consign  the  cargo  he  had  then  for  sale to  him.  He  said  he  had  always  a  kindly  feeling  towards  his  old  friends and  townsmen,  and  added,  "  I  know  you  do  not  think  well  of  me ;  but  ill as  you  may  think  of  me,  I  never  appeared  against  any  individual.  The information  I  gave  was  to  save  myself,  but  it  injured  no  one". After  disposing  of  his  cargo,  he  returned  to  America  and  his  slaves,  and has  not  since  been  heard  of  in  this  country.  In  concluding  the  account  of  this man,  I  feel  bound  to  say,  that,  having  carefully  examined  his  information, and  compared  it  with  that  which  I  myself  received  in  Belfast  from  various persons,  and  even  from  some  of  those  persons  seriously  implicated  by  his disclosures,  that  the  statements  be  has  given  respecting  the  proceedings  of the  United  Irishmen  in  the  north,  are  generally  to  be  relied  on,  and  none of  his  associates  speak  of  him  as  having  been  actuated  by  any  malicious  or vindictive  motives  in  making  those  disclosures. 402  APPENDIX    III. .  MEMORANDA  RESPECTING  JOHN  HUGHES. Communication  from  Mr.  Francis  Jordan,  of  Liverpool,  respecting  John Hughes. "  Park  Cottage,  Liverpool, Feb.  10,  1843. "  With  respect  to  the  reference  to  my  name  in  the  evidence  of  Hughes, when  I  state  that  I  am  in  my  eighty-fourth  year,  you  will  not  be  surprised that  I  had  totally  forgotten  the  report  of  the  Lords'  committee.  That  part of  it  which  relates  to  me  is  a  fabrication  in  toto.  I  enclose  a  copy  of  a letter  I  received  in  reply  to  one  of  mine  at  the  time,  from  my  friend,  Cun- ningham Gregg,  of  Belfast,  and  also  a  copy  of  the  advertisement  which  I requested  him  to  insert  in  the  Belfast  Newsletter,  the  Tory  paper  of  the day.     I  now  join  in  the  regret  he  expressed  at  his  not  having  inserted  it. "In  the  year  1804,  the  informer  Hughes  came  to  Liverpool  from America,  where  he  had  been  sent,  or  agreed  to  emigrate  to,  by  govern- ment. He  passed  himself  off  here  as  John  II.  Henry,  merchant.  Being informed  of  his  arrival,  I  had  an  interview  with  him,  at  which  he  agreed, and  did  before  the  then  mayor,  make  oath,  that  the  part  of  the  depositions in  the  Lords'  committee  respecting  me,  was  not  his,  but  the  fabrication  of Mr.  John  Pollock,  who  pressed  him  to  swear  to  it,  but  which  he  solemnly refused  to  do. "  I  submit  these  simple  facts  to  the  author  of  the  work  I  have  referred to.  I  have  done  with  all  public  matters.  I  have  served  seven  years  as  a member  of  the  corporation  for  the  ward  I  live  in,  and  the  office  of  a  county magistrate. (Signed)  "  Francis  Jordan". "  Belfast,  November  12,  1803. "  Dear  J., — I  am  sorry  I  cannot  find  the  paper  you  sent  in  1798.  I examined  all  my  papers  to  no  purpose.  I  remember  it  well,  as  I  had  a meeting  of  all  your  friends  in  consequence ;  indeed  we  had  a  great  deal  of conversation  on  it,  and  we  determined  not  to  put  it  into  the  Belfast  News- letter, considering  the  information  of  Hughes  false,  and  made  for  him  to calumniate  you.  Finding  no  grounds  to  satisfy  the  malice  of  a  few,  who were  well  known,  and  as  we  found  no  honest  man  here  considered  the information  true,  we  thought  publishing  it  would  please  them,  and  could  do you  no  good  amongst  your  numerous  friends  in  this  quarter.  I  regret  now I  did  not  conform  to  your  orders ;  excuse  me.  Enclosed  you  have,  as  near as  I  can  remember,  the  copy  of  the  document.  The  original,  I  hope,  will turn  up,  as  I  shall  continue  my  endeavours  to  find  it ;  I  am  sure  it  must  be amongst  my  papers. "  Yours  sincerely, (Signed)  "  Cunn.  Gregg". JOHN  HUGHES.  40  3 "  Observing  in  the  reports  stated  to  be  given  before  the  committee  of parliament,  by  an  informer  named  Hughes,  who  therein  asserts  that  I  was treasurer  of  the  county  Antrim,  I  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of  declaring that  the  said  assertion  is  false ;  as  far  as  regards  me,  is  an  infamous  false- hood. {Signed)  "  Francis  Jordan. "  Liverpool,  1798". "  I  cannot  say  the  exact  date  ;  it  was  in  the  summer  of  the  year. (Signed)  "  C.  G." SUBSTANCE    OF    A    DEPOSITION,     SWORN    BEFORE    THE    MAYOR    OF    LIVERPOOL, BY    JOIIN    HUGHES,    IN    1804. "  I,  John  Hughes,  formerly  of  Belfast,  stationer,  but  now  residing  in the  United  States,  having  read  the  report  of  the  House  of  Lords'  com- mittee of  Ireland,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  I  said  Mr.  Francis  Jordan,  of Belfast,  was  treasurer  of  the  United  Irishmen  of  the  county  Antrim,  do swear  that  I  made  no  such  declaration ;  that  the  same  is,  in  my  opinion, falsificated  by  the  crown-solicitor,  who  urged  me  to  swear  to  the  deposition, but  which  I  refused,  stating  it  contained  a  number  of  falsehoods". hope's  papers. "  Mr.  Samuel  Neilson's  aunt  was  married  to  Matthew  Hughes.  Matthew Hughes  had  a  sister  married  to  James  Hughes,  and  John  Hughes  was  their son.  Mr.  Neilson's  mother's  maiden  name  was  Carson ;  she  had  a  brother married  in  the  Hughes  family.  There  were  different  families  of  the Hugheses,  all  respectable  farmers.  For  some  misconduct  of  James  Hughes, he  was  not  associated  with  by  his  relatives ;  his  wife  left  him,  and  came  to Belfast,  where  she  set  up  a  public-house  for  the  sale  of  spirits;  had  her son  John  educated,  and  bound  apprentice  to  the  editor  and  proprietor of  the  Belfast  Newsletter.  John  Hughes,  having  completed  his  appren- ticeship in  the  office  of  the  Newsletter,  he  set  up  as  a  stationer ;  he  also embarked  in  other  business  of  a  manufacturing  kind,  and  became  a  bank- rupt in  the  year  1797.  From  his  mother's  good  conduct  and  his  own plausibility,  his  father's  faults  were  forgotten,  and  he  was  never  suspected of  treachery  until  it  was  too  late.  He  was  Lord  Edward's  confidential friend  uutil  the  very  day  of  his  arrest". 464 APPENDIX    IV. MAJOR  SIRR  AND   "HIS   PEOPLE". The  father  of  Henry  Sirr  served  in  the  army,  and  retired  from  it  with the  rank  of  major.  His  daughter  married  a  Mr.  Minchin,  of  Grange,  in the  vicinity  of  Dublin.  Sir  Richard  Musgrave  gives  an  account  of  an attack  made  on  the  house  of  Mr.  Minchin,  and  of  Major  Sirr  the  elder being  in  the  house  at  the  time  it  was  plundered,  in  the  month  of  May, 1798.  The  design  of  the  assailants,  he  states,  was  to  murder  Minchin, who  fortunately  happened  to  be  from  home  when  the  attack  was  made. The  son  of  the  old  major,  about  1794  or  1795,  set  up  in  Dublin  in  the business  of  a  wine  merchant.  In  1797,  the  name  of  Henry  Charles  Sirr, wine  merchant,  35  French  Street,  appears  in  the  Dublin  Directory.  In 1798  he  is  likewise  styled  a  wine  merchant,  and  then  living  at  77  Dame Street.  His  relative,  Mr.  Humphrey  Minchin,  was  a  member  of  the  cor- poration, and  of  considerable  influence  in  that  body  in  1797:  his  father was  in  the  commission  of  the  peace :  and  by  their  interest  and  the  patron- age of  his  friend  Major  Sandys,  brigade-major  of  the  garrison,  he  obtained the  office  of  deputy-town-major  in  1796. One  of  the  earliest  official  exploits  of  the  major  (disclosed  on  the  trial  of Finnerty),  in  which  he  manifested  his  gallantry,  was  the  arrest  of  the  editor of  the  Press  newspaper  in  1797,  and  the  seizure  of  the  printed  paper and  books  of  that  establishment,  for  which  latter  act  he  had  not  authority. On  the  trial  of  Finnerty  the  major  was  examined,  and  being  asked  by  Mr. Sampson  if  he  had  seized  these  papers,  the  major's  prudent  reply  was,  "  I will  not  answer".  From  this  time,  his  services  chiefly  consisted  in  organi- zing and  maintaining  a  band  of  wretches,  who  were  employed  at  the assizes  throughout  the  country,  but  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Dublin,  as informers.  They  were  known  to  the  people  by  the  name  of  the  "  Batta- lion of  Testimony". It  is  said,  on  high  authority,  that  the  employment  of  spies  and  informers tends  rather  to  the  increase  than  the  suppression  of  crime,  and  that  a  good government  has  no  need  of  their  infamous  services.  One  thing  is  certain, that  their  services  were  thought  useful  to  a  bad  government ;  and  the  same circumstance  that  rendered  their  services  necessary,  made  their  infamy  a v'S.li'ju m jjv.se  as     ©sassjj. eolyped  by  Claodel  from..  en  after  di   ■ a THK  MAJOR  AND  HIS  MEN.  465 matter  of  little  moment  to  their  employers.  From  the  year  1796  to  1800, a  set  of  miscreants,  steeped  in  crime,  sunk  in  debauchery,  prone  to  vio- lence, and  reckless  of  character,  constituted  what  was  called  the  "  Major's People".  A  number  of  these  people  were  domiciled  within  the  gates  of the  Castle,  where  there  were  regular  places  of  entertainment  allotted  for them  contiguous  to  the  viceroy's  palace  ;  for  another  company  of  them,  a house  was  allotted  opposite  Kilmainham  jail,  familiarly  known  to  the people  by  the  name  of  the  "  Stag  House" ;  and  for  one  batch  of  them, who  could  not  be  trusted  with  liberty,  there  was  one  of  the  yards  of  that prison,  with  the  surrounding  cells,  assigned  to  them,  which  is  still  called the  "  Stag  Yard".  These  persons  were  considered  under  the  immediate protection  of  Majors  Sirr,  Swan,  and  Sandys,  and  to  interfere  with  them in  the  course  of  their  duties  as  spies  or  witnesses,  was  to  iucur  the  ven- geance of  their  redoubtable  patrons. When  the  country  was  broken  down  sufficiently  in  strength  and  spirit to  effect  the  Union,  these  men  were  turned  adrift  on  society.  A  great many  of  them  took  to  desperate  courses,  and  acting  under  the  dominion  of violent  passions,  they  came  to  violent  ends.  The  common  people  ascribed, and  to  this  day,  continue  to  ascribe,  their  sudden  and  unprovided  deaths  to the  divine  retribution.  The  common  expression  is,  "The  judgment  of God  fell  on  them".  Perhaps  it  would  be  more  consonant  to  a  widely  ex- tended knowledge  of  the  action  of  those  general  laws  of  nature  which govern  humanity,  to  regard  the  deaths  of  unjust  and  cruel  men,  as  the natural  consequence  of  violent  courses,  and  the  aggregate  of  such  awful examples  as  an  evidence  of  that  law  of  nature,  in  its  extended  application, which  visits,  even  in  this  world,  signal  violations  of  humanity  with  a  general rather  than  a  particular  retribution.  Some  of  the  men  I  speak  of,  expiated their  subsequent  crimes  on  the  gallows  ;  others  were  transported  ;  several committed  suicide :  many  of  them,  however,  whose  guilt  was  of  as  deep  a die  as  that  of  Crawley  or  O'Brien,  were  men  who  could  not  say,  like these  unfortunate  persons,  when  the  times  of  public  commotion  were  at  an end,  they  had  not  the  means  to  live  ;  but  their  superiors  in  rank,  fortune, and  education,  their  employers  and  accomplices,  who  superintended  their performances  iu  the  witness-box  and  at  the  triangles,  who  witnessed  and directed  their  infliction  of  the  tortures  of  the  pitch-cap  and  the  taws,  still lived  without  reproach,  but  it  could  not  be  without  remorse.  And  charity would  hope  that  the  time  that  was  given  them,  was  afforded  for  re- pentance ! The  following  document,  obtained  from  the  celebrated  informer  Newell, by  a  female  correspondent  of  the  Press,  was  published  in  that  paper in  1798:  — MUSTER    ROLL    AND    WEEKLY    SUBSISTENCE. Newell, Dutton, O'Brien, Clark, M'Dermot, VOL.  I. £ s. d. 5 13 9 5 13 9 4 11 0 4 11 0 4 11 0 31 £  3. d. 4  11 0 4  11 0 4  11 0 4  11 0 4  11 0 4  11 0 4  11 0 4  11 0 .  109  4 0 £170  12 6 4CC  APPENDIX    IV. Murphy, Hill, Davison, Rogers, Mulvany, Ellison, Darby, Murdock, Forty-eight  underworker3,   at  two  guineas  each per  week,        ..... It  appears  by  the  statement  of  this  correspondent,  that  the  members  of this  battalion  of  testimony  were  regularly  drilled  by  Major  Sirr  and  an officer  of  the  name  of  Fox,  and  instructed  in  the  art  of  swearing,  deposing, and  their  other  business  of  informers  and  fabricators  of  information. The  deeds  of  these  men,  even  while  they  were  under  his  direction  and that  of  Major  Sandys,  domiciled  in  their  quarters  in  the  Castle,  were  of the  most  lawless  and  violent  description!  Newell  fired  a  pistol  at  a  senti- nel on  guard  at  the  principal  entrance  of  the  Castle,  because  the  soldier dared  to  prevent  his  entering  at  an  unseasonable  hour  of  the  night.  For this  slight  offence  Newell  was  confined  to  his  room  in  the  Castle  for  a  few days.  Murdock  attempted  to  murder  Newell  in  the  Castle ;  he  fired  at this  man  in  his  own  room ;  and  Murdock  being  a  person  of  less  importance to  his  employers  than  Newell,  was  sent  to  Newgate.  Mr.  James  Bird, alias  Smith,  a  native  of  England,  on  whose  information  Neilson  and several  northerns  were  arrested,  subsequently  retracted  what  he  had  sworn. He  fled  from  the  Castle,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Cooke,*  threatening disclosures  of  the  means  that  had  been  taken  to  procure  his  testimony,  and was  apprehended  in  Louth  in  the  latter  part  of  1798.  During  his  confine- ment in  Newgate,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Grattan,t  acknowledging  that he  had  been  tampered  with  by  one  of  his  enemies,  to  give  evidence  against him.  He  addressed  a  similar  letter  to  Neilson ;  another  letter  to  Mr. John  GifFard,  in  which  he  reminds  him  of  his  literary  labours  in  the Dublin  Journal.^  Bird's  example  was  followed  by  John  Edward  Newell. He  likewise  abandoned  the  battalion  of  the  major,  fled  from  the  Castle, made  a  written  statement  of  his  perjuries,  and  subsequently  wrote  a  pam- phlet, in  which  he  detailed  the  iniquities  of  his  career  as  an  informer.  His letter  to  Mr.  Cooke  was  published  in  the  P?*ess,  No.  56 ;  and  his  pamphlet (one  of  the  most  singular  records  of  infamy  probably  in  existence)  was printed  in  Belfast,  where  he  fled  on  his  abandonment  of  his  calling.  There he  revenged  himself  of  Murdock  for  his  attack  on  his  life,  by  robbing  that *  "  Press"  Newspaper,  March  1,  1798.    M'Donnell's  "Dublin  Weekly  Journal", February  24,  1798. t  "  Grattan's  Life",  by  his  Son,  vol.  iv.,  p.  427. J  "  Press"  Newspaper,  February  6,  1798. THE  MAJOR  AXD  HIS  MEN.  467 person  of  his  "wife ;  and  when  on  the  point  of  embarking  at  a  place  called Doagh,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Belfast  (the  scene  of  his  former  services, when  he  went  about  in  a  mask,  escorted  by  General  Barber  and  a  party  of soldiers,  and  pointed  out  such  persons  as  he  thought  proper  to  swear against),  he  suddenly  disappeared,  and  there  is  but  too  much  reason  to believe  he  was  murdered  by  the  very  persons  who  harboured  him  at  that place,  and  had  kept  him  previously  concealed  in  Belfast. These  are  frightful  statements ;  but  those  who  think  they  should  be buried  in  oblivion,  either  have  more  consideration  for  the  dead  than  the living,  or  have  more  regard  for  their  own  sensations  than  for  the  security of  society  from  the  machinations  of  such  miscreants.  Who  can  become acquainted  with  such  statements,  and  reflect  on  the  results  of  public  com- motions— the  disengagement  of  wickedness  that  then  takes  place  in  the couflict  of  all  the  antagonist  elements  of  society — without  feeling  that  the greatest  of  all  human  evils  is  civil  war,  and  the  conduct  that  leads  to  it the  highest  of  all  crimes  ? The  career  of  one  of  the  subordinate  agents  of  that  system,  of  which Major  Sirr  was  the  chief  functionary,  remains  to  be  noticed. The  favourite  follower  and  emissary  of  Major  Sirr  was  a  man  of  the name  of  O'Brien.  The  infamy  of  this  man's  character  is  without  a  parallel in  our  history.  In  France  his  depravity  may  have  been  equalled,  but  it could  hardly  have  been  surpassed. A  detailed  and  authentic  account  of  O'Brien's  career  has  been  given  in a  recent  periodical,  which  fully  agrees  with  all  the  information  I  have received  respecting  this  man's  exploits  and  character : — "  O'Brien  was  a  native  of  Stradbally,  in  the  Queen's  County ;  and having  early  in  life  lost  his  character  amongst  his  rustic  neighbours,  and committed  atrocious  crimes,  he  had  to  fly  from  his  native  place.*  He came  to  Dublin,  and  for  a  few  years  found  employment  in  the  gardens of  Mr.  La  Touche,  at  Marley.  Being  of  an  idle  and  vicious  nature,  he afterwards  enlisted  in  the  service  of  some  excise  officer,  and  first  com- menced his  career  as  an  informer  and  impostor,  by  prying  into  the  conduct of  the  publicans  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dublin,  for  breaches  of  the revenue  regulations ;  and  between  the  rewards  he  received  from  his  em- ployers, and  the  bribes  he  extorted  from  the  publicans  whom  he  intimi- *  O'Brien  began  his  career  of  blood,  it  is  stated,  about  three  years  before  the  rebel- lion, by  the  robbery  and  murder  of  a  county  Meath  gentleman  of  high  respectability, Mr.  Adare,  who  resided  near  Dunboyne.  There  were  three  or  four  persons  concerned in  this  crime,  but  the  actual  murder  was  committed  by  O'Brien.  The  stolen plate  was  offered  for  sale  by  O'Brien  and  one  of  his  accomplices,  to  the  late Alderman  "West  and  his  brother,  silversmiths  of  Dublin.  The  plate  was  broken up,  but  it  had  been  sold  to  Mr.  Adare  by  the  Wests,  and  was  recognized  by  them. One  of  the  brothers,  noticing  a  portion  of  Adare's  crest,  quietly  walked  into  a back  room  off  the  shop,  got  into  the  street  by  the  hall -boor,  and  immediately closed  the  shop-door.  O'Brien,  however,  was  then  alone  inside,  his  companion had  slunk  off.  He  was  secured  and  sent  to  jail,  where  he  offered  to  turn  ap- prover. On  his  information,  all  his  accomplices  were  taken  up,  and  on  his  evi- dence were  condemned  and  executed.  His  success  in  this  affair,  and  the  peculiar coolness  of  his  villainy,  recommended  him  to  Major  Sirr;  he  was  taken  up  by him,  and  employed  in  state  stagging.  He  lived  by  blood,  and  he  died  for  the shedding  of  it.— K.  K.  M. 4G8  APPENDIX    IV. dated,  ho  contrived  to  supply  his  pockets  with  money  for  some  time.     The political  organization  which  wasMii  progress  amongst  the  people  of  Dublin in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1797  afforded,  however,  a  more  lucrative employment  for  the  spy  and  informer  than  the  pursuits  in  which  he  had been  heretofore  engaged.     In  the  month  of  April,  1797,  O'Brien  informed a  magistrate  of  the  Queen's  County,  named  Higgins,  who  was  then  in Dublin,  that  he  knew  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  organiza- tion  of  the  union  then  going  on  amongst  the  people,   and  that  he  had been  forced  to  take  the  oath  of  the  society  contrary  to  his  inclination.* Higgins  immediately  communicated  the  intelligence  to  Lord  Portarlington, who  afterwards  introduced  O'Brien  to   Mr.  Secretary  Cooke   and  some members  of  the  government,  in  the  chamber  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House of  Commons.    Having  heard  the  story  from  O'Brien,  it  was  finally  arranged between  him  and  his  new  friends,  in  order  to  insure  the  fulfilment  of  their projects,  that  O'Brien  should  enlist  in  one  of  the  dragoon  regiments  then quartered  in  Dublin,   and  still  continue  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the society,  for  the  acquisition  of  further  intelligence.     Mr.  O'Brien  having been  engaged  as  a  spy  and  informer  amongst  the  people  in  Dublin,  the advisers  of  the  government  thought  they  might  likewise  avail  themselves of  his    services   within    the  walls  of  the   barracks,   where   it    was   sus- pected  that    sedition   was  also   making  its  way   amongst   the    military bands.      The    attorney-general    openly   avowed    the    arrangement    thus agreed  upon  during  the  course  of  the  trials  that  subsequently  occurred. O'Brien,    acting    under   the    guidance    of   his    employers,    continued   to communicate   with   them,    and    according   to    his    own   testimony,    was actually  appointed  secretary  to  a  branch  of  the  confederacy  during  this period;  and  in  the  mouth  of  May,   1797,  a  considerable  number  of  men assembled  in  a  public-house  in  Meath  Street,  were  apprehended  by  Major Sirr  and  a  military  party,  and  upon  O'Brien's  information,  were  subse- quently indicted  for  high  treason.      The  trial  of  the  persons  thus  appre- hended did  not  take  place  until  the  month  of  January,   1798,  and  during that  interval  O'Brien  continued  on  active  service  for  the  state ;  but  his first   appearance  in  a  court   of  justice,  as  a  witness,  put  an  end  to  his utility  in  that  character,  by  the  exposure  of  his  infamous  life,  and  the enormity  of  the  perjuries  he  dared  to  practise  on  the  occasion. "The  first  victim  selected  for  his  testimony  was  a  person  named  Patrick Finney.  The  informer's  tale  was  well  connected  and  artfully  told :  being uncontradicted,  a  conviction  upon  an  indictment  for  high  treason  must have  followed :  but  the  accused  was  ably  defended,  and  by  the  united effect  of  a  masterly  cross-examination  of  the  informer  himself,  and  the testimony  of  several  respectable  witnesses,  O'Brien's  evidence  was  discre- dited, and  Finney  was  acquitted.  The  lives  of  a  crowd  of  men  depended upon  the  result  of  this  first  trial ;  and  the  crown  prosecutors,  finding  their *  Jemmy  O'Brien,  by  his  own  testimony,  became  a  United  Irishman  on  the  25th of  April,  1797,  and  if  the  statement  of  one  of  his  associates,  Patrick  Maguire,  of Phibsborough,  may  be  relied  on,  "  Jemmy"  was  seen  by  him,  while  transacting some  business  in  the  Castle  connected  with  the  transmission  of  ordnance, stores, coming  out  of  the  Secretary's  office  in  the  Castle,  on  the  2nd  of  May,  about  a week  after  he  (Maguire)  had  seen  him  sworn  as  a  United  Irishman. — It.  R.  M. THE  MAJOR  AND  HIS  MEN.  4(39 chief  evidence  thus  branded  with  perjury  in  the  outset,  were  obliged  to abandon  the  prosecution  of  all  the  other  persons  who  had  been  appre- hended upon  his  information,  and  they  were  consequently  discharged  upon the  motion  of  the  attorney-general  at  the  termination  of  the  commission. "The  stop  thus  put  to  O'Brien's  murderous  career,  was  chiefly  owing  to the  skill  and  advocacy  of  Curran,  who  defended  Finney.     His  address  to the  court  contains  some  of  the  finest  specimens  of  eloquence  that  even  he ever  delivered.     The  witness  having  stated  that  he  knew  of  ten  thousand men  being  leagued  in  treasonable  conspiracy  within  the  city  of  Dublin,  Mr. Cnrran,  in  commenting  on  that  allegation,  said:  'Are  you  prepared,  when O'Brien  shall  come  forward  against  ten  thousand  of  your  fellow-citizens,  to assist  him  in  digging  the  graves  which  he  has  destined  to  receive  them, one  by  one?    No!  could  your  hearts  yield  for  a  moment  to  the  suggestion, your  own  reflections  would  vindicate  the  justice  of  God  and  the  insulted character  of  man ;  you  would  fly  from  the  secrets  of  your  chamber,  and take  refuge  in  the  multitude  from  these  "compunctious  visitings",  which meaner  men  would  not  look  on  without  horror.    Do  not  think  I  am  speak- ing disrespectfully  of  you   when  I  say,  that  while  an  O'Brien  may  be found,  it  may  be  the  lot  of  the  proudest  among  you  to  be  in  the  dock  in- stead of  the  jury-box.     How  then,  on  such  an  occasion,  would  any  of  you feel,  if  such  evidence  as  has  been  heard  this  day  were  adduced  against you  ?     The  application  affects  yon — you  shrink  from  the  imaginary  situa- tion ;  remember,  then,  the  great  mandate  of  your  religion — "  Do  unto  all men  as  you  would  that  they  should  do  unto  you".     Why  do  you  conde- scend to  listen  to  me  with  such  attention  ?     Why  are  you  so  anxious,  if even  from  me  anything  should  fall  tending  to  eulighten  you  on  the  present awful  occasion?    Is  it  because,  bound  by  the  sacred  obligations  of  an  oath, your  hearts  will  not  allow  you  to  forfeit  it  ?     Have  you  any  doubt  that  it is  the  object  of  O'Brien  to  take  down  the  prisoner  for  the  reward  that  fol- lows ?     Have  you  not  seen  with  what  more  than  instinctive  keenness  this bloodhound  has  pursued  his  victim  ?     How  he  has  kept  him  in  view  from place  to  place,  until  he  hunts  him  through  the  avenues  of  the  court  to where  the  unhappy  man  stands  now,   hopeless  of  all  succour  but  that which  your  verdict  shall  afford.     I  have  heard  of  assassinations  by  sword, by  pistol,  and  by  dagger ;  but  here  is  a  wretch  who  would  dip  the  Evan- gelists in  blood  1     If  he  thiuks  he  has  not  sworn  his  victim  to  death,  he  is ready  to  swear  without  mercy  and  without  end.     But  oh  !  do  not,  I  con- jure you,  suffer  him  to  take  an  oath  :  the  hand  of  the  murderer  should  not pollute  the  purity  of  the  gospel ;  or,  if  he  will  swear,  let  it  be  by  the knife,  the  proper  symbol  of  his  profession '. "  No  longer  daring  to  use  him  as  a  witness  in  the  courts  of  justice, O'Brien  was  still  retained  by  the  authorities,  and  kept  on  duty  within  the corridors  of  the  Castle,  where,  under  the  guidance  and  protection  of  Majors Sandys  and  Sirr,  he  rendered  such  services  as  his  peculiar  character  and abilities  afforded.  Many  persons  are  still  living,  who  have  seen  Major Sirr,  accompanied  by  O'Brien  and  a  band  of  his  confederates,  passing- through  the  public  thoroughfares  in  quest  of  victims ;  and  their  descrip- tions still  vividly  depict  the  horror  and  apprehension  with  which  he  and they  were  regarded,  and  unfold  many  acts  of  the  brutal  and  audacious  spirit 470  APPENDIX   IV. in  which  their  missions  were  performed.  A  gentleman  of  distinction  in  oar city,  lately  described  to  the  writer  a  scene  which  he  beheld  in  the  open day,  during  the  period  to  which  we  are  now  alluding.  He  said,  that,  he remembered  upon  one  particular  occasion,  having  seen  Major  Sirr  come  out of  the  Lower  Castle  Gate,  accompanied  by  O'Brien  and  a  few  others,  and then  proceed  along  Dame  Street.  A  gentleman  of  a  distinguished  mien, and  evidently  a  stranger,  attracted  by  the  singular  appearance  of  the  party, stopped,  and  with  an  indication  of  surprise  regarded  them  as  they  went  by him.  The  manner  of  the  stranger  attracted  the  notice  of  O'Brien,  who, darting  from  his  place  in  the  group,  prostrated  the  gentleman  upon  the pavement  with  a  well-directed  blow.  Major  Sirr,  hearing  the  noise, turned  round,  and  seizing  O'Brien,  thrust  him  back  to  his  place  again,  and then  proceeded  onward  without  further  noticing  the  audacity  of  h'i3 subordinate.  The  crowd  gathered  about  the  indignant  gentleman,  and raised  him  from  the  ground :  he  spoke  of  the  laws,  and  said  something  of redress,  but  his  silent  auditors  only  shook  their  heads  and  passed  away. "  While  Sandys  and  Sirr  were  thus  employed  against  the  political  ad- versaries of  the  government,  under  its  authority  and  for  its  rewards,  they were  not  neglectful  of  the  opportunities  which  their  avocations  afforded for  the  acquisition  of  property,  by  the  plunder  of  those  whose  homes  were open  to  their  scrutiny.  Under  the  authority  with  which  they  were  in- vested, they  ransacked  the  houses  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  in  search of  men ;  but  plate,  jewels,  pictures,  and  other  portable  property,  were  openly appropriated  by  these  functionaries  to  their  own  use  and  advantage "The  year  1798  passed  away  with  its  horrors;  the  insurrection  had subsided,  and  the  silence  of  a  subdued  nation  was  hailed  as  the  restoration of  tranquillity.  The  valuable  services  of  O'Brien  were  no  longer  needed, and  he  became  a  troublesome  incumbrance  to  his  former  protectors. Could  he,  like  his  brother  professor  Reynolds,  have  referred  to  his  ser- vices, and  enumerated  his  claims  upon  the  state,  by  the  number  of  '  the coffins  he  had  filled',  he  would  have  been  loaded  with  wealth,  and  enabled, like  that  individual,  to  leave  a  country  where  his  life  was  both  hateful  and insecure;  but  Providence  decided  otherwise,  and,  by  a  just  retribution, that  government  which  had  once  endeavoured  to  make  O'Brien  the  inter- mediate instrument  in  the  destruction  of  others,  in  a  short  time  after became  his  own  accuser.  In  the  month  of  May,  in  the  memorable  year 1800,  the  vigilance  of  the  authorities  was  aroused  by  the  circumstance  of a  number  of  persons  assembling  in  a  field  in  the  vicinity  of  Kilmainham, for  the  purpose  of  playing  foot-ball.  This  event,  unimportant  as  it  was, however,  had  its  effect  upon  the  troubled  conscience  of  the  state ;  and apprehending  that  sedition  lurked  in  the  ranks  of  the  ball-players,  Major Sirr  was  directed  to  interrupt  the  game,  and  capture  any  suspected characters  that  his  loyal  instinct  might  detect  amongst  the  crowd. Having  arrived  at  the  field,  which  was  enclosed  by  a  high  wall,  he stationed  O'Brien  and  some  soldiers  at  one  side,  with  directions  to  prevent the  egress  of  the  people,  while  Sirr,  accompanied  by  another  military party,  proceeded  to  enter  the  field  by  the  common  entrance.  O'Brien, however,  was  not  satisfied  to  remain  on  the  outside,  and  proceeded  to  climb over  the  wall  into  the  field.     Some  persons  seeing  him   thus  scaling  the THE  MAJOR  AND  HIS  MEN.  471 wall  with  soldiers,  and  fearing  that  an  attack  was  about  to  be  made  upon them,  cried  out,  'O'Brien  the  informer!'  upon  which  the  game  was  sus- pended, and  the  people  began  to  move  away  from  that  quarter  of  the  field. Infuriated  by  the  manner  in  which  his  appearance  was  announced,  O'Brien leaped  from  the  wall,  and  rushing  upon  a  decrepid  invalid,  named  John Hoey,  who  was  standing  by  observing  the  scene,  with  a  dagger  stabbed him  to  the  heart !  This  murder,  although  done  in  their  service,  still  was too  foul  even  for  his  powerful  patrons  to  protect  O'Brien  against  its  con- sequences ;  and  a  prosecution  having  been  instituted  by  the  relatives  of the  victim,  the  government  gave  up  its  indiscreet  servant  to  be  dealt  with by  the  very  laws  which  its  own  conduct  had  previously  taught  him  to disregard.  On  O'Brien's  trial,  Major  Sirr  appeared  as  a  witness  for  the defence,  and  endeavoured  to  induce  the  court  to  believe  that  the  prisoner was  subject  to  mental  derangement;  but  the  jury,  without  hesitation, pronounced  him  guilty,  and  the  presiding  judge  (Day)  sentenced  him  to death.  '  If  murder  admitted  of  aggravation',  said  that  learned  judge upon  the  occasion,  '  the  felon's  crime,  which  had  been  clearly  established in  evidence  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  court  and  jury,  was  aggravated by  the  most  unprovoked,  wanton,  and  savage  cruelty  ;  he  murdered  an innocent,  infirm,  and  defenceless  man ;  a  man  with  whom  it  was  probable he  had  no  previous  intercourse,  and  in  consequence  against  whom  he could  harbour  no  particular  malice  ;  but  it  was  therefore  substantiated  that he  cherished  malice  prepense  against  mankind  in  general,  whence  he  be- came a  member  unfit  for  society,  for  whose  sake  and  example  he  should  bo made  an  ignominious  and  disgraceful  sacrifice'.  On  the  gibbet,  O'Brien expressed  his  disappointment  at  the  ingratitude  of  the  state,  for  abandoning him  in  his  hour  of  need,  and  died  warning  the  concourse  by  which  he  was surrounded  never  to  put  any  trust  in  the  Castle  authorities".* In  the  preceding  account,  mention  is  made  of  the  brutal  conduct  of  the "  major's  people"  towards  the  inhabitants  of  Dublin  ;  but  the  fact  that  is stated  would  give  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  that  con- duct was  carried.  O'Brien  and  his  associates  usually  followed  Major  Sirr at  a  short  distance  when  he  went  abroad ;  if  any  one  stopped  to  look  after the  major,  he  was  hustled,  not  unfrequently  beaten,  by  his  myrmidons,  and if  he  ventured  to  remonstrate,  was  carried  off  to  the  Castle  guard-house  or Sandys'  provost.  On  one  occasion,  a  respectable  merchant  of  Dublin,  a Mr.  M'Cabe,  having  committed  the  treasonable  offence  to  the  major's dignity  of  turning  round  to  look  after  him  as  he  passed,  he  was  instantly struck  on  the  head  by  O'Brien;  his  hat  was  knocked  off,  and  while stooping  in  the  act  of  picking  it  up,  he  was  kicked  by  this  ruffian. There  was  no  redress  for  these  acts ;  the  man  who  might  be  fool  enough to  seek  it,  would  become  a  marked  man,  subject  to  be  taken  up  on  suspi- cion, sworn  against,  as  in  Hevey's  case,  and  perhaps  hanged.  A  gentle- man of  the  name  of  Adrien  was  seen  looking  up  at  the  windows  of  the Exchange,  where  some  prisoners  were  confiucd  ;  he  was  tapped  on  the shoulder  by  the  major,  and  told,  at  his  peril,  to  turn  his  eyes  on  that  side of  the  street  again.     The  floggings  in  the  Castle  Yard   were  frequently *  "Dublin  Monthly  Magazine",  April  1841'. 472  APPENDIX    IV. attended  by  O'Brien  and  his  gang,  and  the  victims,  while  writhing  under the  lash,  were  treated  by  them  with  brutal  jests  and  vulgar  ribaldry. In  turning  the  prisoners  to  pecuniary  account,  Sirr  and  Sandys  played into  one  another's  hands ;  the  major  made  the  arrests,  turned  over  the prisoners  to  Sandys  and  O'Brien,  and  the  latter  duly  worked  upon  their hopes  and  fears  alternately,  threatening  them  with  perpetual  imprison- ment, transportation,  or  the  triangles,  and  acquainting  them  with  the  kind- ness of  the  major's  heart,  the  forgiveness  of  his  disposition,  and  the  ne- cessity of  making  a  proper  compliment  either  in  goods  or  money.  Every act  of  favour  or  indulgence  was  a  perquisite,  in  the  provost.  Hevey's liberation  cost  him  a  horse;  M'Gauran's,  of  Patrick  Street,  cost  him  a house  at  Tallaght.  This  man  was  a  grocer,  living  in  the  vicinity  of  the depot  of  Robert  Emmet,  where  the  explosion  took  place.  He  was  in nowise  connected  with  Emmet,  or  cognizant  of  his  plans,  but  he  had  a quantity  of  wine  strongly  suspected  of  being  long  in  bottle ;  he  was arrested  by  the  major,  sent  to  the  provost,  and  committed  to  the  care  of Sandys  :  he  came  out  deprived  of  nearly  all  his  property.  A  Mr.  Cos- grave,  of  Crumlin,  was  suspected  of  possessing  certain  Popish  pictures  he had  brought  with  him  from  Italy ;  his  house  was  ransacked,  on  the  plea of  searching  for  a  suspected  servant :  the  servant  was  not  found  there,  but the  pictures  were  detected,  and  there  was  presumptive  proof  of  their  having been  paiuted  by  old  masters.  The  major  was  a  lover  of  the  arts ;  not, indeed,  a  scrupulous  collector :  he  left  the  largest  collection  of  indifferent pictures  that  ever  came  under  the  Dublin  hammer. While  Holt  was  confined  in  the  Tower,  he  suffered  continually  from O'Brien's  rapacity,  and  his  attempts  to  persuade  him  to  turn  approver against  his  associates.  He  was  persecuted  by  the  attentions  of  one  of  the sisters  of  O'Brien,  who  came  to  see  him  from  Ballynakill,  and  who  appears to  have  been  employed  to  conquer  the  obstinacy  of  the  intractable  rebel, which  no  other  efforts  were  able  to  accomplish.  This  damsel  was  accom- panied by  her  sister,  and  their  chief  business  in  town  appears  to  have  been to  obtain  a  pardon  for  their  brother  John,  who  had  been  one  of  Holt's rebel  band.  Holt  speaks  of  him  as  an  active,  useful  fellow,  while  with him,  and  of  "Jemmy  having  enlisted  him  in  his  own  diabolical  employ- ment of  obtaining  confidence  in  order  to  betray  it".  Jemmy  had  him  now disguised  as  a  sailor,  and  the  duty  assigned  to  him  was,  "  to  frequent  the low  public-houses,  and  get  wretched,  drunken  creatures  to  utter  treasonable words,  and  then,  with  Jemmy's  assistance,  he  soon  lodged  them  in  limbo, and  they  were  generally  punished  upon  the  testimony  of  these  two  birds  of prey".  Another  of  Holt's  rebel  band,  John  O'Neil,  a  man  of  great  ferocity, who  had  attempted  to  murder  a  young  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Pilsworth, was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower ;  he,  likewise,  was  gained  over  by  the  per- suasive eloquence  of  O'Brien  and  his  master,  and  became  one  of  the  bat- talion of  testimony,  of  whom  mention  will  be  found  illustrative  of  the value  of  his  services.  Like  Holt,  when  he  beheld  these  wretches,  mur- derers, and  informers  in  copartnership,  living  in  the  possession  of  plenty, we  may  conclude,  "  the  reign  of  the  iniquity  short,  and  its  punishment  even- tually is  certain".* *  "  Memoirs  of  Holt",  by  T.  E.  Croker. THE  MAJOR  AND  HIS  MEN.  473 The  case  of  a  respectable  citizen  of  Dublin,  Mr.  John  Hevey,  a  brewer ■who  was   persecuted   by  Sirr  for  meddling  with  one  of  his  people,  is  on which  has  stamped  the  character  of  this  man,  and  left  a  lasting  record  of the  means  by  which  his  power  was  upheld  and  his  property  acquired,  in the  disastrous  period  of  1797  and  1798. In  May,  1802,  a  cause  was  tried  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  before Lord  Kilwarden,  in  which  Hevey  was  the  plaintiff,  and  the  once  redoubt- able Major  Sirr,  the  defendant.  It  was  an  action  for  assault  and  false imprisonment,  and  there  was  a  verdict  for  Hevey  of  £150  damages.  The plaintiff's  case  was  stated  by  Mr.  Curran,  and  that  part  of  it  which  is  well worthy  of  attention,  in  the  following  terms  : — "  I  must  carry  back  your  attention  to  the  melancholy  period  of  1798. It  was  at  that  crisis  that  the  defendant,  from  an  obscure  individual,  started into  notice  and  consequence.     It  is  in  the  hot-bed  of  public  calamity  that such  portentous  and  inauspicious  products  are  accelerated  without  being matured.     From  being  a  town-major,  he  became  at  once  invested  with  all the  real  power  of  the  most  absolute  authority.     The  life  and  the  liberty  of every  man  seemed  to  be  given  up  to  his  disposal.     With  this  gentleman's extraordinary  elevation,  began  the  story  of  the  sufferings  and  ruin  of  the plaintiff.     It  seems  a  man  of  the  name  of  M'Guire  was  prosecuted  for some  offence  against  the  state.      Mr.  Hevey,  the  plaintiff,  by  accident  was in  court ;  he  was  then  a  citizen  of  wealth  and  credit,  a  brewer  in  the  first line  of  that  business.     Unfortunately  for  him,  he  had  heretofore  employed the  witness  for  the  prosecution,  and  found  him  a  man  of  infamous  character. Unfortunately  for  himself,  he  mentioned  this  circumstance  in  court.    The counsel  for  the  prisoner  insisted  on  his  being  sworn ;  he  was  so.     The  jury were  convinced  that  no  credit  was  due  to  the  witness  for  the  crown,  and the  prisoner  was  accordingly  acquitted.     In  a  day  or  two  after,  Major  Sirr met  the  plaintiff  in  the  street,  asked  how  he  dared  to  interfere  in  his business,    and    swore  by  God    he    would  teach    him    how    to    meddle with  'his  people'.     Gentlemen",  said  Mr.  Curran,  "  there  are  two  sorts  of prophets :  one,  that  derives  its  source  from  real  or  fancied  inspiration,  and who  are  sometimes  mistaken ;  but  there  is  another  class,  who  prophesy what  they  are  determined  to  bring  about  themselves.     Of  this  second,  and by  far  the  most  authentic  class,  was  the  major;  for  Heaven,  you  see,  has no  monopoly  of  prediction.      On  the  following  evening  poor  Hevey  was dogged  in  the  dark  into  some  lonely  alley ;  there  he  was  seized,  he  knew not  by  whom,  nor  by  what  authority,  and  became  in  a  moment,  to  himself, to  his  family,  and  his  friends,  as  if  he  had  never  been.     He  was  carried away  in  equal  ignorance  of  his  crime  and  of  his  destiny ;   whether  to  be tortured,  or  hanged,  or  transported.     His  crime  he  soon  heard  ;  it  Avas  the treason  he  had  committed  against  the  majesty  of  Major  Sirr.     He  was immediately  conducted  to  a  new  place  of  imprisonment  in  the  Castle  Yard, called  the  provost.     Of  this  mansion  of  misery,  of  which  you  have  since heard  so  much,  Major  Sandys  was,  and  I  believe  yet  is,  the  keeper — a gentleman  of  whom  I  know  how  dangerous  it  is  to  speak,  and  of  whom every  prudent  man  will  think  and  talk  with  all  due  reverence.      He  seemed a  twin-star  of  the  defendant — equal  in  honour,  in  confidence;  equal  also (for  who  could  be  superior?)  in  probity  and  humanity.     To  this  gentleman 474  APPENDIX    IV. was  my  client  consigned,  and  in  his  custody  he  remained  about  seven weeks,  unthonght  of  by  the  world,  as  if  he  had  never  existed.     The  obli- vion of  the  dungeon  is  as  profound  as  the  oblivion  of  the  dead :  his  family may  have  mourned  his  absence,  or  his  probable  death ;  but  why  should  I mention   so   paltry  a   circumstance  ?      The   fears  or  the  sorrows   of  the wretched  give  no  interruption  to  the  general  progress  of  things.     The  sun rose,  and  the  sun  set,  just  as  it  did  before;  the  business  of  the  govern- ment, the  business  of  the  Castle,  of  the  feast  or  the  torture,  went  on  with their    usual    exactness    and   tranquillity.       At   length   Mr.    Hevey   was discovered  among  the  sweepings  of  the  prison,  and  was  finally  to  be  dis- posed of.     He  was  at  last  honoured  with  the  personal  notice  of  Major Sandys  :  '  Hevey',  says  the  major,  '  I  have  seen  you  ride,  I  think,  a  smart sort  of  mare ;  you  can't  use  her  here ;  you  had  better  give  me  an  order  for her'.     The  plaintiff,  you  may  well  suppose,  by  this  time  had  a  tolerable idea  of  his   situation ;  he  thought  he  might  have  much  to  fear  from  a refusal,  and  something  to  hope  from  a  compliance ;  at  all  events,  he  saw  it would  be  a  means  of  apprising  his  family  that  he  was  not  dead ;  he  in- stantly gave  the  order  required.     The  major  graciously  accepted  it,  saying, i  Your  courtesy  will  not  cost  you  much ;  you  are  to  be  sent  down  to- morrow to  Kilkenny  to  be  tried  for  your  life ;  you  will  most  certainly  be hanged  ;  and  you  can  scarcely  think  that  your  journey  to  the  other  world will  be  performed  on  horseback'.     The  humane  and  honourable  major  was equally  a  prophet  with  his  compeer.     The  plaintiff  on  the  next  day  took leave  of  his  prison,  as  he  supposed,  for  the  last  time,  and  was  sent  under a  guard  to  Kilkenny,  then  the  head-quarters  of  Sir  Charles  Asgil,  there  to be  tried  by  court-martial  for  such   crime  as  might  chance  to  be  alleged against  him.     In  any  other  country,  the   scene  that  took  place  on  that occasion  might  excite  no  little  horror  and  astonishment ;  but  with  us  these sensations  are  become  extinct  by  frequency  of  repetition.     I  am  instructed that  a  proclamation  was  sent  forth,   offering  a  reward  to  any  man  who would  come  forward  and  give  evidence  against  the  traitor  Hevey.     An unhappy  wretch,  who  had  been  shortly  before  condemned  to  die,  and  was then  lying  ready  for  execution,  was  allured  by  the  proposal.     His  integrity was  not  firm  enough  to  hesitate  long  between  the  alternative  proposed — pardon,  favour,  and  reward,  with  perjury,  on  one  side :  the  rope  and  the gibbet  on  the  other.     His  loyalty  decided  the  question   against  his  soul. He  was  examined,  and  Hevey  was  appointed  by  the  sentence  of  a  mild, and,  no  doubt,  enlightened,  court-martial,  to  take  the  place  of  the  witness, and  succeed  to  the  vacant  halter.     Hevey,  you  may  suppose",  continued Mr.  Cut-ran,  "now  thought  his  labours  at  an  end;  but  he  was  mistaken; his  hour  was  not  yet  come.     You,  probably,  gentlemen,  or  you,  my  lord, are  accounting  for  his  escape,  by  the  fortunate  recollection  of  some  early circumstances  that  might  have  smote  upon   the  sensibility  of  Sir  Charles Asgil,  and  made  him  to  believe  that  he  was  in  debt  to  Provideuce  for  the life  of  one  innocent,   though  convicted,  victim.     But  it  was  not  so :  his escape  was  purely  accidental.     The  proceedings  upon  his  trial  happened  to meet  the  eye  of  Lord  Cornwallis.     The  freaks  of  fortune  are  not  always cruel ;  in  the  bitterness  of  her  jocularity,  you  see,  she  can  adorn  the  mis- creancy of  the  slave  in  the  trappings  of  power,  and  rank,  and  wealth. THE  MAJOR.  AND  HIS  MEN.  475 But  her  playfulness  is  not  always  inhuman  ;  she  will  sometimes,  in  her gambols,  fling  oil  upon  the  wounds  of  the  sufferer;  she  will  sometimes save  the  captive  from  the  dungeon  and  the  grave,  were  it  ouly  that  she might  afterwards  consign  him  to  his  destiny,  by  the  reprisal  of  capricious cruelty  upon  fantastic  commiseration.      Lord  Cornwallis  read  the  transmiss of  Hevey's  condemnation ;  his  heart  recoiled  from  the  detail  of  stupidity and  barbarity.     He  dashed  his  pen  across  the  odious  record,  and  ordered that  Hevey  should  be  forthwith  liberated.      I  cannot  but  highly  honour him  for  his  conduct  in  this  instance ;  nor,  when  I  recollect  his  peculiar situation  at  that  disastrous  period,  can  I  much  blame  him  for  not  having acted  towards  that  court  with  the  same  vigour  and  indignation  which  he has  since  shown  with  respect  to  these  abominable  jurisdictions.     Hevey was  now  a  man  again  ;  he  shook   the  dust  of  his  feet  against  his  prison gate  ;  his  heart  beat  the  response  to  the  anticipated  embrace  of  his  family and  his  friends,  and  he  returned  to  Dublin.     On  his  arrival  here,  one  of the  first  persons  he  met  was  his  old  friend,  Major  Sandys.      In  the  eye  of poor  Hevey,  justice  and  humanity  had  shorn  the  major  of  his  beams  :  he no  longer  regarded  him  with  respect  or  terror.      He  demanded  his  mare, observing  that  '  though  he  might  have  travelled  to  Heaven  on  foot,  he thought  it  more  comfortable  to  perform  his  earthly  journeys  on  horseback'. 1  Ungrateful  villain',  said  the  major,  '  is  this  the  gratitude  you  show  to  his majesty  and  to  me,  for  our  clemency  to  you  ?  you  shan't  get  possession  of the  beast  which  you  have  forfeited  by  your  treason,  nor  can  I  suppose  that a  noble  animal  that  has  been  honoured  with  conveying  the  weight  of  duty and  allegiance,   would  condescend  to  load  her  loyal  loins  with  the  vile burden  of  a  convicted  traitor'.   As  to  the  major",  said  Mr.  Curran,  "  I  am not  surprised  that  he  spoke   and   acted  as  he  did.     He  was,  no  doubt, astonished  at  the  impudence  and  novelty  of  calling  the  privileges  of  official plunder  into   question.     Hardened  by  the  numberless  instances  of  that mode  of  unpunished  acquisition,  he  had  erected  the  frequency  of  impunity into  a  sort  of  warrant  of  spoil  and  rapine.     Oue  of  these  instances,  I  feel, I  am  now  bringing  to  the  memory  of  your  lordship.  A  learned  and  respected brother  barrister  (L.  M'Nally)  had  a  silver  cup ;  the  major  heard  that  for many  years  it  had  borne  an  inscription  of  '  Erin  go  brach',  which  means, '  Ireland  for  ever'.     The  major  considered  this    perseverance  in  guilt  for such  a  length  of  years,  as  a  forfeiture  of  the  delinquent  vessel.     My  poor friend  was  accordingly  robbed  of  his  cup.*     But,  upon  writing  to  the  then attorney-general,  that  excellent  officer  felt  the  outrage,  as  it  was  his  nature to  feel  everything  that  was  barbarous  or  base,  and  the  major's  loyal  side- board was  condemned  to  the  grief  of  restitution.     And   here",    said  Mr. Curran,  "  let  me  say  in   my  own   defence,  that  this  is  the  only  occasion upon  which  I  have  ever  mentioned  this  circumstance  with  the  least  appear- ance of  lightness.     I  have  often  told  the  story  in  a  way  that  it  would  not become  me  here  to  tell  it.     I  have  told  it  in  the  spirit  of  those  feelings, which  were  excited  at  seeing  that  oue  man  could  be  sober  and  humane  at  a crisis  when  so  many  thousands  were  drunk  and  barbarous.     And  probably my   statement  was   not  stinted  by   the    recollection,   that    I    held    that *  Curran's  "poor  friend"  was  Counsellor  Leonard  M'Nally, 476  APPENDIX    IV. person  in  peculiar  respect  and  regard.    But  little  does  it  signify  whether acts  of  moderation  and  humanity  are  blazoned  by  gratitude,  by  flattery,  or  j by  friendship ;  they  are  recorded  in  the  heart  from  which  they  sprung:  i and  in  the  hour  of  adverse  vicissitude,  if  it  should  ever  come,  sweet  is  the odour  of  their  memory,  and  precious  is  the  balm  of  their  consolation.     But to  return.     Ilevey   brought  an    action  for  his  mare.      The  major,   not choosing  to  come  into  court,  and  thereby  suggest  the  probable  success  of  a thousand  actions,  restored  the  property,  and  paid  the  costs  of  the  suit  to  j the  attorney  of  Mr.  Hevey.     