Thom. >^''->-%-^< ■/ ^ THOMAS DRUMMOND LIFE AND LETTERS THOMAS DRUMMOND UNDER-SECRETARY IN IRELAND 1835-40 LIFE AND LETTERS R. BARRY O'BRIEN OF THE MIDDLE TE.MI'LE, BARRISTEK-AT-LAW AUTHOR OF -'fifty YEARS OF CON'CESSIONS TO IRELAND' LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO., i PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1889 40980 PREFACE. Mrs Druimmond having recently found among her hus- band's papers a number of interesting letters, throwing fresh light on his work and character, placed them in my hands with a view to publishing a new life. Through the courtesy of Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King-of-Arms, I have been able to examine the papers in the Record Tower, Dublin Castle, relating to Drum- mond's administration of Ireland. I have drawn upon Hansard, the contemporary press, Parliamentary Committees, and other sources of informa- tion little used before. The sketch of Drummond's early days is based on Mr McLennan's "Memoir" (now out of print), from which I have also taken some useful letters. I have had the advantage of many conversations with Mrs Drummond, whose recollection of her husband's work in Ireland is vivid, and with Sir C. Gavan Duffy, whose memory goes back to those days, and who met Drummond in Dublin. vi PREFACE. I beg to express my indebtedness to Earl Spencer, for permitting me to read the Althorp Correspondence, and to Mrs Kay and Miss Drummond for important facts and suggestions. The work has been a labour of love. It is the record of a noble life. R. Barry O'Brien. January 1889. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Early Days ....... 3 CHAPTER II. Woolwich . . . . . . .11 CHAPTER III. The Royal Engineers . . . . .18 CHAPTER IV. The Drummond Light and Heliostat— The Ordnance Survey in Ireland . . . . .21 CHAPTER V. Political Connections ..... 59 CHAPTER VI. Ireland in 1835 ...... 78 CHAPTER VII. Drummond at Dublin Castle . . . 196 CHAPTER VIII. 1836 ........ 216 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. PAGE 1837 241 1838 CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. 1839 320 CHAPTER XII. 1840 . . . - . . . . .384 LIST OF PLATES. Portrait ...... To face title. The Drummond Light, 1826, Plate I. . . .26 The Drummond Light, 1830, Plate II. . . . 36 The Heliostat, Plate III. ..... 56 THOMAS DRUMMOND. CHAPTER I. EARLY DAYS. Thomas Drummond was born in Castle Street, Edin- burgh, on October lo, 1797. His father, who was a Writer to the Signet, belonged to a Scotch family of ancient lineage. When Edgar Atheling fled from England, he took refuge, under stress of weather, in the Firth of Forth. He was accompanied in his flight by Maurice, the first of the name bf Drummond,^ who was himself a member of the Royal House of Hungary. King Malcolm welcomed the fugitives, and, in an especial manner, showed favour to Maurice, on whom he bestowed honours, offices, and lands. So runs the story of the foundation of the house of Drummond. But we come to more settled historical facts, when, in 1445, we find Sir Malcolm Drummond of Cargill and Stobhall, head of that house, and owner of vast estates in Perth, Dumbarton, and Stirling. In 1487 Sir Malcolm's eldest son was raised to the Peerage as Lord Drummond. In 1605 the fourth Lord Drummond was created Earl of Perth ; and in 1686 the fourth Earl of 1 Maurice assumed the name of Drummond. — Malcolm, " Genealogical Memoir of the House of Drummond." 4 ■ THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1800 Perth became Lord Justice - General, and Lord High Chancellor of Scotland. The house of Drummond was divided into three branches— Invermay, Drummondernoch, and Comrie. The founder of the Drummondernoch branch was Thomas, the fourth son of Sir Malcolm Drummond of Stobhall.' From him was lineally descended James, " the seventh of Drummondernoch." His grandson, Patrick, who suc- ceeded to the estates and title of Comrie, as well as of Drummondernoch, was the grandfather of the subject of this Memoir. Patrick died in embarrassed circumstances — the Drummondernoch estates having been sold to meet his liabilities. He left two sons and a daughter — James, John, and Beatrice. James succeeded to the Comrie estate, and married in 1792 "the beautiful Betsy Somers," daughter of James Somers of Edinburgh, a woman of remarkable character and energy ; John became a major in the East India Service ; and Beatrice married James Drummond of Strageath. In the lifetime of James Drummond, who was a generous man, and an improving landowner of large views, the family property became still further impaired, and after his death the Comrie estates were sold to the son of Viscount Melville. So the inheritance of the Drummonds of Drummondernoch and Comrie passed away. James Drummond died on February i, 1800. He left three sons and one daughter — James Patrick, Thomas, John, and Elizabeth. Mrs Drummond survived her hus- band many years, and lived to witness the fame and mourn the untimely death of her gifted child. ^ Thomas Drummond, fourth son of Sir Malcohn Drummond, was at Drum- mond Castle when the house refused to surrender to King James IV. Thomas fled to Ireland and subsequently to England, where, at the intercession of Henry VII., he was pardoned by King James ; and returning to Scotland he received from Lord Graham the lands of Drummondernoch, which signifies the Irish Drummond's lands. — Malcolm, "Genealogical Memoir of the House of Drummond," p. 51. iSoo] FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES. 5 Thomas Drummond began life the inheritor of an historic name, but the possessor of no fortune. With an annual income of about i^i20, Mrs Drummond had to face the world with her helpless family. When his father died, Thomas was about three years old ; and we have a touch- ing account of an incident in his life at that early period, written nearly forty years afterwards by the mother whose comfort, pride, and hope he was from infancy to man- hood. While Under Secretary at Dublin Castle, and then suffering from the malady which ended in his death, his mother wrote to him : — " Thursday,'^ Mount Pleasant. " My Dearest Tom, — Your letter and recollections of the time gone by, were as refreshing to my mind as the scenes I sketched to you. The Sunday morning you describe, Eliza says she recollects well ; and when you and I returned from our long and early walk, the rest were either not up, or newly arisen, but Eliza felt sore the dis- appointment in not having been awake to join us in our morning walk. No doubt it was for retirement I chose that early hour on a Sabbath morning, whose hallowed morn gives joy to all who love God's blessed day. I am glad it seems so deeply impressed, my dear Tom, upon your mind. Early impressions sink deep. When I am gone, you may, perhaps, and very possibly will, take the same range, and point to your son or daughter what I did to you. You were a dear little boy. Once when your beloved father was ill, the servants all occupied, you were in my arms. I kissed you, placed you on a chair at the foot of the bed, and bid you be a good boy and sit there till I had time to take you again. I was so much taken up attending your dear papa that I quite forgot you, and long after found you patiently sitting waiting till I was to ^ Written probably in 1S38 or 1839. 6 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1801-10 take you again in my arms as mamma's lambie. Well do I recollect this proof of your early love for me, and your docile temper ; and since you have grown up, many a day you have been my treasure and my comfort, and God will return it all to you, though in a different way. He will give you comfort and delight in your children, for of all God's mercies this is the choicest, good, kind children. . . . — Your attached mother, "E. Drummond." During the years following her husband's death, Mrs Drummond took a house on the bank of the Esk, near Musselburgh, and there — from 1801 to 1810 — Drummond's boyhood days were spent. We have no graphic picture of him in these days. Here and there we get glimpses of him in his sister's and mother's letters or conversa- tions, but only in faint outline. He seems to have been a thoughtful, serious boy, with kindly blue eyes and dark eyelashes ; short, even for his years, but energetic, practical, docile, and affectionate. The weight of the great sorrow which fell upon his mother, when he was yet an infant in arms, appears to have pressed on him too. He felt her troubles, lad as he was, and tried to lighten them. He was always busy about the house, "making things," as his sister expresses it. " About the house," says Eliza Drummond, " his power of contrivance made him exceedingly useful. And whatever went wrong, from the roasting jack upwards, the appeal was to Tommy to put it right." Nor, there is every reason for thinking, was this done merely because it amused the boy, but also because it pleased the mother whom he " idolised." He took a great interest in cannons and ships. These were his toys, and he was an adept at "mounting batteries," and rigging all sorts of craft. In later years Mrs Drum- mond described these youthful traits. Writing in 1838, i8oi-io] YOUTHFUL TRAITS. when her son was ill in Dublin, to Mrs Sharp/ she says : — '' \th October 1838, "My dear Mrs Sharp,— I received your last; I wish I could say, with pleasure. Alas ! your account of my dear son is most painful ; I fear indeed his constitution is deeply impaired. "Except a cut, or bruise, or hurt, my boys never had any other sore ; and when I saw them safe in bed at night, I used often to say, thank God they are all safe and sound. My great fear in those days was gun powder, for which boys have such an itching for their little cannons. Squibs, rockets, &c., were a perpetual cause of alarm, for an encampment was near where we were, and the boys were often getting cartridges from the soldiers. With all my care I could not prevent this. I used often to threaten that I would write to the commanding officer to put a stop to it. Tom had then a little battery of cannon, machinery for a bridge, little ships nicely rigged out, &c. — in short, his time was completely occupied, never a moment idle. But his lessons were first despatched. From his infancy he was busied, often neglecting food — his mild and generous temper often leading him to espouse quarrels to help the weaker party — for he was very heroic. Pardon all this egotism. I think you don't dislike hearing this, as you love him with a sincere affection. . . . — Your affectionate friend, " E. Drummond." The first school — a day school — to which Drummond went, was kept by a brutal master named Taylor. Taylor seems to have taken an aversion to the boy, and to have treated him infamously. One day Drummond came home 1 post. 8 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S10-1813 with his ears pierced by Taylor's nails, and his dress be- smeared with blood. This produced a crisis; and the Taylors — for Taylor senior was assisted in the manage- ment of the school by his son Colin — were soundly rated by a friend of the family, Mr Aitchison of Drummore. Drummond describes the scene. Writing in September 1807 to his eldest brother, he says: — "Mr Aitchison gave him (Colin Taylor) a terrible scold about partiality, which he told to his father, and Mr Taylor's tongue has never lain. One time when he was speaking, he said, ' I shall be accused of partiality by none.' I have not told you the half of it. At one time we thought he was going out of his senses." But the tortures of the Taylors did not prevent Drummond from enjoying his favourite pastimes at home. In this letter he adds, " We are sailing our ships yet. I am sure you will not sail the Dutch ship any more. My mother and aunt think you might give it to me, and I will give mine to John." After Mr Aitchison's onslaught on the Taylors, Drummond fared better at their hands ; but he soon left their estab- lishment, and came under the tuition of more appreciative masters. Professor Jardine, an old friend of Mrs Drummond, spent the summers of 1808 and 1809 at Portobello. He took a fancy to Drummond, and insisted on the lad be- coming his pupil during these summer months. In the winters, when the professor returned to Glasgow, Drum- mond had another tutor provided by his friend Mr Aitchison, Mr Roy. In 1 8 10 he became a resident pupil of Mr Scott, a mathematical teacher at Edinburgh, and in the same year entered the Edinburgh University. Freed from the blighting influences of the Taylors, his intellect quickly ripened, and his genial temperament showed itself to all around him. "John Wilson and your sons," said Professor 1810-1S13] YOUTHFUL TRAITS. Jardine to Mrs Drummond, " are the cleverest boys I had ever under my charge." " His knowledge of geometry," wrote Mr Scott in 18 12 (Drummond had then been with him two years), " I have never seen equalled in one of his years ; and the progress he is now making in the higher branches of mathematics and natural philosophy, is such as might be expected from one who possesses a sound judgment combined with uncommon application."^ "I have no hesitation," wrote Professor Leslie (whose classes he attended at the University), " in saying that no young man has ever come under my charge with a happier dis- position, or more promising talents." - In 18 1 2 Drummond's school and college days ended. In 181 3, favoured by the influence of Mr Aitchison, he became a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Students of biography are sometimes curious to know if the qualities for which in later life a man becomes remark- able, show themselves in early youth. In Drummond's case the child was certainly the father of the man. As a lad, he was of a practical and inquiring turn of mind ; affectionate and sympathetic ; distressed at suffering ; and, in his boyish ways, eager to avenge wrong. There is a story told of how once he watched for days to thrash a boy who had plundered a bird's nest and drowned the little occupants. Mrs Drummond pathetically tells us that "his mild and generous temper often led him to espouse quarrels to help the weaker party — for he was very heroic." He was anxious to know the ins and outs of things ; the why and wherefore. Once he made himself miserable because he could not guess why a new roasting jack ticked. At length he undid the jack and got at the secret. At school and college his proficiency was greatest in 1 Letter to Mrs Drummond, November 24, 1812. — M'Lennan. - Letter to Mr M'Farlane, December 26, 1812. — M'Lennan. 10 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1813 mathematics ; his mind was essentially of a scientific bent. Professors Leslie and Barlow testify to his aptitude for scientific studies ; and his mathematical exercise books, which have been preserved, bear the marks of their com- mendation. " Concise ;" " Remarkably neat, and ably solved;" "Most curious;" "Most ingenious," are their judgment on his work. Twenty-three years afterwards, when Drummond was drawn into politics, Faraday de- plored the loss which science sustained by this departure. CHAPTER II. WOOLWICH. On October 3, 18 12, Drummond wrote to his friend Mr Aitchison : — " I feel a strong inclination for the profession of a military engineer. I have studied for these two years those branches preparatory for such a line, and have re- ceived a satisfactory certificate from Mr Leslie, professor of mathematics in Edinburgh. Could I only be so fortunate as to obtain a strong recommendation to Lord Mulgrave/ I would soon obtain the wished-for appoint- ment." The appointment was obtained, and in February 181 3 Drummond went to Woolwich to stand his examination. The examination was fixed for February 24, at eleven o'clock in the morning. Drummond sailed from Leith to Gravesend, reaching Gravesend at 2 A.M. on the day of the examination. He had told the steward the night before to call him early in the morning. The steward forgot the message, and Drummond did not wake until 7 A.M. He reached shore just to hear that the coach had started ten minutes previously. He gave chase to it, running along the road for three miles, but did not over- take it. A return chaise came up and he got into it. The chaise stopped within two miles of Woolwich at twenty minutes to eleven o'clock, eleven being the hour for exami- nation. The driver would go no farther, he wanted to rest his horses. Drummond again started off" on foot ; ran ^ Then Master of Ordnance. 12 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1813 all the way ; arrived at the Academy at five minutes to eleven ; presented himself for examination ; and passed with flying colours. This incident is characteristic of the energy and determination of the man. Through life, what Drummond wanted to do, he did. His days at Woolwich were not happy, though his progress was great. It is doubtful if he had chosen a congenial profession. It is certain that the system at the Academy was irksome and deterrent to study. Drummond did not tell his troubles to his mother lest it might make her unhappy, but he unburdened himself to his aunt, Mrs M'Farlane. Drummond to his Aunt. *' Royal Arsenal, March 26, 1813. " My dear Aunt, — You will be greatly surprised, and will, I daresay, sympathise with me when you read this. I have been here now upwards of a month, and from one of my mother's letters I gather you all think I like the place very well. God knows, I never told you this in any of my letters. Now you must promise to keep my mother ignorant of what I am about to tell you. From the moment I entered this place, till the present time, I have been miserable, and what I shall do, I know not. I expected to have seen Mr Aitchison, and to have told him all this, but from some cause I have not seen him ; but perhaps he has not left London, and I may yet see him. I trust I may. I have hesitated long with myself whether or not to tell you this, but my situation becoming every day more irksome, at last compels me to write to you ; and you are the best person to give me advice, as I should not like my mother to know, she being so unwell. I would give worlds, if I had them, to get my discharge. But when I think of the enormous expense she has been at in send- ing me here, and how ill she can afford it, added to my i8i3] LIFE AT WOOLWICH. 13 last winter's expense, and when I consider her illness, I know not what to do. Upon no account show her this letter ; you know what effect these things have upon her. But if I got my discharge I might follow some profession in which I might make it up to her, and in which I might be happy. You see how I am situated ; as my mother is so unwell I am afraid to tell her. If I delay till July, it will be too late, and I will never get out. You will think this most unaccountable conduct, but the unhappy situa- tion I am in must plead my excuse. After being ready for a commission, there are many chances against getting into the Engineers ; promotion is so slow in the Artillery, that all try to get into the Engineers. In the Artillery, one may be a lieutenant for twenty years, living on 5s. 6d. per day. Had I known all this before I came, had I only had a trial of this place ! Write to me as soon as you can, and tell me what to do. Should I write to Mr Aitchison, entreating him to apply to General Hope to get me my discharge } O that I was only in Edinburgh in person to tell you all ! Colonel Mudge^ to whom I was recommended, tries always to prevent those that are good at mathematics from getting their discharge. Whether should I keep it a secret from him, or try and engage him to help me } He could get my discharge if he asked it. You may think it most foolish in me talking thus, and that I may like it better after I have been longer here. But I have seen the life I have to lead, and though I was offered a commission in the Engineers just now, I would be most thankful to give it up. There are a great many wanting to be discharged. I am afraid to delay. I will get it far easier now than after I have been longer here. Write to me immediately if you can, and tell me what to do. O that I had had a trial of this place ! Do not show this letter to my mother. General Hope may apply for my discharge, and surely they would not refuse him. ... I will look every day for 14 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1813 your answer. Remember me to Mr M'Farlane. Farewell. I remain, my dear aunt, your affectionate nephew, " Thomas Drummond." But Drummond's unhappiness did not prevent him from doing his work. He entered the Academy in February. In April he passed his first examination for a place in the school. " At the last examination here," he writes to Mr Aitchison, " I got from the bottom of the sixth academy to be fifth in the fifth academy, by which I took fifty-five places, and was made by Captain Gow head of a room." In less than three months afterwards a vacancy occurred in the senior department. Drummond competed for the place. He tells the result in a letter to his mother on July I. "The examination is over, and everything has succeeded according to my wishes. I am first on the mathematical list, and second in the academy. . . . When I return (after the vacation) I shall be at the upper barracks, or, to speak so as you may understand me better, at the senior department." He went home for the summer holidays of 1813. While at home he received a letter from Professor Jardine, showing the affectionate esteem in which his old tutor held him. Professor Jardine to Drummond. " Hallside, 4^'/^ August 18 13. " My Dear Thomas, — I received your letter, and I need not inform you that I am highly pleased with the inform.a- tion it contains, and with the very flattering accounts I have had of your conduct and progress at Woolwich from other quarters. I have often seen Colonel Miller, who was in this neighbourhood four or five weeks, and he informed me that Colonel Mudge said to him that you were just such a student as he wished, and that if you continued i8i3] PROFESSOR JAKDINE. 15 your ambition and your industry, there was no doubt of your future success. . . . " My dear young friend, you are now at a distance from your affectionate and anxious mother, and your other friends whom, I am sure, you will ever gratefully re- member ; and you must mix with many young persons, and persons who have been brought up, and instructed very differently from you, and you must be exposed to many temptations of various kinds at present, and as you advance in life. I, therefore, most solemnly advise you to adhere strictly to the good instructions you have received, and the good principles of religion in which you have been brought up. " I do not mean that you are to show yourself a stiff and sour Presbyterian. Religion is a matter betwixt God and your own conscience, and you may do your duty completely both to God and man, either as a Presbyterian or an Episcopalian. What I mean is, that if, when you are still better qualified to determine, you prefer the one to the other, adhere to it, but not rigidly, as the difference is in form, not in substance. You will, no doubt, meet with many young persons who think and talk lightly perhaps irreverently, on these subjects. You need not attempt to correct or reform them unless the occasion be very favourable ; but whatever they do, preserve your innocence and integrity ; you will find them never-failing sources of comfort and happiness when you most require them. . . . Thomas, you are to be a soldier and a man of honour ; and you must preserve that character uniformly. You will best preserve it by avoiding causes of offence, and by taking a cautious part in the offences and differences among your companions and friends. This is essentially necessary. Because, on proper occasion, there must be no doubt of your honour, and there must be regard to your character. Well-disposed, well-bred men, and men of i6 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1814 accommodating, obliging dispositions, seldom or never have any occasion for their prudence or resolution. These are better discovered in very different situations. My dear Thomas, I have very little more to say to you at present, but I shall at all times, while I live, be ready to give you my best advice whenever you wish for it. I have only to recommend to you to remember at all times your beloved mother and grandmother.^ I know you cannot forget them. But let them be present with you. Think of the pleasure you give them when you do well, and think of the tears and misery you would cause them if you were to do otherwise. I am sure your kind affectionate heart could not bear to think of a suffering, miserable mother. God bless you and preserve you from all evil. Fear God, honour your parents, your days shall be long, and your end happy. — I ever am, my dear Thomas, your faithful friend and servant, " Geo. Jardine." Drummond returned to Woolwich in August 18 13, and resumed his studies with renewed success. In October he got into the third academy, and before Christmas into the second; early in the year 18 14 he was advanced to the first. Within twelvemonths of his entrance at Woolwich he had reached the highest point of distinction open to him. In July 181 5, he obtained a commission in the Royal Engineers. Of his career at Woolwich, General Larcom writes : — " Much of his success was doubtless to be attributed to the admirable preliminary education he had received, but much also to a character of determined persever- ance, and to the vigorous and well-regulated mind he brought to bear on all subjects. To this it was probably due that he never became exclusively a mathematician, but advanced equally in all the various branches of study, ^ Mrs Somers. i8i5] rifOFESSOR BARLOW. 17 being at that time, as he continued through life, dis- tinguished for general intelligence, and for aptitude to seize on information of every kind." ^ Professor Barlow bears like testimony to the abilities of his gifted pupil, and tells us in a few sentences how Drum- mond won his way at the Academy. " Mr Drummond, by his amiable disposition, soon gained the esteem of the mas- ters under whom he was instructed ; with the mathematical masters in particular, his reputation stood very high, not so much for the rapidity of his conception as for his steady perseverance, and for the original and independent views he took of the different subjects which were placed before him. There were among his fellow-students some who compre- hended an investigation more quickly than Drummond, but there was none who ultimately understood all the bearings of it so well. While a cadet in a junior academy, not being satisfied with a rather difficult demonstration in the conic sections, he supplied one himself on an entirely original principle, which at the time was published in Leyborn's ' Mathematical Repository,' and was subsequently taken to replace that given in Dr Hutton's course of mathe- matics, to which he had objected. This apparently trifling event gave an increased stimulus to his exertions, and may perhaps be considered the foundation stone of his scientific fame. After leaving the Academy he still continued his intercourse with his mathematical masters, with whom he formed a friendship which only terminated on his much lamented death." ^ Carrying with him the esteem and affection of many friends, Drummond, now nearly eighteen years old, began his life as a Royal Engineer. 1 Memoir of Drummond in " Papers on subjects connected with the duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers," vol. iv. - Quoted in General Larcom's Memoir. CHAPTER III. THE ROYAL ENGINEERS. In 1 815 Drummond entered the Royal Engineers, but for the next two years we learn little of his movements. In 1 8 17 he joined the head-quarters at Chatham, and later on made a short trip to France " for the purpose of visiting the army of occupation, and attending one of the great reviews." ^ In 1818 he was at Chatham, engaged in routine work, and busy besides in directing the attention of the authori- ties to a pontoon which he had designed. This invention has been described by Captain, afterwards Lieutenant- Colonel, Dawson. " The various inventions to supersede the use of the old pontoon led Drummond to consider the subject, and he made a model of a form like a man-of-war's gig or galley, sharp at both ends, and cut transversely into sections for facility of transport, as well as to prevent it from sinking if injured in any part. Each section was perfect in itself, and the sections admitted of being bolted together, the partitions falling under the thwarts or seats. The dockyard men and sailors to whom he showed it, said it would run better than any boat except a gig; and it was light, and capable of being transported from place to place on horseback." ^ The fate of this invention is not known. Little encouragement was given at head-quarters to men of genius. On March 27, 18 18, Drummond wrote to his 1 Larcom. ^ Quoted in Laicom's Memoir. i8i8] LIFE AT CHATHAM. 19 mother : " I shall let you know what success my memoir ' meets with. But there's no wish at the office to bring forward anything of that kind." Later on he writes again : " When I was at the Engineer office, a few days ago, I found Major Blanchard's model, with his memoir and a letter addressed to General Mann, in the ante-room. The box had been opened, only one of the models taken out ; his memoir apparently had not been looked into, for within the first leaves was the letter I have just mentioned, unopened." In May, Drummond brought his model and memoir to London. The model, he tells us in a letter to his mother, written May 31, "experienced a gracious reception." But at this stage we lose sight of the invention. Drummond regarded the matter with his accustomed calm. He wrote to his mother : " If the plan is not approved, I may safely say it will not be laughed at. Whatever, then, may be the result — it may be for good — it cannot do me harm." An incident in his life at Chatham deserves to be recorded, as showing the presence of mind and generous nature of the man. " He was charged with the construc- tion, for practice, of a bridge of casks in the rapid current of the Medway, at Rochester Bridge, and having previously made piers of the casks in the still water above the bridge, it was necessary to move them through the rapids to get them below the bridge. The piers were, as usual, lashed two and two for security ; but one remained, and as its removal was like to involve some danger, Mr Drummond determined to go on it himself. There were two soldiers on the pier, one of whom showed a little apprehension at setting off. Drummond placed this man next himself, and desired them both to sit quite still. They passed through the arch in safety, when the man ' It was the custom to send a memoir, with the model of an invention, to the head office. 20 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1819 who had previously shown apprehension, wishing by- activity to restore himself to his officer's good opinion, got suddenly up to assist in making fast to the buoy ; in an instant the pier upset, all hands were immersed in the water, and the man who had caused the accident, being on his feet, was thrown from the pier and drowned. Mr Drummond and the other man clung to the pier, and Mr Drummond afterwards described his sensations, when finding his body swept by the current against the under side of the pier. His last recollection was a determination to cling to one side of it, in hopes the depression of that side might be noticed. This presence of mind saved him and his comrade ; for, as he expected, a brother officer (Fitzgerald) noticing the lowness of one side, sprang from a boat upon the other, and immediately the heads of poor Drummond and the sapper appeared above the water. Drummond was senseless, with the ropes clenched firmly in his hands." ^ In July 1 8 18 Drummond was stationed at Edinburgh, where he found the time hanging so heavily on his hands, that he resolved to give up the Engineers and join the Bar ; " with this view he had actually entered his name at Lin- coln's Inn."- But in 18 19 he met Colonel Colby, who was then engaged on the Ordnance Survey in Scotland. In 1820 Colby was appointed chief of the survey. He asked Drummond to join him in the work. Drummond consented, gave up all notion of joining the Bar, and took the first step in a career which has made his name memorable. ' Larcom. "^ Ibid. CHAPTER IV. THE DRUMMOND LIGHT AND HELIOSTAT — THE ORDNANCE SURVEY IN IRELAND. The Ordnance Survey of Great Britain began in Scotland after the rebellion of 1745. The object was to obtain "accurate knowledge" of the Highland districts. The work was badly done, and the results were not published. In 1763 the subject of a general survey of the island was broached, but no steps vv^ere taken to carry it out. Finally, in 1783, "a representation was made from France to our Government, of the advantages which the science of astronomy would derive from the connection, through trigonometrical measurements, of the observatories of Greenwich and Paris, and the exact determination of their latitudes and longitudes. The French had by this time carried a series of triangles from Paris to Calais, and what they proposed was that the English should carry a similar series from Greenwich to Dover, when the two might be connected by observations from both sides of the Channel. The scheme was approved of by George III., and the English survey begun by the measurement of an initial base line^ at Hounslow Heath by General ^ " A base-line is an initial measured line, M'hose length is assumed as the unit to which all other distances calculated in the survey are temporarily referred. The exact length of the base in yards, feet, and inches being known, these other distances admit at once of being reduced to yards, feet, and inches. But any error in measuring the base must enter into all of them. For con- venience in measuring any large tract of country — in other words, in constructing a Trigonometrical Survey — it is necessary that the length of the base should be a considerable multiple of the standard unit of length, several thousand yards at least; and for the accuracy of the survey, it is necessary that this length should be measured most exactly." — McLennan. 22 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1820 Roy — the foundation of the triangulation ^ since effected of Great Britain." ^ The work was now entrusted to the Royal Engineers, and from 1783 to 1790 proceeded steadily under the direction of General Roy. In 1790 General Roy died, and was succeeded by Colonel Mudge. In 1791 Hounslow base was re-measured. Between 1792 and 1794 the triangula- tion was extended southwards to the Isle of Wight. Between 1794 and 1801 it embraced Salisbury Plain — which was taken as the base — Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, and the Scilly Isles. In 1801 a new base was measured on Misterton Carr in North Lincolnshire; and in 1806 part of North Wales was surveyed. In 18 17 Scotland was ^ " The base being measured, the next set of operations, those of the triangu- lation, commence. Some object is fixed upon, which is considerably farther from either end of the base than the length of the base line. Theodolites, with delicately graduated circles, capable of measuring angles to an extreme nicety, are then placed centrally over the dots which mark the extremities of that line, and their telescopes are directed to one another until, as it has been graphically said, 'they look down the throats of each other.' The telescopes being in this position, are clearly both of them directed along the base line. Each of them being now turned round till it looks straight at the object which has been fixed upon, the instruments are clamped, and the angles through which the telescopes have been turned are read off on the graduated circles. The angles are thus ascertained, which lines, drawn to the object from the extremities of the base, make with the base line. The object, in short, is made the summit of a triangle in which two angles, and the length of the side between them, are known. Its distance from either end of the base can thus be ascertained by computation, and made available as a new and larger base. ' Thus,' says Sir John Herschell, in a paper in which this subject is handled with his usual lucidity, ' the survey may go on throwing out new triangles on all sides, of larger and larger dimensions, till the whole surface of a kingdom, or a continent, becomes covered with a network of them, all whose angular points are precisely determined. The strides so taken, moderate at first, become gigantic at last ; steeples, towers, obelisks, mountain cairns, and snowy peaks, becoming in turn the stepping-stones for further progress, the distances being only limited by the range of distinct visibility through the haze of the atmosphere.' In mapping a country, after the network of great tri- angles has been thrown over it, the great spaces comprehended by them are filled in by a system of smaller triangles so as to carry the survey to any degree of minuteness that may be required." — McLennan. Sir John Herschell, " Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects." ^ McLennan. 1820-23] THE ORDNANCE SURVEY. 23 reached, and in 18 19, while the work was proceeding, Drummond, as we have seen, met Colby in Edinburgh. In 1820 Colby succeeded Mudge as superintendent of the Survey; and, in 1823, we find Colby and Drummond working together in Kent, Surrey, and Hertford. In November 1823 the British survey was dropped,' and in 1824 the survey of Ireland commenced. The circum- stances which led to the Irish survey are well described by Mr McLennan :— "[In 1824] a Select Committee was appointed 'to con- sider the best mode of apportioning more equally the local burthens collected in Ireland.' The object was to obtain a survey sufficiently accurate to enable the valuators, acting under the superintendence of a separate department of the Government, to follow the surveyors, and to apportion correctly the proper amount of the local burthens. These burthens had previously been apportioned by Grand Jury assessments. The assessments had, in some districts of Ireland, been made by the civil division of ploughlands, in others, by the division of townlands ; the divisions, in either case, contributing in proportion to their assumed areas, which bore no defined proportion to their actual contents. The result was great, and much complained of, inequality in levying the assessment, which it was a primary object of the survey to remove by accurately defining the divisions of the country. The Committee reported that it was expedient to give much greater despatch to this work than had occurred in the Trigonometrical Survey of Eng- land. They recommended that every facility in the way of improved instruments should be given to the Ordnance officers by whom the survey was to be conducted ; and concluded with the hope that the great national work which was projected 'will be carried on with energy as well as with skill, and that it will, when completed, be ^ It was resumed in 1838. 24 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1823 creditable to the nation, and to the scientific acquirements of the age.' " ^ The Ordnance Survey gave Drummond what he wanted, — a field of action. He was essentially a man of work ; and it was his nature to throw himself heart and soul into what- ever he undertook. Mechanically to follow others in a routine course was foreign to his genius ; boldly to initiate was congenial to his tastes. Originality of mind and energy of character were among his distinguishing traits, and both were put to the test by the Ordnance Survey. While engaged with Colby in Kent, Surrey, and Hert- ford, during the autumn of 1823, Drummond found that the great want of the survey was a light which would enable observations to be made at long distances, and pre- vent the hindrance of the work in murky weather. He promptly applied himself to supply this want ; and the result of his labours was the famous "Drummond Light" and heliostat. We have seen that from boyhood Drummond showed an aptitude for science. At school and college, at Woolwich, and in the Engineers, he was remarkable for proficiency in scientific studies, and for an original and inventive turn of mind. When the duties of the survey brought him to London in 1823, he resolved to devote all the time that could be spared from his professional work to the improve- ment of his scientific knowledge. He read hard at night, and in the morning attended the chemistry classes of Brande and Faraday at the Royal Institution. It has been said that some observations made at these lectures about the incandescence of lime suggested to Drum- mond the idea of the invention which bears his name. But it is best to tell the whole story in Drummond's own words. ^ McLennan. 1S23] THE DRUMMOND LIGHT. 25 In a paper published in the" Philosophical Transactions " in 1826, he says : — " In the beginning of the survey, General Roy on several occasions, but especially in carrying his triangles across the Channel to the French coast, made use of Bengal and white lights prepared at the Royal Arsenal ; for these, parabolic reflectors, similar to those with which our light- houses are supplied, and illuminated by Argand burners, were afterwards substituted as more convenient, but they have been gradually discontinued, the advantages derived from them proving inadequate, from their want of power, to the trouble and expense incident to their employment. In the trigonometrical operations of 182 1, carried on by Colonel Colby and Captain Kater, conjointly with MM. Arago and Mathieu, for connecting the meridians of Greenwich and Paris, an apparatus of a very different kind was employed for the first time — a large plano-convex lens, 076 metre square, being substituted for a parabolic reflector, and the illuminating body an Argand lamp with four concentric wicks. The lens was composed of a series of concentric rings, reduced in thickness, and cemented together at the edges. This apparatus resulted from an inquiry into the state of the French lighthouses, and was prepared under the direction of MM. Fresnel and Arago. Its construction and advantages are explained in a ' Me- moire sur un Nouveau Systeme d'eclairage,' by M. Fresnel. The light which it gave is stated to possess 35 times the intensity of that given by the reflector. It was employed, during the operations alluded to, at Fairlight Down and Folkestone Hill, on the English coast ; at Cape Blancez and Montlambert, on the French coast ; the greatest dis- tance at which it was observed being 48 miles, and its appearance, I have understood from Colonel Colby, was very brilliant. " But valuable as this apparatus may be when employed 26 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1823 in a lighthouse, the purpose for which it was indeed in- vented and constructed, the properties of the simple para- bolic reflector appeared to give it a preference for the service of the Trigonometrical Survey, provided a more powerful light could be substituted in its focus instead of the common Argand lamp. " With this object in view, I at first endeavoured to make use of the more brilliant pyrotechnical preparations ; then phosphorus burning in oxygen, with a contrivance to carry ofif the fumes of phosphoric acid, were tried ; but at the first attempts with these substances promising but little success, they were abandoned. The flames, besides being difificult and troublesome to regulate, were large and unsteady, little adapted to the nature of a reflecting figure, which should obviously, when used to the utmost advan- tage, be lighted by a luminous sphere, the size being regu- lated by the spread required to be given to the light. This form of the focal light, it was manifest, neither could be obtained nor preserved where combustion was the source of light ; and it was chiefly this consideration which then led me to attempt applying to the purpose in view the brilliant light emanating from several of the earths when exposed to a high temperature ; and at length I had the satisfaction of having an apparatus completed, by which a light so intense was produced, that when placed in the focus of a reflector, the eye could with difficulty support its splendour even at the distance of 40 feet, the contour of the reflector being lost in the brilliancy of the radiation. " To obtain the requisite temperature, I had recourse to the known effect of a stream of oxygen directed through the flame of alcohol ^ as a source of heat free from danger, easily procured and regulated, and of great intensity. " [Plate I.] fig. 4 represents the apparatus such as it is ^ " Annals of Philosophy," vol. ii, p. 99. PUiif 1. ' It/ ■ 'J Fia 4 One Inch' tc J^ufhteeiv Tnchjes One /ncJi Ic FciLT Inchc*!; 1823] THE DRUMMOND LIGHT. 27 now made for the Survey. The spirit entering at a ascends through the tubes t, while the oxygen entering at d is directed by the jets t' upon the small ball of lime b, the tubes / are connected with the cylindrical box Ji by flexible caoutchouc tubes e, f, and also pass with friction through small cylinders at c, which admit of being moved back- wards and forwards upon the arms, and are clamped when in the proper position by small mill-beaded screws at the sides. By these means every requisite adjustment is obtained for the jets through which the gas issues. The apparatus is attached by its base to the stand which carries the reflector (fig. 3), and the small ball may then, by means of the horizontal and vertical screws r be brought with great accuracy into the focus of the reflector. The cistern c containing the alcohol is placed behind the reflector (fig. 3), and being connected with the stem ahy 3. flexible caoutchouc tube, may be elevated or depressed on the upright rod r (fig 3), and the flame at this point accordingly regulated so as to produce the greatest effect. A flexible tube leads from d to the vessel containing the oxygen, which may be either a common gas holder, or perhaps a silk bag with a layer of caoutchouc, such as they are now made, might be conveniently employed for this purpose. The apparatus first made was provided with five jets, and could light up a ball | inch in diameter ; that now represented has only three, and with it a ball \ of an inch in diameter may be used sufficiently large to admit of the requisite allowance being made for aberration in the reflector from its true figure, as well as uncertainty of direction arising from terrestrial re- fraction. " To ascertain the relative intensities of the different incandescent substances that might be employed, they were referred, by the method of shadows, to an Argand lamp of a common standard, the light from the brightest 28 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1823 part of the flame being transmitted through apertures equal in diameter to the small sphere of the different sub- stances submitted to experiment. " The result of several trials made at the commencement gave for Lime, . . . . -37 times, Zirconia, . . . . 31 „ Magnesia, . . . . 16 „ the intensity of an Argand burner. The oxide of zinc was also tried, but besides wasting away rapidly, it proved inferior even to magnesia. " Of these substances, and also of their compounds with one another, lime appearing to possess a decided superiority, my subsequent experiments were confined to it alone ; and by a more perfect adjustment of the apparatus by bringing the maximum heat, which is confined within narrow limits, exactly to the surface of the ball, and by using smaller balls than those employed in the early experiments, a very material increase of light has been obtained. The mean of ten experiments, made lately with every precaution, gives for the light emitted by lime, when exposed to this intense heat, eighty-three times the in- tensity of the brightest part of the flame of an Argand burner of the best construction, and supplied with the finest oil. The lime from chalk, and such as is known at the London wharves by the name of flame lime appears to be more brilliant than any that has been tried." ^ The light soon made a stir in the scientific world. Writing many years afterwards to Drummond's mother, Sir John Herschell says : — "It is with melancholy pleasure that I recall the impres- sion produced by the view of this magnificent spectacle as exhibited in the vast armoury in the Tower, an apartment 1 " Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society for 1826." 1825] THE DRUMMOND LIGHT. 29 three hundred feet long, placed at Mr Drummond's disposal for the occasion. . . . The common Argand burner and parabolic reflector of a British lighthouse were first ex- hibited, the room being darkened, and with considerable effect. Fresnel's superb lamp was next disclosed, at whose superb effect the other seemed to dwindle, and showed in a manner quite subordinate. But when the gas began to play, the lime being now brought to its full ignition, and the screen suddenly removed, a glare shone forth, over- powering and, as it were, annihilating both its predecessors, which appeared by its side, the one as a feeble gleam, which it required attention to see ; the other like a mere plate of heated metal. A shout of triumph and admira- tion burst from all present. Prisms to analyse the rays, photometric contrivances to measure their intensity, and screens to cast shadows were speedily in requisition, and the scene was one of extraordinary excitement." In 1825, the survey in Ireland commenced, and the Drummond Light was immediately brought into use. Operations began on Divis Mountain, near Belfast. On August 23 a conspicuous object was placed on the summit of Slieve-Snaght, the highest hill of Innishowen, about 2100 feet above the level of the sea. It became necessary that the object on Slieve-Snaght should be seen from Divis, where a party of observation were encamped. But from August to October Divis remained enveloped in impene- trable mist, and the object on Slieve-Snaght was wholly lost to the observers. Matters now became serious, and the work of the Survey was brought to a standstill. No progress could be made until some object on Slieve-Snaght could be seen by the party on Divis. At this juncture Colonel Colby resolved to try what Drummond could do, and promptly sent him to the front. General Larcom shall tell the rest of the story. 30 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1825 "Mr Drummond took the lamp and a small party of men to Slieve-Snaght, and by calculation succeeded so well in directing the axis of the reflector to the instrument on Divis, that the light was seen, and its first appearance will long be remembered by those who witnessed it. The night was dark and cloudless, the mountain and the camp were covered with snow, and a cold wind made the duty of observing no enviable task. The light was to be exhibited at a given hour, and to guide the observer one of the lamps formerly used, an Argand in a lighthouse reflector, was placed on the tower of Randalstown Church, which happened to be nearly in the line at fifteen miles. The time approached and passed, and the observer had quitted the telescope, when the sentry cried, ' the light ' ! and the light indeed burst into view, a steady blaze of surpassing splendour, which completely effaced the much nearer guiding beacon. It is needless to add that the observations were satisfactorily completed, the labours of a protracted season closed triumphantly for Drummond, and the Survey remained possessed of a new and useful power." ^ We have from Drummond himself an interesting letter, written at this period, to his mother, describing the opera- tions on Slieve-Snaght : — Drummond to his Mother. "Slieve Snaght, Friday Night, November 1825. " My Dear Mother, — What has become of Tom } and why does he not write .-' are questions which you may of late have not unfrequently asked, and, I dare say, without any one being able to give a very satisfactory answer. Why, then, I am perched upon the top of Slieve-Snaght (the snowy mountain), 2100 feet, in the centre of Innishowen, the wildest district in Ireland. Since the 23rd of August, 1 Larcom, Memoir. " The distance was 60 miles, and tlie light appeared like a star of the first magnitude, being visible by the naked eye." — Portlock, " Life of Colby," p. 127. 1825] THE DRUMMOND LIGHT. 31 when a pole was placed on this hill, we have endeavoured to observe it from Divis, near Belfast, on which our tent was placed, but in vain. Constituting an important point in the triangulation of Ireland, our sojourning on the hill tops has been prolonged to an unusually late period, in the daily hope that it would have been visible. " Disappointment, however, was our lot, and the weather becoming broken and tempestuous, the Colonel deter- mhied upon breaking up the camp and retiring to winter quarters. Just at that moment a letter was received from one of our officers encamped on Knock Layd, a hill about forty miles distant, giving a splendid description of the solar reflection which I had exhibited to him, and which had been seen through a very hazy atmosphere, and seen for a time with the naked eye ; and one of our officers tells me that the country people, whom curiosity had attracted to the spot, on hearing the distance at which it was placed, actually raised a shout of exultation at its brilliant appear- ance. This being known at Divis, it became a question whether Slieve-Snaght should be attempted at this season; and after due deliberation, it being decided that it should, I made a forced march upon this place, and leaving Belfast on Tuesday forenoon, slept on this mountain on Thursday night, the 27th October, our tents erected and hut con- structed, and all the apparatus of the lamp ready for work. For the first week our life was a struggle Avith tempest — our tents blown down, our instruments narrowly escaping, and ourselves nearly exhausted. At length, by great exertions, we got two huts erected; one for the seven men Avho are with me, the other for me, a lonely and humble dwelling, it is true ; and now that the snow has fallen, so completely covered up that it is not very easily distinguished ; nevertheless affording good shelter, warm and comfortable, and at the present moment, with a good peat fire. The weather at length improved, and Wednes- 32 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1825 day the 9th instant brought our exertions to a successful termination. The Colonel, after making the necessary arrangements, took his departure for London on the very day I arrived here, leaving Murphy and Henderson to keep a constant look-out for the lights. Their assiduity has been unremitting, and their fatigue by incessant watch- ing not a little. This day brought me a letter from Murphy, which begins thus: — 'Your light has been most brilliant to-night for three hours and twenty minutes, as was your solar reflection to-day. I began by giving you the pleasing intelligence in a condensed form, but now I must most heartily congratulate you,, my dear friend, on the complete success which has thus crowned your very ingenious and laborious exertions for the good of the service. I trust they may eventually prove as beneficial to yourself, I really feel sincere pleasure in making you this communication. I will now give you some details. I first had notice of your appearance from Elliot, who called out that he saw the light, and in fact, though five times more remote, you were much brighter and larger than the Randal's tower reflector.' I have given you a long extract, because I think it will interest and please you. I have only to inform you now that the distance in a straight line between the two places is about sixty-seven miles. " I had a letter from the Colonel to-day in London, very anxious to know the result of our labours. To-morrow I commence my retreat ; on Monday I shall be in Derry, where I shall have to remain a day. . . . From Derry I proceed to Belfast, where I shall be detained two or three days, and then I make direct for Edinburgh. At Belfast I entreat you to let me hear from you, and I am anxious to hear how Eliza bore the journey from Callander, and how the house is. My last intelligence is her own letter, which I received about the 19th ultimo, on the evening succeeding a gale of wind, which overthrew two of our 1S25-30] THE DRUMMOND LIGHT. 33 marquees, and set fire to our cooking-house. I have written you, my dear Mother, a long and gossiping letter, and it being now three o'clock in the morning, it is fit I should stop. To John and Eliza my kindest love, and to Eliza my best thanks for her kind letter. It may amuse my aunt to read this letter to her, and tell her that I add my best regards. — And now, my dear Mother, believe me }'our afifectionate son, "T. Drummond." Drummond's work on the Survey seriously impaired his health; and in the winter of 1825 he returned to Edin- burgh an invalid. There he remained until the spring of 1826, when he repaired to London to carry out some experi- ments in connection with the light (which he now designed for use in lighthouses), and to attend to matters relating to the Survey. In the autumn of 1826 he resumed his duties in Ireland. In 1827 and 1828 he was engaged with Colby in measuring the base of Lough Foyle ; and in the autumn of 1829 he returned to London to devote himself specially to the improvement of the light so that it might be used in lighthouses. In a paper " On the Illumination of Lighthouses," pub- lished in the "Philosophical Transactions" of the Royal Society for 1830, he described the changes which had been made in the invention since 1826 : "[Plate II.,] fig. I, represents the lamp. The two gases, oxygen and hydrogen,^ proceeding from separate gaso- meters, enter at and Ji, but do not mix till they arrive at the small chamber r, of which fig. 2 is a section ; into this chamber the oxygen gas from the inner tube is projected horizontally through a series of very small apertures, and ' It will be observed that Drummond had now substituted hydrogen for alcohol. Ati'c p. 27. 34 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S30 the hydrogen gas rises vertically through a series of similar apertures at d. The united gases then pass through two or three pieces of wire-gauze placed at c, and being thus thoroughly mixed, issue through the two jets against the ball b. To prevent the wasting of the ball opposite the two jets, and at the same time to diffuse the heat more equably, it is made to revolve once in a minute, by means of a movement placed underneath the plate vi, and with which the wire f, carrying the ball and passing through the stem, is connected. Notwithstanding, however, this arrangement, the effect of the heat is such as gradually to cut a deep groove in the ball, so that at the end of about forty-five minutes it becomes necessary to change it.^ In a lighthouse where it is of essential consequence to maintain a constant light, it would be unsafe to entrust this to an attendant, and hence the necessity of devising some means for remedying this inconvenience. The apparatus represented by fig. 3 is designed for this purpose, and is drawn in the manner in which it is applied to a reflector, the dotted outline of which is shown. " The wire a, b passes through the focus of the reflector, and upon it are placed the number of balls at A, required for any given time ; these, by means of the shears s, as shown in fig. 4, are admitted between the plates /, /, and thence permitted to fall in succession to the focus. No. i represents the focal ball ; about two minutes before the change, the ball 3 falls into the position 2, where it becomes gradually heated. At the end of that time, the curved support f, moving on a pivot, is thrown into the position represented by the dotted line, by the momentary descent of the ring r, which, receiving an impulse from the weight zv, acts upon the extremity ti of the support. No. i falls but is prevented from descending more than its own J When a cylinder is used instead of a ball, a riny of minute crystals is found adherinjT to the surface above and below this groove. 1S30] THE DRUMMOND LIGHT. 35 diameter by the loop /, and No. 2 following it, occupies the focus. The support /, being- immediately released, returns by the action of a spring to its former position, retains No. 2, and suffers No. i to escape through the loop into the cistern. " The wire «, b and the support t revolve together, and carry round the focal ball, which is ignited as in fig. i by the two jets Zy z. These jets, which are movable round the joints d, d, enter through small apertures cut in the sides of the reflector, and are easily adjusted to the proper distance from the ball. " Wherever the light is required to be diffused equally around, the renewal of the lime may be effected still more easily by using a cylinder as represented in fig. 5, instead of a ball, which being gradually raised while revolving, brings fresh portions in succession opposite the jets. In a reflector, a cylinder occasions partial shadows at the top and bottom ; still, however, the simplicity and certainty with which it may be renewed will probably entitle it to a preference even in this case. "The apparatus for supplying the lamps with gas is represented in fig 6. It consists of two strong cylinders, A, 3 feet high, the one for oxygen, the other for hydrogen ; the gas is compressed two or three times in each, the latter by being generated under pressure, the former by being pumped in. To each of these gas-holders a governor, B, is attached, of one of which a section is shown, by which means, whatever be the variation of pressure in the gas-holder, provided it exceed that of the governor, the gas wall issue at x with a uniform and con- stant stream ; in the present instance under a pressure of 30 inches of water. . . ." During the winter of 1829 and the spring of 1830 expe- riments were tried under the directions of Trinity House, and upon one occasion, before the apparatus was in per- 36 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1830 feet working order, an explosion took place. Drummond's sister, on hearing of the accident, wrote warning him to be more careful in future. He replied playfully : — Drummond to his Sister. " London, ya;;«rt;7 Ydth, 1830. " My dear Eliza, — A week, more than a week, has passed since I ought, and since I intended, to have answered your kind, kind letter ; but every day and every evening has brought such constant occupation that I positively have not had time. " The consequence, no doubt, has been many conjectures and much exercise to my dear mother, if the bell rang about post-time. Now, what have been your conjectures .'' Another explosion, perhaps, and the heir-presumptive,^ along with all my beautiful apparatus, sent to the upper, or perhaps the under regions ; or everything gone off well, and the Duke extremely delighted, expressed himself highly gratified, and intended conferring upon me some signal mark of his royal approbation ! Well, to keep you in suspense no longer. The Duke was not present ; he was unwell, and unable to leave his house. We were all prepared, for the messenger did not arrive till the last moment. The next Board day, when he is expected, is the 5th February. Meanwhile, we proceed with the experiments, and it is with them that I have been so much engaged this week. But this is Saturday evening, an evening of repose and enjoyment, and I have taken advantage of it to discharge my debt to you. I was grieved to hear of more colds and plasters, and I fear much that this fierce weather does not agree with you. . . . " Do you ride .'' How is the pony } Has John re- 1 The Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV., who, in his character of Master of the Trinity Corporation, was expected to witness the experiments. — McLennan. lllllli ,1.1 ii 1S30] THE DRUMMOND LIGHT. 21 covered, and has he been laying down the law ? I think you might manage among you to write a little oftener. There are some long gaps in our correspondence, and some long intervals during which I hear nothing of you. . . . Almost all my acquaintances have been ill, more or less. I have great reason to be thankful that I have been so well ; indeed, notwithstanding all my work, I am in rude health, sleep but one sleep, and no palpita- tion. All the advice you gave me in your letter I acknow- ledge to be excellent, yet the exhibition was unavoidable, and so was the explosion. But I think they have got over it ; if not, I will tell them the first time I have an oppor- tunity of making a speech, that if I had been making an experiment before men unacquainted with the peculiar nature of such experiments, I should have declined pro- ceeding under such circumstances ; but before enlightened and intelligent men, whose indulgence and partiality I had more than once experienced, I could have no hesitation in trying even a first experiment, deeming it the best compli- ment I could pay them to show them the apparatus under the most disadvantageous circumstances. . . . My best and kindest love to you all at home. — Adieu, my dearest Eliza, and believe me, your affectionate brother, "T. Drummond." In May 1830 the light was exhibited at the temporary lighthouse, Purfleet, and we have a graphic account of the experiment from Captain Basil Hall, R.N., in a letter to Drummond. Captain Hall witnessed the exhibition from the Trinity Wharf, Blackwall, a distance of io| miles from Purfleet ; and among the observers with him were Sir George Cockburn and Mr Barrow from the Admiralty, the Lord Advocate of Scotland, Sir Thomas Brisbane, Colonel Colby, Captain Beaufort, hydrographer to the Admiralty. Captain Hall wrote : 38 thomas drummond. [1830 Captain Basil Hall to Drummond. "St James's Place, /w/e i, 1830. " My Dear Sir, — You wished me to take particular notice of last night's experiments with the different kinds of lights exhibited at Purfleet, and observed at the Trinity Wharf, Blackwall ; but I have little to add to what I told you respecting those on the evening of the 25th instant ; indeed, it is not within the compass of language to describe accurately the details of such experiments, for it is by ocular evidence alone that their merits can be understood. " Essentially, the experiments of last evening were the same as those of the 25th, and their effects likewise. The degrees of darkness in the evenings, however, were so different, that some particular results were not the same. The moon last night being nine or ten days old, lighted up the clouds so much, that even when the moon herself was hid, there was light enough to overpower any shed upon the spot where we stood by your distant illumination; whereas on the 25th, when the night was much darker, the light cast from the temporary lighthouse at Purfleet, in which your apparatus was fixed, was so great, that a distinct shadow was thrown upon the wall by any object interposed. Not the slightest trace of any such shadow, however, could be perceived when your light was extinguished and any of the other lights were exposed in its place. " In like manner on the evening of the 25th, it was remarked by all the party at the Trinity Wharf, that, in whatever direction your light was turned, an immense coma or tail of rays, similar to that produced by a beam of sunlight in a dusty room, but extending several miles in length, was seen to stream off from the spot where we knew the light to be placed, although, owing to the reflector being turned too much on one side, the light itself was not visible. 1S30] EXPERIMENTS AT rURFLEET. 39 " Now, last night there was none of this singular appear- ance visible ; but whether this was caused by the presence of the moonlight, or by the absence of the haze and drizzling rain which fell during the evening of the 25th, I cannot say. I had hoped that the appearance alluded to was to prove a constant accompaniment to your light, in which case it might, perhaps, have been turned to account for the purposes of lighthouses. If in hazy or foggy weather this curious effect of reflected light from the atmosphere be constant, it may help to point out the position of lighthouses, even when the distance of the observer is so great that the curvature of the earth shall render it impossible for him to see the light itself " The following experiments, tried last night, were the same as those of the 25th, and certainly no comparative trials could be more fairly arranged : — " Exp, I. The first light exposed was the single Argand burner with a reflector. This was quite distinctly seen, and all the party admitted it to be a good light. After several minutes, this was put out. " Exp, II. The seven Argand burners were next shown, each in its reflector ; and this was manifestly superior to the first, but how much so I cannot say — perhaps four times as conspicuous. Both these lights had an obvious tinge of brown or orange. "Exp. III. The third light which was exposed (on the seven Argands being put out) was that behind the French lens ; and I think it was generally admitted by the party present that this light was whiter and more intense than that from the seven Argands, though the size appeared very much the same. "Exp. IV. The fourth light was that which you have devised, and which, instead of the clumsy word "lime," ought to bear the name of its discoverer. The Drummond light, then, the instant it was uncovered, elicited a sort of 40 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S30 shout of admiration from the whole party, as being some- thing much more brilliant than we had looked for. The light was not only more vivid and conspicuous, but was peculiarly remarkable from its exquisite whiteness. In- deed, there seems no great presumption in comparing its splendour to that of the sun ; for I am not sure that the eye would be able to look at a disc of such light, if its diameter were made to subtend half a degree. " The next series of experiments was the most interest- ing and decisive of all. Each of the lights above enumer- ated, viz., the single Argand burner, the seven Argands, and the French lens, were exposed, one at a time, in company with your light, in order to try their relative brilliancy. " First Comparative Experiment. — The single Argand burner was first exposed to this comparative ordeal, and nothing could be more pitiable than the figure it cut. Many of the party could not see the Argand light at all ; while others could just detect it 'away in a corner,' as some one described it. It was also of a dusky orange tinge, while your light was of the most intense whiteness. " Second Comparative Experiment. — The seven Argand burners were now substituted in place of the single light. All the party could now see both lights, but the superiority was not much less obvious. I really cannot affix a pro- portion either as to size or brilliancy; but I should not hesitate to say that your light was at least six or eight times as conspicuous ; while in brilliancy or purity, or intensity of light (for I know not precisely what word to use to describe the extreme whiteness), the superiority was even more remarkable. All this which I have been describing was expressed, and appeared to be quite as strongly felt, by the rest of the company, to the number, I should suppose, of five-and-twenty or thirty persons, who were all closely on the watch. " Third Comparative Experiment. — The next compara- 1831] EXPERIMENTS AT PURFLEET. 41 tive trial was between the French lens and your light. The superiority here was equally undeniable, though the differ- ence in the degree of whiteness was not so remarkable. The French light, however, is so nearly similar to that from the seven Argands, that the comparison of each of them with your light gave nearly the same results, and all equally satisfactory on the score of your discovery. "Final Experiment. — The flashes with which the experi- ments concluded were very striking, and might, I think, be turned to great account in rendering lighthouses distinct from one another. The revolutions were not effective, and, as I said before, there was no appearance last night of those enormous comets' tails which swept the horizon on the night of the 25th, to the wonder of all who beheld them : neither could there be detected the slightest trace of any shadow from the light thrown towards us ; and I suspect none will ever be seen, when the moon, whether the night be clouded or not, is of so great a magnitude. " Such is the best account I can give of what we witnessed ; and I need only add, that there seemed to be amongst the company but one opinion of the immense superiority of your light over all the others brought into comparison with it. — I am, &c., " Basil Hall." Up to the spring of 183 1 Drummond continued en- gaged in trying experiments and improving the invention. The brilliancy of the light was established beyond all doubt, and the only question which remained, as to its suitability for lighthouse purposes, was one of expense. The result of his labours and the experiments he gives in a letter to his mother, dated January 22, 1831. He writes : — " Truly this same light gives no small trouble. ... In the last paper which I sent to the Commissioners, I stated 42 THOMAS DR UMMOND. [ i S3 1 that the French light equals, if it does not surpass, the best of the lights in our lighthouses in splendour ; while it is superior to them in economy and facility of management. This Stevenson either denies, or has hitherto been negli- gent in ascertaining. . . . The experiments at Inchkeith have been ordered by the Commissioners (of the Northern Lights), with a view to judge of the point themselves, and not trust to Stevenson's opinion. It is a question between the present method and the French light, not between mine and either. Their relative values have been ascer- tained by the Trinity House and Blackwall experiments, in a way which admits of no doubt. To recommence similar experiments would be mere trifling. There are obstacles in my way of a different kind, relating to the manufacture of the gas, management, &c., which I am now endeavouring to remove. With respect to brilliancy there can be no doubt." About this time a copy of Drummond's paper on light- houses, which had been read before the Royal Society, was presented to the King, William IV. We have an in- teresting account of this incident in a pleasant letter from Drummond to his mother. Drummond to his Mother. January 24, 1831. "My Dear Mother, — I have begun with a sheet as long as your own, but whether I shall fill it as well is another question. The business part of your letter shall be first answered, and the remainder of the sheet devoted to amuse you. . . . " Now, as you sent me a description of the lecture [most probably a lecture delivered in Edinburgh on the Drummond light], I mean to send you a description of another scene which may not gratify you so much, but which, I hope, will nevertheless interest you. Believe me. 1 83 1] INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 43 my dear Mother, the chief, perhaps the only pleasure which I received from the account of the lecture, arose from your being there to hear it ; and if with you I mourn the absence of those, from sickness or from death, who would have participated in your feelings, still I am grati- fied that among those who did witness it, my dearest Mother was one. Now to return to my promised descrip- tion, for one forgets there are limits to a sheet of paper. "Among others to whom it was considered proper that a copy of my paper should be presented, was a certain illustrious personage called the King. Now, at the men- tion of this word away goes your imagination long before my description, and you conclude at once that I am on the high road to honour, rewards, emoluments, and so forth. Not so, however ; yet have I had honour to a certain extent — as much as could with propriety be be- stowed, and more than was expected. Well, then, the reason for presenting the paper to the King was, that his Majesty is still Master of the Trinity House, and had, as Duke of Clarence, been present at many of the experi- ments. It was necessary to obtain the King's permission to present the book in question, which he was graciously pleased to give to the Deputy-Master, Captain Woolmore, his old friend. Next came the question, how it was to be presented. I had intended sending a copy in its blue cover to Mr Woolmore for this purpose, but I was given to understand that that would not be according to etiquette ; and it was finally resolved that the little pamphlet should be made into a little book, bound in morocco, and stamped with the royal arms ; and furthermore, that I should accompany Captain Woolmore to Brighton, when he went to present the monthly report of the Trinity House to the King as Master. " This being settled, another difficulty arose about uniform. Our uniform has been lately changed ; it was 44 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831 considered improper not to go in uniform, and, alas ! no alternative remained but that I should get the necessary- paraphernalia without delay. Robe [a brother officer who at the time lived with Drummond], being like 'two single gentlemen rolled into one,' his garments are of no use to any one but the owner. With great exertion I got everything ready, and by Monday evening the 9th inst., I found myself at Brighton, where, according to arrangement, I met old Woolmore, who had come from another quarter the same evening. At ten the next morning we walked over to the palace, and put our names in the book of audience. One of the pages carried them to the King, who was still in the breakfast-room, and returned almost immediately, say- ing that the King desired we should have our breakfast ; and that his Majesty would see us afterwards. As we had breakfasted previously, we declined the royal hospitality ; but if we had not, we should then have been conducted to the room where the equerries breakfast, and where all strangers and visitors, coming, as w^e did, of the class of gentlemen and noblemen, are received. We were then conducted into the ante-room of the King's private room, and shortly afterwards he passed through, and we followed him into his room. " He seated himself at a writing table, Woolmore and I standing at the opposite side. I then presented my book, and accompanied it with some explanation, I had, indeed, prepared a little speech for the occasion, but somehow or other I could not get it in. Never- theless, I contrived to express the gratification which it afforded us to have had the honour of exhibiting some of the experiments before his Majesty, and to have witnessed the interest which he was pleased to take in them ; and furthermore, I told him of the continuation of the experi- ments afterwards from the lighthouse at Purfleet, knowing full well that he would never look at the book, notwith- 1831] INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 45 Standing the above-mentioned interest, and I mentioned the remarkable fact of a shadow being cast at the distance of ten miles. Whereupon his Majesty was pleased to exclaim, ' God bless my soul ; that's very wonderful ! ' Some further conversation ensued, and then he asked what I intended doing when I returned. I replied that having fulfilled the object of my visit to Brighton in being per- mitted the honour of presenting the paper to his Majesty, I had purposed returning to London that day. ' Are you particularly obliged to be in London to-day .-'' ' No, sir, only the usual routine of duty ! ' ' Then you will dine here to-day.' I bowed low. ' Woolmore will show you the way. We dine at seven.' I bowed and withdrew, leaving old Woolmore to finish his business. \\\ the ante- room to which I returned there were several gentlemen waiting, to more than one of whom I heard the unpalatable information given, ' The King, sir, cannot see you to-day.' " While waiting for Woolmore, one of the pages came and oft"ereJ to conduct me round the Pavilion — a singular mixture of grandeur and simplicity. One room, spacious and lofty, contained gorgeous furniture, and splendid paintings ; but the paintings represented nothing, I should apprehend, ever seen in this planet. Birds, beasts, and fishes glittered in gold, but were very unlike the beasts of the field, or the fowls of the air, such as we are accustomed to see them. Passing from this room — the music-room — which realises the description of the Arabian Nights, we entered a room of a character alto- gether different — low in the ceiling, neat, but simple, the furniture simple, and having a pretty cheerful appearance, though very different from that of its more gorgeous neigh- bour. From this we passed into a small music-room, similar to the first in shape, but equally simple in its character with the last; and thence into the drawing-room, commonly used when there is no party; and finally into 46 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S31 the dining-room, another magnificent but fantastical room. Preparations were making in the different rooms for the ordinary occupations of the day. In one a portrait of the King, now executing by Sir Wilham Beechy, was brought out. As we were entering one of the rooms, one of the pages whispered to my conductor that the Queen had just entered it, whereupon we did not enter. " Old Woolmore meanwhile rejoined me, pleased with our interview, and gratified at the King having invited me to dinner. He dines on such occasions at the Palace as a matter of course, from his long previous intimacy with the King ; but I fancy it is rather an unusual honour to confer on a subaltern. Well, we amused ourselves for the rest of the day walking about the town, calling on some people whom we knew, or rather whom Captain Woolmore knew ; and, partly from what I was told, and partly from what I overheard, it was obvious what a matter of mighty moment it was to be received, and well received, at the Pavilion. A. had been invited when B. thought he ought to have been invited. Though the Duchess C. had left her name, no notice had been taken of her call ; and so on. The world is the same everywhere, varying only in the scale. Most of these people are of large fortune, and of a station in society to secure them every comfort and happiness ; but they are fashion's slaves, and miserable. So passed the day. The Earl of Errol had offered to send his carriage for us, which Captain Woolmore accepted ; and having entreated me to be ready in time — though, to tell the truth, there was no great necessity for the caution, seeing I had no wish to have to walk into a room where King, Queen, and Count- esses were at dinner, without knowing very well where to go to. However, I can go no further to-night — past twelve — candles smouldering in their sockets, and breakfast to-morrow morning at half-past eight. Good-night. 1S31] INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 47 " Now, to return to the dinner party. My old friend went to his room to dress at half-past five o'clock, and at six o'clock his servant came to me to know if I were ready. He could not overcome his anxiety lest I should not be prepared at the moment, supposing, perhaps, that as one may always take a quarter of an hour at ordinary dinner parties, I might inadvertently, and from habit, do the same on this occasion. However, I relieved all his apprehen- sions by entering his room, fully equipped or harnessed, at half-past six o'clock. The hour for the carriage, a quarter to seven — no carriage. Ten minutes to seven — no car- riage. What shall we do 1 Wait three minutes more, and then walk, was my proposal. Enter the waiter — ' Lord Errol's carriage is at the door, sir.' Doors fly open — ^v'aiters clear the way ; enter the carriage, and next moment we are at the Pavilion, a splendid hall, and two rows of servants in the royal livery. We are conducted by a page to a long gallery or room. I have drawn a plan, to make the description more intelligible. In the long room was a single lady. Old Woolmore made his bow, and introduced me to the Countess of Mayo. She is the lady waiting on the Queen. " Speedily ladies and gentlemen began to enter the room, almost all of them resident in the Palace, for it so happened that there were not above four or five strangers at dinner that day. It might be reckoned almost a family party in point of numbers, though the number amounted to thirty. Presently the Queen enters (by the door marked in the plan), leaning on the arm of her maid-of-honour — a very pretty girl, by-the-by. Ladies and gentlemen form into two rows on each side, to allow her Majesty to pass to the drawing-room. Then the King enters, bows to such of the gentlemen as happen to be near his side, and walks on to the drawing-room. Then the gentlemen enter the drawing- room, or walk about the gallery till dinner is announced. 48 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831 Whether the King conducts the Queen or not, I cannot tell you, being too distant to notice that part of the ceremony. Be that, however, as it may, the King takes his seat at the middle of the table, ladies of the highest rank on his right and left. On this day the Landgravine of Hesse Homburg, Princess Elizabeth, and Lady Maryborough, were, I believe, the ladies. The Queen on the opposite side, Prince Leopold on her right. Lord Mayo on her left. At the two ends were two officers of the household. Sir Andrew Barnard and Sir Philip Watson. " Where to go, where to place myself, was the difficulty. There were more gentlemen than ladies, therefore it did not fall to my lot to conduct any of them into the dining- room. Old Woolmore had the last. However, my embarrassment was very soon over, and I found myself very comfortably seated between two ladies — very pretty women ; but who might they be — Mrs or Misses, Countesses or Duchesses .-' From this difficulty I was speedily relieved, by a gentleman on the left of one of these ladies introducing me to both of them. One of them, Miss Mitchell, a beauty, and maid-of-honour to the Queen ; the other. Lady Errol, one of the Fitz- clarences (daughter of the King and the late celebrated Mrs Jordan). To the gentleman I had been introduced before dinner by Woolmore, but I had not heard his name. I found out afterwards, however, that it was Sir Augustus D'Este, the son of the Duke of Sussex and Lady Augusta Murray. I was still more indebted to him on our return to the drawing-room. D'Este is a colonel in the army, and well acquainted with some of our principal officers ; and he kept all around him at table in good-humour. He was kind, attentive, and polite to all within his reach. Lady Errol was pleasant and conversible, so that I speedily found myself, if not absolutely at home, yet unconstrained and unembarrassed. I 1 83 1] INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 49 " The King sets an example to the household in his attention to his guests. He asks them all to drink wine with him, from the highest to the lowest. Indeed, he asked me twice — the second time probably because he had forgotten the first. The dishes are brought round by servants, the dessert only being on the table, with magnifi- cent gold candelabra and vases, etc. ; the tablecloth is therefore not removed. Plates, silver; servants, of course, in great numbers, and exceedingly attentive. The Queen and the ladies rise, and leave the room ; and after no great interval, the King rises, and is followed by the gentlemen, if they please, to the drawing-room. "After the departure of the ladies. Sir Augustus D'Este and I had a long chat ; and after the King had withdrawn to the drawing-room, I was obliged to remind him that, as the scene was new to me, I was anxious to see what was going on in the drawing-room. T had almost forgotten,' he replied ; ' but come, and I'll introduce you to some of the ladies.' Well, we entered the drawing-room, where ladies and gentlemen were dispersed much in the way they are in any other room. The ladies — many of them at work, but the conversation was in a low tone, no voice being heard except the King's. In the music-room there was obviously less restraint. The Queen's band occupied the room, and played at intervals. At one table sat the Queen, Lady Mayo, Miss D'Este, Marchioness Wellesley, and some other lady. They were all employed in embroidering. On the opposite side sat the King and Lady Maryborough on a sofa ; and the remainder of the ladies and gentlemen were disposed in groups, in diff'erent parts of the room ; but it seemed, on entering the music room, as if they had laid aside a mantle of ceremony, and talked and chatted with less reserve. This cannot be a happy state of things, however, though very well to look at once. " Well, the music ceases ; presently the Queen rises. D 50 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831-34 The ladies form in two lines at the door, and the Queen kisses the cheek of each of her own ladies of honour. They in return kiss her hand. She then disappears. The King follows, and then — the devil take the hindmost. — Your affectionate son, " T. Drummond." Between 1831 and 1834 the subject of improving the illumination of lighthouses engaged public attention, and in this connection the Drummond light held a foremost place, in the opinion of experts and scientists. In 1834 a Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into the state and management of lighthouses. Drummond was examined before this Committee, and stated with characteristic frankness the advantages and disadvantages of the light. Drummond. " Q. State shortly the result of the experiments [which have been made with your light]. "^. The result of our experiments was, that a reflector, when lighted up in the manner I proposed, gave a light equal to about 264 times that given by a common Argand lamp. " Q. State what is the principle of attaining that great increase of power. "A. The principle is very different to any other hitherto used in the illumination of lighthouses ; it consists in placing a lime ball in the focus of a reflector — " Q. What size t "A. About three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and igniting that ball by a mixture of two gases, hydrogen and oxygen. The light given out by lime, when intensely heated, is of dazzling brightness ; it was found to be equal in intensity to about 264 times that of an Argand burner supplied with the best spermaceti oil. 1831-34] COMMITTEE ON LIGHTHOUSES. 51 " Q. Is the apparatus, by which this is suppHcd, complex ? "A. The apparatus is not itself complex, but there are circumstances attending the combustion which render it difficult to apply this mode at present in lighthouses. " Q. In fact, its application with the men ordinarily kept at lighthouses you do not think could at present be safe ? ''A. I do not. " Q. It would require double the number of men, would it not ? ''A. No. I do not think it would require more men, but it would require men of a different description. " Q. It would require two men constantly attending the passing of the lime bodies down the rod .'' "A. I have given up that mode of supplying the balls, and I have proposed another which I have not yet had an opportunity of trying, though the apparatus is complete. There are, it must be admitted, circumstances of some difficulty to be removed before the use of this method can be safely recommended for lighthouses. " Q. Will you state the circumstances to which you allude. '^ A. The circumstances to which I allude are, first, the rapid diminution of the ball by the lime becoming fused and volatilized, the difficulty therefore of replacing the lime ; it requires some apparatus that shall keep up a con- stant supply and remove all that portion which has become useless ; then if the lime was cracking or breaking, which it is sometimes liable to do, the heat of the mixed gases is so great that it would melt or injure any part of the apparatus which might be exposed by the removal of the lime, and the light would of course be extinguished. These, I think, are the chief circumstances of difficulty attending its management in the lantern ; ^ the other cir- ^ The other witnesses confirmed this opinion. 52 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831-34 cumstance relates to the question of economy. The preparation of the gases is easy enough, but the materials from which they are prepared are bulky, and the situation of a lighthouse is very often such as to render the transport of materials of this description expensive." ^ A few extracts from the evidence of other witnesses examined before the committee deserve to be quoted : — Jacob Herbert, Secretary at Trinity House. " Q. Have you made any experiment upon Mr Drum- mond's light .-* ''A. We have. " Q. What has been the result } "A. There has been no decisive result. Mr Drummond was engaged in a course of experiments with a view to simplify, or rather to enable the practical adoption of his system ; but I believe that circumstances have prevented his continuing those experiments, and the matter for the present rests. " Q. In the experiments you have made have you found that Mr Drummond's light was visible at a much greater distance than any other you have tried before. " A. The intensity of Mr Drummond's light far surpasses any we have seen." ^ James Jardine, Engineer. " Q. Drummond's light is seen in weather when you could not see another "i "A. Drummond's light will often be seen when no other artificial light has a chance of being seen." ^ ^ " Parliamentary Papers," Vol. XII. for 1834, pp. 167, 16S. 2 /did. , p. 29. ^ //>ii/. , p. 1 24. 1831-34] COMMITTEE ON LIGHTHOUSES. S3 Charles Cuningham, Secretary to the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses. " There have been a series of experiments between the Calton Hill and Gullane, from which last station Mr Drum- mond's light is so strong that it reflects or throws a shadow on the road in Portobello, I2| miles from the station." ^ Alan Stevenson, C/er^ of Works to the Northern Lights Commissioners. " We next tried the Drummond light, which we found to be infinitely superior to any other light in point of power. " Q. Was your object to obtain new results or to prove the result as stated by Lieutenant Drummond ? "A. It was partly both, but chiefly to try its effect in penetrating fog. " Q. What did you establish .'' "A. We established this very important point, that the Drummond light is visible in certain states of the atmos- phere in which the reflector and the lens light are not seen. We proved this by showing all three lights — the French, the Drummond, and the reflectors — at one time, and observing them at the distance of 15 miles, as well as at the distance of 12 miles, and about 6 miles; we found that the Drummond light was quite visible when the others were so completely eclipsed as not to be seen at all."^ Robert Stevenson, Engineer to the Board of Commis- sioners of the Northern Lights. " The Drummond light greatly surpasses any other light yet produced by artificial means, in brilliancy and lustre. . . . [But] in the present form of the apparatus, ^ "Parliamentary Papers," Vol. XII. for 1834, p. 94. - Ibid., p. 132. 54 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831-34 it seems quite impossible to maintain a steady light of this splendid description for the purposes of the coast. The heat of the united flames of these gases is so intense that any substance yet applied to them is apt to be suddenly de- stroyed, and even platina, the most infusible of the metals, quickly melts before it. It is from this circumstance chiefly that the difficulty of making practical use of this light arises. . . . Important advantages might doubtless be obtained by using this light during hazy weather, and the reporter^ is resolved to spare no pains on his part to bring about its introduction into lighthouses. When the reporter looks back to his early trials with coal gas, which he believes he was the first to exhibit in an experimental form in Edinburgh, and contrasts the conceptions formed by himself and others regarding its general application to economical purposes, with the ease of managing it at the present day, he does not despair of the Drummond light being made applicable to lighthouses. All other lights seem, in any comparative view of intensity, to sink into insignificance ; and this light approaches, in its properties, more nearly to solar light, than any other produced by artificial means." ^ Finally, the Committee reported — " [Lieutenant] Drummond stated to the Committee all the objections to the present use of his light in lighthouses; but your Committee are so strongly impressed with its importance, and with the merits and ability of Lieutenant Drummond, that they recommend that means should be adopted without delay for prosecuting still further the experiments recommended by him, and under his direction if possible ; or if he cannot superintend them, then under some other fit person." ^ 1 Mr Stevenson made a special report on the light. - " Parliamentary Papers," Vol. XII. for 1834, Appendix, p. 117. " Ibid., Report, p. xxxiii. 