It  may,  perhaps,  strike  you,  my  lord",  said  i Mr.  Curran,  "  as  if  I  was  stating  what  was  not  relevant  to  the  action.    It  ; is  materially  pertinent ;  I  am  stating  a  system  of  concerted  vengeance  and  j oppression.      These   two  men   acted  in  concert — they  were  Archer  and Aimwell.     You  master  at  Lichfield,  and  I  at  Coventry.     You  plunder  in   ! the  jail,  and  I  tyrant  in  the  street ;  and  in  our  respective  situations  we  will   > cooperate  in  the  common  cause  of  robbery  and  vengeance.     And  I  state this",  said  Mr.  Curran,  "because  I  see  Major  Sandys  in  court,  and  because I  feel  I  can  prove  the  fact  beyoud  the  possibility  of  denial.     If  he  does  not dare  to  appear,  so  called  upon  as  I  have  called  upon  him,  I  prove  it  by  his not  daring  to  appear.     If  he  does  venture  to  come  forward,  I  will  prove  it by  his  own  oath ;  or  if  he  venture  to  deny  a  syllable  that  I  have  stated,  I will  prove  by  irrefragable  evidence  of  record,  that  his  denial  is  false  and perjured.     Thus  far,  gentlemen",  said  Mr.  Curran,  "we  have  traced  the plaintiff  through  the  strange  vicissitudes  of  barbarous  imprisonment,  of atrocious  condemnation,  and  of  accidental  deliverance".    [Here  Mr.  Curran described  the  feelings  of  himself  and  his  family  upon  his  restoration ;  his difficulties  on  his  return ;  his  struggle  against  the  aspersions  on  his  cha- racter ;  his  renewed  industry  ;  his  gradual  success ;  the  implacable  malig- nity of  Sirr  and  Sandys,  and  the  immediate  cause  of  the  present  action.] "  Three  years",  said  Mr.  Curran,  "  had  elapsed  since  the  deliverance  of  my client;  the  public  atmosphere  had  cleared;  the  private  destiny  of  Ilevey seemed  to  have  brightened,  but  the  malice  of  his  enemies  had  not  been appeased.     On  the  8th  of  September  last,  Mr.  Hevey  was  sitting  in  a public  coffee-house :  Major  Sirr  was  there.     Mr.  Hevey  was  informed  that the  major  had  at  that  moment  said  that  he  (Hevey)  ought  to  have  been hanged.     The  plaintiff  was  fired  at  the  charge  ;  he  fixed  his  eye  on  Sirr, and  asked  if  he  had  dared  to  say  so.     Sirr  declared  that  he  had,  aud  had said  truly.     Hevey  answered  that  he  was  a  slanderous  scoundrel.     At  that instant  Sirr  rushed  upon  him,  and,  assisted  by  three  or  four  of  his  satel- lites, who  had  attended  him  in  disguise,  secured  him,  and  sent  him  to  the Castle  guard,  desiring  that  a  receipt  might  be  given  for  the  villain.     He was  sent  thither.     The  officer  of  the  guard  chanced  to  be  an  Englishman but  lately  arrived  in   Ireland ;  he  said  to  the   bailiffs  :  '  If  this  was  in England,  I  should  think  this  gentleman  entitled  to  bail ;  but  I  don't  know the  laws  of  this  country.     However,  I  think  you  had  better  loosen  these irons  on  his  wrists,  or  I  think  they  may  kill  him'. "  Major  Sirr,  the  defendant,  soon  arrived,  went  into  his  office,  and  re- turned with  an  order  which  he  had  written,  and  by  virtue  of  which  Mr. Hevey  was  conducted  to  the  custody  of  his  old  friend  and  jailor,  Major Sandys.     Here  he  was  flung  into  a  room  of  about  thirteen  feet  by  twelve ; THE  MAJOR  AND  HIS  MEN.  477 it  was  called  the  hospital  of  the  provost.     It  was  occupied  by  six  beds,  in which  were  to  lie  fourteen  or  fifteen  miserable  wretches,  some  of  them sinking  under  contagious  diseases.     On  his  first  entrance,  the  light  that was  admitted  by  the  opening  of  the  door  disclosed  to  him  a  view  of  the sad  fellow-sufferers,  for  whose  loathsome   society  he  was  once  more  to exchange  the  cheerful  haunts  of  men,  the  use  of  open  air  and  of  his  own limbs,  and  where  he  was  condemned  to  expiate  the  disloyal  hatred  and contempt  which  he  had  dared  to  show  to  the  overweening  and  felonious arrogance  of  slaves  in   office  and  minions  in  authority.     Here  he  passed the  first  night  without  bed  or  food.      The  next  morning  his  humane keeper,  the  major,  appeared.     The  plaintiff  demanded  '  why  he  was  so imprisoned?'  complained    of  hunger,   and   asked   for  the  jail   allowance. Major  Sandys  replied  with  a  torrent  of  abuse,  which  he  concluded  by  say- ing— '  Your  crime  is  your  insolence  to  Major  Sirr ;  however,  he  disdains  to trample  upon  you.     You  may  appease  him  by  proper  and  contrite  submis- sion ;  but  unless  you  do  so,  you  shall  rot  where  you  are.     I  tell  you  this, that  if  government  do  not  protect  us,  by  God !  we  will  not  protect  them. You  will  probably  (for  I  know  your  insolent  and  ungrateful  hardiness) attempt  to  get  out  by  an  habeas  corpus,  but  in  that  you  will  find  yourself mistaken,  as  such  a  rascal  deserves'.     Hevey  was  insolent  enough  to  issue an  habeas  corpus,   and  a  return  was  made  upon  it — '  that  Hevey  was  in custody  under  a  warrant  from  General  Craigh  on  a  charge  of  treason'. That  this  return  was  a  gross  falsehood,  fabricated  by  Sirr,  I  am  instructed to  assert.     Let  him  prove  the  truth  of  it,  if  he  can.     The  judge  before whom  this  return  was  brought  felt  that  he  had  no  authority  to  liberate the  unhappy  prisoner;  and  thus,  by  a  most  inhuman  and  audacious  lie, my  client  was  again  remanded  to  the  horrid  mansion  of  pestilence  and famine".     Mr.  Curran  proceeded  to  describe  the  feelings  of  Mr.  Hevey, the  despair  of  his  friends,  the  ruin  of  his  affairs,  the  insolence  of  Sandys, his  offer  to  set  him  at  large  on  condition  of  making  an  abject  submission to  Sirr ;  the  indignant  rejection  by  Hevey ;  the  supplication  of  his  father and  sister  rather  to  submit  to  an  enemy,  however  base  and  odious,  than perish  in  such  a  situation  ;  the  repugnance  of  Hevey,  the  repetition  of  kind remonstrance,  and  the  final  submission  of  Hevey  to  their  entreaties ;  his signing  a  submission  dictated  by  Sandys,  and  his  enlargement  from  con- finement.   "  Thus",  said  Mr.  Curran,  "  was  he  kicked  from  his  jail  into  the common  mass  of  his  fellow-slaves,  by  yielding  to  the  tender  entreaties  of the  kindred  that  loved  him,  to  sign  what  was  in  fact  a  release  of  his  claim to  the  common  rights  of  a  human  creature,  by  humbling  himself  to  the brutal  arrogance  of  a  pampered  slave.     But  he  did  suffer  the  dignity  of his  nature  to  be  subdued  by  its  kindness ;  he  has  been  enlarged,  and  he has  brought  the  present  action".     As  to  the  facts  that  he  had  stated,  Mr. Curran  said  he  would  make  a  few  observations.     It  might  be  said  for  the defendant  that  much  of  what  was  stated  may  not  appear  in  proof.     To that,  he  said,  he  would  not  have  so  stated,  if  he  had  not  seen  Major  Sandys in  court ;  he  had  therefore  put  the  facts  against  him  in  a  way  which  he thought  most  likely  to  rouse  him  to  a  defence  of  his  own  character,  if  he dared  to  be  examined  as  a  witness.     He  had,  he  trusted,  made  him  feel that  he  had  no  way  of  escaping  universal  detestation  but  by  denying  those 478  APPENDIX    IV. charges,  if  they  were  false  ;  and  if  they  were  not  denied,  being  thus  pub- 1 licly  asserted,   his  entire  case  was  admitted  :  his  original  oppression  in  the  ; provost  was  admitted  ;  his  robbery  of  the  cup  was  admitted;  his  robbery  of; the  mare  was  admitted ;  the  lie  so  audaciously  furged  on  the  habeas  corpus was  admitted  ;  the  extortion  of  the  infamous  apology  was  admitted.  Again, said  Mr.  Curran,  1  challenge  this  worthy  compeer  of  a  worthy  compeer  to  1 make  his  election  between  proving  his  guilt  by  his  own  corporal  oath,  or  I by  the  more  credible  modesty  of  his  silence.     "  And  now",  said  Mr. Curran,  "  I  have  given  you  a  mere  sketch  of  this  extraordinary  history.  j No    country    governed   by  any  settled   laws,    or  treated   with    common  ; humanity,  could  furnish  any  occurrences  of  such  unparalleled  atrocity;  and  : if  the  author  of  Caleb   Williams,  or  of  the  Simple  Story,  were  to  read the  tale  of  this  man's  sufferings,  it  might,   I  think,  humble  the  vanity  of their  talents  (if  they  are  not  too  proud  to  be  vain),  when  they  saw  how much  a  more  fruitful  source  of  incident  could  be  found  in  the  infernal workings  of  the  heart  of  a  malignant  slave,  than  in  the  richest  copiousness of  the  most  fertile  and  creative  imagination".* The  persecution  which  poor  Hevey  endured — the  hardships  he  suffered  ' during  his  confinement — the  ruin  brought  on  his  business  by  his  absence, and  the  expenses  attendant  on  his  trial  at  Kilkenny,  eventually  impaired his  reason,  and  he  died  a  few  years  ago,  a  pauper,  iu  the  beggars'  hospital in  Channel  Row. The  wretches  retained  in  the  service  of  Sirr — regularly  sent  on  assize  : duty — provided  with  clothing  for  special  occasions — conveyed  to  and  fro at  the  public  expense,  and  boarded  and  lodged  either  with  Hanlon,  the under-keeper  of  the  Tower,  or  Watkins,  the  keeper  of  the  Castle  Tavern, or  domiciled  in  the  Tower,  under  the  immediate  care  and  inspection  of Mr.  James  O'Brien,  have  been  described  by  Curran.  In  his  admirable speech  on  the  trial  of  Peter  Finnerty,  in  1797,  he  thus  speaks  of  this band  of  informers  : — "  I  speak  not  now  of  the  public  proclamations  for  informers,  with  a promise  of  secrecy  and  extravagant  reward  !  I  speak  not  of  those  unfor- tunate wretches  who  have  been  so  often  transferred  from  the  table  to  the dock,  and  from  the  dock  to  the  pillory !  I  speak  of  what  your  own  eyes have  seen  day  after  day  during  the  course  of  this  commission,  while  you attended  this  court : — the  number  of  horrid  miscreants,  who  acknowledged upon  their  oaths  that  they  had  come  from  the  seat  of  government — from the  very  chambers  of  the  Castle — where  they  had  been  worked  upon  by the  fear  of  death  and  the  hopes  of  compensation  to  give  evidence  against their  fellows.  That  the  mild,  the  wholesome,  and  merciful  councils  of  this government  are  holden  over  those  catacombs  of  living  death,  where  the wretch  that  is  buried  a  man,  lies  till  his  heart  has  time  to  fester  and  dis- solve, and  then  is  dug  up  an  informer. "  Is  this  a  picture  created  by  a  hag-ridden  fancy,  or  is  it  a  fact?  Have you  not  seen  him,  after  his  resurrection  from  that  tomb,  make  his  appear- ance upon  your  table,  the  living  image  of  life  and  death,  and  the  supreme arbiter  of  both  ?     Have  you    not   marked,   when  he  entered,    how    the *  Trial,  Hevey  v.  Sirr. — Stockdale's  edition. THE  MAJOR  AND  HIS  MEN.  479 stormy  wave  of  the  multitude  retired  at  his  approach  ?  Have  you  not seen  how  the  human  heart  bowed  to  the  awful  supremacy  of  his  power,  in the  undissembled  homage  of  deferential  horror?  How  his  glance,  like  the lightning  of  Heaven,  seemed  to  rive  the  body  of  the  accused,  and  mark  it for  the  grave,  while  his  voice  warned  the  devoted  wretch  of  woe  and death — a  death  which  no  innocence  can  escape,  no  art  elude,  no  force resist,  no  antidote  prevent!  There  was  an  antidote — a  juror's  oath  !  But even  that  adamantine  chain,  which  bound  the  integrity  of  man  to  the throne  of  Eternal  Justice,  is  solved  and  molten  by  the  breath  which  issues from  the  mouth  of  the  informer;  conscience  swings  from  her  moorings ; the  appalled  and  affrighted  juror  speaks  what  his  soul  abhors,  and  consults his  own  safetv  in  the  surrender  of  the  victim : Et  qure  sibi  quisque  timebat, Unius  in  miseri  exitium  conversa  tulere. Informers -are  worshipped  in  the  temple  of  justice,  even  as  the  Devil  has been  worshipped  by  pagans  and  savages.  Even  so,  in  this  wicked  country, is  the  informer  an  object  of  judicial  idolatry;  even  so  is  he  soothed  by  the music  of  human  groans ;  even  so  is  he  placated  and  incensed  by  the  fumes and  the  blood  of  human  sacrifices". On  three  occasions  the  major's  life  had  been  in  imminent  peril  from  the United  Irishmen.  In  May,  1798,  he  was  attacked  by  the  body-guard  of Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  in  AVatling  Street.  In  September,  1798,  one Jackson,  while  under  examination  at  the  Exchange,  was  seized  by  Major Sirr  in  the  act  of  presenting  a  pistol  at  his  breast.*  At  the  latter  part  of the  same  year  an  attempt  was  made  on  the  major's  life  in  Capel  Street, and  was  frustrated  by  Mr.  Flannagan,  a  printer,  formerly  connected  with Carriers  Morning  Post.  The  major,  in  one  instance,  was  unconsciously the  occasion  of  saving  the  life  of  a  fellow-creature,  though  at  the  cost  of another,  which  was  only  sacrificed  by  mistake  in  the  hurry  of  his  official business.  Two  persons  of  the  name  of  Farrell,  who  were  suspected  to  have taken  an  active  part  with  the  insurgents  at  the  battle  of  Vinegar  Hill,  were apprehended  in  the  vicinity  of  Dublin.  Such  evidence  as  at  that  period  was considered  conclusive,  was  obtained  against  one  of  them,  Mr.  James  Farrell, while  the  courts-martial  wTere  sitting.  The  major  went  in  person  to  the provost,  and  ordered  the  prisoner  to  be  brought  forth.  The  wrong  man  waa brought  out — the  summary  process  was  gone  through — he  was  executed. Mr.  James  Farrell  was  subsequently  liberated,  went  to  Spain,  and  became a  partner  in  the  house  of  Gordon,  Murphy,  and  Company,  of  Cadiz.  After some  years  he  returned  in  opulent  circumstances  to  London,  and  resided there  for  many  years,  highly  respected,  and  honoured  with  the  acquaint- ance even  of  the  brother  of  his  sovereign. At  the  time  that  he  was  at  the  height  of  his  prosperity,  Major  Sirr visited  London :  he  went  on  'Change  accompanied  by  the  lord-mayor,  and *  See  "Dublin  Evening  Post",  11th  September,  ]  79?. +  Mr.  Flannagan,  well  known  to  the  author,  and  by  every  one  respected  to whom  known,  is  still  living  in  Dxiblin,— a  hale,  hearty,  honest  man,  upwards  of ninety  years  of  age.  In  1797  he  was  a  journeyman  printer,  employed  on  "  The Press"  newspaper;  in  1S57  he  is  still  a  journeyman  printer  in  Dublin. 480  APPENDIX    IV. on  that  occasion  Fan-ell  was  introduced  to  the  major,  and  the  latter  was invited  by  him  to  dine  at  his  house.     Sirr  had  little  idea  that  the  merchant from  whom  he  received  the  invitation,  was  one  of  the  Vinegar  Hill  men whose  fate  had  been  in  his  hands.  The  major  dined  with  Mr.  James Farrell, — • the  Duke  of  Sussex  and  Mr.  Savory  (then  of  Bond  Street,  my  iuformant) were  of  that  dinner  party.     The  twenty  years  that  succeeded  the  rebellion  j were  productive  of  extraordinary  vicissitudes ;  and  the  one  which  brought  the   ; Vinegar  Hill  rebel  and  Major  Sirr  in  social  communion,  was  not  the  least   j singular.     If  we  judge  from  Sirr's  conduct  on  other  similar  occasions,  had   j he  recognized  Farrell,  the  probability  is,  he  would  have  felt  gratified,  and expressed  his  gratification,  at  the  fortunate  escape  of  the  intended  victim,    j The  major's  acts,  in  1798,  were  all  in  the  way  of  business,  in  the  promo- tion of  his  own  interests — his  real  zeal  for  those  of  his  employers  is  very questionable.     One  of  the  delegates,  who  had  been  arrested  at  Bond's — a ship-owner  of  the  name  of  Trenor — escaped  from  the  charge  of  Sirr  and Sandys  in  the  Castle,  and  succeeded  in  getting  out  of  the  country.     Many years  subsequently,  Trenor  was  permitted  to  visit  Ireland  ;  he  had  an  inter- view with  Sirr,  and  was  treated  by  him  with  the  utmost  civility,  and  con- gratulated on  his  happy  escape.     Trenor  was  then  a  man  well  to  do  in  the world,  and  he  is  still  living  in  comfortable  circumstances  in  America,  to Avhich  country  he  again  returned. Sirr  was  more  prosperous  in  his  worldly  affairs,  and  more  prudent  in  his conduct,  than  his  friend  Sandys: — in  1808,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the police  magistrates  in  the  city ;  and,  when  a  new  army  regulation  made  it necessary  that  the  post  of  town-major  should  be  filled  by  a  military  officer, he  retired  from  the  public  service,  with  the  signal  honour  of  a  letter  of  ap- probation from  the  Duke  of  York,  written  by  his  Royal  Highness. Neither  Abercrombie  nor  Moore  could  boast  of  any  similar  distinction  for their  services  in  Ireland — they  were  reserved  for  those  of  Henry  Charles  Sirr. When  the  Whigs  came  into  power1,  some  twenty-seven  years  ago,  the major  felt  it  to  be  the  duty  of  a  loyal  subject  to  shape  his  politics  to those  of  the  existing  government.  When  reform  began  to  be  talked  of at  the  Castle  by  gentlemen  in  office,  and  it  had  ceased  to  be  the  custom to  consider  all  reformers  traitors,  the  major  became  a  reformer,  and  was one  of  those  who  attended  a  public  meeting  in  Dublin  on  the  occasion of  the  successful  issue  of  the  French  revolution  in  1830,  and  in  approval of  the  principles  then  triumphant. When  Catholic  emancipation  had  made  Mr.  O'Connell  eligible  as  a  can- didate for  the  representation  of  Dublin,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  got  or gained  by  supporting  the  ascendency — or  lost  by  disobliging  the  decrepid corporation — the  major  voted  for  Mr.  O'Connell. Five-and-thirty  years  had  intervened  between  the  pillage  of  one  Catholic leader's  house,  and  the  lodging  of  its  owner  in  Newgate — and  the  giving of  his  vote  to  send  another  to  the  imperial  parliament.* The  latter  years  of  Major  Sirr  were  spent  in  collecting  curiosities,  books, *  The  house  of  Mr.  Thomas  Braughall,  of  Eccles  Street,  one  of  the  leading members  of  the  Catholic  Committee,  was  ransacked  by  the  major  in  1798,  and property  to  a  considerable  amount  was  destroyed  and  plundered.  Braughall  was then  about  70  years  of  age,  a  prisoner  in  Newgate. MAJOR    SANDYS.  481 and  pictures.  He  became  an  amateur,  and,  in  his  own  opinion,  a  connois- seur, of  works  of  art  and  virtu.  The  disposal  of  his  effects,  however at  his  decease,  showed  how  few  claims  he  had  to  the  latter  title.  He frequently  attended  the  book-auctions  at  the  sale-room  of  Mr.  Sharpe  of Anglesea  Street ;  and  not  very  long  before  his  death,  he  entered  the  sale- room just  as  Mr.  Moore's  work,  The  Life  and  Death  of  Lord  Edward Fitzgerald,  was  put  up  for  sale.  The  major's  appearance  at  the  moment of  the  casual  announcement  of  that  work,  caused  the  bidding  to  go  on briskly,  and,  among  the  bidders,  passing  comments  on  the  merits  of  the work  were  not  wanting.  The  major  on  that  occasion  made  no  addition  to his  library,  nor  was  his  stay  at  the  auction-room  of  long  duration. The  ruling  passion  of  domineering  over  the  humbler  classes,  he  indulged in  to  the  last,  or  at  least  endeavoured  so  to  do,  in  the  exercise  of  his  magis- terial authority ;  but  the  terror  of  his  influence  had  passed  away  with  the decline  of  the  supreme  legal  power  which  was  associated  in  men's  minds with  the  name  and  exploits  of  Major  Sirr  in  the  good  old  times  of  1798. He  died  on  the  11th  of  January,  1841,  and  was  interred  on  the  14th,  in Werburgh  Street  church-yard,  the  burial  place  of  his  family.  A  broken tombstone  over  his  remains,  and  those  of  his  father  and  brother-in-law, bears  the  following  inscription  : — "  The  place  of  burial Of  Major  Sirr  and  Humphrey  Minchin, 1790". In  the  same  place  of  interment,  in  one  of  the  vaults  of  Werburgh 's Church,  the  remains  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  are  deposited,  immediately under  the  chancel.  There  are  two  leaden  coffins  here,  laid  side  by  side  ; the  shorter  of  the  two  is  that  which  contains  the  remains  of  Lord  Edward Fitzgerald.  The  upper  part  of  the  leaden  coffin,  in  many  places,  has  be- come decayed  and  encrusted  with  a  white  powder,  and,  in  such  places,  the woollen  cloth  that  lines  the  inner  part  of  the  coffin  is  visible,  and  still  re- mains in  a  perfect  state. The  entrance  to  the  vault  where  the  remains  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald are  interred,  is  within  a  few  paces  of  the  grave  of  Charles  Edward  Sirr,  by whose  hand  the  former  perished.  The  desperate  struggle  which  took  place between  them,  the  one  survived  fifteen  days,  the  other  forty-three  years. Few  who  visit  the  place  where  they  are  interred,  will  recall  the  history  of both,  without  lamenting  the  errors  which  proved  fatal  to  the  life  of  Fitz- gerald, and  deploring  the  evils  of  the  calamitous  times  which  called  the services  of  such  a  man  as  Sirr  into  action. MAJOR    SANDYS. This  gentleman  served  as  a  captain  in  the  Longford  militia,  and  married a  daughter  of  Hamilton  Gorges,  Esq.,  of  Kilbrue.     His  connection  with this  once  opulent  and  respectable  family,  of  high  Tory  and  Protestant  ascen- vol.  i.  32 482  APPENDIX   IV. dency  principles,  procured  him  official  patronage.  Mr.  Edward  Cooke,  j Under-Secretary  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  had  married  another  daughter  of Mr.  Gorge's.  The  captain,  soon  after  his  marriage,  was  appointed  brigade- major  to  the  garrison  of  Dublin.  In  1797,  '98,  and  '99,  he  presided  over  the  s Prevot  Prison  in  the  Royal  Barracks,  a  filthy,  close,  dark,  and  pestilential  ] place  of  confinement,  with  a  small  court  yard,  and  some  ill-constructed  ! sheds,  set  up  to  afford  increased  accommodation  for  the  multitude  of  per-  | sons  daily  sent  to  the  depot. There  Major  Sandys,  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Under-Secretary  of  the  J Lord  Lieutenant  (one  of  the  most  thoroughly  wicked  and  wantonly  cruel of  the  renowned  triumvirate  of  majors  to  whom  the  administration  of  the system  of  terrorism  in  the  capital  was  committed)  exercised  his  brutal  in- stincts and  truculent  propensities  with  entire  impunity,  and  consequently  ; with  undisguised  effrontery. The  services  of  Sandys  and  his  companion  Sirr  were  not  confined  alone  ! to  the  detection  and  apprehension  of  those  who  were  charged  with  being  im* plicated  in  the  then  pending  conspiracy.     To  their  especial  discretion  was also  entrusted  the  procuration  and  maintenance  of  that  species  of  evidence which  it  was  necessary  to  produce  for  the  conviction  of  those  who  were accused   of  treasonable  acts.     In  this   pursuit  their  efforts  were  greatly aided  by  the  law ;  for,  it  was  held  that  the  evidence  of  a  single  witness was   sufficient  to  sustain  the  proof  of  an  overt  act  of  treason  in  Ireland,  ' although,  according  to  the  statute  law  in  England,  two  witnesses  were required  to  procure   a  conviction  for  high  treason   there.     Thus,   by  a  I designed  omission  of  the  clause  in  the  Irish  act,  the  informer's  tale  was disincumbered  of  that  check  which  the  absence  of  sufficient  corroboration or  the  contradictory  evidence  of  another  witness  might  afford. Major  Sandys  carried  on  a  regular  trade  in  the  official  advantages  of  his functions  in  the  prevot.     He  sold  indulgences  to  the  state  prisoners,  of  a little  more  than  the  ordinary  scant  allowances  of  air,  light,  and  food.     He sold  exemption  from  the  taws  and  the  triangles  for  money  and  for  goods,  ; for  every  marketable  commodity.     The  unfortunate  wretches  detained  for  ! courts-martial,  and  delivered  up  after  trial  and  condemnation,  usually  fell into  the  hands  of  this  monster.     A  young  man  named  Carroll,  who  was tried  by  court-martial  in  June,  1798,  but  not  yet  acquainted  with  the  de-  : cision  of  the  court,  consigned  to  the  tender  mercies  of  Sandys,  was  one day  eating  his  dinner  with  another  prisoner,  Mr.  William  Houston,  a  young surgeon,  who  had  belonged  to  Mercer's  Hospital,  when  he  was  startled  by the  sudden  appearance  of  Sandys  at  the  door,  calling  out  in  a  loud  voice — ■ , "  Carroll,  come  out;  you  are  to  be  hanged".    The  young  man,  terror-struck, threw  down  the  knife  and  fork  which  he  had  in  his  hands,  walked  out  of his  dungeon,  and  in  an  instant  the  rope  was  put  about  his  neck ;  he  was  ; forced  down  stairs,  while  Houston  supplicated  ineffectually  the  major  for  j a  respite  even  of  a  few  minutes,  in  order  to  have  a  priest  sent  for,  to  pre-  \ pare  his  young  companion  for  eternity.    He  was  thrust  on  a  car  which  was in  waiting  at  the  door  of  the  prevot,  conveyed  to  the  Old  Bridge,  and hanged  there  from  a  lamp  post. The  dawn  of  better  government  in  Ireland,  of  a  milder  administration  of justice  than  that  with  which  the  Orangemen  were  entrusted,  and  their WILLS  AND  KERR.  483 partizans  or  protegees — town-majors,  yeomanry  captains  and  lieutenants, and  police  magistrates — about  the  close  of  1802,  was  the  beginning  of a  dark  and  dismal  time  to  the  Sirrs,  Swans,  Sandys,  and  their  compeers. Their  consequence  to  the  state  was  gone;  their  former  crimes  against their  fellow-citizens  were  even  loathed  by  their  employers.     The  majors, in  the  execution  of  Jemmy  O'Brien,  saw  symptoms  of  a  revulsion  in  the |  feelings  of  men  in  power,  which  made  it  plain  that  the  reign  of  terrorism, ;  their  regime  of  blood,  was  over.     Sirr  gave  himself  up  to  "  the  fine  arts", |  the  police-court  (where  pickpockets  instead  of  rebels  engaged  his  worship's |  attention),  and  to  the  conventicles  of  the  saints  of  these  latter  days,  in  his j  native  city.     Swan  was  not  much  of  a  swaddler  or  a  saint ;  he  stalked 1  about  Dublin  for  some  years,  an  avoided  man,  with  a  cold,  unruffled,  and rather  defiant  look ;  a  man,  apparently,  of  callous  feelings,  but  without any  manifest  predilection  for  great  crime  for  its  own  sake. MAJOR    WILLS. "  Major"  John  Wills,  an  old  police  functionary,  a  magistrate  for  the counties  of  Dublin  and  Tipperary,  a  terrorist  of  1798,  an  eminent  pike finder,  rebel-hunter,  croppy-scourger,  and  of  late  years  an  active  pursuer of  rural  rogues  and  vagrants,  died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity,  at  his  residence near  Lucan,  in  the  early  part  of  1853,  leaving  property  to  the  amount  of upwards  of  £30,000.  His  merits  as  a  Protestant  ascendency  magistrate, ;  and  his  virtues  as  a  Christian,  were  made  the  subject  of  a  funeral  oration i  at  his  interment,  which  was  delivered  by  the  Eev.  Hugh  Prior,  of  the Priests'  Protection  Society,  over  his  remains.  Mr.  Wills  was  in  receipt  of a  pension  of  £600  a  year.  He  had  been  a  Serjeant  in  the  Longford militia;  he  held  an  undefinable  rank  of  major  unattached  in  the  army, but  qualified  to  be  sent  to  any  place  where  his  services  might  be  required, and  was  considered  on  permanent  duty.  His  remains  were  buried  in  St. Paul's  Church,  near  Barrack  Street. MR.    KERR. Mr.  Kerr,  of  Newtownards,  in  March,  1797,  was  arrested  and  sent  on board  a  tender,  subsequently  sent  to  jail,  and  while  in  confinement  became an  informer.  The  informations  he  laid  were  against  four  respectable  young- men  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  Personal  fear,  and  the  arts  of  the  major'** officials,  had  gained  another  member  for  the  battalion  in  Kerr.  He  was confined  in  the  same  jail  with  Neilson,  Teeling,  Russell,  and  M'Cracken ; and  a  few  days  before  the  trial  of  the  young  men  above  mentioned,  one  of the  state  prisoners  confined  in  Kilmainham  jail  (Charles  Teeling),  who was  somewhat  noted  for  his  powers  of  mimicry  and  personation  of  other people,  contrived  to  get  admission,  in  the  garb  of  a  clergyman,  to  the 484  APPENDIX    IV. remote  part  of  the  prison  where  Kerr  was  concealed.  Under  the  pretence of  ministering  to  his  spiritual  wants  and  making  him  sensible  of  his  former errors,  he  drew  such  a  frightful  picture  of  the  calamities  which  perjury  and treachery  were  calculated  to  draw  on  the  families  of  the  unfortunate  victims of  spies,  etc.,  that  Kerr,  stung  to  the  quick,  confessed  his  intentions  with respect  to  his  former  associates,  and  promised  that  nothing  would  ever induce  him  to  give  evidence  against  them  that  would  do  them  hurt.  The solemn-looking  gentleman  in  black  withdrew,  returned  to  his  companions, resumed  his  natural  sprightly  air,  and  told  the  result  of  his  first  efforts  in his  new  calling  :  "  We  have  rescued  four  men  from  death,  and  Kerr  from perdition".*  Kerr  kept  his  word  at  the  approaching  assizes ;  he  was,  as usual  on  such  occasions,  newly  dressed  for  the  witness-box  at  the  public expense,  taken  down  to  the  assizes,  escorted  by  a  troop  of  dragoons,  for the  informers  who  attended  at  the  assizes  were,  on  most  occasions  similarly attended ;  but  Kerr  could  not  be  got  to  swear  up  to  the  mark,  and  the  j men  were  accordingly  acquitted. FREDERICK    DUTTON. One  of  the  informers  who  rose  to  distinction  in  1798,  was  a  Mr.  Fre derick  Dutton,  a  native  of  England,  some  time  settled  at  Newry,  in  the north  of  Ireland.     His  services  were  called  into  requisition  on  grand  occa-  : sions,  such  as  at  the  trial  of  O'Connor,  Quigley,  Burns,  Allen,  and  Leary, in  the  May  of  1798.     Dutton  commenced  his  career  in  the  north,  and  was  i the  predecessor  of  Mr.  Newell.     He  had  been  a  servant  to  a  Mr.  Carlisle, and  discharged  on  an  accusation  of  theft.     He  then  became  an  informer, and  was  raised  by  Lord  Carhampton  to  the  rank  of  quarter-master  in  the corps  of  artillery  in  that  quarter,  in  the  years   1795  or  1796.     When O'Connor  and  his  companions  were   arrested  at  Margate,  a  treasonable paper  purporting  to  be  addressed  by  a  secret  political  society  in  Eugland  to  ! the  directory  in  France,  inviting  the  French  to  invade  England,  was  said to  have  been  found  in  the  pocket  of  Quigley.     It  was  produced  on  the  ' trial,  and  falsely  sworn  to  by  Dutton  (who  was  specially  sent  from  Dublin) as  being  in  the  handwriting  of  Quigley. The  author  has  reason  to  know  that  Quigley  was  a  member  of  the society  of  United  Irishmen,  but  he  had  no  connection  with  any  English society.  The  circumstance  of  a  treasonable  paper  of  this  kind  having been  left  in  the  pocket  of  a  great  coat  hung  up  in  a  public  coffee-room, was  an  evidence  of  folly  that  the  man's  character  repudiated,  and  to  the last  moment  of  his  life  he  persisted  in  declaring  that  paper  had  never  been in  his  possession.  The  fact  is,  the  coat  was  mistaken  for  O'Connor's :  it being  the  fashion  at  that  period  for  persons  of  rank  to  wear  powder,  it  was supposed  to  be  O'Connor's.  Quigley,  unfortunately  for  him,  did  wear powder,  and  the  circumstance  proved  fatal  to  him.  A  different  version  of this  affair  has  been  given  by  Mr.  Scott,  who  was  counsel  for  one  of  the prisoners  at  Maidstone. *  Teeling's  "  Narrative  of  the  Irish  Rebellion",  p.  80. DUTTOX.  485 The  miscreant  Newell,  in  his  autobiography,  thus  alludes  to  Mr.  Dutton: "  On  the  18th  of  November  I  received  the  following  production  of  that champion  of  religion  and  good  government,  and  of  which  the  town  and neighbourhood  of  Newry  can  bear  testimony — Dutton : — "  '  Dublin  Castle,  lGth  November,  1797. "  '  Dear  Brother — I  beg  leave  to  acquaint  you  that  I  arrived  here  last night.  There  appears  nothing  in  the  Press  either  with  or  against  us, therefore  I  don't  think  worth  while  to  send  it.  Should  any  new  thing make  its  appearance  in  the  paper  of  this  night,  I  shall  send  it  to-morrow night,  that  is  to  say,  if  I  do  not  sail  for  England  before  that.  Mr.  Kemmis, who  I  saw  last  night,  tells  me  there  is  no  less  than  five  writs  out  against j  me ;  therefore  you  may  well  suppose  if  they  should  once  lay  hold  of  your celebrated  brother,  he  will  be  as  happy  as  if  the  devil  had  him.  I  would be  glad  you  would  write  to  me  to  Emerald  House,  Wrixham,  near  Chester, and  let  me  kuow  what  you  are  up  to.  My  best  respects  to  the  Mur- dochs ;  I  hope  when  I  return  from  England  they  will  be  able  to  put  me  in the  way  of  earning  a  couple  of  hundreds ;  this  they  can't  be  off  doing,  if they  wish  to  befriend  me,  for  they  must  reasonably  suppose  that  poor  Dutton cannot  carry  on  all  those  lawsuits  without  a  great  deal  of  cash.     And where  in  the  name  of is  he  to  get  it  ?     I  hope  none  of  his  friends would  wish  him  to  be  hanged  for  robbing  the  mail-coach,  or  breaking  into some  of  the  banks  .  .  .  Tell  them  to  think  upon  this  business  ;  they have  until  the  9th  of  next  month.  Reflect  upon  it,  and  absolutely  they might  as  well  be  guilty  of  murder  as  to  neglect  it ;  for  I  must  fee  my council,  and  then  you  know  there  is  another  expense  which  I  have  not mentioned — ■  .  .  .  and  I  beg  leave  to  subscribe  myself "  '  Your  most  affectionate  and  celebrated  brother, "  '  Fred.  Dutton. «  <  p.S. — I  am  now  at  Smith's,  writing,  and  if  you'd  see  his  hair  stand- ing strait  up  on  his  head,  you'd  laugh,  at  my  telling  him  the  danger  he must  be  in  when  he  comes  into  court  to  give  in  evidence,  as  I  tell  him :  there  is  a  probability  that  some  one  or  other  may  absolutely  have  the boldness  to  shoot  him  in  open  court ;  he  firmly  believes  it  will  be  the case. "  '  Lieutenant  E.  J.  Newell,  Esq.,  9th  Light  Dragoons,  Belfast'". The  services  of  Mr.  Dutton  did  not  remain  unrewarded.  In  a  letter from  a  settler  in  one  of  the  most  flourishing  colonies  of  Australia,  addressed to  the  publisher  of  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  it  is  stated  that  Mr. Frederick  Dutton  obtained  an  official  situation  in  Holland,  connected  with the  British  government;  that  he  was  living  about  1840  at  Cuxhaven, married  to  a  second  wife,  a  step-daughter  of  the  late  William  Pollock, Esq.,  of  Newry,  and  holding  some  situation  in  the  post-office  department ; that  his  sons  went  to  Australia,  speculated  in  mines,  and  became  persons of  great  opulence  and  distinction  there. 48G  APPENDIX    IV NEWELL. John  Edward  Newell,  whose  autobiography  will  be  given  elsewhere,  i was  a  portrait-painter,  a  native  of  Downpatrick.  He  appears  to  have joined  the  society  of  United  Irishmen  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  him- self in  life.  He  acquired  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  his  new  business  to  i enter  into  correspondence  with  the  agents  of  the  government  in  the  spring of  1797.  When  he  had  obtained  a  good  deal  of  money  from  government, he  betrayed  his  employers,  and  published  his  correspondence  with  them. He  concludes  the  latter  in  these  words  : — "  Having  now  submitted  to  the  public,  in  my  own  illiterate  stile,  this production,  the  impartiality  and  truth  of  which  my  letters  of  corre- pondence  (seized  by  Alderman  Exshaw,  and  deposited  in  the  Castle)  will best  show ;  and,  if  this  voluntary  publication  of  my  own  infamy,  and  pro- claiming to  the  world  the  conduct  of  a  desperate  and  wicked  juueto,  can  in any  degree  make  a  restitution  for  the  perjuries  and  crimes  I  have  com- mitted, my  object  is  fully  answered  ;  and  with  every  respect  for  that  pub- lic to  which  I  have  been  so  great  a  traitor,  I  subscribe  myself  the  public's most  obedient  servant, "  E.  J.  Newell". Mr.  Newell  was  murdered  by  the  friends  of  those  whom  he  had brought  to  the  gallows. HUGH  WHEATLY. "  Eemember-Orr"  Wheatly. One  of  the  earliest  of  the  informers  was  a  soldier  in  a  militia  regiment, of  the  name  of  Wheatly,  who  commenced  his  career  as  a  witness  on  the trial  of  William  Orr,  who  was  executed  on  his  testimony  at  Carrickfergus in  1797.  Wheatly's  antecedents  were  by  no  means  good,  and  so  little trust  could  be  put  on  his  oath,  even  by  juries  of  the  right  sort,  that  it was  found  necessary  to  back  up  his  damaged  testimony  by  the  production of  other  witnesses  less  notoriously  discredited.  We  find  him  in  Ja- nuary, 1798,  among  the  tag-rag  and  bob-tail  of  the  major's  battalion, receiving  one  guinea  a  week  only  for  his  services.  However,  I  have reasou  to  believe  they  were  eventually  recognized  and  rewarded,  and  that a  son  of  this  meritorious  gentleman  was  known  to  me  in  another  hemis- phere. In  Western  Australia  I  was  acquainted  with  a  gentleman,  long  settled in  that  colony,  who  had  served  in  the  same  regiment  with  Wheatly,  and from  that  gentleman,  Captain  Hester,  I  received  the  following  information in  1844  :— WHEATLY  AND  M'gOWAN.  487 FROM  CAPTAIN  HESTER  TO  R.  R.  MADDEN,  RESPECTING  WHEATLY. "  Canning  River,  "Western  Australia. "  My   dear    Sir, — I   have    the   honour    to   acknowledge    your    note relative   to   the   late   Captain  Wheatly,   of  the  Royal  West  Middlesex Militia,  to   the  best  of  ray  recollection,  as  I  have  not  any  of  the  army lists   of  that   period.     In  answer  to  your  queries,   No.   1 — Where  did you    first   know  him?      At    Silver  Hill   Barracks,    Kent,   in   the  Royal West  Middlesex  Militia,   after  his  return  from  Egypt.     No.  2 — What regiment?     He  was  then  lieutenant,   and  wore  the  sphinx  on  his  cap. He  was  a  captain  in  1820.     No.  3 — What  aged  man?     In  1810  he  ap- peared between  thirty  and  forty.     No.  4 — How  did  he  get  his  commis- sion ?     I  cannot  say,  nor  could  any  of  the  officers.     No.  5 — What  cha- racter ?     Not  a  very  good  one,  being  very  dissipated.     He  swore  to  one woman  being  his  wife,  although  Ave  knew  to  the  contrary ;  and  the  gentle- man you  allude  to  was  the  son  of  one  of  them,  which  he  acknowledged  to  me when  he  visited  my  house  on  the  Canning.     Captain  Wheatly  was  a  very illiterate  man ;  he  could  scarcely  write  a  word.     He  came  from  the  north of  Ireland,  and  was  a  Protestant,  he  said.     No.  6 — What  was  his  gene- ral conduct  ?     He  was  commonly  called  the  old  rake.     When  I  was  last with  our  Colonel  Bayly  in  France,  and  was  returning  to  England,  Colonel Bayly  said  to  me  that  if  I  should  see  Captain  Wheatly  at  Margate,  not  to speak  to  him.     The  commanding  officers  appeared  always  in  fear  of  him. It  was  not  because  he  had  good  pistols,  for  he  never  used  them  himself, but  would  lend  them,  as  he  did  his  cash,  on  interest.     He  was  remark- able for  his  love  of  money  and  for  his  profligacy.     No.  7 — Was  Captain Wheatly  married?     No,  he  was  not.     No.  8 — Was  he  a  temperate  man? I  never  saw  him  drunk,  although  I  have  often  dined  at  the  mess  with him,  and  been  at  the  clubs  in  Ireland  with  him.     He  was  a  shiwd,  cun- ning man.     As  he  did  not  volunteer  to  serve  on  the  Continent,  I  lost sight  of  him  for  a  short  period.     I  saw  him  in  or  about  1827   at  Ux- bridge,   in   the   Royal  West  Middlesex  Militia,  where  he  was  arresting- some  of  his  countrymen  for  debt,  although  his  brother  officers. "  I  remain,  my  dear  Sir,  yours  very  respectfully, "  Thomas  Hester. "  To  the  Hon.  R.  R.  Madden,  Esq.,  Colonial  Secretary "  of  Western  Australia". m'gowan. M'Gowan,  a  Chelsea  prisoner,  appeared  in  January,  1798,  as  evidence against  against  John  Ferris,  charged  with  administering  an  unlawful  oath. On  his  cross-examination  by  Mr.  Curran,   he  admitted  that  he  came  from bridewell— that  he  was  kept  in  confinement.     Mr.   Curran  asked  him: " Pray,  who  sent  you  up  here?"    The  witness  prevaricated,  but  being 488  APPENDIX  IV. pressed,  he  answered  :  "  It  was  Major  Sirr  who  sent  me  here.  The  major took  me  prisoner  four  or  five  months  ago ;  I  was  then  brought  to  the Castle.  I  told  nothing  the  first  day.  I  was  threatened  with  being brought  to  a  court-martial.  I  can't  tell  whether  or  not  they  intended  to frighten  mo".  Being  asked,  "  if  he  had  never  been  threatened  with  being- hanged  in  the  riding-house,  if  he  did  not  inform  ",  his  answer  was,  "  Who told  you  that  ?"  The  solicitor-general  then  took  him  to  task,  and  he  said he  was  not  threatened  to  be  hanged  in  the  riding-house.  He  said  he  had been  an  United  Irishman ;  he  had  one  of  their  "  constitutions"  in  his  pos- session ;  had  lent  it  to  Mr.  Hepenstal,  who  returned  it  to  him,  and  he  had lost  it.     The  prisoner  was  acquitted. JOHN    HANLON. John  Hanlon,  in  1796,  swore  against  three  men  at  Athy  assizes,  who were  condemned  on  his  evidence  on  a  charge  of  Defenderism.  Imme- diately after  the  trial,  Hanlon  lodged  sworn  informations  against  twelve men  (including  John  Ratigan)  for  conspiring  to  murder  him.  In  the  in- dictment he  is  described  as  a  soldier  of  artillery.  Hanlon  held  a  subordi- nate office  in  the  Tower  :  he  was  one  of  the  persons  on  the  major's  permanent list.  In  1803  he  accompanied  the  major  to  a  house  in  the  liberty,  where information  had  been  received  of  one  of  Robert  Emmet's  principal  accom- plices, Henry  Howley,  being  concealed.  The  major,  with  his  ordinary prudence,  put  Hanlon  forward  to  arrest  a  man  known  to  be  of  a  most determined  character,  and  the  result  of  his  discretion  was,  that  Hanlon was  shot  by  Howley,  and,  like  unfortunate  Ryan,  lost  his  life,  and  the major,  in  both  instances,  remained  unhurt. The  names  of  the  informers  of  a  lower  grade,  and  the  acts  which  chiefly gained  them  notoriety,  are  briefly  noticed  here,  as  their  names  frequently occur  in  documents  that  have  reference  to  these  times. M'Cann  was  first  produced  by  the  major  on  the  trial  of  a  man of  the  name  of  Maguire ;  he  broke  down  in  his  testimony.  He  was one  of  Lord  Carhampton's  protegees.  Reference  having  been  made  on this  trial  to  O'Brien's  evidence,  the  major,  on  his  examination  respecting M'Cann's  testimony,  swore  that  "  he  thought  as  well  of  him  (M'Cann)  as of  O'Brien".     The  jury  believed  neither,  and  they  acquitted  the  prisoner. Conlan  was  an  apothecary  in  Dnudalk,  who  swore  against  his  own three  cousins  (a  father  and  his  two  sons),  who,  being  convicted  on  his evidence,  were  executed. William  Lawler  was  brought  forward  as  a  witness  against  the  Defenders, in  Dublin,  in  1795.  He  broke  down  in  his  testimony  on  Leaiy's  trial, and  the  prisoner  was  acquitted.* Mitchell,  one  of  the  major's  men,  lived  in  Ship  Street,  and  was  employed in  the  seizure  at  Finnerty's  office,  in  1797. *  "Dublin  Evening  Tost",  September  23,  1797. HANLON,  GRAY,  AND  WALSH.  489 James  Gray,  of  Tamlaght,  gave  evidence  at  the  Londonderry  assizes against  William  M'Keever,  in  September,  1797;  broke  down  in  his  evi- dence, and  the  prisoner  was  acquitted. Cooper,  whose  real  name  was  Morgan,  was  a  returned  convict  from transportation. Walsh  swore  against  a  young  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Clinch,  of Kathcoole,  the  preparation  for  whose  execution,  we  are  informed  by  Mr. Moore,  was  the  occasion  of  the  violent  excitement  of  poor  Lord  Edward Fitzgerald,  which  hastened  his  dissolution.  The  only  comment  on  Walsh's evidence  which  I  shall  offer,  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  addressed  to  his  father, immediately  before  his  execution,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  one  of  his friends,  still  living  in  Dublin.* "  Honoured  Father, "  I  expected  to  have  seen  or  heard  from  you  ere  this.  I fear  my  fate  is  determined  ;  I  am  told  I  am  to  suffer  death  this  day.  It would  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  see  you  before  I  die ;  and  if  you could  bring  or  send  a  priest  to  me,  I  think  I  could  then  die  happy :  at  all events,  I  will  meet  my  fate  with  fortitude. "  I  would  not  for  worlds  exchange  situations  with  Walsh,  my  prose- cutor, who  has  behaved  in  the  most  base  and  treacherous  manner,  and swore  to  several  falsehoods.  His  charges  were  as  follow: — That  I  swore him  to  be  true  to  the  French,  and  that  I  was  a  serjeant  in  the  rebels,  and attended  a  meeting  of  Serjeants,  to  elect  a  captain. — Dear  father,  I  assure you  the  foregoing  charges  are  false,  and,  as  I  hope  for  salvation,  I  declared the  truth  at  the  court-martial.  I  hope,  dear  father,  you  will  bear  this with  fortitude,  and  comfort  my  dear  mother  on  this  trying  occasion.  I feel  more  for  my  friends  than  myself.  My  love  to  my  dear  sister  Swords, Ann,  Kitty,  Fanny,  Alicia,  Michael,  and  Larrey,  and  my  brother-in-law, Swords.  As  I  am  preparing  for  that  awful  moment,  I  beg  you'll  excuse any  omission  on  my  side. "  I  am,  honoured  father,  your  ever  dutiful  and  now  unfortunate  son, "  John  Clinch. "Provost  Prison,  June  2,  1798, Eight  o'clock  in  the  morning." The  extent  to  which  the  system  of  espionage  was  carried  on,  will  now hardly  be  thought  credible. In  Sept.,  1797,  a  Mr.  Watkius,  in  the  Castle,  dieted  Messrs.  Newell, Murdoch,  Lowry,  Hayes,  Kane,  Harper,  Shaw,  O'Brien,  M'Dermott, Kavanagh. In  Jan.,  1798,  Wheatly,  Mitchell,  Grey,  Chapman,  Baynsham,  and Travers  were  on  the  major's  list,  at  one  guinea  a  week  each. In  April,  1  798,  Major  Sirr  employed  Doran,  M'Allister,  and  Magrath, attending  the  assizes. *b *  Mr.  Clinch  was,  I  believe,  the  brother  of  the  performer  of  his  name,  who  was the  most  distinguished  actor  of  the  day  in  Ireland.  His  principal  characters were  Beverley,  Oronooko,  Joseph  Surface,  Jacques,  etc.  He  was  in  vogue  in  Dublin in  1 792,  '93,  '94,  and  '90. 490  APPENDIX  IV. In  Jan.,  1799,  Grey,  Mitchell,  Bourke,  O'Neil,  Lindsay,  and  Chambers, were  the  major's  people. In  July,  1800,  Major  Sirr  paid  off  half  a  dozen  of  the  battalion, — Ed- ward Boyle,  Michael  Fagan,  Michael  Higgins,  Dan  Gore,  James  Murphy, John  Kearney. In  February,  1801,  Wheatly  was  paid  off. In  March,  same  year,  the  major  lost  the  services  of  his  friend  and  em- ployee, James  O'Brien,  who  was  committed  to  jail  on  a  charge  of  murder. In  July,  1801,  Chapman,  then  in  Cork,  was  paid  off  after  one  year  and one  mouth's  service. In  August,  1801,  Edward  Lennon  was  "sent  out  of  town"  by  Mr. Trevor. In  October,  1801,  Hanlon  was  employed  to  bury  Lennon. In  Dec,  1801,  Campbell  was  paid  for  the  use  of  his  rooms  in  the Castle,  for  Conlan  and  Hughes,  and  Major  Sirr  discharged  two  men  on  his list,  Avho  were  employed  in  the  country  at  one  guinea  each. In  Feb.,  1802,  Major  Sirr  came  to  a  final  settlement  with  John Beckett,  Mrs.  Lennon,  Mrs.  Dunn,  Charles  M'Gowan,  John  Kearney, and  Dan  Cart ,  in  full  of  their  claims. In  the  latter  part  of  the  same  month,  Major  Sirr  settled  also  with  Mrs. O'Brien,  John  Neil,  Francis  Devlin,  John  Coughlau,  and  J.  H.  Jackson. In  June,  1802,  Coleman  was  settled  with  in  full  of  all  claims. In  Oct.,  1802,  John  Conlan  and  E.  O'Neil  were  discharged. In  May,  1803,  Richard  Chapman  was  paid  off,  and  the  major's  people then  were,  Boyle,  Carroll,  Smith,  and  Farrell. In  Oct.,  1803,  Dr.  Trevor  paid  off  Ryan  and  Mahaffy,  and  Major  Sirr settled  with  Condon  for  informing  against  Howley. In  November,  1803,  the  major's  battalion  had  dwindled  down  to' Carroll,  Boylan,  and  a  few  miuor  miscreants,  and  at  the  end  of  that  month, they  likewise  were  paid  off,  and  the  major  appears  to  be  compelled  to "  abate  his  train",  and  to  have  experienced  the  fate  of  Lear  at  the  hands of  Goneril. 401 APPENDIX    V. CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THE  SPIES  AND  INFORMERS,  CHIEFLY OF  1798  AND  1803,  WITH  THEIR  EMPLOYER,  MAJOR  SIRR. The  following  extracts  from  the  volumes  referred  to  in  this  work,  contain the  suhstance  of  some  of  the  communications  addressed  to  the  major  by  the various  members  of  his  Battalion  of  Testimony,  chiefly  in  the  year  1803. These  volumes,  containing  the  original  correspondence,  after  the  major's death,  were  secured  by  the  trustees  of  Trinity  College,  and  are  now  depo- sited in  the  College  Library,  but  are  kept  with  so  mnch  care  as  to  be  very inaccessible  to  readers  who  are  not  of  the  elect  in  College  politics. DR.  CONLAN's  INFORMATION  AGAINST  NICHOLAS  MARKEY. Dr.  Conlan  states,  that  at  the  prosecution  of  Messrs.  Marmion  and Hoey  in  Drogheda,  he  proved  that  James  Nelly,  of  the  Blackrock,  near Dundalk,  received  the  Barmeath  rebel  returns  from  Nicholas  Markey,  who was  and  is  in  Sir  —  Bellew's  corps,  which  stated  that  the  entire  corps,  save three  or  four  men,  were  rebels.  Marmion  and  Hoey  were  convicted  and hanged.  This  is  on  record.  Mr.  M'Intaggert,  of  Drogheda,  was  agent for  the  crown.  Matthew  Read,  the  permanent  serjeant,  was  also  im- plicated.* A  LIST,    SIGNED    BY  THE  MAJOR,  OF  PERSONS  IN  THE  PROVOST  TO    BE  SENT  ON BOARD. (The  list  includes  fifty-three  names.) MEMORANDUM  RESPECTING  W.  P.  MeCABE. Goes  by  the  name  of  Wm.  Craig,  or  Montgomery ;  has  a  handsome bright  chesnut  mare,  new  saddle ;  possibly  is  at  Russel's,  where  the  mare *  It  appears  by  a  subsequent  document  that  Markey  was  a  serjeant  of  the yeomanry  corps  of  Barmeath,  had  been  in  jail  on  a  charge  of  treason,  and  that Mr.  M'Intaggert  was  mayor  of  Drogheda. 4U2  APPENDIX    V. is,  at  Bagenal  Harvey's,  or  at  Kirwan  and  Andrew's,  Bride  Street,  mercers. Wears  gray  pantaloons,  buttons  outside,  light  coloured  coat,  made  in  the fashion. VARIOUS  MEMORANDA  OF  THE  MAJOR. Rattigan,  when  proclaimed,  wa3  sheltered  at  Dillon's,  a  calendrer,  of Donnybrook,  and  Dillon  gave  M'Mahon  a  horse  to  go  to  the  rebel  camp. Fitzpatrick  at  Surgeon  Wright's  is  a  captain. M'Mahon  had  to  pass  his  note,  payable  at  the  end  of  the  war,  to  the people  of  the  mountain  for  provisions,  etc.,  etc. for  making  gunpowder  was  bought  by  Wright  for  M'Mahon. THE  PREVOST. A  list  of  persons  in  the  prevost  who  ought  to  be  discharged  unless  there is  some  charge  brought  against  them.     (It  includes  125.) Baronial  (that  meet  at  3  Schoolhouse  Lane  : — Thomas  Connor,  87  Cook  Street,  president. John  Harding,  carpenter,  Corn  Market,  treasurer. John  Steel,  Wormwood  Gate,  New  Row  (illegible). William  Woods,  wire  drawer,  7  Plunket  Street. Frederick  Bark,  3  Pembroke  Court,  Castle  Street,  silversmith. John  Bulger,  Chancery  Lane,  shoemaker. Jonathan  O'Brien,  shoemaker,  Golden  Lane,  Bride  Street. Benjamin  Fitzgerald,  silversmith,  Cole  Alley,  captain. Adam  Murphy,  28  Fishamble  Street,  shoemaker. Deegan,  Fisher's  Alley,  entrance  8  Coal  Quay,  smith. Mullen,  Abbey  Street,  shoemaker. Pat  Hyland,  wire  drawer,  Lower  Cook  Street. John  Lumley,  Red  Cow,  near  Rathcoole. Pat  Neil,  Bluebell. Rooney,  butcher,  opposite  St.  Patrick's  (Patrick's  Market). Phil  Power,  Patrick's  Market,  butcher. Burk,  dairyman,  near  fountain,  James's  Street. Thomas  M'Laughlin,  carpenter,  ditto. M.  Cable,  shoemaker,  Back  Lane. L.  G.,  secretary. Charles  Byrne,  treasurer. George  Cartwright,  35  High  Street. George  Robinson,  Dolphin's  Barn. James  Byrne,  Back  Lane. John  O'Donnell,  High  Street. James  Moore,  Dolphin's  Barn. Thomas  Byrne,  tailor,  George's  Street. Murphy,  55  High  Street. Macleroth,  182  Church  Street. Barney  Kavenagh,  87  Cook  Street. major  sirr's  papers.  493 INFORMATION    TO    THE    MAJOR. The  writer  states  that  in  or  about  the  1st  of  August,  1797,  he  met  John Dillon,  Michael  Shaughnessy,  Thomas  Darcy,  and  Thomas  James,  at  a public-house  in  Fleet  Street  Lane.  They  addressed  him  and  said  :  "  We have  finished  Campbell" ;  and  showed  him  his  blood  upon  their  stockings. Shaughnessy,  whom  Campbell  was  desirous  of  getting  to  join  him  in  giving information,  called  a  meeting  in  Fleet  Street  Lane,  to  appoint  the  above meeting.  James  Jackson  was  at  the  meeting;  it  was  composed  of  about  nine persons,  and  the  above  four  were  appointed  to  murder  Campbell. — No  name. m'cabe,  the  informer  respecting  neilson's  capture. Charles  O'Hara,  now  dead,  was  appointed  to  command  (the  United Irishmen  of  Dublin),  in  the  room  of  Samuel  Neilson,  when  he  was  taken in  May,  1798.  Patrick  M'Cabe. PATRICK  m'cABe's  INFORMATION. Arthur  Hill,  silk  weaver,  corner  of  Carman's  Hall,  lived  with  Murray, who  now  lives  at  the  corner  of  Hope  Lane,  Francis  Street.  John  Allen, who  lived  with  Mark  Nugent,  80  Francis  Street,  and  served  his  time  to M.  O'Brien,  woollen  draper,  Francis  Street.  Eoss  Burn,  7  Francis  Street, woollen  draper.  These  men  were  with  Arthur  O'Connor  and  Quigley, when  taken  in  England.  Hill  went  by  the  name  of  White ;  Allen  by  the name  of  Alley ;  Ross  Burn  by  his  own  name,  and  were  all  destined  for France.  P.  M'Cabe.* thomas  jackson's  informations. Thomas  Jackson,  of  Cuffe  Street,  porter  to  M'Donnell,  grocer,  volun- teered against  his  own  society,  and  peached  on  them  all,  gave  a  list  of names,  residences,  etc.,  on  8th  May,  1798,  his  own  master  amongst  the rest,  who  was  the  person  who  swore  him. The  only  remarkable  person  was  "  Cullen,  of  the  Lawyer's  Artillery, son-in-law  of  Mr.  North,  Camden  Street". In  a  list  of  nine  persons  committed  to  the  tower  for  high  treason,  all  by Major  Sirr,  save  Cloney,  of  Craig,  I  find  Robert  Holmes,  aged  37,  Donny- *  Patrick  M'Cabe,  a  calendrer  of  Francis  Street,  was  the  writer  of  the above  letter.  He  was  an  informer  of  some  note  and  standing,  to  the  author's knowledge,  in  his  class. 494 APPENDIX  V. brook,  barrister,  29th  July ;  Thomas  Cloney,  aged  20,  Graig,  gentleman, 8th  November;  David  Fitzgerald,  18  Crow  Street,  merchant,  22nd November.  The  other  six  for  same  offence,  but  marked  as  witnesses  for the  crown.  Robert  Holmes  was  the  eminent  barrister  of  that  name. Thomas  Cloney  was  the  rebel  general ;  and  David  Fitzgerald,  the  father of  the  present  Right  Ilonble.  J.  D.  Fitzgerald,  Attorney  General.— Fear not  given. Michael  Donnelly,  of  Marystown,  Cooksborough,  was  sworn  a  United Irishman  by  M.  Fagan,  Mullingar;  was  appointed  captain  of  barony  of Maghera,  about  April  last.  (Gives  a  list  of  nine  sergeants).  He  went to  Mullingar  to  give  in  his  return.     Present,  M'Cabe,  Belfast,  etc. He  then  details  the  preparations  to  take  Mullingar.  A  Mr.  William Ogle  was  to  have  headed  the  men  in  the  attack. ANDERSON  S  INFORMATION. Fitzgerald,  a  silversmith,  works  in  Skinner  Row,  a  private  in  the  Ro- tundo  division,  was  appointed  a  captain  of  a  division  on  Tuesday,  and  has got  his  command.  Burke,  a  silversmith  in  Pembroke  Court,  is  appointed Serjeant  to  the  same  division. Every  man  is  ordered  to  provide  himself  with  a  blanket,  a  haversack,  a banner  for  their  pike,  and  a  week's  provisions ;  the  townsmen  to  act  in  the country,  and  the  countrymen  to  act  in  the  town. A  full  baronial  are  to  meet  on  Monday  evening  next,  at  eight  o'clock, No.  3  Schoolhouse  Lane.  As  they  are  now  so  numerous,  a  split  must  take place.     The  pass-word  for  that  night,  Field. A  subscription  was  opened  this  day  for  Turner,  the  proprietor  of  the forge  where  the  pike-makers  were  taken  at  work,  to  send  him  out  of  the way,  to  prevent  his  appearing  to  prosecute  the  pike-makers. Kilmore  Smith,  Dolphin's  Barn,  is  making  pikes  from  nine  to  eleven  at night,  the  only  time  to  catch  him  at  work. GREEN  DIVISION,  NO.   12. April  23. — A  baronial  meeting  took  place  at  No.  3  Schoolhouse  Lane, at  Colbert's,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  fourteen  in  number  ap- peared ;  Thomas  Cannon,  a  tailor,  in  the  chair.  Present,  two.  P.  Fitz- patrick,  yeoman  in  Stephen's  Green  division,  a  serjeant  iu  United  Irishmen. [Enumerates  the  others.]  Collected  money  for  expenses,  and  ordered  a meeting  on  Tuesday  at  eight  o'clock,  to  elect  a  captain.  Strength  of  the city,  8,700,  and  500  stand  of  arms  for  the  Green  division,  and  2,500 pikes.  Thomas  Connor  is  the  principal  man,  and  is  to  give  out  the  arms. Burke  drilled  a  number  of  men   yesterday  evening   (Sunday),  between major  sirr's  papers.  495 Harold's  Cross  and  Dolphin's  Barn,  opposite  a  stone-quarry,  four-edged daggers  are  making,  supposed  by  Burke.* MEMORANDUM  OF  MAJOR  SIRR. Dublin  Castle,  March  29,  1798. Henry  Medcalf,  of  Elbow  Lane,  Meath  Street,  in  the  county  of  Dublin, came  before  me  this  day,  and  gave  information,  that  he  knows  Mr.  Harris, of  Cole  Alley,  Meath  Street,  ribbon  weaver,  and  from  seditious  and  trea- sonable expressions  which  he  often  heard  said  Harris  make  use  of,  he  has good  reason  to  believe  him  to  be  a  U.  I.  M.,  and  has  heard  him  declare he  was  one  and  ready  to  take  down  any  bloody  Orangeman  or  any  person well  affected  to  the  king.f to  major  sirr,  from  thomas  0  hara. Honoured  Sir, With  profound  gratitude  and  respect  I  once  more  beg  leave  to  ad- dress your  goodness.  As  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  was  not  at  your  honour's desire  that  I  was  prosecuted  by  Mr.  Mitchell  (the  engraver),  on  whose evidence  I  was  found  guilty,  I  still  entertain  strong  hope  and  reliance  on your  kind  promise  to  me  (let  what  will  be  the  consequence  of  my  trial, you  would  befriend  me  after),  and,  honoured  sir,  rest  assured  I  am  well convinced  of  your  great  benevolence  towards  my  unfortunate  wife  and children.  Likewise,  if  your  honour  but  once  looked  back  to  my  unfortu- nate situation,  I  am  persuaded  you  would  redress  me,  as  I  am  confident that  the  smallest  application  by  your  honour's  interference  would  liberate me,  as  I  know  it  is  not  your  desire  that  I  should  be  abandoned  to  all social  society,  and  become  a  victim  to  the  most  obscene  companions  that Ireland  could  produce ;  and  if  it  should  be  my  good  hap  to  obtain  my  in- valuable liberty,  and  your  honour  but  to  take  me  into  your  protection,  you shall  find  in  me  an  acquisition  that  will  make  an  attonement  sufficient  to compensate  for  my  former  proceedings,  and  also  any  trouble  your  honour is  pleased  to  take  with  me,  as  I  shall  walk  from  henceforth  in  the  path  of truth  and  virtue.  This  is  my  fixed  resolution,  which  I  shall  faithfully keep,  relying  on  your  honour's  clemency  to  liberate  me  from  bondage.  I have  only  to  add,  that  I  feel  an  inevitable  impulse  to  cherish  the  most sanguine  hope  that  this  supplication,  as  my  last  effort,  will  be  attended with  a  favourable  issue  in  reception,  and  thereby  crown  the  labours  of  a life  that  shall  be  devoted  to  your  command,  which  I  trust  will  be  con- sidered laudable  in  its  principle  and  agreeable  in  its  effect,  and  secure  to *  Anderson  elsewhere  says  that  Burke  has  engaged  to  get  arms  out  of  the  Ord- nance, to  give  a  case  of  pistols  for  lis.  6d.,  and  aU  other  kinds  of  arms  at  like value.    Duigan,  of Alley,  engaged  to  find  bullets  and  lead. t  Major  Sirr's  handwriting. 496  APPENDIX  V. TO  MAJOR  SIRR,  FROM  THOMAS  0  HARA. Honoured  Sir, — Animated  with  a  lively  sense  of  your  honour's  kind advice  to  me  against  having  anything  to  do  with  forgery,  and  yet  I  have persevered,  contrary  to  your  kind  advice,  whereby  my  apparatus  and  ma- chinery, together  with  my  person,  were  discovered  and  brought  to  justice by  your  honour's  promptitude  and  vigilance,  and  also  my  accusation  justly founded,  in  consequence  of  which  I  was  sent  to  Geneva,  agreeable  to  the laws  of  my  king  and  country ;  and  notwithstanding  my  present  predica- ment, I  absolutely  consider  myself  happy  to  be  arrested  timely  from  so unwarrantable  and  illegal  practice  as  I  was  in  the  habit  of  prior  to  my arrest,  wherein  my  life  and  my  soul  was  in  peril.  Therefore,  if  your honour  will  use  your  influence  with  government  in  my  behalf,  so  as  to  have me  liberated,  I  will  arrange  such  projects,  by  having  means  provided  (with the  assistance  of  your  letters),  as  will  suppress  the  entire  system  of  forgery in  the  above-mentioned  towns,  and  likewise  throughout  this  kingdom  (pro- viso that  my  name  will  be  kept  secret),  as  I  will  have  a  general  recourse to  my  former  correspondence,  who  are  now  in  the  habit  of  buying  these notes  from  those  who  manufacture  them,  and  sell  them  again  to  country merchants  and  jobbers  at  a  very  advanced  price  or  double  profit.  As  these persous  will  consider  me  in  the  usual  habit  I  was  in  heretofore,  I  am certain  they  will  not  hide  anything  from  me,  but  communicate  openly  to me  their  mind  without  reserve,  and  also  in  consequence  of  which  fami- liarity I  will  be  enabled  to  suppress  the  entire  fabrication  of  counterfeit bank-note  making  in  the  above  said  places,  that  is  not  immediately  under your  vigilant  eye.     I  have  wrote  this  letter  at  the  request  of  some  of  the me  your  sanction  and  encouragement,  to  merit  which  will  be  my  highest ambition,  and  the  ultimate  end  of  my  pursuits  through  life. I  have  the  honour  to  subscribe  myself,  honoured  Sir, Your  most  devoted  and  very  humble  supplicant, Thomas  O'Hara. Geneva  Barrack, 18th  August,  1800. P.S. — At  your  honour's  discretion  I  would  leave  the  kingdom  if  libe- rated, but  most  certainly  you  would  not  require  it,  as  I  would  be  of  the most  essential  service  to  your  honour  in  the  city,  more  so  than  you  can  at present  imagine.  I  hope  your  honour  will  excuse  my  incoherent  lines,  and also  the  length  of  this  letter. ^gp3  I  trust  your  honour  will  be  pleased  to  give  your  answer  to  the within  letter  to  William  Simpson,  New  Prison,  who  will  transmit  it  to  me by  post.  N.B. — As  to  my  behaviour  since  I  arrived  at  Geneva,  Colonel Hall,  who  commands  the  Devon  and  Cornwall  regiments  of  Fencibles,  will give  me  a  character  during  his  time  of  required. To  Major  Henry  C.  Sirr,  Castle,  Dublin. Waterford  post -mark. major  sirr's  papers.  497 officers  now  in  Geneva,  who  are  very  desirous  to  have  the  men  appre- hended who  made  their  escape  from  Geneva.  [The  writer  then  proceeds to  state  his  ability,  and  the  zeal  he  would  use  to  have  them  recaptured.] As  my  property  is  totally  done  away,  I  trust  your  honour  will  use  your influence  (if  you  will  tolerate  me)  with  government  that  I  may  be  liable  to receive  a  yearly  salary  to  enable  me  to  support  self  and  family,  which yearly  salary  I  will  not  demand  until  government  and  your  honour  will  be satisfied  that  I  have  merited  it  by  supporting  and  performing  my  promise, agreeable  to  the  contents  of  this  letter. Your  honour  will  please  to  give  your  answer  to  Leonard  M'Nally,  Esq., No.  20  Harcourt  Street,  Dublin,  or  to Thomas  O'Hara. Geneva,  Nov.  11,  1800. FROM  J.  BIRD  TO  MAJOR  SIRR. Sir, — On  the  enclosed  sheets  are  the  particulars  that  befell  me  from the  hour  I  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  quit  the  government  till  the  period  I was  brought  back  a  prisoner.  I  have  taken  the  utmost  care  to  omit nothing  material,  or  write  aught  but  facts,  and  if  it  can  by  any  means  tend to  expiate  the  offences  I  was  rash  enough  to  commit,  it  would  prove  a great  consolation  to  my  mind.  Could  the  power  of  man  extend  so  far  as to  recall  a  past  event,  there  is  no  sacrifice  I  would  not  willingly  submit  to, could  it  tend  to  eradicate  the  unmerited  insult  which,  swayed  by  factious men  and  mistaken  resentment,  I  committed  against  you.  I  repent  it  with sincere  regret,  and  were  not  your  mind  infinitely  superior  to  your  vile  tra- ducers,  I  had  experienced  treatment  very  different  from  the  indulgence  (my conduct  considered)  I  have  met  with. I  should,  sir,  have  sent  this  account  long  since,  but  the  close  confine- ment, and  occasional  foul  air  caused  by  under  drains,  etc.,  have  at  times  so affected  my  head  as  to  incapacitate  me  from  writing  for  a  day  or  two together. O'Brien  called  on  me  yesterday,  to  know  if  I  knew  of  any  treasonable conduct  of  Joseph  Leeson.*  From  personal  knowledge,  I  am  sorry  to  say  I do  not,  but  am  certain  that  himself  and  hypocritical  brother  were  the  chief agitators  that  first  seduced  from  their  allegiance  the  peasantry  of  the  county of  Wicklow,  bordering  on  their  uncle's  estates ;  and  a  great  pity  it  is  that while  the  numerous  and  miserable  victims  to  their  infernal  ambition  are  en- veloped in  every  species  of  destruction,  those  demagogues,  whose  baleful influence  and  example  first  corrupted  them,  should  escape  that  punishment they  so  richly  merit. *  The  "Joseph  Leeson"  so  cavalierly  referred  to  by  the  miscreant  informer Bird,  and  carefully  inquired  after  by  the  other  miscreant  in  the  service  of  Major Sirr,  Mr.  J.  O'Brien,  was  the  Honourable  Joseph  Leeson,  of  the  county  Wicklow, grandson  of  the  Earl  of  Miltown.  Mr.  Leeson,  in  1798,  married  Emily,  daughter of  Archibald  Douglass,  grand-daughter  of  General  Douglass.  The  present  earl, the  eldest  son  of  the  preceding  and  fourth  Earl  of  Miltown,  was  born  in  1799; his  brother,  Henry,  was  born  in  1800,  and  his  sister,  Cecilia,  in  1801.  The  widow of  the  Right  Honourable  Joseph  Leeson  married,  secondly,  Valentine,  Lord  Clon- curry,  and  died  on  the  15th  of  January,  1841.— R.  R.  M. vol.  i.  33 498  APPENDIX    V. I  am,  sir,  with    respect  and  gratitude,  your  most    obedient,  humble servant,  Bird. Henry  Charles  Sirr,  Esq. (No  date). BIRD  S  STATEMENT. Referred  to  in  the  preceding  letter. Miles  Dignam. — The  first  time  I  ever  was  in  his  company  was  at  Mr. Hoyte's  house,  Peter's  Place,  the  use  of  which  was  given  to  me  by  Mr. Hoyte,  as  soon  as  I  quitted  Mr.  Moore's.     Nothing  material  happened there,  but  he  soon  became  more  intimate,   and  told  me  I  was  lucky  in acting  as  I  had,  for  that  times  were  changing,  and  that  the  leaders  of  the United  Irishmen  had  infinitely  more  trouble  to  keep  them  quiet  than  the government.     He  recommended  it  to  me  to  publish  my  memoirs  with  all  ] possible  speed,  or  I  would  reap  little  benefit  by  so  doing,  for  that  the  i people  were  now  more  inclined  to  fight  than  read,  and  that  he  could  not  ' tell  one  day  before  another  on  which  the  insurrection  might  begin.     He  : asked  me  was  I  conversant  in  military  tactics.     I  answered  in  the  nega-  ! tive.     He  was  pleased  to  tell  me  I  was  clever  at  the  pen,  and  knew  the Castle  well ;  could  I  not  have  a  plan  for  the  taking  of  it,  and  give  it  to  j him,  and  he  would  give  it  for  inspection  to  the  military  committee,  who,  • he  said,  would  examine  every  plan  offered,  and  from  the  whole  extract  the  ' best.     I  told  him  I  would  attempt  it,  but  I  never  did  so.     Very  soon  after  ; this,  he  (Dignam)  informed  me  that  a  plan  was  formed  for  the  capture  of Dublin.     He  explained  it  to  me  as  follows,  viz.  : — As  soon  as  the  inhabi-  I tants  of  Dublin  were  ready  to  revolt,  notice  was  to  be  given  to  the  six adjoining  counties,  within  three  hours'  march,  to  send  in  four  thousand men  each  (which  number  he  said  were  to  be  formed  within  six  miles  of Dublin,  and  could  reach  it  in  at  least  two  hours,  on  a  pinch),  12,000  of  ■ whom  were  to  assist  the  citizens  of  Dublin  against  their  infernal  enemies ; the  remaining  12,000  to  keep  off  the  soldiers  in  the  country  from  assisting those  in  the  town.     Of  the  success  of  this  plan  he  seemed  very  confident, but  of  another  he  seemed  still  more  so,  could  it  be  properly  reduced  to shape,  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  Dublin,  which,  after  explaining  the outlines,  he  also  invited  me  to  prepare.     This  plan  was  as  follows : — As soon  as  the  executive  should  deem  themselves  strong  enough  to  begin  the insurrection,  notice  should  be  sent  by  confidential  persons  from  the  pro-  , vinces  to  the  counties,  thence  to  the  baronial  committees,  commanding  every barony  to  revolt  at  the  same  hour,  and  to  secure  the  persons  of  conse- quence resident  therein,  as  hostages  for  the  safety  of  the  prisoners,  as  well as  to  prevent  the  army  from  firing  on  the  United  Irishmen,  which  in  that case  could  not  fire  on  them  without  killing  their  own  friends.     This  plan he  called  a  very  humane  one,  as  it  would  prevent  a  vast  effusion  of  blood.    - I  called  on  Mr.  Dignam  one  evening,  on  my  return  from  Fingall,  where I  had  been  in  company  with  M'Derrnott,  to  seek  lodgings.      I  found  him  i at  home,  in  high  spirits,   owing,   as  he  said,  to  the  flourishing  state  of affairs.     The  returns  from  Munster,  he  said,  were  just  arrived :  1 1,000  ' MAJOR  SIRRS  PAPERS.  499 infantry  and  900  horse,  he  said,  were  ready  any  moment  they  might  be wanting,  well  armed  and  well  equipped.  He  asked  me  had  I  seen  the military,  but  I  answered  I  had  not ;  he  handed  over  a  list  of  tests,  printed on  c  [in  MS.]  fine  paper,  I  believe,  about  four  inches  wide,  the  purpose of  which,  I  think,  was  to  keep  the  United  Irishmen  from  rising,  without order  from  their  superior  officers,  as  it  began  with  privates,  and  extended up  to  the  colonels,  etc.  He  was  telling  me  things  of  this  sort,  very  rapidly talking,  of  the  Castle,  etc.,  etc.,  when  I  [illegible — qy.  hindered  or  stopped] him  on  account  of  M'Dermott,  in  whom  I  did  not  wish  to  confide ;  he  then sent  him  for  a  coach,  in  which  I  and  M'Dermott  returned  to  Old  Merrion. O'Brien's  affair  happened  in  three  days  after  this,  of  which  I  wrote  to Dignam,  as  before  related.  He  came  to  me  in  the  evening,  not  rightly understanding  the  affair,  as  I  wrote  to  him  about  the  arms  in  an  obscure manner.  I  told  him  the  particulars,  and  that  I  wished  O'Brien  and  him- self to  settle  about  them.  I  saw  Dignam  after  this  once  more :  he  came to  receive  orders  for  such  things  as  I  would  have  occasion  for.  He  said my  bill  was  near  thirty  pounds,  and  that  some  of  my  friends  seemed  to think  him  foolish  to  trust  me  when  I  had  no  means  of  payment :  but  he said  he  would  \_qy.  not?]  deny  me.  He  told  me  he  had  entered  into  the military  department,  and  had  little  doubt  but  he  would  lose  his  life  in  the business :  in  which  case,  he  instructed  me  to  remember  his  children,  and he  took  his  leave  of  me  and  my  wife  in  the  most  affectionate  manner. This  was  in  the  evening,  previous  to  my  quitting  my  lodgings  at  Mr. M'Dermott's,  since  which  I  never  saw  him,  but  heard  from  him  once  or  twice. COMMUNICATION  OF  BIRD  TO  THE  MAJOR  RESPECTING  ROBERT  WHITE,  PRINTER. In  a  former  paper  I  gave  some  details  of  this  person,  who  has  done  as much  to  the  injury  of  the  crown  as  any  of  his  capacity  could.     He  told me  he  had  a  private  printing  press  in  his  mother's  house,  in  a  back  and i  very  private  apartment,  and  used  to  print  and  circulate  a  vast  number  of I  inflammatory  hand-bills,  [a  word  illegible]  song-books,  etc.  He  was  veryinti- .  mate  with  M'Dermott ;  he  was  lately  in  danger  of  being  taken,  on  account of  some  song-books  he  sold  to  a  retailer,  who,  if  taken  (he  was  sworn against),  he  was  afraid  would  inform  against  himself.     He  once  gave  me to  understand  he  knew  all  about  the  printing  of  the  Union  Star. The  paper  above  alluded  to  is  the  following : — One  Maguire,  curate  to Conolly,  parish-priest  of  the  Blackrock,  with  whom  I  became  acquainted j  at  Mrs.  M'Dermott's,  Old  Merrion,  told  me  that  he  had  been  very  active ;  in  the  county  Wicklow,  and  had  put  a  great  many  up.      He  said  there :  was  at  least  13,000  pikes  in  that  county,  which  was  properly  organized ; j  that  all  the  Portarlington  corps  of  yeomanry  was  up,  except  nine.     He 1  gave  me  a  printed  paper  purporting  to'  be  an  order  from  the  committee  of the  city  of  Dublin,  ordering  the   people  to   organize  and  arm  with  all possible  despatch ;  to  organize  themselves  into  divisions  of  twelve  each, and  a  secretary,  as  near  neighbours  as  possible,  to  defeat  spies  and  in- formers ;  ordered  them  to  be  steady,  ready,   determined,  etc.,  etc.     He 500  APPENDIX    V. told  me  he  was  after  a  visit  to  Lord  Edward  F.,  in  whose  praise  he  was profuse ;  said  there  would  be  a  committee  for  the  county  of  Dublin  meet next  day.  He  assured  me  that  in  case  Arthur  O'Connor  should  be  trans- mitted from  England,  an  attempt  by  armed  boats  would  be  made  to  rescue him,  I  think  at  the  Head.  He  was  likewise  acquainted  with  Dignam,  who had  just  before  told  me  the  returns  of  Munster  were  received.  He  asked me  did  I  know  who  brought  them ;  I  replied  not.  "  I  suppose",  says Maguire,  "'twas  a  Captain  Morris*  who  is  very  active  in  that  country, and  wants  to  get  into  the  provincial,  and  has  been  in  the  French  service.  I He  told  me  that  Connolly,  his  priest,  was  to  sit  with  the  committee  which was  taken  at  Bond's  house,  and  had  a  very  narrow  escape,  etc.,  etc. William  M'Dermott  and  all  his  family  spoke  of  this  Maguire  as  a  very staunch  republican,  before  I  saw  him.  Said  that,  when  he  was  reading the  prayer  for  the  royal  family,  he  used  at  times,  as  by  a  mistake,  to  pray for  George  II.,  George  IV.,  etc.,  etc. A  few  days  before  I  quitted  Old  Merrion,  a  young  man  named  O'Brien came  to  me,  saying  that  he  heard  I  was  connected  with  the  heads  of  the United  Irishmen,  and  he  wanted  to  speak  to  me  on  particular  business, which  was  respecting  some  arms  which  were  offered  to  him  by  a  person  in or  near  Loughlinstown  camp.     This  person,  he  said,  got  together  by  some means  or  other  about  160  muskets  and  5,000  rounds  of  ball  cartridge, which  he  wished  to  dispose  of  to  the  United  Irishmen  at  prime  cost,  or even  to  let  them  have  them  on  any  terms  to  be  rid  of  them,  but  knew  not who  to  apply  to.     I  told  him  I  wondered  how  he  could  possibly  get  so much  ammunition  without  being  detected.     I  believe  he  replied,  the  person  | served  the  officers  with  wine  and  liquor,  and  he  supposed  he  might  pro- cure them  from  deserters  or  the  stores,  but  be  that  as  it  would,  he  had  the arms,  etc.,  and  wished  to  put  them  out  of  his  custody.     I  told  him  I  had nothing  to  do  with  it  myself,  but  would  recommend  him  to  Miles  Dignam,  I who  would  soon  settle  the  business.     He  seemed  pleased  at  the  idea  of my  introducing  him  to  the  acquaintance  of  Dignam ;  said  he  once  met  , Lord  Edward  in  a  society,  and  would  have  applied  to  him  only  for  fear  j Lord  Edward  should  be  offended.     He  said  he  wished  to  organize  tho  j United  Irishmen  about  Old  Merrion,  in  which  job  he  requested  my  assist-  j ance.    That  I  told  him  I  must  decline  too,  but  Bill  M'Dermot  would  do  much better.    He  told  me  part  of  signs  of  United  Irishmen,  and  that  after,  when Lord  Edward  passed  by  him,  and  now  desiring  he  would  throw  out  a  sign, on  purpose  to  make  his  lordship  answer  them,  which  he  always  did.     He was  a  foot  yeoman,  belonging  to,  I  believe,  Upper-Cross  Fusileers,  but  that he  intended  to  enter  in  the  Stephen's  Green  division,  to  avoid  suspicion, as  he  had  not  for  a  good  while  attended  on  the  other,  of  whom  he  spoke as  of  a  low  set.     He  breakfasted  with  me  following  morning,  and  repeated all  he  said  before  of  the  arms,  etc.      I  accordingly  wrote  to  Dignam  that same  day,  I  believe  by  O'Brien  himself,  but  of  that  am  not  certain.     But  ! as  he  was  going  to  town  from  breakfasting  with  me,  he  saw  the  corps  of yeomen  he  belonged  to  making  towards  him ;  he  leaped  over  the  wall, near  Baggotrath  Castle,  and  very  narrowly  escaped  being  taken,  as  they  , *  The  priest  Quigley  assumed  that  name. major  sirr's  papers.  501 were  in  pursuit  of  him.  I  quitted  Merrion  very  soon  after  this,  but Diguam  came  to  me  concerning  O'Brien,  and  was  very  well  pleased  with  my sending  to  him  about  it,  and  the  last  time  that  I  saw  Dignam,  he  told  me he  had  secured,  or  was  about  securing,  the  arms  O'Brien  spoke  of. Robert  White,  printer,  an  intimate  friend  of  M'Dermott,  and  at  that time  shopman  to  Chambers,  printer,  in  Abbey  Street,  was  introduced  to my  acquaintance  as  a  very  active  United  Irishman  the  day  after  last Patrick's  day.  White  gave  me  a  handbill,  printed  by  himself,  addressed to  the  United  Irishmen  of  Dublin,  and  earnestly  exhorting  them  to  quit drinking  whiskey,  with  a  text  to  that  effect  underneath.  He  said  many thousand  persons  took  it  the  first  day.  He  printed  political  song  books, etc.,  as  well  as  watch  papers,  with  a  monument  to  Orr.  He  was  lately printing  some  new  thing  concerning  O'Connor,  Hart,  and  Orr.  He  told me  one  night  he  left  a  parcel  of  men  learning  their  exercise  in  Chambers's drawing-room.  He  said  he  could  get  plenty  of  arms,  and  offered  to  get me  a  yeoman's  sword  for  9s.,  brace  of  pistols,  12s.,  a  dagger,  3s.  9^d. ; the  sword  and  pistols  to  come  from  the  Ordnance  Stores. BIRD'S    STATEMENT     CONTINUED. TRANSACTIONS     OF    THE    UNITED    IRISHMEN IN    FINGALL. James  O'Reily,  or  James  Riely,  assured  me  that  the  people  called  him an  Orangeman.  He  was  tip,  and  worked  as  well  to  the  cause  as  any  man. William  M'Dermott,  of  Old  Merrion,  told  me  he  put  James  Reily  up,  or was  present  at  the  putting  of  him  up ;  I  am  not  certain  which.  James Reily  is  a  Protestant,  and  belongs  to  the  cavalry  commanded  by  Hans Hamilton,  Esq.,  etc.  Luke  Reily,  brother  to  the  above,  made  himself known  to  me  as  a  United  Irishman  without  reserve.  He  said  notice  for the  Fingallians  to  prepare  for  an  insurrection  had  been  sent  from  Dublin to  their  secretary,  at  which  he  seemed  much  pleased.  He  said  the  only object  he  had  in  becoming  a  United  Irishman  was  to  possess  the  lands  he rented  (about  400  acres),  on  which  he  had  toiled  all  his  life,  and  thought he  had  a  just  right  to  hold  them  without  rent,  as  soon  as  the  United Irishmen  conquered  the  government.  Reily  spoke  this  in  presence  of  my wife  one  Sunday  evening,  and  said  the  same  at  other  times  to  me.  He used  to  sing  republican  songs,  and  the  day  before  I  left  him  he  said  the secretary  had  been  round  to  warn  the  people  of  me,  suspecting  me  to  be an  Orangeman.  This  Luke  Reily  follows  the  Catholic  Church.  He  said Fingall  was,  in  general,  organized  and  armed,  but  that  pikes  were  wanting. At  this  time  a  carpenter  was  working  in  the  house,  from  which  place  he was  one  night  sent  for  by  a  neighbouring  farmer  in  a  great  hurry,  but !  neglected  going,  either  by  staying  to  finish  Reily's  job  or  some  other  cause. 1  About  twelve  o'clock  at  night  the  house  took  fire  and  was  entirely  con- sumed. In  a  day  or  two  after  which  accident,  as  Luke  Reily  and  I  were discoursing  of  the  arms  of  the  United  Irishmen,  he  told  me  that  the  fire was  occasioned  by  a  young  man  or  two  (sons  of  the  former,  whose  house was  burned)  sitting  up  with  a  candle  lighted,  waiting  for  the  carpenter 502  APPENDIX    V. coming  to  make  pike-shafts,  in  consequence  of  orders  sent  by  the  committee of  the  county  of  Dublin,  and  that  near  £300  were  lost  in  notes  and  cash, exclusive  of  the  furniture,  house,  etc. This  carpenter  was  a  confidential  man,  and,  of  course,  must  know  of  a great  quantity  of  arms  ;  [some  ommission  here]  and  should  the  Reilys  prove who  are  the  secretaries,  etc.,  it  would  tend  to  the  total  disarming  of  that  part of  the  country.  Reilys  reported  the  priest  of  Lispale  as  a  United  Irishman, as  well  as  Seagrave,  Linahan,  and  Langan,  whom  they  said  were  intimate friends  of  Matt  Dowling. From  this  place,  by  recommendation  of  M'Dermott,  I  went  to  Warren's, of  Downstown,  county  of  Meath.  Robert  Warren  (in  custody)  told  me he  was  a  United  Irishman,  as  were  his  brothers  and  M'Dermott,  but  that he  quitted  the  king's  service  as  a  yeoman  as  soon  as  he  was  put  up. Camill  or  Cahill,  curate  to  the  parish  priest  of  Duleek,  was  spoken  of  by M'Dermott,  Wan-en,  etc.,  as  a  United  Irishman.  Robert  White,  late  an apprentice  to  Chambers,  of  Abbey  Street,  was  pointed  out  to  me  as  a  very active  United  Irishman,  and  had  made  a  great  many  at  Lispale,  Duleek,  etc. Morgan  Warren  (brother  of  Robert  Warren),  lately  executed,  was  very generally  believed  to  have  had  a  considerable  quantity  of  arms,  ammuni- tion, etc.,  of  which  it  is  probable  White  or  M'Dermott  knows  the  particulars. The  inhabitants  of  the  barony  of  Duleek  were  represented  to  me  as  dis- affected in  general,  except  such  as  were  Protestants,  who  were  almost entirely  steady  loyalists.  I  could  never  discover  whether  the  disaffected were  organized  or  armed.  M'Dermott  and  Warren  very  often  told  me that  the  Gormanstown  cavalry  were  nearly  all  United  Irishmen,  and  that the  few  who  were  not  up  had  been  so  but  for  the  apprehension  of  Bond,  etc., and  which  report  was  credited  by  the  country  in  general. A  person  named  Michael  Farley,  farmer,  of  the  Cams,  near  Duleek,  in- formed me  that  I  was  suspected  to  be  a  spy  by  the  neighbours.  I  told him  of  my  connection  with  Dignam,  Dowling,  etc.,  to  whom  he  or  they might  apply  for  my  character.  He  was  satisfied,  and  told  me  that  a Baker  had  gone  to  France  with  the  intelligence  of  the  state  of  Ireland. I  soon  afterwards  learned  this  person's  name  was  M'Nally,  a  smuggler,  of Rush  or  Lusk,  and  that  he  knew  of  some  pieces  of  cannon,  with  which  he was  marching  towards  Tarragh  the  evening  of  the  battle,  but,  on  hearing of  the  defeat  of  the  rebels,  he  returned  and  buried  the  cannon,  arms,  etc., to  wait  a  more  favourable  opportunity  of  revolting :  this  was  related  to me  by  a  person  named  Brannan  or  Brennan,  whose  brother  was  discharged by  Lord  Enniskillen  at  Drogheda.  He  seemed  to  be  very  deeply  in  the secrets  of  the  United  Irishmen  of  Meath  and  Dublin,  and  said  he  was  very intimate  with  Murphy,  at  whose  house  Fitzgerald  was  taken.  He  said  if the  United  Irishmen  were  beat  in  Wexford,  it  would  be  all  over  with  them, unless  the  French  landed  ;Jtie  told  me  that  himself.  One  Manging,  an officer  of  the  rebel  army,  and  Carl  or  Carrol,  of  Balinstown,  ditto,  ditto, and  one  West,  and  five  or  six  others,  whose  names  he  did  not  mention, intended  going  over  to  France,  by  means  of  M'Nally,  of  Rush,  aforesaid, for  which  they  were  to  pay  ten  guineas  in  gold  each  person,  and  that  his was  ready.  He  spoke  a  good  deal  of  a  person  named  Markey,  whom  I understood  from  many  people  was  a  principal  United  Irishman  in  those major  sirr's  papers.  503 parts,  a3  were  Tiernan,  of  Garistown,  Doolan,  of  Ardoath,  and  Richard Langan,  belonging  to  Dillon's  volunteers.  Those  persons,  to  a  certainty, being  the  first  United  Irishman  in  those  places. ANOTHER   COMMUNICATION    FROM    BIRD. Hugh  Crook,  clerk  to  Mr.  Dowling,  speaking  of  George  Howell,  Justice Wilson's  clerk,  told  me  that  there  was  not  a  more  active  United  Irishman in  Dublin  than  he  was,  and  that  he  had  done  a  great  deal  of  good  in  the county  of  Wicklow  (meaning  that  he  had  made  a  great  many  United Irishmen),  and  that  he  swore  very  hard  against  O'Brien,  and  was  the chief  means  of  saving  Finny  from  being  hanged ;  that  he  would  go  any length  to  save  a  United  Irishman,  or  destroy  an  informer.  He  told  me more  which  I  forget,  but  am  sure  he  named  some  committee  to  which Howell  belonged.  Mr.  Dowling,  speaking  of  Howell,  said  the  same  that Crook  did,  with  this  addition,  that  when  anything  bad  came  to  his  know- ledge against  a  United  Irishman,  he  never  failed  giving  them  intelligence to  escape  it,  and  that  he  would  swear  through  a  brick  wall  upon  occasion. In  the  county  of  Wicklow  he  was  very  much  talked  of  as  a  United  Irish- man. One  Cummins,  of  Ballatois,  who  was  sworn  against  as  a  United Irishman,  told  me  had  often  escaped  by  Howell's  means. J.  Bird. FROM   J.    BIRD   TO   MAJOR   SIRR. On  20th  January,  Bird  writes  to  have  inquiries  made  of  Mr.  Hoyte, Kennedy's  Lane,  about  his  wife,  and  states  that  he  was  at  the  time  eighty- one  miles  from  Manchester,  where  the  letter  was  posted,  thinking  that Manchester  letters  were  less  liable  to  suspicion  than  others.  He  speaks  of his  fear  of  his  wife  being  dead,  and  writes  as  if  he  loved  her  much ;  and speaks  of  having  "  a  fair  prospect  of  tranquil  peace".  Mary  Bird,  his wife,  writes  a  very  curious  letter,  asking  money  to  take  her  to  England — badly  spelled,  worse  written,  and  worse  again  in  style — saying  she  must perish  for  want,  or  be  "  obigated  to  aply  to  goverment,  and  do  what might  inger  you  and  your  friendes" ;  and  reminding  the  person  to  whom she  writes,  that  she  ought  not  be  treated  cooly  by  "  gentlemen  who  Mr. Bird  all  ways  strove  to  sarve".  [There  is  no  date  or  superscription,  but  it probably  was  addressed  to  Major  Sirr.] INFORMATION    ADDRESSED    TO    CAPTAIN    MEDLICOTT. The  secretary  of  the  district  read  the  underneath,  and  gave  a  copy  of  it to  the  Baronial  Secretary,  Sunday,  6th : — 1st — A  return  of  the  number  of  guns  in  each  regiment  to  each  colonel of  baronial  company. 504  APPENDIX    V. 2nd — Six  good  flints  and  a  certain  quantity  of  powder  to  be  got  for  the guns  immediately. 3rd — A  man  in  each  baronial  company  who  understands  cartridges  and carries  stock  for  each  company — this  man  to  instruct  one  in  each. 4th — A  bullet- caster  to  be  got  for  each  company. 5th — Powder  on  no  account  to  be  buried,  and  shall  be  in  the  power  of the  colonel,  or  some  shopkeeper  that  can  be  depended  on. Gth — A  person  to  be  got  who  has  served  in  the  army,  who  understands drilling — one  for  each  regiment  or  baronial  company — to  serve  as  adjutant to  drill  the  captain ;  the  captain  to  drill  the  Serjeants ;  and  the  Serjeants to  drill  the  men.  This  man  to  go  round  the  companies  in  rotation  :  to  be paid  by  each  baronial  company. 7th — A  standard  to  be  got  for  each  company  ;  the  staff  to  be  ten  feet long — a  spike  at  the  end ;  the  flag  to  be  green  stuff,  two  feet  square. 8th — Each  company  to  find  a  horn  ;  the  person  that  is  to  use  it  to  learn three  sounds — first,  an  assembly ;  second,  a  charge  ;  third,  a  call  for  the captain. 9th — Each  man  to  be  provided  with  one  week's  provisions;  every  Ser- jeant to  be  provided  with  two  kettles  or  pots  ;  each  serjeant  to  be  provided with  one  shovel ;  every  second  division  with  a  sack  ;  every  third  division with  a  pickaxe  and  billhook ;  every  company  with  a  good  car  and  horse, and  straps  for  each  man  to  carry  his  greatcoat  and  blanket ;  also,  a  small bowl,  a  can,  with  a  spoon ;  also,  a  piece  of  green  stuff  for  the  head  of  his pike,  as  it  has  great  effect  to  frighten  the  cavalry. [N.B. — The  above  is  directed  on  outside  to  Captain  Medlicott,  and  folded like  a  letter.  I  find  that  Captain  Medlicott  was  a  companion  of  Major Sirr's,  in  some  of  his  excursions  in  search  of  the  patriots.] MEMORANDUM  RESPECTING    LORD  EDWARD  FITZGERALD,    IN  MAJOR  SIRR  S HANDWRITING. The  attack  on  18th  May  in  Watling  Street  was  reported  to  Neilson next  day ;  he  was  informed  I  was  stabbed,  and  that  I  wounded  two — ono desperately  with  cuts  and  stabs,  whose  life  is  despaired  of;  one  very nearly  connected  with  him  was  in  the  affray ;  one  of  the  party  was  certainly taken,  who  he  says  is  a  Scotchman.  He  dined  with  Lord  Edward  Fitz- gerald the  day  his  lordship  was  taken,  and  had  only  left  him  about  an hour  before.  He  and  Lord  Edward  were  taken  about  five  weeks  ago,  at the  hill  above  Palmerstown,  by  a  patrol  of  the  artillery,  commanded  by a  young  officer.  Lord  Edward  was  in  the  disguise  of  a  labouring  man, and  both  were  on  common  car  horses,  but  good  trotters.  Neilson  pre- tended to  be  dead  drunk,  and  after  being  in  custody  for  some  time,  were again  liberated. Lord  Edward  did  lodge  at  Murphy's  about  three  weeks,  and  Neilson took  from  it,  and  removed  him  frequently ;  Lord  Edward  was  certainly removed  the  18th  May,  and  went  through  Watling  Street  the  time  of  the attack.     Neilson   declares  that  he  collected  fourteen  men  to  rescue  Lord major  sirr's  papers.  505 Edward  on  the  night  he  was  taken,  which  he  would  certainly  have.    [The memorandum  breaks  off  here.] FROM    EDWARD    CORMAC. — CATHOLIC    LEADERS    IN    1792. (Extract  from  a  letter.) Thurles,  6th  October,  1792. .  .  .  .  I  am  endeavouring  to  push  forward  the  Waterford  elec- tion. Doctor  Egan  will  not  oppose  it.  He  is  horrid.  Still  it  will  go  on. I  am  happy  that  the  mare  pleases  you.  I  have  drawn  for  five  guineas already.  I  am  informed  that  only  16  (sixteen)  attended  at  your  county election  last  Thursday.  I  am  also  informed  that  the  Catholics  speak  too loudly  in  the  porter-houses  of  the  number  of  armed  men  that  they  can bring  into  the  field.     Such  language  is  too  intemperate. From  Edward  Cormac  to  Mr.  Richard  Cormac, Mark's  Alley,  Dublin. Richard  M'Cormick,  a  silk  mercer,  of  Mark's  Alley,  was,  in  1792,  one of  the  Catholic  leaders. FROM    HENRY    HAYDEN   TO    MAJOR    SIRR. (Extract.) Dublin,  28th  May,  1803. Sip>? — Agreeable  to  your  desire,  I  state  the  terms  on  which  I  would undertake  to  take  Dwyer  or  any  of  his  party.  As  I  should  give  up  a  place of  profit  to  me  ...  I  should  be  allowed  ensign's  pay  as  an  equiva- lent, and  have  it  made  permanent  to  me  by  some  situation  ;  which  perma- nency I  would  not  demand  if  I  did  not  make  it  appear  to  at  least  two magistrates  of  the  neighbourhood  to  have  done  as  much  as  I  possibly  could towards  attaining  my  purpose.  But  that  if  I  did  succeed,  I  should  get  a permanent  place  of  at  least  twice  an  ensign's  pay,  or  the  reward  offered  by government  ....  As  I  would  be  at  expense  in  a  variety  of  ways in  making  acquaintance  with  the  people  who  harbour  Dwyer  and  his  party, I  would  receive  twelve  guineas,  which  should  not  be  afterwards  stopped. I  am,  sir,  etc., Henry  Hayden. To  Major  Sirr. FROM    JOHN    DILLON,    INFORMER,    TO    MAJOR   SIRR. Writes  a  letter,  dated  May  31st,  1803,  Gormanstown,  in  which he  states  that  he  has  received  a  delegate  from  Dublin  by  the  disaffected  ; that  he  attended  their  meetings,  and  that,  by  the  advice  of  a  Captain  Ralph Smyth,  he  would  remain  another  week  in  the  country ;  that  he  had  the 506  APPENDIX  V. names  of  the  society  in  his  pocket.     He  adds,  "  Show  this  to  the  secretary, and  enclose  one  of  the  former  notes".    The  letter  is  addressed  to  Major  Sirr. PAPERS    OF    RUSSELL   IN   THE  COLLECTION    OF    MAJOR  SIRR. ARTHUR  TONE SUBSTANCE  OF  LETTERS  ADDRESSED  TO  RUSSELL. Matilda  Tone,  in  one  of  her  letters  addressed  to  Thomas  Russell,  speaks of  Arthur  having  been  taken  from  the  business  he  chose  for  himself,  con- trary to  his  father's  wishes ;  and  mentions  his  being  about  to  be  bound  to some  other  business,  in  such  a  way  as  to  lead  one  to  believe  that  it  was  at the  wish  and  through  the  exertion  of  Russell  and  the  other  friends  of  Tone in  Belfast.  Speaking  of  the  fee,  she  says  his  father  and  she  will  give  ten guineas  if  the  other  twenty  are  forthcoming.  The  letter  appears  to  have been  written  prior  to  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone's  departure  for  America. Arthur  Tone  wrote  a  very  bad  hand ;  in  writing  to  Russell,  he  makes  use of  this  phrase,  "  My  father  says,  by  God  I  shall  not  stay  here",  and  asks advice  of  Russell.  He  could  not  at  the  time  have  been  more  than  thirteen to  fourteen  years  of  age. July  25,  1803— £660. July  25,  1803,  at  10^  or  half-past. Walter  Byrne,  of  13  Meath  Street,  and  John  Andrews,  63  Bridge- foot  Street,  were  found  concealed  in  Mrs.  Madden's  honse,  36  Thomas Street,  after  Mrs.  Madden  and  all  the  people  who  appeared  in  her  house had  declared  there  was  no  men  concealed  there.  When  these  men  were found  concealed  in  a  small  closet  or  parlour  in  her  shop,  she  admitted  she knew  they  were  there  half-an-hour,  but  no  longer.  Her  boy,  Robert Shannon,  being  examined,  deponent  said  they  were  there  since  the  shop was  shut,  which  was  at  twenty-five  minutes  after  eight  that  evening.  It was  therefore  thought  necessary  to  take  them  into  custody. There  was  also  six  hundred  and  sixty  guineas  found  concealed in  her  house,  avhich  was  reckoned  by  Mrs.  Madden,  tied  up  in  a bag,  sealed  and  handed  to  captain  slnnett.  the  guineas  were  ln rolls  of  twenty  each,  and  there  was  only  some  of  them  restored. Thomas  R.  Allott,  John  T.  Sinnett, Captains,  Liberty  Rangers. Newtownards,  1803. Manus  Cony,  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  South  Downshire,  under  date July  28,  1803,  recommends  Major  Sirr  to  send  two  men  to  the  quarter, who  should  remain  at  Donaghadee,  as  he  had  been  informed  that  several persons  had  returned  without  permission  of  government.  "  I  have  myself lately  (on  the  arrival  of  the  packets)  seen  several  persons  landed  from  them, of  the  most  suspicious  appearance — men  who,  from  their  dress  and  manners, I  should  have  expected  would  have  travelled  post,  but,  on  the  contrary, walked  into  the  country,  and  were  not  known  by  any  of  the  loyal  people  here". major  sirr's  papers.  507 PIKES. Sir, — I  request  to  inform  you  that,  on  going  to  my  house  about  half- an-hour  ago,  I  perceived  lying  by  a  wall  adjoining,  apparently  a  piece  of square  timber,  but  on  close  inspection  found  it  to  be  a  packing-case  very artificially  made,  so  as  to  resemble  timber  in  the  log,  which,  on  opening,  I found  to  contain  forty-one  pikes  mounted  (both  handles  and  heads).  I request  to  know  what  you  would  recommend  me  to  have  done  with  them, or  where  I  shall  send  them. I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir, Your  most  obedient  servant, John  Gibson, Architect  of  the  Barrack  Depot. Major  Sirr. (No  date — supposed  to  be  1803.) Father  Nowlan,  of  Rathvilly. Spoke  to  his  parishioners  about  one  Nowlan,  a  rebel  and  robber,  in strong  terms,  recommending  that  such  be  given  up  to  the  magistrates. Twelve  months  after,  Michael  Nowlan  came  to  the  chapel,  and  called  the priest  an  informer  and  a  turncoat ;  a  row  ensued,  but  the  priest's  party  had to  make  their  escape  with  a  good  drubbing. [The  above  is  the  substance  of  a  letter  to  Major  Sirr,  from  Baltinglass, by  Francis  Derinzy,  captain  in  Shadford  Lodge  Infantry,  August  4,  1803.] FROM    JOEL    HULBERT   TO    MAJOR    SIRR. Monastereven,  August  1,  1803. Sir, — That  the  following  is  authentic  information,  I  beg  of  you  to make  no  doubt  of.  There  is  a  man  in  Kilmainham  of  the  name  of  Barn- well, who  keeps  a  public  house  nearly  opposite  the  jail,  and  some  short time  back  had  regularly  meetings  of  United  Irishmen  at  his  house,  from between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  until  two  and  three  o'clock in  the  morning.  The  chairman's  name  is  Peter  Brophy ;  he  and  his brother,  John  Brophy,  both  gardeners,  live  the  next  house  to  Mr.  Dixon, tanner,  Kilmainham.  He  always  takes  the  chair  dressed  in  a  white  jacket, with  green  facings,  and  silver  epaulets,  and  along  Avhito  wand  in  his  hand. .     .     .     This  Barnwell  is  a  most  bigoted  Papist. Joel  Hulbert. Further  communication  and  inquiry  of  same  writer. — If  it  be  true  that Mr.  James  Wm.  Osborne,  formerly  a  member  of  the  attorney  corps,  and now  of  Mr.  Cassidy's,  had  been  struck  off  the  attorneys'  corps  for  disaffec- tion ?    Desires  to  know  if  such  be  the  case. *  This  letter  is  deserving  of  particular  attention  The  first  communication  of the  Monastereven  correspondent  of  the  major,  which  I  saw,  was  signed  J.  F.  H. The  recollection    of   the    initials    F.   II.,   in    the    secret    service    money   list 508  APPENDIX    V. LETTER  OF  THOMAS  COOKE,  OF  SKINNERS    ALLEY,  TO  IIIS  WIFE,  FROM  NEWGATE. My  dear  Catherine, —  ...  I  am  confident  that  your  heart  is here,  while  your  hody  is  in  liberty — must  I  say,  with  me  immured  within the  walls  of  a  prison ;  but  hope  in  God,  and  fear  not  what  man  can  do  to me.  .  .  Do  not  fret  nor  injure  your  health  by  a  depression  of  spirits  : health  is  a  blessing  that  makes  the  king  and  the  beggar  equally  happy  ; but  the  want  of  it  embitters  the  enjoyment  of  all  other  temporal  blessings, and  makes  the  child  of  sorrow  and  wretchedness  more  unhappy.  My constant  prayer,  both  night  and  day,  for  you  and  my  dear  little  children. May  God,  of  His  infinite  mercy,  keep  you  from  the  hands  of  your  enemy, and  that  God  may  be  a  father  to  them  when  I  am  dead  and  gone ;  and after  this  short  and  miserable  valley  of  tears,  may  I  see  and  meet  you,  my virtuous  companion,  in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  which  is  all  the  prayer  I wish  for,  and  that  you  may,  for  my  sake,  meet  a  better  and  lovinger  com- panion than  I  have  proved  to  you,  to  end  your  days  with.  So,  no  more  at present...  This  is  the  last  letter  you  shall  ever  receive  from  me  here.  My pen  has  failed  me,  so,  till  death,  I  remain  faithful,  and  have  you  in  memory. Thomas  Cooke. September  15,  1797.     Newgate. N.B. —     ..."  Blessed  are  they  who  suffer  for  justice  sake,  for theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven. FROM    BARON    SMITH    TO    MAJOR    SIRR. Downpatrick,  March  20. Sir, — Of  the  the  three  prisoners  who  were  convicted  before  me  (Devine, Byrne,  and  Smyth),  the  two  former  have  suffered,  and  the  latter  is  re- spited until  further  orders.  On  the  evidence,  there  were  circumstances which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  other  judge,  as  well  as  in  mine,  manifestly distinguished  his  case  from  that  of  the  two  others.  At  the  same  time, having  heard  that  Smyth  is  an  old  offender,  I  am  desirous  that  he  should not  be  made  an  object  of  mercy,  to  which  he  is  not  entitled.  