1831-34] THE HELIOSTAT. 55 But while the fate of the light was yet uncertain, and even when success seemed near at hand, Drummond glided into politics, and, in fact, abandoned the invention. This new departure of Drummond, at the crisis of his career as an inventor and a scientist, General Larcom has, in an eloquent passage, deplored. He says, " This abstraction of Mr Drummond's attention at the moment when he was nearest to success, must, so far as the light is concerned, be matter of regret ; with its projector it has dropped ; but if it be practicable, ingenuity will, doubtless, sooner or later, be directed to render it available, and the Drummond light may yet cheer the home-bound mariner from the Great Skelley, or the Tuskar." ^ Two other inventions, which were used in the Irish Survey, deserve to be mentioned. They were a heliostat, designed by Drummond ; and measuring bars, designed by Colby, and executed by Drummond. In the paper published by the Royal Society in 1826, Drummond described the heliostat. "[Plate III.,] fig. I, represents [the instrument] ; rt/5 is a telescope of twelve-inch focal length, and serves as the axis of the instrument ; the bars bd and be form a right angle ; and the bar gg, placed so that bf (fig. 2) shall be equal to fg^ works between bd and be, carrying a small telescope such as is usually attached to sextants, and provided with a rectangular eye-piece. The mirror mm, of which dif- ferent sizes may be used, according to circumstances, is connected with the instrument by three adjusting screws r. The bars be, and b' c , being now made to coincide with ab, a movable spirit-level is placed across them in the position ^ Memoir. Dr Sullivan, President of the Queen's College, Cork, writes, under date April 1888 :— "The Drummond light continues to be still used, though the name of the inventor is not usually associated with it. People speak of it generally under the name of the ' Lime Light,' the ' Oxyhydrogen Lamp,' &c." Letter /^«t'j 7ne. 56 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831-34 // (fig 2), and rendered horizontal by the foot screws ; by the same means the axis ab, to which a level is permanently attached, is also brought into a horizontal position. The movable spirit-level being now transferred to the surface of the mirror, the three adjusting screws r are employed to render it horizontal. The mirror will then be parallel to ab and //, and will have the required position on the instru- ment. The telescope ab being now directed on the object to which the reflection is to be thrown, and the small telescope ^turned towards the sun, its rays will be reflected parallel to the axis of the instrument ab. The head of the screw R (fig 2) is graduated, so that by means of it, and the spirit-level attached to the axis, the required elevation or depression may be given to the instrument when the object towards which it is directed happens to be invisible, its direction only being known relatively to some nearer object ; and which, it may be remarked, has been the case in every instance in which it has been employed on the Survey. When packed for travelling, the mirror luni is detached, and the bar gg turned till it coincides with bf. The instrument once directed, its management was usually confided to one of the non-commissioned officers." ^ The measuring bars were an ingenious contrivance for measuring a base, and were first tried in the measurement of the base of Lough Foyle ; the most accurately measured base in the world, according to Sir John Herschell.- It was for some time uncertain what share Drummond took in the invention. But the matter has been cleared up by General Larcom, He writes : — " My conviction with regard to the relative shares of Colby and Drummond in the design and execution of ^ " Philosophical Transactions for 1826." Drummond improved the heliostat, so that the telescope was finally dispensed with. Larcom, Memoir, " Enc. Brit," " McLennan. 1831-34] THE MEASURING BARS. 57 those instruments is, that to Colby belongs the design, to Drummond the execution. Colby having himself used the previously existing English apparatus, and being familiar with the various instruments which had been used in the measurement of bases elsewhere, considered a new apparatus necessary. He resolved to adopt the com- pensation principle, and devised the form. He first satis- fied himself the principle was sound, and tested the mechanical difficulties, which, he found, were all sur- mountable. He then devolved on Drummond the duty of superintending the construction, which Drummond, with the invaluable assistance of Troughton, successfully accomplished. " The grounds on which I rest this statement of the relative shares of Colby and Drummond in the base apparatus are, personal knowledge and daily intercourse with all the parties concerned, having been myself one of the officers of the Tower at the time, and taking part in the early operations in the cold cellar and heated chamber, having been more than once at Troughton's with Colby, and often with Drummond in the evenings at Furnival's, where I also lived. No one at that time thought of Drummond as the inventor of the bars. He never claimed to be the inventor, and I believe, would have been the first to repudiate the idea. "But that does not derogate from his merit. He made the bars, was the deviser and planner of the numerous and beautiful contrivances and experiments by which they were brought to perfection, and with his own hand executed most of the experiments. ... I find among my letters from Colonel Dawson, in October 1840, when I was writ- ing my own brief Memoir of Drummond, the following paragraph : — ' Drummond's indefatigable exertions in the construction of the bars, and in the measurement of the base in Ireland, you are yourself aware of. The principle 58 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [i S3 1-34 on which the compensation depends was suggested by- Colonel Colby, and the means by which it should be supplied, but great credit is still due to Drummond for the ingenuity displayed by him in mastering many diffi- culties which were met with during the construction of the apparatus, and for the laborious experiments by which its perfection was at last established. Previous to the con- struction of the bars, Drummond had entertained the idea of using bands of talc for the purpose, and had made some experiments, which you may remember, at Furnival's Inn ; and subsequently, on observing that the thermo- meters, when laid on the bars, do not immediately take and represent the actual temperature of the bars them- selves, he suggested the use of thermometers instead of bars, to be made of a length suitable for the purpose. This idea, however, was, as you know, never worked out.' " I have so far followed the course of Drummond's life to the close of his professional and scientific career. We now come to his entrance into politics, and his administration of Ireland at one of the most critical periods in the history of that country. CHAPTER V. POLITICAL CONNECTIONS. In 1 83 1 Drummond met Lord Brougham, the Lord Chan- cellor, at the house of a mutual friend, Mr Bellenden Ker, a Chancery barrister. Brougham had heard of the Drum- mond light, and was anxious to see it. Ker arranged a small dinner party to meet the Chancellor, and Drummond was among the guests. After dinner he exhibited the light in the greenhouse, and he has given us a lively description of the scene. Drummond to his Mother. "... By the way, I dined with the Lord Chan- cellor the other day, not at his own house, but at the house of an intimate friend of his, a Mr Ker, a Chancery barrister, to whom I was introduced some time ago, and with whom I have become very intimate. Mrs Ker is a pleasant woman, and their society is very agreeable. Well, the Lord Chancellor, it appears, had expressed a desire to see the brilliant light which he had heard of; and Mr Ker told him he dared say that I would show it him with pleasure. Accordingly, the Chancellor fixed a day to dine with him, and I put up the apparatus in Mr Ker's green- house, the lamp being directed to the drawing-room. There were only eight persons present, all intimate friends of Brougham's, so that the conversation, at and after dinner, about men and things, more especially the Reform question, was most entertaining and interesting. The 6o THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831-34 Chancellor was in great spirits, and talked the whole time. After returning to the drawing-room, I displayed the light, at which they expressed great admiration, though the Chancellor seemed greatly afraid of his eye, and could hardly be persuaded to look at it. I spied him, however, peeping at a corner, and immediately turned the reflector full upon him, but he fled instanter. He started immedi- ately afterwards, at eleven o'clock, for Lord Grey's. . . ." The acquaintance with Brougham ripened into friend- ship ; and when, prior to the introduction of the third Reform Bill in 1832, a Boundary Commission was ap- pointed to mark out the " rotten " boroughs for destruction and fix the new political areas, Drummond, on the sugges- tion of the Chancellor, was made its chairman. How he did his work on the Commission may best be gathered from the letter addressed to him by his colleagues when the work was over. " London, June 6tk, 1832. " Dear Drummond, — We, who have been your fellow- labourers in the task intrusted to us by the Government, of recommending the proper limits for boroughs under the Reform Bill, entertain an anxious desire, before we separate on the completion of our labours, to express to you in some marked manner our esteem and admiration of your conduct of that work. " We entertain no doubt that the Government will take the earliest opportunity of adequately discharging the great obligations it owes you, which can be duly appre- ciated only by considering the consequences if they had found in you anything short of the most perfect integrity, the most active zeal, and the most acute intelligence. " But something would still be wanting to our own feelings, were we not to contrive some method of denoting IS3I-34] THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION. 61 our sense of the sound judgment and amiable manner which have marked your whole intercourse with us, making it a source of pleasure to ourselves, and contributing in no small degree to the perfection of the harassing duty in which we have been engaged. " After much consideration on the most appropriate method of recording these feelings, we have resolved to request that you will do us the favour to sit for your portrait to one of the best artists of the day. "We hope this will be preserved in your family as a memorial of the sense entertained of your merits by a number of gentlemen who have acted with you in the execution of a delicate and arduous duty, intimately con- nected with an important event in the history of our country. — We remain, dear Drummond, your attached friends, " E. J. Littleton. F. Beaufort, R.N. L. B. Allen. B. Ansley. Thos. B. Birch. H. R. Bandreth. J. J. Chapman. R. D. Craig. Robert K. Dawson. J. Elliott Drinkwater. J. F. Ellis. Henry Gawler. H. Bellenden Ker. Henry W. Tancred. G. B. Lennard. W. H. Ord. John Romilly. Robert Saunders. Richard Scott. R. Sheepshanks. W. Edward Tallents. John Wrottesley. W. Wylde." Drummond sat to Mr Pickersgill for his portrait, which Avas finished in April 1835. In the meanwhile he began to take a keen interest in politics. His first political letters were written in 1832, when an election contest was impending in Perthshire, between Sir George Murray, Tory, and Lord Ormelie, Whig ; and in Leith, between John Archibald (afterwards Lord) Murray, Whig, and Mr Aitchison of Drummore, Tory. Drummond's brother, John, threw himself with vigour into these contests in support of the Whig candidates. On July 12, 1832, 62 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [i S3 1-34 Drummond wrote to him respecting the struggle in Perthshire : — Drummond to his Brother John. " I rejoice at any occurrence which calls forth your exertions and brings you into action. But I fairly own to you that I wish your exertions had been directed against another opponent than Sir George Murray. He is in every respect so estimable a man, and so fit to represent a county, especially in a reformed Parliament, that I regret his return being opposed. . . . Your calmness and good sense will prevent your being betrayed into any rash or unbecoming expression towards your opponents ; but it is right that I should tell you that Sir George Murray is a man universally respected by all parties for his ability, moderation, and fairness, and therefore I hope you will be betrayed into nothing, either in word or deed, that is disrespectful towards him. I don't say this to damp your ardour in the cause in which you are embarked, because I am sure that it would be injured rather than promoted by any conduct which had the appearance of disrespect ; I say appearance, because now that I have told you the opinion entertained of Sir George, I feel perfectly satisfied that your canvass for Lord Ormelie will never be conducted in a way offensive to Sir George or his friends." In Leith, the Tory candidate was Drummond's old friend, Aitchison of Drummore;^ and it pained Drummond to find himself and his family arrayed against the guide and benefactor of his youth. Reports had also reached him that Mr Aitchison had complained of the ingratitude of the Drummonds. Drummond at once wrote to his old friend : — ^ Ante, p. 8. 1 1831-34] politics. 63 Drummond to William Aitchison of Drummore. " Council Office, Whitehall, ^* Sept. 14///, 1832. " My Dear Sir, — Having, after twelve months' severe and anxious toil, brought our labours to a close, I have transmitted to Scotland a copy of our Reports on the Boundaries of the Boroughs of England and Wales, which I request you will do me the favour to accept. " I send these volumes to you, not with any reference to their political nature, but as I have sent my former papers, as marks of respect and regard for my early friend and benefactor. " It is but right, however, that I should take the same opportunity of adverting to a circumstance of a less agree- able nature, and one which has occasioned me considerable pain. " I have heard that the part which my brother has taken with respect to Mr Murray's election has occasioned you much surprise, and that you have expressed much dissatis- faction, perhaps I might say indignation, at his conduct. T sincerely hope, indeed I firmly believe, that this is a very incorrect or a very exaggerated statement. " I am well aware that any assistance which my brother can render Mr Murray must be of very small amount, and that it is to the disposition evinced by the act that your observations have been directed, if, indeed, any such have been made. In common justice to him, therefore, and in some measure to myself, I would solicit your attention to a very few observations. " I am well aware that the political opinions either of my brother or of myself must be a matter of perfect indif- ference to you ; nor would I allude to them at all, but that I cannot help feeling that you are disposed to attribute less influence to such opinions than they usually possess — and, 64 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831-34 as it appears to me, they ought to possess — over the mind and actions of any man who has sufficient judgment to be able to form an opinion at all, and sufficient honesty and firmness to act according to it. You will, I trust, pardon me for saying that the consequence is, you are, perhaps, apt to suppose that disrespect and ingratitude are mani- fested in that conduct, which is the result of very different and much more worthy motives. " The opinions which we hold were not taken up yesterday or to-day — they were constantly avowed, so far as is possible to men who hold no public situations— that is, by discussion with their friends and associates ; and they were held, too, when they were not the road either to favour or prefer- ment. If they have brought us into connection with men who have ever been the consistent and powerful advocates of such opinions, I think we are bound, in common with every individual who entertains the same opinions, to use our utmost exertions, however feeble these may be, in favour of such men — even if, by so doing, we should have the misfortune to be brought into opposition — I do not say into collision, for I hope and trust that is not necessary — v/ith those with whom we are connected by the dearest ties of relationship or of friendship. " Mr Murray and myself were engaged last winter in the same political work ; we met nearly every day ; and, warmly attached as I am to the principles of which he has long been a strenuous supporter, I could not, without for- feiting every feeling of self-respect, hesitate to render, if required, my zealous though feeble assistance to promote his return to Parliament, in opposition to any man of con- trary opinions, even if that man should unfortunately prove to be my nearest relative or my most intimate friend. The same considerations had necessarily the same influence over my brother. " I am not ignorant that the firm adherence to opinions 1S31-34] SECRETARY TO LORD ALTHORP. 65 may sometimes require many a painful sacrifice, and lead to many a painful separation between relatives and friends ; but this, I trust, can only happen when there are any who are resolved not to discriminate between the obligations resulting from the relations of society, and those which, in the discharge of a political right, are imposed by an hon- ourable and consistent maintenance of conscientious opinion. Fortunately, instances of such discrimination, alike honourable to both parties, are not rare ; and, indeed, among my own relations, I see a complete division of a family in political subjects, without any interruption of the duties or the pleasures of family intercourse, " Whatever my brother does, he will do openly and honourably, and I earnestly request you dispassionately to consider the circumstances which I have stated, and then I cannot doubt but you will, with your accustomed liberality and kindness, do justice to the motives which have influ- enced us on this occasion. " I feel that I have trespassed on your time and indul- gence by this explanation, which I have endeavoured to make, and, I trust, have made, with that deference and respect not only due from me, but which I most unfeign- edly feel towards you, my old and valued friend. May I beg my best respects to Mrs Aitchison, who, I sincerely hope, is tolerably well 1 — And I remain, my dear sir, with great respect, very faithfully yours, " T. Drummond." Aitchison appreciated the motives which influenced Drummond, and their friendship was not disturbed by political differences. In April 1833 Lord Althorp, then Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Grey Ministry, asked Drummond to become his private secretary. Drummond hesitated to E 66 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831-34 accept this offer, being unwilling to give up his profes- sional career. Lord Althorp pressed, saying that his wish was also the "united wish of the cabinet," and Drummond, having taken counsel with his friend Ker, finally accepted the post. He was now fairly launched in public life; and, among public men, his greatest friend was Brougham. In the autumn of 1833 the Chancellor invited him to Brougham Hall, Westmoreland. He was doubtful as to accepting the invitation, but Brougham would take no refusal. His secretary wrote to Drummond : " He seems determined that you shall go ; and he adds, when you are together you can do a good stroke of work. He also says that he has written to the king, strongly adverting to your services, ' a strong panegyric on Drummond's services about the Borough Bill.' ^ You must come. I know from experience that when he once sets his heart on any thing, there is no rest till he has his way." Drummond went, and remained with the Chancellor until October, when both returned to town together. About this time Drummond met, at Weston House, Warwickshire, the seat of Sir George Philips, his future wife, Miss Kinnaird, the attractive and accomplished ward of Richard Sharp — a man whose character Harriet Martineau has described in a few pithy sentences. " When a man of business is a man of letters, and finds himself equally at home in a London drawing-room, and in the country house, he contributes a large portion to the respectability of his country, where such a union of pursuits is not so common as it ought to be. Richard Sharp, commonly known as Conversation Sharp, was a man of this order. He was partly occupied with commercial con- cerns, . . . yet Sir James Mackintosh declared him the best critic he ever knew. He published letters and ^ A Bill based on the report of the Boundary Commission. I S3 1 -34] FALL OF THE GREY MINISTRY. 67 essays which justified his position as a man of letters ; he had a seat in ParHament for several years,i and was the associate of the most eminent literary men of his time. He died in old age in 1835." 2 In 1834 a political crisis occurred, and the Grey Ministry went to pieces over the Irish question.-^ On May 6, 1834, Lord John Russell declared in the House of Commons, in reply to the question of an Irish member, "that, if the State should find that the revenues of the Irish Church are not appropriated justly to the purposes of religious and moral instruction, it would be the duty of Parliament to consider a different appropriation." " Johnny has upset the coach," wrote Stanley in a note to Graham. A month later Lord Althorp moved that a commission should be appointed to inquire into the state of the Church, and to consider the whole question of the Establishment. Stanley opposed the motion, which, how- ever, was carried, whereupon he, Graham, Lord Ripon, and the Duke of Richmond left the ministry. In July there were differences again in the Cabinet on the Irish question. Lord Grey desired to renew a Coercion Act ^ — the most stringent of its kind, perhaps, passed since the Union — which had become law in 1833. O'Connell was opposed to this measure, and announced his deter- mination to resist it by every means in his power. Wellesley, Brougham, Althorp, and Littleton, who had now become Irish Secretary, were disposed to com- promise the question by omitting the most stringent clauses of the Act. O'Connell was willing to accept ^ He was elected for Ca.stle Rising, in Norfolk, in 1806. He remained in Parliament until 1818. - "History of the Peace," ii. 463. ^ The chief members of the Grey Ministry were : Lord Grey, Lord Brougham, Lord Althorp, Lord John Russell, Lord Palmerston, Lord Lansdowne, the Duke of Richmond, Sir James Graham, and Mr Stanley. ■* The Act enabled the Lord Lieutenant to proclaim districts, to prohibit public meetings, and to establish martial law. 68 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1831-34 this compromise ; and negotiations were opened with him by Wellesley, Brougham, Althorp, and Littleton, without the knowledge of Lord Grey.^ O'Connell was led to understand, that the Act would not be renewed in all its rigour, and in return for this concession, he withdrew a Repeal candidate who had been started for Wexford. But the efforts of Wellesley, Brougham, Althorp, and Littleton failed to change the determination of Lord Grey. On July I, he proposed the renewal of the Coercion Act in the House of Lords. On July 3, O'Connell, feeling that he had been deceived by Littleton, told the whole story of the negotiations which had been opened with him to the House of Commons. Lord Grey was shocked to find that his colleagues had kept him wholly in the dark respecting these proceedings, and complained bitterly. On July 5, Littleton resigned. On July 7, Althorp resigned. On July 9, Grey retired from office, and his ministry came to an end. On July 14-17, the first Melbourne administration was formed. Althorp returned as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Brougham remained Lord Chancellor, and Littleton was again made Irish Secretary. The other principal ministers were Lord Lansdowne, Lord Duncannon, Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell, Sir John Hobhouse, and Mr Spring Rice and Mr Charles Grant. This ministry was short- lived. Li November 1834 Lord Spencer died ; Lord Althorp succeeded to the title, and left the House of Commons. The King, whose confidence was given to Althorp alone, at once dismissed the ministers, and sent for the Duke of Wellington. The Duke despatched a courier to Italy to bring back Sir Robert Peel, who was then in Rome ; and in the meanwhile seized the keys of office. Drummond gives us a brief but graphic account 1 Littleton conducted the negotiations. I have given a full account of this tivinsaction in " Fifty Years of Concessions to Ireland." Vol. i., pp. 466, 469. i 1831-34] ^^HE PEEL MINISTRY. 69 of the crisis. Writing from Downing Street on November 18, 1834, he says : — " Great bustle at the different offices. The Duke has exhibited some promptitude in taking possession of the Home Office, but all the other appointments are yet undecided. The great seal is to be held provisionally. The seals of the different Secretaries of State are held pro- visionally by the Duke ; and in fact everything is provi- sional until Peel returns. If a good spirit manifests itself in the meantime, it is possible that they may find greater difficulties than they now imagine in the way of forming a government. Peel has more sagacity, and less courage than ' His Highness,' and may not be disposed to enter upon the desperate course which the latter seems resolved to attempt. Without Peel's assistance it is over with him. Meanwhile the Duke is doing what he can : he has shown the most indecent haste to seize the seals of the Secretaries of State, and even sent for their Cabinet keys on Monday last, immediately after the Council. There is much more the appearance than the reality of vigour in this, and it simply disgusts people, even those who are against us. But it is in keeping with the political character of a man who has discovered that large Church reform is necessary, and who has found a worthy supporter in that profligate and perfidious journal, the TiniesT On November 21, he again writes : — " We consider the dissolution inevitable, and are prepar- ing accordingly. The accounts from the country and from our friends are very satisfactory. They are preparing quietly, but actively and energetically, for the approaching election. The same will be done in Scotland. It is from the North, from Scotland, and Lancashire, that the spirit will come. I hope Mr Maclaren will not attack the Radicals at the present moment. It is quite true what he says ; but they are sensible of their errors, and this is not 70 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1834-35 the moment to exasperate, but to soothe and conciHate. If there are any district committee-rooms to which you would wish the Chronicle or Globe to be sent, let me have the names, and it will be done. The CJironicle advances rapidly, so does the Globe. The Times quails and wavers, as such a miserable deserves to do. ... I wrote to the Lord Advocate yesterday ; pray tell him that I had a long conversation to-day with Mr Abercromby, who thinks the greatest caution must be observed, to prevent its being supposed that any committee is formed for the purpose of managing the elections in Scotland. As little as possible should be said, and it should be given out, that it is merely for the purpose of distributing information. The subject to which this refers was what I wrote about to the Lord Advocate yesterday. He will understand it, and tell you." Li December Peel returned from Rome, and formed a government of which the principal members were Welling- ton, Lyndhurst, Aberdeen, and Goulburn. In the same month Parliament was dissolved. The general election which ensued was unfavourable to ministers. The numbers were : — England. Tories ..... 212 Whigs and Radicals . 288 500 Scotland. Tories ..... 13 Whigs and Radicals . 40 53 1S34-35] FALL OF THE FEEL MINISTRY. 71 Ireland. Tories ...... 39 Whigs and Repealers ... ^6 lOS Peel, however, resolved to meet Parliament and to join issue with the Whigs on the floor of the House of Commons. The Whigs resolved to give battle on the question of the election of Speaker. The Government proposed the former Speaker, Sutton ; the Whigs proposed a Scotch member, Abercrombie. Drummond had been at Brighton in ill- health since the end of 1834. In February 1835 he returned to London, and on the 1 5th of that month wrote to his mother : — " On Thursday, 'as everybody knows, the battle begins. I think we shall beat them on the Speaker. The numbers on Saturday pledged to support Mr Abercrombie were 318." The "battle" took place on February 19, 1835. The numbers were : — Abercrombie, . . . . 316 Sutton, ..... 306 Peel, however, resolved to hold on. On February 24 the Whigs returned to the charge, and Lord Morpeth moved an amendment to the Address which was carried by 309 to 302. Still Peel cried no surrender. On March 20 Sir Henry Hardinge, Irish Secretary, brought forward a measure of tithe reform for Ireland, the essential feature of which was the conversion of tithes into a rent charge of 75 per cent, of the tithe. This was making a flank movement on the Whigs ; but Lord John Russell was equal to the occasion. He out-flanked Hardinge by moving as an amendment, on March 30, " That the surplus revenues of the Established Church should be 72 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 applied in some way by which the moral and religious im- provement of the people of Ireland might be advanced." This amendment was carried by 322 to 289 votes. But Peel did not take the defeat as decisive. Russell, however, now resolved not to give the Government breathing time. On April 3 he moved, " That the surplus revenues of the Established Church in Ireland ought to be locally applied to the general education of all classes of Christians in Ireland," and the motion was carried against ministers by 178 to 140 votes. Nevertheless Peel refused to give way. Russell now made a final attack. On April 7 he moved, "That it is the opinion of this House that no measure upon the subject of tithes in Ireland can lead to a satisfactory and final adjustment which does not embody the principle of the foregoing resolution." ^ Peel mustered his forces to resist this last assault, but in vain. He was beaten by 285 to 258 votes, and at length resigned. The King, who had dismissed Melbourne in November 1834, was obliged to send for him in April 1835, and Melbourne formed his second administration — an admini- stration famous in the history of Ireland. Its members were : ENGLAND. Cabinet. Viscount Melbourne, , . First Lord of the T^-easicry. Marquess of Lansdowne, Viscount DUNCANNON, T. Spring Rice, Lord John Russell, Viscount Palmerston, Lord Glenelg, . Lord Holland, Sir J. C. HoBHOUSE, . Earl of Auckland, . C. PouLETT Thomson, Viscount HOWICK, . President o/the Council. . Privy Seal. . Chancellor of the ExcJieqtier. . Home Secretary. . Foreign Secretary. . Colonial Secretary. . Duchy of Lancaster. . President of the India Board. . First Lord of the Admiralty. . Presidejit of the Board of Trade. . Secretary of War. 1 Of Aprfl 3. iS35] THE MELBOURNE MINISTRY. 73 Not hi the Cabinet. Marquess of Conyngham, Lord C. FiTZROY, Duke of Argyll, Earl of Lichfield Earl of Albemarle, Mr Labouchere, Hon. G. S. Byng, E. S. Stanley, . Francis Baring, Sir John Campbell, Sir C. RoLFE, . Earl of Errol, . Sir H. Vivian, . Sir H. Parnell, Charles Wood, Lord Seymour. Mr Ord. Earl of Mulgrave, Lord Plunket, . Viscount Morpeth, Mr Perrin, Mr O'LOGHLEN, Lord Chamberlain. Vice- Chamberlain. Lord Steward. Postmaster- Getieral. Master of the Horse. Master of the Mint. Comptroller of the Household. . Secretaries to the Treasury. Attorney Geiicral. Solicitor General. Master of the Buckhounds. Master General of Ordnance. Treasurer of the Navy. Secretajy to the Admiralty. Lords of t lie Treasury. Mr R. More O'Ferrall. Mr R. Stuart. IRELAND. Lord Lieutenant. Lord Chancellor. Chief Secretary. Attorfiey General. Solicitor General. While Lord Melbourne was forming his government, Pickersgill was giving the final touches to Drummond's portrait. It was finished in April 1835, and forwarded to his mother by Littleton, with this letter. " Grosvenor Place, April 10, 1835, " Madam, — I believe you have been informed that the gentlemen associated with Mr Drummond in the late Boundary Commission resolved, at the conclusion of their labours, to offer to him some testimony of their admiration of the talents he had exhibited in directing the proceedings of that Commission, and of the great personal regard they entertained towards him. 74 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 "After much consideration, it was thought a preferable course to ask him to sit for his portrait, and when finished to present it to you. We found that such a present would be more agreeable to him than any other, and we did not doubt it would be most gratifying to you. Mr Pickersgill, the best of our artists, was accordingly employed to paint a bishop's half-length portrait of him, which he has executed with remarkable fidelity. "It was our original intention to have had a mezzotint engraving made from it, in order that each of Mr Drummond's fellow-commissioners might have had a copy of it. Lord Althorp, Lord Brougham, Lord Lansdowne, and various others of Mr Drummond's political friends, equally desired to possess themselves of a likeness of one to whom they were attached, in common with ourselves, by a sense of obligations, and by personal regard. But your son so perseveringly insisted on the abandonment of this part of the design, that I was obliged to take upon myself to suspend the order to the engraver, who had actually commenced the work. " It now only remains for me, in the name of all the Boundary Commissioners, to place the portrait in your hands, and to express my hope that it may long remain in your family as a record of the public and private esteem towards your son, entertained by a body who were asso- ciated with him in an honourable and highly important public trust. " The portrait will leave town in a few days. — I have the honour to be, Madam, with great respect, &c., " E. J. Littleton." All the posts in the Melbourne Ministry were now filled ; but there was one office connected with the Government of Ireland which invited attention — the office of Under Secre- tary at Dublin Castle. 1835] THE UNDER SECRETARYSHIP. 75 Sir William Gossett was Under Secretary when the Melbourne Ministry came into power. But the friends of the Administration saw that a change was necessary ; that some one, untrammelled by the traditions of the place, should be appointed. " My Lord," said Mr Perrin, the Irish Attorney General, to Lord Mulgrave, " [the Under Secretary] will be your right eye, and if we have to spend our time plucking old beams out of it, your Government will not go straight." ^ I do not know how it came about that Drummond's name was first mentioned in connection with the office, but by degrees he was marked out for the post. Of course he was well known to the Ministry. He had received a pension of ^300 for his work on the Boundary Commission ; and in the report of the Select Committee on Pensions at a later date his services were referred to thus : — " Lieutenant Drummond was a distinguished officer of the Royal Engineers, whose abilities had been shown, not only in the Trigonometrical Survey of Ireland, and the more peculiar branches of his ' profession,' but in the prosecution of various branches of science, in which he has made useful and interesting discoveries. He was employed in the Government of Lord Grey in procuring the statistical information on which the Reform Bill was founded, as well as in determining the boundaries and districts of boroughs. Those services were rendered gratuitously. He was after- wards employed in preparing a Bill for the Better Regula- tion of Municipal Boroughs. Finally, he was employed from April 1833 to April 1834 as private secretary to Lord Althorp, Chancellor of the Exchequer." It is probable that Drummond himself was anxious to go to Ireland. His friends suggested other posts ; but, as his mother said, he had " a partiality for Ireland." ^ ^ Torrens' "Melbourne." ^' 'Leiier, post. 76 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 There are few letters among the family papers that throw light on the subject, but some may be quoted : — Sir Denis le Marchant to Drummond. " The Vine, Basingstoke, Thursday \_April i'^t,'^. " My dear Drummond, — You could not find a better person than Carter to speak to on such an occasion. I have no doubt that he will influence Spring Rice, who, with all his good nature, is the person most likely to throw cold water on any generous exertions of his colleagues. By the way, I think a visit to Brougham would be no harm. You are one of the few persons he really likes, and as your interest and his do not come into collision he probably will exert himself for you. At all events he will be pleased to perceive that you continue to think him of importance. No man is more alive to such a feeling than he is. He is flattered by confidence. . . . — Always yours most truly, " Denis le Marchant." Lord Morpeth to Drummond. "Wakefield, May 7 [1835]. " My dear Drummond, — They must give you to me and Ireland. I have written to Lord Melbourne. I hope and believe that we are going to do better than Devon. — Ever sincerely yours, " Morpeth." Drummond's mother wrote to him : — " 16 Shandwick Place, "2lsi May 1835. " My Dear Tom, — This day brought us your anxiously looked for letter. You must write oftener, even though you have little to say. A person told us to-day, before your letter arrived, that they had read in a Glasgow paper of your arrival in Dublin at the Castle, so you may easily 1835] APPOINTED UNDER SECRETARY. 77 imagine how feelingly alive and nervous we are at all these rumours. I would just like to know what are your own hopes ; if you think the appointment is to take place or any other in lieu of it. , . .1 daresay your going to Ireland would be much to Lord Morpeth's wish. ... I can well believe it is no easy matter to dispose of Gossett, as he is a King's favourite. His brother is chaplain to the Royal Family at Windsor, but this is a reason for getting him to some less eligible station than where he is. Do you see that the Lords are up in arms at the brilliant entry ^ given to Lord Mulgrave. What anger has been displayed. . . . I only wish to add, what do you think yourself as to the Irish appointment .<* To us it appears you are quite cut out for it, and that the sooner Government can send you there the better, as the place is ill supplied by sucli a Tory, and must retard public business very much by the present Under Secretary. . . . — Your affectionate mother, " E. Drummond." " P.S. — I hope if you have any other place in your choice you will not reject it without weighing well all things for and against it. Your partiality for Ireland may lead you to underrate a less glaring, but perhaps better place in many respects. In saying we think you cut out for it, I fear lest we may help to mislead you, more especially as it may agree with your own wishes. This day's paper speaks of Lord Morpeth's going immediately to Ireland. Once more adieu. God bless you." Drummond's "partiality for Ireland" prevailed, and before the end of June he was appointed Under Secretary at Dublin Castle. In the same month he became engaged to Miss Kinnaird ; and in July set out for Ireland. 1 Into Dublin. CHAPTER VI. IRELAND IN 1 835. Drummond found Ireland in 1835 seething with discon- tent. Catholic Emancipation had enraged the Orange faction, and had not satisfied the masses of the people. The measure had been grudgingly granted, and unwillingly carried out. It brought no peace. In truth, it remained practically a dead letter until Drummond came. Mr Lecky has stated the case with characteristic clearness and force. "In 1833 — four years after Catholic Emancipation — there was not in Ireland a single Catholic judge, or stipendiary magistrate. All the high sheriffs with one exception, the overwhelming majority of the unpaid magistrates and of the grand jurors, the five inspectors-general, and the thirty- two sub-inspectors of police, were Protestant. The chief towns were in the hands of narrow, corrupt, and, for the most part, intensely bigotted corporations. Even in a Whig government, not a single Irishman had a seat in the Cabinet, and the Irish Secretary was Mr Stanley, whose imperious manners and unbridled temper had made him intensely hated. For many years promotion had been steadily withheld from those who advocated Catholic Emancipation, and the majority of the people thus found their bitterest enemies in the foremost places." ^ This was the case in 1833, and it continued in the main to be the case until 1835.2 1 Lecky, " Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland," p. 260. - The first Melbourne Ministry (July 1834) showed a disposition to break the system of ascendency, but it was a Government without backbone, and did nothincj. 1S35] THE TITHE WAR. 79 In 1 83 1 the tithe war began.^ Six millions of Catholics refused to pay tithes to the Church of six hundred thousand Protestant Episcopalians. The Government supported the Church with all its strength. Horse, foot, police, and even artillery scoured the country to collect the tithes. The people resisted, and a struggle, to which Englishmen look back with shame, was the result. In March 1831, a troop of the ist Dragoon Guards, a detachment of the 21st Fusiliers, and a strong force of police were despatched to collect tithes in the parish of Graigue. The peasants offered a passive resistance ; all attempts to seize their cattle failed ; and, after a campaign of two months, the military and police retired, having collected only one-third of the tithes of the whole parish. In June, some cattle seized for tithes were put up for sale at Newtownbarry. The peasantry gathered in great force, and rescued the cattle from the police. The Yeo- manry were called out, and fired on the peasants, killing twelve, and fatally wounding twenty. But no sale took place. The peasants were shot down, but the law was not enforced. During July and August vigorous efforts were made to collect tithes in the County Tipperary, but without success. As at Newtownbarry, the peasants were shot down, but the law was not enforced. At Kilkenny and Castlepollard peasants and police again came into collision. The chief casualties were again on the side of the peasants ; but the enforcement of the law was again successfully resisted. Tithes could not be col- lected ; processes could not be served ; cattle seized for tithes could not be sold. But the fiercest of these tithe encounters took place at Carrickshock in December 183 1. Peasants and police met ^ I have dealt fully with the subject of the tithe war in " Fifty Years of Concessions to Ireland " (vol. i., book iii. ), and shall but refer to it briefly here. 8o THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 face to face ; pitchforks and slanes were pitted against bayonets. A hand-to-hand conflict ensued. The chief of the police was killed ; the leader of the peasants was killed ; the police were completely routed. Eleven police- men were killed and seventeen wounded. This affair of Carrickshock brought about a truce which, however, lasted only for a few months. In April 1832, a cow seized for tithes was put up for sale at Doon, in the County Limerick. Sixty men of the 1 2th Lancers, five companies of the 92d Highlanders, a strong force of police, and two pieces of artillery were in attendance. The peasants fell upon the police, and drove them out of the village. The Lancers and Highlanders charged and fired upon the peasantry, scattering them over the fields, wounding many, but killing none. The cow was "knocked down " to the owner's brother for ;^ 12. In May, thirteen cows were put up for sale at Rathcormac, in the County Cork. Two companies of the 5th Foot and two companies of the 92nd Highlanders were present. But no sale took place. No auctioneer could be found to sell, or farmer to buy. In September, an attempt was made to value lands in the parish of Wallstown for tithes. A detachment of the 92d Highlanders, a detachment of the 14th Foot, and a force of police, under the command of one admiral, two generals, and three magistrates, accompanied the valuers and parson. The peasants resisted the valuers, and were fired on by the military and police. Four peasants were killed, and many wounded. In October, peasants and police again came into colli- sion at Rathkeeran, in the County Waterford. The police, supported by a detachment of the 70th Regiment, fired upon the peasants, killing twelve, and wounding many. After this affray the Rector of Rathkeeran fled from the parish. 