The  evidence on  his  trial,  if  it  stood  alone,  would,  I  think,  completely  warrant  me  in  re- commending him ;  but  as  in  doing  so  I  exercise  a  discretion,  I  will  not prefixed  to  the  reward  of  £1,000  for  the  discovery  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, caused  me  to  make  a  good  deal  of  inquiry  respecting  this  correspondent,  and previous  even  to  the  discovery  in  Sirr's  papers  of  a  letter  of  the  writer,  bearing the  name  in  full  of  Joel  Hulbert,  I  discovered  that  a  person  of  this  name,  in 1800,  had  been  a  resident  in  Monastereven,  a  carver  and  gilder  by  trade — one  of the  privileged  order,  of  the  exclusively  loyal  class  and  church;  and  yet Mr.  Joel  Hulbert,  in  private,  was  known  to  entertain,  or  at  least  express, very  republican  sentiments  and  Tom-Paineish  opinions.  About  two  years  after the  rebellion  he  obtained  the  situation  of  collector  of  the  tolls  of  the  Grand  Canal, at  Monastereven.  He  died  there  in  1816  or  1817.  He  never  had  the  appearance of  being  in  the  receipt  of  large  sums  of  money.  A  person  of  his  name  followed the  business  of  a  carver  and  gilder,  in  Abbey  Street,  within  the  last  ten  or twelve  years.  He  had  two  sons,  George  and  William  :  both  obtained  situations  on the  Grand  Canal — one  at  Mountmellick,  the  other  at  Philipstown. major  sirr's  papers.  509 shut  my  eyes  against  his  general  character,  provided  I  receive  it  from  res- pectable and  authentic  sources.  You  have  already  had  the  goodness  to give  me  some  information  about  Smyth,  but  at  the  time  when  I  made  the application,  and  received  your  answer,  I  was  extremely  occupied,  and therefore  am  under  a  sort  of  necessity  of  troubling  you  again.  I  make  no apology  for  doing  so.  I  have  an  object,  in  attaining  which  I  know  you will  be  glad  to  cooperate.  I  wish  to  endeavour  to  have  mercy  extended to  Smyth,  if  he  deserves  it,  and  not  to  make  any  such  application  if  he does  not.  Sixteen  persons  have  received  sentence  of  death  at  Dundalk, and  my  wish  is,  to  select  from  those  the  fittest  subjects  for  mercy.  This, I  admit,  is  an  awkward  application.  I  beg,  however,  to  assure  you,  that any  information  which  you  may  give  me,  though  /  act  upon  it,  I  never shall  communicate. I  have  every  reason  to  suppose  you  a  humane  man,  and  therefore  I  shall only  take  the  liberty  of  cautioning  you  against  any  false  delicacy  in  an- swering my  present  application.  We  have  a  common  wish,  viz.,  that if  Smyth  be  a  notorious  and  atrocious  offender,  he  should  suffer,  and  if  he be  not,  that  mercy  should  be  extended  to  him. You  will  really  oblige  me  by  answering  this  application  with  promptness, and  not  hesitating  to  state  anything  which  you  think  should  induce  me  to decline  interfering  in  Smyth's  favour.  We  shall  go  into  Carrickfergus  on Friday.  I  agaiu  ask  pardon  for  giving  you  this  trouble,  and  have  the honour  to  be,  dear  sir, Your  faithful  humble  servant, William  Smith. protestant"  informer  to  major  sirr. An  informer  designating  himself  as  a  Protestant,  writes  to  say  that Thomas  Eegan,  servant  to  Mr.  Rooney,  distiller,  28  Watling  Street,  is  a big  rebel,  and  that,  if  handled  rightly,  can  give  much  valuable  informa- tion, and  recommends  the  major  to  try  the  "  worm-tub"  for  arms. FROM  E.  CLIBBORN,   ESQ.,  TO  THE  MAJOR. — A.  O'CONNOR 1803. Moate,  August  9,  1803. My  Dear  Sir, —  ...  I  have  been  informed  this  day  that Arthur  O'Connor  has  been  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kilbeggan.  John Warneford  Armstrong  says  that  Charles  Clerk,  commonly  called  Captain Clerk,  told  him  he  met  him  on  Saturday  last,  near  Kilbeggan,  in  company with  one  Connell,  a  smith.  [He  then  adds  that  he  requested  information as  to  the  dress  of  the  person  supposed  to  be  O'Connor,  but  had  not  got  it.] (Signed)  George  Clibborn. 510  APPENDIX    V. FROM  R.  L.  TO  MAJOR  SIRR. August  8,  1803. "  Sir, — Having  an  opportunity  of  knowing  Mr.  Sampson  for  some  time, I  have  found  out  that  he  has  made  and  disposed  of  more  pike-handles than  any  man  in  Ireland.  I  have  known  him  to  damn  the  king,  and ackuowledge  himself  a  Jacobin.  .  .  He  is  an  Englishman,  and  has two  sons  Jacobins.  R.  L. MR.  C.  GREENWOOD,  OF  BELFAST,  TO    MAJOR    SRIR. Belfast,  December  10,  180G. Sir, — Though  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  your  acquaintance,  yet  my knowledge  of  your  public  character  induces  me  to  place  that  confidence  in you  which  others  might  prefer  placing  in  some  neighbouring  magistrate,  as I  know  that  the  magistrate  who  has  often  ventured  his  life  in  detecting the  desperadoes  who  sought  to  overturn  the  government,  and  introduce hordes  of  French  ruffians  in  place  of  our  constitutional  defenders, — I  say that  the  man  who  has  done  so  much  will,  I  am  confident,  preserve  my secret  (I  mean  the  secret  of  my  name)  as  he  would  that  of  his  brother. In  short,  sir,  my  situation  in  life  is  comfortable,  but  wishing  to  improve,  I intended  going  to  Buenos  Ayres,  but  failed  through  some  disappointments. In  the  mean  time  it  was  recommended  to  me  to  become  a  freemason ;  the person  who  caused  me  to  become  one,  shortly  after  introduced  me  into  a society,  seemingly  formed  for  religious  purposes,  but  in  reality  for  the  de- struction of  the  government,  by  bringing  about  a  revolution  in  Church  and State.  They  are  denominated  among  the  higher  classes,  Unitos  Fratres, and  among  the  lower  classes  Ezekielites.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  they reckon  among  their  numbers  several  who  have  hitherto  been  denominated loyal.  The  constitution  comprises  twelve  pages,  formed  so  as  to  de- ceive the  uninitiated,  and  is  entrusted  to  secretaries  only,  to  which  situa- tion I  was  chosen  on  Wednesday  last,  the  day  of  our  meeting,  which  is  on the  first  Wednesday  of  each  month.  The  military  committee  meets  the second  Sunday,  and  the  commanders  the  night  following,  in  order  to  re- ceive reports.  I  am  much  in  confidence,  from  the  strong  recommendation of  my  friend,  whose  name  I  will  on  no  account  discover.  The  only  reward I  shall  draw  is  your  interest  to  procure  an  ensigncy  for  me  in  some  regi- ment going  to  Buenos  Ayres ;  or,  if  this  should  not  be  complied  with, I  am  satisfied  to  remain  in  town  here,  and  procure  all  the  information  in my  power.  If  you  can  come  down,  come  immediately,  and,  as  you  are  in the  commission  for  every  county  in  Ireland,  you  can  take  up  the  following persons,  viz.,  William  Lockyer,  at  the  Donegal  Arms ;  Stephen  Daniel Dwyer,  North  Street ;  John  Caven,  grocer,  High  Street ;  James  Storey, bookseller,  North  Street ;  Samuel  Law,  John  Turner,  ditto ;  and  to  avoid suspicion,  you  had  better  take  up  myself;  and  on  examining  each  of  us separately,  you  shall  be  put  in  possession  of  what  will  astonish  you.     I MAJOR  SIRR's  PAPERS.  511 expect  you  will  communicate  this  to  no  one  but  government.  Trust  no one  in  this  town  till  you  have  made  everything  secure.  I  must  again covenant  not  to  give  up  my  friend. I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, Christopher  Greenwood. Cotton  Manufacturer. THE  PLAN  OF    "  TAKING    UP"   TO    EXTORT   INFORMATION. A  nameless  correspondent,  who  writes  a  good  letter,  and  a  very  neat  hand, recommends  the  taking  up  of  persons  named,  and  that  they  be  threatened, and  so  induced  to  give  information.  This  informer  wrote  many  letters,  and generally  signed  "  Your  humble  servant", .  This  fellow  was  a  pub- lican, for  he  asks  the  major  to  get  Swan  to  pay  his  licence  for  him,  as  he had  to  give  all  his  money  to  the  brewers  and  distillers.  He  adds  that  his being  in  business  will  enable  him  to  do  much  more  good  for  the  cause. This  letter  was  written  in  1803. Bird,  and  nearly  all  the  other  ordinary  informers,  recommend  the  taking up  of  men,  to  induce  them  to  give  information. conlan's  information  in   1798,  respecting  teeling,   turner,  lowrt, and  byrne, The  writer  state3  that  when  the  army  left  Newry  to  take  persons  who were  to  attend  a  meeting  at  Dundalk,  Corcoran  received  information from  an  officer's  servant  where  the  party  was  going,  upon  which Corcoran  got  a  horse,  and  rode  to  Dundalk,  where  he  knew  Mr.  Turner had  gone  to  a  meeting.  He  arrived  in  Dundalk  in  time  to  disperse  the meeting.  Barclay  [qy.  tly~\,  Teeling,  Sam  Turner,  John  Byrne,  and  Alex- ander Lowiy  retreated  with  Corcoran  to  the  house  of  one  Kelly,  a  farmer, about  two  small  miles  from  Dundalk,  where  they  hid  themselves  that  night in  a  barn.  In  the  morning  Corcoran  was  ordered  by  them  to  go  to Dundalk  to  know  if  there  was  any  danger  of  the  military  ;  finding  none, they  went  to  Dundalk.  Turner,  Lowry,  and  Teeling  went  to  Newry. Turner  and  Teeling  hid  themselves.  Turner  went  to  Dublin  to  Eastwood, the  attorney,  who  sent  him  off.  John  Byrne  gave  Corcoran  tests  to  give to  Heffernan,  M'Keogh,  Michael  Fagan,  and  James  Doolan,  and  four  to keep  for  others  that  might  want  them.  There  was  a  pass-word  between Corcoran,  John  Byrne,  and  Teeling  for  putting  informers  out  of  the  way. If  either  knew  an  informer,  the  informer  was  sent  to  the  other  with  the password,  viz.,  "  Do  you  know  Ormond  Steel  ?"  but  there  never  was occasion  for  this.  He  knows  Patrick  Byrne  to  be  a  United  Irishman,  by seeing  constitutions  with  him,  but  nothing  more. Corcoran  always  attended  Teeling,  Turner,  and  John  Byrne  on  their 512  APPENDIX    V. travels  to  different;  parts  of  the  north  where  they  held  meetings  ;  the writer  recollects  the  following  places,  viz. — Scotch  Green  at  Dundalk, Newry,  Glannary,  llonaldstown,  Ballynahinch,  Dublin,  at  Kearn's,  Kil- dare  Street,  where  the  principal  meetings  were  held. LETTER  FROM  F.  LAMB  TO  THE  MAJOR,  DENOUNCING    THE     DUKE    OF  LEINSTER. Francis  Lamb,  of  Maynooth,  says  the  duke  has  known  him  two  years ; Messrs.  M'Gawley  and  Hughes,  of  George's  Quay,  knew  him  ;  on  Saturday last  a  man,  at  Maynooth,  told  him  a  rising  was  to  take  place  that  night, and  that  10,000  men  were  to  join  from  Longford ;  he  asked  the  priest  of Maynooth  College  if  he  knew  of  it — said  he  did,  and  that  the  duke  knew it  too. Examination  of  William  Dunne,  of  Carlow,  one  of  the  prisoners  taken up  at  Rathfarnham,  and  sent  up  by  Robert  Shaw,  states  the  suspicious circumstance  of  the  rebel  song — "  Paddy  Evermore" — having  been  found in  his  hod. LETTER  FROM  CARROLL  TO  MAJOR  SIRR. March  25,  1803. Stating,  a  meeting  had  taken  place  in  Fleet  Street,  and  that  Edward Mooney,  when  they  met,  told  them  to  come  to  one  more  private  meeting. They  then  went  to  21  Townsend  Street.  Patrick  Merkif  told  them  the business  would  be  concluded  by  Easter,  everything  would  be  ready  ;  told him  that  it  was  Devereux,  the  gunsmith,  made  a  great  quantity  of  arms for  them ;  he  will  find  out  where  Condon  is ;  when  we  get  him,  I  believe, he  can  give  you  more  information  than  any  one  you  have  got  yet ;  it  seems to  me  he  was  more  in  confidence  than  any  of  the  rest. I  think  by  my  being  in  the  business  (a  publican),  it  will  enable  me  to make  out  useful  information  for  you ;  if  your  honour  don't  do  something for  me  I  must  quit  the  business. A  LETTER  FROM  SOME  INFORMER  WITHOUT  SIGNATURE, Declaring  he  has  been  mindful  of  his  (the  major's)  instructions,  and making  profession  of  ardent  zeal  in  the  cause.  He  (the  writer)  had  been at  different  times  and  in  different  places  introduced  by  James  Dillon  to United  Irishmen.  James  Dillon  was  a  cousin  of  Pat  Dillon,  of  the  White Bull,  Thomas  Street.  Had  been  introduced  to  several  other  meetings  by James  Dillon ;  that  he  has  not  seen  as  yet  any  one  resembling  Dowdall, Allen,  Stafford,  Quigley,  or  Cummins,  but  hopes  soon. Houses  for  reception  of  Insurgents. — Almost  every  inn  in  Thomas Street  have  rooms  set  apart  for  them,  Power  and  Son  excepted.  King Street,  North,  neighbourhood  of  the  Clark's  foundry ;  Hodges's,  Mass  Lane, major  sirr's  papers.  513 near  Charles  Street ;  a  public-house  just  in  the  rear  of  John  Street,  and Eaden's,  Hayes  Court.  Mallin's,  Thomas  Street,  should  be  particularly noticed, — well  as  M'Dermott's,  Dirty  Lane. Mem. — Edward  Moran  and  two  slaters,  Walsh  and  Kelly,  murdered Colonel  Brown,  headed  by  Byrne,  publican,  High  Street.  From  Robert Burnett,  100  Great  Britain  Street. LETTER  FROM  CARROLL  TO  MAJOR  SIRR. Endorsed  Wednesday,  30th  March,  1803. Informs  the  major  of  a  meeting  held  the  night  before,  at  which  were present  James  Kirwan,  Edward  Mooney,  Grant,  otherwise  Vaughan,  Miles M'Cabe ;  Captain  Horish  sent  an  apology.  Heard  of  a  serjeant  of  the 62nd  Regiment,  named  James  M'Donald,  whom  he  is  to  meet  at  Living- ton's,  in  Liffey  Street,  "  who  brought  over  almost  the  whole  regiment  to the  business". Edward  Mooney  said  he  hoped,  and  he  gave  a  toast  to  the  effect  of his  wishes,  which  went  round,  "  that  shortly  the  Castle  of  Dublin  would  be in  our  hands". DENUNCIATION  OF  COSTIGAN,  THE  DISTILLER,  ETC. A  letter  from  W.  Glascock  to  the  major,  states  that  the  government should  watch  a  Mr.  Metcalf,  etc.,  as  suspicions. An  anonymous  letter,  informing  the  major  that  the  14th  of  August  was the  day  appointed  for  a  general  rising  in  Dublin ;  that  the  servants  of loyalists  had  got  arms  to  destroy  their  masters  in  bed.  From  Dublin  the massacre  was  to  go  on  through  the  country,  which  would  bring  over  the English  then.  On  the  24th  of  August  the  French  were  to  land  in  Eng- land ;  many  great  men,  and  some  with  red  coats,  were  in  the  secret. The  writer  denounces  Costigan,  the  distiller,  of  Thomas  Street,  and  a young  man  named  Kecgan,  "  a  desperate  rebel",  being  "  as  big  a  rebel as  can  live". Confidential  letters  of  John  and  Bernard  Gorman  to  the  major. ANONYMOUS  LETTER  TO  MAJOR  SIRR. April  23,  1803. The  writer  states  that  Captain  Murray,  when  he  came  up  from  town  with Richardson's  cattle,  left  the  new  signs,  which  are  as  follows : — The  fore- most finger  of  the  right  hand  to  give  them  to  shake  hands  with ;  then  the left  hand  upon  the  right  breast ;  then  asks — "  showr  how  far  they  have travelled".  Their  reply  is — "  as  far  as  truth  and  justice".  Dwyer  was vol.  i.  34 514  APPENDIX  V. continually   at  Monastown,   at  Michael   Byrne's,    Castlehaven,  and  John Byrne's,  Monastown. Sir,  you  know  my  handwriting,  so  I  need  not  write  my  name,  for  fear this  letter  be  miscarried. LETTER  FROM  HENRY  HAYDEN  TO  MAJOR  SIRR. Dublin,  28th  of  May,  1803. Offering  to  take  Dwyer,  on  condition  that  he  would  be  well  rewarded  ; that  he  would  be  appointed  to  some  situation  in  the  country,  near  his  resi- dence, that  he  might  get  acquainted  among  those  who  harboured  Dwyer; or  get  an  ensign's  pay  and  a  permanent  situation. LETTER  FROM  THE  REV.  THOMAS  ELRINGTON,  D.D.,  PROVOST  OF  TRINITY COLLEGE,  TO  MAJOR   SIRR. June  7,  1803. Dear  Sir, — Miss  Bell  having  mentioned  to  me  that  you  wished  for  a description  of  Robert  Emmet,   I  send  the  best  I  can  get  of  what  he  was five  years  ago.     I  know  no  person  who  can  give  you  an  accouut  of  the alteration  that  may  have  taken  place  in  his  figure  since. Believe  me,  dear  Sir, Yours  very  truly, Thomas  Elrington. In  1798  was  near  twenty  years  of  age,  of  an  ugly,  sour  countenance, small  eyes,  but  not  near-sighted ;  a  dirty  brownish  complexion  ;  at  a  dis- tance looks  as  if  somewhat  marked  with  the  small  pox ;  about  five  feet  six inches  high,  rather  thiu  than  fat,  but  not  of  an  emaciated  figure ;  on the  contrary,  somewhat  broad  made ;  walks  briskly,  but  does  not  swing his  arms. A  LETTER  FROM  CARROLL  TO  MAJOR  SIRR,* Recommending  him  to  arrest  William  Horish,  the  master  sweep,  in  his house  in  or  near  Dame  Court  or  Exchequer  Street,  who  will  inform  him  of all  matters  that  is  going  on,  as  he,  Carroll,  is  well  sensible  of  it.  In  his observations  he  says  he  thinks  the  tools  is  in  the  Widow  Corrigan's,  in this  street,  or  in  her  friend  Muley's  concern,  opposite  to  here,  Spring- garden  Lane. Extract  from  the  above-mentioned  letter: — I  will  insist  on  you  to  take  one  of  the  men  who  murdered  Lord  Kil- warden ;  he  is  recovered  in  Temple  Bar.  If  you  are  not  pleased  to  do this,  I  shall  answer  it  with  another  magistrate.  To  let  your  honour  see  I am  not  humbugging,  I  will  insist  to  be  brought  before  Secretary  Marsden, to  let  him  understand  what  I  have  done  for  government.  I  will  surely call  on  you  to-morrow,  at  nine  o'clock,  as  I  have  received  no  money  this *  Probably  to  this  letter  the  unfortunate  Horish  owed  his  terrible  flogging  in Beresford's  riding  house  establishment  for  torturing  suspected  persons. — R.  R.  M. MAJOR  SIRRS    PAPERS.  515 fortnight.     I  think  I  did  not  deserve  snch  treatment,  which  time  will  tell. I  shall  ever  remain  government's  most  humble  servant, Carroll. MEMORANDUM  OF  THE  MAJOR  RESPECTING  ROBERT  EMMET. Winifred  Kavanagh,  servant  to  Mrs.  Palmer,  Harold's  Cross  Road,  near <  the  Canal  Bridge,  examined  28th  August,  1803,  as  to  whether  a  Mr. !  Hewit  or  a  Mr.  Connynham  ever  was  there.* MEMORANDUM    OF    THE    MAJOR,    IN    RELATION    TO    MR.    DAVID    POWER. David  Power,  who  was  implicated  in  the  rebellion  of  1798,  and  expelled college,  turned  approver,  and  was  to  have  prosecuted  at  Cork.f     He  was ,  on  the  table  against  Conway,  a  watch  maker,  before  Judge  Day,  did  not ,  prosecute,  and  was  imprisoned  two  years.     Is  just  arrived  in  Dublin,  and lifi  at  the  Mail-Coach  Hotel.     Says  he  is  a  captain  in  a  militia  regiment - !  now  on  the  coast  of  Devon :  is  now  on  business  with  Timothy  O'Brien  in '  Ship  Street.     Is  about  going  to  Tipperary  or  Cork. This  memorandum  is  endorsed: — Nowlan,  12  Little  Ship  Street,  gun- 1  smith,  first  floor,  streetward  :  workshop  backwards. A  gentleman  at  wine,  sitting  pensive.     A  white  chest  on  the  stairhead. LETTER   FROM    MAJOR    WINGFIELD    TO   MAJOR   SIRR. Cork  Abbey,  Aug.  4,  1803. The  writer  says  that  Benjamin  P.  Binns,  who  was  a  plumber  in  em- ployment at  Cork  Abbey  some  time  before,  should  be  looked  after. jMentions  that  his  glasses  and  decanters  were  all  engraved  with  "  Erin- jgo-bragh"  and  the  "harp  reversed,  without  the  crown".  Also  counsels jthe  major  to  look  to  Holmes  the  glassman,  Denis  Kelly,  and  Patrickson. Edward  Wingfield.J *  Winifred  Kavanagh  was  servant  in  the  house  in  which  Robert  Emmet  was |  arrested.  He  went  there  under  the  name  of  Hewit,  and  sometimes  of  Connyn- |ham.— R.  R.  M. t  Mr.  Power  was  arrested  in  Cork,  and  imprisoned  for  some  time  in  Spike jlsland  in  1798.  The  most  extraordinary  pains  were  taken  to  terrify  him,  witli ithe  view  of  inducing  him  to  inform  against  the  suspected  members  of  the  Cork ;directory.  Power  was  a  talkative,  indiscreet  person,  but  unconnected  with  the rebellion.  A  Mr.  Westropp  worked  upon  him  to  give  evidence  on  some  of  the itrials ;  but,  when  the  time  came,  he  refused  to  give  evidence  against  the  prison- ers, and,  for  his  integrity,  suffered  two  years'  imprisonment.  He  published  a letter  after  his  expulsion  from  college  in  1798,  in  the  newspapers,  professing  feel- lings  of  excessive  ardour,  of  a  patriotic  turn,  and  full  of  declared  resolutions  to  die jfor  his  country.  There  was  too  much  talk  of  dying  for  it,  in  this  fiery  and  flowery lepistle.— R.  R.  M. I  Colonel  Edward  Wingfield  was  a  brother  of  Lord  Powerscourt. 51G  APrENDIX    V. FROM    TO    MAJOR   SIRR. Merrion  Kow,  August  9,  1803. T  published  the  paper  with  the  best  intentions,  and  with  the  approbation of  your  friends  at  the  Castle.  If  you  wish  for  one  hundred  of  them  to disperse  through  the  country,  send  to  my  house  at  ten  o'clock  to-morrow morning. I  am,  dear  Sir,  your  friend, (name  illegible.) LETTER   FROM    MR.    JOHN    GIFFARD    TO    THE    MAJOR. August  11,  1803. Dear  Major, — The  bearer  is  of  the  name  of  Conner,  and  was  in  the chancellor's  book,  as  you  were  informed ;  but  whether  he  is  the  identical murderer,  I  cannot  pretend  to  say.      1   believe   Counsellor  T can identify  him  ;  if  not,  he  must  bo  held  till  we  send  for  our  man  to  Wexford. Your's  ever  truly, John  Giffard. LETTER    FROM    MR.    DAN    MAGUIRE    TO    THE   MAJOR. Black  Pitts,  August  11,  1803. Sir, — I  would  have  taken  this  liberty  some  time  back,  only  expecting Mr.  Tully's  friendly  interference  with  you.  But,  as  the  matter  has  been so  long  delayed,  I  now  request  your  attention  to  my  poor  son,  William Magnire,  now  in  the  Prevot.  On  the  23rd  of  last  month,  the  poor  boy, with  Charles  Daly  (my  apprentice  to  the  rope-making  business),  was  sent to  get  a  witness  to  a  trial  expected  to  come  on,  wherein  Mr.  Tully  is  con- cerned, and  in  presence  of  Pat  Kelly,  the  attorney,  and  one  of  the  attorneys' corps  ;  also  to  go  White's  Lane,  on  the  way,  for  that  purpose  ;  when  that business  was  finished,  to  go  to  Bloomficld,  and  see  that  the  carman,  Frank Murphy,  brought  some  furniture  from  thence  to  Black  Pitts.  On  their coming  to  Black  Pitts,  there  were  no  beds  there  for  them,  and  they  went to  my  house  in  Francis  Street,  of  which is  a  partner ;  and  on  the Coombe  they  were  met  by  Justice  Drury,  who  will  state  the  same  fully. The  boy  is  not  sixteen  years  of  age,  of  mild,  inoffensive  manners ;  and, although  he  has  been  in  Germany  and  Russia  in  my  vessels,  never  offended mortal.  No  better  child  ever  was.  Rest  assured,  these  are  all  facts,  and that  no  party  business  ever  entered  his  head,  nor  ever  an  oath  escaped  his lips. Sincerely  request  your  inquiry,  whether  these  are  the  facts  ;  if  so,  you will  see  the  danger  to  the  morals  of  so  young  and  good  a  boy  to  be  in  such a  place.     Your  humanity  will,  I  am  sure,  excuse  this  trouble  from Your  humble  servant, Dan  Maguire. major  sirr's  papers.  517 MEMORANDUM    OF   THE    MAJOR    OF    A   COMMUNICATION    MADE    TO    HIM    BY    A GENTLEMAN    BEYOND    THE    BLACKROCK. Sunday,  August  14,  1803. The  following  information  was  this  day  confidentially  communicated  by a  gentleman  of  loyalty  and  honour,  who  resides  beyond  Blackrock.  "  On Monday  last,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  evening,  Russell  was  seen  entering a  house  Avhich  is  next  Judge  Foxe's — in  a  lane  which  is  a  cul-de-sac — some  time  after,  unknown  persons  were  seen  entering  the  same  house,  and afterwards,  as  the  person  who  saw  this  transaction  asserts,  Doctor  Breunan followed  them  into  this  house.  The  same  person  asserts  that  Surgeon Wright,  with  three  other  persons,*  travels  to  the  Rock  in  a  jingle,  every day  at  the  same  hour' FROM    E.    NEWENHAM,    ESQ.,    TO    MAJOR    SIRU. Blackrock,  August  19,  1803. Sir, — As  I  find,  on  my  return  here,  that  you  did  not  succeed  on  the information  I  gave  you  about  arms  and  suspected  persons,  I  think  proper to  state  to  you  that  I  was  your  anonymous  correspondent,  and  I  do  so lest  it  might  induce  you  to  doubt  all  such  anonymous  correspondence. My  information,  I  find,  was  perfectly  well-founded,  but  all  was  contrived to  secrete  both  men  and  arms.  On  the  Monday  morning  following,  five strangers  left  the  town,  and  took  different  roads  to  the  county  of  Wicklow. One  was  seen  going  into  Tinnehinch,  rather  well  dressed,  and  had  a  mili- tary gait  in  walking. As  I  am  not  able  these  eight  months  to  carry  arms,  or  walk  but little,  and  as  I  am  in  a  very  exposed  skirt  of  this  village,  my  name  is  now given  to  you  in  strict  confidence.  Add  to  this,  certain  persons  are  very rancorous  in  their  speeches  about  me,  therefore  I  would  be  in  nightly danger  of  assassination  if  my  name  was  known.  We  are  much  in  want  of a  few  military  in  the  place  of  the  Cavau  militia,  who  have  left  us ;  for though  our  yeomen  are  brave  and  spirited  men,  yet  they  are  not  fully trained. I  am,  Sir,  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, Edward  Newenham. MR.  KEMMIS  TO  THE  MAJOR. My    dear    Major, — We    shall    want    Patrick    M'Cabe,    Thomas Hannon,    and   William   Hannon,    and    the    wife   of    Thomas,    at    the *  The  three  persons  referred  to,  from  an  endorsement  on  this  paper,  appears  to have  been  Teeling,  Drew,  and  Jonathan  Gray,  Usher's  Quay B.  B.  M. 518 APPENDIX  V. u Sessions-House,  Green  Street,  on  Wednesday  morning,  as  the  trials  arc  to commence. — Yours  truly, Thomas  Kemmis. Dublin,  August  23,  1803. Would  you  be  so  good  to  direct  Hanlon  to  have  Mary  Airie  sent  to  I me. LETTER    FROM    JOHN    LIDWELL    TO    MAJOR   SIRR. 3  Fishamble  Street,  Dublin, August  17,  1803. Communicating  information  the  writer  got  from  a  woman,  a  Pro- testant, who  got  it  from  one  of  the  rebels,  to  whom  she  passed  herself  off as  one  of  them,  that  there  were  pikes  sufficient  for  all  Ireland  in  New- town Mount  Kennedy,  with  arms,  ammunition,  etc. ;  and  that  had  Tallaght been  searched  at  night,  they  would  have  found  near  2,000  muskets, etc.  ;  but  now  they  act  cautiously,  keeping  them  buried  in  the  earth, being  well  covered  with  woollen  cloths,  to  hinder  them  getting  rusty  in the  earth. Says,  if  the  late  Secretary  Cooke  was  in  town,  he  would  remember him  for  his  loyalty  and  usefulness  to  government  in  1798,  as  he  wrote  him several  letters  he  was  thankful  for ;  and  Captain  Beresford,  Lords  Castle- reagh  and  Roden,  all  of  them  knew  him. [The  writing  and  orthography  of  this  letter  is  so  bad,  it  can  scarce  be read.] MURTOCH    LACEY    TO    MAJOR    SIRR. August  19,  1803. Sir, — I  take  the  opportunity  of  telling  you  that  I  am  now  on  my keeping  for  what  I  cold  not  help ;  but,  if  you  be  pon  honner  with  me,  I will  tell  you  nuf.  Murthey  Lacey  is  my  name,  and  I  was  to  join  that  core in  John  Heifferan's  house.  Bay  himself,  he  was  the  man  that  swore  me. My  name  is  Murthey  Lacey;  we  both  live  in  the  town  of  Kildare — sol  if you  parding  me,  I  will  tell  yoo  anuf ;  sol  yo  may  send  me  word  to  Mr. Ililles,  the  postmaster,  he  vill  tell  my  wife,  if  you  forgive  me — yo  may have  Heifferan  taken  at  about  Thursday  next.  I  can  bring  in  thirty- seven. To  Major  Sirr,  to  The  Casel  of  Dublin, to  his  office. ANONYMOUS    LETTER    TO    MAJOR    SIRR. Subject — Offering   to  give  information  against  a  most  suspicious  person, whom  he  knows,  if  he  be  recompensed ;  says  he  gave  information  to  Lord major  sirr's  papers.  519 Westraeath  in  1795,  and  appeared  before  the  Select  Committee  of  Lords, but  got  nothing  for  it. Quotations. — "  I  saw  yesterday  a  most  suspicious  character,  a  resident of  Thomas  Street,  or  Dirty  Lane,  and  that  neighbourhood,  but  which, since  the  late  business,  he  has  forsaken,  skulking  in  a  most  suspicious  part of  the  town,  dreadfully  wounded  in  the  hand,  apparently  with  musket shot ;  he  is  an  intimate  of  Mr.  Murphy's,  and,  I  think,  you  had  him  the last  rebellion  ;  lie  is  also  an  intimate  of  Patrick  M'Cormick,  the  noted tinker  of  High  Street ;  and  it  occurred  to  me  that,  were  he  apprehended and  interrogated,  something  might  come  out  to  throw  light  on  the  horrid night  of  the  23rd,  for  which  purpose  I  watched  him,  and  know  his  haunts. Now,  Sir,  I  am  a  very  poor  man,  and  if  you  think  him  worthy  of  notice, and  will  mention,  by  advertizement  in  Saunders,  to  the  purport  as  at  foot, I  will  inform  you  all  the  particulars  I  know  about  him. "  '  Money. — 'Anonymous  shall  receive  ■ guineas  for  the  commu- nication he  proposes'. "  Please  fill  the  blank  with  the  utmost  that  will  be  given,  and,  if  liked, you  shall  receive  particulars". FROM     W.    H.    HUME, DENUNCIATION    OF    DOYLE,    A    WICKLOW    MAN,   TO THE    MAJOR. August  20,  1803. The  writer  says  that  he  has  heard  of  the  apprehension,  in  Dublin, of  Doyle,  who  was  a  rebel  captain,  and  had  served  between  Blessington and  Tallaght. I  am  informed,  by  good  authority,  that  he  has  been  very  active,  and can  give  much  information,  if  you  can  work  it  out  of  him. MEMORANDUM  OF  THE  MAJOR. Dublin  Castle,  August  14,  1803. Anthony  Moore  and  Walter  Tyrrell,  owners  of  the  house  in  Stephen's Lane,  where  the  Currens  were  taken. Thomas  Curren,  Edward  Curren,  and  Michael  Curren,  brothers,  from Jamestown,  county  Westmeath  ;  James  Curren  and  Daniel  Curren,  from Gaybrook,  Westmeath ;  taken  by  Captain  Abbot,  on  Saturday,  the  13th of  August.  H.  C.  Sirr. A    MEMORANDUM    OF    THE    MAJOR. Dublin  Castle,  August  22,  1803. Stating  that  he,  Major  Sirr,  had  received  useful  information,  from  time to  time,  from  a  man  named  J.  Houston,  who  had  formerly  given  useful 520  APPliNDIX    V. information  to  Lord  Carhampton,  of  the  designs  of  the  conspirators  of  the  i Hill  of  Ilowth,  where  he  resided.     Has  latterly  acquainted  him,  the  major,  l with  their  designs  respecting  the  meditated  attack  on  the  Pigeon  House  by  jj water ;  and,  as  the  informant  was  a  midshipman  in  the  navy,  it  was  thought His  ENTERPRISING  DisrosiTiON  would  be  useful  in  the  undertaking— William  :| Corr  and  one  John  Sweeny. MEMORANDUM    Of    THE    MAJOR  S. Benjamin  Adams  came  before  me  this  day,  and  made  oath  on  the  Holy Evangelists,  that,  on  the  night  of  the  23rd  of  July,  1803,  Owen  Kirwan assembled  with  a  large  body  of  pikemen  and  rebels  of  different  descriptions, and  on  that  same  night  he  commanded  the  party  of  rebels  that  went  through Plunket  Street,  and  he  called  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  neighbourhood  to take  up  arms  or  pikes  against  the  government,  and  that  whoever  would not  take  up  the  arms  should  be  put  to  death  the  following  day. ANONYMOUS    LETTER    TO    THE    MAJOR. Informing  him  of  a  meeting  at  Coffey's,  in  Gregg's  Lane,  that  a  man came  from  Wexford  to  Dublin  in  one  day,  and  there  were  many  matters of  importance  to  be  settled  at  next  meeting. August  25,  1803. Received  from  Henry  Charles  Sirr,  Esq.,  Five  Guineas,  on  account. William  Hall. £o  13s.  9d. From  Mr.  John  Hanlon. A    LETTER    EROM    CHARLES    M'GOWAN    TO    MAJOR    SIRR. August  17,  1803. Stating  that  he  was  an  informer  in  1798,  and  is  now  in  dread  of  his life,  and  asking  for  a  recommendation  to  Chelsea  Hospital. A  letter  to  the  major  recommends  steps  to  be  taken  against  Fleming, grocer,  and  Rourke,  publican,  Eades,  grocer,  and  Carroll,  seedsman— all of  Cook  Street. MAJOR  SIRR'S  PAPERS.  521 LETTER    FROM    R.    SMYTHE    TO    MAJOR    SIRR. Drogheda,  May  31,  1804. States,  he  has  seen  John  Carroll ;  that  he  will  remain  there  until  he  has settled  the  business,  and  that  he  will  do  the  needful. LETTER     TO    MAJOR    SIRR,    SIGNED    JOHN    DILLON,    BUT    APPARENTLY    IN   THE HANDWRITING    OF    CARROLL. Pormanstown,  Ballybriggan,  May  31,  1804. States  having  seen  Captain  Smyth ;  had  been  at  two  meetings  in  the country — one  on  last  Sunday,  the  next  on  Monday,  at  the  Bull,  at  the bridge  foot  of  Gormanstown.  There  were  nine  men  delegated  from  the country  round — one  of  the  name  of  Brennan,  "  an  eminent  farmer".  That he,  Dillon,  passed  himself  off  as  a  delegate  from  Dublin. LETTER    TO    MAJOR    SIRR    FROM    CONLAN. Stating,  that  when  the  army  left  Newry,  in  1798,  to  take  the  people  at the  meeting  at  Dundalk,  Corcoran  received  information  from  an  officer's servant  where  they  were  going,  upon  which  Corcoran  got  a  horse  and made  off  to  Dundalk,  where  Turner  had  gone  to  a  meeting ;  he  arrived  in time  to  disperse  the  meeting. Bazeley,  'Peeling,  Samuel  Turner,  John  Byrne,  and  Alexander  Lowry, went  with  him  to  one  Kelly's,  a  farmer,  at  about  two  miles,  where  they hid  themselves  that  night  in  a  barn ;  in  the  morning  they  sent  Corcoran to  Dundalk,  to  see  if  there  was  any  danger;  finding  none,  they  went — Turner,  Lowry,  and  Teeling,  went  to  Newry;  Turner  and  'feeling  hid themselves  ;  Turner  went  to  Dublin,  to  Eastwood's,  the  attorney,  who  sent him  oil';  John  Byrne  gave  Corcoran  tests  to  give  to  Ileffernan, Keogh, Michael  Fagan,  and  James  Doolan,  and  four  to  keep  for  others  who  might want  them.  There  was  a  password  between  Corcoran,  John  Byrne,  and Teeling,  for  putting  informers  out  of  the  way  of  their  friends. FROM    JOHN    WOLFE    TO    MAJOR    SIlfK. April  3,  1804. Hoping  the  major  will  try  to  get  the  reward,  which  was  offered  for  the taking  of  Wylde  and  Mahon,  for  the  woman  who  gave  information,  on which  they  would  have  succeeded  but  for  the  mismanagement  of  Drury. From  Carroll  asking  for  five  guineas,  and  says  he  hopes  soon  to  complete 522  APPENDIX  V. the  business :  thinks  the  tools  are  making  by  three  principal  men  of  this city. A  plan  to  take  James  Hughes  and  his  party  (generally  of  thirty  men) by  sending  parties  from  Blessington  to  Ballydaniel,  from  Tallow  to  Balla- nascorning,  etc. FROM    TIIE    REV.    MR.    PRATT. Newry,  July  17,  1804. Stating  that  MacCabe,  the  rebel,  had  been  in  the  town,  and  had  the impudence  to  appear  upon  the  military  parade  ;  that  he  had  been  at  Porta- down,  county  Armagh,  and  in  Downpatrick. THE  MAJOR  IN  WANT  OF  A  PROSECUTOR. Memorandum  of  the  major. — O'Ferrall,  an  officer  in  Keating's  regi- ment;  Dunne,  county  Wicklow ;  Hastings,  Kildare ;  Dempsey  and  Son; Cogan,  Wexford ;  Kelly,  the  two  Andersons,  Dublin :  and  Folev,  Flood, and  Joyce,  Conolly's  men,  "  are  noted  United  Irishmen,  but  have  no prosecutor". WYLDE  AND  MAHON. Memorandum  of  Major  Sirr. — Wylde  and  Mahon,  and  with  them  often M'Mahon,  have  been  occasionally  concealed  at  Mahon's  brother's,  at  Green Hills,  at  Frayne's,  near  Bathcoffey,  at  Quigley's,  and  at  an  alehouse, probably  Costello's,  at  the  Cork  Bridge,  and  at  the  jailer's,  in  Philipstown, who  is  married  to  Wylde's  sister ;  his  name  is  Morrow. FROM     A    YEOMANRY    OFFICER     (JOHN     CAULFIELD),    RESPECTING     AN ATTEMPT  TO  CAPTURE  WYLDE  AND  MAHON,  TO  MAJOR  SIRR,   1798. Dear  Sir, — In  consequence  of  your  information,  I  reached  the  jail  of Philipstown,  and  also  another  house  in  the  town,  where  I  thought  it  likely that  Wylde  and  Mahon  might  be  concealed,  but  did  not  meet  them  there. I  then  thought  it  possible  that  they  might  be  in  a  house  at  Ballycommon, within  two  miles  of  Philipstown,  which  the  jailer  of  Philipstown  had  lately taken.  On  consulting  Captain  Dodgson,  Fourth  Dragoon  Guards,  and  Lieut. Sherlock,  of  my  yeomen  troop,  we  thought  it  the  most  likely  way  of  taking them  would  be  by  surprise,  and,  in  consequence,  we  went  there  a  little after  eleven  o'clock,  a.m.  Just  as  we  got  there  the  door  was  shut  on  us, and  I  sent  off  Lieut.  Sherlock  for  a  detachment  of  the  yeomen.  Captain Dodgson  and  I  determined  to  Avatch  the  house  till  the  guard  came  up,  and in  consequence,  we  took  post  on  the  flank  of  the  house.  We  were  imme- diately obliged  to  retire :  the  house  having  a  parapet  wall  all  round  it,  the persons  within  threw  down  stones  and  flags  on  us,  and  on  retiring  from the  hou?e  we  saw  men  looking  over  the  parapet  Avail,  one  with  a  blunder- major  sirr's  papers.  523 buss,  the  other  with  pistols,  another  aiming  a  shot  at  Captain  Dodgson, which,  unfortunately  killed  him  ;  two  more  were  fired  at  me,  by  one  of  which I  was  slightly  wounded.  Captain  Dodgson  had  fired  one  shot,  and  I  fired three,  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  without  effect,  and  by  the  captain's  unfor- tunate death  and  my  wound,  the  villains  made  their  escape. The  jailer  of  Philipstown  and  wife  are  in  confinement. The  house  the  villains  were  in  is  an  uncommon  strong  one,  and  I  understand since  that  a  report  was  in  the  country  that  some  deserters  harboured  there, which  put  them  on  their  guard,  and  that  being  the  case,  nothing  but  cannon could  dislodge  them.  They  left  behind  them  in  the  house  a  pound  of powder  and  six  pounds  of  ball.  I  had  parties  of  military  out  immediately after  them,  but  the  bogs  being  close  by  to  the  house  and  so  extensive,  they have  hitherto  eluded  our  search,  though  I  am  still  in  hopes  they  may  be taken,  as  I  think  they  have  not  left  the  country.  They  took  their  arms with  them.  Major  Norris  has  the  yeomanry  still  out  in  every  direction  in search  of  them. I  remain,  dear  Sir,  your's  most  faithfully, John  Caulfield. Mem. — In  the  precis  book  of  the  correspondence  of  the  Kildare  magis- trates with  the  government,  in  1803,  there  is  the  following  entry,  which in  all  probability  is  the  substance  of  the  information  on  which  Caulfield and  Dodgson  acted. 'o "  Frayne  says  there  are  five  men  now  at  Oberstown,  within  a  mile  of Naas ;  their  names  are,  Wylde,  Mahon,  M'Mahon,  Stafford,  and  Edward Power.  Says  there  are  five  stone  of  ball-cartridges,  two  firelocks,  two blunderbusses,  and  a  great  number  of  pistols,  concealed  in  a  fallow  field in  Rathcoffey — the  corner  field,  where  three  roads  meet,  opposite  Quigley's garden ;  and  five  suits  of  green  uniform,  with  lace  and  epaulets,  in  the warren  in  the  demesne  of  Rathcoffey". Elsewhere  it  is  stated : — "  William  Sheridan  says  Quigley  and  the  two Barretts  set  off  this  day  fortnight  and  went  to  the  county  Galway,  to the  Barretts'  father,  who  lives  within  ten  miles  of  Galway,  on  Mr.  Blake's estate.     Quigley  is  to  write  in  a  week  from  thence  to  his  mother,  stating where  he  is.     The  letter  to  be  directed  to  old  Paddy ,  of  Rathcoffey, and  is  to  be  written  so  as  not  to  be  understood  by  any  person  except  the friends  of  Quigley".— R.  R.  M. "  JEMMY    O'BRIEN". A  memorial  of  O'Brien  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  dated  July,  1800,  pray- ing remission  of  the  sentence  of  death  passed  on  him  for  the  murder  of John  Hoey.  A  letter  of  Lord  Castlereagh  to  Major  Sirr,  stating  he  had referred  the  memorial  to  Judge  Day  and  Baron  Yelverton.  Unfavourable report  of  judges.  The  following  words  endorsed  on  memorial : — "  O'Brien was  distinctly  a  murdered  man.  His  own  statement  was  the  truth.  He was  a  calumniated,  honest,  and  brave  man". — J.  D.  S. 524  APPENDIX    V. THOMAS  o'hara  to  the  major. From  New  Geneva,  dated  July  2,  1801. Thanking  the  major  for  his  interference  in  obtaining  his  pardon. MEMORANDUM    OF    THE    MAJOR — LARRY   TIGHE. "  Larry  Tighc  was  often  invited  by  S.  C.  to  be  up". There  can  be  little  doubt  Sylvester  Costigan,  the  distiller,  was  the  person alluded  to,  for  his  name  occurs  on  the  back  of  the  same  document  in another  note  of  Sirr's. — R.  R.  M. LARRY  TIGHE. A  letter  dated  2nd  Sept.,  1803,  from  this  gentleman  to  Major  Sirr,  pro- posing to  sell  his  premises  in  Thomas  Street  to  government  for  barracks. FROM  LUKE  BRIEN  (INFORMER),    OF  35  FRANCIS  STREET,  TO  MAJOR  SIRR, RESPECTING    MESSRS.    FITZPATRICK  AND  MERRITT. Lamenting  the  wickedness  of  the  times,  the  lower  order  drinking whiskey  on  the  Sabbath ;  regretting  he  had  not  been  yet  able  to  do  any- thing respecting  Fitzpatrick  and  Merrit  (brother  of  the  silk-mercer  of Ciipel  Street),  "  but  does  not  despair  of  coming  round  the  latter  yet". J.    F.    H 1 1 1 A  postscript  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Joel  Ilulbert,  of  Monastereven,  dated 4th  August,  1803,  addressed  to  Sir  John  Macartney,  31  Merrion  Street, aud  evidently  placed  in  the  major's  hands  by  the  latter.  The  postscript  is written  on  the  back  of  the  page  bearing  the  superscription,  and  was  mis- taken by  me  at  first  for  a  separate  letter,  beginning  with  sir,  date,  etc. The  purport  of  it,  is  an  inquiry  about  a  Mr.  James  W.  Osborne,  once  a member  of  the  attorney's  corps,  and  now  is  of  Mr.  Cassidy's  corps.  This postscript  is  signed  J.  F.  H.,  while  the  letter  that  precedes  it  on  two  sides of  the  same  sheet  is  signed  Joel  Hulbert.  This  document  is  to  be  found in  the  book  of  the  major's  papers,  labelled  letters,  1803,  class  N.  tab.  4, N.  10. SECRETARY  OF  STATE  S  WARRANTS  FOR  APPREHENSION  OF  SUSPECTED  TRAITORS, ADDRESSED  TO  MAJOR  SIRR,  SIGNED  CASTLEREAGH. For  apprehension  of  William  Lawless,  date,  20th  May,  1798. „  Richd.  Dillon,  Bridge  St.,  23rd         „ ,,  Capt.  Philip  Hay,  4th  July. ,,  Henry  Magratli,  24th  November. MAJOR  SIRRS  PAPERS. 525 For  transmission  to the  Pigeon  House. 5» 11 Samuel  Neilson, Thomas  Russell, Matt.  Dowling, William  Dowdall, Arthur  O'Connor, 18th  March,  1799. For  apprehension  of    Thomas  Wright, Robert  Emmet, Hugh  O'Hanlon, Pat.  Fallon, Simon  Hearne, John  Brenan, n ii ii ii ii ii ii 11 >> 11 j» 11 )> 11 ii 3rd    April, 1799. ii ii ii 2nd  July, 2Gth  June, ii 1800. 27th  November,  1803.* John  Stockdale,  Abbey  St.  8th  August,  1801.f Gerard  Hope,  silk  dyer,  „  „ BERNARD    DUGGAN. A  vast  number  of  letters  to  the  major,  from  March,  1805,  to  October, 1822,  from  this  vilest  of  the  vile  band  of  informers,  denouncing  various parties,  and  making  tours  of  espionage  throughout  the  country  by  the  major's orders,  getting  hold  of  the  lower  orders  especially,  playing  the  part  of  a flaming  patriot,  and  betraying  his  unfortunate  dupes  into  the  meshes  of  the law.  His  first  letter  to  the  major  is  dated  March  11,  1805,  praying, through  his  influence,  to  be  released  from  jail,  where  he  has  been  confined for  upwards  of  a  year.  From  the  above  mentioned  date  B.  Dnggan figures  as  a  free  man  and  an  informer  of  the  basest  character.  The  21st of  October,  1820,  he  writes  to  the  major: — "  I  beg  leave  to  state  to  you  for  the  good  of  government,  it  is  absolutely necessary  to  keep  up  my  consequence,  as  I  have  ever  done".  And  then the  truculent  old  ruffian  requires  to  have  a  sum  of  ten  pounds  sent  to him.  On  the  3rd  of  August,  1821,  he  writes  to  the  major:  "If  the Catholics  are  emancipated,  when  they  get  into  any  degree  of  power,  they will  rouse  the  public  into  fury  and  madness".  I  have  dined  in  1836  in the  company  of  this  miscreant  at  the  table  of  a  member  of  the  old Catholic  Association,  where  he  had  out-Heroded  Herod  in  declarations  of zeal  for  the  cause  of  his  creed  and  country. — R.  R.  M. The  major  prefixes  to  B.  Duggan's  correspondence  a  memorandum, wherein  he  says  there  was  no  doubt  but  that  Duggan  was  the  man  who shot  Mr.  Darragh  in  Kildare  in  the  early  part  of  1791,  and  who  fired  at Mr.  Clarke,  the  magistrate,  when  he  was  coming  in  on  the  22nd  of  July, 1803,  to  give  the  government  notice  of  the  approaching  insurrection  on the  23rd  ;  and  the  major  concludes  his  memorandum  with  these  very  re- markable words  :  "  The  government  had  frequent  information  given  them of  that  insurrection  on  the  23rd  July,  1803,  and  on  that  day  they  paid no  attention  to  it.  Major  Sirr  and  Edward  Wilson,  the  chief-constable, were  the  only  two  official  persons  that  were  au  fait.  This  accounts  for the  great  attention  since  paid  by  government  to  the  most  trifling  infor- Warrant  signed  by  Edward  Cooke,     t  Warrant  signed  by  Charles  Abbott. 526  appendix  v. mation  threatening  disturbance".  The  last  documents  in  the  book  relating to  Duggan,  arc  receipts  of  his,  one  for  one  hundred  pounds  from  the  major, dated  7th  November,  1821,  and  another  receipt  of  his  for  sixty  pounds, dated  9th  October,  1822. MEMORANDUM  IN  THE  MAJOR  S  HANDW  RITING — DONNYBROOK  HURLERS. John  Madden, Peter  Madden, William  Dowdall, James  Alleyburn, Thomas  Hyland, David  Fitzgerald, Richard  Scallan, Pat.  Burke, White, M'Cabe, John  Allen, John  Kearney, Stafford  Donnellan, Eugene  M'Mahon, John  Bawes, Henry  Fairfield, John  Fairfield, Batty  Donnellan, Holland,  sen., Philip  Long, James  German, Michael  Meighan, George  Ward, M'Namara, Nolan  and  Pdchardson, Sir  Thomas  Lighton, And  seventeen  others. MR.  PAT.  LONG. The  most  systematic  espionage  detailed  in  the  book  of  the  major's  cor- respondence with  spies  and  informers,  from  1803  to  1830,  is  the  journal of  an  anonymous  informer,  who  kept  a  regular  diary  of  his  proceedings during  the  months  of  November  and  December,  1804,  and  January  and February,  1805,  tracking  the  steps,  watching  the  movements,  and  dogging a  suspected  gentleman  from  place  to  place,  morning,  noon,  and  night, always  either  at  his  heels  or  near  his  house,  evidently  a  person  of  high station  and  consequence,  who  is  only  designated  throughout  the  journals as  Mr.  H.  The  entries  in  the  journal  always  commence  thus  :  Pat.  Long says  he  saw  Mr.  H.  at  such  an  hour  or  such  a  place,  etc. I  knew  Mr.  Patrick  Long  intimately  in  my  childhood  ;  he  was  in  the habit  of  frequenting  my  fathei-'s  house,  and  by  every  one  except  my father  was  suspected  of  being  an  informer. Mr.  H.  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  going  to  court  (the  law  courts),  and returning  from  them  with  Mr.  Lawson. .,  AN  INFORMER. There  are  many  letters  of  a  Mr.  J.  M'D.,  who  seems  to  have  been  in the  same  line  as  Mr.  Patrick  Long.  J.  M'D.  seems  to  have  been  especially set  on  Sylvester  Costigan,  the  distiller,  and  Mr.  D'Arcy,  a  brewer  or  dis- tiller, with  the  view  of  entrapping  two  affluent  traders  of  a  suspected  faith. MAJOR    SIRIl's    PAPKRS.  527 THE  LAST  HORRIBLE  POPISH  PLOT THE  INFORMER    Z. On  the  24th  and  27th  of  December,  1830,  a  gentleman  under  this  signa- ture, obviously  from  his  hand-writing  an  educated  man,  and  from  the style  of  his  two  long  statements  addressed  to  the  major,  a  person  of  con- siderable acquirements,  and  one  very  intimately  acquainted  with  the college  lives  and  career  of  Koman  Catholic  clergymen  both  at  home  and abroad,  gave  himself  the  trouble  of  imposing  on  the  government,  whatever his  object  or  design  might  be,  whether  to  gratify  cupidity  or  resentment,  or to  practise  a  hoax  on  the  major,  by  furnishing  a  detailed  account  of  secret machinations  of  most  dangerous  character,  carried  on  by  a  number  of  Roman Catholic  gentlemen  and  clergy,  chiefly  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  M'Sweeny,  No. 10  D'Olier  Street,  where  on  one  occasion  at  a  meeting  it  was  announced that  "  twenty-three  agents  or  officers",  all  young  clergymen  of  Carlow  or Maynooth,  had  been  dispatched  to  various  parts  of  the  country,  all  by  dif- ferent coaches,  and  that  all  of  them  received  their  letters  of  instruction  at Battersby's  of  Parliament  Street  (poor  W.  J.  Battersby,  the  bookseller, the  least  dangerous  of  men  to  his  sovereign  or  the  state).  At  that  meeting the  writer  says  there  were  present  John  Coyne,  W.  Battersby,  Thomas Eeynolds,  Pat.  Serenius  Kelly,  two  monks  from  -Clondalkin,  a  priest,  and several  other  gentlemen,  all  persons,  to  the  author  of  this  work  at  least, well  known  never  to  have  taken  any  part  in  revolutionary  plots  or  con- spiracies. In  the  second  statement  several  priests  are  made  to  figure  in  the  Guy Fawkes  line,  and,  amongst  others,  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Blake.  This  was the  last  mare's  nest  discovered  by  the  major  or  disclosed  to  him  :  Othello's occupation  was  pretty  well  gone  at  the  date  of  these  disclosures.  The major  made  his  debut  on  the  official  stage  in  the  solemn  tragedy  of "  State  Terror",  and  took  leave  of  it  in  the  ludicrous  farce  of  "  The Battersby  Plot,  or  a  hoax  on  the  patron  of  Jemmy  O'Brien". THE  LAST  HORRIBLE  POPISH  PLOT. A  letter  from  Sir  Philip  Crampton  to  Major  Sirr,  begging  the  major  to let  him  have  "  the  statement  "  of  Z,  adding  that  he  was  on  the  point  of departing  for  London. 528 APPENDIX   VI. EX  TRACTS  FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  PRECIS  BOOK  OF  THE KILDARE  MAGISTRATES'  PROCEEDINGS. MINUTES  OF  EXAMINATIONS  AND  INFORMATIONS  IN   1803. October,  1803. "William  Vallance,  slater,  of  Naas,  gave  information  against  many  Naas people,  as  having  met  them  on  the  road  going  to  Dublin,  between  four  and six  o'clock,  23rd  July.  John  Patterson,  butcher,  had  many  people  with him: — John  Doyle,  of  Tipper,  a  miller;  John  Dunn,  of  Naas,  a  baker; Patrick  Daniel,  carpenter,  Naas ;  John  Beirne,  of  Hill,  carpenter ;  Daniel Brophy,  brewer,  Naas. Before  Solicitor- General  and  Colonel  Wolfe,  J.P.,  ord  October,  1803. John  Reynolds,  apprentice  to  Surgeon  Bolton,  in  Dublin  23rd  July. Said  his  father  was  a  loyal  man  ;  died  in  Naas  in  1802  ;  saw  Lord  Kil- warden's  carriage  stopped,  from  his  uncle's  window  in  Thomas  Street. Peter  Hamilton  told  by  John  Duff  and  Martin,  all  of  Naas,  there  was  a French  officer  in  Naas,  organizing  the  people,  and  that  Dwyer  was  to  go to  Dublin  with  a  great  force. Richard  Flood,  baker,  of  Kilcullen  Bridge,  said  to  be  the  principal leader,  gave  out  the  orders. Two  of  the  Naas  men  killed  the  night  of  the  23rd  in  Dublin. Cause  of  the  failure  attributed  to  their  turning  out  two  hours  before  the time  appointed. Peter  Hamilton  examined. — Stated,  about  a  month  before  the  rising, saw  150  or  200  men  going  down  the  banks  of  the  canal  to  exercise  by night,  close  to  Ladytown.  