1835] THE TITHE WAR. 81 In April 1833, Grey's Coercion Act, suppressing- the right of public meeting, and empowering the Lord-Lieu- tenant to proclaim martial law, and, practically, suspend habeas corpus, was passed. But the tithe war went on. Towards the end of April, a force of infantry and cavalry proceeded to Kilmurry, in the County Waterford, to collect tithes. The peasants barricaded their houses and awaited attack. But the military retired without forcing a conflict. Tn May they returned. The peasants again barricaded their houses, but the military this time attacked, breaking into the houses, seizing the cattle, and carrying off many of the peasants to jail. In June, a troop of dragoons, a detachment of the 29th Regiment, and a force of police were despatched to serve tithe processes in the neighbourhood of Carrigtwo- hill, in the County Cork. The peasants selected a point in the line of march where they should offer resistance. They fortified a large garden, surrounded by stone walls, close to the house of a farmer on whom process was to be served. Here, armed with pitchforks, scythes, slanes, and sticks, they awaited the military and police. A stubborn conflict followed. The police and soldiers tried to enter the garden, but without success. They fired upon the peasants, but without effect, the bullets passing harmlessly over the insurgents' heads. Finally, the troops retreated without serving the processes. A few days after this affray at Carrigtwohill a party of the 70th Regiment, engaged in posting tithe notices, were set upon by a large force of peasants, and had to fly for their lives. In September an attempt was made to value lands in the County Kilkenny for tithes ; but the peasants fell upon the valuers, destroyed their measuring tapes, smashed their instruments, and drove them off the fields. Throughout 1834 the war still went on. Boycotting was F 82 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S35 frequently practised, and wherever military and police appeared they were met by peasants ready to die in resist- ing the law. The year closed with the famous affray of Rathcormac. "On the 1 8th December 1834 a- force of horse (4th Royal Irish Dragoons), foot (29th Regiment), and police, under the command of Major Waller (29th Regiment), Lieutenant Tait (dragoons). Captain Pepper (police), Captain Colles, J. P., and Captain Bagley, R.M., proceeded to collect the tithes of Archdeacon Ryder, J. P., in the parish of Gortroe, County Cork. The dragoons, who marched from Cork City, fell in with a small body of peasants, at a place called Barthelmy's Cross, near the village of Gortroe. The peasants were armed with their usual weapons, sticks and slanes, and some of them were mounted. Archdeacon Ryder, who accompanied the ca- valcade in the double capacity of parson and magistrate, suggested to Captain Bagley, on seeing the peasants, that it might be prudent for the dragoons to draw their swords, and get ready for action ; and, at the request of Captain Bagley, Lieutenant Tait ordered his men so to do. The peasants, however, made no effort to obstruct the advance of the dragoons, but retreated steadily before them through the village of Gortroe, falling back on the farmstead of one of the tithe-defaulters — the widow Ryan by name — whose indebtedness to Archdeacon Ryder amounted to the sum of forty shillings. The widow Ryan lived near the hamlet of Rathcormac. Her house (one of a cluster of houses outside the little village) stood at some distance from the high road, with which it was connected by the usual boreen entrance. In front of the house was a large yard, and in front of the yard, and on the same side of the boreen, a haggart — both yard and haggart being separated from the boreen by a mud wall about four feet high. To the rear of yard and haggart was a well planted shrubbery. The 1S35] THE ''BATTLE" OF KAT/ICOK.UAC. 83 peasants, who, in their struggle against tithes, generally- selected with deliberation and care the points at which from time to time they determined to 'give battle' to the authorities, had resolved on the present occasion to con- front the forces of Parson Ryder at the house of the widow Ryan. With this object they ' fortified ' the haggart and yard. The gate opening from the yard into the boreen they removed, and in its place wedged a cart (with the shafts resting in the yard) tightly between the piers — so tightly, in fact, that it became an immovable fixture, and could neither be pulled into the yard nor dragged back into the boreen. At the entrance from the main road to the boreen a barricade was thrown up, and behind this barricade a number of men were placed, to wait the arrival of the troops, the yard and haggart being occupied by the main body of peasants, armed with sticks, slanes, spades, pitchforks, and reaping hooks. " While the dragoons under Tait and Bagley were marching on the widow Ryan's from Barthelmy's Cross, pushing the peasants' * outposts ' before them, the 29th and the police, under Waller, and Pepper, and Colles, were coming up from another direction to the same point. At the entrance to the boreen the peasant * outpost ' halted, and the 29th and the police joined the dragoons. Bagley addressed the men behind the barricade, requesting them to permit the troops to enter the boreen. The men answered, ' No tithes ! no parson ! You have no right to come in.' Bagley replied, 'We shall force an entrance if you do not give way.' The peasants again shouted, ' No tithes ! no parson ! no church ! ' " After some further discussion between the magistrates and the peasants, and a good deal of cheering and noise on the part of the latter, Bagley at last said, ' My good people, be silent ; I am going to read the Riot Act' ' We want none of your bye-laws here ! ' shouted back the leader of 84 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S35 the peasants ; and then, turning to his own followers, called out as Bagley began to read the Act, ' To the haggart, boys ! to the haggart ! we'll defend it, or lose our lives ! ' and for the haggart with a rush and cries of ' No tithes ! no tithes ! ' the peasants made. Bagley, having read the Riot Act, ordered the police to throw down the barricade ; this they quickly did, whereupon the troops entered the boreen, the dragoons leading the way. On approaching the haggart the dragoons halted, and the 29th marched forward. On reaching the haggart wall the 29th halted, and Major Waller sent to Captain Bagley for further instructions. " Bagley said : ' You must dislodge the peasants from the haggart and the yard. If they do not go quietly, you must try the bayonet. If that is not sufficient, you must fire ; but do not fire except in the last resort.' Major Waller then directed Lieutenant Alves to attack the haggart with a portion of the men of the 29th, and Lieutenant Shepherd to attack the yard with another. The dragoons and the police were stationed in the boreen between the haggart and the main road, to prevent any advance of the peasants from that quarter. Hostilities were commenced by Archdeacon Ryder, who, acting upon his own responsibility, succeeded, all by himself, in clam- bering over the wall and entering the haggart. He was seized by the peasants, neck and crop, and literally flung back into the boreen. Alves then mounted the wall, and waving his sword, called on his men to ' follow.' Seeing Alves on the wall, the leader of the peasants shouted to his comrades, ' Don't let him in ! don't let him in ! don't strike him ; but don't let him in ! ' A number of peasants quickly rushed forward and brandished their sticks close up in front of Alves. Alves parried the sticks with his sword, while his men climbed on to the wall. Many of the soldiers, having got on the top of the wall, were about to pull up some of their comrades, and to descend on the inside, 1835] THE "BATTLE" OF RATHCORMAC. 85 when the peasant leader roared to his companions, ' Now, boys, at them ! ' and the peasants (sticks, slanes, and pitch- forks in hand) made for the soldiers. A fierce fight ensued, the peasants striking furiously at the soldiers with their formidable weapons, and the soldiers vigorously thrusting back with their bayonets. Again and again the soldiers climbed to the top of the wall, and again and again they were driven back, maimed and bruised, with their bayonets bent and their firelocks smashed, many of the peasants having been placed hois de combat by bayonet wounds. After this struggle had continued for some time, Lieutenant Alves called out to Major Waller, 'We cannot. Major, take this place by the bayonet,' whereupon Arch- deacon Ryder rushed up to Captain Bagley, crying out, ' What are we to do .-' we are so resisted ! ' " Simultaneously with the struggle at the haggart. Lieu- tenant Shepherd was endeavouring to force his way into the yard. He had succeeded in jumping into the cart, followed by two of his men, while the rest climbed up the wall at either side, when the peasants rushed forward, and seizing the shafts and lifting them high up into the air, rolled Shepherd and his companions clean back into the boreen. However, he soon returned to the attack, and a fight, even more desperate than that being waged at the haggart, followed. The soldiers charged again with the bayonet, but to little purpose. Enter the yard they could not, either over the wall, or by mounting the cart. Then, finding it was hopeless to take either the haggart or yard by the bayonet. Major Waller gave directions to his lieu- tenants to fire. Alves' men fired first. After they had done so. Major Waller, who from his position in the boreen could command a better view of what was going on in the yard than in the haggart, tells us that he looked in the direction of the yard to see what effect Alves' fire had produced there. ' It produced no effect,' he says ; ' the 86 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 fight went on as violently as ever.' Shepherd, on hearing Alves' fire, called to Waller, saying, ' Major, must I fire ? ' and Waller answered, ' Yes.' " Shepherd turning to the peasants, then said, ' Now if you do not give way, I must fire.' The leader of the peasants replied, ' We are not afraid to die ; lives must be lost on either side before ye come in.' There was no alternative now left Shepherd but to give the word * fire ; ' this he promptly did. ' I then,' says Major Waller, ' looked in the direction of the cart to see the effect. The crowd dispersed after the fire, but quickly closed up, and rushed back to the cart as thick as ever.' Such truly had been the case. The peasants, thrown but for a moment into confusion, quickly rallied ; and as their leader called out, 'Never flinch, my boys! close up and at them again!' flung themselves once more on the soldiers, who, under the cover of the fire, had jumped into the cart, and clambered over the wall, driving them back with eminent success. But sticks, slanes, and pitchforks, though weapons which in the hands of a martial peasantry could be effectually used against bayonets, were poor instruments of defence against powder and ball. After a struggle — to the gal- lantry of which Lieutenant Shepherd bore testimony, asserting that he 'had never seen such determined bravery as was shown by the people on that day '—the peasantry gave way under the sustained fire of the troops, retreating steadily on the shrubbery. " Major Waller then occupied the haggart and the yard. The peasants had not however, it seems, been completely disposed of. ' They are mustering in the shrubbery,' said Captain Colles to Waller, ' you must disperse them.' ' No,' replied Waller, who doubtless had had quite enough of work which in all probability he did not consider parti- cularly clean ; ' I'll surround the farmyard and keep what I have got, for if I leave it, the peasants will come back. 1 835] I^HE LAND WAR. 87 and I shall have my work all over again.' At this juncture Archdeacon Ryder came up and said, 'AH right, Major, I have got my tithes.' It seems that the Archdeacon — who had performed various strategical movements on his own account during the day (including the escapade in the haggart), had succeeded in taking the widow's house in the rear, while the battle was raging in front, with the result that he saw the widow, and obtained the tithes from her. It was this cheerful fact that he now announced to Waller. The parson being satisfied, all were satisfied, and Major Waller and Lieutenant Tait marched their men back to Cork. The soldiers gone, the peasants emerged from the shrubbery to take up their comrades who had fallen in the fray, and to find that the casualties had been considerable ; twelve peasants were killed, and forty-two wounded. "None of the soldiers had been killed, but many were wounded. An inquest, at which twenty-three jurors were empanelled, was, a few days later, held on the bodies of the peasants who had fallen. The inquiry lasted thirteen days, and resulted in a mixed verdict; thirteen jurors being for a verdict of 'wilful murder,' two for 'manslaughter,' and eight for 'justifiable homicide.' " ^ This was the last "battle " of the tithe war. It was fol- lowed by a truce which lasted until Drummond's arrival ; and the renewal of hostilities was prevented by his intervention. While the tithe war raged, the eternal land war dis- tracted the country, and convulsed society. The landlords evicted without pity, and the tenants murdered without remorse. The landlord thought of little but the rent. He recognised no duties. He enforced only ^ This account of the affray at Rathcormac is taken from " Fifty Years of Ccncessions to Ireland." 88 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 rights. The tenant, " scrambling- for the potato," ^ and left without any resource but the land, offered an exorbitant rent, which the landlord accepted, and exacted to the uttermost farthing.^ Freedom of contract between landlord and tenant there was none. The tenant came into the market under circumstances which left him entirely at the mercy of the landlord. The " bit of land " meant life to him ; the want of it death ; for, in the absence of commer- cial industries, the people were thrown upon the land mainly for existence.^ " The treaty between landlord and tenant [in Ireland] " says Mr Nassau Senior, " is not a calm bargain in which the tenant, having offered what he thinks the land worth, cares little whether his offer be accepted or not ; it is a struggle like the struggle to buy bread in a besieged town, or to buy water in an African caravan." ^ In truth, the landlord had a monopoly of the means of existence, and he used it for his own aggrandisement, regardless of the tenant's fate, and the public weal. " The landlords in Ireland," said Lord Donoughmore in the House of Lords on February 28, 1854, "have been in 1 Mr Bright. - " Almost every proprietor in Ireland is a trader in his commodity. ... As profit was the sole object, the proprietors had no inducement to make sacri fices, and to accept moderate rents to secure the good opinion of their tenants." — Bicheno, " Ireland and its Economy," pp. 123, 129. " The rights of property [in Ireland] are exercised with the utmost rigour." — Lord John Russell, House of Commons, April 15, 1839. " It strikes me that before the introduction of the poor law, the peasantry were regarded by a large proportion of the proprietors merely as individuals who paid them rent. The landlords used to get their rent from them, but otherwise took very little interest in them." — Mr Twistleton, First Report of Select Committee [Commons] on Irish Poor Law, Parliamentary Papers for 1849, vol. XV., part i., Q. 43S0. " While in most cases the relation of landlord and tenant in England is one of sympathy without dependence ; in Ireland it is often one of entire depend- ence without a shadow of sympathy." — The Marquis of Normanby, House of Lords, November 27, 1837. '^ There was no poor law in Ireland until 1838. ■* Nassau Senior, "Journals Relating to Ireland," i. p. 29. 1 835] THE LAND WAR. 89 the habit of letting land, not farms." Never has a happier description of the Irish land system been given than this. The landlord let " land " — a strip of bog, barren, wild, dreary. The tenant reclaimed it ; drained, fenced, built ; reduced the waste to a cultivable state ; made the " land " a " farm." ^ Then the landlord pounced upon him for an increased rent. The tenant could not pay : his resources had been exhausted in bringing the bog into a state of cultivation ; he had not yet recouped himself for his outlay and labour. He was evicted ; flung on the road-side to starve, without receiving one shilling's compensation for his outlay on the land ; and the " farm," which he had made, was given to another at an enhanced rental. What did the evicted tenant do ? He entered a Ribbon Lodge : told the story, of his wrong, and demanded vengeance on the man whom he called a tyrant and oppressor. Only too often his story was listened to ; and vengeance was wreaked on the landlord, or new tenant ; and sometimes upon both. This in brief is the dismal history of the land trouble in Ireland.^ ^ "The landlords are unable or unwilling to expend money on their estates. They allow the tenants themselves to make the provision by building and reclaiming land from its original state of bog, or heather, or stony field. It is thus that many estates have been created and almost all have been enlarged, by generation after generation of tenants without assistance. It was the tenants who made the barony of Farney — originally worth ;^3000, worth _;^5o,ooo a year." — Mr Nassau Senior, quoted by Mr O'Connor Morris (the Times' "special commissioner") in his " Letters on the Irish Land Question," p. 117. " The people who have thus imperfectly reclaimed bog and mountain seldom hold by lease. When they come under rent they do so as tenants from year to year, liable to be turned out at six months' notice to quit. As soon as the poor tenant has brought his farm to that degree of fertility which enables him to pay a rent and live, all further improvement is studiously avoided as a thing which the tenant believes will only increase his labour to produce a larger rent for the sole benefit of the landlord whom he regards as a vigilant spy upon every symptom of ability to pay more rent." — Master Fitzgibbon, quoted by O'Connor Morris, p. 83. ^ "If ever crime can be excused it is when the existence of these families depends upon their retaining the land, it is their only resource for existence, 90 THOMAS DRUMMOND. 1835 What upright and inteUigent Englishmen thought of it may be judged by an extract from a letter addressed by Poulett Scrope, M.P., to Lord Melbourne, in 1834. Mr Scrope said : — " Though God gave the land of Ireland to the people of Ireland — to the many — the law has given it unconditionally to the few. Even in the best of times, if the landlord refuses to any peasant the holding of a plot of land, if other starving wretches outbid his offers for the patch of soil, whose possession is as necessary to his existence as the air he breathes — if sickness or misfortune prevent his punctual payment of the enormous rent he has promised, and he and his family are ejected (by the cheap and summary process which landlord-made law provides) from the cabin which sheltered him from his birth, and his fathers before him — what remains? He must die! The law, at least, says so. The law allows himi no other alter- native. He may contrive to prolong a precarious existence on the charity of his poor neighbours (as he asks it in vain from the rich), or he may take by force or stealth what is necessary to preserve life. But the law does not recognise these means of living ; on the contrary, the law forbids them. The law says if he cannot rent land or obtain work he shall starve. This is the real wrong — this is the giant grievance — this is the most crying, the most urgent of the just complaints of the Irish people. And it is against this state of the law that they combine in their Whiteboy asso- ciations — associations that will never be put down until the law extends that protection to the lives of the poor which it now lavishes almost exclusively on the property of the rich. And who will say that the peasantry ought not in such a state of the law to combine for their mutual protection } their bread basket. The process server is as much dreaded, and as universally, as a mad dog." — Wakefield : Committee on Colonization from Ireland. Parlia- mentary Papers, vol. xvii., for 1847-1848, Q. 2923. 1835] rOULETT SCROrE. 91 Is there no point of oppression at which resistance to the law becomes a duty ? We have the recent authority of the head of the law for the principle — a principle as old as it is true — that allegiance is only due where protection is afforded, and that where the law refuses its protection it cannot claim allegiance. Does the law then protect the Irish peasant ? Not from starvation. It does not protect him from being thrust out of his home and little holding, into absolute destitution, to perish on the highways of famine, or to waste away in those abodes of filth, misery, and disease in the suburbs of the towns, which Dr Doyle so faithfully describes as the ordinary refuge and dying place of the ejected cottier and his family. It does not prevent him from being visited by this fate at the command of an absentee landlord, who may desire to clear his property of some of the human encumbrances whom God has brought into being upon it. The law affords the Irish peasant no protection from so horrible a fate. Hundreds are at present exposed to it. Millions know that they are liable to it. Can the law justly require their allegi- ance .'' Can we expect them willingly to pay it ? No ! The peasantry of Ireland feel that the law places their lives at the mercy of the few, whom it invests with sovereign power over the land of their native country, with power to sweep them at will off its surface. They feel that the continuance of the system of clearing estates which has been for so many years in progress, is a question of life and death to them. And therefore do they combine against it. Therefore it is — however little minds may wonder at the fact — that they show no more repugnance to the shedding of blood in open day, in the presence of assenting thousands, in the execution of the sentences of self-organised tribunals, looked upon by them as the sole safeguard of their lives, than does a soldier hired to fight for his country's safety in the field of battle. It is to their 92 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 own Whiteboy law that their allegiance is considered due. They look alone to the secret tribunals, of their own estab- lishment, for the protection which the law of the Imperial Parliament denies them. And they obtain it ! Let those who know Ireland deny the fact if they can. The peasantry of Ireland do more or less obtain from the Whiteboy asso- ciations that essential protection to their existence which the established law of the country refuses to afford. The Whiteboy system is the practical and efficient check upon the ejectment system. It cannot be denied that but for the salutary terror inspired by the Whiteboys the clearance of estates (which in the over-peopled districts of Ireland is considered, justly or not, to be the only mode of improving or even saving them) would proceed with a rapidity and to an extent that must occasion the most horrible sufferings to hundreds of thousands of the ejected tenantry. Some landlords have bowels of compassion and might hesitate so to employ the fearful power with which the law has un- conditionally armed them for the improvement of their property. Many, the majority perhaps, would not be stayed by such scruples. It is easy to satisfy the mind of an interested party that what the law allows to be done cannot be wrong — that what appears necessary for the pre- servation of property must be right. May they not do as they will with their own .'' Yes ! But for a salutary dread of the Whiteboy associations, ejectments would desolate Ireland and decimate her population, casting forth thousands of families like noxious weeds rooted out from the soil on which they have hitherto grown, perhaps too luxuriantly, and flung away to perish in the roadside ditches. Yes ! the Whiteboy system is the only check on the ejectment system ; and weighing one against the other, horror against horror, and crime against crime, it is perhaps the lesser evil of the two — a necessary evil in the present state of the law in Ireland — a mitig'ation of the otherwise 35] SECRET SOCIETIES. 93 intolerable slavery, which the law of the land enforces, of the Irish peasant to the Irish landlord. The Whitcboy system will never be put down until the Legislature establish a law for the end it aims at— that, namely, of protecting the lives of the Irish peasantry, and securing them the means of living by their industry." ^ For three-quarters of a century there had been secret societies in Ireland in connection with the occupation of land. These societies possessed the sympathy of the masses of the peasantry. They were formed to keep down rents, to prevent tenants from out-bidding each other, and generally to regulate the relation of landlord and tenant in the interests of the latter. They were in fact the Trades Unions of Ireland ; and like Trades Unions elsewhere, they sometimes enforced their decrees by violence, outrage, and murder. Since the Union the •^ " In Ireland landlords never erect on their property, or expend anything in repairs ; nor do leases in that country contain so many clauses as in England. The office of an agent is therefore rendered very easy, for he has nothing to do but to receive his employer's rents twice a-year, and to set out the turf-bog in lots in the spring. vSix months' credit is generally given on the rents, which is called ' the hanging gale.' This is one of the great levers of oppression by which the lower classes are kept in a kind of perpetual bondage ; for as every family almost holds some portion of the land, and owes half-a-year's rent, which a landlord can exact in a moment, this debt hangs over their heads like a load, and keeps them in a continual state of anxiety and terror. If the rent is not paid, the cattle are driven to the pound, and if suffered to remain there a certain number of days, they are sold. This I have frequently seen done after the occupying tenant had paid his rent to the middleman, who had failed to pay it to the head landlord. The numerous instances of distress occasioned by this severity, which everyone who has resided any time in Ireland must have witnessed, are truly deplorable ; and I believe them to be one of the chief causes of those frequent risings of the people, under various denomina- tions, which at different times have disturbed the internal tranquillity of the country, and been attended with atrocities shocking to humanity, and disgrace- ful to the empire." — Wakefield, "Account of Ireland," vol. i. p. 244. "In Ireland, tenure at will is indefinite oppression; tenure by lease, oppression by lease; rents are not the proportion of, but the whole, of the produce of. "^Wesley Doyle, "Ostensible Causes of the Present State of Ireland," 1822. Referring to the facilities for evicting which the Legislature had given the Irish landlords, the Times said in 1835 : — " It is truly alleged that such facili- 94 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 country had been overrun by these societies — Thrashers, Carders, Rockites, Terrialts, Lady Clares, Molly Maguires, Whiteboys, Whitefeet, Blackfeet. But by degrees all agrarian organisations were absorbed by the Ribbon Society, whose ramifications extended far and wide, not only in Ireland, but in parts of Great Britain. Springing out of an association formed by some Catholics of Ulster in the eighteenth century to defend themselves from the attacks of the Protestant " Peep o' Day Boys," the Ribbon confederacy had assumed the character of a Tenant's Protective League in the first quarter of the present century, and had already become a terrible power when Drummond reached Ireland. The Ribbon- man broke the law with impunity ; witnesses could not be found to give evidence against him, or juries to convict. He was sheltered by the peasants of a whole country side, who regarded him as a public executioner sent forth to wreak vengeance on their enemies, and do justice to them. I have elsewhere^ dealt so fully with the question of land- lord and tenant in Ireland, that I cannot, without danger of repetition, say more upon the subject now. But I shall conclude this reference to it, with an extract from Sir George Cornevvall Lewis's work on " Irish Disturbance," which is of more value than any thing I could write. Having quoted the evidence given before various Parlia- ties have not been afforded the English landlords whose ejected tenants are nevertheless sure of parochial support ; but that against the poor Irish who, when turned off the land, have no resource but begging, robbing, or perishing in the next ditch, the severest enactments have been made, and the despotism of the landlords bolstered up to a pitch that leaves the tenant at the mercy of his caprices " {Times, December 29, 1835). Again, "The conduct of many Irish proprietors in the process of what they call 'clearing their estates,' is an infamous disgrace to human nature" {Times, December 26, 1835). 1 " Fifty Years of Concessions to Ireland," "The Parliamentary History of the Irish Land Question," "The Irish Land Question and English Public Opinion." CORNEIVALL LEWIS. 95 mentary Committees on the causes of agrarian disturb- ances, Sir George says : — " All the above witnesses^ agree in a remarkable manner with regard to the causes of the Whiteboy disturbances ; all trace them to the miserable condition of the peasantry, to their liability to certain charges (the chief of which is rent), which they are often unable to meet ; and to their anxiety to retain possession of land ; which, as Mr Black- burne truly states, is to them a necessary of life, the alter- native being starvation. With the dread of this alternative before their eyes, it is not to be wondered that they make desperate efforts to avert it ; that crime and disturbances should be the consequences of actual ejectments is still more natural. . . . " It has already been explained how the Irish peasant, constantly living in extreme poverty, is liable, by the pressure of certain charges, or by ejectment from his holding, to be driven to utter destitution — to a state in which himself and family can only rely on a most pre- carious charity^ to save them from exposure to the elements, from nakedness, and starvation. It is natural that the most improvident persons should seek to struggle against such fearful consequences ; that they should try to use some means of quieting apprehensions which (even if never realised) would themselves be sufficient to embitter the life of the most thoughtless ; and it is to afford this security that the Whiteboy combinations are formed. The Whiteboy association may be considered as a vast trades' union, for the protection of the Irish peasantry ; the object being, not to regulate the rate of wages or the hours of work, but to keep the actual occupant in possession of his ^ Chiefly magistrates, landowners, barristers, inspectors of police and clergymen. — Barrister engaged in administering the Insurrection Act in 1823. 2 There was no Poor Law in Ireland until 1838. 96 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 land, and, in general, to regulate the relation of landlord and tenant, for the benefit of the latter." ^ But of all the organisations which disturbed the peace of Ireland at this time, the nmost powerful was the Orange Society. This formidable confederacy was founded in the autumn of 1795. For some years previously there had been almost constant feuds between Catholics and Protest- ants in Ulster. Arising out of these feuds, a pitched battle was fought near the village of Diamond, in the County Armagh, on September 21, 1795. The Catholics were beaten ; and the first Orange Lodge was founded on the spot.- ^ Lewis, " Irish Disturbances," pp. 98-99. - The opposing factions were divided into " Peep o' Day Boys " (Protestants), and "Defenders" (Catholics). It has been generally stated that the Peep o' Day Boys developed into Orangemen, and the Defenders into Ribbonmen. But the Orangemen deny that their organisation was in any way connected with the Peep o' Day Boys ; and they give this reason for their opinion. The Peep o' Day Boys were Presbyterians, while the first Orange Lodge consisted exclusively of members of the Church of England. However this may be, the fact is undoubted, that on the appearance of the Orange Society, the Peep o' Days immediately disappeared. With respect to the Defenders, it has been said that originally both Peep o' Day Boys and Defenders were Presbyterians, and that the dispute which divided them was at first of a purely personal character. Two Presbyterians had fought at a fair, and the quarrel was renewed again and again. By degrees the friends of each party arranged themselves into rival factions. Finally, the Catholics joined one faction, and then the dispute assumed a sectarian hue. The original cause of quarrel was forgotten, and Catholics and Presbyterians were arrayed against each other as such. The sectarian feuds between Peep o' Day Boys and Defenders were renewed at frequent intervals between about 1788 and 1795. A speech delivered by Lord Gosford, governor of the county of Armagh, on December 28, 1795, throws a good deal of light on these feuds. Addressing the magistrates of the county specially assembled, he said: — "Gentlemen, — Having requested your attendance here this day, it becomes my duty to state the grounds upon which I thought it advisable to propose this meeting, and at the same time to submit to your consideration a plan which occurs to me as the most likely to check the enormities that have already disgraced this country, and may soon reduce it into the greatest distress. It is no secret that a persecution, accompanied with all the circumstances of ferocious cruelty which have in all ages distin- guished 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 1S35] THE ORANGE SOCIETY. 97 The Society gradually increased in numbers and influ- ence; the foremost men of Ulster soon joined its ranks. There was an Orange aristocracy, an Orange clergy, and objects of this merciless prosecution 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 concise and terrible ; it is nothing less than a confiscation of all property and immediate banishment. It would be extremely painful and surely unnecessary, to detail the horrors that attended the execution of so wide and tremendous a proscription ; that certainly exceeds, in the comparative number of those it consigns to ruin and misery, every example that ancient or modern history 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 of the fruits of their industry, and driven in the midst of an inclement winter to seek a shelter for themselves and their helpless 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 senti- ments of indignation and compassion in the coldest heart. Those horrors are now acting, and acting with impunity. The spirit of impartial justice (without which law is nothing better than tyranny) has for a time disappeared in this country, and the supineness of the magistracy of this county is a topic of con- versation in every corner of this kingdom. It is said the Catholics are danger- ous ; they may be so ; they may be dangerous from their numbers, still more dangerous from the unbounded views they have been encouraged to entertain ; but I will venture to assert, without fear of contradiction, that upon these very grounds, those terrible proceedings are not more contrary to humanity than they are to sound policy and justice. I have the honour to hold a situation in this county which calls on me to deliver my sentiments, and I do so without fear or disguise. I am as true a Protestant as any man in this room, or in this kingdom. I inherit a property which my family derived under a Protestant title, and, with the blessing of God, I will maintain that title to the utmost of my power. I will never consent to make a surrender of Protestant ascendency to Catholic claims, with whatever menaces they may be urged, or however speciously or invidiously supported. Conscious of my sincerity in this public declaration, which I do not make unadvisedly, but as the result of mature deliberation, I defy the paltry insinuations that malice or party spirit may suggest ; I know my own heart, and should despise myself if, under any inti- midation, I could close my eyes against such scenes as present themselves on every side, or shut my eyes against the complaints of a persecuted people. I have now acquitted myself to my conscience and my country, and take the liberty of proposing the following resolutions : — i. That it appears to this meeting that the County Armagh is, at this time, in a state of uncommon dis- order ; that the Roman Catholic inhabitants are grievously oppressed by lawless persons unknown, who attack and plunder their houses by night unless they immediately abandon their lands and habitations. 2. That a committee of Magistrates be appointed to sit on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the chapter room of the cathedral church of Armagh, to receive information respecting all G 98 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 an Orange yeomanry bound together by a secret oath, and working for a common object. The State patronised the organisation ; the Church favoured it. In fine, before the persons of whatever description who disturb the peace of this county. 3. That the instructions of the whole body of the magistracy to their Committee shall be, to use every legal means within their power to stop the progress of the persecution now carrying on by an ungovernable mob against the Catholics of this county. 4. That said Committee, or any three of them, be empowered to expend any sum of money for information or secret service out of the funds subscribed by the gentlemen of this county. 5. That a meeting of the whole magistracy of this county be held every second Monday, at the house of Charles M 'Reynolds, to hear the reports of their Committee and to give further in- structions, as the exigency of the times may require. 6. That offenders of every description in the present disturbances shall be prosecuted at the public expense, out of the funds subscribed by the gentlemen of this county ; and to carry this resolution into effect, it is resolved, that Mr Arthur Irwin be appointed law agent to the magistrates. " — The above resolutions being read, were unanimously agreed to, and the Committee nominated. Lord Gosford having left the chair, and Sir Capel Molyneux being requested to take it, — " Resolved, that the unanimous thanks of this meeting be presented to Lord Viscount Gosford, for his proper conduct in convening the magistrates of the county, and his impartiality in the chair." The evidence of Mr Christie may also be quoted : — " You are a member of the Society of Friends? — I am. " Where do you live ? — I live in the County of Down, at a place called Kircassock. " You live on your own property ? — Yes. "Is that near the county of Armagh? — I live about two miles and three- quarters from the borders of the county of Armagh. " What age are you? — I was born in 1771, on the 20th December. "At what time do you first recollect having heard of Orange Societies? — I do not recollect the very period, but I recollect the Peep o' Day Boys, which began in the county of Armagh, about the latter end of 1794 and the commencement of 1795 ; I came to live in the place which I now occupy in 1793, and it did not occur till eighteen months or two years afterwards. "From 1793, have you a pretty distinct recollection of public transactions? — Yes, I was nearly twenty-two years of age at that time. " Will you state to the Committee any outrages or excesses committed by any description of people, and what description of people in the counties of Down and Armagh? — The first disturbances we had in the north of Ireland, that I recollect, were in the county of Armagh and the neighbourhood of Church-hill, where the present Colonel Verner now lives ; I did not see them, for I was not in that part, but the first account we had of them was in that quarter. "Will you state the nature of those disturbances? — ' Wrecking,' as it was termed, the Roman Catholics' houses ; it was termed ' wrecking ' when the parties broke open the door and smashed everything that was capable of being broken in the house, looms and webs that were probably weaving ; they broke iS35l THE ORANGE SOCIETY. 99 end of the century, to be an Orangeman was to be high and mighty in the land. What was the object of the Society ? In answering this question the Orange view must be given. the webs and destroyed the yarn and everything, and sometimes they threw the furniture out of the house, smashed ; and in other cases they set fire to the house and burnt it. "Do not you distinguish between burning and wrecking? — Wrecking was applied more to the destruction of the furniture than to the burning of the houses. " By wrecking, do you mean also the destruction of the windows and doors ? — I do ; we have different names for the different acts that were committed ; one where the house was totally destroyed, and another where it was only wrecked. " Will you state what you recollect of the outrages that were then com- mitted ? — It commenced in 1794, but the greatest depredation was committed in the spring of 1795. It commenced in the neighbourhood of Church-hill, between Portadown and Dungannon, and then it extended over nearly all the northern counties, commencing at where the county of Armagh and the county of Down end, at Newry, round by Antrim, Down, and Tyrone, and I believe in a very short time it extended to the county of Derry, but not to such an extent as in the other counties. Then, in the course of time, after th Catholics were, many of them, driven from the county and took refuge in different parts of Ireland, I understood they went to Connaught. Some years after, when peace and quietness was in a measure restored, some returned again, probably five or six years afterwards ; they got some employment ; some were weavers and other things ; but they stayed out of the country while they thought their lives were in danger ; but the property which they left was trans- ferred, 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 Pro- testant tenants. That occurred within my own knowledge. " Are you aware whether some of them had considerable interest in those houses and lands, whether they had, owing to the increased value of land and the laying out of money upon the property, a valuable interest in some in- stances ? — I am not aware that any of them had. I think most of them were tenants at will, but there were some cases where they had life leases. " Generally speaking, was the property transferred by the landlords from the Catholics to Protestant tenants ? — I know some cases of it, but I cannot say that it was general ; but I do not live in the part of the country where the greatest mischief was done. " Were there many Catholic houses destroyed ? — A great many. Sometimes I heard of twelve or fourteen houses wrecked in a night, and some destroyed. I pitied them very much in the straits they were driven to. " This was about the spring of 1795? — The spring of 1795 was the worst, but it did not end there ; it continued much longer. " Up to what period did it continue ? — For two or three years. It was not quite so bad in 1796 and T797 as it was earlier ; but after this wrecking, and the Catholics were driven out, what was called the Break of Day party merged THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 The Orange Society, according to the Orange view, was formed to preserve the EngHsh connection, and maintain the Protestant religion. It was a loyal and religious organisation. But its loyalty was unselfish and chival- rous ; its religion enlightened and liberal. Its hero was William of Orange, the champion of civil and religious liberty. The Orange Society was the champion of civil and religious liberty too. It was a religious organisation. A lodge always opened and closed with prayer, so said Deputy Grand Secretary Swan before the Parliamentary Committee of 1835. ^ Opening Prayer. " Gracious and Almighty God, who in all ages hast shown Thy Almighty power in protecting righteous Kings and States, we yield Thee hearty thanks for the merciful preservation of Thy true religion, hitherto, against the designs of its enemies, particularly in sending Thy servant, our glorious deliverer, William the Third, Prince of Orange, who freed us from tyranny and arbitrary power. We bow into Orangemen. 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. " From the time they were called Orangemen, did you hear afterwards of the name of Break of Day men ? — I cannot say that I never heard it, but it was not a general appellation given. " Did you hear it with regard to any body of men, subsequently in exist- ence, after the name of Orangemen was adopted? — No; I never heard it applied to any body of people after the Orangemen had lodges, as they termed it. I think the name of Break of Day men completely subsided. "Did the Orangemen consist of the same class of persons as those that compose the Break of Day Boys ? — I suppose they did, but I cannot say, because I did not know any of them personally to identify them. The same people that made use of intemperate language towards the Catholics, whilst the Break of Day business existed, were the same people that I saw afterwards walking in the Orange processions, but I cannot say further than that." — " Select Committee (Commons) on Orange Lodges, &c., in Ireland, in 1835." See particularly the evidence of Earl Gosford, Mr Christie, and the Rev. Mortimer O'Sullivan. ^ "Select Committee on Orange Lodges, &c., in Ireland, in 1835," Q. 1107. 1835] ORANGE PR A VERS. with humble submission to the late dispensation of Thy Divine Wisdom, which we confess to be a righteous pun- ishment for our sins, and for our indifference to those blessings which Thou hast bestowed upon us. " Yet, we beseech Thee, for Thy honour, and Thy name's sake, to frustrate the further designs of wicked men against Thy holy religion, and not to suffer its enemies wholly to triumph over it ; defeat their counsels, abate their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices. Bless, we beseech Thee, every member of the Orange Institu- tion, with charity, brotherly love and loyalty; make us truly respectable here on earth, and eternally happy hereafter. " These, and all other blessings, we humbly beg in the Name and through the mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen." Closing Prayer. " O, Almighty God, who art a strong power of defence unto Thy servants, against the face of their enemies ; we humbly beseech of Thy mercy to deliver us from those great and imminent dangers with which we are now en- compassed. O, Lord, give us not up as a prey unto our enemies ; but continue to protect Thy true religion against the designs of those who seek to overthrow it, so that all the world may know that Thou art our Saviour and Mighty Deliverer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." The qualification of an Orangeman was a charitable disposition — a truly Christian heart and mind. Qualifications. " An Orangeman should have a sincere love and venera- tion for his Almighty Maker ; a firm and steadfast faith in the Saviour of the World, convinced that He is the only G 2 I02 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 Mediator between a sinful creature and an offended Creator. His disposition should be humane and compas- sionate, his behaviour kind and courteous. He should love rational and improving society, faithfully regard the Pro- testant religion, and sincerely desire to propagate its doctrine and precepts. He should have a hatred to cursing and swearing, and taking the name of God in vain ; and he should use all opportunities of discouraging those shameful practices. Wisdom and prudence should guide his actions ; temperance and sobriety, honesty and integrity direct his conduct ; and the honour and glory of his king and country should be the motives of his exertions." But it is the ceremony by which an Orangeman is received into the fold that marks the religious character of the society more than anything else. Ritual of the Orange Introduction. " The applicant shall be introduced betiveen his two Sponsors : namely, the brethren who proposed and seconded his admis- sion, carrying the Bible in his hands, with the book of rules and regidations placed thereon. Two Brothers shall precede him. On his entering the room, a chaplain, if present, or in his absence a Brother appointed by the Master, shall say the zvhole or part of tvhat follozvs : — " O Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in Heaven .-' and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen .'' and in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee ? " (2 Chron. XX. 6). " Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the Gods ? who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders } Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed ; Thou hast guided 1835] ORANGE RITUAL. 103 them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation " (Exodus XV. II, 13). " O Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us ; for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us ; but by Thee only will we make mention of Thy Name " (Isaiah xxvi. 12, 13). "Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea " (Isaiah xxiv. 15). {Diiring the reading of these the Caiididate shall stand at the foot of the table, the bretJiren all standing also in their places, and strictly silent^ The Master shall then say — Friend, what dost thou desire in this meeting of true Orangemen .-' A7id then Candidate shall answer — Of my own free will and accord I desire admission into your Loyal Institution. Master — Who will vouch for this friend that he is a Protestant and loyal subject ? ( The Sponsors shall bow to the Master and signify the same, each mentioning his own name) Master — What do you carry in your hand .-* Candidate — The word of God. Master — Under the assurance of these worthy Brothers, we will trust that you also carry it in your heart. What is that other book .-' Candidate — The book of your rules and regulations. Master — Under the like assurance, we will further trust that you will study them well, and that you will obey them in all lawful matters. Therefore we gladly receive you into this Order. Orangemen bring to me your friend. ( The Candidate shall tJien be bi'oiight by his Sponsors before the Master ; the two Brothers standing at each side of the centre of the table ; during this, the Chaplain or Brother appointed shall say) — " Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried ; but 104 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand ; but the wise shall understand. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be ; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days" (Daniel xii, 10, 12, 13.) ( The Candidate shall then kneel on his 7'ight knee ; and the Master shall invest him with the decoration of the Order — an orange sash. Then the Chaplain or Brother appointed shall say) — " When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea " (Isaiah xxiv. 13, 14.) " That the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills ; and people shall flow unto it " (Micah iv. i). " And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes ; for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt. Thou shalt there- fore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year " (Exodus xiii. 16, 10). Then the Master shall say — We receive thee, dear Brother, into the religious and loyal Institution of Orange- men ; trusting that thou wilt abide a devoted servant of God and true believer in His Son Jesus Christ, a faithful subject of our King and supporter of our Constitution. Keep thou firm in the Protestant Church, holding steadily her pure doctrines and observing her ordinances. Make thyself the friend of all pious and peaceable men ; avoid- ing strife and seeking benevolence ; slow to take offence and offering none, thereby so far as in thee lieth, turning 1835] ORANGE OATH. 105 the injustice of our adversaries into their own reproof and confusion. In the name of the Brotherhood I bid thee welcome; and pray that thou mayest long continue among them, a worthy Orangeman, namely, fearing God, honour- ing the king, and maintaining the law. {Then the Master shall coinnmnicate, or cause to be com- vmnicated, wito tJie new member the signs and pass- words of the Brotherhood ; and the Chaplain or Brother appointed shall say) — " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men " (St Luke ii. 14). {After which the Brother shall make obeisance to the Master, and all present shall take their seats ; the certificate of the new Brother being first didy signed and registered.') "There appears a great deal in these [Orange] rules which is good Christian charity," said the Earl of Gosford before the Parliamentary Committee of 1835.^ But the Orange Society was " loyal " as well as " Chris- tian ; " and every Orangeman took an oath of allegiance. Orange Oath. " I, A. B., of my own free-will, and accord, in the presence of Almighty God, do hereby most solemnly and sincerely swear that I will always conceal, and never will reveal either part, or parts of this which I am now about to receive, and that I will bear true allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third, and all the heirs of the Crown, so long as they maintain the Protestant Ascendency, the laws, and consti- tutions of these Kingdoms." 2 The first of the Secret Articles also provided — " That we will bear true allegiance to his Majesty King George III., and his successors, so long as he or they ^ "Select Committee on Orange Lodges, &c., in Ireland." Q. 3938. " Ihid., Q. 1382. This was the oath in 1799. The changes that have been made in the oath will appear as the narrative proceeds. io6 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 support the Protestant Ascendency ; and that we will faith- fully support and maintain the laws and constitution of this kingdom." People said that the Orangemen took only a qualified oath of allegiance, that they promised to be "loyal" so long as " Protestant Ascendency " was upheld, but no longer. But the Orangemen indignantly repudiated this insinuation, without, however, giving a very satisfactory account of the use of the qualifying words.^ It was also said, that the religion of the Orange Society consisted in a holy hatred of Catholics. But this the Orangemen likewise denied, though admitting that Catholics, and Catholics alone, were excluded from the organization by article 9 of the "Secret Articles." This article provided — " No Roman Catholic can be admitted on any account." Stewart Blacker, Esq., Assistant Grand Secretary to the Grand Lodge of Ireland, was asked by the Committee of 1835: "Would a body of Roman Catholics, united together in a similar manner as the Orange body is, be, in your opinion, dangerous to the State } " He frankly answered : " I think a Catholic body, organised as the Orange Institution, would be highly injurious and detri- mental to a Protestant country as this, by the blessing of God, still is." 2 ^ The words were finally abandoned, as we shall see, post. - "Select Committee on Orange Lodges, &c., in Ireland." Q. 2138. Lieutenant-Colonel Verner, M.P., Deputy Grand Master, was asked : — " Is the association exclusively a Protestant association? It is. — Can any Catholic belong to it? Not by the rules of the society. — Can any Presbyterian belong to it ? Yes." Qs. 11 to 13. William Swan, Esq., Deputy Grand Secretary was asked, Q. 1204, "This purports to be the general declaration of the objects of the Orange Institution, and the Committee find in it the following words, ' we will not persecute, injure, or upbraid any person on account of his religious opinions, jDrovided the same be not hostile to the State.'" Q. 1207. "Do you consider the Catholic religion to be hostile to the State? I do." Q. 1208. "Then out of these woi'ds, 'we will not persecute, injure, or upbraid any person on account of his original opinions, provided the same be not hostile to the State,' a man who took that declaration would consider i835 ORANGE LODGES. 107 So much for the character and object of the Orange Institution as revealed in its rules and regulations, and explained by its witnesses. It is doubtful if many Orange lodges were established between September 1795 and January 1796, but in 1796 the organisation spread.^ In 1797 a lodge — destined to become the Grand Lodge of Ireland — was opened in Dublin;^ in 1798 the Orange yeomanry took an active part in crushing the rebellion ; in 1799 the first code wf rules was drawn up ; in 1800 the Society was divided on the question of the Union, some lodges refraining from taking any part in the controversy, while others passed strong resolutions against Mr Pitt's measure.'^ himself authorised to 'persecute, injure, or upbraid,' the Roman CathoHcs? No; we do not do it." Q. 1209. "What sense do you attach to these words? I cannot attach any meaning to them till I produce my own books." — " Select Committee [Commons] on Orange Lodges in Ireland." ^ " Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland." Qs. 3664, 3665. ^ London Review, ii. 489. ■* These, among other resolutions, were passed against the Union : — Orange Lodge, No. 883, at Newtownbarry, i6th February 1800 — "That Orangemen ought to come forward as Orangemen and Irishmen and declare their sentiments against a legislative union which now, or at any time, would be of the most fatal and pernicious consequences to the real liberty of Ireland. Edward Beally, Master. Walloughby Buslard, Deputy. Alex. M'Claughry, Secretary." Lodges Nos. 780 and 785. Dublin, nth March 1800 — "That the Constitution of 1782, under which our country has advanced to greatness and prosperity with uncommon rapidity, is that which, as Orangemen, we have sworn to defend and maintain ; and we are determined to co-operate with our fellow-subjects in every legal and proper method to oppose so destructive a measure. J. Charles, Secretary." Lodge 391, Wattlebridge, County Fermanagh, ist March 1800 — "That, strongly attached to the Constitution of 1782, a settlement ratified in the most unequivocal manner so far as the faith of nations is binding, we should feel ourselves criminal were we to remain silent while an attempt is made to extinguish it. That, impressed with every loyal sentiment towards our gracious Sovereign, we trust that the legislative union, which is contrary to the sense of all Orangemen and of the nation at large, will be relinquished. John Moore, Master.'' io8 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 The Society, as originally constituted, consisted of a Grand Lodge in Dublin, and of several Grand County Lodges, District Lodges, and Private Lodges scattered Lodge 428, Newtownbutler, i8th March 1800 — " That no lover of his country could have proposed a measure fraught with such destructive consequences, and that all supporters of it should be execrated by their fellow-subjects and by posterity. John Corry, Master." Lodges 382 and 907 — "That, as Irishmen, we feel insulted by the degrading arguments held forth in favour of the Union, as if the Lords and Commons are so weak, helpless, and ignorant that they can neither support nor legislate for Ireland without British aid." Lodge 652, Dublin, March 3rd, 1800 — "Resolved unanimously — That, as a loyal and Protestant association, attached as we are to our most gracious Sovereign and happy Constitution, we cannot, without the utmost indignation and regret, see a resolution from the Grand Lodge enjoining us to silence on the momentous question of a legislative union. "Resolved — That, sorry as we are to differ in opinion from the Grand Lodge, we should consider our silence as being accessory to the annihilation of that Constitution which, as Orangemen and freemen, we have solemnly sworn to support. "Resolved — That we consider the friends of that abominable measure — a union with Great Britain — as the greatest enemies to our most gracious Sovereign — a measure which would destroy our existence as a nation, and eventually involve the rights and the liberties, and even the lives, of the people of Ireland. "Resolved — That, from the above consideration, we solemnly protest against that destructive measure, and do call upon our brother Orangemen, by every legal means, to support that Constitution for which we risked our lives and properties in the hour of danger. G. '&., Deputy-Master. H. F., Secretary:' Lodge No. 500, Mountmellick, 4th Feb. 1800 — " All Address to all Brother Orangemen. "Conscious as we are of our loyalty to His Majesty George III., and our attachment to the happy Constitution of this Kingdom as established in 1782, we have beheld with surprise and concern an address from the Grand Lodge to all Orangemen, entreating them to be silent on a question whereby the Con- stitution is vitally attacked, and whereby the loyalty of the most valuable part of our countrymen is shaken or endangered. We cannot think it the duty of Orangemen to submit implicitly in all cases of the utmost moment to the direc- tions of a lodge, which is principally composed of persons who are under a certain person, which is exerted against the rights of Ireland, and while a lodge under such influence shall give the law to all Orangemen, we fear that our dearest interests will be betrayed. We therefore protest against its injunctions to silence, and declare, as Orangemen, as freeholders, as Irishmen, that we 1835] ORANGE INTOLERANCE. 109 throughout the country. The great functionaries of the Society belonged, of course, to the Grand Lodge in Dublin ; they were the Grand Master, the Deputy Grand Masters, the Grand Chaplain, the Grand Treasurer, the Grand Secretary, the Deputy Grand Secretary, and the Grand Committee. But the country lodges had their great functionaries and grandees too. The Grand County Lodges controlled the District Lodges, the District Lodges controlled the Private Lodges, and the Grand Lodge in Dublin controlled all. This lodge met twice a year (in May and November) for the transaction of general business, and the chief officers of the Grand County Lodges attended to represent the provincial organisations. The leaders of the Orange Society belonged to the aris- tocracy of the country; the rank and file were farmers, labourers, and mechanics. The Earl of Gosford, as we have seen,^ said before the Committee of 1835: "There appears a great deal in consider the extinction of our separate Legislature as the extinction of the Irish nation. We invite our brother Orangemen without delay to elect a Grand Lodge which shall be composed of men of tried integrity, who shall be unplaced, unpensioned, and unbought, and who shall avow their best qualifica- tion for such a station, that they will support the independence of Ireland and the Constitution of 1782. Henry Deery, Master. John Robinson, D.-M. Abraham Ryland, Secy.'" Lodge 651 — " Resolved — That we deeply lament the necessity which compels us to differ from the Grand Lodge, as we conceive no body of men whatsoever have so just a right to take into serious consideration the subject of Legislative Union with Great Britain as the Orangemen who have associated for the sole purpose of supporting the kingdom and Constitution. That we see with unspeakable sorrow an attempt made to deprive us of that Constitution, of our trade, our rising prosperity, and our existence as a nation, and reducing us to the degrad- ing situation of a colony to England. That we consider this measure but an ill return to men who clung to the Constitution in the hour of danger and dis- tress, and risked their lives and properties in its support, to have it snatched from them almost at the moment they have saved it. George Gowne, Master. Samuel Smith, Secretary.'^ ' Ante, p. 105. no THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 [the Orange rules] which is good Christian charity ; " " but," he added, " they are not always adhered to in practice." 1 This, it must be confessed, was the case. In theory, the Orange Society was Christian and loyal ; in practice, it was not always cither one or the other. In truth, a hatred of Catholicism — that is to say, a hatred of the- faith pro- fessed by three-fourths of their fellow-countrymen — was the basis of the religious and political creed of the Orange party. But this was not all. Liberal Protestants were placed under ban as well as avowed Catholics. Even Protestant policemen who did their duty were denounced as Papists. " If the police do their duty in the County Down," says Sir Frederick Stoven, Inspector-General of Police, before the Committee of 1835, "they are hooted and called Papists because they do their duty." - " Then it is not merely that the Catholics are insulted, but any man that does his duty in the discharge of the laws, provided he is opposed to their [the Orange] processions, is exposed to insult .'' " Sir Frederick was asked. He answered : " I only give the instances I know ; I was speaking severely to a sub-inspector in the county of Down upon the subject of some of his police that I thought were not acting quite fairly ; he said, ' So far from it, that I assure you, that in some places we can hardly show ourselves, we are so hooted.' And I said, ' How hooted } ' and he said, ' We are called Papists ; and I have heard myself, when walking along the streets, called " Papist Duff." ' " " Is Mr Duff a Catholic.^ No. — Then why is he called Papist Duff.? Because he does his duty. — You are yourself a member of the Established Church ? I am. — Do they honour you with that title ? I really do not know, but I believe they ^ " Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland." Q. 393S. = //>icf., 1835. Q. 4520. 1835] ORANGE INTOLERANCE. iii do. Some of them, I believe, have no great incHnation towards me."^ In 1 83 1 two clergymen were expelled the society for voting in favour of a Reform candidate ; '^ and this reso- lution was passed by the Grand Lodge — " That it is the recommendation of the Grand Lodge that the lodges [in the District of Dublin] do remove from any official situa- tions which they may occupy, such persons, being freemen of the city of Dublin, or freeholders, who voted for the Reform candidate at the late election, or who refrained from voting against them." ^ On November 29, 1832, the Grand Lodge passed this resolution : " That the ex-Sheriff Scott be expelled the institution for entertaining Daniel O'Connell at breakfast on political principles which we do not approve." ^ Upon one occasion an Orange yeomanry corps refused to be brigaded with another corps in which there happened to be five or six Catholics. A Presbyterian lieutenant of Orange yeomen was forced to resign his commission because he signed a petition in ^ " Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland, 1835," 4522, 4526. Captain Duff, chief constable of police, and private secretary to Sir F. Stoven, stated that all persons discharging their duty impartially, whether as policemen or magistrates, were called Papists in the North of Ireland. Qs. 815S, 8167. He added, "They were going to shoot the sub-inspector in the county of Down twelve months ago, of which I can produce a document. They called him 'papist Crafton.' " Q. 8160. '^ Ibid., 1939. '^ Ibid., Q. 1940, * Ibid., 1943. The views of the society on the subject of Repeal were peculiar. On June 13, 1 83 1, this resolution was passed by the Grand Lodge : " That the Orange- men of Ireland came forward at the close of last year in support of the Government when Mr O'Connell agitated the question of Repeal of the Union, in the confident expectation that they would receive that support from the Government which His Majesty's loyal subjects had a right to expect from His Majesty's Ministers ; but that if the Government think proper to sacritice the interests and endanger the existence of His Majesty's Protestant subjects in Ireland by the provisions of the Reform Bill, they must look to others to support them, should the question be again brought forward of the Repeal of the Legislative Union of the two countries." — Ibid., 1940. 112 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 favour of Catholic emancipation. But perhaps the best way to illustrate the difference between Orange rule and Orange practice is to describe an Orange " drum-beating." " Will you describe what is a drum-beating party .'' a Protestant witness was asked by the Committee of 1835. — There is a drum and fife playing along the road for the purpose of assembling the Orangemen, we suppose, or the boys in the neighbourhood, as they call themselves ; they then proceed to their Orange Lodge, and do whatever is to be done at the lodge ; I suppose the lodge is then broken up, and then they beat home again. And when one lodge goes to visit another, they all assemble with drums ; very often two or three together will assemble on the roads and parade there. " Is ' Orange Lodge' painted upon the drum } — Yes, and the number of the lodge. " Give an account of the tunes they play, and the manner in which it tends to disturb the public peace, in your opinion i* — The way in which it affects the public peace is this : if a Catholic or a Liberal Protestant, or a Presbyterian who is Liberal, has become obnoxious to any members of the lodge, the men assemble, and give him a drumming, as it is called, which is to assemble before his house and do not let him sleep all night ; and if he attempts to come out, all they do is to aggravate him to the utmost extent, so as to get a legal excuse for committing some outrage upon him. " To make him strike them .'' — To get the first blow struck, and then, when that is struck, it is a justification afterwards to the magistrates and to jurors, whereby the parties are dealt with according to the first blow which is struck. " That is to say they have impunity i* — Yes. "What tunes do they play upon those occasions i* — I have heard them play the ' Protestant Boys,' ' Boyne Water,' 1835] ORANGE DISPLAYS. 113 ' Colonel Vernon's March,' and ' Colonel Vernon's Dance.' I believe there are two tunes to his name. " Have you heard the ' Prussian Drum,' or ' More Holy Water ' ? "—Yes. " Are those tunes deemed ofifensive by the Catholics, and evidently intended to give offence to them by the party who play those tunes ? — Certainly they are." ^ A great feature in the Orange system were the annual processions held on July 12, to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne.- These processions were an insult to the Catholics, and a danger to the public peace. No doubt Lieutenant-Colonel Blacker, a prominent member of the Society, said before the Committee of 1835, " I beg to say I have never seen the country so quiet, so silent, as upon these nights after the processions were over. ... It has been a subject of general remark in my part of the world, that men whose conduct might, perhaps, have been considered loose or wild for 364 days in the year, were particular in the correctness of their conduct on that day [the 12th of July]." ^ But impartial witnesses like Mr Christie gave a flat contradic- tion to this statement " There scarcely has been a 12th of July, to the best of my recollection," said Mr Christie, " in any year from the commencement of Orangeism till the present period, when a breach of the peace has not occurred, and frequently lives have been lost in consequence of those processions." ^ ^ Mr Handcock. Q. 7966, et seq. -July 12 being old style for July i, on which latter day the Battle of the Boyne was fought. Sharman Crawford. Committee on Orange Lodges. Q. 5825. ^ "Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland, 1835," Q. S975-76. ^ Ibid., Q. 5600-5634. The Earl of Caledon was asked, "Have you found that the public peace has been preserved, or otherwise, in consequence of the existence of Orange Societies, and the processions and demonstrations resulting from them ? " He answered, "otherwise." Ibid., Q. 5418-5473. See also the evidence of Mr Sharman Crawford, and Mr Sinclair; and generally. H 114 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 The Government prohibited an Orange procession from being held at Crossgar on July 12, 1830. The Orangemen defied the authorities, and marched into the town, with fifes playing, drums beating, and colours flying. They were armed with pikes, and the leaders carried drawn swords. Pistol shots were fired in the air, and a determined disposition was shown to resist the law. An equally deter- mined disposition was shown by Sharman Crawford, the magistrate in charge, to enforce it. Crawford ordered the police to pull down a triumphal arch. They did so. He then ordered them to pull down another, but the police officer said it could not be attempted without loss of life, as the Orangemen were resolved to resist. Crawford sent for reinforcements to Downpatrick. The reinforcements quickly arrived. Crawford ordered the Orangemen to disperse. They refused. He then proposed to read the Riot Act, and order the police to clear the town. But the police officer said he had not a sufficient force to do so. Crawford again sent to Downpatrick for more reinforce- ments, and when these arrived, the Orangemen finally gave way after several arrests had been made, and the peace was preserved.^ On the same date an Orange meeting was proclaimed at Dungannon. The proclamation was disregarded ; the authorities were again defied. Chief Constable Duff" with a party of police attempted to pull down a triumphal arch. The Orangemen gathered around and said they would defend it to the death. Armed Orangemen filled the adjoin- ing houses. A desperate conflict seemed imminent when the magistrates ordered Duff to desist, and the Orange party were left in triumphant possession of the ground.^ On July 13, 1832, between 8000 and 9000 Orangemen met near Dungannon. They had sixty stands of colours, ^ "Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland, 1835." Q. 4313. ^ Ibid., Q. 7830. 1S35] ORANGE DISPLAYS. 115 and forty bands playing party tunes. Two hundred and fifty of them were armed with muskets. They were led by some of the foremost men in the county. The Hon. A. G. Stuart, D.L., whose horse was adorned with orange and purple ; Mr Grier, J. P., who wore an orange ribbon around his neck ; Captain Lowry of the Cameroy Yeomanry, who wore an orange and purple scarf ; Captain Lloyde of the Killyman Yeomanry, the Earl of Castle-Stuart, the Hon. Charles Stuart, and several clergymen of the Established Church.^ On April 27, 1832, between 4000 and 5000 Orangemen marched through the town of Dungannon with colours fly- ing, and bands playing " the Protestant Boys," " the Boyne Water," " Croppies lie Down." They were led by Colonel Verner, Mr Greer, and Captain Lloyde. A riot took place, and a Catholic had his left arm broken by a shot fired from the Orange ranks.^ An attempt was made to prevent an Orange meeting at Port Glenone, in the County Antrim, on July 12, 1834. A body of soldiers were drawn up to prevent the Orangemen from reaching the point of rendezvous. But the Orange- men marched onwards defiantly, forced the soldiers from their position, and reached the appointed place in triumph. The magistrates fearing bloodshed, withdrew the troops, and left the Orange party masters of the situation.^ In November 1834 a great Tory Orange meeting was held at Dungannon, " to address the throne in support of His Majesty's prerogative."** Several Tory magnates attended ; among them — Lord Caledon, Lord Belmore, Lord Abercorn, Lord Claude Hamilton, Lord Corry, Lord Alexander. A scene of wild disorder took place. The Orangemen marched through the town playing party ^ " vSelect CommiUee on Orange Lodges in Ireland, 1835." Q. 8070. - Ediiiburoh Review, January 1836. ^ "Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland, 1835," 4466. ■* The King had just dismissed the first ministry of Lord Melbourne. Ii6 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 tunes, waving party colours, and firing shots. One bullet whisked past the ear of Inspector-General Stoven. " I went down," says the Inspector, to "where the Orange flags and things were standing, close to the door at a public house opposite; and T went to Mr Murray, the Magistrate, and said, 'Why, Mr Murray, you may call this keeping the peace of Dungannon, but I never saw anything so bad in my life. I have just been shot at ; if you do not stop this firing, I think it is the most disgraceful thing I ever saw.' " However, the firing was not stopped. The proceedings terminated by the installation of Lord Claude Hamilton as Orangeman in a public house. The Sunday after the meeting, Mrs Duff, the wife of the chief constable, on opening her prayer book at church, found this notice in it — " Sir, — As this is the last day to be in this rotten town, I send you this advice : tell Robinson that he and that d d scout Strong will do very little on Friday at the Protestant meeting ; that Duff and Sir F. Stoven had better stay in the house, or they may get an Orange ball which may cause them to stay at home on the 12th of July."i A few more instances of Orange lawlessness will suffice. In November 1830 a party of Orangemen marched through the Catholic village of Maghery to hold a meeting close by. The Catholic villagers were, we are told, in "high good humour," and asked them ^ " to play tunes," which they did. When the meeting was over the Orange- men returned homewards, marching through Maghery again. The Catholic villagers again asked them to play more tunes; "play 'Patrick's Day,'"^ said one unlucky ' This notice was put in the prayer book the Sunday before the meeting, but Mrs Duff did not go to church on that day. Q. 4572-4580. - "Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland, 1835." Mr Hancock, Q. 8018. ^ It should be stated that " Patrick's Day " is not a party tune. It is the " Irish National air." iS35l ORANGE LAWLESSNESS. 117 villager. The Orange band refused indignantly, and at once struck up " the Prussian Drum," and "the Protestant Boys." A "scrimmage" immediately occurred ; the Orange drum and other musical instruments were broken, and the Orange party forced to beat a retreat. Two days after- wards an armed body of Orangemen returned to Maghery. The villagers fled before them, leaving their homes de- serted.^ The Orangemen entered the village, wrecked it, and tried to burn it. They then marched home with drums beating and colours flying. For this outrage no Orangeman was ever punished : a number were tried, but acquitted. For the attack on the Orangemen, four Catholics were tried, convicted, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. The damage done to the Catholic village was estimated at i5^6oo ; the damage done to the Orange instruments, at ten shillings.- On midsummer's eve, 1830, a number of children were playing around a bonfire in a field near Tanderagee. A party of Orangemen marching through Tanderagee with fife and drum, and led by a man named Murphy, a servant of Dean Carter, J. P., saw the fire, and went towards it. They entered the field, and immediately struck up the " Protestant Boys." The owner of the field asked them to leave; they refused, and Murphy knocked the owner down, Gault, another one of the Orange party, drew a dagger, and stabbed a young fellow named M'Glade, who died of his wounds. Several others were also attacked and stabbed by the Orangemen, who then withdrew. An inquest was held on the body of M'Glade, and a verdict of "wilful ^ " Who are more armed, the Catholics or the Orangemen ? The Catholics are never armed with deadly weapons. — Are the Orangemen frequently armed? Yes; constantly." — "Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland, 1835." Mr Sinclair, J. P., D;L., Q. 5055, 5056. - Through the intervention of Lord Charlemont, to whom the village be- longed, the Catholic rioters were released. Qs. 8014, 8732. ii8 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 murder " found against four of the Orange party, — Gault, Murphy, Hagan, and Ford. Gault and Hagan escaped capture, but Murphy and Ford were arrested. They were tried by an Orange jury at the Armagh Spring Assizes in 1831. They were acquitted of the charge of murder, but found guilty of riot and assault. Each was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour. On the day of their discharge from prison they were escorted home by a party of Orangemen with bands and colours. Sub- sequently Ford was received into the police on the recom- mendation of Dean Carter, and Murphy was enrolled a member of Dr Patten's yeomanry corps. Dr Patten was a District Master of the Orange Society.^ On July 12, 1833, an Orange procession marched through Lurgan in defiance of a proclamation prohibiting it. Church bells were rung, shots fired, and Orange colours displayed. Fourteen Orangemen were arrested for this violation of the law, and committed to trial by Mr Hancock, J. P., and Mr Brownlow, J. P. They were tried at the Armagh Assizes on July 24, 1833. Eleven were acquitted on the ground of ignorance of the law, three were con- victed, but discharged by the judge (Moore) with a caution.- On leaving the court-house they were m.et by a party of 2000 Orangemen, and conducted in triumph from Armagh to Lurgan. " Colonel Blacker," said Mr Hancock naively before the Committee of 1835, "will give you an account of the proceedings, for he stood on the steps of the inn at Portadown, and gave three cheers as the procession passed him." ^ On arriving at Lurgan the procession halted before Mr Hancock's house. Twenty-two drums were beaten, and stones thrown at the windows, " I just arrived," says Mr Hancock, " in the middle of the whole mischief They made an attempt to shut the turnpike gates to get me ^ " Select Committee oa Orange Lodges in Ireland, 1835." Q. 6388, et seq. 2 Q. 8821. " Q. S825. ■* Q. 8827. 1835] ORANGE LAWLESSNESS. 119 beat, but I was too quick for them." ^ Fortunately a party of the Fifty-second Regiment came up at the moment, and the procession moved away.^ Later on, about eight P.M., a number of Orangemen assembled at Lord Mandeville's gates near Tanderagee, where Mr Hancock was hanged and burned in Q.?i\2,y? On November 5, 1834, a party of Orangemen met at Keady to have a sham fight in memory of the battle of the Boyne. The party was divided into two " armies." " King James " commanded one army, and " King William " the other. There was a rivulet close by. This was the " Boyne." Before the " battle " commenced, a force of military and police, acting under the directions of Lord Gosford, arrived. The Orangemen were ordered to dis- perse ; but they showed little willingness to obey. It was the opinion of Lord Gosford, that if the police alone had been summoned, the Orangemen would have held their ground, and blood would have been shed ; but the presence of the military, consisting of a troop of dragoons, and two companies of infantry, awed them into submission. Never- theless, an order which had been given to disarm them was not carried out, as the magistrates feared that resist- ance would be offered, and grave consequences might follow.'* At the general election of 1834, 200 Orangemen armed with pistols and daggers, marched into Trim. They were led by a parson named Preston. They halted before the Tory Committee rooms, and were addressed by one of the Tory candidates, who said, " our chief reliance is on you." Subsequently they entered the court-house,^ where a pistol was taken from one of them by the sheriff, and finally, on their way home, a Catholic, named Henry, was killed. ^ Q. 8829. 2 Q. 8833. I Qs. 3317, 3352. " Q. 3476, et seq. ^ The polling was carried on in the court-house. Q. 6088. I20 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 Three Orangemen were tried for the murder ; but the jury- disagreed.^ In January 1835, a party of Orangemen entered the CathoHc village of Annahagh, in noon day, and burned seven houses. They then retired to the hill of Kinnigo, close by, and took up position in military array. They were armed with yeomanry muskets. Intelligence of what happened soon reached the town of Charlemont ; and a force of artillery and police proceeded to the scene of action. They found the village of Annahagh wrecked, and the armed Orangemen drawn up on the hill of Kinnigo, with fixed bayonets. The artillery and police halted at the base of the hill. An Orange agent descended and said his party were there in self-defence ; that 1000 Catholics were drawn up on a hill further on, ready to attack them. The magistrate said that the Orange party must disperse in any case. " We will," said the Orange agent, " when the Catholics disperse." The magistrate, and Inspector Stoven who commanded the police, then went in search of the Catholics ; but not a Catholic was to be seen all around. They quickly returned, but found that the Orangemen had left Kinnigo. The police were ordered to ascend the hill. On reaching the summit, they saw the Orangemen marching away " in regular order with sloped arms." The Catholics received compensation for the burning of their houses, but no man was punished for the outrage. " To this hour is there a soul in prison," Lord Gosford was asked by the Committee of 1835, "for this attack ^ The jury was composed of six Catholics and six Protestants ; the Catho- lics were for a conviction, the Protestants for an acquittal. During their stay in Trim, some of these Orangemen were lodged in the old jail ; others were lodged in a house opposite the new jail, and were "supplied with bed and bedding from the new jail." The Jail Committee consisted of magistrates, all of whom, with one exception, supported the Tory candidates. " Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland." Qs. 6203, 6212. 1 835] ORANGE JUDGES. upon the houses of sixteen Catholics which were wrecked and devastated in the manner described ? " He answered : " Not that I am aware of ; I beheve not." ^ But perhaps the worst feature in Orangeism was its effect on the administration of justice, " Picture to your- self," said Sheil, " an Irish court of justice. An Orange- man is indicted ; in the jurors' box twelve Orangemen are placed ; the magistrates, if the case be tried at Quarter Sessions, are members of this fatal fraternity. Under these circumstances, what a mockery is the administration of justice. Sir Frederick Stoven spoke of it as a subject of public ridicule and contempt." - " In all cases, civil and criminal," said Mr Kernan, a ^ Q. 3474. The cause of the outrage was said to be an attack made on some Orangemen by Catholics a short time previously. With reference to this matter, Lord Gosford was examined. Q. 3613. "Terence M'Mahon [a Catholic, whose house had been attacked by Orangemen about the same time as the burning of Annahagh], the first witness examined [at an official inquiry on the subject] states that it might have been in consequence of McWhinney [an Orangeman] being beat that his house was attacked. The men charged with beating McWhinney live in Annahagh, where the houses were burned. Would it not appear from this that, in the opinion of the Pro- testants, the first outrage was committed by the Roman Catholics? — I can give an answer in a very few words to that. It was supposed by some that the beating of McWhinney might have been the origin of the circumstances which took place afterwards ; but I do not think that was a general impres- sion, or the general feeling at the investigation ; and when that was men- tioned, it was said, if you go back to what occurred at the races of Armagh [where McWhinney was beaten], you must also go back to what took place at a preceding race at a place called Clantilew ; and another magistrate said, if you go to Clantilew, you muse go back to the races of Blackwatertown ; and another magistrate said, if you will go back to that, you may as well go back at once to the Battle of the Boyne." Q. 3613. Lord Gosford was com- missioned by the Lord-Lieutenant to hold an official inquiry into the affiiir. He reported: "The investigation finished last Wednesday evening, after a very close and minute inquiry into the circumstances which his Excellency was pleased to submit to our consideration. The principal feature in the business was the burning of seven houses in the townland of Annahagh belonging to the Catholics ; and I confess this appears to me to have been a most wanton, atrocious outrage, and any attempt to palliate or soften the offence failed in its object, and tended in no way to shake my opinion of the transaction." — " Hansard," 3rd series, vol. xxvii., p. 1074. - Sheil. " Hansard," 3rd series, vol. xxx., p. 291. 122 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 Catholic barrister, before the Committee of 1835, " between Protestant and Catholic, justice is positively denied to the Catholic." 1 In July 181 1, a party fight took place between Catholics and Orange yeomen at the fair of Derrygonnelly, in the County Fermanagh. The combatants fought with sticks ; the Orange yeomen were beaten. They retired for their guns, returned, and fired on the people.^ A man named Murvounage was killed. His father went from magistrate to magistrate in the county to swear information against the supposed murderer, one Kitson. The magistrates re- fused to receive the information, and Kitson fled to America. At the ensuing assizes Judge Osborne was told what occurred. He reprimanded the magistrates, and directed them to take the information. Subsequently, Kitson re- turned, was arrested, tried, and acquitted. Several other Orange rioters were also tried ; they were all acquitted. A number of Catholic rioters were then tried ; they were all convicted.3 About 181 1 a man named Hall broke into a Catholic church and stole the vestments. Moved by compunction, he subsequently caused the vestments to be returned to the parish priest. He was tried for the theft by an Orange jury at Enniskillen. He appeared in the dock with an Orange ribbon on his breast. He declined to off"er any evidence or defence. The judge (Fletcher) told the jury that they had nothing to try ; that the prisoner had in fact confessed his guilt. The jury found a verdict of "not guilty " without a moment's hesitation. " Thank God, gentlemen," said the judge, " that this is your verdict, not ^ " Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland." Q. 7321. " "It was the constant practice on the morning of the fair for the yeomen to lodge their arms in a particular place or depot ; then, if a row took place in the evening, or a riot, they fought for some time with sticks, and after this the yeomen generally went for their arms, and fired upon the people assembled at the fair." — Mr Kernan, barrister. Q. 7316. ^ Q- 7317- 1835] ORANGE JUDGES. 123 mine ; and," he added, " gentlemen, I will not treat you in this case as my highly esteemed departed friend, Judge Fox, treated a jury of this country : I will not placard your names on the session house or grand jury room door ; you shall not have an opportunity of dragging me before Parliament; but I will immediately order the sheriff to discharge you from doing any further duty at these assizes." On leaving the dock the prisoner was " hoisted on the shoulders of Orangemen, and carried in triumph through the streets of Enniskillen." ^ In December 1823, a party of Orange yeomen broke into the house of a Catholic named M'Custer, and asked for arms. M'Custer said he had none, and told the Orangemen to leave. They refused. A scuffle ensued, and M'Custer was knocked down. He jumped up quickly, seized a pitch- fork, and drove the Orangemen off. But they remained in force to the number of seventeen outside the house. M'Custer sent a messenger for his brothers who lived close by. They hastened to his rescue, but were met by the Orange party, who brutally assailed them, breaking the arm of one, and the leg of another. The Orangemen were tried for this offence by an Orange jury, and acquitted. The case was subsequently brought before Parliament by Mr John Smith, member for London ; but the M'Custers obtained no redress.^ In 1835 three Orangemen were tried at the Armagh Assizes for marching in procession. The judge. Baron Pennefather, suggested to them, with a view of mitigating their sentence, that they should express regret for violating the law. They replied by whistling the "Protestant Boys" in the dock. They were sentenced to three weeks' im- prisonment.^ I have now, I think, given a sufficient number of cases to 1 Qs. 7216, 7231. 'Q. 7336. * Shell. "Hansard," 3id series, vol. xxx. p. 292. 124 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 illustrate the working of the Orange system in Ireland, and shall only add an extract from a famous charge delivered by Mr Justice Fletcher in 18 15. He sums up the character of the Orange Society, thus : — " In the next place, the country has seen a magistracy over-active in some instances, and quite supine in others. This circumstance has materially affected the administration of the laws in Ireland. In this respect I have found that those societies, called Orange Societies, have produced most mischievous effects, and particularly in the North of Ireland. They poison the very fountains of justice, and even some magistrates under their influence have, in too many instances, violated their duty and their oaths. I do not hesitate to say, that all associations, of every descrip- tion, in this country, whether of Orangemen or Ribbonmen, whether distinguished by the colour of orange or of green ; all combinations of persons, bound to each other by the obligation of an oath, in a league for a common purpose, endangering the peace of the country, I pronounce them to be contrary to law, and, should it ever come before me to decide upon the question, I shall not hesitate to send up bills of indictment to a grand jury against the individuals, members of such an association, wherever I can find the charge properly sustained. Of this I am certain, that, so long as those associations are permitted to act in the lawless manner they do, there will be no tranquillity in this country, and par- ticularly in the North of Ireland. There, those disturbers of the public peace, who assume the name of Orange yeomen, frequent the fairs and markets, with arms in their hands, under the pretence of self-defence, or of protecting the public peace, but with the lurking view of inviting the attacks from the Ribbonmen, confident that, armed as they are, they must overcome defenceless opponents, and put them down. Murders have been 1835] JUDGE FLETCHER ON ORANGEISM. 125 repeatedly perpetrated upon such occasions ; and though legal prosecutions have ensued, yet such have been the baneful consequences of those factious associations, that, under their influence, petty juries have declined (upon some occasions) to do their duty. These facts have fallen under my own view. It was sufficient to say, such a man displayed such a colour, to produce an utter disbelief of his testimony, or, when another has stood with his hand at the bar, the display of his party badge has mitigated the murder into manslaughter. Gentlemen, I do repeat that these are my sentiments, not merely as an individual, but as a man discharging his judicial duty, I hope wdth firmness and integrity. With these Orange Associations I connect all commemorations and processions, producing embittering recollections, and inflicting wounds upon the feelings of others ; and I do emphatically state it as my settled opinion, that, until those Associations are effectually put down, and the arms taken from their hands, in vain will the North of Ireland expect tranquillity or peace." In the same charge, he says : " The ties of religion and morality being thus loosened, a frightful state of things has ensued ; perjury has abounded ; the sanctity of oaths has ceased to be binding, save where they ad- minister to the passions of parties. The oaths of the Orange Associations, or of the Ribbonmen, have, indeed, continued to be obligatory. As for oaths administered in a court of justice, they have been set at nought. Gentle- men, I must further admonish you, if you are infested with any of the Orange or Green Associations in this county, to discourage them ; discourage all processions and com- memorations connected with them, and you will promote the peace and concord of the country ; but suffer them to prevail, and how can justice be administered .'' ' I am a loyal man,' says a witness ; that is, ' Gentlemen of the petty jury, believe me, let me swear what I will.' When 126 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 he swears he is a loyal man, he means, ' Gentlemen of the jury, forget your oaths, and acquit the Orangemen.' "A truly loyal man is one who is attached to the Consti- tution under which we live, and who respects and is governed by the laws, which impart more personal freedom, when properly administered, than any other code of laws in existence. If there are disturbances in the country, the truly loyal man endeavours to appease them. The truly loyal man is peaceful and quiet ; he does his utmost to prevent commotion, and, if he cannot prevent it, he is at his post, ready to perform his duty in the day of peril. But what says the loyal man of another description, the mere pretender to loyalty .-• ' I am a loyal man in times of tranquillity ; I am attached to the present order of things, as far as I can get any good by it ; I malign every man of a different opinion from those whom I serve; I bring my loyalty to market.' Such loyalty has borne higher or lower prices, according to the different period of modern times ; he exposes it to sale in open market at all times, seeking continually for a purchaser. Such are the pre- tenders to loyalty, many of whom I have seen ; and incal- culable mischiefs they perpetrate. It is not their interest that their country should be peaceful ; their loyalty is a ' sea of troubled waters.' " Gentlemen, I have had a long professional experience of the state of this country, travelling two circuits every year, and I have spoken the result of my professional observations and judicial knowledge. Perhaps the sincerity with which I have put forward these observations may excite some dis- pleasure ; but I hope they may do some good, and I am pretty indifferent whether they are found disagreeable or not. Living a great part of my life in the hurry of profes- sional pursuits, I have employed the moments of my leisure in literary retirement. Attached to no party, I have never mixed with the zealots of either ; I have been assailed and i835] ORANGEISM IN ENGLAND. 127 I calumniated by both. Such is the lot of the man en- deavouring to do his duty with firmness and sincerity." ^ So far I have only dealt with Orangeism in Ireland. I shall now deal with it elsewhere. After the Union, the Orange Society spread to England, where lodges were opened under warrants from the Grand Lodge in Dublin. But in 1808, a Grand Lodge for England Avas established at Manchester, under the presi- dency of Colonel Taylor, and thenceforth English lodges were opened under its warrants. Between 1808 and 18 13, lodges were opened at Manchester, London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Norwich, Sunderland, Dover, Chelmsford, New- castle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield, Bury, Halifax, Exeter, Ply- mouth, Chester, Cambridge, Oldham, and other towns.- In 1 82 1, the English Grand Lodge was transferred from Manchester to London, where its first meeting was held at the house of Lord Kenyon, and under his lordship's presidency, on April 27. The Society also spread to Scotland, Wales, and the colonies ; entered the army, infected the church, and, as Orangemen boasted, stopped only on the confines of the throne itself. In 1828, the Duke of Cumberland ^ became Grand Master of the Order throughout the empire ; Lord Kenyon was Deputy Grand Master of England and Wales ; Lord Gordon, Deputy Grand Master of Scotland ; and Lord Enniskillen, Deputy Grand Master of Ireland. The duties of Grand Chaplain were discharged by no less a personage than the Lord Bishop of Salisbury. There was no feature of the Orange system more im- portant than the existence of Orange lodges in the army. "Your Committee," says the Report of the Select Com- ^ "Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland." Q. 3534. " " Parliamentary Debates," vol. xxvi., p. 977. It is not quite clear whether some of those lodges were not opened before 1808. 