The  intention  was  to  take  Naas ;  to  attack  it at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  the  time  came. That  Kiernan  Lackey  was  in  correspondence  with  the  Naas  people ; lives  in  Dublin,  corner  of  Temple  Lane,  at  Dolmar's ;  that  he  had  killed  a Scotch  corporal ;  that  he  was  a  great  coiner. LIST  OF  UNITED  IRISHMEN  OF  NAAS,  ETC. Daniel   Brophy    went   out  from   Naas  to   raise  the   country,   23rd  of July. REPORTS  OF  KILDARE  MOVEMENTS  IN  1803.  529 William  Andrews,  publican,  rode  out  from  Naas,  21st  of  July,  for  tho rising  ou  the  23rd,  and  his  house  a  place  of  meeting  for  rebels. Benj.  Bushell,  nailer,  rode  out  from  Naas  on  July  21,  for  the  rising  on  23rd. Richard  Scott,  skinner,  went  out  from  Naas  on  the  21st  July,  to  raise the  country  on  the  23rd. Pat.  Dunn,  publican,  Naas ;  meetings  at  his  house  frequently  of  rebels. Matthew  Dodd,  publican ;  meetings  at  his  house  frequently — meetings of  rebels. John  Patterson,  butcher,  left  Dublin  in  the  evening,  23rd  July,  to  stop Kildare  rebels. James  Toole,  shoemaker,  Avent  to  Dublin  23rd  July,  with  Doyle,  the  miller. Hamilton  says  the  serjeant  (Duff)  gave  the  orders ;  went  to  the  houses of  meeting ;  dropped  the  written  orders,  but  said  nothing ;  no  name  to  them. Matthew  Dodd  examined. —  Said  that  Mr.  Madden,  a  grocer  in  Bridge Street,  on  the  23rd  of  July,  at  four  o'clock,  told  him  that  a  disturbance would  break  out  that  evening  in  Dublin. Dowling,  Blackhall  Row  Market,  a  whitesmith;  much  visited  by  the Naas  men  on  the  23rd  of  July. A  great  many  carpenters  of  the  Naas  men,  who  went  to  Dublin  on  the 23rd.     Michael  M'Daniel  one. Richard  Eustace  examined. — Says  Pat  Rorke  had  twelve  perch  (query pikes),  Cushion  one  hundred  perch,  in  Thomas  Street,  Farrell's  eating-house. William  M'Dermot,  a  publican,  Naas,  a  distressed  man,  and  likely  to give  information  that  would  be  useful,  in  Dublin  on  the  23rd. Richard  Lynch,  in  Dublin  the  23rd. James  Corcoran,  in  Dublin  23rd  July. Simon  Cullen,  shoemaker,  iu  Dublin  23rd  July  ;  a  leader  of  the  rebels last  rebellion. Pat.  White,  carpenter,  in  Dublin  23rd  July.  Strong  symptoms  of guilt  on  being  examined,  and  likely  to  give  information. Daniel  Dolan,  publican,  in  Dublin  23rd  July. John  Doyle,  miller,  a  leader,  in  Dublin  23rd  July. John  Dunn,  baker,  of  Naas,  in  Dublin  23rd  July. John  Keating,  labourer,  in  Dublin  23rd  July. Two  M'Mahons,  one  of  them  killed,  it  is  supposed  on  the  23rd  July  ;  the other  lately  returned,  and  was  in  Dublin  23rd  of  July. Michael  M'Daniel,  publican,  Johnstown,  in  Dublin  on  the  23rd  of  July. Tierney,  of  Sallins,  not  returned,  and  supposed  to  be  killed. Shawn  King,  not  returned,  and  supposed  to  be  killed. James  Byrne,  baker,  Naas,  in  Dublin,  and  taken  with  a  pike ;  convicted and  executed  on  Lazor's  Hill. David  Cassidy,  iu  Dublin,  as  well  as  Michael. James  Tracey,  coal  factor,  Naas  ;  went  to  Dublin,  23rd  July,  with  Doyle, the  miller,  and  Toole,  the  shoemaker. Michael  Kelly,  present  when  Lord  Kil warden  was  killed. George  Kelly,  of  Mandlins,  mason,  distributed  money  to  the  rebels  at Johnstown,  the  23rd  July. John  Byrne,  of  Kill,  publican,  in  Dublin,  23rd  July. Jordan,  of  Kill,  tailor,  in  Dublin,  23rd  July. VOL.  I.  35 530  APPENDIX    VI. Myles  Ilanlon,  of  Kill,  publican,  in  Dublin,  23rd  July. Gillespie,  of  Kill,  blacksmith,  in  Dublin,  23rd  July. Michael  Dal  ton,  of  Johnstown,  clerk  to  Kennedy,  the  miller,  one  of  the leaders  in  the  last  rebellion. Daniel  Byrne,  of  Tipper ;  meetings  held  at  his  house ;  in  prison  for treason  last  rebellion. Michael  Kilroy,  of  Naas,  in  Dublin,  23rd  July,  and  fled  in  the  battle. An  apprentice  to  Plunket,  butcher,  in  Naas,  went  to  Dublin  on  the  23rd July,  but  not  returned;  supposed  to  be  killed. One  hundred  and  fifty  people  left  Naas  for  Dublin  on  23rd  July. John  Walker,  of  Johnstown,  herd  to  Brophy,  the ,  Dublin. Martin  Byrne,  of  Blackchurch ;  his  house  a  place  of  meeting  for  rebels. Peter  Burchell,  of  Kilteel,  a  farmer  and  an  esquire,  returning  from  town on  23rd  July,  was  met  by  a  party  at  the  Canal  Bridge,  and  brought  back  to town.     A  timid  man,  and  likely  to  give  useful  informations. Costigan  (the  distiller,  of  Thomas  Street)  had  two  rebel  officers  to  dine with  him  the  23rd. Madden  lives  corner  of  the  new  street  from  Corn  Market,  at  that  corner next  New  Row ;  counselled  the  Naas  rebels  that  night  in  Dublin. Halpin,  the  distiller,  or  brewer,  an  active  rebel.     Grange,  a  distiller  in Dublin,  has  a  store  in  Naas.     One  of  them  is .     Their  clerks came  down  to  Naas  to  raise,  20th  of  July, ,  and  gave  the  orders for  the  country,  and  the  four  first  in  the  list  executed  their  orders. John  Mahon,  formerly  servant  to  William  B.  Ponsonby,  a  leader  in Thomas  Street,  23rd  July. Widow  Ryan's,  99  Thomas  Street,  the  place  where  the  Naas  men  met (within  three  doors  of  John's  Lane). John  Peppard,  of  Athy,  shopkeeper,  got  three  casks  of  gunpowder  from Cork  gunpowder  office. Mr.  William  Murphy,  of  Smithfield,  set  out  on  Friday,  22nd  July, and  rode  through  Kildare,  raising  the  country.* Nicholas  Gray,  secretary  to  B.  B.  Harvey,  23rd  July. Thomas  Fitzgerald,  of  Geraldine  ;  if  in  Dublin,  is  at  Seapoint. Conran,  of  Castle  Corner,  superintendent  of  Lady  Ormond's  works ;  in Dublin  the  23rd  July,  and  a  leader  of  rebels. Michael  Quigley,  of  Rathcoffey,  a  leader,  had  been  out  of  the  kingdom, and  came  back  prior  to  the  outbreak  in  1803. Richard  Eustace,  Naas,  carpenter ;  in  Dublin  23rd,  when  examined there  for  expectations  held  out  to  him. The  White  Bull  Inn,  a  rendezvous  of  the  Naas  men,  the  23rd  of  July. Rourke  kept  the  "  Yellow  Bottle  Inn",  in  Thomas  Street. *  The  gentleman  above  referred  to  informed  me,  the  statement  of  his  taking any  part  in  the  insurrection  of  1803  was  utterly  unfounded.  He  had  no  know- ledge of  it.  I  showed  him  the  original  book,  in  which  an  account  for  his  suspected treason  was  duly  opened,  with  his  name  and  occupation  in  large  letters  at  the head  of  the  page,  and  with  a  mysterious  *  prefixed  to  it.  He  laughed  when he  read  the  account  of  his  riding  through  Kildare  on  the  22nd  of  July,  1803, raising  the  country,  and,  after  some  minutes'  conversation,  said  he  remembered perfectly  riding  from  Dublin  to  Wicklow  and  the  borders  of  Kildare,  with  his friend,  Mr.  B C ,  on  the  day  specified.  The  object  of  this  Sunday  ex- cursion was  the  trial  of  a  horse  newly  purchased  by  Mr.  M.  He  remembered  the circumstance,  he  stated,  because  Emmet's  insane  attempt  was  made  the  next  day. 531 APPENDIX   VII THE  SPY  SYSTEM  ILLUSTRATED  BY  EXTRACTS  FROM THE  NARRATIVE  OF  EDWARD  JOHN  NEWELL,  THE INFORMER. Of  all  the  wretches  of  that  band  of  informers,  who  rioted  on  the  wages of  iniquity  in  those  frightful  times,  the  worst,  the  most  thoroughly  debased, the  vilest  of  the  vile,  was  Edward  John  Newell,  a  native  of  Downpatrick, a  portrait  painter  by  profession.  Treachery  seemed  to  be  the  ruling  pas- sion of  this  man's  life.  To  every  friend  or  party  he  connected  himself with  he  Avas  false.  He  betrayed  the  secrets  of  the  United  Irish  Society, professedly  to  prevent  the  murder  of  an  exciseman  named  Murdoch.  He ingratiated  himself  into  the  confidence  of  Murdoch,  and  then  robbed  him  of the  affections  of  his  wife.  He  became  one  of  the  regular  corps  of  ruffians called  the  Battalion  of  Testimony,  who  had  apartments  provided  for  them at  the  Castle,  within  the  precincts  of  that  place  which  was  the  residence of  the  viceroy  and  the  centre  of  the  official  business  of  the  government. Having  sold  his  former  associates  to  the  government,  and  by  his  own account  having  been  the  cause  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  arrests, and  the  occasion  of  the  flight  of  upwards  of  three  hundred  persons  from their  habitations,  and  many  of  them  from  their  country,  in  consequence  of the  informations  he  had  laid  against  them,  he  next  betrayed  the  govern- ment, published  their  secrets,  and  fled  from  the  service  of  Mr.  Cooke  to that  of  the  northern  United  Irishmen.  Some  of  the  latter — amongst others  James  Hope — were  employed  to  go  to  Dublin  to  make  overtures  to him  on  the  eve  of  the  trials  of  Messrs.  Barrett,  Burnside,  and  other  northern prisoners,  and  at  the  same  time  to  put  Murdoch  in  possession  of  certain letters  of  his  wife,  known  to  exist,  which  had  been  discovered  in  a  chest of  Newell's,  left  by  the  latter  in  Belfast.  My  informant,  James  Hope, delivered  these  letters  into  the  hands  of  Murdoch.  The  result  is  alluded to  in  Newell's  narrative,  but  not  the  cause  of  the  denouement,  which ended  in  Murdoch's  being  lodged  in  jail.  About  this  time,  the  self-im- portance of  the  miscreant  Newell  knew  no  bounds :  he  was  on  terms  of familiar  official  intercourse  with  the  Chief  Secretary  and  Crown  Soli- citor ;   he  corresponded  with  general  officers,  and  had  power  to  command 532  appendix  vir. their  cooperation  when  and  how  he  thought  fit  to  make  his  requisition  for it.  He  swaggered  about  the  Castle  Yard  with  all  the  consequence  of  a distinguished  government  official.  lie  disregarded  the  ordinary  rules  and regulations  of  the  major's  department  in  the  Castle.  At  length  he  carried his  audacity  to  the  point  of  taking  a  pistol  from  his  pocket,  and  delibe- rately firing  at  a  sentinel  on  duty  at  the  Lower  Castle  Gate,  who  impeded his  entrance  at  an  hour  when  it  was  forbidden  to  allow  persons  to  pass. He  was  in  the  act  of  discharging  a  second  pistol  at  the  sentinel,  when  he was  overpowered  and  conveyed  to  the  guard-house.  In  the  morning  Mr. Newell  was  released,  when  it  was  discovered  who  he  was.  He  was  then sent  for  to  the  Castle,  and  instead  of  being  forthwith  committed  to  New- gate for  this  capital  offence,  he  was  reprimanded  by  Mr.  Secretary  Cooke. This  statement  is  not  dependent  on  the  authority  of  Newell.  The  news- papers of  the  day  make  mention  of  the  occurrence,  as  well  as  of  that  of Mr.  Murdoch's  previous  attempt  on  the  life  of  Newell. A  meeting  was  at  length  concerted  between  Newell  and  one  of  the United  Irishmen,  named  Robert  Orr,  a  chandler,  of  Belfast,  at  a  place  of accommodation  and  entertainment  for  informers,  called  the  "  Stag-house", nearly  in  front  of  Kilmainham  jail.  The  result  was  Newell's  departure from  Dublin,  in  the  company  of  Orr,  for  Belfast.  For  some  time  he  was concealed  in  that  town,  in  a  house  near  the  artillery  barracks.  He  was from  thence  conveyed  to  the  house  of  one  of  the  United  Irishmen  at Doagh,  a  few  miles  from  Belfast. It  was  while  he  was  in  concealment  in  the  latter  place  he  wrote  the  nar- rative of  his  life,  which  bears  his  name,  and  it  was  privately  printed  by John  Story,  a  printer  in  Belfast,  though  on  the  title-page  it  purports  to have  been  printed  in  London. The  narrative  is  unquestionably  the  production  of  Edward  John  Newell. Of  the  fate  of  the  unfortunate  wretch  who  wrote  it  there  is  some  doubt,  but a  great  deal  of  reason  to  fear  that  he  was  barbarously  murdered  by  the persons  into  whose  hands  he  had  fallen  after  his  removal  from  Belfast. James  Hope,  who  had  delivered  the  letters  to  Murdoch,  which  were  the occasion  of  the  rupture  between  him  and  Newell,  had  no  knowledge  of  his movements  from  the  time  he  had  been  taken  from  Belfast,  for  the  purpose of  being  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Lough,  where  facilities  existed for  embarkation,  when  the  opportunity  should  occur  of  carrying  the  inten- tion into  effect  of  putting  him  on  board  a  vessel  for  America. Murdoch's  wife,  in  the  mean  time,  had  been  prevailed  on  by  Newell  to accompany  him  to  America,  had  quitted  her  husband's  house,  and  taken up  her  abode  in  a  neighbouring  one  to  that  in  which  Newell  was  then living.  He  quarrelled  with  the  unfortunate  woman  he  had  inveigled  from her  husband's  house,  and  no  sooner  was  he  informed  that  a  vessel  was  in readiness  to  sail  for  America,  and  the  time  was  appointed  for  his  depar- ture, than  he  wrote  to  Murdoch  to  acquaint  him  where  his  wife  then  was, and  of  her  readiness  to  return  to  him  ;  but  whether  this  letter  was  written with  her  sanction,  or  with  the  knowledge  of  the  persons  who  kept  him  in concealment,  it  is  impossible  to  say,  for  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  the extent  or  the  design  of  such  complicated  villainy. One  thing  is  certain,  that  Newell,  by  some  proceeding  or  other  of  his, ASSASSINATIONS    IN    THE    NORTH.  533 gave  his  custodians  an  idea  that  he  was  only  biding  his  time  to  return  to his  old  pursuits  and  perfidy  ;  that  he  was  informed  a  vessel  was  in  the Lough  bound  for  America ;  that  he  was  prevailed  on  to  embark  on  board  a small  boat,  or  at  least  to  accompany  two  pretended  friends  to  the  beach  for the  purpose  of  embarking,  and  that  he  never  more  was  heard  of. The  man  whose  name  is  coupled  with  the  chief  part  of  the  infamy  of  this alleged  transaction,  went  to  America  and  died  there. M'Skimmin,  the  historian  of  Carrickfergus,  informed  me  that  he  had  no doubt  of  the  assassination  of  Newell,  nor  of  the  authenticity  of  the  narra- tive which  bears  his  name.  On  the  subject,  however,  of  assassinations ascribed  to  United  Irishmen,  M'Skimmin  has  taken  up  ideas  which  have  no existence  except  in  the  brains  of  persons  like  himself,  who  have  suffered  at the  hands  of  the  United  Irishmen,  or  apprehended  injury  from  them.  He states  that  the  murder  of  Newell  was  not  an  isolated  act  of  one  or  two  in- dividuals of  the  friends  of  those  whose  lives  were  depending  on  his  appear- ance at  the  ensuing  trials  or  his  absence  from  them,  but  a  part  of  an  orga- nized system  of  murder,  duly  managed  by  a  committee  of  assassination,  of which  the  northern  one  was  a  branch  ;  that  the  Dublin  leaders  were  the originators  of  this  system ;  and  that  the  assassination  journal,  called  the Union  Star,  which  he  (M'Skimmin)  insists  was  printed  in  Belfast,  was the  organ  of  the  northern  committee. This  idea  had  evidently  taken  such  possession  of  the  mind  of  M'Skim- min, that  all  attempts  on  my  part  to  remove  the  impression  were  in vain.  It  was  of  no  avail  that  he  was  informed  of  the  Union  Star  having been  got  up,  printed,  and  disseminated  in  Dublin  ;  of  O'Connor,  Emmet, and  M'Neven,  having  repudiated  and  denounced  its  atrocious  principles  ;  of such  denunciations  having  been  found  in  Emmet's  house,  when  searched  by the  authorities,  and  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  government ;  of  assassi- nation being  repudiated  by  every  leading  member  of  the  society  ;  and  of the  charge  originally  brought  forward  by  Lord  Clare,  of  the  existence  of  a committee  of  assassination,  being  utterly  unfounded.  I  have  taken  no common  pains  to  inquire  into  this  subject,  and  the  result  of  my  research  is a  conviction  that  there  exists  no  ground  for  the  allegation,  and  I  can  truly affirm,  if  a  single  fact  had  come  to  my  knowledge  affording  authentic  in- formation on  which  a  contrary  opinion  could  be  formed,  it  should  not  have been  suppressed  by  me. In  the  year  1797,  a  friend  of  M'Skimmin,  an  old  pensioner  of  the  name of  Lee,  known  as  an  informer,  swore  against  J.  Cuthbert  of  Belfast,  and some  others,  who  were  tried  at  Carrickfergus.  Previously  to  the  trial,  an attempt  was  made  to  murder  Lee,  and  MkSkimmiu's  connection  with  a  man of  some  notoriety  as  an  informer,  caused  him  to  be  suspected  by  the people,  or  M'Skimmin  to  imagine  that  he  was  -suspected,  and  that  it  was the  intention  of  the  United  Irishmen  to  make  away  with  him.  lie  took refuge  in  the  Castle  of  Carrickfergus,  and  did  duty  with  the  old  pensioners who  were  stationed  there  for  several  months.  The  apprehension  which caused  him  to  take  refuge  in  that  place  had  made  a  deep  impression  on his  mind ;  it  became,  in  short,  a  fixed  idea,  and  the  delusion  led  him  to collect  a  mass  of  information,  a  very  large  portion  of  which  consists  of fabrications,  which  were  palmed  on  him  for  facts;  and  provided  they  were 534  APPENDIX    VII. injurious  to  the  character  of  the  United  Irishmen,  they  were  eagerly  received by  him.  With  these  observations  I  have  to  preface  a  statement  respecting Newell's  disappearance,  and  the  several  assassinations  committed  by  persons supposed  to  be  United  Irishmen,  drawn  up  for  me  by  M'Skimmin. "About  June,  1798,  Newell's  friends  wished  him  to  leave  the  country and  go  out  to  America,  offering  him  ample  means.  This,  however,  he refused,  unless  Mrs.  Murdoch  would  consent  to  go  with  him.  During  this negociation  he  remained  mostly  at  M'Questen's,  at  Donegore,  which  he  left one  evening  in  company  with  two  professed  friends,  and  he  was  never afterwards  seen.  He  had  become  again  suspected  by  the  United  Irishmen of  being  about  to  give  them  the  slip,  and  he  was  therefore  consigned  to Moiley,  then  a  cant  term  for  assassination.  The  account  says  he  was thrown  overboard  from  a  boat  in  Garnogle ;  another,  that  he  was  shot  on the  road  near  Roughfort.* "  Though  the  pistol  or  dagger  was  the  common  mode  of  disposing  of those  charged  with  being  informers,  others  were  also  resorted  to.  We have  heard  of  one  who  was  thrown  into  a  burning  lime-kiln ;  aud  near Belfast  a  house  is  pointed  out  where  the  victims  were  decoyed  in  to  be murdered.  On  entering  its  hall  a  trap-door  opened,  and  the  victim  fell into  a  cellar,  where  he  was  despatched  by  a  man  who  stood  ready  with  a hatchet  to  receive  him.  About  twenty-five  years  ago,  in  making  a  ditch near  this  house,  a  human  skeleton  was  found,  that  had  evidently  been  in- terred in  the  common  clothes  worn  during  life,  some  portion  of  them  lying with  the  bones". m'skimmin's  account  of  assassinations  in  1796-7. "  When  any  of  these  murders  became  known,  it  was  said  Moiley  had him,  or  that  Moiley  had  eaten  him. "  1796.  January  5th. — The  body  of  a  stranger,  said  to  have  been  an informer,  of  the  surname  of  Phillips,  was  found  in  a  dam  near  the  paper- mills,  Belfast. "  August   3rd,   same  year. — A   soldier  of  the  Limerick  militia,  then *  The  following  account  of  Newell  was  given  to  me  by  Dr.  M'Gee,  of  Belfast (a  United  Irishman),  a  short  time  before  his  death : — "  In  the  winter  of  1797,  four  United  Irishmen  were  to  he  tried  at  Dublin — Barrett,  Burnside,  Dan  Shanaghan,  and  Henry  Joy  M'Cracken.  The  witnesses against  them  were  Smith  alias  Bird,  the  other,  Newell.  Bird  declined  to  come forward,  and  the  only  apprehension  then  was  for  Newell's  appearance.  Certain persons  were  sent  up  from  Belfast,  to  endeavour  to  buy  off  Newell.  Bobert Orr  and  another  person  met  Newell  at  Ivilmainham  on  a  Sunday  morning, at  a  public-house  called  the  '  The  Stag-house'.  Newell  had  sent  a  messenger  to some  of  the  prisoners'  friends,  that  he  wished  to  meet  them.  He  said  to  Orr  and his  friend  he  was  sorry  for  what  he  had  done ;  he  wished  to  make  amends  and get  back  to  Belfast,  provided  he  coidd  get  a  certain  person  to  accompany  him  to America.  There  was  no  money  given  to  him.  It  was  understood  that  he  was to  be  sent  off  at  the  expense  of  the  United  Irishmen". Mr.  Gunning,  another  of  the  actors  in  the  struggle  of  1708,  who  recently  dieil, informed  me  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  that  a  Mr  White,  of  Ballyholnie (about  ten  miles  from  Belfast),  about  fifteen  years  ago,  had  found  there,  on  the beech,  partly  uncovered,  some  human  bones;  and  from  all  the  circumstances connected  with  the  discovery,  he  believed  them  to  be  the  bones  of  Newell,  who was  said  to  have  been  drowned  there. — K.  R.  M. ASSASSINATIONS    IN    THE    NORTH.  535 quartered  in  Belfast,  was  found  drowned  at  the  Strand  mills  near  that town.  He  was  reported  to  have  been  au  informer ;  and  it  was  said  he had  been  cast  into  the  river  by  his  comrades  on  the  previous  night.  About the  same  time  the  body  of  a  soldier,  believed  to  have  been  murdered,  wa3 cast  on  shore  near  Hollywood. "  1796. — On  the  19th  of  August,  a  man  named  John  Lee  was  fired  at, and  severely  wounded  in  the  shoulder,  at  Dumbridge ;  for  which  some  per- sons were  sworn  against  by  Lee,  but  were  acquitted. "  1796. — On  the  night  of  the  8th  of  October,  the  Rev.  Philip  Johnston, a  magistrate,  was  fired  at  and  severely  wounded,  while  mounting  his horse  between  two  dragoons,  in  Castle  Street,  Lisburn.  About  seven o'clock  of  the  evening  of  the  19  th  of  the  same  month,  a  man  named William  M'Bride,  who  had  lately  arrived  from  Glasgow,  was  shot  dead, near  the  head  of  North  Street,  Belfast.  He  was  also  reported  to  have been  an  informer,  though  it  is  certain  he  was  not  an  United  Irishman.  A few  evenings  after,  his  murderer  also  shot  a  man  near  the  county  of  Down end  of  the  Long  Bridge,  who  was  immediately  tossed  into  the  river. "1796.  October  29th. — The  Rev.  John  Cleland  was  fired  at  while passing  along  the  streets  of  Newtownards ;  and  on  the  31st  of  the  same month,  a  man  named  Stephenson,  servant  to  a  Mr.  Gurdy,  near  New- townards, was  murdered  at  his  master's  door :  before  he  died  he  deposed that  one  John  Lavery,  of  Derryanghy,  was  oue  of  his  murderers.  About the  same  time  a  butcher,  named  John  Kingsbury,  Belfast,  was  murdered near  the  Drumbridge :  he  was  a  professed  Orangeman :  some  words  uttered by  him  against  United  Irishmen,  are  said  to  have  led  to  his  murder. "1797. — Mr.  Cumming,  one  of  the  Newtownards  cavalry,  was  mur- dered in  his  own  house,  and  his  arms  carried  off.  In  April,  an  informer named  M'Clure  was  killed,  near  Ballynare ;  and  May  6th,  a  man  was shot,  charged  with  being  an  informer,  near  Dunnedery;  he  was  not  an  in- former. A  man  named  M'Dowell,  near  Dromore,  was  shot  at  his  own house,  charged  with  a  like  offence;  and  an  informer  named  Morgan  was shot  in  the  vicinity  of  Downpatrick,  by  persons  who  came  on  horseback from  Ballynahinch.  About  December,  Neil  M'Kimmon,  a  soldier,  Argyle Fencibles,  was  murdered  between  Lisburn  and  Blaris  camp. "  The  house  of  one  M'Clusky,  county  of  Deny,  was  burned,  and  himself murdered  ;  and  in  December,  a  man  was  murdered  near  Magilligan,  because he  had  said  he  had  seen  men  exercising  at  night ;  and  about  the  same time  they  destroyed  the  property,  and  cut  the  ears  off  one  Lenagan,  in  the same  county.  Richard  Harper,  an  informer  belonging  to  Saintfield,  was killed  on  his  way  to  Belfast.  The  place  where  he  was  murdered  is  since called  Harper's  Bridge". So  much  for  M'Skimmin's  statement.  Of  that  part  of  it  which  details murders  and  attempts  to  murder,  with  all  its  fabrications  and  exagger- ations, some  of  the  statements  are  in  accordance  with  the  accounts  I  have myself  received  of  the  same  atrocities ;  but  the  inference  he  draws  from them  of  the  existence  of  an  organized  system  of  assassination,  is  wholly erroneous.* *  Samuel  J I 'Skim  min,  the  historian  of  Canickfergus,  was  born  in  the  town 536  APPENDIX    VII. There  is  no  evidence  that  the  persons  who  committed  those  murders were  United  Irishmen ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  in  many  in- stances the  perpetrators,  or  instigators,  of  the  latter  were  friends  of  United Irishmen  who  had  been  sworn  against,  or  whose  lives  were  endangered  by the  persons  tliey  had  made  away  with.  But  if  the  value  of  life  was  not duly  estimated  by  the  people,  by  whom  was  the  example  set  of  making death  in  all  its  ghastly  forms — on  the  scaffold,  in  the  fields,  or  at  the lamp-posts  in  the  streets — familiar  to  their  minds?  In  troubled  times like  those  of  '97  and  '98,  the  evil-disposed  are  ever  ready  to  take  advan- tage of  the  general  disorder  to  carry  their  malignant  designs  into  effect, whether  actuated  by  feelings  of  private  animosity  or  impelled  by  the  desire of  plunder;  and  every  deed  of  violence  which  then  takes  place  is  set  down to  the  account  of  those  who  are  proscribed  as  rebels  and  enemies  to  the king's  peace. The  following  information,  in  connection  with  this  subject,  was  given  to me  by  a  man  whose  honesty  and  truthfulness  had  a  sort  of  proverbial currency  in  Belfast ;  by  the  late  Israel  Milliken,  a  man  not  unacquainted with  "  the  troubles"  of  that  time,  nor  a  mere  spectator  in  that  struggle. Milliken's  statement  gives  an  insight  into  the  crimes  which  men  were driven  to  in  those  times ;  men  meeting  perjury  with  perjury,  and  attempts on  life  in  the  arrangements  of  the  panel  and  the  drilling  of  the  wit- nesses, with  the  taking  away  of  life  by  other  modes  of  assassination  and procedures  equally  murderous. "Joseph  Cuthbert  and  John  Boyce,  and  four  other  prisoners,  in  1797, confined  in  Carrickfergus  jail,  were  put  on  their  trial.  The  witness  against them  was  one  Lee,  a  pensioner,  and  also  a  peddler,  who  had  lodged  the original  information  against  this  man  before  the  trial  came  on,  and  who was  drowned  at  Dunnedery  Bridge,  three  miles  from  Antrim.  Lee  was then  brought  forward  as  a  substitute  for  the  peddler,  to  swear  against them ;  and  prior  to  the  trial  an  attempt  was  also  made  on  the  life  of  Lee, who  swore  that  Cuthbert  and  some  others  had  fired  at  him.  Lee  had been  set  on  by  a  Captain  M'Nevin.  The  attorney  for  the  prisoners  was James  M'Gucken.  It  was  determined  to  get  two  alibis,  to  prove  that  the prisoners  were  of  a  mason's  lodge,  and  had  been  in  it  all  that  evening  on which  the  murder  was  said  to  have  taken  place.  Those  two  witnesses were  sent  to  confer  with  M'Gucken  before  the  trial,  and  on  leaving  him, one  of  them  said  it  was  evident  that  he  (M'Gucken)  was  giving  them advice  that  would  cause  them  to  break  down.  They,  however,  and  all  the prisoners'  friends,  thought  that  M'Gucken  did  this  from  stupidity,  and  not lie  chronicled  the  events  of,  in  1775  ;  he  died  the  1 7th  February,  1843.  I  visited him  not  many  months  before  his  death.  He  lived  in  a  small  cottage  in  a  back street  in  Carrickfergus,  in  which  he  kept  a  kind  of  huxter's  shop,  sold  candles, groceries,  and  small  provisions  to  the  poor  of  his  locality.  A  small  room  behind his  shop  served  for  bed  room,  parlour,  and  library.  The  latter  consisted  of  very few  volumes,  — three  or  four  dozen  probably;  yet,  in  this  humble  position,  and with  very  poor  appliances  to  literary  pursuits,  M'Skimmin  laboiued,  and  not  un- successfully. He  communicated  articles  to  the  "  Gentleman's  Magazine" — among his  papers,  one  on  "  Extinct  birds",  another  on  the  "  Round  Towers".  In  "Frazer's Magazine",  an  article  on  the  Insurrection  of  1803,  wherein  he  gave  full  scope  to his  rabid  Orange  feelings  of  bitter  hatred  to  the  leaders  and  others  of  1 798. ' ASSASSINATIONS    IN    THE    NORTH.  537 from  dishonesty.*  The  two  witnesses  were  one  John  Sayers,  a  farmer,  the other  was  William  M'Coe,  a  publican.  Some  years  after,  Sayers  became dispirited,  and  repented  of  what  he  had  done ;  he  came  to  Israel  Milliken, and  told  him  he  had  no  peace  or  comfort ;  that  he  had  consulted  several clergymen,  but  they  gave  no  ease  of  mind.  A  person  present,  a  friend  of Israel's,  recommended  the  man  to  take  comfort,  and  inasmuch  as  he  had not  borne  false  witness  against  his  neighbour,  but  for  his  neighbour, instead  of  causing  the  deaths,  he  had  saved  the  lives,  of  six  men.  These witnesses,  on  their  examination,  gave  so  circumstantial  an  account  of  the masonic  toasts,  songs,  and  proceedings,  which  they  described  on  this  occa- sion, that  the  witnesses  quite  carried  the  judge  with  them,  and  the  pri- soners were  acquitted". James  Hope,  on  the  subject  of  the  assassinations  ascribed  to  the  United Irishmen,  informs  me,  that  at  the  society  established  at  Craigarogan,  they came  to  a  resolution  to  the  following  effect :  "  That  any  man  who  recom- mended or  practised  assassination  of  any  person  whomsoever,  or  however hostile  to  the  society,  should  be  expelled". At  a  baronial  committee,  held  at  Ballyclare,  near  Carrickfergns,  James Hope  and  Joseph  Williamson  proposed  the  resolution  above  named:  it  was seconded  by  William  Orr  (who  was  executed  at  Carrickfergus),  who  said on  that  occasion,  "  a  man  who  would  recommeud  the  killing  of  another was  a  coward  as  well  as  a  murderer".  The  resolution,  however,  was  op- posed by  some  of  the  Belfast  men,  and  it  did  not  pass  at  that  meeting. But  no  society  or  committee  gave  a  sanction  to  the  practice  of  assassina- tion. The  only  persons  Hope  knew  to  have  been  assassinated,  were M'Bride,  an  informer  of  Donegore,  shot  in  North  Street,  Belfast,  at  Saw's Entry,  in  1797  ;  M'Clure,  of  Craigbally,  supposed  to  be  made  away with  in  1796,  who  suddenly  disappeared,  and  was  never  more  heard  of; Harper,  of  the  county  Down,  suspected  to  be  an  informer,  shot  at  a  bridge near  Ballygowan,  about  three  miles  from  Belfast ;  Newell,  from  Dublin,  an informer,  who  was  traced  as  far  as  Doagh,  about  ten  miles  from  Belfast  ; Phillips,  an  excommunicated  priest,  from  French  Park,  county  Roscommon, who  had  sworn  in  a  number  of  Defenders,  had  received  a  shilling  a-head from  them,  and  subsequently  had  given  information  to  Colonel  King  and Lord  Dillon,  and  had  several  of  the  men  thus  sworn  arrested.  He  then came  to  Belfast,  but  his  character  came  before  him ;  he  was  taken  by  a party  of  Defenders,  about  1794 ;  one  of  them,  it  was  said,  confessed  he *  This  statement,  relative  to  M'Gucken's  suspected  treachery  to  his  clients  so early  as  1797,  is  deserving  of  notice.  Mr.  M'Gucken,  who  was  a  Roman  Catholic, not  long  before  his  death  gave  himself  the  trouble  of  persuading  a  worthy  clergy- man of  my  acquaintance  that  he  only  gave  up  the  cause  of  the  United  Irishmen (he  did  not  say,  his  unfortunate  clients  to  the  government  and  the  gallows),  after he  had  witnessed  at  Maidstone,  on  the  trial  of  Arthur  O'Connor  and  the  priest Quigley,  how  the  latter  had  been  sacrificed  by  O'Connor  and  his  friends  on  that occasion.  In  his  virtuous  indignation,  this  Belfast  attorney,  who  was  engaged  by the  prisoners,  and  who  attended  at  Maidstone  for  their  defence,  according  to  his own  account,  informed  the  government  of  the  secrets  of  their  society.  The  plea for  his  infamy  was  worthy  of  this  base  man,  who  delivered  over  his  clients  to  the hangman  for  money,  and  bagged  no  small  share  of  it  in  Ins  infamous  professional career  from  17lJ7  to  1803  and  1804. 538  APPENDIX    VII. was  present  when  they  seized  Phillips,  tried  him  on  the  spot,  and  con- demned him.  They  gave  him  time  to  pray,  then  put  leaden  weights  into  his pockets,  and  drowned  him  at  the  paper-mill  stream,  close  to  the  town. Henry  Caghally,  of  county  Deny,  suspected  of  being  an  informer  (but  no proof  of  the  fact)  ;  he  got  money  to  take  him  to  America,  but  spent  the money,  and  remained  at  home ;  he  was  then  seized,  brought  to  Temple- patrick  by  a  party,  who  gave  him  drink,  and  then  stabbed  him  in  the  breast and  killed  him.  This  was  two  miles  from  Templepatrick,  on  the  Antrim road.  Hope  knows  of  no  other  instances  of  assassination  ascribed,  with any  probability  of  truth,  to  the  United  Irishmen. In  reply  to  a  question  put  by  me  to  the  Rev.  Arthur  M'Cartney,  the  vicar of  Belfast,  if  he  had  ever  heard  of  a  committee  of  assassination  existing  in Belfast  with  the  cognizance  or  sanction  of  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irish- men, I  was  informed  by  that  gentleman  that  he  did  not  believe  there  was anything  of  the  kind  ;  his  own  father  had  been  told  by  some  of  his  friends that  he  was  marked  out  for  assassination,  and  his  grave  had  been  already dug.  Mr.  M'Cartney  replied,  he  did  not  believe  it,  for  they  would  not have  commenced  with  digging  the  grave  of  a  man  whom  they  meant  to kill.  Dr.  M'Donnell,  of  Belfast,  to  a  like  question,  gave  me  an  answer to  a  similar  effect.  He  thinks,  however,  had  the  cases  which  occurred where  individuals  of  the  society  were  supposed  to  be  implicated,  been  more reprobated  by  their  associates  generally,  fewer  similar  acts  would  have been  committed.  The  only  organized  system  of  violence  that  took  place in  the  county  Antrim  was  after  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  in  1799, Avhen  a  fellow  of  the  name  of  Archer,  and  thirty  or  forty  more  of  his gang,  chiefly  deserters  from  the  militia  regiments,  went  about  the  country, visiting  the  houses  of  persons  who  had  made  themselves  obnoxious  to  the people  in  1798.  They  used  to  inflict  the  punishment  of  flogging  upon them,  two  hundred  lashes  at  one  time,  perhaps  two  hundred  more  in  a fortnight's  time,  at  another  visit ;  in  some  instances  burning  the  houses, and  in  a  few,  putting  persons  to  death.  Archer  and  the  ringleaders  were eventually  taken  and  executed. Mr.  Robert  Simms  informed  the  Rev.  J.  S.  P.,  that  the  report  which was  at  one  time  very  generally  circulated,  and  partially  believed,  of  the existence  of  an  assassination  committee  in  connection  with  the  society,  or at  least  connived  at  by  its  chiefs,  was,  so  far  as  he  knew,  a  pure  fabrication. I  now  proceed  to  lay  before  my  readers  the  extracts  from  the  narrative of  Newell,  above  referred  to.  The  omissions  are  confined  to  matter  which is  either  unimportant  or  irrelevant  to  the  subject  of  this  paper. EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    NARRATIVE    ENTITLED The  Apostacy  of  Newell;  containing  the  Life  and  Confessions  of  that  cele- brated Informer;  his  reasons  for  becoming,  and  so  long  continuing  one, etc.      Written  by  himself.     London:  printed  for  the  Author.     1798. Dedication.     To  the  Right  Hon.  John  Fitzgibbon,  Earl  of  Clare,  Lord High  Chancellor,  etc.,  etc.,  in  memory  of  his  humane  heart,  refined  feelings, newkll's  narrative.  539 and  benevolent  mind,  as  a  testimony  of  gratitude  for  his  paternal  coun- sels, which  I  have  so  long  adhered  to,  these  Memoirs  are  respectfully  in- scribed by  the  Author. Of  my  father  or  mother,  I  shall  not  say  more  than  that  they  are  both descended  from  Scotch  families,  who  had  fled  from  that  country  at  the rebellion.  I  was  the  first  fruit  of  their  union,  being  born  in  Downpatrick on  the  29th  of  June,  1771  ;  from  my  earliest  infancy  I  showed  a  propensity to  mischief,  and  during  my  juvenile  years  practised  every  species  of  it. I  was  greatly  addicted  to  private  spouting,  one  of  the  most  dangerous propensities  a  young  man  could  have,  on  account  of  the  company  he  must mix  with ;  and  also  to  drawing,  in  both  of  which  I  greatly  indulged myself. When  I  was  about  seventeen,  my  father  having  gone  to  the  north,  as was  usually  his  custom  once  a  year,  to  settle  his  affairs,  he  was  one  night thrown  from  his  horse  and  dangerously  hurted ;  my  mother  immediately went  to  him,  leaving  the  care  of  the  house  to  me.  As  the  news  I  heard constantly  of  my  father  was  far  from  satisfactory,  and  rendered  me  uneasy, for  I  really  then  most  tenderly  loved  him,  and  on  account  of  his  being  on the  point  of  death,  rendered  me  so  completely  miserable,  that  I  went  to  see him.  Arriving  at  my  uncle's,  where  my  father  then  was,  my  mother  was greatly  surprised  at  seeing  me,  but  was  far  from  receiving  me  as  a  parent ; and  indeed  I  had  never  received  from  her  any  of  that  affection  which mothers  should  have  for  their  children. On  my  arrival  in  Dublin,  I  gave  myself  up  solely  to  the  enjoyments  of my  companions,  two  of  them  in  particular,  whom  I  informed  I  had  deter- mined to  leave  my  father's  house,  but  had  not  as  yet  formed  any  plan  to proceed  upon. After  a  few  days  I  thought  it  prudent  to  depart,  as  my  father  was hourly  expected ;  I  therefore  went  to  take  a  passage  for  England ;  but on  Rogerson's  Quay  I  met  Captain  Johnson  enlisting  seamen  to  go  to Spain. We  sailed  for  Cadiz ;  and  on  the  thirteenth  night  at  sea,  being  very dark,  there  arose  a  most  dreadful  storm :  then  did  I  first  witness  the dangers  of  the  sea. On  our  voyage  home  we  experienced  the  greatest  hardship,  having  lain to  for  six  weeks  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  where  we  lost  our  maintop  mast  and foretop  sail  yards,  living  on  raw  meat,  lying  in  wet  clothes,  and  con- stantly working  at  our  pumps,  during  which  time  we  thought  our  fate  in- evitable. After  my  return  to  Dublin,  my  father,  commiserating  my  sufferings  at sea,  wished  me  to  settle,  and  bound  me  to  the  painting  and  glazing  busi- ness, which  I  reluctantly  followed  for  a  year,  until  my  usual  licentiousness occasioned  a  difference  with  my  master.  Leaving  this  business  and  engaging in  the  glass-staining,  which  I  practised  agreeably  about  two  years,  but  the like  misconduct  occasioned  a  separation  from  my  employer  and  a  total  se- paration from  my  father. Spouting  in  private  theatres,  and  all  its  concomitant  extravagancies,  was my  constant  delight ;  by  such  means,  and  a  connection  with  a  young 540  APPENDIX    VII. woman,  I  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  leaving  Dublin  with  her,  and went  to  Limerick,  in  order  to  proceed  to  Baltimore  in  America,  to  which place  I  had  several  letters  of  credit.  We  took  our  passage,  and  got  on board  an  American  ship  lying  in  the  Shannon  ;  a  king's  cutter  came  along- side to  impress  the  passengers,  who  for  a  time  made  resistance,  but  being ordered  to  desist  by  the  commander  of  the  vessel,  the  gang  got  on  board, pressed  near  fifty  men,  and,  enraged  at  the  opposition  they  had  met  with, treated  the  crew  and  passengers  with  the  utmost  cruelty,  destroying  their provisions,  insulting  every  person,  and  driving  their  cutlasses  through  beds and  boxes,  under  a  pretence  of  search  for  men.  In  the  course  of  this affray,  an  American  gentleman  of  respectability  received  such  treatment from  this  banditti,  that  he  died  in  a  few  hours. During  several  weeks  we  were  obliged  to  stay  on  shore  for  safety,  and when  we  had  sailed,  we  had  not  got  many  leagues  to  sea,  until  we  were again  attacked  by  a  king's  ship,  and  after  several  shots  being  fired,  obliged us  to  return  to  Tarbert,  where  we  were  kept  prisoners.  1  here  procured an  order  from  Dublin  for  my  liberation,  as  I  could  not  be  let  go  to  America without  swearing  that  I  was  not  an  artist.  This  ship  and  crew  were  some weeks  after  lost  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland. In  Limerick  I  again  attempted  business,  but  was  again  unsuccessful,  and therefore  returned  to  Dublin,  where,  sometimes  employed  and  sometimes idle,  I  spent  my  time,  until  sickness  drove  me  to  tlie  utmost  poverty  and distress,  and,  had  I  not  been  assisted  by  two  friends  of  liberty,  absolute misery  must  have  been  my  lot.  My  parents,  to  whom  I  applied,  refused the  smallest  assistance,  on  account  of  my  being  a  Defender. I  had  long  been  a  Defender,  and  some  time  an  United  Irishman,  in  the last  of  which  principles  I  have  been  always  an  enthusiast. While  a  Defender  in  this  city,  I  suffered  the  greatest  distress  that poverty  and  sickness  could  inflict ;  yet  such  was  the  confidence  reposed  in me  by  the  people,  that  at  a  time  when  my  situation  might  have  warranted suspicion,  they  fully  confided  in  me,  nor  have  they  had  ever  reason  to  re- pent of  it. About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1796,  I  was  recommended  to  go  to Belfast  by  a  sincere  friend.  "There",  said  he,  "you  will  find  every  man a  lover  of  his  country  ;  there  shall  you  be  rewarded  for  your  sufferings  by the  number  of  friends  you  shall  find  attached  to  your  cause !"  I  went  to Belfast ;  after  being  some  time  there  I  became  an  United  Irishman.  I was,  partly  on  account  of  my  activity  and  former  sufferings,  admitted  much sooner  into  confidence  than  would  otherwise  have  been  the  case,  and higher  than  strangers  are  generally  entrusted.  During  a  space  of  tliirteen months  I  regularly  attached  myself  to  the  cause,  in  which  I  placed  my greatest  happiness  ;  I  gloried  in,  I  revered  the  cause  of  liberty  ;  my  heart beat  but  to  its  sound  ;  its  friends  were  my  friends,  and  its  enemies  my enemies ;  I  neglected  my  trade  ;  it  was  alone  my  study,  my  business,  and my  pleasure. My  over  warmth,  my  too  great  love  of  the  cause,  were  construed  into  a plan  to  deceive,  and  I  was  looked  upon  as  an  agent  of  administration  ;  my most  anxious  endeavours  to  promote  were  looked  upon  as  schemes  to  de- stroy union,  and  I  at  last  fell  a  prey  to  ill-judged  suspicion. newell's  narrative.  541 In  Belfast  I  followed  the  business  of  a  portrait  and  miniature  painter,  a business  I  had  never  dared  to  try  before,  and  in  which  I  had  never  re- ceived the  least  instruction.  Necessity,  however,  conquered  fear,  and  the kindness  of  my  friends  crowned  my  attempt  of  support  with  success. In  the  course  of  my  business,  I  became  acquainted  with  a  Mr.  Murdoch, a  hearth-money  collector,  to  whose  house  I  went  to  do  some  pictures : during  the  time  I  was  treated  with  the  utmost  kindness  and  attention.  I thought  myself  esteemed  by  the  family,  and  they  were  really  so  by  me.  So great  was  my  affection  for  them,  that  I  forgot  our  difference  of  political opinion,  and  risked  for  them  my  conscience,  my  honour,  and  my  oath. Some  friends  of  mine,  who  knew  his  character,  who  knew  the  secret villainy  of  his  heart,  laid  a  plan  to  rid  the  world  of  such  a  miscreant,  and supply  themselves  with  the  arms  with  which  his  habitation  abounded.  I was  admitted  and  sworn  one  of  this  association,  and  though  sworn,  yet  such was  my  respect  and  attachment  to  the  family  (for  then  I  knew  them  not), that  I  apprised  them  of  their  danger,  and  recommended  guards  for  the house.  In  return,  he  rewarded  me  by  informing  all  he  knew  of  my  being a  rebel,  as  he  called  it,  and  an  assassin. Here,  then,  the  people  thought  themselves  justifiable  in  their  suspicion  : they  thought,  and  they  thought  rightly,  that  such  a  rascal  should  not  be left  alive.  I  had  papers  in  my  possession  of  some  value :  at  the  appointed time  I  appeared  not,  as  I  should  have  done,  to  deliver  up  my  trust,  "  be- cause I  was  detained  by  illness" — fresh  proof  of  perfidy  in  their  eyes. Yet,  I  assure  you,  my  countrymen,  if  my  assurance  will  avail,  except  that one  act  of  serving  the  Murdoch  family,  I  never  had  broken  my  oath,  or in  the  least  departed  from  that  duty  incumbent  on  me  as  a  man  of  in- tegrity. I  apprehended  my  life  was  in  danger :  conscious  of  the  innocence  of  my intentions,  and  exasperated  at  their  suspicions  of  me,  I  returned  to  Mur- doch's house.     Ill-fated  return  !  the  cause  of  all  my  woes  ! There  these  blood-thirsty  cannibals — these  fiends — took  care  to  blow  the spark  of  resentment  which  glowed  within  my  breast  until  it  became  a  blaze, and  when  once  fully  heated — when  once  raised  to  desperation  and  revenge by  their  insinuations — they  took  care  I  should  have  no  time  to  return  to reason  until  they  hurried  me  to  the  throne  of  despotism,  to  the  chamber of  seduction,  to  that  arch-betrayer  of  every  honest  heart — the  insinuating Cooke. When  I  arrived  in  Dublin,  where  Bob  Murdoch  accompanied  me,  we having  been  provided  with  money  and  horses  by  Robert  Kingsmill,  Esq., the commandant  of  the  Castlereagh  Cavalry,  who  is  an  honest Orangeman,  and  to  whom  I  gave  information  of  the  societies,  which  were afterwards  taken  at  Alexander's,  I  was  conducted  to   Mr.  Cooke  by  that Col.  R .     There  I  met  with  all  that  sweetness  of  reception, that  cringing  servility  and  fulsome  flattery,  such  sycophants  ever  use  to those  whom  they  wish  to  seduce  to  their  own  ends. To  open  the  soul,  to  give  the  tongue  an  unrestrained  command,  the  wine was  freely  circulated.  The  secretary  set  his  pens  and  papers  ready  for  the work  ;  but  I,  not  choosing  to  trust  much  to  such  people,  who,  when  they have  got  you  in  their  power,  think  it  the  greatest  and  most  fashionable 542 ATPKXDIX  VII. way  to  forget  their  promises  and  plighted  honour  when  the  service  is  over, refused  to  tell  anything  until  I  had  received  a  pardon  for  the  crimes  I  had committed. Mr.  Cooke — Will  you  not  trust  to  my  honour  ? Newell — Not  in  this  case. C. — I  assure  you,  you  may  rely  on  me. N. — I  don't  doubt  it ;  but  you'll  pardon  me  :  where  the  life  is  affected, I  rely  on  no  man. C. — Making  out  a  pardon  will  take  up  some  days ;  the  people  of  the north  will  hear  you  are  here,  and  they  will  counteract  our  schemes,  and perhaps  get  off. N. — That,  sir,  is  not  my  fault ;  this  is  my  determination.  There  is  no harm  done ;  I  can  return  again. C. — Would  not  a  written  pardon  from  the  Lord  Lieutenant  satisfy  you till  we  can  get  one  made  out  ?  I  assure  you  it  is  of  equal  power,  if ou know,  my  dear  Mr.  Newell,  the  state  of  the  country.  You  know  there is  no  time  to  be  lost,  and  that  government  for  their  own  sake  would not  desert  you ;  if  they  did,  could  they  expect  others  to  come  forward like  you? N. — Sir,  confident  of  the  propriety  of  what  you  say,  a  written  pardon shall  satisfy  me  for  the  present. Mr.  Cooke  then  wrote  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  and  in  a  few  minutes presented  me  with  a  paper,  of  which  this  is  a  copy : — "  Dublin  Castle,  April  13,  1797. "  Sir, — I  desire  you  will  inform  Edward  John  Newell  that  I  hereby pardon  him  whatever  offences  he  may  have  committed  against  his  alle- giance and  against  his  majesty's  peace  and  crown. "  I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient,  humble  servant, "  Camden. "  E.  Cooke,  Esq." This  night  he  did  not  form  examinations,  but  asked  me  several  ques- tions. I  informed  him  of  the  most  of  what  I  could ;  mentioned  the  men I  thought  dangerous,  etc. ;  of  all  which  he  made  notes.  I  was  then  per- mitted to  depart.  I  waited  on  him  early  in  the  morning.  Bob  Murdoch was  sent  away,  fearing  he  could  not  be  trusted ;  but  he  knew  him  not ; for  there  is  no  crime  whatsoever  but  this  villain  woidd  join  in  for  his  own interest.  During  nine  hours  I  sat  with  Cooke ;  he  drew  out  my  exami- nations, the  theory  of  which  was  mostly  true,  but  which  his  inventive genius  highly  embellished.         .... Mr.  Cooke,  I  call  upon  you,  is  this  not  true?  Did  you  not  make  me enter  in  my  list  men  with  whose  very  names  I  was  unacquainted  ?  0 guardian  worthy  of  our  constitution !  Did  you  not  make  me  arrest  the friend  of  the  poor,  the  comforter  of  the  afflicted,  and  a  man  of  respecta- bility, Dr.  Crawford,  of  Lisburn,  only  because  in  our  discourse  I  mentioned having  once  dined  in  his  company  ?  In  like  manner,  the  Rev.  S.  Kelburne, for  once  speaking  to  me  in  the  street,  because  you  still  thought  his  blun- derbuss levelled  at  your  head  ? NEWELLS    NARRATIVE.  54-3 Was  I  not  obliged,  to  please  you,  to  form  a  murder,  to  which  I  was  to appear  accessory,  because  you  would  not  be  content  without  it  ?  You knew,  you  said,  I  belonged  to  an  assassination  committee.  You  were sure,  from  my  character,  that  I  was  privy  to  murder. I  told  you  of  one,  for  which  you  well  knew  examinations  were  lodged six  months  before  by  one  really  present.  Could  then  a  man  be  murdered twice  ? Did  you  not,  Mr.  Cooke,  see  the  falsehood,  the  impossibility  of  people trusting  such  a  business  to  a  fortnight's  knowledge  ?  Did  you  not  paint to  me  the  improbability  of  the  accusation  ?  