'The Orangemen used proudly to allude to his Grace as " nearest to the throne." 128 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 mittee of the House of Commons, appointed in 1835 to inquire into the Orange Institution in Great Britain and the colonies, " inserts a Hst of military warrants issued to the following regiments to hold lodges under the loyal Orange Institution, and which was extracted from the printed register of 1 830, presented by Mr Chetwoode ; and, if the regiments and military corps holding warrants under the Grand Lodge of Dublin, as stated in the evidence before the House, are taken into account, it will be seen how large a portion of the army has been at different times imbued with Orangeism : — "No. 30. 13th Light Dragoons. „ 31. Royal Sappers and Miners, 7th Comp. „ 33. 24th Regiment of Foot. „ 58. 95 th or Riile Brigade. „ 64. 35th Regiment. „ 65. Royal Artillery Drivers. „ 66. 43rd Regiment. „ 67. Royal Artillery. „ "jj. Royal Horse Artillery. „ 84. 42nd Foot (Highlanders). „ Z^. 59th Foot. „ 94. Rifle Brigade, 2nd Batt. „ 104. 42nd Regiment. „ 114. Rifle Brigade. „ 120. 31st Foot. „ 125. 7th Dragoon Guards. „ 131. i6th Light Dragoons. „ 165. 51st Light Infantry. „ 181. 6th Foot. „ 190. 6th Dragoon Guards. „ 204. 5 th Do. „ 205. Royal Artillery, 4th Batt. „ 232. Do., 7th Batt „ 238. 67th Foot. 1835] ORANGE ISM hV THE ARMY. 129 " No. 241. 29th Foot. 243. Royal Sappers and Miners. 248. Royal Artillery, 5th Batt. 254. Do., 6th Batt. 258. 94th Foot. 260. 17th Foot. 269. 1st Royal Dragoons. 204. 6th Dragoon Guards."^ Orange lodges were established among the troops in Bermuda, Malta, Corfu, New South Wales, Van Dieman's Land, and Canada, and in some cases it was sought to maintain these lodges in opposition to the military autho- rities. But the relations between the Orange Society and the army may best be gathered by the following extract from the Report of the Committee of 1835. "At the first meeting of the Orange Institution of Great Britain, after the Duke of Cumberland became Grand Master, held at the house of Lord Kenyon, on the 17th of March, 1829, the Duke of Cumberland in the chair, the Report of the Grand Committee was read, received, and confirmed, and the following resolutions were unanimously adopted : — " ' That new warrants be granted — " * No. 66. To Samuel Morris, musician, 43rd Foot, Gibraltar. „ 94. To Hospital-Serjeant Chas. O. Haines, 2nd Batt. Rifle Brigade, Malta. „ 104. To Private James Bain, 42nd Foot, Gibraltar. „ 114. To Corporal John Parkinson, 2nd Batt. Rifle Brigade, Devonport. „ 248. To R. Lawrence, 5th Batt. Royal Artillery, Gibraltar.' ' " Report of Select Committee [Commons] of 1835 on Orange Institution in Great Britain and the Colonies," p. xii. There were two Committees on the Orange Institution : one for Ireland, one for Great Britain and the Colonies. I I30 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S35 " At a subsequent meeting in the same place, on the 4th of June 1832, where the Duke of Cumberland also presided, the Report of the Grand Committee and their resolutions were read before the Grand Lodge. The tenth resolution is to the effect that 'several additional letters were laid before the Grand Committee, containing complaints against Mr Chetwoode.' Among these were letters from the following non-commissioned officers and privates : — ^^ Bermuda. Serjeant Chainey, Nov. 2, 1831. Corfu. Hospital- Serjeant Haines, 2nd Batt. Rifles, April 15, 1832. Dublin. Brother Nichols, 50th Regiment, May 12, 1832. Malta. Brother M'Innes, 42nd Regiment (High- landers), May I, 1832. Quebec. Brother Inglis, 24th Regiment. " By the Report of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge, held on the i6th April 1833, the Duke of Cumberland being in the chair, it appears that the proceedings of warrant 233, Woolwich (being a military warrant, Royal Artillery, 9th Battalion), were read, and Brother John Gibson (military) of the said warrant was examined ; and it was resolved that Charles Nimens (a private in that battalion) should be suspended from membership, with right of appeal through the Grand Committee to the next Grand Lodge. "There are regular entries of the names of the regiments and the corps of artillery, and to others, in the ledgers, from 1820 to 1824, the number of the warrants granted to each of them, the amount of dues owing by them to the Grand Lodge, and the amounts received from time to time from them. All these accounts are kept by the Deputy Grand Treasurer ; and once a year, or oftener, the accounts 1S35] ORANGE!SI\r IJV THE ARMY. 131 of the institution were balanced and laid before the Grand Lodge ; and in these printed accounts entries from lodges in the army also appear. In the accounts published and circulated within the last three years to every member of the Grand Lodge, there are many entries also of the names of the privates and non-commissioned officers from whom money was received, viz. : — " ' Dues received from the following military lodges, from the account submitted to the Grand Lodge, 4th of June, 1835 : *" Woolwich. 133. 13, Dues to March, 1833, £0 15 6 296. 1st Royal Dragoons, .280 Gibraltar. 53rd Regiment, for new warrant, . . .1116 From Malta. Fusiliers, granted by Commissioner Nucella, for new warrant, .300 Dover. 114. Dues from June 1832, 1st Rifle Brigade, .100 " There is a register in which some thousand names are alphabetically entered, with the number of the lodge they belong to, and of these some hundreds are entered as military, and opposite to them the number of the regiments they respectively belong to. "There exists a register, printed in 1826, and made up in manuscript by Mr Chetwoode to 1830, of all the lodges under the institution, having the names of thirty regiments or corps opposite the numbers of the warrants they held ; and many of the printed circulars announced that those printed registers of the lodges were on sale at 2s. each. An extract of the registers of military lodges is given in another part of the report. " In the printed circular reports of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge, at which his Royal Highness presided. 132 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 there are entries of the warrants granted to regiments by that Grand Lodge : for instance, it appears from the minutes of proceedings of the meeting of the Grand Lodge at No. 9 Portman Square, on the 17th February 183 1, the Duke of Cumberland, Grand Master of the Empire, in the chair, that the issuing of twenty- four warrants to hold new lodges was approved, and three of them are thus inserted, viz. : — "No. 254. To Samuel Heasty, 6th Battalion Artillery. „ 258. To James Smith, 94th Foot. „ 260. To Private Wilson, 17th Foot. "There are also entries (1947) of Serjeant William Keith having attended two meetings as proxy for the ist Regiment of Dragoon Guards, warrant 269 ; and by a resolution at a meeting of the Grand Lodge on the 15th of February, 1827, 'No person can be received as proxy in the Grand Lodge, who is not of himself qualified to sit and vote therein." "In the laws and ordinances of 1821, 1826, and 1834, there is an apparent encouragement held out for the initiation of soldiers and sailors to be Orangemen, by the remission of the fees of admission. " On the 4th of June, 1834, there is the following entry in the printed Report of Proceedings — "'Rule 41st. — No person can be admitted into the institution for a less fee than 15s., nor advanced into the purple order, after a reasonable probation, for less than an extra fee of 5 s., except soldiers and sailors, when the fee of admission shall be at the discretion of the meeting.' " ^ After the emancipation of the Catholics, during the 1 " Report on Orange Lodges in Great Britain and the Colonies," pp. xx., xxi. 1835] THE '' FAIRMAN plot:' 133 struggle for Parliamentary reform, and while the Grey- Ministry remained in power, an important effort was made to reorganise the Orange Institution, so that it might prove a formidable barrier to further legislation in the direction of popular liberty. The Orangemen had lost confidence in the Tory chiefs, and were resolved themselves to make a stand for the " Constitution." At this period — 1829- 1834 — a character famous in Orange history appeared upon the scene. Lieutenant - Colonel William Blennerhasset Fairman. Fairman seems to have been a person of some energy and resource ; eager for fame; and ready for the most desperate enterprises. He drew the Orange Society to the verge of treason, and was himself perhaps prepared to cross the constitutional bound- ary ; but the Society flinched ; and Fairman vanished. Writing of his plot — for the " Fairman plot " has its place in history as well as the " Cato Street Conspiracy " — Harriet Martineau says : — " The whole affair appears so unsuited to our own time, and the condition of our monarchy — so like a plunge back into a former century — that all the superiority of documentary evidence we have is needed to make the story credible to quiet people who do not dream of treason plots and civil war in England in our day." ^ Fairman joined the Orange Society about 181 5; but he was advanced to no important post until the events which have made his name notorious occurred. In 183 1 he be- came Grand Secretary and Grand Treasurer of the Society in Great Britain. Fairman has been charged with no less serious an offence than a plot to change the succession to the crown. It was his design, and the design of the Orange Society — so it has been said — to place the Duke of Cumberland on the throne, to the exclusion of the Princess Victoria. ^ Martineau, " History of the Peace,'' ii. p. 266. 134 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 I am not prepared to assert that this charge has been proved ; but it is, I think, clear that Fairman was resolved to make the Orange Society a great physical power, and to resist by arms the attempts of any Government to put it down. But the fairest Avay to deal with the subject is to set out the "documentary evidence" mentioned by Harriet Martineau. This evidence consists of letters written by and to Fair- man, concerning the reorganisation of the Society. These letters will speak for themselves, Fairman to the Duke of Cumberland. \No date ; hut written probably in 1829 or 1830.] " Sir, — Presuming on the confidence reposed in me by the late Duke of York,^ the result of a zealous advocacy, as also of the innumerable communications I had the honour of making to him, during a series of years, on affairs of vital importance to the safety, not alone of his august family, but to the existence of the empire, which I might be justified in affirming it was my peculiar good fortune to have been instrumental in rescuing from commotion in more instances than one — in addressing your Royal High- ness, should I insensibly fall into an unreserved strain, no less indicative of a conscious integrity than of an inde- pendent mind, pregnant with patriotic loyalty, the manli- ness of your own character will prove my best indemnity, if through the frankness of my nature I shall happen to be guilty of an unintentional departure from State etiquette. " Of my numerous services, both private and public, I have the amplest proofs, the most satisfactory testimonials, under the hand of the late much-lamented Commander-in- Chief, as likewise, indeed, of a much higher personage, to which I am at present only induced to allude as a medium ^ The Duke of York had been Grand Master of the Society ; he resigned the post on learning that there were some doubts respecting its legality. 1S35] THE ''FAIRMAN plot:' 135 of introduction and access to your Royal Highness. Un- willing to rush unnecessarily into the presence of my superiors, I may, nevertheless, be permitted to glance slightly at the danger of committing to paper that which, for the protection of all parties, might be more securely submitted in person. In evidence of this, perhaps it may be venial in me to intimate I am in suspense at this moment as to the receipt of a letter by the illustrious Prince to whom it was addressed, left at Cumberland House, in St James' Palace, so long since as January last. From my past experience of the scrupulous graciousness with which all applications were uniformly acknowledged in such quarters, I should be almost warranted in apprehending a transitive miscarriage to have occurred on one side ; hence it behoves me to be somewhat more guarded on such an occasion as the present. " At the same time, I consider it to be no less my duty than it is my inclination to add, that any command with which I may be honoured in writing upon this subject, I shall feel great cheerfulness in obeying. Here, probably, it may neither be thought superfluous nor disrespectful to premise, that all developments, as between the late Duke of York and myself, were held inviolably sacred ; by whom it was understood most distinctly, that I was neither to undergo an examination, nor be questioned as to the sources through which my intelligence had been ever derived. By such conditions his Royal Highness was pleased to signify his readiness to abide, who condescended to convey to me a solemn assurance that my disclosures, to whatever they might extend, should invariably be re- ceived in strict confidence for his personal guidance, but nothing more. Long before it exploded, I detected and exposed the conspiracy against the House of Brunswick, which in 1809 assumed a tangible shape, and involved in it consequences the most painful. This, however, was only 136 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 one of the many things discovered and divulged by me, the acquirement, the unravelHng of which, whether the effect of apocalyptical gift, intuitive light, or of what other means, is not material to the purpose ; suffice it to say, that no system of espionage was resorted to, no faith be- trayed nor trust broken ; but that it was done rather by a fair grapple with the enemy than by a recourse to base acts, vile agency, or unworthy aid of any kind. A spirit of enterprise, and a genius for the self-imposed task, with a moderate share of discernment, and a facility in arriving at right conclusions, were the chief auxiliaries which afforded me the happiness of preparing those, for whose preserva- tion I had risked my life, against the storms and tempests then gathering, with the mischiefs and ills about to burst upon them. " Should an indisposition,^ which has agitated the whole country for a fortnight, take a favourable turn, — should the Almighty in His mercy give ear unto the supplications that to His heavenly throne are offered up daily, to prolong the existence of one deservedly dear to the kingdom at large, — the divulgement I have expressed a willingness to furnish would be deprived of no small portion of its value. Even in this case, an event, for the consummation of which, in common with all good subjects, I obtest the Deity, it might be as well your Royal Highness should be put in posses- sion of the rash design in embryo, the better to enable you to devise measures for its frustration ; at any rate, you would not then be taken by surprise, as the nation was last year, but might have an opportunity of rallying your forces and of organising your plans for the defeat of such machi- nations as might be hostile to your paramount claims. Hence should the experiment be made, and its expediency be established, your Royal Highness would be in a situa- tion to contend for the exercise in your own person of that ^ The illness of George IV. 1 835] THE ' ' FA IRMAN PL OT." 1 37 office at which the wild ambition of another may prompt him to aspire. " Instead of offering in the channel thus selected the revealment in question, it has been suggested to me that the . . ." The rest of this letter has not come to light, but the " rash design in embryo " is explained in the next. Fairman to John Sydney Taylor, of the Morning Herald. " (Private.) " Dear Sir, — From those who may be supposed to have opportunities of knowing ' the secrets of the castle,' the King is stated to be by no manner in so alarming a state as many folks would have it imagined. His Majesty is likewise said to dictate the bulletins of his own state of health. Some whisperings have also gone abroad, that in the event of the demise of the crown, a regency would probably be established, for reasons which occasioned the removal of the next in succession from the office of high admiral. That a maritime government might not prove consonant to the views of a military chieftian of the most unbounded ambition,^ may admit of easy belief; and as the second heir-presumptive is not alone a female but a minor,^ in addition to the argument which might be applied to the present, that in the ordinary course of nature it was not to be expected that his reign could be of long duration, in these disjointed times it is by no means unlikely a vicarious form of government may be attempted. The effort would be a bold one, but after the measures we have seen, what new violations should surprise us .'' Besides, the popular plea of economy and expedience might be ^ The Duke of Wellington. ^ The Princess Victoria. 138 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 urged as the pretext, while aggrandizement and usurpation might be the latent sole motive. It would only be necessary to make out a plausible case, which, from the facts on record, there could be no difficulty in doing, to the satisfaction of a pliable and obsequious set of ministers, as also to the success of such an experiment. — Most truly yours, " W. B. F." " Wednesday, April i6th, 1830. " I have scribbled this at Peel's, and if you wish it, will write a paragraph on the subject. From all that I hear, there can be little doubt the King will soon resume his rides in the Great Park now that the drawing-room is gone by.^ " John Sydney Taylor, Esq., " Morning Herald Office." {Copy) Fairman to Sir James Cockburn. " The British, /w/y 14, 1831. " My dear Sir James, — By private hand I lately had the pleasure of forwarding you two letters of different dates from Esher. Having, as the Metropolitan Deputy Grand Master of the Orange Institution, to preside at a district dinner on the 12th, to commemorate the glorious battle of the Boyne, Saville was kind enough to drive me up to London on Tuesday last. This has afforded me an opportunity of redeeming my promise to you, by enclosing the first of a series of essays which were addressed by me recently to a noble lord, on his own invitation, on the visionary scheme now afloat for the removal of all our political sores. " Whenever this ill-fated branch of the empire shall 1 The above letter was returned, as there is a post-mark dated seven at night, April 6, 1830, and addressed thus: — "To Colonel Fairman, British Coffee House, Cockspur Street." 1S35] THE '' FAIRMAN PLOT." 139 again be involved in a civil war, against which emancipa- tion, that balsam for its complaints, as the cathartic now in preparation is calculated to do towards the removal of the disease of England, the formidable force in review^ will hasten with cheerfulness to the arduous scene of action. By our late returns its numerical strength now exceeds 175,000, and is fast augmenting. Though in regard to numbers we are infinitely less on this side of the water, in even that respect we are by no means despicable ; and while this loyal corps is equally well affected to the con- stitution, its members are increasing as much in their influence as in their amount. " My own fine fellows who compose the lodges in the capital and its environs, none of whom are Reformers, for upon this vital point I sounded them, are staunch to the backbone. Should it be required of them to muster for the protection of the lives or the property of those un- compromising men who may possess the spirit to brave hostility, by an opposition to so monstrous a plan, at my summons they would assemble, and under my command they would place themselves for putting their principles to the test. I have strong reasons to be of opinion that before long there will be some occasion. "The unfeeling insolence of the aristocracy has attained a pitch, too, that will assuredly be the means of precipi- tating its tremendous downfall. Many of its wranglers, in their own council, are more than mortal, and have the daring, as worms grovelling on the earth, to vie with the omnipotence of Heaven. These vain aspirants will soon, however, be cast from their elevated seats, when we shall behold them as servile and abject in adversity as they have been overbearing and presumptuous to inferiors in prosperity, of which the arrival of the evil hour will alone ^ The Orange Society. HO THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 make them sensible. One, moreover, of whom it might ill become me to speak but in terms of reverence, has never- theless been weak enough to ape the coarseness of a Cromwell, thus recalling the recollection to what had been far better left in oblivion. His seizure of the diadem, with his planting it upon his brow, was a precocious sort of self- inauguration. Prior to the day fixed for the performance of the ceremony to be observed at the coronation, it is intended that the levelling scroll should have obtained the signature of H. M. For the achievement of this grand object, the most violent exertions will be made, in tenderness to the Sovereign's oath, to maintain the true principle of the constitution. Hence it should appear that his lordship enter- tains a more scrupulous veneration for the sacred solemnity of such a moral obligation than was. ... by his grace. " Lists of all the divisions in the Commons, of which I forward to you one, have been circulated most extensively, that the rabble may be apprized of those inimical to their privileges. The names of the refractory peers will be published and dispersed all over the kingdom in a like gratuitous way, that vengeance may be inflicted the more easily on those who shall have the rashness to vote against the Bill. So far from a reaction in the sentiments of the public, or at least a returning state of sanity, with a great part of it the unruffled calm that distinguishes the feelings of the Reformers is only a prelude to the gathering storm which is howling at a distance, and will draw on us anon. But under all changes I shall remain, my dear Sir, ever yours, unalterably, " W. B. F." " To Sir James Cockburn." Sir James Cockburn to Fairman. "New Spring Gardens, y?) "DONCASTER, Tuesday, Feb. \2th, 1833. " My Dear Lord, — . . . Lord Wynford, the soundness of whose judgment few persons would be so hardy as to call in question, was kind enough to write me word he had read with much pleasure the report of my proceedings at Birmingham. I believe I mentioned that I had consulted his Lordship on the propriety of my continuing to introduce the Duke's^ name in the prominent shape I had previously done, and with the policy of which he seemed to agree. There is one strong point which induces me to cherish a hope that I have worked a change in the sentiments of the press, which is that the foulest part of it, I fancy, has not attacked me, nor attempted to gainsay my comments in refutation of the calumnies so lavishly put forth against our illustrious Grand Master. If he would but make a tour into these parts, for which I have prepared the way, he would be idolized. — I am, with sincere respect, my dear Lord, ever most devotedly your Lordship's, " W. Blennerhassett Fairman." '' To Lord Kenyon." ^ Cumberland. 1835] the '' fairman plot." 167 Fairman to Lord Kenyon. {Copy.) " Reindeer, Donc aster, Tuesday. " My Dear Lord, — As I once mentioned to Lord Wyn- ford, I really write such a number of letters, that I scarcely know to whom or where. I think, however, that I not only addressed one or two to your Lordship from Leeds as well as from this place (before I received yours yesterday), but that I also sent you some documents in a parcel to Gredington, which I hope have been forwarded to you in London, as it might be very desirable to lay them before the Grand Lodge. The keeping a memorandum is wholly out of the question, from the constant state of turmoil and interruption I have endured, though I am frequently not in bed till two in the morning, labouring to get my business under, which in spite of all my industry still gains upon me. Li the midst of my bustle yesterday, in consequence of my recall, and which, by the way, I consider to be highly complimental, a party of gentlemen came over to me from Barnsley, to aid my endeavours for the establish- ment of a new lodge in this town, of the first respecta- bility, for which I hope the way is paved. It was im- possible that I could do otherwise than invite my new brothers, by whom I had been treated most princely, to take their dinner with me. About a week ago I opened for them their warrant, and by way of beginning I initi- ated ten members, and, could I have stayed another day, might as many more, who have since joined it ; but the subsequent fees cannot be claimed by the Grand Lodge. These brethren are all men of fortune, of high spirit, to whom money is no object. In proof of this, Mr Jadison, the Master, who dined with me yesterday, said that a sub- scription of ;^5o each had already been talked of, to get up i68 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 an entertainment for our illustrious Grand Master, if they might be permitted to look forward to so distinguished an honour as a visit from him in the autumn of the year. All the ladies are with us, and 'the blue belles of Yorkshire' are noble dames. So sensible were they of the injuries that have been heaped on our much-injured prince, that at a dinner party at Mr Jadison's, when His Royal Highness's ^ health was proposed (and in every party which I have attended it has been drank with enthusiasm), they actually shed tears. By excess of toil my own nerves are so un- strung too, that in making to your Lordship this report, I am playing the woman ; though I am proof against perse- cution, I am not against kindness. While the one kindles my indignation, the other at once subdues me. I find, however, I must not pursue such a subject at this moment. The enclosure goes to the corroboration of what might probably have been effected could I have stayed longer in a place since the elections. I have many more letters of a similar kind, upon which I cannot lay my finger at present, but doubtless shall speedily be able to do so. I have notified to most, if not the whole of the districts in this county, in Lancaster, and in Cheshire, as well as in Derbyshire, the assembling of the Grand Lodge on Friday next. I have written to the Duke of Gordon, to Glasgow, and elsewhere, to intimate that in all probability I should be directed to renew my circuit of the country so soon as the circular should be published. My inefficiency at the ensuing meeting will be excused, I hope, as I really stand in need of rest, and cannot promise to be more than a mere cipher. Towards its termination I will rally all my spirits, to give some account of my mission, but the very thought now unmans me. " The new lodge at Barnsley is named ' The Royal ■^ Cumberland. 1S35] THE '' FAIRMAN PLOT." 169 Cumberland Lodge.' — In great haste, my dear Lord, ever most devotedly your Lordship's, " W. Blennerhasset Fairman." " To Lord Kenyon." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " PORTMAN SQUARK, May 2, 1833. " My Dear Sir, — I will try to keep all right to-morrow at the meeting of the Grand Committee. I truly grieve you are so poorly, and beg you to take care of yourself I will see if anything can be done to-morrow on the subject of fees; but though character ought doubtless to be our first object, numbers attached to the cause must be a necessary ingredient as to strength. I don't know whereabouts Hercules Buildings are, or some fine morning I might try to beat up your quarters. When we consider who our Grand Master is, we ought to feel — " ' Nil desperandum, Teucro duce et auspice Teucro.' — Ever your faithful friend, " Kenyon." " To Colonel Fairman." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " PoRTMAN Square, May 25, 1833. " My Dear Sir, — I return the gallant Duke's warm- hearted letter. Would to God we had hundreds of such men ! The wretch in The Satirist would be best corrected, if it might be, by an opposite paper ruining his scandalous one. He well deserves, however, the severest punishment, and ought to be prosecuted in all cases where conviction seems absolutely certain. The difficulty of obtaining honest juries, to which Peel's Bill has subjected us, is very fearful. — Ever your faithful friend, (Signed) " KENYON." " To Colonel Fairman." i70 thomas drummond. 1835] Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " PoRTMAN Square, May 30, 1833. "My Dear Sir, — With respect to the composition of the Grand Committee, the pleasure of His Royal Highness, the Grand Master, is the only rule by which its formation can properly be regulated. Its being so framed as to produce harmony in the institution will no doubt be the principle by which His Royal Highness will be guided ; and I am confident that, feeling, as he must do, the essential importance (especially with reference to your undertaking a new tour to consummate the zeal and har- mony of which you have laid the foundation in North Britain and the northern and trading districts of England) that you and the Grand Committee should be in entire harmony and mutual confidence ; that, therefore, neither brother South nor brother Morris should continue a member of it. The will of the Grand Master is conclusive, and no names ought to be submitted to His Royal Highness in Grand Lodge but such as will be satisfactory to him. The sugges- tion at the meeting of the Grand Lodge is not for the purpose of election otherwise than in accordance with the pleasure of the head of the institution, whose authority is justly declared to be supreme. You may communicate this to the Grand Committee, for we must not let our high and zealous friends who meet at the Grand Lodge be disgusted any more by discussions at those meetings. Should any such be apprehended, His Royal Highness should be in- formed that he may, previous to the anniversary of June, interdict the attendance of any brethren who would so forget themselves. — Believe me, my dear Sir, your faithful brother and friend, " Kenyon," " To Colonel Fairman," &c., &c. i83S] THE '' FAIRMAN plot:' 171 Lord Kenyon to Fairman. "June I. " My Dear Sir, — Lord Wynford has fixed Monday, at half-past twelve, at the House of Lords, to be initiated an Orangeman. He has a private room of his own there, as Deputy Speaker. . . . — Believe, my dear Sir, yours truly, "Kenyon." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. "PoRTMAN Square, /?/«£ 13, 1833. " My Dear Sir, — I am grieved that our valued brother Ciiniberland should suppose for one moment he could have given me the slightest offence. It may happen sometimes to me, as applied by Shakespeare to Brutus : — " ' Poor Brutus with himself at war, Forgets to show his love to other men ; ' but I never can forget to feel it for so zealous a friend to every cause most dear to me, as our brother Cumberland has always proved himself to be. The statements you made to me before, and respecting which I have now before me particulars from Portsmouth, are out of my sphere, and should be referred, toties quoties, to His Royal Highness as military matters of great delicacy. At the same time, private intimations, I submit, should be made to the military correspondents, letting them know how highly we esteem them as brethren. I hope the circular will soon be out. — Your faithful friend and brother, " Kenyon." " To Colonel Fairman." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " PoRTMAN Square, yi'c/ze 28, 1833. " Dear Sir, — I will lay your letter, proposing various important suggestions, before His Royal Highness our illustrious Grand Master. There is weight in every one of 172 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 the suggestions ; and the zeal shown by Brother Craigie is very refreshing in these days of mawkish apathy. I had the dehght of expressing to our royal Grand Master, on the evening of the day of the honest verdict of the twelve loyal jurymen, my gratification at the tardy justice which had been done him. I have replied to the enclosed in such manner as to enable our brethren to show my letter to any magistrate with whom they may think my senti- ments and feelings can have any influence. — Ever your faithful friend and brother, " KENYON." " To Colonel Fairman." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " PoRTMAN Square, /«/y 2, 1833. "My Dear Sir,— I wrote yesterday to Mr Plunkett concerning your tour and other matters. If H.R.H. pleases to start you, I see no need for any delay. The statements of these accounts might be issued after you have agreed on the facts to be stated by Eedes or any other steady brother you please to authorise to do so. You must, however, arrange your course generally with H.R.H.,^ and let him or me know from time to time where for a certain indefinite [period] you may be sure to be found. H.R.H., I think, judges well in thinking it undesirable to have any meeting, now that the Irish Church Spoliation Bill hangs over our heads. If we go only quietly in and out of Parliament till that comes forward, I am confident we shall, by God's mercy, throw it out on the second reading. Excuse more, but early any morning if you like to call I shall be glad to see you, but I am very early. — Ever your faithful friend and brother, "Kenyon." " Colonel Fairman, " Hercules Buildings, Lambeth." ^ Cumberland. iS35l THE '' FAIRMAN plot:' 173 Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " PoRTMAN Square, /z^/y 3, 1833. " My Dear Sir, — There is so much relating to myself in the enclosed, that I cannot presume to give any opinion as to its publication. H.R.H., the G.M., I dare say, will con- sult with Lord Wynford on the subject, on account of the legal sentiments expressed by him, and you will act according to H.R.H.'s order, and whether in giving he is pleased that the publication should be considered official or volunteer on your part. — Ever your faithful friend and brother," (Signed) " Kenyon." " Colonel Fairman, " Hercules Buildings, Lambeth." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " PoRTMAN Square, y^//)/ 10, 1833. " My Dear Sir, — I send you some anti-Roman Catholic books, which you may distribute among the following Peers : — Manvers, Stradbroke, Liverpool, Harrowby, North- ampton, Carnarvon, the Bishops of Llandaff, Lincoln (Warren's Hotel), &c., &c. I can say nothing as to Mr Staveley's publication, but if done it should be forthwith and I would take a few copies. You know much better how to manage our brethren than I do, and they must be kept together as well as they can be. If you hear any- thing further from the Military Districts, let His Royal Highness know all particulars fit to be communicated. The times, I really trust, are improving quietly and gradually. Let us act firmly, and maintain all that is sacred, and pro- voke no one more than can be avoided. — Believe me, my dear Sir, yours faithfully, " Kenyon." 174 thomas drummond. [1s35 Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " Eastwell Park, Atcgust 13, 1833. " My Dear Sir, — Be so good as to send the Earl of Winchelsea, in a day or two (but not over-weight, as yours of this morning is to me), the circular of June 4th, and any other circular which will contain good names and matter in it. You can say you did it by my desire, and in hopes that he, as one of the staunchest of Protestants, would join us. I am glad to hear that several persons of judgment think we might have a Government with which the House of Commons would act. If so, it is a sad pity the Hero of Waterloo and others would not act so as to have obtained such a Ministry during the existing session. When Par- liament is prorogued, it is well known nothing can be done, unless some death of importance occurs. I hope to be in town on Thursday morning, for two nights. — Ever your faithful friend and brother, " Kenyon." Lord Wynford to Fairman. " Dear Colonel, — I returned here yesterday, and found your letter. I fear by this time that you are started on your tour. To whom am I to pay my debt to the Orange Lodge in your absence .'* Wishing you a pleasant and prosperous journey, faithfully yours. "Wynford." " Tuesday, August 29." " Chiselhurst, August 30, 1883. " Colonel Fairman, " Cannon Row, Westminster." " Wynford." Lord Wynford to Fairman. " My Dear Sir, — On the other side is a check for the eig-hteen guineas that I owe the Orange Lodge. I am 1835] THE ''FAIRMAN PLOT." 175 sorry to hear of your illness. I am waiting for a letter from Dover (which I hope my servant, who delivers you this, may bring me) to set off to London, and from thence to Dover, where my daughter has been expecting me for this week past. On my return, should you be near London, I shall be happy to see you. — Faithfully yours, "WYNFORD." " Colonel Fairman, " Cannon Row, Westminster." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. *' Gredington, September 10. " My Dear Sir and Brother, — It certainly is desir- able that our enemies should be informed, through such sources of information as they will read, in what respects the Orange institution has been injuriously misrepresented. Great care, however, must be taken as to statement of facts, that we may not be accused of inaccuracy. I think His Royal Highness the Grand Master did not take any oath on admission ; for, I think, every oath was discon- tinued previous to the admission of His Royal Highness. It was otherwise with myself and our late illustrious Grand Master.^ What is the present rule, however, is the only question worth considering, and now we decidedly take no oath.^ I expect my good friend Lord Wynford here on the 15th, to stay a few weeks, I hope. We ha.ve sad wet weather, and yet have much barley out. One of our most saleable productions, cheese, is advancing, which will be some relief, I hope, to our distressed farmers. — Ever your faithful friend, " Kenyon." " Colonel Fairman, &c., &c." 1 The Duke of York. 2 gee post. 176 thomas drummond. [1835 Lord Roden to Fairman. " Lord Roden presents his compliments to Colonel Fairman, and has received his obliging letter ; in reply to which, Lord R. would say that he does not think this by any means a favourable time for visiting the Orange brethren of Ireland. There is just now such strong feeling amongst them, and, Lord Roden is sorry to say, so much difference of opinion as to the processions, that he thinks it would be better to let that subside before the deputation of our English brethren went round. Lord Roden hopes that the Conservative meeting about to be held in Glasgow may strengthen our cause." "TOLLYMERE PARK, September 2.^, 1833." The Marquis of Londonderry to Fairman. " Eglinton Castle, October \, 1833. " Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter. It would give me great pleasure to attend any great Conservative meeting in Scotland, if the Stewards or Secretary honoured me with an invitation ; and that I could accomplish, being in Glasgow on the day of the meeting. At present, I am going on the 8th to Dalkeith, and on the i6th or 17th to Scone, after which I am not certain of my movements, or whether I shall not be obliged to return to Durham. — I remain. Sir, your very obedient servant, "Vane Londonderry." " Colonel Fairman, " His Grace the Duke of Gordon's, " Gordon Castle." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " Gredington, Ellesmere, Oct. 20, 1833. " My Dear Sir, — I will forward our zealous friend Craigie's letter to Eedes, to whom I wrote the other day, 1 835] THE ''I' AIRMAN PLOT." 177 expressing my readiness forthwith to suspend, and, if neces- sary, to expel, some disorderly men in or near Bolton, who have shown something like a radical spirit. Watkins went among them gallantly, and we shall set them to rights, I trust. Sawney takes some time to be well roused, but when he imbibes the heat of Orangeism he will not lose again. I am every way grieved that our gallant northern duke is not in health to attend the Orange Conservative meeting. It is a great pity, too, that the amiable Duke of Buccleugh does not see the immense importance of his sanctioning such a cause as the Orange cause, identified as it is with the high Conservative principles. " His Grace does not yet see the difference between what may be, perhaps, expedient in respect to political leaders and placemen, as to temporizing, and what is the high station, as to abiding by principles and promoting them, which becomes men of rank and influence ; nor how much more such a course would benefit the cause of party as well as that of truth, by principles. In Pitt's time, and in the Duke's grandfather's, much was done by high principles and zeal, which would not in many cases have emanated from Pitt himself. Their Graces of Gordon and Buccleugh are the two men of Scotland to whom alone Orangemen and Conservatives look up with hope. The young Marquis Douglas will, I hope, from his high connection with the high-minded Duke of Newcastle, train on well in time. My dear son and his bride seem as happy here as I could wish, and possess the kindest wishes of all around them. My kindest remembrance to the gallant duke, and believe me, your faithful friend and brother, " Kenyon." " To Colonel Fairman, " Gordon Castle, Fochabers, N.B." " (Free) Kenyon." M 178 thomas drummond. [1835 Lord Thomond to Fairman. '■'March 29, 1834. "Lord Thomond's compliments to Col. Fairman; he encloses him the subscription book and i^20. " Lord Thomond begs to say that he pays an annual subscription to the Grand Lodge in Dublin." Lord Wynford to Fairman. " Dear Sir, — I returned from London too late to write to you by last night's post. I have lately had so many things on my hands that I forgot to tell you that H.R.H., Lord Kenyon, and myself, discussed the propriety of pur- chasing the newspaper you mention, and were of opinion that there [are] many reasons [why] we should not make such purchase. " If we cannot get TJie Despatch more favourably sup- ported, it will be necessary that a Conservative paper should be published. But this must be undertaken, not by three persons, but by the Carlton Club. " I think it highly probable that something will soon be done by the Club. " In the meantime I must decline putting myself for- ward. I am just returning from Seven Oaks, and the letters are going to the post. — I am in great haste, faithfully yours, " Wynford." "Chiselhurst, ^/rz'/ii, 1834. " Colonel B. Fairman, " P.O., Birmingham." " Wynford." The Duke of Gordon to Fairman. "Gordon Castle, y^/j/ 27, 1834. " My Dear Sir, — I return our most excellent friend's letter ; it pleases me to find that he thinks I did my duty 1835] THE '' FAIRMAN PLOT." 179 at Glasgow. The exertion was great, but the dinner did good to the true cause. I am glad that the unprincipled ministers remain to do more mischief, as yet we are not ready for a change ; in six months I think a Conservative cabinet will be able to stand their ground against Whig and Radical united, for the tide is turning. May we live to see better times. I am getting ready for the hills. — Believe me, yours very sincerely, "Gordon." " To Colonel Fairman." The Duke of Gordon to Fairman. "Gordon Castle, Oct. 21, 1834. " My Dear Sir, — Many thanks for your polite attention, the communication gives me real concern, and causes serious reflection. These sad events should open people's eyes, and one in particular ; but the Lord Chancellor is a very dangerous man, and at last the world will find him out. His tour in this part of the country has done us good. Sir George Murray's dinner at Perth has brought good men together, and on the 29th I am to preside at a dinner at Aberdeen, given to Captain Gordon ; seven hundred are expected ; and every man must do his duty. " Winter has come upon us, and we feel it the more after the fine weather we enjoyed. I trust your health is good. — Ever, my dear Sir, yours very truly, " Gordon." Addressed — "Fochabers, Oct. 1834. " Col. Fairman, " Falkland Cottage, Lambeth, London." " Gordon.'' Lord Kenvon to Fairman. " Gredington, Sept. 3, 1834. " My dear Sir and Brother, — I have not received back from Encombe your letter suggesting an alteration in I So THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S35 the rules. If you have to suggest anything special, or supplementary, which would probably be better, as conse- quently temporary instead of permanent, let me know again, I am now fixed here I hope, with little variation, till February next ; and you will be glad to hear a good account of all most dear to m.e, and that my neighbours here seem very glad to see us returned. — Believe me yours truly, " KENYON." "■ P.S. — I shall always direct Cannon Row; I always presume there is no alteration from my corrected copy, if you don't point any out to me." " To Colonel Fairman." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " Gredington, September \i, 1834. "My dear Sir and Brother, — I wish you would be so good as to send me the ipsissima verba which you wish to introduce to prevent disloyalty among our brethren ; but be so good as to send it under weight, as to-day's letter has cost me 3s. 8d. What you propose to insert I presume you mean to do as required at the present moment. Be so good, therefore, as to state also the grounds on which you consider it necessary. I think the castigation, if given, had better be given as an hypothesis, so as to let those apply it who feel it to be due to them. A reprimand to a whole body constituted like our O. \.} would do anything but good ; certainly if the whole body were rotten it had better be dissolved and renewed ; but that could only, perhaps, be after communication with the sound heads or sound members of the different lodges. I am very sorry to hear of your taking up money from the money-lenders. I think our lodges should be called upon, ^ Orange Institution. 1S35] THE " FAIRMAN plot:' 181 on pain of suspension, to pay up all that is due on the old rules forthwith, and be urged to pay as required by the revised rules of the O. I. Before very long I shall probably be in Lancashire, and will endeavour to see Major Watkins. I expect my excellent zealous friend, Lord Wynford, here in two or three days. — Ever your faithful friend and brother, " Kenyon." Addressed — " Ellesmere, September 14, 1834. " To Col. Fairman, " 3 Cannon Row, Westminster." " Free — Kenyon." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. "Peel Hall, September 19, 1834. "My Dear Sir and Brother, — In this, by another cover, I return your papers. I have paid my best atten- tion to all your suggestions as I did before to those hereto- fore proposed to be admitted. Let enough be printed for present distribution, and on economical principle as to the number, which you understand, and I don't ; and pray let it, after the lapse of above three months, be finished. I have been too busy to see Major Watkins, and return on Tuesday to Gredington. — Ever yours faithfully, " Kenyon." "About circulars. — Bolton, September 20, 1834. " To Col. Fairman, " 3 Cannon Row, Westminster." " Free — Kenyon." Lord Kenyon to Fairman. " PoRTMAN Square, April 27. " Dear Sir, — I heartily wish I could hope to be of any use in applying at Chelsea in behalf of the writer of the enclosed. I think we had better communicate it to His t82 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S35 Royal Highness, as he is the only person, except yourself, who can judiciously interfere in military matters connected with the Orange institutions. I hope your attack is going off, and that we shall have a thoroughly amicable meeting next Friday. Brother Mair seems very frank, and well- meaning. If you could get Mr Knipe, who is a favourite, I think, with His Royal Highness, to attend, it would be well. — Ever, my dear Sir, faithfully yours, "Ken YON." Fairman to a Friend unknown. " 23 King Street, Westminster, " Tuesday Evening. "My Dear Sir, — By returning the Palladiums, with a small packet of letters from kings and princes I left for your perusal, you will oblige me very much. As circum- stances will at length compel me to seek a compensation from royalty, for my services and surrenders in their ser- vice, should not an appeal to their justice, made confiden- tially and respectfully, in the first instance, be productive of the desired end, I shall enforce my claims through the medium of the press, both in pamphlets and papers, when a dread of exposure may prompt them to do that which ought to have emanated from a sense of gratitude. — Most faithfully yours, my dear Sir, " William Blennerhassett Fairman. " P.S. — Mr Aburrow will do me the favour to take charge of the above, when it shall suit your own conve- nience to hand them over to that gentleman." ^ " To D C , Esq." While the Orangemen were thus engaged in the work of reorganisation, the Irish members resolved to strike a blow ^ This correspondence was obtained by Hume, and published in the Londo7i Review, post. 1S35] THE "■ FAIRMAN plot:' 183 at the Society. On March 23, 1835, Mr Finn, member for Kilkenny, moved for a Select Committee to inquire into the Orange system in Ireland. The Orangemen accepted the challenge readily, and a Committee was at once appointed. Twenty-two years previously a similar motion had been made by an English member, Mr Wynn, but it was not pressed.^ Ten years previously, when Mr Canning sup- pressed the Catholic Association, he also suppressed the Orange Society. But it was reorganised in 1828, and at the time of Finn's motion, was stronger than ever.^ It now had to withstand a more serious attack than any hitherto made. 1 "Parliamentary Debates," vol. xxvi., p. 974. The motion ran: "That a Committee be appointed to inquire into the existence of certain illegal societies under the denomination of Orangemen." - It should be stated that between 1799 and 1826 a change had been made in the Orange oath. Oath in 1799 : — •' I A. B. do solemnly and sincerely swear, of my own free will and accord, that I will, to the utmost of my power, support and defend the present king, George III., and all the heirs of the Crown, so long as he or they support the Protestant ascendency," &c. Oath in 1814 : — "I A. B. do voluntarily and sincerely swear that I will, to the utmost of my power, support and defend the present king, George III., his heirs and successors, being Protestants," &c. Oath of 1824:— " I A. B. do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George." It will be seen that in 1824 a simple oath of allegiance was substituted for the former conditional oath. But it was necessary, by the rules of 1824, to take the oath of supremacy and the oath of abjuration. In 1828 the same oaths (of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration) were taken, and no reference was made to "Protestant ascendency," or to the "king," or " his heirs," being Protestant. In 1834 oaths were abolished, and this declaration was used instead : — " I A. B. do solemnly and voluntarily declare that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to His Majesty the King ; and that I will, to the utmost of my power, support and maintain the laws and constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as established by William III. of glorious memory, and the succession to the throne on His Majesty's illustrious house being Protestant ; I do declare that I am not, nor ever was, a Roman Catho- lic or Papist ; that I am not, was not, or ever will be a member of the society called ' United Irishmen,' or any other society or body of men who are enemies i84 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 Finn's Committee sat on April 7, and continued to hear evidence until August 5. On August 4, Hume, without waiting for the final report of the Committee/ made a fresh attack upon the Society. Quoting the evidence given before the Committee, he called the attention of the House to the existence of Orange lodges in the army, and finally de- manded the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into Orangeism in Great Britain and the Colonies, as well as in Ireland.^ But the Orangemen were no longer eager for the fray. They had had quite enough of inquiry, and they resisted Hume's motion with vigour and persistency ; but it was carried by a decisive majority.^ The Committee began their sittings on August 13, and the inquiry closed on August 31. The Duke of Cumber- land refused point blank to give evidence, and Fairman refused to produce all the books and papers relating to the Society. He appeared before the Committee on August 13, and handed in some papers, but the Committee asked for to His Majesty or the glorious constitution of these realms ; and that I never tooI< the oath to that or any other treasonable society. " I declare that I will, as far as in my power lies, assist the magistrates and civil authorities of these kingdoms in the lawful execution of their official duties when called upon. That I will be true and faithful to every brother Orangeman in all just actions ; that I will not wrong, or know him to be wronged or injured, without giving due notice thereof, if in my power. "And I solemnly declare that I will always conceal and never will reveal either part or parts of what is now to be privately communicated to me unless to a brother Orangeman, knowing him to be so by strict trial and due exam- ination, or from the word of a brother Orangemen, or until I shall be autho- rised so to do by the proper authorities of the Orange institution. That I will not write it, indite it, cut, carve, stain, stamp, or engrave it, or cause it to be done, lest any part thereof might be known. And lastly, I do declare that I have not, to my knowledge or belief, been proposed or rejected in, or ex- pelled from, any other Orange lodge." ^ The Committee presented three reports ; the final report on August 6. ^ Finn's motion limited the inquiry to Ireland. ^ Hansard, 3rd series, vol. xxx., pp. 58, 239. Hume first moved a series of resolutions practically condemning the Society; but, finally, on August 10, asked for a Committee. The motion was carried by 39 to 25 votes. There were three divisions on the subject, but Hume succeeded in all by about the same majority — 14. 1835] FAIRMAN BEFORE THE COMMONS. 1S5 more, and more Fairman was resolved they should not have. Hume determined to push Fairmain to extremes, and on August 19 moved that he should be called to the bar of the House and examined. Fairman appeared, amid a scene of much excitement, and was examined by the Speaker. Speaker — " . . . Have you produced any documents in your possession which were demanded of you .-' " Fairman — " I have produced a variety of documents." Speaker — " Have you produced all the documents that were asked of you .'' " Fairman — " All that I considered public documents I have produced — or rather, they were extorted from me." Speaker — " Have you produced all that were required of you, or have you refused to produce any particular docu- ment } " Fairman — " I do not know that I have. Everything in my possession I have given up with the greatest pleasure — no, not with the greatest pleasure, but with the greatest readiness." Speaker — " Have you any book that you have refused to produce .'' " Fairman — " No ; not any that I considered the Com- mittee had any right to call for." Speaker — " Is there any book that you have refused to produce, and which was required of you } " Fairman — " Yes ; there is one. A private book which I have at home." Speaker — " For what reason have you refused to produce this book ? " Fairman — " Because I considered it a private book — a book which never was laid either before the Grand Lodge or the Grand Master, and for which consequently the Committee had no right to ask. I conceive I had a right to refuse its production." i86 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S35 Speaker — " Does that book contain any information respecting the proceedings of Orange lodges ? " Fainnan — " It contains my answers to letters I received; those letters more particularly relate to private matters unconnected with Orange lodges in the army." Speaker — " Does it contain any official answers to communications — official communications — made by you connected with the business of Orange lodges ? " Fainnan — " A great many." Colonel Perceval — " Has any proposition been made to you to extract such letters as related exclusively to Orange institutions .'' " Fairman — " Yes." Col. Perceval — " I wish to know what was the answer of the witness to such a proposition.''" Fainnan — " Being disposed to meet the wishes of the Committee, I wanted to come to a distinct understanding that nothing else should be required. I refused the production of the book more upon public than private principles, and least of all upon Orange grounds." Col Perceval — " Did you offer to produce all matters relating to military lodges — that being the principal object of the inquiry .'* " O' Council — " I rise to order." [Fairman was ordered to withdraw.] " No distinction was made by the Committee between the military and civil part of the inquiry." Col. Perceval — " I contend that the Committee were bound to confine themselves to the army alone." CConnell — " I must suggest to the House whether the line of examination which the hon. and gallant officer is pursuing, is the proper one under the circumstances. The witness has been asked, not whether he has refused to give up all letters relating to Orange lodges in the army, but whether he has refused to give up all letters whether relating to the Orange lodges in the army or not ? " iS35] FAIRMAN BEFORE THE COMMONS. 187 Hume supported O'Connell. Col. Perceval — " Notwithstanding the lecture on evidence which I have received from the hon. and learned member for Dublin (O'Connell), I must say that I can conduct the examination of the witness in as fair, manly, overboard and impartial a manner as if I had taken the lesson that has been read to me. I will not, however, take the hon. and learned gentleman's lesson." O'Connell — " That is no proof that the hon. and gallant officer does not want it." (Fairman was recalled.) CoL Perceval — " Now, sir, I wish to know whether the book which you have called a private book, and which you have refused to furnish the Committee, is a continuation of the letter book of which the Committee is already in possession ? " Fairman — " It certainly is not a continuation." O'Connell — " That book contains letters subsequent to those which are to be found in the book which you have produced } " Fairman — " Decidedly." O'Connell — "Is there in that book other correspondence respecting Orange institutions, addressed to members not in the army .-' " Fairman — " Decidedly. The correspondence contained in it is principally with persons not in the army. The exceptions do not amount to more than three or four." O Connell — " And those others you refuse to produce .-* " Fairman — "Yes, I refuse to produce them on public principles, and not on Orange grounds. . . ." Sergeant Jackson — "Does the book already produced to the Committee belong to you or the Orange Society.-'" Fairman — "That book I found in the office when I i88 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 entered it. I never had any control over it. But my own book I consider as my own private document." Sergeant Jackson — " Does it contain private corres- pondence V Fairvian — " Yes it does in many instances." Sergeant Jackson — "Did you make any ofifer respecting it to the Committee on Orange affairs V Fairman — " I did ; but I was afterwards obliged to withdraw that offer, because they would not accede to the proposition which I made to them. I think no honourable man could do otherwise under the circum- stances." Sejgeant Jackson — " Have you then a decided objection to produce the book .'' " Fairman — " I have." CConnell — "Do the private letters you speak of refer chiefly to Orange matters V Fairman — " Chiefly." ]\Ir Shaw — " Were you directed to keep the other book which you refuse to produce by any person connected with the Orange institution, or was it merely a proceeding of your own ?" F airmail — " I kept that book on my own and sole authority." Mr Shaw — " Were the letters in that book official, or written in your own private capacity .-'" Fairman — " They were written in my own private capacity." Mr Shaw — " Was it, or was it not, a continuation of the other book V Fairman — " It certainly was not." Mr SJiazv — " Was that book which you refuse to give up official, or was it kept for your own private purposes .'' " 1835] FAIRMAN BEFORE THE COMMONS. 189 Fairman — " I kept it for my own private purposes, and merely as a remembrance." Mr Shaw — " Did you not consent to give up such portions of it as related to military lodges ?" Fairman — " Such a proposition was made to me, and I did express my readiness to consent to it, but with a condi- tion, namely, that I should not be brought to the bar of this House." Mr Shazv — " Have you any objection to give up those portions which relate to other lodges } " Fairman — " Certainly." Mr Shaw — " Do you now object to give up that portion which relates to the military lodges V Fairman — " Now, after what has occurred, I do." Mr Shazv — " Are you desirous of concealing the informa- tion which that book contains .-*" Fairman — " No, I would not care a halfpenny if the contents were known from Whitechapel Bars to Hyde Park Corner." Mr Shaw — " Then your refusal now to produce it is on a point of honour } " Fairman — " Exactly so." Mr SJiaiv — " Then, it is upon no Orange principle that you now refuse to produce the book." Fairman — " It is not." Mr Shaw — " If you had not been brought up, is it likely you would have produced the book .-* " Fairman — " The probability is that I should not have produced it." Mr Warbiirton — " Do you still persevere in your refusal to produce the book .''" Fairman — " Yes." Mr Warbiirton — " Where is the book V Fairman — " It is in my own possession." I90 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S35 Mr Warbiirton — " Is the book under lock and key." Fairnian — " Yes." Mr Warhirton — " Have you given any orders for the removal of that book since you have been in the presence of this House — in the course of the last quarter of an hour ?" ^ Fairnian — " No." Mr Harvey — " Were the letters you received addressed to you in the character of secretary to the Orange lodges V Fairman — " Certainly." Mr Harvey — " Does the book in question, which you refuse to produce, contain any answer from you, as secretary of the Orange Society, to letters written on Orange subjects .?" Fairman — " Many." Mr Scarlett — " Is the book in question your property ? " Fairman — " I consider it my property." Mr Scarlett — " Are the entries in that book for your own satisfaction, or for the use and benefit of this Society .<*" Fairman — " For my own satisfaction." Mr SJieil — " I beg to ask the witness whether part of that book is not in the handwriting of the Deputy Secre- tary of the Orange lodge } " Fairman — " No doubt about it." Mr Scarlett — "You say the book contains copies of answers which you made to the Orange institutions. Did you sign your name simply, or did you add your title .■* " Fairman — "Generally speaking, I signed but my own name. It is universally known what office I hold, and I do not think it necessary to sign D.G.S." Mr Harvey — " Do you consider the letters addressed to ' Fairman had been ordered to withdraw from time to time during his examination, and the suggestion was that in one of these intervals he had eiven the order. 1S35] FAIRMAN BEFORE THE COMMONS. 191 you in your capacity of Secretary your own private pro- perty, or the property of the Society ? " Fairnian — " The property of the Society." Mr Harvey — "Do you consider the official answers which you give to those communications to you, in your capacity of secretary, to belong to the Society ? " Fairvian — *T do ; because if I am called on to do so by the Grand Lodge, or by the Committee, I must produce them." O' Council — "Have you any other books containing correspondence between the Orange lodges and the Grand Secretary .'' " Fainnan — " None." Fairman was ordered to withdraw, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Spring Rice) then moved that he should produce the book. The motion was resisted by Inglis, Shaw, Jackson, and the Orange party in the House, but carried by 71 to 26 votes. Fairman was recalled, and addressed by the Speaker thus : — " It is my duty to inform you that this House is of opinion that you should produce the book which has been alluded to in your evidence, and which you declined to produce before the Committee. Without adverting to the foundations for that which you considered as a point of honour obligatory on yourself, I am confident that you will feel, that when the House has come to the resolution that you are bound to produce that book, you will forth- with comply with the opinion of this House, because you must be aware that your first duty, and one which super- sedes all private and personal feelings of your own, is to yield prompt obedience to the pleasure of this House. You may now withdraw." Fairman did withdraw, and never appeared again either before the Committee or the House. On August 21 the Sergeant-at-Arms, who had been ordered to apprehend 192 THOMAS DRVMMOND. [1835 him, reported that the Grand Secretary had left his resi- dence, and could not be found. Fairman kept out of the way until the end of the session, and no further steps were taken to arrest him. In September the Select Committee reported. They condemned the Orange Society, root and branch. "It is notorious," says the Report, "that the Orange lodges exist, under the patronage of men high in rank, in England, Ireland, and in Scotland ; and the countenance given, in consequence of all the orders of the Orange institution being issued by and under the authority of such men as His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, as Imperial Grand Master, and of His Grace the Duke of Gordon, as Deputy Grand Master for Scotland, will be found to have a greater effect on the poor and the ignorant — of which the Orangemen there chiefly consist — than might be ex- pected. When we see an emissary despatched for two successive years to extend Orangeism in that country, under the special and extraordinary commission of the Duke of Cumberland, bearing his sign and seal, with powers to propagate Orangeism, to form lodges, to dismiss members, or to pardon offences of Orangemen how and when he pleases, it appears time for Government to inter- fere. When that emissary is entertained and countenanced for weeks as an inmate of Gordon Castle, the influence of the peer may be by the ignorant transferred to the emis- sary in everything respecting Orange lodges in that country. " There are various ways of enlisting men in a cause ; and when it is seen by the reports of the proceedings of Grand Lodges that such men as the Duke of Cumberland, the Duke of Gordon, Lord Kenyon, Lord Wynford, peers and Members of Parliament, are united by the same secret signs and passwords, and seated in the same room with a poor pensioner of one shilling a-day, or 1S35] REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ORANGEISM. 193 any Orangeman, whatever his state in society may be, allowance must be made for the sacrifices that may be made by such persons to be able to call the Duke, or any other Orangeman, his brother — with permission to apply, whenever in difficulty or distress, for the assistance of such wealthy and influential men. " As a proof of the baneful effects of the existence of Orangeism in Scotland, Mr Innes states one example where a lodge of pitmen lately expelled from their body all the Catholics, who had previously lived and worked together with them in peace and harmony. "Your Committee will only add, that the mischievous effects of Orange lodges, shown, though on a small scale, in Scotland, may be expected wherever such a system is upheld and promoted by men of high rank and by influen- tial members of society ; a reference to the evidence before the House of the working of Orangeism in Ireland, on the broadest scale, and after many years' continuance, will completely bear out that opinion. " Your Committee, in looking for a corrective to those evils which disturb both civil and military society so much, and which threaten the most serious consequences to the community of the United Kingdom, if allowed to continue, do not contemplate that any new legislative enactment is necessary ; the power of the law being at present, in the opinion of your Committee, sufficient to protect the country from all such associations, bound together, as the Orange lodges are, by religious sanction, with secret signs and passwords, by which the fraternity may be known to each other in every part of the world. It appears only to be necessary to enforce the existing laws against all such offenders, whether belonging to Orange lodges, to Ribbon lodges, or to any other Society having secret signs and bonds of union. . . . " Your Committee think it right to place before the N 194 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 House the words of the statute 39 Geo. III., c. 79, regard- ing corresponding societies. Section 9 : ' Any society- composed of different divisions or branches, or of different parts, acting in any manner separately, or distinct from each other, or of which any part shall have any distinct presi- dent, secretary, treasurer, delegate, or other officer, elected or appointed by, or for such part, or to act in any office for such part,' &c. ; and, in conclusion, your Committee submit, that it will be for the House to consider whether the present organisation of Orange lodges, in connection with the Imperial Grand Lodge, comes within the words of that statute ; and if so, whether the law officers of the Crown should not be directed to institute legal proceedings, without any delay, against the Grand Officers of Orange lodges." ^ A month after the publication of this Report an Orange- man named Haywood stated that Fairman had been hatching a plot to place the Duke of Cumberland upon the throne, and had actually sounded the Orangemen of the provinces on the subject. Fairman denied the charge indignantly, and filed a criminal information against Haywood for libel.^ Hume and the English Radicals met ^ " Report of Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Great Britain and the Colonies," pp. xxv., xxvii. -"Haywood, after being dismissed from a lodge, had addressed a letter to Lord Kenyon, in October 1835, ^nd in which he asked : ' Did not His Royal Highness, as Grand Master, and Lord Kenyon, as Deputy Grand Master, know what their missionary, Colonel Fairman, had done in 1832 ; or rather, did he not act under the directions of His Royal Highness, or Lord Kenyon ; and was he not, under their directions, instructed to sound the brethren how they would be disposed, in the event of King William IV. being deposed, which was not improbable, on account of his sanctioning reform in Parliament ; and that, if so, it would become the duty of every Orangeman to support His Royal Highness, who would then, in all probability, be called to the throne ? ' There was something very suspicious in this revelation of supposed designs entertained by a body to which the maker of the revelation had, nevertheless, continued to belong for three years. Colonel Fairman immediately published a letter, declaring the whole statement to be a false- hood, and adopted judicial proceedings against Haywood, which dropped, however, in consequence of the death of the latter." — "Annual Register, 1836," p. 12, Speech of Mr Hume. 1835] PROSECUTION OF ORANGEMEN DEMANDED. 195 this move by a counter move. They demanded the pro- secution of the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Kenyon, the Bishop of Salisbury, and Fairman, as members of an illegal society. Preliminary steps were taken in both cases. Evidence was collected, counsel were engaged, the pleadings were ready, when the sudden death of Haywood stopped the proceedings ; not, however, until the evidence which had been amassed enabled Hume, in the next session of Parliament, to strike a serious blow at the Orange Society.^ In the midst of all this excitement, and while Ireland was in a state of general disorder, Drummond took up his post at Dublin Castle. ^ The counsel engaged for Haywood were Sergeant Wilde, Charles Austin, and Charles Buller. The Radicals said the case of the Orange Society was analogous to the case of the Dorsetshire labourers. " In the commencement of 1834 it occurred to some people that an organization similar to a Trades Union might be extended with advantage to agricultural labour. Dorsetshire was a purely agricultural county, in which labour was paid at a miserably low rate. A union was formed, and in the formation of the union no law was broken. It was, however, customary in these unions to administer an oath to the unionists. An old Act of George III., passed amidst the terror which the Mutiny of the Nore had caused, had made it an offence, punishable by trans- portation, to administer illegal oaths. The statute had been rarely enforced ; practically, it had been disregarded by every Trades Union in the kingdom. It was suddenly resuscitated to punish the men who had formed the first agri- cultural union. Six wretched labourers, wholly ignorant of the law, were prosecuted at Dorchester for administering illegal oaths. The jury found them guilty ; the judge, after two days' consideration, thought himself bound to inflict the punishment set out in the law, and sentenced them to seven years' transportation." — Walpole's " History of England," iii., p. 229. But a storm was raised in and out of Parliament, and finally, after two years' transporta- tion, the convicts were granted a free pardon, and allowed to return home. CHAPTER VII. DRUMMOND AT DUBLIN CASTLE. Trifles best show character. For this reason I give a letter, unimportant in other respects, written by Drummond shortly after his arrival at Dublin Castle. It illustrates his kindly nature and strong sense of justice. "My Dear Stewart, — Pray look into this case of great hardship and distress, and do what you can for this poor creature. The facts are correctly stated. Would any man in a better situation be turned off after twenty years' service without a penny ? — Faithfully, "T. Drummond." ''July 2% 1835." I have not been able to ascertain fully the facts of this case ; but I gather that an official named Toole had been superannuated " without a penny," and died soon after- wards. His widow, who was left in straitened circum- stances, applied to the Castle for help. While it was doubtful how her application would be received, Drum- mond arrived, and supported her claims with energy and success. On the day that Drummond wrote this letter. Lord Morpeth wrote to him from London : — Lord Morpeth to Drummond. ''July 29, 1S35. " My Dear Drummond, — I have missed your prede- cessor every time he has called, but I hear he says, and iS3S] LORD MORPETH. 197 Lord Mulgrave writes, that you have begun swimmingly. I must try to bother you as little as possible till you are quite afloat in the main stream. It is represented to me that Orange outbreaks go on at Belfast, and that a stipendiary magistrate is much needed there. If so, I should like to send Mr Hancock of Lurgan ; he is now in London. ... I shall wish at all times to hear what reaches you relative to distress. ... I think we are doing well here, though I cannot wish the Lords joy on their prospects of a speech from Wetherall, on every branch and bearing of the Corporation Bill. — Ever most sincerely, " Morpeth." This was among the first of a series of bright, cheery letters written from time to time by Lord Morpeth to Drummond, which show that nobleman in the light of an extremely pleasant and agreeable correspondent and com- panion. His Lordship does not seem to have held the House of Lords in great reverence, for we find him writing to Drummond on August 4 : — "... The House of Lords ! we take no heed of them, but it may delay my getting to you. Lord Spencer did not look very happy there at three this morning." One of the subjects to which the new Under-Secretary turned his immediate attention was the organisation of an efficient police force. Practically the first Irish Police Act was passed in 1787. It empowered the Lord Lieutenant to appoint a Chief Constable for each barony : sub-constables were appointed by the Grand Juries. No Catholic could enter this force.^ In 1792 another Act was passed, enabling Grand Juries to increase the number of sub-constables fixed by the first 1 24 Geo. III., c. 40 (Irish Statutes). It was entitled, " An Act for the better execution of the law, and the preservation of the peace within counties at large." igS THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 Act^ The next Act was passed in 18 14. It empowered the Lord Lieutenant to appoint a resident magistrate, a chief constable, and fifty sub-constables in any disturbed district. The Lord Lieutenant decided (by proclamation) what was a disturbed district. This force was wholly independent of the local authorities. It was under the control of the resident magistrates, who acted on instruc- tions from Dublin Castle.^ In 1822 a fourth Act was passed. This was practically an amendment of the Act of 1787. Leaving to the Lord Lieutenant the power to appoint chief constables, it trans- ferred the power of appointing sub-constables from Grand Juries to local magistrates. But its most important feature was the appointment (by the Lord Lieutenant) of four Inspectors-General — an inspector for each province. These were the statutes in force when Drummond came to Ireland. None of them worked well ; ^ and prior to Drummond's time the Government contemplated a change in the organisation and management of the police. That change was now made.'^ On August 10 Lord Morpeth introduced a Bill " to consolidate the laws relating to the constabulary in Ireland." This measure deprived the local magistrates of the power 1 Sixteen for each district. 32 Geo. III., c. 16. This Act was entitled, " An Act for regulating the office of constable, and for the better enforcing the process of criminal law in certain parts of the kingdom." - 54 Geo. III., c. 131. It was entitled, " An Act to provide for the better execution of the laws in Ireland by appointing superintending magistrates, and additional constables in certain cases." The resident magistrates received a salary of;^7oo a year, see sees. 2 and 4. For " a list of stipendiary magistrates in Ireland between 1817 and 1831," see "Parliamentary Papers," vol. xiii. for 1831-32. 3 3 Geo. IV., c. 103. ■* A Constabulary Bill, the same substantially as that now introduced, had been drafted by I.ittleton. — Hansard, 3rd ser., vol. xxx.,p. 1189. In fact, the Earl of Haddington said in the House of Lords, on August 26, 1835, that the Constabulary Bill then under discussion had been " ready prepared for the last three or four years." Lord Hatherton said, on Sept. i, 1835, that the Bill had been in his office "all last year." — Hansard, 3rd ser., vol. xxx., p. 1 1 89. 1835] THE CONSTABULARY BILL. 199 to appoint constables, and placed the whole force under the control of an Inspector-General at Dublin Castle. The Lord Lieutenant appointed the Inspector-General, and, in fact, all the officers and men. Under the Inspector- General were two deputy inspectors-general, four county inspectors, thirty-two sub-inspectors, chief constables, and head constables. Prior to this Bill the police had been under the control of a divided authority : the Executive Government appointed the officers of the force, the local magistrates the men. By this Bill the Lord Lieutenant was empowered to appoint both officers and men. The contentious part of the measure was the proposal to transfer the power of appointing constables from the local magistrates to the Lord Lieutenant. The Ascendancy were strongly opposed to this change. The Bill, however, was read a first and second time in the Commons without discussion. On August 1 1 Lord Morpeth wrote to Drummond : — Lord Morpeth to Drummond. " My Dear Drummond, — I got leave last night to introduce the Constabulary Bill without discussion. It cannot expect such good luck throughout. . . . No effort of mine shall be wanting. But passing contested Bills in August is not quite so easily done as said, my good collaborator. . . . — Ever yours, " Morpeth. " P.S. — More than all the rest, am I, as I hear, to wish you joy ? Its great cordiality will only be damped by my just vindictiveness at the suppression of such a topic in our daily interchange of less interesting news." In Committee, on August 18, the first note of dissent to the Constabulary Bill was struck by the Ascendancy. Colonel Perceval led the way, and Shaw followed. The 200 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 clause empowering the Lord Lieutenant to appoint the constables was, they said, a slur on the magistracy. Morpeth denied this, and declared that in many instances the magistrates had already abdicated their functions, and allowed the Government to appoint constables. The Bill in reality was only giving effect to the wishes of the magistrates themselves. The discussion was not pushed to a division. On August 19, Morpeth wrote to Drum- mond : — " The Constabulary Bill went through Committee yes- terday with a labour of five hours, and was delivered with less disfigurement on the whole than could have been expected, but with some slight curtailments of salary, &c."i But the real fight was reserved for the House of Lords. On August 25 Morpeth wrote to Drummond : — " Duncannon says the Lords mean to throw out the Constabulary Bill, for which I shall be very sorry on all accounts, but chiefly because I think you will not be able to refrain from butchering every member of the aristocracy. . . . The Duchess of Sutherland, who is with me now, desires me to say, with what great interest she heard of what must so deeply affect your happiness." ^ The Lords did throw out the Constabulary Bill on August 26 by 51 to 39 votes. Foremost among the opponents of the measure were the Marquis of London- derry, the Earl of Roden, the Earl of Wicklow, the Marquis of Westmeath, Lords Fitzgerald and Vesey. They all protested against the proposal to transfer the power of appointing the constables from the magistrates — " a most excellent and fearless body of men " ^^ — to the Lord Lieu- tenant. The effect of the Bill, the Marquis of London- ^ On August 13 Morpeth had written to Drummond : — " We have murmurs from friends against the Constabulary Bill, chiefly against the number and expense of the police staff. I believe, to do you justice, these ''parts vi'ere principally added to the Bill on this side of the vi'ater." - Drummond's engagement to Miss Kinnaird. " Roden. 1 835] THE CONSTABULARY BILL. 201 derry said, would really be to hand over the control of the police to Daniel O'Connell. " I would be ashamed," said the Marquis of Westmeath, " to show my face among my brother magistrates in Ireland if I consented to take from them that control which they had so long and so faithfully exercised." On August 27 Morpeth wrote to Drummond : — Lord Morpeth to Drummond. " My dear Drummond, — Well, the Lords have done it. I allay my disgust by thinking how much more keen yours must be. But it is thought that nearly everything is in our favour without an Act of Parliament. I am ready for any degree of vigour, so turn in your mind whether we might not issue a general order announcing that everyone who, by a certain day, would not give his solemn assurance that he was not a Ribbonman or Orangeman should be instantly dismissed from the force.^ " I have sent up the Dublin Police - to-day to this grave of all the Capulets, where, I suppose, it will not have a longer living existence than Juliet.^ I suppose you would still wish it [the Constabulary Bill] passed if we are able. ... It seems still uncertain when we shall rise. It will turn on Monday in the House of Commons. — Ever yours, " Morpeth." The rejection of the Constabulary Bill was the begin- ning of active hostilities between the Ascendancy and Drummond ; and, for nearly five years, that is to say, until Drummond's death, the conflict continued. It was the policy of Drummond to govern Ireland by the vigorous ^ Under the existing system, Ribbonmen and Orangemen sometimes got into the police. - A Bill for the reorganisation of the Dublin police had also been intro- duced. ^ It had not. It was rejected without a division on September 4. The Duke of Wellington opposed it. 202 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S35 enforcement of the ordinary law, and a generous regard to the grievances of the people. It was the policy of the Ascendancy to govern by coercion, so that all agitators might be put down, and all grievances kept out of sight. " Law and order " was the cry of the Orange faction. "Law, order, and justice" were the watchwords of the Under Secretary. Before Drummond's arrival it had been the practice, as we have seen, to employ police and military in the collec- tion of tithes.i The Ascendancy wished the practice to continue; Drummond was resolved it should end. In October 1835, he wrote this letter in reply to one of the usual applications for police aid to collect tithes : — " Dublin Castle, Oct. 14, 1835. "SiR; — Referring to your letter relative to granting police aid in the recovery of your tithes, I am now directed by the Lord Lieutenant to acquaint you that he cannot comply with your application. " His Excellency does not deem it expedient in this, or in any other case of the enforcement of civil rights by distress, that either the military or the police should be called out unless their presence shall be rendered necessary by actual riot, or breach of the peace. In such cases, I am desired by his Excellency to add, that, the military and the police will be directed to attend on the requisition, and under the control of the local authorities ; and distinct orders will be issued to provide as far as possible for the repression and punishment of all violations of the public peace. — I am, faithfully," (Signed) " MoRPETH." "The Rev. B. Cotter." The position here taken up was never abandoned. The ^ "Was not the Government forced to employ horse, foot, and artillery for the collection of tithes ? " Sharman Crawford was asked by the Committee on Orange Lodges. He answered, " The Government did so." — "Select Com- mittee on Orange Lodges, &c., in Ireland." Q. 6039. \ iS3S] COLLECTION OF TITHES. 203 ground on which Drummond took his stand — that the poHce should be used, not to collect tithes or rents, but to keep the peace — was held firmly to the end. To understand Drummond's position, it must be borne in mind, that there was at this time a land war as well as a tithe war. The tenants complained of excessive rents and general oppression. The landlords opposed all sug- gestions of reform. Drummond stood aloof from the contending parties. He refused to collect either tithes or rents at the point of the bayonet. He sent both parson and landlord to the ordinary legal tribunals for " redress." It was for the courts to enforce legal process ; it was for him to keep the peace. The Sheriff, not the Lord Lieu- tenant, was the functionary to conduct distraints and carry out evictions. The Executive was responsible for the public tranquillity, not for the enforcement of personal claims, just or unjust. This was Drummond's position. He was never driven from it. The Rev. W. Beresford applied for police to attend a tithe sale. Drummond replied that no police should be sent to aid Beresford in carrying out the sale ; but that the peace would be kept. The sale took place, the police were stationed out of view ; and everything went off quietly. The Chief Constable reported to Drummond : — " I beg to report that the sale of distress made by the Rev. W. Beresford at BalHncally went off quietly yester- day. The police were not in view. Major Gallway went to the place and spoke to the people, who seemed to pay attention to what he said to them." Upon another occasion Major Gallway said to a clergy- man who was anxious that the police should take an active part in levying a distress for tithes, " The duty of the police will be confined to patrolling the neighbourhood without at all assisting in levying the distress." 204 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 Lord Mountcashel applied for a police force to execute writs of ejectment for non-payment of rent. Drummond replied, " Police shall be sent on affidavit being made that there is reasonable ground to apprehend a breach of the peace." Major Sykes, a Tipperary landlord, applied for a police force to attend a sale of goods which he had dis- trained for rent from Thomas Burke, " a very bad character, and connected with a lawless faction in the neighbourhood. Acting on their motto, 'who dare,' he refuses to pay rent, and disregards the usual course of the law." Sykes feared the " effusion of blood " if the police were not present. Drummond endorsed the letter, " Inform that his Ex- cellency regrets that he cannot afford police aid under the circumstances stated by Mr Sykes." To another application of a like kind he replied, " This being an application for aid in removing goods distrained, his Excellency has not the power to order the police to interfere." These refusals brought the denunciations of the Ascendancy on Drummond's head. But the Under Secretary kept on the even tenor of his way. He preserved the peace. But he did not place the police at the beck and call of either parson or landlord. While Drummond was thus dealing with these applica- tions, Lord Morpeth received the following letter from Poulett Scrope, M.P. Poulett Scrope was then member for Stroud. He was an able and moderate politician. For many years he had taken a keen interest in the question of landlord and tenant in Ireland. It was his opinion that the miseries and crimes of the Irish peasantry were due to landlord oppression, and he constantly strove to bring the fact before the English public. A Royal Commission had been appointed to inquire into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland. Scrope felt that the work of this Com- mission would be incomplete, if the causes of agrarian 1835] AGRARIAN CRIME. 205 crime were not investigated, and accordingly he wrote to Lord Morpeth : — POULETT SCROPE TO LORD MORPETH. " Castlecombe, Chippenham, October 1835. "My Lord, — I write at your Lordship's request to remind you of a promise made to me before you quitted London, that an immediate examination should be made of the reports of the provincial constabulary officers for some years back, for the purpose of obtaining, and laying before Parliament, a view of the state of crime in Ireland — and especially of the nature and extent of those agrarian offences which are so peculiar to that country, as to de- monstrate the existence of some corresponding peculiarly exciting cause. " I cannot but think that the inquiry now in progress under a Royal Commission, into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland, will be exceedingly imperfect if so important a branch of the subject is omitted, as that which relates to their remarkable proneness to the com- mission of a class of offences almost unheard of in other countries — which are, however, not only of frequent occur- rence in Ireland, but seem to meet with the general appro- bation and countenance of the bulk of the population ; it being notorious that, while the apprehension of a thief will be aided by the peasantry assembled at a fair or market in Ireland, a person accused of a criminal outrage — nay, even of a murder — of an agrarian character, will be generally aided to escape from justice, and probably supported and befriended by the people of the country. "The tacit and occasionally active participation of crowds of bystanders in assassinations, and violent outrages of this nature, and the general existence of secret societies in execution of whose formal sentences these deeds of blood and violence are usually perpetrated, form symptoms 2o6 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 of a disordered state of moral feeling among the mass of the peasantry, which in any honest inquiry into their condi- tion, it would betray the grossest blindness to neglect. " Knowing that reports are regularly made to the Lord Lieutenant of the state of crime in the different provinces, accompanied by comments both of a general and particular nature fitting to throw light on this important subject, I venture to make the suggestion to your Lordship which has been the cause of my present application ; and I would now only remind your Lordship of your engagement to institute the inquiry, and at the same time express a hope that your Lordship will take the necessary pains to prevent a party or partial bias being given to it, either by the method adopted, or the persons engaged in it. " It must be obvious to all who know the heated state of party feeling in Ireland, that, unless the entire documents as sent up by the constabulary are produced and printed (which their bulk may render impossible or difficult without a selection, which opens another door to partiality), it will be in the power, and, without great care taken in his choice, may be the object, of the person employed, to make the result of the inquiry tell for or against the credit or interest of the political, or religious, party to which he is attached. " My own impression is that such an inquiry should form a branch of that now making into the state of the poorer classes, and that no fitter person could be employed to prosecute or direct it than Mr Revans, the Secretary to that Commission. " But I feel sure your Lordship's discernment and impartiality may be depended on for securing an unpreju- diced, and, at the same time, a thorough inquiry. The facts and their bearings, I am aware, will be such as must, if fully disclosed, necessarily excite feelings of a very strong character. Still, I cannot think that your Lordship will allow any veil on this account to be thrown over them. I [1S35 AGRARIAN CRIME. 207 The moral and physical state of the Irish people has reached a crisis of disease in which any concealment would be criminal, since nothing but such strong remedies as the extremity of the case calls for can be of any avail. The English, and even the Irish themselves of the upper classes, are in almost complete ignorance of the real condition of the Irish people — a condition more frightful in its deformity than can be conceived except it be witnessed — and the truth must be told, or they will not be prepared for the application of the real remedies. "The volume just printed — Appendix A to the first Report of the Commission of Inquiry — offers such a picture of a professedly civilised community as the world never yet saw. But the picture must be completed, and for this pur- pose the inquiry on which I write is essentially necessary. " I trust your Lordship will institute it in time to produce the result before the next meeting of Parliament, and con- temporaneously at least with the final Report of the Com- mission. In this hope, and apologising for anything that may appear presuming in the way in which I have taken the liberty to communicate my views, — I have the honour to remain, your Lordship's very obedient servant, "G. POULETT SCROPE." Morpeth sent this letter to Drummond with the follow- ing note : — " Please to look over this letter, and then return it. Before its arrival I received an application from Mr Revans to be allowed to look over the constabulary reports with the same view. I think the request reason- able, and may turn to use, but I wish first to submit it to you. " Morpeth." This letter may be followed by one from an Irish tenant to Lord Althorp. The original was found among Drummond's papers. 