Did  you  not  bid  me  swear, absolutely  swear,  the  time  was  longer? — told  me  so  short  a  time  would prejudice  a  jury  against  it;  and  though  you  felt  convicted,  though  you knew  I  lied,  yet,  such  was  your  thirst  of  blood,  you  drew  up  the  following as  a  separate  examination,  fearful  the  people  should  profit  by  the  impro- bability, and  that  government  should  lose  its  victims : — "  Ireland,  \  The  examination  of  Edward  John  Newell,  of  the  city  of to  wit.  J  Dublin,  miniature  painter,  who,  being  duly  examined  and sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists,  deposeth  and  saith,  that  about  the  month of  June  last,  to  the  best  of  his  recollection,  intelligence  was  received,  as he  understood,  from  the  camp  at  Blaris  Warren,  by  the  societies  of  United Irishmen  at  Belfast,  that  a  militia  man  of  the  city  of  Limerick  regiment was  sent  to  Belfast  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  find  out  what  he  could with  regard  to  the  United  Irishmen,  and  give  information  against  them, and  therefore  he  was  to  be  taken  care  of.  That  Ilobert  Neilson,  painter, of  Belfast,  was  spending  the  day  with  deponent  at  Patrick  Linn's,  publi- can;  that  Neilson  wanted  to  go  away  in  the  evening,  and  when  deponent .pressed  him  to  stay,  he  said  he  must  go  on  serious  business ;  and  he  then swore  deponent  to  secrecy  on  a  Bible  or  Testament,  and  told  him  it  was  to kill  a  militia  man  who  was  a  spy.  Deponent  then  offered  to  go  with  him, and  they  went  to  the  house  of  John  Young,  when  he  introduced  him  into a  room  where  Corporal  Burke  and  the  said  militia  man,  Thomas  Dry,  alias Jackson,  John  Gordon,  Robert  Neilson,  James  Burnsides  were  present, when  they  drank  till  nine,  at  which  time  they  were  joined  by  Alexander Gordon.  On  his  entrance  into  the  room,  Burke  asked  him  was  he  ready ; Gordon  replied  that  it  was  too  soon.  That  they  then  sat  and  drank,  anil the  militia  man  began  to  let  out  his  secrets,  which  confirmed  them  in their  suspicious.  That  after  leaving  the  house,  when  it  was  late,  they were  joined  by  John  Young,  the  keeper  of  the  house.  They  went  then to  take  a  walk  down  the  Mall,  with  an  intention,  as  they  professed,  of having  some  fun ;  that  they  were  very  agreeable  together  till  they  came to  a  bridge  near  the  paper  mill,  at  which  time  one  of  the  company  wanted to  sneak  off,  when  Corporal  Burke  pulled  out  a  pistol,  and  swore  he would  blow  it  through  the  brains  of  the  first  cowardly  rascal  who  dared to  stir.     The   militia  man  then  seemed  to   be   alarmed,  and  wanted  to return,  when  Young  struck  him,  and  d d  him  to  go  on.     Dry  vras then  standing  on  the  bridge,  and  he  left  them,  as  deponent  believes,  to get  the  weight  ready  to  put  in  the  militia  man's  pockets.  Burke  then seized  the  soldier  and  dragged  him   up  to  the  bridge,   and  struck  him  two 544  APPENDIX    VII. I or  three  times.  Burke  tlien  gave  deponent  the  pistol ;  he  turned  about, and  at  that  moment  Burke  threw  him  over,  and  cried  out,  it  is  done, by ;  they  all  then  went  home.     The  next  clay  deponent  saw  Burke and  drank  with  him,  and  deponent  and  Burke  asked  whether  that  job  was not  prettily  done.  Deponent  says  that  Alexander  Gordon  was  afterwards on  the  coroner's  inquest,  and  when  deponent  asked  how  he  could  stand seeing  him,  Gordon  replied  it  was  because  he  was  fond  of  fishing,  or  to that  purpose,  and  further  deponent  says  not. "  Sworn  before  me  the  14th  April,  1797. "  Clonmel. "  Edward  John  Newell". Look,  Sir,  at  my  two  examinations :  see  if,  by  the  dates,  I  did  not swear  I  executed  that  business,  before  I  was  even  an  United  Irishman ! See  then  if  you  can  justify  the  confinement  of  those  worthy  men  in  prison. When  he  had  formed  the  examinations  so  as  to  answer  his  own  inten- tions, and  had  received  the  opinion  of  the  attorney-general  on  their  utility, Lord  Clonmel  was  sent  for,  in  whose  dignified  presence  the  following  were sworn,  though  I  solemnly  declare  not  the  one-fourth  part  of  them  were  my words  or  sentiments. "  Ireland,  )  The  examination  of  Edward  John  Newell,  of  the  city  of to  wit.  )  Dublin,  miniature  painter,  who,  being  duly  examined  and sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evangelists,  deposeth  that,  about  a  year  ago,  he  went down  to  Belfast  to  follow  his  business;  that,  about  a  fortnight  after  he  was there,  he  was  introduced  by  James  Malone,  a  notorious  Defender,  of  the county  of  Leitrim,  as  deponent  believes,  and  who  now  lives  at  Killead, near  Belfast,  and  Barney  Close,  who  has  run  away  for  debt,  to  John Gordon,  clerk  to  Mr.  John  M'Cracken,  muslin  manufacturer,  at  the  house of  Margaret  Magee,  publican,  in  Mill  Street,  Belfast,  who  swore  him  upon a  Bible  to  be  an  United  Irishman ;  and  the  oath  that  he  took  was  the  oath of  the  United  Irishmen,  as  set  forth  in  their  printed  book  of  constitutions ; and  the  said  Gordon  instructed  him  in  the  signs  of  the  United  Irishmen; Malone  and  Close  and  another  man  were  present ;  the  said  Gordon  then ordered  him  to  attend  a  meeting  of  United  Irishmen  the  Sunday  fortnight afterwards,  which  he  did  with  Malone  and  Close.  The  meeting  was  very full ;  Gordon  read  the  constitution,  and  deponent  again  took  the  oath  from Miller,  a  printer,  to  whom  he  paid  six  pence ;  also  Rice,  Quinn,  and  a great  many  others  were  present,  all  of  whom  heard  him  take  the  oath, and  seemed  to  understand  what  he  said,  they  all  having,  as  deponent believes,  taken  the  oath  of  an  United  Irishman.  At  this  house  the  room was  so  full  (which  is  the  house  of  Flanagan,  a  publican,  on  the  Quay)  and so  hot,  that  deponent  was  forced  soon  to  go  away.  The  Sunday  following deponent  was  at  another  meeting,  at  the  house  of  Crozier,  a  publican,  at Belfast,  where  the  numbers  were  so  great  that  they  parted  into  two  socie- ties ;  Gordon  was  made  secretary  to  the  division  to  which  the  deponent was  allotted ;  and  they  only  collected  the  different  subscriptions,  and elected  the  officers  of  the  society.  That  deponent  was  at  several  other meetings,  and  that  he  at  first  considered  that  the  objects  of  the  United NEWELL  S    NARRATIVE.  545 Irishmen  were,  mere  reform  of  parliament  and  emancipation  of  the  Catho- lics ;  but  that  at  the  time  the  Yeomanry  Bill  passed,  Gordon,  who  was then  delegate  to  the  county  committee,  acquainted  him  that  these  were not  the  real  objects  of  the  United  Irishmen,  but  entirely  to  overthrow  the state,  king,  and  government ;  and  that  there  were  laws  then  in  considera- tion, to  substitute  in  place  of  the  present  constitution,  when  it  should  be overturned.  Afterwards,  about  the  beginning  of  January,  at  a  divisional baronial  meeting,  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Nichols,  on  a  Sunday  morning, when  he  (deponent)  was  recommending  that  the  United  Irishmen  should take  the  yeomanry  oath,  as  it  did  not  bind  them  to  support,  as  he  thought, the  particular  laws  they  complained  of,  said  Gordon  bid  him  not  be  busy, and  then  explained  that  the  object  of  their  societies  was  to  overturn  the  state, king,  and  constitution,  and  introduce  a  republic ;  and  the  meeting  seemed surprised  at  deponent's  want  of  knowledge,  and  they  all  concurred  with Gordon.     At  this  meeting,  John  Henderson,  James  Miller,  John  Grimes, Allen    Ingram, Mitchell,    publican,    Eobert    Montgomery,    M'Cauley,  publican,  and  several  others,  were  present :  and  at  this  meeting Gordon  read  a  report  from  the  county  committee,  to  which  he  was  dele- gate, stating  the  measures  which  the  county  committee  had  taken  to  sup- ply the  United  Irishmen  in  jail  with  money,  the  sums  which  had  been spent,  and  the  manner.  That  they  had  taken  methods  to  intimidate  juries, and  to  circulate  that  the  man  who  found  an  United  Irishman  guilty  should lose  his  life ;  that  their  friends  in  Dublin  would  take  care  to  prevent  the prisoners  in  Dublin  from  suffering,  were  they  even  found  guilty.  Gordon also  reported  the  numbers  of  United  Irishmen,  which  was,  to  the  best  of his  recollection,  about  70,000 ;  also  gave  in  a  return  of  arms,  ammunition, pikes,  cannon,  etc. ;  and  he  recommended  to  them  to  make  a  voluntary subscription  for  mounting  six  pieces  of  cannon,  after  which  many  sub- scribed sums  of  money  for  that  purpose. "  Deponent  saith,  that  about  December  last,  in  order  to  carry  into  effect the  purposes  aforesaid,  there  was  an  order  from  the  county  committee, which  Gordon  delivered,  for  all  the  societies  to  elect  military  officers ;  that Gordon  himself,  Philip  Kelly,  and  Robert  Philips,  were  elected  by  his society,  which  is  No.  69  ;  that  the  officers  of  every  nine  societies  should form  a  military  committee,  and  three  members  be  elected  from  the  different divisional  military  committees,  to  make  the  head  military  committee.  That the  following  persons  form  the  divisional  military  committee  to  which  he belongs,  viz.,  John  Gordon  ;  Philip  Kelly,  weaver  ;  Eobert  Philips,  weaver; Robert  Neilson,  painter ;  John  M'Caun,  jeweller ;  Richard  Magee,  cloth merchant ;  James  Corkran,  shoemaker ;  William  Scott,  a  clerk  ;  Ernest Corkran,  tailor ;  James  Burnside,  weaver ;  John  Queery,  bookbinder ; John  Shaw,  cloth  merchant ;  John  Tennent,  merchant ;  Henry  Speer,  cloth shopkeeper  ;  William  Templeton,  clerk  in  the  Northern  Star  office  ;  Wil- liam Kean,  ditto ;  James  Green,  shoemaker ;  John  Grimes,  merchant ; John  Dunn,  shoemaker  ;  Allen  Ingram,  Smith  ;  Robert  Redfern,  saddler  ; Robert  Montgomery,  a  clerk ;  Hamill,  publican  ;  Alexander  Kennedy, clerk  to  William  Tennent ;  all  of  Belfast  :  and  that  he  had  been  at  four meetings  of  the  military  divisional  committee  ;  but  little  has  been  done  ex- cept passing  certain  resolutions  with  respect  to  discipline,  which  deponent vol.  i.  36 546  APPENDIX    VII. drew   up,    and   which   Gordon   was   to  lay  before   the   executive   com- mittee. "  Deponent  says,  that  about  six  weeks  ago,  Gordon  reported  from  the  j county  committee,  that  reports  had  been  received  from  all  the  committees  i in  and  near  Belfast,  that  they  were  ready  to  take  the  field  when  ordered  i by  the  executive  committee,  and  that  they  thought  delay  would  be  preju-  . dicial  to  the  cause  ;  and  in  the  evening  of  that  day,  Gordon  told  deponent that  a  million  of  money  was  going  or  gone  to  the  French,  to  induce  them to  invade  Ireland.  Deponent  further  says,  that  at  the  time  of  the  French  | appearing  off  the  coast,  Gordon  gave  instructions  to  his  committee,  in  the name  of  the  county  committee,  that  the  people  should  keep  quiet,  and  put up  with  any  insult,  sooner  than  give  reason  for  government  to  injure  them;  | and  that  those  who  told  the  people  it  was  time  to  rise,  would  be  of  disser- vice ;  but  if  the  French  effected  their  lauding,  fresh  orders  would  be  issued. All  the  officers  of  the  United  Irishmen  were  instructed  to  make  up  their lists,  which  they  did,  and  deponent  gave  in  the  list  of  his  men,  which  was thirty-six  or  thirty-seven.  Deponent  says,  that  matters  are  conducted with  great  secrecy  among  the  United  Irishmen  ;  that  the  inferior  com- mittees are  not  let  into  the  secrets  of  the  superior,  either  the  couuty  or  pro- vincial committees  ;  and  deponent  understands  that  there  is  an  executive committee  in  Belfast,  but  he  does  not  know  of  whom  it  is  composed.  De- ponent further  says,  that  he  verily  believes  he  has  often  heard  the  same ; that  Dr.  Crawford,  of  Lisburn,  is  one  of  the  principal  leaders  of  the  United Irishmen  ;  that  in  the  course  of  last  summer,  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Derham, Dr.  Crawford  gave  him  the  sign  of  an  United  Irishman  with  his  left  hand, and  then  called  deponent  out  of  the  room,  and  asked  him  whether  he  had any  constitutions  of  the  United  Irishmen  in  his  pocket,  and  on  his  saying no,  he  said  he  should  always  carry  one  with  him,  as  he  might  watch  the sentiments  of  persons  in  company,  and  take  favourable  occasions  for  making them  United  Irishmen.  Examinant  also  says,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kelburn,  of Belfast,  is  one  of  the  heads  of  the  United  Irishmen  ;  and  that  he  acknow- ledged to  him  last  year  that  he  was  one  of  the  county  committee,  and asked  if  he  had  not  received  their  last  report,  and  seemed  surprised  and angry  when  deponent  told  him  he  had  not.  Deponent  further  says,  that one  of  the  great  objects  of  the  United  Irishmen  is,  to  swear  the  soldiers and  militia  men  to  be  United  Irishmen,  and  to  seduce  them  to  desert,  and that  every  exertion  is,  as  he  believes,  made  for  that  purpose.  Deponent further  says,  that  in  last  summer,  John  Golding,  carver  and  gilder,  of Stephen  Street,  Dublin,  James  Murphy,  of  Kilcock,  in  the  county  of  Meath, and Metcalf,  came  to  Belfast,  in  order  to  join  the  Defenders  of  Dub- lin with  the  United  Irishmen  of  the  north.  Deponent  met  Golding  in  the streets,  whom  he  knew  in  Dublin  as  a  member  of  the  philanthrophic  so- ciety, to  the  best  of  his  recollection.  lie  then  introduced  them  to  Thomas Dry,  alias  Jackson,  who  carried  them  to  Joseph  Cuthbert,  tailor,  in  order to  swear  them  ;  aud  about  two  or  three  days  afterwards  he  was  present when  said  Cuthbert  swore  Golding  to  be  a  secretary  of  the  United  Irish- men, and  gave  him  two  books  of  the  United  Irishmen's  constitutions,  with which  he  went  away  from  Belfast.  Deponent  further  says,  that  about  De- cember last,  the  military  committee  elected  twelve  of  their  members  to  be kewell's  narrative.  517 a  private  committee,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  safety  of  their  societies, by  preventing  detection,  by  giving  notice  of  suspected  persons,  and  taking off  informers  ;  but  nothing  particular  has  been  yet  done  by  that  committee, of  which  the  following  persons  are  members  : — John  Gordon,  James  Burn- sides,  Richard  Magee,  John   Queery,  Henry  Speer, Queery,  Robert Neilson,  junior, Hamill,  John  Shaw,  John  Grimes,  Robert  Montgo- mery, and  himself.  Deponent  further  says,  Carmenthan,  a  French  teacher in  Belfast,  is  a  secretary  of  United  Irishmen,  he  having  shown  him  a  table of  the  societies  in  Belfast,  amounting  to  one  hundred  ;  and  he  has  seen  him in  his  society,  and  he  is  considered  as  very  active.  Deponent  further  says, that  he  knows  John  Simpson,  cloth  merchant,  to  be  an  active  United  Irish- man ;  and  said  Simpson,  in  company  with  William  M'Cracken,  Alexander Gordon,  and  Thomas  Storey,  went  with  deponent,  in  the  course  of  last summer,  to  seduce  the  artillery  men  at  Belfast,  to  the  house  of  M'Crea, where  they  met  two  artillery  men,  one  of  whom  was  Smith,  and  settled  that fourteen  artillery  men  should  desert,  and  be  furnished  with  clothes  and money  ;  and  the  said  Smith  did  afterwards  desert,  and  he  understands  the others  also  deserted.  Deponent  also  says,  that  he  understands  that  the United  Irishmen  expect  the  French  soon  to  land,  and  that  they  intend  to join  them  ;  and  deponent  believes  that  there  will  be  soon  an  insurrection, and  that  the  government  and  the  constitution  will  be  overturned,  unless government  shall  prevent  it  by  immediate  and  vigorous  measures.  Depo- nent further  saith,  that  at  the  time  of  giving  this  examination,  he  has  seen a  printed  copy  of  the  declarations,  resolutions,  and  constitutions  of  the societies  of  United  Irishmen,  which  are  the  same  as  those  referred  to  in this  deponent's  examinations,  and  which  he  has  now  marked  and  identified. "Sworn  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1787. "  Edward  John  Newell".  "  Clonmel. The  next  morning  Cooke's  black  servant  came  to  me  to  the  Ulster  hotel, where  I  then  lodged,  with  a  note,  and  on  waiting  on  Cooke,  he  informed me  I  must  immediately  go  down  to  Newry  ;  that  I  should  there  meet General  Lake,  to  whom  an  express  had  been  sent  for  that  purpose,  and several  other  officers,  with  the  commander-in-chief.  He  gave  me  ten guineas  and  the  following  note,  which  was  carried  by  Bob  Murdoch  : — "  Dublin  Castle,  April  15,  1797. "  Sir, — The  bearer  of  this,  Mr.  Murdoch,  is  a  firm  friend  of  govern- ment, and  accompanies  a  Mr.  Newell,  who  has  given  us  the  most  valuable information  concerning  the  United  Irishmen  of  the  north :  you  will  please to  allow  him  any  money  or  number  of  men  he  may  demand ;  they  are  to obey  his  orders,  and  you  are  to  take  his  advice  in  all  affairs  relative  to  this business. "  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  humble  servant, "  Edward  Cooke. "  To  Licut.-General  Lake,  Belfast". On  my  way  to  the  north,  I  met  Lord  Carhampton  and  his  aide-de-camp, Captain  Eustace,  who  had  been  waiting  for  me  some  time.     After  dinner, 548  ATPENDIX    VII. over  our  wine,  we  had  a  great  deal  of  discourse  about  unitedism  :  he  de- scribed his  knowledge  of  an  assassination  committee  being  in  Belfast,  of which,  he  said,  he  had  several  informations  on  oath,  that  Joseph  Cuthbert, a  tailor,  was  one  of  the  principal  men  who  formed  it. He  expressed  his  sorrow  that  interesting  business  which  called  him  to another  part  of  the  kingdom,  prevented  his  going  to  Belfast,  and  explained the  tortures  and  punishments  he  would  inflict  on  the  rascals  who  had  been guilty  of  such  crimes. On  our  leaving  the  Man  of  War,  he  desired  me  to  stop  where  he  did, as  his  guards  would  be  a  protection  to  me,  and  that  he  would  expect  to meet  me  at  Hanlon's,  in  Newiy,  at  one  o'clock  next  day.  According  to  his directions,  I  met  him  at  the  hour  and  place  appointed,  on  Easter  Sunday, April  16.  After  a  long  discourse  between  him,  General  Lake,  and  me,  we settled  that  the  next  evening,  at  eight  o'clock,  troopers  should  wait  upon me  at  Murdoch's  to  conduct  me  to  the  general's  house  at  Belfast. While  in  Newiy,  the  following  occurrence  took  place  : — A  Mr.  Turner  of that  town  was  standing  in  the  parlour  of  the  inn,  talking  to  Miss  Haiilon ; he  had  about  his  neck  a  green  handkerchief,  which  Lord  Carhampton  per- ceiving, went  into  the  room,  accompanied  by  a  number  of  officers,  and  de- manded, in  a  most  insolent  and  ungeatlemanlike  manner,  "  How  he  dared to  wear  round  his  neck  that  symbol  of  rebellion  ?"  to  which  Mr.  Turner, in  the  most  polite  manner,  replied,  "  It  might  or  might  not  be  a  symbol ; it  was  immaterial  to  him ;  he  liked  the  colour,  and  would  wear  it". — Lord C.  then  told  him  "  He  would  tear  it  from  about  his  neck".  Mr.  T.,  in  the boldest  manner,  told  him,  "  While  surrounded  by  his  officers,  he  might  do as  he  pleased" ;  and  putting  his  hands  behind  his  back,  held  forward  his head  until  Lord  C.  took  off  the  handkerchief.  "  In  any  other  situation, my  lord",  said  Mr.  T.,  "  you  durst  not  have  done  so.  Your  behaviour is  not  that  of  a  man  ;  you  shall  find  that  I  am  one,  and  you  must  acknow- ledge yourself  guilty  of  robbery". — On  leaving  the  room,  Lord  C.  asked "  Who  was  that  rascal  ?" — Mr.  Turner  himself  answered,  "  He  should  fiud he  was  a  gentleman". — Lord  C.  then  told  the  officers  present,  wherever they  met  this  symbol  of  treason  and  rebellion,  no  matter  on  whom,  they should  tear  it  from  them,  and  trample  it  under  foot ;  he  had  set  the example.  In  the  course  of  the  evening  or  morning,  Lord  C.  received  a note  from  T.,  the  consequence  of  which  was,  Lord  C.  making  an  ample apology  to  Mr.  T.  for  the  impropriety  of  his  behaviour. That  evening  Lord  Carhampton  gave  me  the  countersign,  which  was his  own  name,  for  the  purpose  of  going  through  the  town,  and  having  any person  I  knew  dragged  to  the  guard-house. On  my  arrival  at  the  house  of  General  Lake,  he  met  me  in  the  hall,  and introduced  me  to  Colonel  Barber  and  to  the  perpetual  high-constable  of Belfast,  the  consequential  little  William  Atkinson.  After  the  necessary introduction,  the  general  asked  me  how  I  first  intended  to  proceed.  I  said, the  soldiers  whom  I  had  informed  against,  were  those  I  intended  first  to arrest.  His  answer  was,  there  should  be  no  soldiers  arrested.  I  told him  I  would  certainly  take  them,  as  the  very  men  who  were  in  danger from  me,  might  be  those  who  went  as  a  guard  with  me,  and  that,  instead of  protecting,  might  themselves  be  the  very  first  to  injure  me.     He  said newell's  narrative.  54:9 it  was  true ;  yet  his  determination  was,  that  no  soldier  should  be  made  a prisoner,  and  his  commands  should  be  so.  I  put  him  in  mind  of  the  orders he  had  received  ;  of  my  not  being  under  his  command  ;  and  that  if  I  could not  do  as  I  pleased,  I  would  return  to  the  Castle,  and  inform  government  he had  prevented  the  execution  of  the  scheme  settled  between  Cooke  and  me. When  he  found  I  was  determined,  he  acquiesced,  and  told  me  Colonel Barber  would  do  everything  I  wished,  of  which  the  colonel  himself,  in  the most  flattering  manner,  assured  me. We  then,  according  to  my  plan,  set  guards  at  the  doors,  both  front  and rere,  of  every  public-house  to  which  the  friends  of  liberty  generally  resorted, and  after  trying  the  houses  of  individuals  against  whom  we  had  warrants, we  searched  those  of  the  publicans  where  we  had  left  the  sentries,  and took,  according  to  Cooke's  directions,  all  those  we  had  or  had  not  anything to  warrant  such  arrest,  except  their  being  suspected  to  be  honest  men. After  we  had  made  prisoners  of  near  twenty  worthy  fellows,  we  marched them  to  spend  their  time  in  the  solitary  confinement  of  the  Colonel's  bas- tile,  the  artillery  barracks.  We  paraded  all  parts  of  the  town,  and  did not  disperse  until  past  four  in  the  morning.  Colonel  Barber  told  me,  at parting,  he  would  call  out  to  see  me  in  the  morning,  but  as  I  was  fatigued, we  agreed  to  defer  our  nocturnal  rambles  until  Wednesday.  Next  day,  I received,  through  the  hands  of  Murdoch,  the  following  note  : — "  Tuesday  evening. "  Colonel  Barber's  compliments  to  Mr.  Murdoch,  begs  he  will  tell  Mr. Newell  that  some  very  particular  business  prevents  his  calling  on  him  this day,  but  will  be  at  Mr.  Murdoch's  on  the  forenoon  of  to-morrow". The  next  day,  April  18,  Colonel  Leslie,  attended  by  an  officer,  called  on me  at  Murdoch's ;  he  said  he  came  out  to  let  me  know  he  had  been  in- formed by  General  Lake  that  some  of  his  men  were  to  be  taken  up,  and that  he  would  not  allow  it,  as  he  was  confident  they  were  innocent,  and not  a  more  loyal  set  of  men  in  the  kingdom.      As  to  their  innocence,  I replied,  I  should  not  account  to  him  as  I  had  done  it  to  those  who  were above  him,  and  from  whom  I  had  received  such  power  as  made  me  despise Ids  resolution ;  and  that  I  would  arrest  and  bring  in  their  place  whoever should  try  to  prevent  me  from  making  them  prisoners.     He  asked,  who were  the  first  in  his  regiment  to  be  taken  ?     I  informed  him  of  Corporal Real,  and  either  twelve  or  thirteen  others  :  they  were  arrested  by  Colonel Leslie,  on  his  return  to  town,  as  I  understood,  to  prevent  the  disgrace  of my  taking  them  out  of  his  regiment.     They  all  denied  having  any  commu- nication with  United  Irishmen,  or  knowing  anything  about  the  business, and  ever  continued  so,  except  Corporal  Heal,  who,  on  being  stripped  of his  regimentals,  and  threatened  with  immediate  transportation  to  the  bas- tile  of  Dublin,  where  every  cruelty  of  punishment  should  be  inflicted  on him,  confessed  everything,  and  afterwards  prosecuted  the  others  to  con- viction.    The  reason  of  my  discovering  against   the  Monaghan  soldiers was,  because  they  had  among  themselves  threatened  the  murder  of  their officers,  as  I  was  informed.      This,  even  when  my  utmost  wishes  were  for the  success  of  the  cause,  I  never  thought  it  would  attend  on  such  compli- cated crimes. 550  APPENDIX    VII. But  to  return.  Ou  Corporal  Real's  confession  of  what  I  had  informed, the  following  are  my  examinations. "  County  of  Antrim,}       The  examinations  of  Edward  John  Newell,  who, to  wit.  )   being  duly  sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evangelists,  and examined  before  Gerard  Lake  and  Lucius  Barber,  Esqrs.,  two  of  his  Ma- jesty's justices  of  the  peace  for  the  said  county  : "  Sayeth,  That  on  or  near  the  month  of  December  last,  in  the sixty-ninth  society  of  United  Irishmen,  he  met  Corporal  Real  of  the Monaghan  Militia,  and  that  he  sat  while  all  their  business  was  doing ; that  by  desire  of  Gordon  and  John  Henderson,  he,  examinant,  and  a  man of  the  name  of  Atiknson,  gave  Real  two  constitutions,  first  administering the  secretary's  oath,  as  set  forth  in  the  constitution,  and  gave  him  the thanks  of  the  societies  and  committees  for  being  so  active,  and  that  he assured  him  he  had  himself  put  up  thirty -seven  or  thirty-eight  of  the Monaghan  Militia. (Signed)  "  Edward  John  Newell. "April  19,  1797". Colonel  Leslie,  in  the  most  polite  end  gentlemanlike  manner,  came  out to  Murdoch's  with  the  same  gentleman,  and  apologized  for  the  doubts  he had  formerly  expressed,  for  his  behaviour  on  that  day ;  and  assured  me that  so  convinced  was  he  of  my  propriety,  that  if  I  chose,  he  would  call  out the  whole  regiment  in  the  barrack-yard,  and  whoever  I  pointed  out  should, without  anything  more,  be  led  to  instant  confinement.  This  proof,  how- ever flattering,  of  his  confidence,  I  did  not  accept. We  began,  then,  on  Wednesday,  our  very  disagreeable  visits,  which  we continued  every  night  that  Aveek  until  Saturday,  taking  care  never  to  throw away  our  time,  or  return  empty-handed  to  our  quarters.  Rather  than  do so,  we  one  night,  with  triumph,  marched  to  the  barrack  the  old  volunteer drums,  which  were  lying  on  the  loft  of  a  porter-house.  No  place  was sacred ;  Ave  wrent  where,  and  demolished  what  we  pleased  ;  destruction  or imprisonment  to  those  who  dare  to  resist,  without  the  least  fear  of  punish- ment on  the  hand  that  inflicted  it. On  Saturday,  I  received  the  following  note  from  Colonel  Barber,  and according  to  his  directions,  deferred  our  visits  till  next  evening. "  Belfast, "  Saturday,  April  22,  1797. <;  Sir, — Please  to  inform  Mr.  Newell,  that  General  Lake  desires  the search  may  be  delayed  until  to-morrow  night.  Sunday  being  an  idle  day, the  probability  is  that  many  of  them  will  be  taking  their  glass,  and  plan- ning together,  so  that  we  may  expect  more  success  then  than  if  attempted this  night. "  And  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, "  L.  Barber. "  Mr.  Murdoch". On  Sunday  morning  I  received  the  following,   the  business  of    which ©WfMlIWIlILn.  KOT®IR!  ■ irom  a  Sketch  of  Iris  o..  ed  coins  narrative. >>.Jhm&s  Did newell's  narrative.  551 was  Murdoch's  excessive  loyalty,  which  had  made  him  fire  at  those  men for  daring  to  pass  his  house  after  dark. "Belfast,  April  23,  1797. "  Sir, — At  the  desire  of  Gen.  Lake  and  me,  Mr.  Cavan  is  willing  to drop  all  prosecution  his  people  intend  carrying  on  against  you ;  I  there- fore recommend  it  to  you  to  do  the  same  by  them,  as  I  partly  engaged for  your  so  doing. "  If  this  merits  your  approbation,  I  suppose  you'll  give  your  attorney notice  what  has  been  agreed  on,  that  the  bills  may  be  ignored.  Be  so good  to  mention  to  Mr.  Newell  that  the  traps  shall  be  all  set,  and  safe guards  placed  over  them,  early  this  night,  and  that  two  orderly  dragoons shall  be  at  your  house  a  quarter  before  nine. "  And  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, "  L.  Barber. "  Mr.  Murdoch". In  the  evening  the  sport  of  man-hunting  again  commenced,  with  our usual  success,  having  been  executed  in  the  same  manner.  That  evening we  showed  how  little  respect  was  paid  to  propriety  of  conduct,  for  not even  a  freemason  lodge,  in  which  some  of  those  determined  enemies  of despotism  were  sitting,  could  protect  them  from  being  taken ;  although,  for once,  we  acted  rather  mildly ;  for,  by  my  orders,  and  knowledge  of  the men  present,  I  might  have  marched  almost  every  man  to  prison.  We took  but  one,  nor  should  that  one  have  been  taken,  but  that  his  name  had been  in  the  warrant,  Mr.  William  Davidson.  The  alleged  crime  was, coming  into  a  room  where  some  papers  were  reading,  and  approving  of  the  . manner  they  were  written,  in  consequence  of  which  the  following  examina- tions were  filed  : — "  County  of  Antrim,}        The  examination   of  Edward  John  Newell,   of to  wit.  )   Belfast,  who,  being  duly  sworn  on  the  Holy  Evange- lists, and  examined  before  Gerard  Lake  and  Lucius  Barber,  Esqs.,  two  of his  Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace  for  said  county,  saith,  that  on  or about  the  month  of  February  last,  in  the  house  of  M'Caul,  a  publican  in the  said  town  of  Belfast,  there  attended  a  meeting  of  the  sixth  divisional committee  of  United  Irishmen,  of  which  the  examinant  was  a  member,  and that  he  there  met  William  Davidson ;  that  said  Davidson  remained  there during  all  the  time  of  business,  reading  reports,  voting  supplies  to  arm United  Irishmen,  and  hearing  the  business  of  the  county  and  provincial meetings;  the  state  of  a  number  of  arms,  amunition,  etc.;  that  examinant produced  an  address  for  the  speedy  method  of  having  United  Irishmen properly  disciplined,  and  that  said  Davidson  gave  his  vote  of  approbation and  support  to  the  address,  for  the  purpose  of  having  it  laid  before  the executive  committee :  that  therefore  Davidson  is  an  United  Irishman,  and therefore  a  dangerous  man. "Sworn,  etc.,  April  22nd,  1797. "  E.  J.  Newell". 552  APPENDIX    VII. After  parading  the  town,  we  returned  with  the  colonel,  where,  with wine,  loyal  toasts,  and  execrating  of  the  rebels,  we  spent  the  remainder  of the  night,  and  then,  in  the  greatest  style,  were  guarded  to  our  respective habitations.  This  sort  of  business  continued  for  that  week  in  the  same routine.  In  that  week,  I  i-eceived  from  Colonel  Barber  twenty  guineas, aud  a  desire  to  demand  as  often  and  as  much  as  I  chose.  During  this time  the  general,  accompanied  by  crowds  of  officers,  daily  attended  at Murdoch's  to  look  what  should  be  done  with  those  taken,  and  who  should be  arrested  next.  On  Thursday  evening,  having  expressed  a  determination of  appearing  in  Belfast  on  Saturday  morning,  to  arrest  some  people  who were  too  much  on  their  guard  to  be  taken  at  night,  I  on  Friday  received the  following  note. "  Colonel  Barber  has  just  received  Mr.  Newell's  note  :  will  call  on  him before  eleven  o'clock  to-morrow.  In  the  meantime,  hopes  he  will  not  at- tempt coming  into  town  until  he  sees  or  hears  from  him.  Appearing  in Belfast  without  the  approbation  of  General  Lake  might  be  improper,  and not  have  the  good  effect  remaining  quiet  might  produce ;  as  neither  Mr. Newell  nor  Colonel  Barber  can  tell  the  instructions  General  Lake  may have  received  from  Government ;  therefore  it  is  incumbent  in  Colonel Barber  and  Mr.  Newell  to  wait  the  general's  pleasure,  and  follow  the directions  he  may  give. "Belfast,  Friday,  April  28th,  1797". In  the  Northern  Star  appeared  an  advertisement  to  this  effect: — "  Though  great  rout  has  been  made  about  people  taking  up  arms  with their  faces  blackened,  yet  there  is  no  notice  taken  of  a  ruffian,  who,  with a  handkerchief  on  his  face,  haunts  the  town  to  the  ruin  of  peace  and  con- viviality ;  and  one  who,  if  we  are  informed  right,  is  to  receive  £3,000 for  swearing  to  every  man  obnoxious  to  Government".  In  answer  of  which I  wrote  these  reasons,  as  they  were  dictated  to  me  by  Colonel  Barber, many  of  which  were  distributed. "  To  all  Honest  Men. "  Boused  with  indignation  at  the  means  which  the  editor  of  the  Northern Star  has  taken  to  blind  your  eyes,  aud  raise  in  your  breast  that  abhor- rence, which  every  man  must  have  to  the  villain  who  would  barter  his  con- science and  the  blood  of  his  countrymen  for  gold,  common  justice  requires that  I  should  say  something  to  confute  their  malice.  Long  have  I  been wandering  in  delusion  ;  long  have  I  been  what  they  call  a  steady  and  honest man  ;  ever  active  to  promote  what  I  then  thought  the  cause  of  liberty,  and in  which  I  had  been  too  much  an  euthusiast.  At  first  I  wras  blinded  by the  idea  of  a  parliamentary  reform,  and  long  thought  that  alone  was  their consideration  ;  and  even  when  my  eyes  were  open,  when,  upon  a  thorough knowledge  of  the  business,  I  knew  that  a  total  revolution  and  extermination of  Government  and  its  friends  were  its  aims, — that  bloodshed  and  anarchy alone  were  to  prevail,  and  that  all  the  enemies  of  their  constitution  were, without  mercy  to  be  butchered, — still  I  stood  firm  to  my  principles,  aud still  should  have  been  so,  but  for  their  returns  to  my  constancy  and  activity. n  i NEWELL  S    NARRATIVE.  55 When,  for  happening  in  the  course  of  ousiness  to  visit  at  the  house  of  a friend  to  Government,  the  assassination  committee  of  Belfast  would  send their  agents  to  murder  a  man  who  never  gave  .  them  cause  even  in  the smallest  manner  to  be  displeased  with  him — when,  without  preface,  daggers, knives,  and  pistols  are  shown  to  him  as  a  reward  for  his  services, — what heart  but  must  be  roused  to  revenge  for  such  a  return  ?  what  heart  but must  abhor  that  community  who  could  plan  and  execute  such  premeditated villainy? — These,  then,  are  my  reasons  for  my  proceedings,  not  the  promises of  Government ;  nor  did  Government  ever  hold  out  any  artifice  or  bait  to bribe  me  to  the  business  ;  but  conscious  how  long  and  how  far  I  had  been led  astray,  I  thought  some  restitution  should  be  made  my  country  for  the time  I  had  been  an  instrument  in  promoting  her  ruin.  Unsolicited,  there- fore, I  went  to  Dublin  ;  unsolicited,  I  made  ray  discoveries,  and  so  will  go through  the  business,  as  a  debt  I  owe  every  honest  man,  and  as  what  alone, by  helping  to  save  my  country  from  confusion,  can  alone  cause  pleasin^ sensations  to  the  mind. — Be  not  then,  my  countrymen,  longer  blind  to  the infatuation  of  your  situations :  let  me  have  the  pleasure  of  calling  you from  ruin.  What  do  you  fight  for,  and  what  is  against  you  ?  The  law,  the army,  and  all  the  true  friends  of  liberty  and  peace.  For  what  do  you fight  ?  For  ends  you  don't  understand,  for  ends  you  never  can  obtain, and  which,  if  attained,  you  never  could  enjoy.  Consider,  an  ignominious death  constantly  awaits  you;  and  should  yon  be  fortunate  enough  to  escape that,  the  reward  of  yonr  services  from  what  you  now  esteem  your  friends, like  mine,  would  be  daggers  when  they  had  received  all  the  services  you could  render  them. "  Edward  John  Newell". I  returned  about  four  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  April  30th,  from  the last  of  those  nightly  expeditions,  in  all  of  which  Bob  Murdoch  acted  as  my aide-de-camp,  but  was  too  cowardly  to  even  enter  a  house  with  me.  About twelve  in  the  day  I  received  this  note  : — J  17 "  Belfast,  Sunday,  April  30th,      97. "  Sir, — An  express  is  just  come  from  Mr.  Cooke  for  your  immediate  re- pairing to  Dublin. "  You  will  therefore,  without  loss  of  time,  directly  come  to  my  house,  as I  have  some  things  to  communicate  to  you  and  transact,  prior  to  your leaving  this  !  Let  young  Mr.  Murdoch  accompany  you.  Slip  in,  and  in the  most  private  manner  you  possibly  can ;  but  be  sure  have  some  of  the Highlanders  in  view,  lest  some  insult  might  be  offered  you  : "  And  am  your  humble  servant, "Lucius  Barber. "Mr.  Newell". We  then  took  our  leave  of  the  family,  some  of  whom  I  parted  with sincere  regret,  and  old  Murdoch  having  a  sore  leg,  escorted  us  on  horse- back, as  far  as  the  Long  Bridge.  When  we  arrived  at  Colonel  Barber's, he  showed  me  an  express,  that  I  was  wanting  to  appear  before  the  secret committee  of  the  parliament,  that  he  had  carriages  provided,  and  that 554  ATPENDIX  VII. General  Lake  would  attend  me  immediately.  On  his  arrival,  we  settled about  my  constantly  informing  him  of  those  who  should  be  taken  ;  a  list was  to  be  sent  to  me,  and  I  was  to  mark  such  as  were  dangerous,  who were  immediately  to  be  arrested.  I  then  got  twelve  guineas  from  Colonel Barber ;  he  wanted  to  give  me  more,  but  I  had  no  use  for  it ;  I  also  re- ceived the  following  note : "  Sir, — Agreeable  to  your  commands,  I  send  np  Mr.  Newell,  and  in- form you,  that  since  his  arrival  here  he  has  been  indefatigable  in  performing his  duty  and  your  commands,  running,  in  the  performance,  every  risk  of his  life — and  in  which  he  has  also  been  accompanied  by  Mr.  Murdoch  : — "  And  am,  Sir,  etc., "G.  Lake. "April  30th,  1797. <-  Edward  Cooke,  Esq.,  etc." During  the  time  I  was  at  Colonel  Barber's,  Colonel  Leslie  brought  up  a soldier  of  the  name  of  Donnelly ;  a  man  with  whom  I  had  been  formerly intimate,  and  against  whom  I  had  given  information  :  this  fellow,  with  the greatest  firmness  and  effrontery,  denied  the  least  knowledge  of  me,  though I  recalled  to  his  memory  many  circumstances  which  would  have  staggered the  confidence  of  any  man  but  himself.  He  denied  knowing  the  people  I mentioned ;  did  not  know  where  I  lodged ;  had  never  seen  me  before. Some  time  after,  I  quietly  asked  him,  pretending  at  the  same  time  to  be otherwise  engaged,  how  long  he  had  been  acquainted  with  Magee  before  I had  seen  him  drink  tea  there.  The  simplicity  of  the  question,  the  motive of  which  he  did  not  perceive,  put  him  off  his  guard,  and  he  answered  about three  weeks.  When  he  found  he  had  betrayed  himself,  he  then  acknowledged the  truth  of  what  I  had  said. A  little  before  our  departure,  a  Mr.  Felix  O'Neil,  who,  no  doubt,  had heard  of  my  being  in  town,  and  not  having  the  pleasure  before,  I  suppose, wished  to  see  me,  being  old  acquaintances  ;  he  came  towards  the  Colonel's to  have  that  satisfaction.  As  it  would  be  ungenerous  to  let  such  a  mark of  his  esteem  go  unrewarded,  I  recommended  him  to  the  Colonel,  who  im- mediately claimed  his  acquaintance,  and  provided  him  with  a  free  lodging, and  had  the  goodness,  in  a  few  days,  to  have  him  carefully  removed  to  the metropolis. The  following  examinations  are  the  only  remaining  ones  of  which  I  have a  copy,  from  amongst  a  vast  number  laid  before  Generals  Lake  and Barber,  at  Murdoch's.  These  were  lodged  some  days  after  the  prisoners being  arrested. "  County  of  Antrim^)       The  examination  of  Edward  John  Newell,  who, to  ivit.  j   being  duly  sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evangelists,  and examined  before  General  Lake  and  Lucius  Barber,  Esqrs.,  two  of  his Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace  for  said  county,  saith,  That,  on  or  about  the latter  end  of  January  last,  in  the  house  of  William  Astler,  Belfast,  pub- lican, he  there  was  in  company  with  the  said  William  Astler  and  a  man of  the  name  of  James  Irvine  ;  that  they  drank  for  some  time,  and  that  he newell's  narrative.  555 knew  Astler  by  his  behaviour  to  be  a  United  Irishman  ;  that  at  the  re- quest of  the  same  William  Astler  and  Irvine,  he,  examinant,  swore  the same  James  Irvine  to  be  a  United  Irishman,  the  said  Astler  providing  a prayer  book  or  Bible ;  aud  that  the  said  Astler  bolted  the  inside  of  the parlour  door,  and  was  present,  aiding  and  assisting  examinant  in  adminis- tering the  oath. "  Sworn  before  us",  etc. We  left  Belfast  about  four  o'clock,  the  30th  of  April,  and  at  twelve  the next  day  arrived  in  Dublin,  having  travelled  in  chaises  and  four,  which were  carefully  ready  at  every  inn — an  express  went  before  for  the  purpose. We  were  accompanied  by  little  Atkinson,  Lieutenant  Ellison,  and  Major Fox,  who  bore  the  expense  of  the  journey,  and  had  also  a  strong  escort. The  guards  made  the  people  believe  us  to  be  prisoners,  and  when  we stopped  at  an  inn,  numbers  flocked  round  the  carriages,  commiserating  our sufferings,  and  requesting  to  know  how  they  might  assist  us.  I  own  that my  heart  bled  at  their  generous  treatment. When  we  arrived  in  Dublin,  we  waited  on  Messrs.  Cooke  and  Pelham, who,  after  questioning  us  on  the  good  effects  produced  by  what  had  been done,  and  a  determination  of  prosecuting  the  scheme  of  terror  further,  in- formed me,  that  on  Tuesday  I  should  be  before  the  Committee  of  the House  of  Commons,  and,  on  going  away,  gave  me  ten  guineas  to  take  care of  myself,  until  a  place  was  provided  for  me  in  the  Castle.  This  was  in one  fortnight  £36  85.  I  had  received  ;  a  very  promising  appearance  on the  first  commencement  of  the  business ;  but,  as  the  sequel  will  show,  falls far  short  of  the  manner  in  which  I  was  afterwards  treated. During  two  or  three  days,  I  dined  with  Mr.  Fox,  and  shall  only  give, as  a  proof  of  his  generous  treatment  and  the  allowance  of  government,  that I  have  seen  him,  for  one  dinner  and  wine  for  six  persons,  pay  above  seven pounds.  The  remainder  of  that  week,  and  part  of  the  next,  I  slept  at  Mr. Cooke's,  in  the  Castle,  and  breakfasted  with  himself.  Murdoch  and  I dined  and  supped  in  the  Castle  Tavern,  at  the  rate  of  three  guineas  a  day, which  Mr.  Cooke  cheerfully  accounted  for. On  the  3rd  of  May,  I  attended  in  the  Speaker's  chamber  at  the  parlia- ment house,  and  at  two  o'clock  was  admitted  to  the  room  where  the  Secret Committee  were  then  sitting.  After  the  usual  formalities,  I  was,  with  great ceremony,  placed  in  a  high  chair,  for  the  benefit  of  being  better  heard. I  went  through  the  subject  of  the  examinations,  improving  largely  on the  hints  and  instructions  Cooke  had  given  me  ;  propagating  circumstances which  never  had,  nor,  I  suppose,  ever  will,  happen  ;  increased  the  number of  United  Irishmen,  their  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition  ;  fabricated stories,  which  helped  to  terrify  them,  and  raised  me  high  in  their  estima- tion, as  a  man  whose  perfect  knowledge  of  this  business  made  his  information of  the  highest  importance.  I  told  them  of  laws  framed  to  govern  the  re- public, when  they  had  overthrown  the  present  government,  many  of  which they  approved  of  highly,  though  they  had  no  foundation  but  the  effusions  of my  own  brain.     I  embellished  largely  the  dangers  that  royalty  and  its 55Q  APPENDIX    VII. friends  were  liable  to  from  the  machinations  of  the  United  men,  who,  I  in- formed them,  were  regularly  disciplined,  and  constantly  improving  them- selves in  military  tactics  ;  assured  them  there  was  persons  of  the  first  rank and  abilities  connected  with  this  business ;  that  the  French  were  hourly expected  ;  they  were  to  land  at  Galway,  not  at  Bantry,  as  they  supposed; that  the  people  looked  with  eagerness  for  their  arrival ;  and  that  govern- ment should  not  trust  the  people  in  the  south,  who  had  formerly  pretended to  rise  in  their  defence,  their  loyalty  being  on\y  finesse,  the  readier  to  join the  French  on  their  landing ;  that  I  was  confident,  from  the  disposition  of the  people,  they  would,  in  a  few  weeks,  even  if  they  did  not  arrive,  attempt an  insurrection,  in  which  they  were  sure  of  succeeding,  on  account  of  their numbers,  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and  their  hopes  from  the  soldiery. They  seemed  dreadfully  terrified  at  my  information,  and  instantly  became incapable  of  asking  me  any  more  questions  relative  to  this  business.  Will it  be  believed  that  a  boy,  even  one  of  the  swinish  multitude  of  the  north, filled  with  consternation  and  terror  the  leaders  of  the  army  and  the  senate! — they  who  are  the  conquerors  of  Italy  could  he  make  tremble,  by  relating scenes  of  imaginary  terror  ! Among  many  papers  which  I  read  were  the  following,  which  is  a  part  of the  papers  I  before  alluded  to. "March,  1797. "  The  address  of  Edward  John  Newell,  of  the  city  of  Dublin,  to  the  mili- tary committees  of  Belfast,  to  accompany  his  papers,  signed  by  the  69th, and  voted  by  the  Divisional  to  be  laid  before  the  Baronial  Committee. "  Citizens, — At  this  present  time,  when  anarchy  and  confusion  prevail ; while  the  spirits  of  our  fellow  citizens  are  depressed  ;  while  the  agents  of administration  are  by  every  means,  legal  or  illegal,  strengthening  their faction,  and  devising  new  schemes  to  make  further  additions  to  it ;  while our  country  is  degraded  by  those  abuses  which  must  hurt  the  feelings  of every  true  son  of  Ireland  ; — I  say  now  is  the  time  for  every  honest  man  to speak  his  sentiments — and  he  is  not  an  honest  man  that  does  not, — not only  to  speak  his  sentiments,  but  also  by  his  advice  to  assist  the  completing the  means  of  rescuing  us  from  those  injuries.  It  is  not  to  be  a  mere  steady man  that  fulfils  his  obligation  ;  he  should  be  an  active  one,  and  assist,  by every  means,  the  cause  with  which  he  is  connected. "  Fully  impressed  with  the  truth  of  these  sentiments,  I  formed  to  myself such  maxims  as  I  think  should  be  infused  into  the  people,  and  such  as  I see  have  been  shamefully  forgotten. "  In  the  first  instance,  military  discipline  (in  this  country  alone)  has been  quite  neglected  ;  that  which  alone  can  give  weight  to  our  endeavours  — that  on  which  I  may  say  success  alone  depends.  Without  discipline,  what can  be  attempted  ?  This  alone  damps  the  spirits  of  our  friends.  Tell  a man,  unacquainted  with  discipline,  of  the  injuries  he  suffers,  though  he may  be  willing  to  resent  them,  what  can  he  attempt  ?  But  tell  the  man properly  acquainted — paint  in  true  and  striking  colours  the  oppression  they labour  under,  their  hearts  are  no  sooner  roused  to  revenge,  than  their  hands are  ready  to  execute  it. newell's  narrative.  557 "  Think,  citizens,  of  the  disgrace  that  must  accrue  from  it  ;  that  to  find the  men  of  Belfast,  whose  steady  perseverance  has  preserved  our  cause — •whose  wise  conduct  alone  has  reared  it  from  infancy  to  its  now  glorious maturity,  that  they,  to  whom  all  the  citizens  of  Ireland  look  for  example, should  alone  be  unable  to  resist  them  in  the  field,  and  that  only  from  being undisciplined.  We  look  to  foreign  friends,  but  will  they  be  willing  to  join with  men  unacquainted  with  manoeuvres  ?  Certainly  not ;  such  a  junction must  be  the  inevitable  ruin  of  the  whole.  I  know  the  old  volunteers  are among  us,  but  what  are  their  numbers  when  compared  to  the  community at  large  ? "  I  am  sorry  to  say,  we  have  military  officers  who  are  so  far  from  con- sidering the  necessary  means  and  exertions  to  fill  their  stations,  that  they do  not  properly  understand  their  situations  or  their  consequence  ;  but  their pride  being  gratified  by  appointment,  every  other  feeling  is  entranced,  and they  are  blind  to  the  consequence  which  may  result  from  their  stupidity and  neglect. "  Let  them,  then,  by  you  be  roused  to  activity ;  instruct  them  how  to proceed ;  let  public  thanks  stimulate  and  be  the  reward  of  those  who  do their  duty,  while  public  disgrace  should  be  the  attendant  of  neglect. "  On  the  day  of  retribution,  I  doubt,  without  some  stimulus  to  imme- diate exertion,  or  fear  of  disgrace  by  dastardly  behaviour,  I  say,  I  doubt our  first  muster  will  look  very  poor  ;  that  those  half-United  Irishmen,  as  I may  call  them,  will  at  the  first  keep  themselves  back,  that  they  may  be able  to  return  those  the  compliment  who  gloriously  step  forward,  by saving  themselves  to  fight  for  them  another  day,  when  superiority  of  num- bers will  leave  them  less  doubt  of  success. "  Let  the  man,  then,  who  is  not  ready  at  a  moment  to  join  the  friends of  his  country — let  that  man,  however  well  he  may  afterwards  behave, never  enjoy  public  confidence,  and  be  for  ever  exempt  from  all  military appointments  ;  let  him  also,  until  he  has  proved  by  his  conduct  he  deserves it,  be  deprived  of  the  honour  of  wearing  the  green  cockade.  Such,  and such  like  disgraces,  attending  upon  cowardice,  must  rouse  the  smallest spark  of  manhood  into  action. "These,  and  their  attendants,  are  part  of  what  I  think  our  wants,  and what  I  shall  exert  myself  to  have  remedied ;  and  though  my  abilities  are but  weak,  I  trust  my  hints  will  excite  attention  in  those  who  are  blessed with  a  capability  of  proper  execution.     Health  and  fraternity. "  Edward  John  Newell". The  attorney-general,  after  a  long  discourse  upon  the  nature  and  danger of  what  he  had  heard,  thought  it  would  be  advisable  to  try  to  conciliate the  people,  by  granting  them  some  of  their  wishes,  until  government  should be  better  prepared  to  resist,  if  granting  would  have  the  desired  effect.  He then  addressed  me :  "  Mr.  Newell,  you  must  now  consider  that  we  are  a select  committee  of  the  parliament  of  Ireland  ;  that  that  Parliament  is  to be  guided  by  these  gentlemen ;  and  that  these  gentlemen  are  to  be  guided in  their  proceedings  by  you  :  weigh  well,  then,  the  situation  in  which  you now  sit,  and  its  consequences,  and  tell  me,  would  a  reform  of  parliament please  the  people,  and  put  an  end  to  disturbances  ?"     "  Sir,  from  my 558  APPENDIX  VII. knowledge,  nothing  but  the  overthrow  of  government  and  establishing  a republic  would  now  satisfy  the  people". Major  Fox,  Lieutenant  Ellison,  and  little  Atkinson  were  then  called  to identify  the  papers  which  had  been  seized  with  the  societies  taken  in  Alex- ander's, according  to  my  information,  and  for  which  so  many  of  our countrymen  are  now  sustaining  the  loathsome  sufferings  of  a  pestilent tender.  We  were  then  dismissed  with  many  thanks  for  our  attention,  and with  every  encouragement  for  our  continuance  in  loyalty.  I  should  have mentioned,  that  Mr.  Toler,  the  Solicitor  General,  during  my  discourse,  as- sured the  committee,  they  might  place  the  greatest  confidence  in  whatever I  advanced,  as  he  had  long  known  me ;  and  until  I  went  to  Belfast,  he  was sure  I  was  a  most  honourable  lad. As  the  committee  of  the  Lords  was  only  a  routine  of  the  same  business, it  is  unnecessary  here  to  mention  it,  except,  that  for  four  hours  I  was  with them  ;  by  my  artifices,  I  raised  in  the  breast  of  these  hereditary  wisdoma the  same  surprise  and  fear  that  I  had  before  in  that  of  the  Commons, magnifying  every  report  to  enhance  my  own  importance.  In  consequence of  which,  they  agreed  to  the  Report  and  Address  from  the  Committee  of Secrecy  of  the  House  of  Lords,  of  the  12th  May,  1797. Three  days  after  the  sitting  of  the  committees,  I  received  the  following from  George  Murdoch,  hearth  collector  of  Belfast. '•Belfast,  Gth  May,  1797. "  Dear  Boys, — Your  favours  of  the  2nd,  3rd,  and  4th  of  May  we received,  which  gave  us  much  pleasure.  Since  you  left  this  nothing  new  has turned  up.  Some  of  the  gentry  has  returned  to  the  town  :  Colonel  Barbour was  searching  on  Thursday  for  pikes  in  Belfast,  but  was  not  fortunate  in getting  any.  Let  me  beg  of  you  to  give  Colonel  R.  every  information  you can  of  what  is  going  on.  Enclosed  you  have  Rob.  Newell's  advertisement ; I  am  told  his  father  is  in  Belfast.  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  the Post-Office,  telling  me  that  there  is  a  plot  laid  to  murder  me  and  my  two sons,  by  either  day  or  night,  signed,  a  friend.  I  still  have  the  Highlanders at  my  house.  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  that  Robert  may  get  into  the  ar- tillery. Do  you  expect  that  any  of  the  prisoners  will  be  shortly  tried? Perhaps  if  Robert  was  to  see  Rowley  Osborne,  he  might  get  from  him where  the  Belfast  cannon  is  hid.  When  do  you  think  Belfast  will  be  put out  of  the  peace  ?  Let  me  beg  of  you  both,  to  take  particular  care  how you  go  out  at  night,  as  you  have  numerous  enemies,  and  let  me  have  a few  lines  every  post,  that  we  may  know  how  matters  are  going  on.  Mr. Newell's  chest  was  sent  here  the  other  day,  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  was rifled  first  of  its  contents,  and  nothing  left  in  it  but  a  few  pieces  of  paper; it  had  been  forced  open. "  Mrs.  Murdoch,  Joseph,  and  family,  join  me  in  best  wishes  for  you both  ;  and  believe  me  to  be,  dear  boys, "  Your  ever  affectionate, "  George  Murdoch. "  Messrs.  Newell  and  Murdoch". newell's  narrative.  559 Copy  of  the  enclosed  advertisement  above  alluded  to. "  I,  Robert  Newell,  jun.,  apprentice  to  Mr.  Moore  Echlin,  attorney, having  learned  with  unfeigned  concern  that  my  brother,  Edward  John Newell,  miniature  painter,  has  been  for  some  time  past  in  the  practice  of going  through  the  town  of  Belfast,  disguised  in  the  dress  of  a  light  horse- man, with  his  face  blackened,  and  accompanied  by  a  guard  of  soldiers, pointing  out  certain  individuals,  who  have  in  consequence  been  apprehended and  put  in  prison,  and  that  this  practice  has  been  repeated  night  after night,  and  a  number  of  inhabitants  of  the  town  have  been  so  taken  up, and  confined  in  barracks  and  military  prisons  :  now,  howsoever  severely  I feel  the  mortification  of  being  driven  to  publish  the  misconduct  of  an  un- fortunate brother,  I  think  it  justice  to  my  own  character  to  express  my  ab- horrence of  so  unworthy  a  proceeding.  If  this  unfortunate  young  man  had become  fairly  acquainted  with  any  fact,  which  in  conscience  and  honour  he thought  necessary  to  public  justice  to  disclose,  I  should  never  have  cen- sured him  either  publicly  or  privately,  had  he  come  forward,  and  been  fairly confronted  with  the  accused  ;  but  to  act  the  part  of  a  secret  and  treacherous informer,  is  to  do  what  in  my  mind  is  a  violation  of  every  principle  of conscience,  honour,  or  manhood.  This  young  man  has  been  unluckily  dis- connected for  some  years  past  from  his  family,  and  I  trust,  but  for  this  cir- cumstance, he  could  never  have  fallen  into  such  company,  or  such  a  course of  life  as  he  appears  to  have  led. "  R.  Newell,  Jun. "  Great  Britain  Street,  Dublin  ". The  time  that  this  publication,  dictated  by  my  father,  appeared,  Mr. Cooke  used  every  means  in  his  power  to  raise  my  exasperation  to  such  a pitch  as  to  get  me  to  swear  against  my  father.  He  said  he  would  not, indeed,  advise  my  prosecuting  him,  but  the  lying  in  jail  he  richly  deserved, and  would  be  a  very  proper  punishment  for  intermeddling  in  the  affairs  of Government.  He  was  confident  he  was  a  United  Irishman,  or  I  could never  have  been  so  strong  in  the  principles  ;  and  he  thought  I  should  have satisfaction,  both  for  his  former  usage  and  his  present  conduct ;  which,  bad however,  as  I  was,  I  declined.  But  in  answer  to  the  above,  I  published  the following: — 'o  ' "  Shocked  at  my  father's  duplicity,  and  his  publication  signed  by  my brother,  I  must  beg  leave  to  expose  his  behaviour  to  the  eyes  of  a  candid and  discerning  public.  When  I  was  last  summer  in  Belfast,  I  was  con- stantly troubled  with  his  messages  through  my  relations,  and  letters,  con- demning me  for  being  connected  with  United  Irishmen,  and  offering  me  a reinstatement  of  his  affections  if  I  would  give  up  United  Irishmen  to  the justice  such  rascals  merited  ;  these  were  his  own  words.  Enthusiastic  in their  cause,  I  scorned  his  offered  friendship,  and  stood  firm  to  my  ground, confident,  from  his  past  unnatural  conduct,  that  not  affection  or  regard  for me  was  his  motive  for  wishing  me  to  act  so,  but  a  hope  of  making  himself considered  as  an  active  friend  of  Government.  And  had  not  the  people  of Belfast,  by  their  attempt  at  murdering   me,   warranted   my   proceedings,  I 560  APPENDIX    VII. would  still  have  continued  true  to  that  cause  I  have  always  been  so  much attached  to. "  I  am  confident  my  father's  publication  is  because  he  is  actuated  by fear,  knowing  I  related  these  particulars  to  the  people  of  Belfast  as  regularly as  they  happened,  and  lest  they  should  think  his  unremitting  endeavours had  at  length  brought  about  what  he  so  much  desired,  might,  as  they  could not  hurt  me  in  my  own  person,  take  revenge  upon  him.  Likewise,  disap- pointed ambition  for  not  being  informed  of  my  reformation,  and  having, as  he  wished,  the  honour  of  being  thought  to  work  it.  As  to  my  pro- ceedings since,  it  was  necessary  at  first  to  be  disguised,  that  villains  might not  know  who  was  against  them,  and  by  flight  to  escape  the  justice  their crimes  so  justly  merited.  After  the  second  night  I  never  disguised,  but walked  the  streets  openly  both  day  and  night.  As  to  whether  I  came  fairly or  not  by  my  information,  will  be  clearly  proved  in  a  court  of  justice,  where every  honest  man  will  see  the  propriety  of  my  conduct.  Nor  can  the  dis- approbation of  a  boy,  though  guided  by  his  father,  cast  the  least  reflection on  it,  or  prevent  it  being  acknowledged,  that  conscience,  honour,  and  man- hood alone  actuated  me.  As  to  being  unluckily  disconnected  with  his family,  as  he  calls  it,  I  think  it  the  most  fortunate  occurrence  of  my  life, not  only  from  being  enabled  by  my  knowledge  of  things  to  be  an  instru- ment in  preventing  anarchy  and  confusion,  but  also,  that  I  am  unconnected with  a  family  whose  every  act  is  guided  by  duplicity,  cowardice,  and  mean- ness. "  Edward  John  Newell. "Dublin  Castle,  Ma}-,  1797". I  at  this  time  had  been  provided  with  rooms  in  the  Castle,  by  Cooke's orders  and  under  Mr.  Dawe's  direction,  where  every  luxury  was  procured with  the  greatest  attention  to  my  pleasure,  and  every  expense,  however  ex- orbitant, cheerfully  discharged.  I  daily  waited  on  Cooke,  and  had  every time  fresh  proof  of  his  kindness  and  wish  for  my  ease  and  happiness.  I now  gave  loose  to  every  debauchery  and  extravagance,  and  in  a  few  days had  cause  to  repent  of  my  folly.  I  had,  before  I  fell  ill,  applied  in  favour of  Bob  Murdoch,  to  Cooke,  who  generously  granted  him  a  commis- sion. He  continued,  however,  with  me.  On  the  13  th  of  May  I  received this  letter  by  Colonel  R.,  being  the  medium  through  which  I  received Murdoch's  favours. "Belfast,  11th  May,  1797. "  Dear  Boys, — I  received  your  favour  of  the  8th  instant,  which  gives  us all  much  satisfaction.  Pray  write  me  all  the  news  you  can  collect ;  and  if you  send  me  a  Freeman's  Journal  it  will  be  very  interesting.  How  do  the prisoners  behave  ?  Do  they  get  half  a  guinea  per  day  ?  Yesterday  Mrs. Lewis  and  little  George  were  at  Durdonel,  where  they  spent  the  evening : on  their  coming  off,  three  young  men  belonging  to  Belfast  came  out  of  Mrs. Mark's,  and  began  to  ridicule  Mr.  Newell,  and  called  him  a  damned  rascal: upon  which  Mrs.  Murdoch  immediately  jumped  off  the  car,  and  drew  little George's  sword,  and  swore  she  would  run  any  lubberly  rascal  through  the body  that  dare  speak  a  disrespectful  word  of  Mr.  Newell ;  and  at  the  same newell's  narrative.  501 time  she  desired  James  to  look  out,  and  see  if  his  master  and  Joseph  was coming  up,  on  which  they  all  three  ran  off  as  fast  as  their  legs  would  carry them.  John  Shaw  is  in  town,  but  don't  appear.  Mrs.  Murdoch  is  getting Mr.  Newell's  shirts  made.  Pray  when  do  you  both  intend  to  be  down  ?  be assured  it  would  make  us  happy  to  see  you  both  here.  This  instant  we have  received  your  favour  of  the  9th  inst.,  for  which  we  return  you  thanks. I  am  surprised  you  would  let  Robert's  publication  give  you  a  moment's uneasiness.  You  may  live  without  your  relations  ;  but  friends  and  good neighbours,  may  you  never  want  them.  Are  you  up  ?  Pray  what  is  the secret  committee  doing  with  Belfast?  Will  Belfast  be  put  out  of  the  peace? It  ought  ere  this  to  be  burned  to  ashes.  On  Saturday  last  seventy-five  of the  Monaghan  militia  went  down  on  their  knees  and  asked  pardon  and mercy,  which  was  granted  them ;  but  seventeen  of  the  stiff  fellows  and ringleaders  of  the  regiment  has  had  a  court-martial  sitting  on  them  Monday, Tuesday,  and  yesterday,  but  as  yet  nothing  has  transpired  :  it  is  thought two  or  four  of  them  will  be  shot,  as  Corporal  Real  has  proved  that  they were  to  murder  all  their  officers,  and  give  up  the  several  barracks,  etc.,  etc., to  their  united  damned  rascals.  Pray  give  Colonel  R.  as  much  information as  you  can  ;  he  is  a  rival  friend.  May  the  Almighty  God  give  him  happy years.  Pluck  up  your  spirits,  and  tell  me  when  you  will  be  clown,  as  your bed  and  room  is  ready.  Be  assured  you  stand  high  in  Mrs.  Murdoch's  es- teem, and  ever  shall  in  your  humble  servant's  :  keep  it  up  ;  who  is  afraid  ? let  the  dogs  tremble.  We  got  some  things  belonging  to  you  from  Mrs. Philips.  Mrs.  Murdoch  has  cut  a  piece  of  muslin  into  handkerchiefs,  which she  will  have  ready,  with  the  shirts,  against  you  come  here.  Mrs.  Murdoch will  write  to  Mr.  Newell  in  a  post  or  two.  What  regiment  is  Robert  to join  ?  Mrs.  Murdoch,  Mrs.  Lewis,  Joseph,  and  the  girl,  with  little  George, joins  me  in  love  to  you  both,  and  wishing  you  all  happiness, "  I  am,  dear  boys,  your  ever  affectionate, "George  Murdoch. "  Verbatim  et  literatim. "  P.S. — Let  me  beg  of  you  not  to  meddle  with  your  brother  Robert  on any  account.  I  am  certain  that  before  this  his  own  conscience  will  be punishment  enough.  Do  you  or  Robert  want  anything  ?  if  you  do,  pray advise  me.  If  convenient  to  you  both,  I  would  be  glad  you  would  go  to Ringsend,  and  see  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morgan  and  their  family.  I  am  told he  is  a  guager  there.  Ask  Bob  Murdoch  if  he  called  and  done  what  Mr. John  Johnson  ordered  him  to  do.  Did  you  call  on  Mr.  M'Cormick  about William  Robinson's  gun  ?  Be  sure  and  write  to  us.  What  is  Colonel R.'s  opinion  now  of  matters  ?  "  G.  M." During  the  time  between  this  and  the  latter  end  of  June  nothing material  happened,  except  my  application,  agreeable  to  the  desire  of  my friend,  for  the  liberation  of  Mr.  Davidson,  of  whom  I  said  everything favourable  that  could  be  possible  to  say  for  the  dearest  friend,  and  re- ceived an  agreeable  answer.  I  was  during  this  time  closely  confined  to my  room,  where,  by  Cooke's  orders,  attended  by  Mr.  Stewart,  the  surgeou- vol.  i.  37 5G2  APPENDIX    VII. general,  to  whose  skill  and  attention  I  really  owe  my  life.  My  medicines! were  all  got  in  Murdoch's  name,  so  fearful  was  government  of  my  being! poisoned.     At  this  time  I  received  the  following  letters. "  Thursday  morning. "  Mr.   Cooke's  compliments  to  Mr.  Newell,  requests  to  know  is  there!', any  charge  against  Clcary". "  Thursday. "  Sir, — lie  was  taken  up  according  to  your  orders  of  arrest,  as  I  knew him  to  be  an  active  United  Irishman ;  but  there  is  no  oath  against  him. "  I  am,  Sir,  your  very  humble  servant, "  Edward  John  Newell. "  Edward  Cooke,  Esq.,  Dublin  Castle". "Belfast,  8th  June,  1797. "  Dear  Newell, — Your  letter  I  received,  covering  the  book  per  Doctor Atkinson,  for  which  I  return  you  many  thanks.  Be  assured  your  not writing  has  given  us  much  uneasiness.  For  God's  sake,  write  to  us  at least  every  other  day ;  you  know  I  have  many  things  to  do  that  takes  up my  time ;  your  silence  makes  us  think  you  are  worse,  and  every  letter  we receive  gives  us  much  satisfaction.  Captain  Kingsmall  and  I  differed  in opinion,  on  which  he  got  very  far  up,  and  told  me  to  leave  the  troop, which  we  both  have  done.  I  accused  him  of  cowardice,  which  he  denied ; it  is  therefore  left  to  you  and  Robert  to  determine.  Pray  do  you  re- collect his  writing  to  you,  Robert,  or  me,  requesting  of  us  to  apply  to Colonel  Barber,  to  get  a  guard  to  take  his  servant-man,  which  he  dare  not ; and  of  writing  us  a  note,  saying,  if  Mr.  Newell  knew  anything  against  the three  young  Edwards,  as  they  wrere  suspected  people,  it  would  be  well  done to  take  them  up ;  and  at  the  bottom  of  his  note  he  said,  burn  or  destroy this  ?  Colonel  Barber  has  the  note  relative  to  taking  up  his  servant,  and says  he  will  take  care  of  it.  Pray  recollect  yourselves,  and  let  me  have your  answer  fully  to  the  above,  as  he  shall  not  dare  to  treat  me  with  in- difference. He  wanted  the  horsemen,  after  parading,  to  sit  up  as  a  guard on  the  footmen's  arms,  which  we  refused  to  do ;  as  we  told  him,  if  the footmen  could  not  take  care  of  their  arms,  that  if  he  delivered  them  up  to me,  I  would  put  them  under  my  own  guard  without  putting  him  or Government  to  a  six-pence  expense.  To  this  he  would  not  agree  ;  there- fore we  sent  him,  yesterday,  our  regimentals,  etc.  I  wish  we  had  a  man of  spirit :  if  we  had,  we  could  do  business  through  the  country,  and  not be  lolling  on  a  bed  in  a  guard-room.  On  Monday  we  had  a  field-day,  and fired  in  honour  of  his  Majesty's  birth-day;  and  such  an  illumination  never was  seen  in  Belfast:  not  a  croppy  dare  speak,  and  all  the  disaffected  had their  windows  smashed.  We  chaired  General  Lake,  Colonel  Barber,  Mr. Fox,  etc.,  through  the  Main  Street ;  and  in  return  I  got  a  ride.  We hear  that  several  men  near  Newry  have  been  shot  and  their  houses  burned, for  attacking  the  army.  We  long  much  to  see  you  both ;  and  as  this letter  is  so  very  long,  it  will  serve  you  and  Robert  for  this  time.     Mrs. NEWELI/S    NARRATIVE.  5G3 „:  Murdoch,  Mrs.  Lewis,  Joseph,   Maria,   Caroline,   Charlotte,   and  George, •'desires  their  love  to  you,  and  Mrs.  Murdoch  says,  if  you  do  not  write,  you ! shall  be  flogged.     Adieu,  my  boys, "  And  believe  me  to  be  yours  most  sincerely, "  George  Murdoch. ■  | "  P.S. — I  have  just  received  Robert's  letters,  and  the  paper,  for  which  we are  thankful.     Our  love  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morgan  and  family.     We  are '  every  day  taking  up  the  boys  and  putting  them  on  board  or  sending  them 1 1  to  confinement.     Cunningham  Gregg's  house  was  wrecked,  etc. ;  his  fur- !  niture  underwent  a  swinging.     Are  you  UP?" "Belfast,  19th  June,  1797. "  Dear  Boys, — Your  favours  I  received,  for  which  I  am  much  obliged j  to  you,  and  for  the  good  news  you  sent  me.  Yesterday  thirty-one  united '.  lads  came  in  here  prisoners ;  they  are  in  the  artillery  barracks.  I'm  told !  Rowley  Osborne  is  put  in  irons.  Pray  is  it  so  ?  and  what  new  thing  is  he I  guilty  of?  He  well  knows  where  the  Belfast  cannon  is  hid.  All  the '  country  people  are  coming  in  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  Captain |  Lewis  arrived  here  last  night.  Is  Bob  in  possession  of  his  commission 1  yet  ?  if  so,  what  is  it,  and  in  what  regiment  ?  Is  there  any  word  of  your |  getting  down,  my  lads  ?  Be  assured  we  long  to  see  you  here.  Mrs. [  Murdoch  and  family  joins  in  love  to  you,  Edward  and  Robert,  Mr.  and |  Mrs.  Morgan  and  family.     And  believe  me  to  be, "  Dear  boys,  yours  affectionately, "  G.  Murdoch. "  Messrs.  Newell  and  Murdoch". "  Belfast,  July  4th,  1797. "  Dear  Sir, — Yours  came  to  hand  on  the  27th  June,  when  I  was  in j  Newry.     In  your  observations  I  firmly  acquiesce ;  gratitude  can  never  be ',  looked  for,  where  it  never  had  the  smallest  foundation  ;  and  a  revenge  of I  the  like  tendency  to  our  protectors,  must  proceed  from  black  and  rancorous !  minds.     As  to  an  observation  of  your's,  that  the  person's  punishment  was !  not  adequate  to  the  crime,  no  one  felt  themselves  more  hurt  than  I  did  at j  the  sudden  forgiveness,   and  according  to  your  opinion,  as  if  it  proceeded from  your  pen,  as  well  as  from  my  lips,  I  declare  it  to  be  an  interlude  to a  repetition  of  the  same  offence.     If  she  has  the  least  spark  of  feeling,  it ought  to  bring  her  to  a  sense  of  her  duty  to  her,   whose  only  wish  is  for her  to  conduct  herself  becoming  the  connexion  which  she  has  with  the  best of  families.     It  was  owing  to  Joseph's  indisposition,  and  intercession  to his  indulgent  parents  for  her  return,  which  made  them  consent  to  her  re- turn, though  with  reluctance.     Mrs.   Murdoch's   arm   is  very   black  and very  sore ;  and  Mrs.  Murdoch,  to  prevent  company  suspecting  any  mis- understanding, may  speak  to  her,  but  is  determined  not  otherwise. "  If  you,  dear  friend,  knew  how  ungrateful  she  was  to  me,  when  a  mis- taken pity  induced  me  to  say  things  in  her  behalf.  When  she  was  in  a former  disgrace,  she  availed  herself  of  a  moment's  shyness  between' Mrs. 564  appendix  vn. Murdoch  and  mc,  which  proceeded  from  the  circumstances  above  mentioned, the  poor  cutthroat  said  in  private  to  Mrs.  Murdoch,  that  I  had  endea- voured to  ingratiate  myself  in  her  esteem  ;  but  in  a  language  similar  toj this,  that  she  was  proof  against  my  pretended  friendship.  She  did  not  go* untold  of  it.  We  all  consider  ourselves  obliged  to  you  for  our  existence. I  and  the  family  will  never  forget  the  obligation,  for  in  the  existence  of my  dear  wife  depends  my  own.  Bob  is  an  idle  vagabond,  or  he  would have  wrote  to  me.  Tell  him  so.  Which  neglect,  in  fact,  does  not  prevent me  sending  my  love  to  him. "With  the  best  respects  to  you  from  the  whole  of  the  family,  re- maining yours  sincerely, "  William  Lewis. "  P.S. — I  am  in  a  hurry,  dinner  is  dished,  and  I  am  hungry". "  Belfast,  22nd  July,  1797. "Dear  Boys, — I  received  Robert's  of  15th  instant,  and  would  have  an- swered it  in  course,  but  in  hourly  expectation  of  seeing  you  both  here. Thank  God,  Joseph  is  recovering.  All  the  rest  of  the  family  are  well ; but  by  no  means  let  Robert  and  you  part,  but  come  together  when  you get  permission,  and  do  not  stir  without.  When  you  get  leave  to  come down,  write  to  me,  and  I  will  meet  you  at  Newry,  Banbridge,  or  Hills- borough. The  last  letter  I  wrote  you  was  returned  to  Newry,  which  I  re- ceived from  Colonel  Ross,  where  I  was  attending  our  friends  who  were duly  elected  on  Wednesday  last,  and  I  do  not  know  where  or  how  to  direct to  you ;  as  to  Robert's  commission,  let  it  come  in  course,  and  he  will  save by  so  doing,  but  do  not  disoblige  your  friends  at  the  Castle.  Does  Mrs. Morgan  call  on  you  now  ?  Mrs.  Murdoch  and  family  joins  me  in  love  to you  both,  and  wishing  you  safe  here — still  keep  up  the  guard  of  five  men — none  of  the  croppies  dare  stir.     Write  to  me  by  return  of  post. "  I  am,  my  dear  boys, "  Your  affectionate  friend,  etc. "  George  Murdoch. "  Mr.  Edward  John  Newell". On  my  recovery,  I  applied  to  go  down  to  Belfast,  as  the  Murdochs  had so  often  invited  me.  I  signed  my  name  to  Mr.  Watkins's  bills,  who  was the  person  appointed  by  Government  to  provide  me  with  breakfast,  dinner, supper,  wines,  jellies,  etc. The  bill  for  May,  odds  of        ...         .      £38     0     0 Do.  June,  upwards  of     .  .         .         .         .         50     0     0 Do.  July,  about 72     0     0 I  had  liberty  of  inviting  any  person  to  see  me ;  in  the  course  of  this time  I  had  also  received  above  fifty  pounds  to  buy  clothes,  and  more  for other  purposes ;  and  were  I  to  state  the  doctor's,  apothecary's,  and  other bills  which  were  paid  for  me,  the  sums  would  hardly  be  credited. The  day  before  I  left  town,  I  in  the  street  arrested  Mr.  Carmentraug, the  gentleman  mentioned  in  the  examinations,  who  not  choosing  to  gratify NEWELL  S    NARRATIVE.  565 Government  with  his  knowledge  of  the  business,  was  crammed  aboard  a tender,  and  never  since  heard  of. Having  received  twenty  guineas  from  Cooke,  and  a  desire  to  write  when- ever I  wanted  any  more,  I  set  off  for  Belfast,  accompanied  by  my  aide-de- camp,  Ensign  Murdoch.  On  my  arrival  at  Fort  George,  I  was  received with  the  greatest  friendship,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  had  the honour  of  being  waited  on  by  almost  all  the  principal  supporters  of  our holy  Church  and  State  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom,  to  congratulate  me on  my  recovery  and  arrival  in  the  country,  and  to  inform  me  that  many  of those,  for  whom  I  had  formerly  been  searching,  were  returned  to  their  wives and  families,  and  could  now  be  easily  laid  hold  of. At  that  time,  I  lived  in  the  habits  of  the  most  endearing  intimacy  with the  Murdoch  family  ;  there  was  no  liberty  thought  too  great  for  me  to  take, nor  any  favour  too  great  to  bestow  on  me. On  the  23rd  of  August,  I  received  the  following  letter  in  answer  to  one I  had  written  to  Mr.  Dawes,  and  which  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  many I  have  received  upon  the  same  purpose. "  Dublin,  August  23rd,  1 797. "  Dear  Sir, — I  received  yours  of  the  18th  instaut,  and  was  happy  to hear  that  you  and  Mr.   M.   were   well.     Agreeable   to  your  directions,  I waited  on  Mr.  C ,  and  he  gave  me  a  ten  guinea  note,  which  I  enclose you  :  there  is  no  particular  news  in  town  :  Ave  are  all  very  well.     Give  my best  respects  to  Mr.  M ,  and  believe  me  to  be, "  Your  very  humble  servant, "S.  D. "Mr.  Edward  John  Newell". This  letter  is  endorsed,  "  Daives,  ten  guineas". Never  suspecting  these  letters  would  appear  in  print,  the  correspondence that  took  place  has  not,  of  course,  been  entirely  preserved ;  and  it  is  even by  chance  that  the  few  here  laid  before  the  public  were  not  also  destroyed, and  which  are  far  from  being  the  most  interesting.  About  this  time  a  man of  the  name  of  Martin  came  to  me  to  draw  examinations  against  Charles Rankin,  Esq.,  and  some  others,  for  high  treason.  Those  examinations,  by Mr.  Rankin's  interest,  when  offered  to  be  sworn  before  Colonel  Barber, neither  he  nor  General  Lake  would  admit  to  be  done.  I  therefore  enclosed the  examinations  in  a  letter,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy,  to  Lord Carhampton  and  also  to  Mr.  Cooke : "  Mr  Lord, — Conscious  as  I  am  that  there  are  no  persons  who  exert themselves  more  to  detect  treason  or  who  wishes  more  totally  to  destroy  it, I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  your  lordship,  confident  that  riches  or power  will  never  bias  your  lordship  where  duty  calls,  and  to  lay  before you  the  examinations  of  a  poor  man,  against  a  man  of  property,  who,  be- cause the  poor  man  embraced  the  proposals  held  out  by  the  proclamation for  a  return  of  allegiance,  has  ever  since  done  his  utmost  to  ruin  the  man. Mr.  Rankin,  every  person  about  the  country  knows  to  be  a  strict  republican, 566  ArPENDix  vii. and  I  have  often  heard  him  talked  of  in  our  societies  as  a  most  active  one. I  am  confident  of  the  propriety  of  this  part  of  the  examinations  which  says, '  he  was  the  cause  of  numbers  being  united'.  I  have  the  pikes  mentioned, and  I  am  sure,  should  it  please  your  lordship,  that  the  arresting  of  Mr. Rankin,  and  his  servant  M'Connell,  would  be  of  the  utmost  Bervice  to  this part  of  the  country.  Should  it  be  your  lordship's  pleasure,  and  if  your lordship  shall  find  me  always  willing  and  determined  in  doing  my  duty. "  And  am,  my  lord,  with  every  respect, Your  lordship's  ever  greatly  obliged "  Very  humble  servant, "  Edward  John  Newell. "Belfast,  September  loth,  1797. "  To  Lord  Carhampton,  Commander  in  Chief,  etc." On  account  of  the  jealousy  which  clearly  showed  itself  towards  me,  by Mr.  Murdoch's  suspicion  of  a  connexion  between  one  of  his  family  and  me, I  wrote  to  Cooke,  that  I  thought  it  necessary,  and  wished  to  return  to Dublin.     I  some  time  after  received  the  following  answer  : — "  Dublin  Castle,  30th  September,  1797. "  Sir, — I  received  only  yesterday  your  letter  of  the  19th,  and  enclose you  ten  pounds,  that  you  may  come  up  to  town  without  delay,  which  by your  own  account  seems  necessary.  Colonel  Barber  will  assist  you  in  your coming  hither.  When  you  arrive  I  will  have  the  pleasure  of  conversing with  you  on  the  subject  of  the  examinations  which  you  inclosed. "  I  am,  Sir, "  Your  most  obedient  servant, "E.  Cooke. "  Mr.  Edward  Newell :'. In  the  latter  end  of  October,  I  set  off  for  Dublin,  having  first  received from  Colonel  Barber  twenty- four  guineas,  in  addition  to  several  prior  sums. Murdoch  and  his  son  Bob  also  accompanied  me  as  evidences  in  my  favour, and  were  I  to  search  the  world  I  could  not  have  a  better ;  for  so  willing was  he  to  serve  me,  that  he  desired  me  on  the  journey  to  write  out  what I  wished  him  to  swear,  and  he  would  get  it  by  heart  and  do  so,  let  it  be what  it  would,  to  assist  me. In  Newry  I  met  Mr.  John  Hughes,  whom  Colonel  Barber  had  desired me,  if  I  could  by  any  chance  meet  with,  to  arrest ;  him,  therefore,  I  made  a prisoner,  though  I  had  no  warrant  or  authority  whatsoever  for  so  doing  but the  direction  of  Colonel  Barber,  and  sent  him  under  a  strong  guard  to  Bel- fast. The  crime  alleged  against  him — his  exertions  to  save  the  life  of Orr  !     The  next  night  I  arrived  in  Dublin,  accompanied  by  three  others. The  2nd  of  November,  I  received  the  following  answer  to  a  letter  I  had written  upon  the  business  : — "  My  Dear  Friend, — I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your  kind  favour, for  which  I  thank  you.     As  to  the  inquest  of  Council,  a  militia  man  in  the NEWELLS    NARRATIVE.  567 City  of  Limerick  corps,  I  gave  the  papers  to  Mr.  Bristow  ;  but  I  recollect the  most  of  the  jurors.  The  foreman  was  Dr.  Gelston,  next  Alexander Gordon,  James  Alderdice,  next  Dr.  Shephard,  Richard  Moore,  James  Kirk- wood  ;  as  to  the  rest  I  am  not  sure.  The  verdict  was  '  accidental  death', which  at  the  time  they  gave  it  in  I  thought  to  be  false;  however,  let  that be  for  a  future  day.  I  hope  to  see  you  on  Saturday  next,  and  then  may tell  you  something  more  about  it.  Make  my  compliments  to  Mrs.  Murdoch, and  believe  me  to  be,  dear  Sir,  yours  truly, "  William  Atkinson. "  Belfast,  October  31st,  1797. "  Verbatim  et  literatim". On  my  arrival,  Cooke  and  Kemmis  severally  applied  to  me  to  assist  Bird in  the  prosecuting  of  Messrs.  Kennedy,  Shanaghan,  etc.,  which  I  positively refused,  and  replied  that,  was  I  brought  forward,  from  what  I  knew  of Bird's  character,  my  evidence  would  tend  to  injure  rather  than  serve  his testimony.  The  3rd  of  November,  Mr.  Parroch  and  Mr.  Robert  Orr,  of Belfast,  passed  through  the  Castle  Yard,  and  as  it  was  known  they  were principal  exculpatory  evidence  against  Bird,  I  informed  him  of  the  circum- stance. He  seemed  greatly  alarmed,  and  at  his  request  I  dogged  them  to Mr.  Dowling's,  their  attorney,  and  also  brought  Major  Sirr  to  Bird,  having first  left  Mr.  Dawes,  the  king's  messenger,  to  watch  where  they  should  pro- ceed to  from  that.  When  we  arrived  at  Bird'3  room,  he  assured  Sirr  that they  were  most  material  evidence  against  him,  and  that  if  there  were  not some  method  taken  to  keep  them  out  of  the  way,  he  would  be  ruined.  I mentioned  to  Sirr  that  the  best  way  would  be  to  arrest  them  on  suspicion, and  keep  them  by  until  the  trials  would  be  over,  and  that  I  was  confident they  would  be  too  much  rejoiced  at  their  enlargement  to  inquire  the cause  of  their  detention,  fearful  their  inquisitiveness  might  be  a  means  of having  it  prolonged.  Sirr  said  it  would  be  a  great  stretch  of  power,  but the  circumstance  warranted  it,  and  I,  though  I  detested  Bird,  was  willing to  execute  it.  Orr  I  could  take  on  suspicion  of  being  an  United  Irishman, but  Parroch's  character  is  too  well  known  to  be  arrested  on  that  charge. Sirr  and  I  that  night  searched  the  north  country  inns  for  to  take  them  ; but  not  meeting  with  them,  and  the  trials  being  next  morning  postponed, the  business  dropped. Dutton,  the  Newry  informer,  having  a  recommendation  to  me  from  a gentleman  of  that  town,  called  to  see  me,  and  a  few  days  after  our  ac- quaintance, Dutton  was  arrested  at  the  suit  of  Mr.  Ogle  ;  fearful  he  might receive  insult,  I  brought  a  guard  with  me  to  the  courts  and  sheriff's  office to  prevent  it.  He  was  not  liberated  above  an  hour  when  he  was  taken upon  a  second  charge  of  the  same  gentleman's,  and  I  was  obliged  to  get Mr.  Kemmis  to  bail  him. On  the  8th  of  November  I  received  the  following: — "Belfast,  6th  November,  1797. "Dear  Edward, — I  arrived  here  on  Thursday  night,  and  found  all the  family  well,  except  Joseph,  who  still  continues  poorly.     At  Baubridgo 5G8  APPENDIX    VII. I  met  the  brave  Colonel  Barber,  Doctor  Atkinson,  etc.,  posting  for  Dublin. On  Saturday  morning  I  received  your  letter  with  the  subpoena.  I  served Mrs.  Boyd,  and  will  serve  Francis  Obre  this  day.  He  and  the  family  are removed  to  Lisburn.  Please  God,  I  shall  post  it  up,  as  the  coach  is  taken every  day  to  the  14th  instant.  Captain  Rankin  is  gone  up,  so  is  two Fargusons,  brothers  to  Farguson  of  Smithfield.  As  jurors,  object  to  them all,  as  also  Mr.  Lepper  and  John  Hastings.  All  here  is  quiet.  No  word of  Magee  that  I  can  depend  on.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Philips  are  quite  well. James  has  enlisted  with  Col.  Barber.  Let  Robert  get  a  coat  and  breeches made,  and  I  will  be  with  you  on  Thursday,  and  give  him  cash  to  pay  for them,  etc. Mrs.  Murdoch's  eyes  are  very  bad  ;  as  soon  as  she  is  well, she  will  answer  your  letter.  She  and  family  join  me  in  love  to  you  and Robert.  Please  to  give  my  compliments  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Campbell,  and believe  me  to  be,  dear  Edward, "  Yours  truly, "  George  Murdoch. "  My  best  respects  to  Mr.  Dawes  and  son". The  night  old  Murdoch  arrived  in  town,  I  had  the  honour  of  his  com- pany at  my  apartments  at  the  Castle ;  Dutton,  old  and  young  Murdoch, Obre,  Morgan,  and  Jameson,  all  of  which,  during  my  stay,  lived  with  me, where  I  entertained  them  in  the  first  style  of  elegance.  After  dinner,  etc., we  repaired  to  Mrs.  Beattie's,  where  we  spent  the  night  in  wine  and  de- bauchery. The  rapidly  increased  circulation  of  the  Press,  as  soon  almost  as  it  was established,  gave  considerable  alarm  to  administration  by  the  publication  of those  atrocious  acts,  which  were  universally  suspected  to  have  been  perpe- trated with  the  connivance,  but  to  my  knowledge,  with  the  warmest  appro- bation of  ,"  etc.  It  therefore  became  a  matter  of  the  last  impor- tance to  put  it  down,  and  happening  one  eveniug  over  a  bottle  to  mention to  Major  Sirr  that  I  had,  about  two  years  since,  repeatedly  seen  the printer,  Mr.  Finnerty,  at  several  public  places  in  this  city,  where  I  re- marked he  talked  with  freedom  on  any  questions  that  occurred,  immedi- ately Sirr  suggested  to  me  the  propriety  of  swearing  against  him  ;  and  as Defenderism  was  the  rage  of  that  day,  I  was  furnished  with  means  suffi- ciently probable.  Accordingly,  the  following  examinations  were  drawn  up, which,  in  case  of  his  acquittal  of  the  libel,  for  which  he  was  then  a prisoner  and  shortly  to  be  tried,  I  was  to  have  sworn. "  County  of  \  The  examination  of  Ed.  John  Newell,  of  said  city, City  of  Dublin,  j  miniature  painter,  who,  being  sworn  on  the  Holy  Evan- gelists, and  duly  examined  before  one  of  his  Majesty's justices  of  the  peace  for  the  said  county  : "  Saith,  that  about  two  years  ago,  or  better,  he  became  acquainted  with Peter  Finnerty,  of  said  city,  printer,  with  whom  he  formed  an  intimacy  : that  some  time  after,  being  several  times  together  in   the  house  of  Mathews,  a  publican,  in  Dame  Court,  he,  the  said  Peter  Finnerty,  intro- duced the  subject  of  Defenderism,  which,  finding  was  agreeable  to  exam., he  proposed  to  exam,  to  become  one ;  that,  after  some  discourse  on  the newell's  narrative.  569 subject,  he,  exam.,  gave  him  the  sign  of  a  Defender,  which  Finnerty  an- swered, and  seemed  much  and  agreeably  surprised,  saving  he  by  no  means suspected  he  was  a  friend,  and  wondered  he  had  not  before  known  it.  He told  exam,  that  he  wras  secretary  to  a  society  of  Defenders,  showed  him  a list  of  names,  and  invited  exam,  to  come  the  next  night  of  meeting,  which he  intended  holding  at  the  said  Mathews',  in  Dame  Court ;  that  he  went  to Mathews'  at  the  time  appointed,  and  there  saw  the  said  Mathews  refuse to  let  Finnerty  and  his  party  have  a  private  room,  and  they  then  left  the house,  and  exam,  stayed  there,  being  ashamed  to  go  with  the  men  who then  accompanied  the  said  Finnerty. "Nov.,  1797". As  there  was  no  business  to  be  on  the  cloth  this  term,  after  a  fortnight's stay,  the  expense  of  which,  I  am  confident,  was  above  a  hundred  guineas to  government,  wre  determined  returning  to  the  north  ;  I  therefore  received from  Mr.  Taylor,  Mr.  Cooke's  chief  clerk,  he  being  then  in  England,  ten guineas  for  travelling  expenses,  seven  guineas  from  Mr.  Kemmis,  and  as  it was  impossible  to  get  more  until  Mr.  Cooke's  return,  I  applied  to  Mr.  Bar- ber, who,  with  the  utmost  kindness,  gave  me  ten  guineas  more  on  my  giv- ing him  a  receipt,  as  if  I  had  received  it  before  I  left  Belfast,  he  having  no leave  to  give  me  money  in  Dublin. Before  Cooke  went  to  England,  he  assured  me  that,  according  to  his promise,  he  procured  me  a  commission  in  the  horse  ;  that  he  got  it  out in  another  name,  confident  I  would  not  wish  to  continue  my  own,  but  that he  thought  it  better  not  not  to  put  me  in  possession  of  it  then,  as  I  might be  questioned  about  it  on  the  trials. When  I  returned  to  Murdoch's,  the  same  friendship  and  scenes  of  feli- city continued,  and  on  the  18th  of  November  I  received  the  following  pro- duction of  that  champion  of  religion  and  good  government,  and  of  which the  town  and  neighbourhood  of  Newry  can  bear  testimony — Dutton  :  — "  Dublin  Castle, "November  16,  1797. "  Dear  Brother, — I  beg  leave  to  acquaint  you  that  I  arrived  here  last night.  There  appears  nothing  in  the  Press  either  with  or  against  us, therefore  I  don't  think  worth  while  to  send  it.  Should  any  new  thing make  its  appearance  in  the  paper  of  this  night,  I  shall  send  it  to-morrow night,  that  is  to  say,  if  I  do  not  sail  for  England  before  that.  Mr Kemmis,  who  I  saw  last  night,  tells  me  there  is  no  less  than  five  writs  out against  me,  therefore  you  may  well  suppose  if  they  should  once  lay  hold of  your  celebrated  brother,  he  will  be  as  happy  as  if  the  Devil  had  him. I  would  be  glad  you  would  write  to  me  to  Emerald-house,  Wrixham,  near Chester,  and  let  me  know  what  you  are  up  to. "My  best  respects  to  the  Murdochs.  I  hope  when  I  return  from England,  they  will  be  able  to  put  me  in  the  way  of  earning  a  couple  of hundreds  ;  this  they  can't  be  off  doing  if  they  wish  to  befriend  mc,  for  they must  reasonably  suppose  that  poor  Dutton  can't  carry  on  all  those  lawsuits without  a  great  deal  of  cash,  and  where  in  the  name  of is  he  to  get it.     I  hope  none  of  his  friends  would  wish  him  to  be  hanged  for  robbing 570  APPENDIX  VII. the  mail-coach,  or  breaking  into  some  of  the  banks.  .  .  .  Tell  them to  think  upon  this  business ;  they  have  until  the  9th  of  next  month. Reflect  upon  it,  and  absolutely  they  might  as  well  be  guilty  of  murder  as to  neglect  it ;  for  I  must  see  my  council ;  aud  then,  you  know,  there  is another  expense  which  I  have  not  mentioned —  .  .  .  and  I  beg  leave to  subscribe  myself  your  affectionate  and  celebrated  brother, "  Fked.  Dutton. "  P.S. — I  am  now  at  Smith's,  writing,  and  if  you'd  see  his  hair  standing strait  up  on  his  head,  you'd  laugh,  at  my  telling  him  the  danger  he  must be  in,  when  he  comes  into  court  to  give  in  evidence,  as  I  tell  him  there  is a  probability  that  some  one  or  other  may  absolutely  have  the  boldness  to shoot  him  in  open  court ;  he  firmly  believes  it  will  be  the  case. "  Lieut.  E.  J.  Newell,  Esq., "  9th  Light  Dragoons,  Belfast". On  the  20th  of  November,  I  received  this  by  the  name  agreed  on  before by  Cooke : — "Dublin  Castle, "November  18,  1797. "  Mr.  Cooke  requests  Mr.  Newell  will  be  kind  enough  to  state  what there  is  against  A.  Kennedy.  He  fled,  aud  is  applying  to  be  admitted  to take  oaths,  etc. "  Mr.  John  Kamsay,  at  Mr.  Murdoch's, "  Hearth  Collector,  Belfast". Franked,  "Win.  Taylor. To  which  I  wrote  the  following  answer "  Fort  St.  George, "November  21,  1797. "  Sir, — I  received  a  letter  of  yours  desiring  a  statement  of  facts against  A.  Kennedy.  Of  his  united  principles  I  had  no  knowledge  until  I became  a  military  officer,  in  which  capacity  I  also  met  him  in  military company ;  he  must,  therefore,  have  been  very  active,  or  he  would  not arrive  at  that  honour.  I  after  understood  that  he  had  been  the  principal and  most  active  agent  that  had  ever  gone  to  the  camp,  and  that  he  had made  more  soldiers  united  than  any  other  man  in  this  province.  I  know him  to  be  a  young  man  of  most  insinuating  address,  and  a  steady  repub- lican ;  and  if  I  dare  advise,  it  would  be,  not  to  accept  of  his  oaths,  as they  would  be  only  for  a  cloak.  I  see  already  the  use  that  those  who have  been  admitted  to  those  liberties,  and  to  bail,  are  making  of  them,  and I  really  fear  government  will  have  cause  to  repent  their  lenity. "  I  am,  sir,  etc.,  etc., "  E.  J.  Newell". On  Saturday,  the  2nd  of  December,  on  account  of  examinations  sworn before  General  Lake,  I  received  the  following  warrant : — NKWELLS    NARRATIVE.  571 "  County  of)  In  consequence  of  examinations  lodged  before  me  this Down.  )  day  upon  oath,  against  William  Robinson,  of  the  parish  of llolywood,  and  county  aforesaid,  farmer ;  These  are,  therefore  in  his  Ma- jesty's name  to  command  you  to  apprehend  said  William  Robinson,  and bring  him  before  me,  or  any  other  of  his  Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace  for said  county,  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  law.  Given  under  my  hand, this  2nd  of  December,  1797. (Seal)  "G.  Lake". And  also  a  mittimus. About  nine  o'clock  that  evening,  accompanied  by  Bob  Murdoch,  I  went with  a  party  of  troopers  and  arrested  him,  aud,  according  to  directions, brought  away  whatever  arms  I  could  find ;  viz.,  two  guns,  three  pistols, one  sword,  belt,  powder-horn,  etc.  We  kept  him  prisoner  at  Murdoch's until  next  morning,  when  I  sent  him  off  with  a  party  of  dragoons  to  Down jail. That  night,  as  we  had  every  liberty,  it  being  a  proclaimed  county,  Mur- doch and  I  searched  several  houses  for  arms,  etc.,  racking  everything, burning  and  destroying  at  pleasure,  treating  the  inhabitants  with  such brutality,  that  some  women  on  account  of  it  fell  into  violent  and  dangerous convulsions. One  man  in  particular,  of  the  name  of  M'Comon,  whose  door  being  shut, we  forced  open,  and  dragged  him  and  his  wife  from  their  bed ;  destroying everything  that  came  in  our  hands,  trying  for  arms,  while  the  wretched  in- mates stood  almost  naked,  trembling  with  the  apprehension  of  immediate destruction  from  the  ferocity  of  the  soldiers,  who  constantly  abused  them for  not  informing  where  were  the  arms  and  papers,  of  which,  as  they  said, we  had  information ;  and  on  continuance  of  refusal  of  confession,  would have  set  fire  to  the  house,  but  that  I  was  restrained  by  pity  from  the  plead- ings of  an  old,  distressed  woman,  and  prevented  the  completion  of  it.  When tired  of  this  virtuous  and  noble  amusement,  we  retired  to  drown  in  drink and  exultation  our  villainy,  the  terrors  of  darkness,  and  any  thought  of regret  that  should  chance  to  occur  for  the  atrocious  barbarity  of  our  conduct. On  the  6th  I  received  the  following  note  : "Belfast,  December  Cth,  1797. "  Dear  Sir, — Until  I  receive  small  notes  for  a  large  bill  I  have  to  dis- count, I  cannot  at  present  send  you  more  than  nine  guineas. "Please  to  send  a  receipt  for  £11  7s.  6d.  which  includes  the  guinea you  had  from  me  on  Sunday. "  It  is  unnecessary  to  interfere  or  employ  soldiers  of  another  corps  :  there- fore must  beg  to  be  excused  applying  for  one  of  the  22nd,  to  instruct  you fn  the  sword  exercise,  as  I  really  am  not  intimate  enough  with  the  officer commanding  there,  to  take  on  mo  to  ask  such  a  request. "  And  am,  sir, "  Your  very  humble  servant, "  L.  Barber. "  Mr.  Edward  John  Newell. "  I'.S — The  bearer  will  hand  you  your  receipt". 572  APPENDIX    VII. As  Mr.  Bird  has  taken  the  liberty  of  writing  of  me  in  a  most  unwar- rantable style,  as  one  of  the  most  blood-thirsty  cannibals,  I  must  say,  re- flection should  show  him  how  maliciously  false  is  the  charge.  Bird  was an  informer  from  sentiment ;  he  made  it  his  private  profession,  and  was supported  in  it  by  Government,  to  whom  lie  had  applied  for  employment, and  proved  his  abilities  to  be  one.  He  stole  into  the  confidence  of  men, he  insinuated  himself  into  their  good  graces,  that  he  might  know  their sentiments,  and  turn  them  to  their  ruin  and  his  profit.  He  was,  however, detected  in  his  scheme,  and  publicly  branded  with  the  title  he  deserved. Who,  then,  merits  the  character  with  which  he  distinguished  me  ?  He that  traded  on  the  lives  of  his  fellow-creatures,  bartered  their  safety  and existence  for  gold,  who  could,  with  friendship,  sit  and  smile  in  the  face  of the  very  man  whose  ruin  he  laboured  to  accomplish ;  or  I,  who,  driven  by passion,  was  led  to  improprieties,  roused  to  revenge  by  an  unjust  sus- picion ?  Surely,  he  best  deserves  it.  He  coolly  premeditated  crimes  ;  I only  committed  them.  He  was  a  villain  by  design  ;  I  only  by  accident. As  to  his  assertion  of  never  intending  to  come  forward  to  prosecute,  I  can say  it  is  a  most  infernal  falsehood.  He  was  determined,  he  was  prepared, he  got  himself  drilled  by  K.  for  the  business.  Dutton  and  I  went  there with  him,  his  cowardice  not  allowing  him  to  go  alone  ;  he  also  applied  to me  to  assist  him  on  the  trial ;  and  on  my  refusal,  got  Cooke  and  K.  to  use their  influence  with  me  for  that  purpose,  but  with  the  like  success.  These are  facts  ;  the  whole  battalion  of  which  he  was  the  founder,  can  bear  testi- mony, as  well  as  Cooke  and  K. "Whether  he  considered  me  so  base  a  character,  his  letters  will  show. This  one  I  received  December  13,  signed  by  his  then  name  of  Smith, enclosed  as  follows  : — "  Wednesday  morning,  December  13,  1797. "  Sir, — The  within  came  inclosed  to  me,  from  Mr.  Smith,  by  last  night's post. "  And  am,  sir, Your  most  obedient  servant, "  L.  Barber. "Mr.  Newell". "  Dear  Sir, — The  woman  you  lodged  with  in  Castle  Yard  has  treated  me in  a  manner  so  vile  and  atrocious,  that  I  am  at  a  loss  which  to  admire,  her assurance,  or  her  inventive  faculty;  for  such  I  think  must  be  the  assertion she  made,  when  she  said,  '  you  had  sent  her  letters  against  me  ';  for  I  am unwilling  even  for  a  moment  to  suppose  you  guilty  of  such  a  dereliction of  honour.  I  assure  you,  sir,  this  abandoned  wretch  (Mrs.  Campbell)  told Dutton  wre  were  a  set  of  rascals,  etc.     That  she  knew  us  and  would  expose us.     She Mr.  Cooke  and  the  Government  to in  a  lump,  and swore  again,  in  the  presence  of  a  crowd,  that  we  were  a  gang  of thieves,  robbers,  etc.,  etc.,  and  that  she  would  expose  us.  She was  so  profuse  of  her  compliments  to  Dutton,  that  he  made  a  very early  retreat,  unable  to  stand  or  stem  the  torrent  of  abuse  she  heaped on  us.  Now,  Mr.  Newell,  I  leave  it  to  your  sagacity  to  discover  this  lady's NEWELL  S    NARRATIVE.  57;j meaning,  when  she  called  us  a  set  of  robbers,  etc.  Could  she  mean  me solo  ?  surely  not !  Could  she  mean  me  and  Dutton  ?  We  were  merely  a duet.  Was  it  yourself,  as  well  as  us,  that  formed  a  trio  ?  Indeed  she  cer- tainly must  include  you  in  the  gang  of  thieves  she  so  pathetically  described. "  I  will  allow  that  the  lady  might  be  under  the  command  of  the  potent Captain  Whisky,  or  the  more  potent  Usquebaugh.  But  be  that  as  it  may, I  am  seriously  resolved  to  punish  the  scurrilous  wretch,  as  far  as  the  law permits.  But  at  the  same  time  I  cannot  suppress  my  inclination  of  stating her  conduct  to  you,  who  I  think  more  deeply  involved  by  her  abuse  than myself,  as  the  creature's  knowledge  of  me  must  be  infinitely  too  small  to occasion  such  expressions  ;  nor  is  my  determination  of  punishing  her  to  the extremity  of  justice  lessened  by  her  subsequent  conduct,  as  she  boasts  of having  your  protection  !  !  !  I  cannot  suppose  it  possible  it  can  be  so — she merits  your  most  indignant  scorn  ;  and  I  have,  Newell,  much  too  good  an opinion  of  you,  to  suppose  you  could  descend  to  countenance  so  abandoned a  woman.  But  as  she  has  publicly  declared  '  she  could  produce  letters from  Newell  against  me,  and  would  show  them ',  I  write  merely  to give  you  an  opportunity  of  contradicting  her  assertions  ;  for,  as  I  before told  you,  I  cannot  for  a  moment  suppose  you  could  be  capable  of  an  action so  truly  wretched  and  contemptible. "  I  hope  Messrs.  Murdoch  and  yourself  are  well. "  Your  most  respectful  and  very  humble  servant, "J.  Smith. "  N.B. — I  beg  the  favour  of  an  answer,  directed  under  cover  to  Mrs. Morris,  No.  5  Buckridge  Court,  Great  Ship  Street. "December  11,  1797". I  answered  this  letter  as  it  deserved,  with  a  disbelief  of  its  contents, knowing  the  person  mentioned  had  no  cause  for  such  a  report,  or  to  abuse me,  and  one  who  had  ever  attended  me  with  the  greatest  care  and  at- tention, and  at  whose  request  I  wrote  to  Cooke  and  Mr.  William  J.  Skef- fingtou  in  her  favour,  as  Smith  had  tried  to  injure  her,  she  succeeded  in spite  of  his  complaints. For  this  time  nothing  material  happened.  I  enjoyed  every  diversion  the town  and  country  could  afford,  and  the  esteem  of  the  Murdochs,  except  his jealousy  began  to  increase.  The  following  I  received  the  14th  of  December : "  Mr.  Taylor  would  have  answered  Mr.  N 's  letter  long  ago,  but  he was  obliged  to  wait  for  Mr.  Cooke's  directions  ". And  enclosing  the  following  : — "Castle,  December  11,  1797. "  Dear  Sir, — I  send  you  £20.  I  fear  you  may  think  I  had  forgot  you, which  was  not  the  case,  but  I  have  been  much  hurried  and  fatigued.  1  am glad  to  find  you  are  as  active  as  ever. "  Your  faithful,  etc., "E.  Cooke. "E.  Newell,  Esq." 574  APPENDIX    VII. Some  days  following,  I  was  sent  for  by  Colonel  Barber,  to  attend  him  at his  own  house,  where  I  met  with  him  and  big  Moore,  the  sub-sheriff;  they produced  to  me  a  long  list  of  names,  who  they  said  were  summoned  to  at- tend in  Dublin  as  jurors,  which  I  was  to  examine,  and  mark  each  name I  knew  or  should  dislike.  I  did  mark  some,  the  colonel  a  good  many,  with the  assistance  of  the  sheriff.  Colonel  Barber  told  me  it  was  necessary  the lawyers  should  know  what  men  might  be  depended  on  to  give  a  verdict  in favour  of  my  evidence  ;  and  notwithstanding  which,  Mr.  Barber,  on  the 24th  of  January,  deliberately  swore  in  the  King's  Bench,  that  he  never  as- sisted to  pack  the  panel.  Some  time  before  the  November  term,  little Atkinson,  and  a  young  man  of  the  name  of  Moore,  who  I  was  told  was  an under-sheriff,  waited  on  me  at  my  apartments  in  the  Castle,  for  the  same purpose. Murdoch's  jealousy  caused  him  to  use  Mrs.  Murdoch  with  such  cruelty, that,  unwilling  to  be  the  cause  of  uneasiness  to  one  I  so  truly  esteemed,  I removed  from  Murdoch's.  I  reasoned  with  him  about  his  treatment,  and assured  him  he  had  no  grounds  for  to  warrant  it.  He,  however,  insisted  I should  return  to  his  house,  with  which  I  after  some  clays  complied. Day  after  day  his  severities  increased,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  showed him  to  be  devoid  of  all  sense  of  shame  or  decency,  and  that  human  nature never  was  so  disgraced  as  in  this  most  infamous  of  mankind.  A  constant continuance  of  this  outrage  forced  her  to  seek  elsewhere  that  peace  she  was denied  at  home. On  the  lGth  of  January,  I  received  from  Colonel  Barber  fifteen  guineas, and  on  the  20th,  ten  ;  I  also  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Cooke,  requesting my  immediate  attendance  in  Dublin,  and  referring  me  to  the  collector  of Belfast  for  any  money  I  might  want;  which  letter  is  in  Mr.  Skeffington's hands,  and  by  his  order  Mr.  Salmon  gave  me  twenty  guineas.  On  Sunday, the  21st  of  January,  having  received  the  following  order,  I  setoff  for  Dub- lin, where  I  .arrived  the  next  evening,  being  accompanied  by  Mr.  Francis Obre,  as  an  assistant  evidence. "Belfast,  16th  January,  1798. "  I  am  directed  by  Lieutenant-General  Lake  to  desire  you  will  give  the necessary  orders  for  a  non-commissioned  officer  and  five  mounted  dragoons to  escort  the  bearer,  Mr.  Newell,  from  Belfast  to  Dublin  ;  who  must  dike- wise  be  provided  with  a  dragoon  horse,  to  be  returned  at  Lisburn,  Ban- bridge,  Newry,  Dundalk,  and  Drogheda. "  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir, "  Your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, "  William  Nicholson, "Aide-de-camp", (i "  Officer  commanding  the  garrison,  Belfast ". Next  day  old  Murdoch  came  to  town,  and  after  some  hot  words  which I,  on  account  of  his  being  drunk,  took  no  notice  of,  he  called  on  me  the following  morning,  and  requested  I  Avould  think  nothing  of  what  had passed,  as  he  Avas  willing  to  bury  all  in  oblivion,  as  he  would  not  give  the NEWELLS    NARRATIVE.  575 United  rascals  the  satisfaction  of  thinking  we  had  fallen  out.  This  dispute had  on  me  a  different  effect,  and  for  the  first  time  I  began  to  feel  remorse. I  next  morning  went  to  the  courts,  ready  and  in  waiting  with  the  utmost painful  anxiety  for  the  moment  when  I  should  be  called  to  the  table.  The satisfaction  I  experienced  on  the  trials  being  put  off  can  only  be  conceived by  one  in  the  same  situation.  I  trusted  that  during  the  long  vacation something  would  turn  up  to  prevent  my  being  obliged  to  swear  away  the life  of  any  person :  my  hope  has  been  agreeably  and  happily  realized. During  that  week  I  made  it  my  business  to  frequent  an  inn  where several  of  the  northerns  lodged  ;  their  behaviour,  which  was  friendly,  struck me,  and  I  determined  to  go  on  Sunday  to  see  the  prisoners  in  Kilmain- ham,  which  I  did.  There  did  these  worthy  sous  of  their  country  forget my  being  the  cause  of  their  confinement,  and  received  me  as  if  I  had  still been  what  I  once  was.  But  believe  me,  I  did  not  attempt  to  visit  those whom  I  then  intended  to  prosecute,  though  the  generous  fellows  were  wil- ling to  lay  aside  everything,  and  while  I  staid  there,  received  me  as  a friend.  No !  bad  even  as  I  was,  I  could  not  meet  in  friendship  the  men  I had  determined  to  injure. I  determined  no  longer  to  be  a  tool,  but  to  return  to  the  principles,  of which  deserting  had  been  the  cause  of  all  my  misery.  All  the  flattering prospects  which  government  had  placed  before  my  eyes  vanished  before the  reward  which  would  await  upon  this  conduct — happiness,  peace  of mind,  confidence  in  the  propriety  of  my  behaviour,  the  forgiveness  of those  I  had  injured,  and  the  hopes  of  once  more  being  considered  an  honest man. All  this  time  Murdoch  lived  with  me  in  the  greatest  friendship ;  we  eat, drank,  went  to  every  diversion,  arm  and  arm  walked  the  streets :  never- theless, some  friends  informed  me  that  Murdoch,  on  being  checked  by  some for  being  seen  with  me,  who  had  so  injured  the  credit  of  the  family,  had assured  them  that  he  only  waited  for  an  opportunity  to  destroy  me,  and his  show  of  friendship  was  for  that  purpose.  I  upbraided  him  with  it. In  the  course  of  the  business,  he  informed  me  that  if  ever  I  came  to  the north,  three  persons  there  had  sworn  to  murder  me,  or  fall  in  the  attempt. I  proved  to  him  how  little  I  valued  the  threat,  and  the  business  for  this time  stopped.  But,  in  the  evening  of  Sunday,  January  28,  I  having dined  out,  on  my  return  home,  found  Murdoch  waiting  supper  for  me,  ami was  uneasy  I  could  not  sup,  from  being  unwell.  When  I  had  stripped myself,  and  was  stepping  into  bed,  he  drew  a  pistol  from  his  pocket,  and snapped  it  at  my  head.  I  therefore  sent  him  to  the  guard-house,  and next  morning  lodged  examinations  against  him,  who,  from  being  the  cause of  my  being  an  informer,  I  now  doubly  detested,  and  that  evening  lodged him  in  Newgate,  where  he  enjoyed  a  refinement  of  misery,  as  some  letters written  by  his  wife  to  me  had  been  taken  out  of  a  trunk  of  mine,  the  other contents  of  Avhich  had  been  destroyed.  I  wish  to  clear  myself  of  the charge  of  sending  them  to  him.  No  !  though  I  would  wish  to  punish  him, it  should  not  have  been  in  that  manner,  and  had  I  known  it,  he  never should  have  seen  them. On  Sunday  night,  the  4th  of  February,  on  returning  to  my  lodgings  in the  Castle,  the  sentry  refused  me  admittance,   which  I  insisting  on,  he 576  APPENDIX    VII. made  a  push  at  me  with  his  bayonet,  which  I  threw  up,  and  received through  my  hat  the  stab — that  which  I  suppose  was  intended  for  my  heart. A  very  furious  scuffle  ensued,  during  which  I  discharged  two  pistols  at him,  for  which  I  was  carried  to  the  guard-room,  where,  having  used  some warm  expressions  and  altercatiou  with  the  officers,  Mr.  Watson  interfered and  had  me  removed  to  my  own  rooms,  where  I  was  guarded,  until  or- dered next  day  to  be  liberated. On  waiting  on  Mr.  Cooke,  he  spoke  to  me  rather  warmly  about  my  be- haviour, and  the  sentiments  I  had  used  in  the  guard-room,  and  wondered how,  after  becoming  an  Orangeman,  I  could  retain  such  rebellious  notions. I  assured  him  1  was  not  yet  an  Orangeman,  though,  on  being  solicited  by Dr.  Atkinson,  I  promised  to  become  one  after  the  trials.  He  seemed  very angry  at  my  having  so  long  neglected  so  necessary  a  qualification ;  told me  I  did  not  rightly  consider  my  obligations  to  government,  for  almost  any other  man  Mould  have  been  hanged  who  would  dare  to  fire  at  a  sentinel. Even  this  great  favour  could  not  drive  from  my  mind  the  determination I  had  formed  of  retiring  from  the  paths  of  iniquity.  I  therefore  wrote the  following  letter  to  a  gentleman  of  popular  character  :  — "  Dublin  Castle, "  February  G,  1798. "  Sir, — From  the  confidence  I  have  in  your  honour,  and  the  knowledge I  have  of  your  character,  I  address  you,  though  I  never  had  the  happiness of  your  intimate  acquaintance,  to  inform  you  that,  from  the  constant examples  of  the  perfidy  of  government  that  are  in  my  eyes — from  what  I suffer  in  my  own  mind — from  the  recollection  of  my  own  improprieties — from  the  manner  I  see  myself  despised  by  honest  men,  and  the  sensations I  feel  from  my  exposure  in  print,  I  am  heartily  sorry  for  my  past  conduct, and  wish,  through  you,  the  people  to  be  informed  of  it ;  and  that  if  they will  again  receive  me  into  favour  and  forgiveness,  they  shall  never  have cause  to  be  sorry  for  it;  and  though  I  know  the  injuries  I  have  done  them to  be  great,  I  think  I  can  make  some  restitution,  by  the  exposure  of  the plans  of  government,  in  which  I  have  been  connected. "  And  I  am,  sir,  your  very  humble  servant, "  Edward  John  Newell". I  on  the  next  day  received  this  answer  : — "  Belfast  Hotel,  February  7. "  Sir, —  I  received  your's  of  yesterday,  and  shall  not  fail  to  make  known your  intentions  to  such  as  I  associate  with.  And  from  what  I  know  of  the forgiving  disposition  of  the  people,  I  think  myself  justified  in  saying  they would  feel  more  real  satisfaction  in  the  forgiving  of  a  penitent,  than  the punishing  of  an  offender. "  Your's,  etc. "Mr.  Edward  John  Newell,  Dublin  Castle". During  this  time  I  lived  even  in  greater  extravagance  than  before;  having NEWELL  S    NARRATIVE.  577 continually  large  parties  banqueting  with  me  in   the   Castle,   keeping   also horses,  attendants,  etc. Determined,  however,  to  put  my  plan  of  elopement  into  execution,  I  ap- plied to  Mr.  Cooke  to  send  me  to  England,  which  he  agreed  to,  fixing Worcester  as  my  place  of  residence,  where  I  was  to  take  upon  me  the  name of  Johnston,  and  seem  to  follow  the  miniature  painting,  but  should  be  re- gularly supplied  from  Government  with  whatever  money  I  should  write  for. He  desired  my  departure  to  be  delayed  for  a  few  days  ;  but,  uneasy  at  my detention,  on  Thursday,  15th,  I  wrote  the  following  : — "  Sir, — As  you  have  not  settled  with  yourself  about  my  immediately going  to  England,  I  write  to  inform  you,  that,  so  uneasy  is  my  state  of  mind from  the  reports  that  I  hear,  that  if  you  choose  not  immediately  to  let  me depart,  I  shall  go  off'  of  myself,  and  depend  on  my  business  for  support rather  than  endure  what  I  at  present  suffer.  Nevertheless,  I  shall  con- stantly acquaint  you  with  the  place  of  my  abode,  and  shall  ever  be  ready to  contribute  all  in  my  power  for  the  welfare  of  Government. "  Sir,  etc.,  yours,  etc. "  Edward  John  Newell. "  Edward  Cooke,  Esq." Which  was  answered  in  less  than  an  hour. "  Mr.  Cooke's  compliments  to  Mr.  Newell :  he  has  spoke  on  the  subject of  his  wishes,  and  he  may  go  to  England.     Mr.  Cooke  wishes  to  see  Mr. Newell  to-morrow  morning. "Castle,  Thursday". I  waited  on  him  the  next  day  for  the  last  time,  and  on  my  taking  leave, received  from  him  fifty  guineas,  with  direction  to  write  and  give  him  every information  of  occurrences;  and  about  ten  o'clock  that  night  I  took  leave  of the  Castle,  and  bid  a  long  adieu  to  all  my  greatness,  and  here  put  an  end to  a  life  of  upwards  of  ten  months,  which  was  fraught  with  every  scene  of infamy,  luxury,  and  debauchery,  during  which  I  must  have  cost  the  Go- vernment a  sum  of  no  less  than  two  thousand  pounds,  as  a  reward  for having  in  that  short  time  been  the  cause  of  confining  227  innocent  men  to languish  in  either  the  cell  of  a  bastile  or  the  hold  of  a  tender ;  and,  as  I have  heard,  has  been  the  cause  of  many  of  their  deaths  ;  as  also  for  having been  the  cause  of  upwards  of  300  having  fled  from  their  habitations,  their families,  and  industry,  to  hide  in  the  mountains,  or  seek  for  safety  in  some distant  land  ;  and  as  I  was  the  first  who  informed  against  any  of  the  mili- tary, by  the  taking  up  of  Real,  who  was  terrified  into  our  measures,  until he  informed  on  the  rest  of  the  Mouaghan  regiment,  and  prosecuted  the four  brave  men  who  were  shot  at  Blaris  camp,  and  whose  blood  must  lie on  my  head  ;  and  many  other  crimes,  for  which  my  future  life,  I  fear,  will never  be  able  to  atone. Shortly  after  my  departure,  I  sent  the  following  letter  to  Mr.  M'Gucken, attorney,  enclosing  one  to  the  prisoners : — "  Sir, — From  my  knowledge  of  your  political  character  and  exertions  in VOL.  I.  3$ 578  APPENDIX    VII. favour  of  the  prisoners,  I  take  the  liberty  of  requesting  you  to  lay  before them  the  enclosed  letter,  and  a3  a  man  whose  goodness  of  heart  will  lead you  to  pity  the  frailty  of  human  nature,  that  you  will  use  your  influence  in my  favour  to  gain  their  forgiveness,  which  from  their  generous  behaviour to  me  in  my  visits  to  their  prison,  I  trust  not  to  be  disappointed  in  ;  their kindness  there  first  brought  me  to  a  thorough  sense  of  my  duty,  their  pardon will  be  the  confirmation  of  my  adherence  to  it.  Assure  them  they  have nothing  further  to  fear  from  me  ;  worlds  would  not  now  bribe  me  to  a  con- tinuance of  my  former  improprieties,  and,  could  life  purchase  a  forgetfulness of  my  past  unnatural  conduct,  with  pleasure  I  would  pay  the  forfeit.  I enclose  you  a  list  of  all  the  prisoners  who  have  been  taken  in  Belfast  and vicinity,  upon  the  common  charge  of  treason,  copied  from  one  given  me  by General  Barber,  and  I  remark  at  the  bottom  those  against  whom  there  is nothing  but  suspicion  :  your  good  sense  will  show  you  the  use  that  may  be made  of  it ;  and  am,  sir,  with  every  respect, "  Your  very  humble  servant, "  Edward  John  Newell. "  James  M'Gucken,  Esq." "  To  Messrs.  Gordon,  Barrett,  and  Burnside,  etc.,  Kilmainham  Jail. "  From  you,  whose  steady  and  persevering  conduct  in  the  cause  of  hu- manity does  honour  both  to  yourselves  and  those  with  whom  you  are  con- nected, and  convinces  the  world  how  worthy  you  are  of  the  confidence your  countrymen  have  placed  in  you — to  you  who  have  suffered  with  plea- sure in  the  horrors  of  a  dungeon  a  long  and  close  confinement,  do  I,  who ha^e  been  the  cause  of  that  confinement,  dare  to  plead  for  forgiveness,  be- cause I  know  the  generous  philanthropy  of  your  hearts.  I  can  offer  no other  extenuation  of  the  injuries  I  have  done  you  than  that  I  was  insti- gated by  anger  and  revenge.  Enraged  by  the  suspicions  that  were  enter- tained of  me  when  I  was  really  honest,  and  knowing  the  punishment  to which  these  suspicions  exposed  me,  I  resolved  to  take  vengeance  for  the injuries  I  received.  I  became  an  informer  :  a  false  shame  for  a  while  pre- vented my  return  to  honesty  and  truth.  Did  you  know  how  galling  it  is to  be  suspected  when  undeserving — did  you  know,  and  it  is  the  truth,  that, though  I  could  not  withstand  suspicion  or  insult,  I  had  died  with  pleasure for  the  cause  ;  and  that  being  thought  unworthy  of  the  confidence  reposed in  me  made  life  so  invaluable  to  me,  that  desperation  ensued,  and  drove me  to  those  crimes  which,  though  I  wish,  I  fear  can  never  be  atoned  for, — I  am  sure  you  would  pity  more  than  condemn  the  act,  though  the  con- tinuance in  iniquity  deserves  no  mercy.  I  rely  on  your  goodness,  and  hope the  proof  I  shall  give  of  my  sincere  repentance,  by  the  exposure  of  Go- vernment, and  a  life  devoted  to  the  service  of  my  country,  will  partly  atone for  me,  and  make  me  again  worthy  of  your  esteem  and  confidence  ; "  And  remain,  etc. "  Edward  John  Newell". Having  got  out  of  the  reach  of  my  enemies,  and  finding  myself  once more  comfortable  amongst  some  of  my  old  acquaintances,  who  had  by mere  good  luck  escaped  sharing  the  same  fate  of  the  rest,  and  who  I  highly newell's  narrative.  579 entertained,  relating  to  them  several  exploits,  opinions,  fears,  and  inquiries of  the  conductors  of  Government ;  informing  them  of  the  many  modes  by which  they  got  their  informations,  who  the  different  private  informers  were, some  of  which  they  had  never  suspected ;  as  also  the  manner  that  busi- ness was  conducted  at  the  post-office. On  the  23d  of  February,  I  wrote  four  letters,  one  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant, one  to  Mr.  Cooke,  one  to  General  Barber,  and  one  to  Mr.  Watson,  private secretary  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant ;  and  which  were  delivered  to  them  by  a friend  of  mine,  and  the  copies  left  for  insertion  in  the  Press,  and  of  course carried  off"  at  the  ransacking  of  that  office.  I  shall,  however,  attempt  to give  a  sketch  of  the  one  of  his  Excellency,  from  memory,  and  Mr.  Cooke's as  it  appeared  in  print : — "  My  Lord, — After  having  beeu  so  long  an  inmate  of  yours  at  the Castle,  it  would  be  the  height  of  ingratitude  in  me  to  take  leave  without returning  my  most  sincere  thanks  for  the  many  marks  of  attention  and  un- common kindness  conferred  upon  me ;  and  for  the  fifty  guineas  which  I received  on  Saturday.  I  beg  leave  to  give  you  a  piece  of  the  most  im- portant and  really  the  truest  information  you  ever  received  from  me,  and that  is,  to  follow  my  example  and  decamp. "  For  your  free  and  gracious  pardon  for  every  act  which  I  committed previous  to  my  becoming  an  informer,  I  beg  leave  to  return  you  my  sincere thanks,  and  you  may  rest  assured  that  I  will  carefully  preserve  it.  Wishing therefore  your  Lordship  a  long  and  final  adieu, "  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  etc., "  E.  John  Newell". "  To  Edward  Cooke,  Esq. "  Sir, — As  I  hope  in  a  few  days  to  present  you  with  my  history  in  print, I  shall  not  trouble  you  much  at  present,  as  in  it,  you  will  see  my  reasons for  deserting,  and  for  first  becoming  one  of  the  Battalion  of  Testimony;  on mature  reflection  I  am  confident  you  must  say — to  yourself,  I  have  acted right.  I  shall  not  pretend  to  say  I  am  beyond  your  power,  but  should  you ever  arrest  me,  you  will  find  my  heart  was  never  afraid  to  end  the  project I  had  once  began.  You  will  know,  not  a  friendship  for  Government,  but my  affection  for  the  Murdoch  family,  was  my  reason  for  becoming  an  In- former; that  attachment  having  ceased,  the  tie  that  bound  me  to  you  was no  more,  and  I  am  again  what  I  then  was.  Connected  with  Murdoch,  / was  a  villain,  but  unconnected  with  him  cease  to  be  so. "  I  think  you  will  now  be  tired  of  the  business  of  information,  and  I assure  you  you  will  shortly  have  no  occasion  for  it.  Think  how  disgraceful must  appear  such  connections  and  support,  when  even  spies  and  informers scorn  and  fly  their  association,  and  throw  themselves  on  the  forgiveness  of their  injured  country,  for  being  awhile  connected  with  such  miscreants.  I hope  you  will  now  acquit  me  of  the  charge  of  want  of  feeling.  I  return you  thanks  for  the  numberless  favours  you  have  conferred  on  me,  and  as- sure you  that  I  would  not  exchange  one  single  hour  of  my  present  happi- ness for  ten  thousand  times  the  sums  you  have  already  lavished  on  me.     1 580  APPENDIX    VII. have  no  occasion  noiv  for  pistols :  the  propriety  of  my  present  behaviour  is guard  enough  ;  the  forgiveness  of  my  country  rewards  it;  every  honest  man is  my  friend,  and  for  the  other  part  of  the  community,  their  esteem  is  a disgrace.  My  bosom  is  what  it  has  not  been  this  long  time,  the  seat  of contentment  ;  and  I  thank  my  God  for  having  saved  me  from  impending ruin.  "  E.  J.  Newell". A  communication  being  now  opened  between  Mrs.  Murdoch  and  me,  she agreed  and  accomplished  an  elopement,  and  after  living  with  me  for  twelve days,  I  found  it  necessary  to  quit  the  kingdom  ;  and  in  order  to  get  rid  of her  I  informed  Murdoch  where  she  was,  who  all  this  time  with  George  had been  scouring  the  country  in  quest  of  her,  and  accordingly  this  pot-valiant hero  attended,  and  carried  her  home  with  every  joy  and  forgiveness. Having  now  submitted  to  the  public,  in  my  own  illiterate  stile,  this  pro- duction, the  impartiality  and  truth  of  which  my  letters  of  correspondence (seized  by  Alderman  Exshaw,  and  deposited  in  the  Castle)  will  best  show  : and,  if  this  voluntary  publication  of  my  own  infamy,  and  proclaiming  to  the world  the  conduct  of  a  desperate  and  wicked  junto,  can  in  any  degree  make a  restitution  for  the  perjuries  and  crimes  I  have  committed,  my  object  is fully  answered  ;  and  with  every  respect  for  that  public,  to  which  I  have been  so  great  a  traitor,  I  subscribe  myself The  public's  most  obedient  servant, E.  J.  Newell. 581 APPENDIX    VIII LIST  OF  THE  NAMES  OF  PERSONS  INCLUDED  IN  THE  FUGI- TIVE BILL,  AND  BANISHMENT  ACT,  ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED.     COPIED  FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  DOCUMENT. Fugitive  Bill. Adair, Bashford,  Thomas  Gunning Burke,  William Bnrke,  James Bryson,  Andrew Campbell,  Wro.  (alias  M'Keevers) Cooke,  Patrick Cormick,  John Cullen,  William Delany,  Michael Deny,  Valentine Dixon,  Thomas Duckett, Duignan,  Miles Egan,  Cornelius Fitzpatrick,  Michael Holt,  Joseph Houston,  Thomas Hull,  James Jackson,  John Jackson,  James Kelly,  James Kenna,  Matthew Keogh,  Bryan Lcwins,  Edward  John Lawless,  William Lowry,  Alexander M'Can,  Anthony M'Cormick,  Richard M'Guire,  John M'Mahon,  Arthur Miles,  Matthew Morres,  Harvey Mouritz,  Joseph,  or  Joshua Neale,  James Nervin,  John O'Brien,  John O'Finn,  Edward Orr,  Joseph Orr,  Robert Plunkett,  James Reynolds,  Michael Swift,  Deane Scully,  John Short,  Miles Short,  Owen Tandy,  James  Napper Tceling,  Bartholomew Tone,  Theobald  Wolfe Townsend,  James Turner,  Samuel 582 APPENDIX    VIII. Banishment  Act. Andoe,  Thomas Astley,  Alexander Ayliner,  William Boyle,  Edward Brady,  Thomas Bushe,  James  M. Byrne,  Patrick Byrne,  Patrick Byrne,  Garret Banks,  Henry Baunen,  Peter Barrett,  John Carthy,  Denis Castles,  John Chambers,  John Comyn,  John Cormick,  Joseph Corcoran,  Peter Cuff,  Farrell Cumming,  George Cuthbert,  Joseph Daly,  Richard Davis,  Joseph Dillon,  Richard Devine,  Patrick Dorney,  John Dowling,  Matthew Doyle,  Michael Dry,  Thomas Emmet,  Thomas  Addis Evans,  Hampden Farrell,  Andrew Farrell,  Denis Fitzgerald,  Edward Flood,  Michael Geraghty,  James Goodman,  Robert Goodman,  Rowland Greene,  John Griffin,  Lawrence Haffey,  James Hanlon,  Patrick Harrison,  John Houston,  William Hudson,  Edward Ivers,  Peter Jackson,  Henry Kavanagh,  Morgan Keane,  Edward  Crookshank Keenan,  John Kelly,  Lawrence Kennedy,  John Kennedy,  John  Gorman Kinkead,  John Kinselagh,  John Lacy,  John Lube,  George Lynch,  John Lynch,  Patrick M'Cabe,  William  Putnam M'Dermott,  Bryan Mac  Neven,  William  James Macan,  Patrick Martin,  Christopher Madden,  Patrick Meagher,  Francis Millikeu,  Israel Mowney,  Patrick Mulhall,  Michael Neilson,  Samuel Neilson,  Robert O'Connor,  Arthur O'Reilly,  Richard Quigley,  Michael Redfern,  Robert Reily,  John Reynolds,  Thomas BANISHMENT    ACT    LIST. 58^ Rose,  James Russell,  Thomas Sweetman,  John Smyth,  James Sampson,  William Speers,  Henry Swing,  John Tierman,  James Toland,  Daniel Ware,  Hugh Wilson,  Hugh Young,  John 584 APPENDIX    IX. 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QJ -t-J * cd a o> & 0h Ph* Ch Ph" Ph' Ph Ph' Ph' , +a . -Ha . -j      § . . r~» o> o> s o CO s t3 C co 0) S co co P o S P CD s CJ H h O) (3 a o O CO a s s CO T3 CO re S3 §        . 6      ■ CO 1  , "5      I -     BO          'C 3  h     s CO o> Hi re o> CO o> s p CO 3     ' +3 S o '3 a 0) to u O) o O r.    ra          O 2  S      o 1 HI o> o 1 W o « H <1         ^B     H P5 5S5 APPENDIX    X RELIGION    PROFESSED    BY    PERSONS    OF    EMINENCE,    OR    LEADING MEMBERS    OF    THE    UNITED    IRISH    SOCIETY. [The  names  in  brackets  are  of  the  state  prisoners  who  had  been  in  Fort  George.] PROTESTANTS. Thomas  A.  Emmet,  Bar. Arthur  O'Connor,  Bar. Roger  O'Connor,  Bar. Thomas  Bussell, John  Chambers, Matthew  Dowling, Edward  Hudson, Hugh  Wilson, William  Dowdall, Robert  Hunter, Hon.  Simon  Butler,  Bar. A.  H.  Rowan, James  Napper  Tandy, Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, *  Henry  Sheares,  Bar. *  John  Sheares,  Bar. Oliver  Bond, *  B.  B.  Harvey, John  Russell, T.  W.  Tone,  Bar. *  Bartholomew  Tone, Thomas  Wright,  M.D. Wm.  Levingston  Webb, William  Hamilton, Matthew  Dowling,  Attor, Richard  Kirwan,f James  Reynolds,  M.D. Deane  Swift,  Bar. *  Matthew  Keogh, Thomas  Corbett, William  Corbett, William  Weir, John  Allen, Thomas  Bacon, Robert  Emmet, Joseph  Holt, Henry  Jackson, PRESBYTERIANS. William  Tennant,  M.D Robert  Simms, Samuel  Neilson, George  Cumming, Joseph  Cuthbert, Rev.  W.  Steele  Dickson,  J William  Drennan,  M.D. *  William  Orr, Samuel  Orr, William  Putman  M'Cabe, *  Henry  Monroe, *  James  Dickey,  Attor. Henry  Haslett, William  Sampson,  Bar. *  Henry  Joy  M'Cracken, William  Sinclair, J.  Sinclair, Robert  M'Gee,  M.D. Israel  Milliken, Gilbert  M'llvam,  jun. Robert  Byers, *  Henry  Byers, S.  Kennedy, Robert  Hunter, Robert  Orr, Hugh  Grimes, William  Kean, James  Burnside, James  Greer, Rowley  Osborne, Mr.  Turner, William  Simms, John  Rabb, CATHOLICS. W.  J.  M'Neven,  M.D. John  Sweeny, Joseph  Cormick, John  Sweetman, Peter  Finnerty, *  William  Michael  Byrne, *  John  M'Cann, *  J.  Esmond,  M.D. William  Lawless, Edward  John  Lewins, *  William  Byrne, *  Walter  Devereux, John  Devereux  (the  Gen. Devereux), Garret  Byrne, *  Esmond  Kyan, Charles  Teehng, Bartholomew  Teehng, Richard  M'Cormick, Thomas  Doorley, *  Felix  Rourke, Bernard  Mahon, John  Sweetman, Edward  Fitzgerald  (Wex- ford), William  Ayhner, *  S.  Barrett, Ferdinand  O'Donnell, *  Colonel  <  I'Doudc. *  John  Kelly, Thomas  Cloney, *  Executed. t  The  eminent  chemist  and  mineialoeist,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  M'Neven,  was  sworn  by  him Dr.  M'N. 586 APPENDIX    X. PROTESTANTS. Dr.  M'Donnell  (Belfast), WHtly  Stokes,  F.T.C.D. James  Johnston,  M  D.f Edwd  Lysaght,  Bar. William  Humphreys Lord  Cloncurry  (the  late) Lord  Wycombe, Colonel  Lumm, John  Pollock, Hampden  Evans, Thos.  Cumming  Bashford, Samuel  Turner, PRESBYTERIANS. James  Hope, Jordan, John  Hughes, William  Dunne, Thomas  Houston,  junr. John  Story, Dr.  Alex.  Crawford, Adam  Maclean, M'Tier, -  M'Leery, M'Aughtrey, Robert  Neilson, CATHOLICS. *  John  Clinch, James  Farrell, Michael  Dwyer, *  Harvey  Hay, James  Hunkett, Richard  Dease,  M.D. John  Keogh  (Mt.  Jerome) John  Byrne  Madden, Cornelius  M'Loughlin, Henry  O'Hara, Christopher  Teeling,  M.D. W.  Murphy, N.  P.  O'Gorman. THE    CLEHGY    WHO    WERE    IMPLICATED    OR    ACCUSED    OF    BEING    CON- CERNED   IN    THE    REBELLION    WERE    THE    FOLLOWING  :  — PRESBYTERIANS. *  Rev.  Mr.  Warwick, Rev.  W.  Steele  Dickson, *  Rev.  William  Porter, Rev.  Samuel  Barber, Rev.  Arthur  Mahou, Rev.  Mr.  Birch, Rev.  Mr.  Ward, Rev.  Mr.  Smith, Rev.  Mr.  Sinclair, *  Rev.  Mr.  SteveUy, Rev.  Mr.  M'Neill, " Rev.  Mr.  Simpson, Rev.  Sinclair  Kelburne. CATHOLICS. *  Rev.  Moses  Kearns, *  Rev.  John  Murphy, Rev.  Michael  Murphy, Rev.  Mr.  Kavanagh, *  Rev.  Mr.  Redmond, Rev.  Mr.  Stafford, *  Rev.  P.  Roche, Rev.  H.  O'Keon, *  Rev.  Mr.  Prendergast, Rev.  Mr.  Harold, *  Rev.  J.  Quigley, Rev.  Denis  Taafe, Rev.  John  Barrett, Rev.  James  M.  Bushe. There  never  was  a  greater  mistake  than  to  call  the  attempted  revolution of  1798  "a  Popish  rebellion  ".  Alike  in  its  origin  and  organization,  it was  preeminently  a  Protestant  one. Neither  the  "  Popish  religion  ",  nor  the  Celtic  race  of  Ireland,  can  lay any  claim  to  the  great  majority  of  the  founders  and  organizers  of  the  So- ciety of  United  Irishmen.  Strange  to  say,  for  their  origin  we  must  go back  to  the  records  of  the  seizures  and  confiscations  of  the  properties  of  the old  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  and  the  apportionment  of  the  spoil  among  the English  adventurers  who  came  over  on  the  first  expedition  of  the  Earl  of Pembroke,  or  in  the  train  of  the  succeeding  marauders,  or  who  were  brought over  by  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  were  left  behind  to  plant  English  civility  and true  religion  in  this  colony.  But  many  of  the  English  lords  of  the  Pale  so far  forgot  their  mission,  it  appears,  as  to  become  Hiberniores  quam  Hibernis ipsis,  and  several  of  their  descendeuts  were  founders  of  Roman   Catholic *  Executed. fThe  late  eminent  medical  practitioner,  Physician  Extraordinary  to  William  the  Fourth, Dr  .Johnston,  of  Suffolk  Street,  London,  on  his  own  authority  I  can  state  was  an  active  member  of the  United  Irishmen's  Society  of  Belfast,  in  which  town  he  had  settled  in  1798. LIST  OF  CLERGY  IMPLICATED.  587 families  in  Ireland — viz.,  the  Aylmers,  Plunkets,  Bellews,  Daltons,  Dela- mai'3,  Prestons,  Barnwalls,  Nettervilles,  Walshes,  etc.  But  what  is  more germane  to  my  subject,  a  very  large  number  of  those  early  English  colo- nists and  lords  of  the  English  Pale,  who  came  into  possession  of  the  con- fiscated estates  of  the  old  Catholic  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  were  the  ances- tors of  the  founders  and  organizers  of  the  society  of  United  Irishmen, whose  main  object  was  the  separation  of  Ireland  from  England. The  following  list  of  names  is  sufficiently  confirmatory  of  the  preceding statement : — Fitzgerald,  Roche,  Plunket,  Dillon,  Allen,  Barret,  Rowan, Sampson,  Taaffe,  Dowdall,  Hudson,  Hunter,  Munroe,  M'Cracken,  Harold, Sheares,  Hamilton,  Emmet,  Bond,  Chambers,  Perry,  Tone,  Swift,  Dren- nan,  Simms,  Teunant,  Sweetman,  Devereux,  Ryan,  Hay,  Orr,  Sinclair, Tandy,  Harvey,  Kernan,  Reynolds,  Weir,  Jackson,  M'Donnell,  Harvey Morres. 588 APPENDIX    XI. ALL  THE  FACTIONS  FULLY  AND  FAIRLY  REPRESENTED IN  THE  LAST  IRISH  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS,  ELECTED  IN 1797. The  following  list  of  the  fourth  part  of  the  three  hundred  members  who constituted  the  Commons  of  Ireland  furnishes  a  fair  specimen  of  the  com- position of  that  house,  as  it  existed  in  1799  : — Belfast,  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of,  Carrickfergus  city  and  borough. Beresford,  Right  Hon.  John,  Waterford  city. Beresford,  Colonel  Marcus,  borough  of  Swords. Beresford,  John,  borough  of  Coleraine. Beresford,  John  Claudius,  city  of  Dublin. Beresford,  Right  Hon.  (Earl  of  Tyrone),  Londonderry  city. Bruce,  Sir  Stewart,  borough  of  Lisburn. Boyle,  Lord  Viscount,  Cork  city. Castlereagh,  Lord  Viscount  (Right  Hon.  R.  Stewart),  Down  county. Corry,  Lord  Viscount,  Tyrone  county. Cole,  Lord  Viscount,  Fermanagh  county. Cole,  Lieut.-Col.  Galbraith  Lowry,  borough  of  Enniskillen. Cole,  Hon.  A.  Hamilton,  borough  of  Enniskillen. Chichester,  Lord  Spencer,  borough  of  Belfast. Chichester,  Lord  Spencer,  Carrickfergus. Cooke,  Edward,  borough  of  Leighlin. Cornwall,  Robert,  borough  of  Gorey. Clements,  Lord  Viscount,  Leitrim  county. Coote,  General  Eyre,  borough  of  Maryborough. Coote,  Charles  Henry,  Queen's  County. Duigenan,  Patrick,  LL.D.,  borough  of  Charlemont. Egan,  John,  Louth  city. Foster,  Right  Hon.  John,  Louth  city. Foster,  Hon.  Thomas  Henry,  borough  of  Dunleer. THE    BOROUGH    PARLIAMENT.  589 Gorges,  Hamilton,  Meath  county. Hamilton,  Hans,  Dublin  city. Hill,  Sir  George  Fitzgerald,  Londonderry  county. Hopkins,  Sir  Francis,  borough  of  Kilbeggan. Johnston,  Eobert,  borough  of  Carlingford. Jocelyn,  Hon.  John,  borough  of  Dundalk. Kemmis,  Henry,  borough  of  Tralee. Kingsborough,  Lord,  Roscommon  county. King,  Right  Hon.  Henry,  borough  of  Boyle. King,  Hon.  Robert,  borough  of  Boyle. King,  Charles,  borough  of  Belturbet. King,  Gilbert,  borough  of  Jamestown. King,  John,  borough  of  Jamestown. Knox,  Hon.  Charles,  borough  of  Dungarvan. Knox,  Hon.  George,  LL.D.,  University  of  Dublin. Knox,  Andrew,  borough  of  Strabane. Knox,  James,  borough  of  Taghmon. Knox,  Francis,  borough  of  Philipstown. Latouche,  Right  Hon.  David,  borough  of  Newcastle. Latouche,  David,  jun.,  borough  of  Newcastle. Latouche,  John,  seu.,  Kildare  county. Latouche,  Robert,  borough  of  Harristown. Latouche,  John,  jun.,  borough  of  Harristown. Longfield,  Captain  J.,  borough  of  Ballynakil. Lowther,  Gorges,  borough  of  Ratoath. Loftus,  Lord  Viscount,  Wexford  city. Loftus,  Major-General  William,  borough  of  Bannow. Macartney,  Sir  John,  borough  of  Naas. Mahon,  Ross,  borough  of  Granard. Mason,  Right  Hon.  J.  Monck,  borough  of  St.  Canice. Musgrave,  Sir  Richard,  borough  of  Lismore. Pelham,  Hon.  Thomas,  borough  of  Armagh. Ponsonby,  Right  Hon.  W.  Brabazon,  Kilkenny. Ponsonby,  J.  Brabazon,  borough  of  Dungarvan. Ponsonby,  George,  Galway  city. Ponsonby,  Major  William,  borough  of  Fethard. Pakenham,  Hon.  Thomas,  borough  of  Longford. Rochford,  Gustavus,  Westmeath  county. Rochford,  John  S.,  borough  of  Fore. Roche,  Sir  Boyle,  borough  of  Leighliu. Rowley,  William  B.,  borough  of  Kinsale. 590  APPENDIX    XI. Rowley,  Samuel  C,  borough  of  Kinsale. Rowley,  Josias,  borough  of  Downpatrick. Rowley,  Clotworthy,  borough  of  Downpatrick. Rowley,  Hon.  Clotworthy,  Meath  county. Sneyd,  Nathaniel,  Leitriin  city. Skeffington,  Hon.  Win.,  borough  of  Antrim. Skeffington,  William  John,  borough  of  Antrim. Trench,  General  Le  Poer,  borough  of  Newtownlimavady. Trench,  Frederick,  borough  of  Portarlington. Toler,  Right  Hon.  John,  borough  of  Gorey. Tottenham,  Charles,  New  Ross  town. Tottenham,  Ponsouby,  borough  of  Clonmines. Whaley,  Thomas,  borough  of  Enniscorthy. Vereker,  Lieut.-Colonel  Charles,  Limerick  city. Verner,  James,  borough  of  Dungannon. With  a  parliament  so  constituted,  there  could  be  no  hope  of  any  reform of  its  own  inherent  vices,  and  all  the  corruption  and  venality  emanating from  itself. In  the  preceding  list  we  find  six  families,  namely,  the  Beresfords,  the Ponsonbys,  the  Kings,  the  Knoxes,  the  Rowleys,  and  the  Latouches, giving  twenty-nine  members  to  the  Irish  House  of  Commons  in  1799, and  some  of  those  members  representing  two  constituencies  at  the  same time,  thus  accomplishing  what  Sir  Boyle  Roche  thought  an  impossibility for  an  ordinary  man — to  be  in  two  places  at  one  time,  like  a  bird.  The peerage,  the  government,  the  bureaucracy,  and  the  inner  bar  were  repre- sented in  that  house :  the  people  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  represented there  at  all. 591 APPENDIX    XII. TEST,    SIGNS,    EMBLEMS,    DEVICES,    AND    LYRICS   OF   THE UNITED  IRISHMEN. The  candidate  for  admission  into  the  Society,  after  it  became  a  secret one  in  1794,  was  sworn  either  by  individuals,  or  in  the  presence  of  several members,  in  a  separate  room  from  that  in  which  the  meeting  was  held.  A paper,  consisting  of  eight  pages  of  printed  matter,  called  the  Constitution, was  placed  in  his  right  hand,  and  the  nature  of  it  was  explained  to  him  : that  part  of  it  called  the  "  Test  "  was  read  to  him,  and  repeated  by  him. The  oath  was  administered  either  on  the  Scriptures,  or  a  prayer-book  ;  and while  it  was  administering  to  him,  he  held  the  Constitution,  together  with the  book,  on  his  right  breast.  The  Constitution  contained  the  Declaration, Resolutions,  Rules,  Test,  Regulations  for  the  various  committees,  and  form  of certificate  of  admission  into  the  Society. The  mode  of  recognition  was  the  following : — A  member  desiring  to  as- certain if  a  person  was  initiated,  or  to  make  himself  known  to  another party,  on  meeting  with  a  person  not  previously  known  as  an  United Irishman, — repeated  the  first  letter  of  the  word  "  United  "  in  this  manner "  I  know  U";  the  person  accosted,  if  initiated,  answered — "  I  knowiV"; and  so  on,  each  alternately  repeating  the  remaining  letters  of  the  word. Where  further  proof  of  initiation  was  required,  there  was  a  form  of  exami- nation of  a  series  of  questions,  to  which  the  following  answers  were  re- quired, and  which  was  in  common  use  among  the  lower  orders. Quest. — Are  you  straight  ? Ans. — I  am. Quest. — How  straight? Ans. — As  straight  as  a  rush. Quest. — Go  on  then? Ans. — In  truth,  in  trust,  in  unity,  and  liberty. Quest. — What  have  you  got  in  your  hand  ? Ans. — A  green  bough. Quest. — Where  did  it  first  grow  ? Ans. — In  America. 592  APPENDIX    XII. Quest. — Where  did  it  bud  ? Ans. — In  France. Quest. — Where  are  you  going  to  plant  it  ? Ans. — In  the  crown  of  Great  Britain. This  form  of  examination  was  gone  through  by  the  wretches  who slaughtered  the  prisoners  on  the  Bridge  of  Wexford.  Charles  Jackson,  in his  account  of  these  atrocious  proceedings,  of  which  ho  was  an  eye-witness, states,  that  the  questions  put  to  such  of  the  prisoners  as  professed  to  be Roman  Catholics,  were  as  to  the  creed  of  the  prisoners,  the  forms  of  prayer, and  external  signs  of  religion. The  practice  of  cutting  the  hair  short  on  the  back  of  the  head,  at  the time  of  initiation,  was  one  of  those  singular  customs  in  use  among  the United  Irishmen,  which  it  is  difficult  to  comprehend  the  reason  for.  It was  calculated  only  to  attract  attention  by  its  singularity,  and  to  excite suspicion.  It  was  considered,  in  the  rebellion,  one  of  the  prima  facie  evi- dences of  disaffection,  and  gained  for  the  persons  who  wore  their  hair  short the  name  of  "  Croppies" ;  it  caused  the  deaths  of  a  great  number  of  per- sons. It  is  singular,  that  the  contrary  practice  of  wearing  the  hair  long, whether  on  the  beard  or  head,  at  an  earlier  period,  was  likewise  punished with  the  severest  penalties  ;  but  this  was  done  by  legal  authority.  A  statute was  enacted  in  Ireland,  at  a  parliament  held  at  Trim,  by  John  Talbot,  earl of  Shrewsbury,  lord  lieutenant  in  the  year  1447,  25  Henry  VI.  The  law compelled  the  Irish  to  shave  the  upper  lip,  and  to  cut  their  hair  short ;  so that  the  law  made  the  people  Croppies  at  one  period,  and  the  power  that was  above  the  law,  at  a  later  date,  considered  the  practice  of  cropping  as a  proof  of  treasonable  intentions. The  emblems  commonly  displayed  on  their  publications,  on  their  flags, seals,  etc.,  were  either  a  harp  without  a  crown,  and  with  this  motto :  "  It is  new  strung,  and  shall  be  heard" :  or  two  hands  clasped  together,  or  the shamrock,  and  the  harp  surmounted  by  a  star.  The  mottos  in  general  use were — "  Erin  go  bragh";  "The  Union  of  Irishmen";  "Unite  and  be  Free"; "  Remember  Orr";  "The  fourteenth  of  July,  1789,  the  day  sacred  to  Li- berty"; "The  Emerald  Isle";  "The  people  are  awake — they  are  up"; "  The  Morning  Star  is  shining";  "  The  Diffusion  of  Light",  etc. The  colour  of  the  United  Irishmen  was  the  old  fancy  colour  of  nature, emblematic,  I  presume,  of  the  verdant  soil  of  the  Emerald  Isle. To  the  lyric  muse  of  George  Nugent  Reynolds,  of  Dr.  Drennan,  Counsellor Lysaght,  etc.,  etc.,  the  United  Irishmen  owed  their  songs  for  festive  meetings. Several  songs,  I  am  informed,  and  some  that  were  popular  in  Minister,  were composed  by  John  Sheares,  and  published  in  a  collection  called  The  Harp of  Erin,  printed  in  Cork,  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Roger  O'Connor,  and suppressed  in  March,  1798  ;  but  which  of  the  productions  that  appeared  in that  publication  were  his,  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. In  Mr.  T.  Crofton  Croker's  Popular  Songs  of  Ireland,  an  account  is given  from  Fitzgerald's  Cork  Remembrancer,  of  a  public  entertainment succeeding  a  parade  of  the  Cork  Volunteers  on  the  17th  of  March,  1780,* *  The  Cork  Volunteers  made  their  first  display  in  public  on  the  12th  of  March, 1778,  several  of  the  societies  walking  in  procession  to  Christ's  Church. LYRICS  OF  DR.  DRENXAX.  593 at  which  a  song  was  sung,  from  the  manuscript  copy  of  which,  in  the  auto- graph of  Mr.  John  Sheares,  it  is  printed  in  Mr.  Crofton's  work. It  begins  thus  : — St.  Patrick  he  is  Ireland's  saint. And  we're  his  Volunteers,  Sir. The  hearts  that  treason  cannot  taint, Their  fire  with  joy  he  hears,  Sir,  etc. The  composition  is  that  of  a  boy  not  above  fourteen  years  of  age,  and certainly  exhibits  very  little  indication  of  poetic  talent. But  of  all  the  song-writers  and  sonneteers  of  the  United  Irishmen,  Dr. William  Drennan  excelled,  not  only  in  the  spirit-stirring  strains  of  his Tyrtaean  lyre,  but  in  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  style  of  his  productions — the  fine,  bold  imagery  in  which  he  so  fitly  and  felicitously  clothed  his  origi- nal, hope-inspiring,  freedom-loving  thoughts.  Two  of  these  productions  from his  pen,  which  made  their  first  appearance  in  the  able  organ  of  the United  Irishmen,  the  celebrated  Press  newspaper,  in  the  latter  part  of  1 79  7, I  now  place  before  my  readers,  and  also  some  lines  of  his,  written  either  at the  close  of  or  subsequently  to  1798  : — ■ EEIN. Written  in  1795. When  Erin  first  rose  from  the  dark-swelling  flood, God  bless'd  the  green  island,  He  saw  it  was  good : The  Emerald  of  Europe,  it  sparkled,  it  shone, In  the  ring  of  this  world  the  most  precious  stone ! In  her  sun,  in  her  soil,  in  her  station,  thrice  blest, With  her  back  turn'd  to  Britain,  her  face  to  the  West, Erin  stands  proudly  insular  on  her  steep  shore, And  strikes  her  high  harp  to  the  ocean's  deep  roar. But  when  its  soft  notes  seem  to  mourn  and  to  weep, The  dark  chain  of  silence  is  cast  o'er  the  deep  ; At  the  thought  of  the  past,  the  tears  gush  from  her  eyes, And  the  pulse  of  the  heart  makes  her  white  bosom  rise: — O  sons  of  green  Erin  !  lament  o'er  the  time When  religion  was — war,  and  our  country — a  crime  ; When  men,  in  God's  image,  inverted  His  plan, And  moidded  their  God  in  the  image  of  man. When  the  int'rest  of  state  -wrought  the  general  woe ; The  stranger— a  friend,  and  the  native — a  foe  ; While  the  mother  rejoie'd  o'er  her  children  distress'd, And  clasp'd  the  invader  more  close  to  her  breast. When  with  pale  for  the  body,  and  pale  for  the  soul, Church  and  state  join'd  in  compact  to  conquer  the  whole; And  while  Shannon  ran  red  with  Milesian  blood, Ey'd  each  other  askance,  and  pronounced  it  was  goo;l ! VOL.  I.  39 504  APPENDIX  XII. By  the  groans  that  ascend  from  your  forefathers'  grave, For  their  country  thus  left  to  the  brute  and  the  slave, Drive  the  Demon  of  Bigotry  home  to  his  den, And  where  Britain  made  brutes,  now  let  Erin  make  men ! Let  my  sons,  like  the  leaves  of  their  shamrock,  unite, A  partition  of  sects  from  one  footstalk  of  right ; Give  each  his  full  share  of  this  earth  and  yon  sky, Nor  fatten  the  slave  where  the  serpent  would  die ! Alas,  for  poor  Erin !  that  some  still  are  seen, Who  would  dye  the  grass  red  in  their  hatred  to  green ! Yet,  oh!  when  you're  up,  and  they  down,  let  them  live, — Then  yield  them  that  mercy  which  they  did  not  give. Arm  of  Erin !  prove  strong ;  but  be  gentle  as  brave, And,  uplifted  to  strike,  still  be  ready  to  save ; Nor  one  feeling  of  vengeance  presume  to  defile The  cause  or  the  men  of  the  Emerald  Isle. The  cause  it  is  good,  and  the  men  they  are  true ; And  the  green  shall  outlive  both  the  orange  and  blue ; And  the  daughters  of  Erin  her  triumph  shall  share, With  their  full-swelling  chest  and  their  fair-flowing  hair. Their  bosoms  heave  high  for  the  worthy  and  brave, But  no  coward  shall  rest  on  that  soft-swelling  wave ; Men  of  Erin !  awake,  and  make  haste  to  be  blest ! Rise,  arch  of  the  ocean !  rise,  Queen  of  the  West ! WAKE  OF  WILLIAM  ORB. Written  in  1797. Here  our  brother  worthy  lies, Wake  not  him  with  women's  cries ; Mourn  the  way  that  mankind  ought : Sit  in  silent  trance  of  thought. Write  his  merits  on  your  mind, Morals  pure,  and  manners  kind  ; On  his  head,  as  on  a  hill, Virtue  plac'd  her  citadel. Why  cut  off  in  palmy  youth  ? Truth  he  spoke,  and  acted  truth ; "  Countrymen,  Unite !"  he  cried, And  died,  for  what  his  Saviour  died ! God  of  Peace,  and  God  of  Love, Let  it  not  thy  vengeance  move ! Let  it  not  thy  lightnings  draw, A  nation  guillotin'd  by  law  ! I  lapless  nation !  rent  and  torn, Early  wert  thou  taught  to  mourn ! Warfare  of  six  hundred  years ! Epochs  marked  by  blood  and  tears  ! LYRICS  OF  DR.   DRENNAX.  595 Hunted  through  thy  native  grounds, Or  flung  reward  to  human  hounds, Each  one  pull'd  and  tore  his  share, Emblem  of  thy  deep  despair ! Hapless  nation,  hapless  land, Heap  of  uncementing  sand ! Crumbled  by  a  foreign  weight. Or  by  worse,  domestic  hate ! God  of  mercy,  God  of  peace. Make  the  mad  confusion  cease ! O'er  the  mental  chaos  move, Through  it  speak  the  light  of  love ! Monstrous  and  unhappy  sight ! Brothers'  blood  will  not  unite. Holy  oil  and  holy  water Mix — and  fill  the  Earth  with  slaughter. Who  is  she,  with  aspect  wild? — The  widow'd  mother,  with  her  child ; Child,  new  stirring  in  the  womb  ! Husband,  waiting  for  the  tomb ! Angel  of  this  holy  place ! Calm  her  soul,  and  whisper,  Peace ! Cord,  nor  axe,  nor  guillotine, Make  the  sentence,  not  the  sin. Here  we  watch  our  brother's  sleep ; Watch  with  us,  but  do  not  weep  : Watch  with  us,  through  dead  of  night — But  expect  the  morning  light. Conquer  Fortune — persevere — Lo!  it  breaks — the  morning  clear! The  cheerful  cock  awakes  the  skies ; The  day  is  come — Arise,  arise! THE  WAIL  OF  THE  WOMEN  AFTER  THE  BATTLE. Written  by  Drennan  after  the  last  struggle  of  the  United  Irishmen  for  independence,  and their  defeat. Alas  !  how  sad,  by  Shannon's  flood, The  blush  of  morning  sun  appears ! To  men,  who  gave  for  us  their  blood, Ah !  what  can  women  give  but  tears ! How  still  the  field  of  battle  lies ! No  shouts  upon  the  breezes  blown ! We  heard  our  dying  country's  cries — We  sit,  deserted  and  alone ! Why  thus  collected  on  the  strand Whom  yet  the  God  of  mercy  saves  ? Will  ye  forsake  your  native  land  ? Will  ye  desert  your  brothers'  graves  ? 596 APPENDIX    XII. Their  graves  gave  forth  a  fearful  groan — "0,  guard  our  orphans  and  our  wives! Like  us,  make  Erin's  fate  your  own, Like  us,  for  her  yield  up  your  lives !" Why,  why  such  haste  to  bear  abroad The  witness  of  your  country's  shame  ? Stand  by  her  altars  and  her  God, — He  yet  may  build  her  up  a  name, Then,  should  her  foreign  children  hear Of  Erin  free  and  blest  once  more, Will  they  not  curse  their  fathers'  fear, That  left  too  soon  their  native  shore  ? DEVICE    OF    THE    HAltP    ON    CERTIFICATES    OF    UNITED    IRISHMEN. The  following  engraving  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  device   on   the  parch- ment certificate  of  membership  in  the  Society  of  United  Irishmen. The  certificate  from  which  it  is  takeii  is  that  of  Henry  Joy  jPCracken, for  which  I  am  indebted  to  his  sister,  who  is  still  living  in  Belfast,  in  her eighty-seventh  year,  honoured  and  venerated  for  her  noble  qualities,  and heroic,  Christian  virtues,  by  all  who -know  her.  The  following  is  the  form of  the  certificate  :  — Tenth  Society  of  United  Irishmen  of  Bel  fust. I  hereby  certify  that  Henry  Joy  M'Cracken  has  been  duly  elected, and,  having  taken  the  test  provided  in  the  Constitution,  has  been  ad- o mitted  a  member  of  the  society, March  24,  1792. H.  M.  Hull. END  OF  FIRST    SERIES. Jow  F.  FOWXEB,  Printer,  3  Crow  Street,  luine  Strett,  Dublin. Ending  sect.     JUL2  6  1982 PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE CARDS  OR  SLIPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY DA  Madden,  Richard  Robert 9^9  The  United  Irishmen M26 1857 v.l