2o8 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 An Irish Tenant to Lord Althorp, " My Lord, — It is reported that you are about to charge the tenantry of Ireland a Land Tax instead of tithe. We, the peasantry (for the peasantry are almost the tenantry of this poor country), are not objects fit at all for any taxation, however small. You do not know the kind of creatures you are going to tax — creatures that are reduced to the necessity of subsisting on the same food with their pig, and lying on a bed of the same quality with her. The Irish are reduced to the necessity of entirely subsisting on the lumper potato — a kind that grows something better in the poor man's impoverished land than the potatoes of good quality. The lumper is not indeed human food at all. Mix them with any other kind of potatoes and lay them before a pig, and she will not eat one of them until all the good kind are devoured, even if her hunger be not at all abated. There is a de- mand on us for two or three years' tithe ; you might as well try to get back the snow of last year as to try to get that or any part of it from nineteen out of twenty of us ; to get anything from us you should have a police on the spot to snap it from us whilst it is on its way from our hand to our mouth. That is the way the tithe was always wrung from creatures like us. If we were to be shot for it we could not keep it on hands for one week, such is the pressing nature of our wants. And you will have as much difficulty in tearing it from us under the name of a Land Tax as under its proper name. And all for this best of all reasons, because we have it not nor can afford it. " God knows if we could pay it, we would do so, and it would be better and easier for us to do so (however unjust), than to be at the trouble and danger we are in refusing it. It would be better for us to pay it if we could. k 1S35] IRISH POVERTY. 209 than to have our heart's blood shed instead of it. We dread, you may believe it, the ugly deaths we meet at the hands of the bloody tithe ministers, but certainly we dread the death of ourselves and our poor children by starvation much more. We have daily in our view death staring us in the face, in the shape of poverty, hunger, and starvation. We have also daily in our view and our dreams the not much less horrid and revolting figure of the tithe clergyman with the police, the instruments of death, at his back. Under these circumstances, and sur- rounded by Martial Law, there is no alternative left but to choose the easiest way to die. " People like you cannot have the least idea of our misery. The great governors of nations ought to go in disguise through the country, and enter the hovels of the peasantry, to make themselves acquainted with the kind of food they live on, and how they must labour for that food. If they did so, even though they may be without a heart, brute instinct would make them see that they are not fit objects even of the most necessary taxation, not to say a tax so unjust in its nature and so unnecessary, as to be pampering the teacher of piety and humility with three or four thousand a year. If such an enormous sum be necessary to induce these saints to impart a share of their piety and humility to their fellow- creatures, levy it off the rich for them. Tax not for them eaters of the lumper potato and the grain of salt. Tax only such as have for themselves at least the necessaries of life. Tax no one for them that has not more than an interest of one hundred a year in their land. Tax but that description, and it will be paid ; from one hundred a year upwards to sixty and eighty thousand, the scale should rise rapidly. " These are the description of persons that ought to be taxed, because they can pay unknown to their bellies, 210 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 and because it will be less trouble to them to do so than resist, even should they think it unjust. But if you tax the lumper potato eater, the tithe owner who receives it will often have his head dish sweetened with the blood of the victim from whom it is torn. But that is sauce that the saints are well accustomed to, and therefore will have no objection to. But, my Lord, that the Al- mighty may put it in your heart to rescue the poor people of Ireland from these voracious vultures, and that God Alrriighty may reward you, shall be the prayer of me, a poor tiller of land, and who subscribes himself, — Your Lordship's humble servant, " Paddy Cahill." " IT th June 1833." In November Drummond left Ireland to be married ; and on the 19th of that month he became the husband of Miss Kinnaird.^ They were married from Weston House, Warwickshire, the seat of Sir George Philips, where, two years previously, they had met. In December, Drummond and his wife were settled down at the Under Secretary's lodge in the Phoenix Park, Dublin ; thenceforth, it is no exaggeration to say, the thoughts of both were given up to the well-being of the country where their lot was cast. Drummond's life in Ireland was one of constant anxiety and trial ; but the burdens of a cheerless office were lightened by the comforts of a happy home. In Miss Kinnaird he had found a lady whose intellectual gifts did not fall short of her personal attractions ; who was a sym- pathetic helpmate, a bright companion, a tender, thought- ^ Hearing of the approaching marriage, the poet Wordsworth wrote to Samuel Rogers: "Miss Kinnaird, I am told, is about to be married to Lieut. Drummond, of calculating celebrity. Is he an amiable man ? I should like to know, for she is a great favourite with me and mine." — Clayden : " Rogers and his Contemporaries." 1S35] THE UNDER SECRETARY'S LODGE. 211 ful wife. She entered into the spirit of her husband's work, held his views, shared his counsels, cheered his labours. The murmurs of the political storm which raged round Dublin Castle were not heard in the Phoenix Park. The gloom of public care was lost in the brightness of domestic joy. We get a glimpse of Drummond at the Phoenix Park in a letter from Mrs Sharp, Richard Sharp's widowed sister- in-law, to whose care Miss Kinnaird had been confided from a very early age, and whose home now was the Under Secretary's Lodge. Writing to Drummond's mother, in December, she says : — " My Dear Madam, — As I am the person whose time is the least occupied, it would indeed be most unkind of me to withhold from you the daily occurrences and details which I well know must be most interesting to a mother. I only regret that the pen is not held by one of your dear children, either of whom would send you a much better letter than myself. Maria is a good deal engaged at present in making her domestic arrangements, and dear Mr Drummond's laborious duties (for truly his situation is no sinecure) leave him no time for writing letters to those with whom it would be a delight to him to correspond. " In my last hastily-written letter I promised to give you some description of this lovely place. To begin with the house, which you enter by a handsome stone porch, which leads through a glass door into a very pretty hall. On the right hand is the drawing-room, two windows of which open into a very pretty green-house looking nearly south ; on the east side is a handsome bow with three French windows opening on the lawn, which is beautifully diversi- fied with shrubs and flower beds. Communicating with the drawing-room by a double door, is a spacious dining- 212 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 room with a large bow window, commanding the same view as the bow in the drawing-room. Another door in the dining-room ojDens into a passage which leads to the housekeeper's room and other offices. A very pretty stair- case conducts to the second floor ; the first room on the landing is Mr Drummond's study fitted up as a library ; but if his business continues as laborious as it is at present, I regret to say that it should rather be called his office. " The next room is a noble bedroom over the dining- room, occupied by him and his dear wife, with a nice dressing-room for him. Then follows my room, which is truly comfortable, and commanding the same view as theirs. The next is a larger room, which was kindly offered to me, but I much prefer the one I have chosen, and, even if I had not, it would have been most selfish of me to have taken it, as there is a dressing-room attached to it, which would have been to me quite useless. There are a great many other rooms all very comfortable, but those I have described are what may be termed the principal apartments. The house abounds with every convenience, hot and cold baths, &c. Mr Drummond's domain contains, I believe, about forty-two acres, three of which are laid out as pleasure grounds. The situation is beautifully retired, not a house being visible from any part of it, but not in the remotest degree dull. I can assure you that Maria and I, and, I think I may add, your son, will be very, very sorry to leave it for the Castle, but we understand that it is the etiquette for the Under Secretary to remove there when the Lord Lieutenant takes possession of the Castle, which it is usual to do in the month of February. Our hope is, that as Lady Mulgrave is said to be very fond of the Phoenix Park, she will have the good taste to return here early in the spring. " And now, my dear Madam, it remains for me to give you some insight into the manner in which we pass our 1S35] THE UNDER SECRETARY'S LODGE. 213 time. We rise at eight o'clock, and at a quarter after nine all the servants who are not Catholics assemble in the dining-room for family prayer, preceded by reading a por- tion of Scripture. At present, Maria alone conducts the worship, but Mr Drummond has promised occasionally to assist her, but, with the feelings of a doting husband, he thinks no one can do it with so much effect as she. I am sure you will be gratified to hear that he is always present. Then follows breakfast, at which we are joined by two gentlemen, who are his assistants, but who do not reside in the house. Immediately after breakfast, Mr Drummond returns to the library, and we do not see him until about two o'clock, when he rides to the Castle, from whence he never returns until just in time to dress for a seven-o'clock dinner. "You would then suppose his labours were ended, but not so — an hour, at least, is devoted to business ; but in order not to lose a moment of each other's society, Maria sits in his study with him, and there we generally take our tea. My poor Maria is not a little annoyed to find that even the little time they have to enjoy each other's society is likely to be broken in upon by stupid dinner parties, which, as a man in office, he and his wife will be obliged to attend. I earnestly hope that some means will be devised for abridg- ing them, for I am sure they will be injurious to the health of both. " Our first visitor here was Lord Morpeth, who called the day after our arrival, invited us to a dinner on the Saturday, and only let us off on condition of our going to his ball on the following Tuesday — on which day Mr Drummond and Maria dined at the Viceregal Lodge, where they met a very small party, consisting of the Rev. Dr Murray, Mr and Mrs Grattan, Mr Shell, together with many military men, attendants on the household. I called for them at half-past ten, and accompanied them to Lord L 214 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1835 Morpeth's, where there was a large assembly, looking very gay from the number of military men. " Lord Morpeth received Maria in the most flattering manner, taking her on his arm, and introducing her to many of the company. Indeed, throughout the evening the introductions were so numerous, that I think she must have been weary of hearing her new name. " Her husband was very much pleased with her dress, which Avas white satin trimmed with blond lace ; her hair dressed in the Grecian style, with some very pretty ornaments of beads, intermixed with green and silver leaves, a beautiful gold chain, brooch, earrings, and bracelet gold-studded with emeralds. " The whole of my amusement was in watching the admiring looks of her happy husband, and the scrutiny with which he seemed to look into the faces of those to whom she was introduced, to see if they approved her. During Mr Sharp's life we went a great deal more into society than I liked, but I felt I was more in my duty in going with Maria than suffering her to go alone. Now that she is married, the case is altered, and I no longer feel it necessary. I shall therefore indulge my own inclina- tions, and keep much at home. " On Sunday (the only Sabbath we have spent here) we set out in the car to go to the Hibernian Chapel, but the horse being a little unruly we took fright, and Mr Drum- mond went alone. I am at present quite at a loss to know where to attend, but am hoping to be furnished with some information on the subject from a friend in England. I suppose it will be expedient for Maria to appear at church at the morning service, but unless their pulpits are better filled here than they are in the generality of churches in England, she will have a very different fare to what she has been accustomed. I therefore anxiously hope that she will attend afternoon or evening service (whichever it may 1S35] THE UNDER SECRETARY'S LODGE. 215 be) with me, should I meet with a preacher whose religious opinions coincide with my own. " Mr Drummond went this morning directly after break- fast to the Lord Lieutenant, I have therefore not had an opportunity of reading him that part of your letter which you wished me to communicate. I shall be silent as to the slowness of the amendment of his dear sister's health, about which I know he is most anxious ; indeed, I may truly say that we all are. At present the weather here is unusually mild. If that be the weather that suits Miss Drummond, I hope it is so in Scotland ; for my own feelings, I rather prefer a more bracing air. " I am just told it is my duty to take a walk while the sun is shining so beautifully, and if I do not seal my letter before I go I shall lose this day's post. I therefore must conclude this very short epistle, and only add the united kind regards of our two to your trio. — Believe me, my dear Madam, your sincere friend, " A. M. Sharp. " Your son and daughter are quite well. I can say the same of myself" CHAPTER VIII. 1836. Immediately on the meeting of Parliament in 1836, the Irish members renewed their attacks on the Orange Society. They were supported by Hume, who revealed the whole story of the " Fairman plot," and wound up a vigorous speech with a strong resolution demanding an address ,to the Crown for the removal of every judge, privy councillor, lord lieutenant, magistrate, militia officer, police inspector, or constable who belonged to the organization. Lord John Russell interposed with a moderate speech, and moved as an amendment to Hume's resolution, that His Majesty should be prayed to take such steps as he deemed " advisable for the effectual discouragement of Orange lodges, and generally of all political societies." The Orange members, wincing under Hume's onslaught, and possibly fearful of further revelations, offered but a faint-hearted resistance to Russell's amendment. They proposed the omission of the words " Orange lodges." Russell insisted on retaining the words. Verner said he would take the opinion of the House on the point. Shaw urged his friends not to press the question to a division. Shaw's advice was taken, and Russell's amendment agreed to unanimously.^ On February 25, the King's answer to the address was received — ^ Hansard, 3id ser., vol. xxxi, pp. 332, 345, and 779, 859. It was stated during the debate, that of 27,000 men in the Irish yeomanry corps, 25,000 were Orangemen ; that of 7000 policemen, 5000 were Orangemen. Ibid., p. 333. 1836] THE KING AND ORANGEISM. 217 " William Rex — I willingly assent to the prayer of the address of my faithful Commons that I would be pleased to take such measures as may seem to me advisable for the effectual discouragement of Orange lodges, and gene- rally of all political societies, excluding persons of a different religious faith, using secret signs and symbols, and, acting by means of associated branches. It is my firm intention to discourage all such societies in my dominions, and I rely with confidence on the fidelity of my loyal subjects to support me in this determi- nation." The Orangemen bowed to this mandate. Cumberland flung up the Grand Mastership. The Orange Society of Great Britain and the Colonies was dissolved. But the Orange Society of Ireland remained to threaten the public peace and thwart the policy of conciliation.^ ^ The Orange Society was dissolved as a system of affiliated lodges under the Grand Lodge ; but it remained in Ireland as a system of unaffiliated lodges. — McLennan. The Orange Society of Great Britain was, so far as I can make out, reformed in 1845. By the new " Laws and Ordinances," the Orangeman's declaration ran as follows : — "... And I further declare that I will, to the utmost of my power, support Her Majesty Queen Victoria the First, the laws of the country, and the succession to the throne in Her Majesty's illustrious house being Protestant." — " Laws and Ordinances of the Grand Orange Society of Great Britain," p. 19. (Published at Bolton in 1S48.) Bylaw i, Catholics were excluded from the Society. By the " Laws and Ordinances of the Orange Institution of Ireland," published at Belfast in 1872, we learn : " The Basis of the Institution. " The Institution is composed of Protestants united and resolved to the utmost of their power to support and defend the rightful sovereign, the Pro- testant religion, the laws of the realm, the Legislative Union, and the succes- sion to the throne in the House of Brunswick, BEING Protestant ; and united further for the defence of their own Persons and Properties, and the Maintenance of the Public Peace. It is exclusively an Association of those who are attached to the religion of the Reformation, and will not admit into its Brotherhood persons whom an intolerant spirit leads to persecute, injure, or upbraid any man on account of his religious opinons. They associate also 2i8 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 Morpeth lost no time in bringing forward the Con- stabulary Bill again. He introduced the measure on February 18. Meeting the main objection of the Orange party — the nomination of constables by the Executive Government instead of by the local authorities — he de- clared, in effect, that the Irish magistracy could not be trusted to make good appointments. " Within the last three months, not fewer than ninety-six constables and sub-constables had been dismissed from the force for belonging to secret societies." ^ in honour of King William III., Prince of Orange, whose name they bear as supporters of his glorious memory. "Particular Qualifications of Candidates. " It is also to be ascertained — " That the Candidate will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and to her Protestant successors ; that he will, to the utmost of his power, support and maintain the Laws and Constitution of the United Kingdom, and the succession to the Throne in Her Majesty's illus- trious House, BEING PROTESTANT. That he is not and never was a Roman Catholic or Papist, or married to one (unless in cases under the 3rd Law) ; that he is not, and never was, and will not become, a member of any society, or body of men who are enemies to the lawful sovereign, or the glorious consti- tution of the realm, as established in 1688, and that he never took, and never will take, any oath of secrecy, or any other oath of obedience, to any treason- able society. . . . "[Law] 3— " No person, who at any time has been a Roman Catholic, or married to one, shall be admitted into the Institution, except by a unanimous vote of the Grand Lodge, and of the District and County Grand Lodges, founded on testimonials of good character, and a Certificate of his having been duly elected (pursuant to 2nd Law), in the lodge in which he is proposed. "[Law] 2 — " The admission of Members shall be by Ballot or otherwise, at the option of each lodge ; and when by ballot, one black bean in seven to exclude, and no Candidate shall be admitted or balloted for without having been regularly proposed and seconded, at least one month previous to such admission of ballot." ^ Orangemen got into the force in the North, and Ribbonmen in the South. Though the magistrates had the power of appointing the constables, the Government had the power of dismissing them. This power Drummond used freely, and was clearing the force of Orangemen and Ribbonmen while Parlia- ment was discussing the Constabulary Bill. It would seem that the magis- trates in the North exercised their power in a partizan spirit, and made Orange appointments ; while the magistrates in the South were lax in the discharge of their duties and failed to keep the force free from objectionable members. 1S36] THE CONSTABULARY BILL AGAIN. 219 O'Connell supported Morpeth. " Two constables," he said, "had lately been broken. One of them had ex- claimed to a crowd of persons in a public-house, ' Now for a bumper,' and having filled his glass he gave as a toast, ' The Pope in the pillory, the pillory in hell, and the devil pelting him with priests.' The other gave as a toast, ' May the ears of all the papists be nailed to the chapel doors, and the chapel transplanted into hell.' " The question was whether the police should be appointed by the Grand Orange Lodge or the Government. He was in favour of the Government. The Orange members showed a disposition to make a stand against the Bill. But, to their dismay. Peel rose, flung them overboard, and sided with the ministers. Morpeth wrote to Drummond : — "February 19, 1836. " I have written to Lord Mulgrave about the House last night, where we had a most prosperous evening. The reception of the Constabulary Bill will secure its passing. Colonel Shaw's name ^ did the business of itself. Peel entirely threw over the Orangemen to their much dis- pleasure." The Bill passed the Commons on March 23. The second reading was moved in the Lords on April 12. No real opposition was now offered to the measure. Lord Had- dington criticised its details in a feeble speech, marking out for special objection "clause 10," which, he said, violated the common law. By the common law the police were bound to serve tithe processes; but by this clause the Lord Lieutenant was given power to overrule the law, and control the customary proceeding. The police were for- bidden to afford any aid in the collection of tithes, except where forcible resistance was proved. Lord Haddington thought this an unjustifiable provision. ^ Colonel Shaw Kennedy was named as Inspector-General. 220 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S36 In Committee on May 2, Lord Roden protested against the increase of stipendiary magistrates contem- plated by the Bill. Under former Acts, he said, stipendiary magistrates could only be appointed in the disturbed districts of the South ; but now they might be appointed "in the peaceable province of Ulster." Lord Melbourne met all objections by showing that the Bill really gave no powers which the Executive did not already possess.^ It was a consolidation Bill, nothing more nor less. Lord Hatherton, in a short but effective speech, again told the House that a Bill of this nature had long been in contem- plation. Such a measure had been approved of by Lord Anglesey, Lord Stanley, Lord Wellesley, and even Lord Haddington himself Before the Bill left the Lords, Morpeth wrote to Drummond : — "How the Lords do lie about the constabulary, and our men will never tell them so. However, I think, Hatherton's presence is being of use among all sides." Finally the Bill, with some amendments added by their Lordships, became law before the end of May. When it was safely landed, Morpeth wrote to Drummond : — '■'■May 21, 1836. "My Dear Drummond, — The Constabulary Bill has received the Royal assent, and whatever is in it, if this effect was to incarcerate us both for life, still at that con- summation I must rejoice. , . . Now wish me joy. I am off to Eastbourne for six days. — Ever yours, " Morpeth." ^ ^ This was proved by the fact that Drummond, without the Bill, had for- bidden the police to aid in collecting tithes ; which, according to Lord Haddington, he could not do by law except under the Bill. 2 6 and 7 Wm. IV., cap. 13. In the same year the Bill for regulating the Dublin Police also passed (6 and 7 Wm. IV., cap. 29). The Acts by which the force had previously been regulated were, 48 Geo. HI., cup. 140, and 5 Geo. IV., cap. 102. 48 Geo. III., cap. 140. This Act placed the police under the control of 1S36] THE IRISH CONSTABULARY. Fortified by this enactment, Drummond organised a police force which, it is scarcely an exaggeration to say, has been the admiration of the world. But it was his desire to make the police popular as well as capable. Some members of the Government doubted the wisdom of admitting Catholics to the force. But Drummond said, " if you do not admit Catholics, you will not gain the confidence of the people," and his opinion prevailed.^ He left the Irish Constabulary an efficient, a remarkable, and a popular body of men. They are still efficient and remark- able, but no longer popular. In Drummond's time they were looked upon as the protectors of the people, the guardians of the public peace. Since his time they have been looked upon as a body of mercenaries paid to keep their country in servitude.- Perhaps nothing illustrates the genius of this extraordinary man more than the fact that respect for the law and for the officers of the law, begun and ended with his government. Why } Because he impressed the people powerfully with his strong sense of justice. At the present day stipendiary magistrates are disliked and distrusted. But in Drummond's time the people used to say, " Oh, we can get justice now, we have a eighteen justices, twelve of whom were appointed by the Lord Lieutenant, and six by the Corporation. All were removable by the Lord Lieutenant. (Sees. 4, 8.) 5 Geo. IV., cap. 102. By this measure the Lord Lieutenant was em- powered to divide the police district into four divisions, and to appoint twelve justices, consisting of four barristers, four aldermen, four sheriff-peers. These magistrates, taken from each set, were attached to each of the police divisions. (Sec. 2.) 6 and 7 Vic, cap. 29. One central police office was established under the control of the Chief Secretary or Under Secretary ; and two divisional police magistrates were appointed. ^ He threatened to resign if Catholics were excluded. - I express no opinion. I state a fact. An Irish gentleman well versed in the history of his country once said to me, " How do you account for the fact that when I was a youth [1843] the police were very popular; but they are not so now ? " 222 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 stipendiary come." ^ Everything that came from Drum- mond's hand was accepted with confidence, because he was known to be just. "You do everything well," Lord Morpeth wrote him in April 1836. This was a true commentary upon his government. While Parliament was dealing with the Orange Society and the Constabulary Bill, an exciting debate took place in the Commons respecting Drummond's refusal to employ police in the collection of tithes. Towards the end of 1835 the Ascendancy had formed a "Lay Association," practically for the purpose of overawing the Executive. This association hit on the expedient of obtaining writs of rebellion from the Court of Exchequer, by virtue of which it was believed Drummond would be bound to send police to arrest tithe defaulters. But the writs pro- duced no efi'ect on him. He said they did not change the situation in the least. A writ of rebellion was a document addressed to a "Commissioner of rebellion." It was for the " Commissioner " to execute the writ as best he could. It was for the Executive to take care that he sustained no injury in carrying out the law. The duty of the police, he again insisted, was to keep the peace, to arrest public offenders, but not to aid in civil process. Acting on Drummond's directions, several police officers refused to aid in executing the writs. These officers were ^ " Select Committee on Orange Lodges in Ireland," Q. 4649 (evidence of Sharman Crawford). Drummond used the stipendiary magistrate freely. It is a fact which ought to be stated, that, before Drummond's time, the stipendiary magistrates were more or less popular ; always more popular than the local magistrates. But they were not used by previous administrators so much as by Drummond. The local magistrates were too strong for the previous administrators. " Grossly," wrote Drummond to his mother in July 1836, "have the local magistrates abused their power in many — in very many instances ; but their wings are clipped, and I hope and believe that there is some chance of justice being better administered soon, and ultimately of being well administered. The confidence of the people will be regained ; though given to the Government now, it is withheld from their local courts, and no wonder." 1S36] WRITS OF REBELLION. 223 brought before the Court of Exchequer, and committed or reprimanded. They appealed from the Exchequer to the House of Lords, and while the cases were pending, the Irish members called the attention of the Commons^ to the whole question. They said the action of the Exchequer was illegal, and O'Connell denounced the judgment of the court as a "political decision." O'Loghlen, in a powerful speech, showed that Drummond was only acting in accord- ance with the law, as laid down by no less a personage than the Chief Baron of the Exchequer himself (Joy) when Attorney-General. Amid cheers and laughter O'Loghlen read Joy's opinion, in which, using almost the very words employed by Drummond, he said the police were to act "in cases only where a breach of the peace is committed."- Again in 1825, the Chief Secretary of the day, writing under Joy's advice in reply to a demand by the Sheriff of Clare for police aid, said : " I am commanded to acquaint you that constables cannot legally be employed by the sheriff or his deputy in the execution of civil process. . . . In the execution of criminal process, or for the mainten- ance of the public peace, the sheriff has a legal power of requiring the service of the constable." As this was the exact position taken up by Drummond, the reading of these extracts fairly brought down the House. Morpeth followed O'Loghlen, and amid great laughter, read a letter from Drummond's predecessor Cosset — who was now Sergeant-at-arms — written in March 1835 (under the Vice- royalty of the Tory Lord Haddington), refusing police aid on the grounds that the police could only interfere " to preserve the public peace." This debate strengthened Drummond's hands, and was a victory for the Govern- ment. Morpeth described the scene in a lively letter to the Under Secretary. ^ Hansard, 3rd ser., vol. xxxi., pp. 566, 611. - Joy's words. Opinion written in 1824. Ibid., 591. 224 thomas drummond. [1836 Morpeth to Drummond. ''Feb. 1836. "My Dear Drummond, — . . . The Exchequer case was glorious, and the Haddington precedent invaluable : it brought down the House in shrieks, and it was great sport reading Gosset's letter in his presence. It is all vilely re- ported, especially in the Chronicle. I think you had better just warn our Dublin press friends of this. O'Loghlen's speech was excellent. — Ever yours, " Morpeth." But the appeal cases were not to come before the House of Lords until August; meanwhile Drummond held his ground resolutely. In February Parson Anderson of Ballinarobe applied for a " small force of police " to protect his " driver," stating that there was a combination against tithes in the neigh- bourhood, which "was generally quiet." Drummond endorsed the letter : " Request cannot be complied with." In February and March the famous correspondence with Talbot Glascock took place. Glascock was a " red hot " Orange attorney. He belonged to the firm of Glascock & Cradock, solicitors to the Dean of St Patrick's. He had more than once — though in a somewhat grotesque way — " stood up " to O'Connell, and now resolved to break a lance with the Under Secretary. Glascock to Drummond. ''Feb. 27, 1836. " Sir, — The state of the country, and particularly the county of Kilkenny, touching the recovery of tithe rents, renders it absolutely necessary to have the aid^ of the civil and military powers to effect the service of the process of the Court of Exchequer for the recovery of the tithe com- position rent due to the Dean of St Patrick's there. In confirmation of the obvious fact, we beg leave to enclose 1 The italics are Drummond's. J 1836] TITHES: TO LICE AID. 225 you the joint affidavits of two authorised bailiffs in the parish of Castlecomer. We therefore have to request that directions may be given for that end. — Faithfully yours, " T. Glascock (Cradock)." Drummond to Glascock. '■'■March 2, 1836. " Gentlemen, — As the proceedings have been taken in the superior courts, through which Messrs Glascock & Cradock may either obtain an order to substitute service of process, or may procure the assistance of the sheriff in serving the processes in question, and as the sheriff, the recognised and responsible officer of the law, is invested with full power to call upon the military and police to pro- tect him in the execution of his duty. His Excellency cannot consent to any direct interference on the part of the Government, when the object may be obtained through the ordinary tribunals in a manner provided for by law. — Faithfully yours, " T. Drummond." Glascock to Drummond. "March a,, 1836. " Sir, — We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 2nd instant, but not the affidavit ^ which accompanied ours of the 27th ult., to which your letter received yesterday purported to be a reply. " If you will please refer to that affidavit, which you still hold, you will see that the deponents who swore it, stated facts of outrage which happened to' them when distraining tithe composition rent due to our client, the Dean of St Patrick's, and further swore that it would be useless to make any attempt to effect service of any law process for tithe in the said parish unless the protection of the police be afforded, and that they believe that their lives would be in danger without such protection. ^ The affidavit of the "authorised baiUffs." P 226 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 " We beg leave to state that, having considered it pru- dent, with a view to avoid collision with the peasantry, to abandon our proceedings by distress, we have issued subpoenas, at the suit of the Dean of St Patrick's, from the Law and Equity side of the Court of Exchequer, which are directed to the parties' defendants, and not to the sheriff; and as it would be impracticable to obtain orders from the court to substitute service of such subpoenas until next term, the right of our client will be greatly prejudiced by the delay if we cannot procure services to be effected during the present vacation. " We also beg leave to submit that we cannot procure the assistance of the sheriff in serving the process in ques- tion. Though the ' recognised and responsible officer of the law is invested with full power to call upon the military and police to protect him in the execution of his duty,' yet we respectfully submit that it is no part of his duty to assist in effecting service of law or equity subpoenas which are not directed to himself (as in the present case). "We, therefore, request that you will be pleased to lay this and our former letter before the Lord Lieutenant, for the reconsideration of His Excellency, or his legal adviser, in the hope that His Excellency may yet consent to a direct interference on the part of the Government to pre- vent, probably, the loss of life in an attempt to recover, in a manner provided for by law, the rights of the Dean of St Patrick's, which have been so long and so unjustifiably withheld. — Faithfully yours, " Glascock & Cradock." Drummond to Glascock. ''March 12, 1836. " Gentlemen, — Your further letter of the 4th inst, in reply to mine of the 2nd inst., has been received and laid before the Lord Lieutenant. 1836] POLICE AID REFUSED. 227 " His Excellency has to observe that there is not the slightest reason stated by you which would justify him in departing from the course taken in this and similar cases. His Excellency refers you to the practice of the Court of Exchequer in general, more especially to the proceedings of the court last term, in proof that the court will direct a writ of assistance to the sheriff though the subpoenas are not directed to that officer, and will make an order to sub- stitute service of the process on sufficient grounds being shown. These are facts which His Excellency supposed had come within the knowledge of professional men. " But you apply for assistance on another ground, viz., that the order to substitute service of process cannot be pro- cured till next term. His Excellency would certainly not consider this a sufficient ground for departing from the rule, which, after mature consideration, has been laid down in cases where Government aid is applied for. But on refer- ence to the affidavits, it appears that the facts sworn to occurred in August last, and if any injurious consequences have resulted to the Dean of St Patrick's by your neglect- ing to apply to the court last term, you are yourselves to blame, and are certainly not entitled, on the ground of delay which must ensue, to claim the special and direct interference of Government. — Faithfully yours, *'T. Drummond." Glascock replied in a furious letter, evading all Drum- mond's points, but abusing the Government in the most scurrilous manner. Drummond endorsed the letter : " to be put with former papers "; and there the matter ended. Many other applications were made throughout the year, but they were all met in a like spirit. Drummond's invariable answer was in effect : " Police shall be sent if there is danger of a breach of the peace, but not otherwise." 228 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 In August the Rev. W. Beresford wrote to Lord Mulgrave : — " Inniscara, August 10, 1836. " My Lord, — Under the conviction that a portion of the police were bound to assist in executing Writs of Rebel- lion, I made the reasonable request of the police officer at Ballincollig to protect the Commissioners after sunrise, and received for reply that he had instructions not to leave his barrack until after six o'clock in the summer, and daylight in winter. As this order if persevered in must materially injure me in the recovery of my debts, I shall, however reluctantly, be obliged to take proceedings against the officer in question, unless it be so modified as to meet the request I have made for attendance after sunrise. — Your Lordship's obedient servant, " W. Beresford." Drummond endorsed this letter: — " His Excellency gave the order on mature considera- tion, and cannot comply with Mr W. Beresford's request, "T. D., August 15." In October the Rev. P. B. Maxwell wrote : — " Sir, — In consequence of the outrage mentioned by Captain Roberts,^ in addition to the peremptory refusal of my tenants to pay tithes, I must reluctantly feel myself called upon, in the critical state of the barony of Ennis- howen, to apply to the Government for the assistance of the police. I beg to observe that, though a clergyman, I have no church preferment, and that I apply as a landlord obliged to pay tithes for tenants at will. — Truly yours, " P. B. Maxwell." Drummond endorsed the letter : "Enclose copy of the letter of the 14th October, by which Mr Maxwell will perceive that in conformity with 1 A band of men went around to tenants warning them not to pay tithe. 1 1836] LIFE IN DUBLIN. 229 the decision of His Excellency in similar applications, his request cannot be complied with, "T. D." Drummond's action in dealing with these tithe applica- tions sometimes puzzled Lord Morpeth. He once wrote to the Under Secretary during 1836 : — " My Dear Drummond, — I arrived in Babylon this afternoon. Let me have all my tithe cramming as soon as possible. What am I to say when it is objected thus: 'You tell applicants that the sheriff or the court may order out assistance for them, but you tell the police never to budge, without a reference to, and the direction of Government' You will never quarrel with my letters for being laconic. I hope sincerely Mrs Drummond mends. — Most sincerely, " Morpeth." 1 Unfortunately I have not been able to procure Drum- mond's reply to this letter. But I can from other papers conceive what his answer might have been. He would probably have said : " The sheriff or court may order assist- ance if the peace is likely to be broken. But it is for the Government to judge whether the peace is in danger or not." Passing from the subject of tithes, we shall take a glance generally at Drummond's work and life in Dublin during 1836. We can, perhaps, see him best through his letters, and the letters of his colleagues and friends. This chapter will therefore conclude with a selection from such corres- pondence — official and private. In January there was a lively interchange of letters between Baring, one of the Lords of the Treasury, Spring Rice, and Drummond respecting the resignation of an ' This letter was written in January 1836. It will be observed that the Constabulary Bill had not passed at this time. So it would seem that without that measure the Government controlled the police. 230 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 official named Burrowes. I have not been able to collect all the facts of the case, but it would seem that the Treasury was anxious to get Burrowes' resignation before making him an allowance, while he was anxious to know what the allowance might be before resigning. Baring to Drummond. " London, ya;/?/(7r_)' 15, 1836. " My Dear Drummond, — Will you have the kindness to let us have official intimation of Burrowes' resignation, and the particulars — namely, age, length of service, which may enable us to fix his entire allowance ? " We are bothered to death about it, and we cannot get anything we want from your side of the water. — Ever yours, " J. Baring." Spring Rice to Drummond. "Downing Street, y««?/fl;;7 15, 1836. " My Dear Drummond, — Mr Burrowes seems deter- mined to put the cart before the horse. How the devil can there be an official notification of his retiring allowance before the Treasury have received his resignation } The Chancellor of the Exchequer has written to Lord Plunket, letting him know that everything has been settled in the most satisfactory way, and that the only thing wanted is Mr B.'s resignation. — Yours always, "T. Spring Rice." Drummond to Baring. "Dublin Qk'S.iu?., January 17, 1836. " My Dear Baring, — We are bothered too, and I think your remark is somewhat unfair as to getting nothing from this side of the water. We were told through Lord Plunket, and on the authority of a letter from the Chancellor of 1836] THOMAS MOORE. 231 the Exchequer, that Burrovves' letter, already sent, was a sufficient announcement of his intention to resign, to enable the Treasury to act ; that it would, in fact, be con- sidered a resignation, and that a Departmental minute had been prepared accordingly. We were not told that anything more was required. We were not told what the amount of the retiring allowance was to be, but we were told that everything was arranged in the most satisfactory manner. " We were not told to send Burrowes's official resigna- tion. We have no such resignation, nor do I believe that we shall be able to get it till we are able to tell Burrowes what his retiring allowance is to be. He will not trust to the assurance that everything is arranged in the most satis- factory manner. The particulars as to age, length of service, &c., asked for two days ago, will be forwarded immediately; but as to the resignation, I do not think we shall get it officially unless we can tell him what the Treasury' are prepared to give as retiring allowance. — Always yours, " T. Drummond." I have not been able to learn how this matter was finally settled, as the correspondence is incomplete. In June Drummond received this letter from the poet Moore : — Thomas Moore to Drummond. "Sloperton, Devizes, /««^ i, 1836. " My Dear Mr Drummond, — I wish very much that Lord Mulgrave should see the enclosed letter, and shall feel greatly obliged by your sending or giving it to him. I should have sent it direct to him myself, but that I feared to transgress some of those forms which I know ' hedge ' a Lord Lieutenant as well as a King ; and though he, I am 232 THOMAS DRUMMOND, [1836 well aware, would readily forgive me such slips, others would not be so tolerant. The poor fellow who pleads so pitifully for himself in this letter is really deserving of what he asks, and I should rejoice to be, however remotely, the means of serving him. " Lord Brougham, to whom I recommended him, is little aware of one obligation which he owes to me, and that is preventing this person from publishing a long pamphlet which he had written in his (Lord B.'s) defence. It was almost all that B. wanted at the time to ruin him. — Ever yours, " Thomas Moore." In July Drummond wrote to his mother on the subject of Orangeism : — Drummond to his Mother. July 10, 1836. " My Dear Mother, — . . . I am very busy with the arrangements for the 12th of July — the day on which the Orange demons walk. It is very difficult to allay their fiendish spirit ; but we are improving. There will be so large a force of military and police, with nearly thirty stipendiary magistrates, stationed at the different points at which processions are apprehended, that no great mischief can be done by them, and we shall be enabled to lay hold of and prosecute a pretty considerable number of them. . . . — Your affectionate son, " T. Drummond." " No great mischief was done." Twelve troops and a half of cavalry and thirty-four companies of infantry, under the direction of thirty-three stipendiary magistrates, kept the peace, and many of the " demons " were arrested and prosecuted. 1836] STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 233 On August 28, Drummond again wrote to his mother: — " What is to happen before this time next year in the political world no man can, I think, foresee. I shall regret very much any change that moves me from this. I think another year of such tranquillity in Ireland would produce results which, a few years ago, no one could have hoped to see realised." On the subject of the "tranquillity" of the country, the following letter to Drummond from an Irish lady, belong- ing to the landlord class, may be quoted : — August [1836]. " Sir, — I am very much obliged to you for your prompt attention to my communication. " The chief constable has brought me the threatening letter addressed to ' Miss Osborne,' and I am now sending it into Clonmel in hopes of being able to discover the writer. I suppose the Evening Mail will be too happy to copy an attack made upon me in our provincial Tory paper. If you happen to see it, I hope you will be so good as to assure His Excellency, that the charge made against Miss Osborne's tenantry of being concerned in the murder of Keefe, I consider to be wholly without foundation, as I never heard a word of it before. " We are going abroad to see Rome and Naples ; but we are so far from being driven out of the country by fear, that we have been sleeping for many months in this house while some alterations are making, which leaves the house completely exposed. There is a ladder and scaffold- ing before a window next to our room ; the ladder is never removed at night ; and the door of the exposed room is not even locked. Could this be ventured upon in England? "When I first came to this country, houses were con- stantly broken open for firearms. This house was broken 234 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 open. On one occasion armed men kept possession of the lodge for half the night, waiting to murder the gamekeeper, A house was burned down, and a woman in it, on the borders of this domain. Now, no real outrage ever occurs in this neighbourhood. The depredations are singularly few. " The barn, at a great distance from the house, was entered by a ratcatcher. The sheep stealing was an old story which occurred eight years ago ; but nothing like disturbance occurs now. This neighbourhood of Two Mile Bridge, which used to be notoriously bad, is now equal in good conduct to the very best part of England. — I have the honour to be. Sir, your obedient servant, " Catherine Osborne." In August Drummond's eldest child ^ — a daughter — was born. On this occasion Drummond wrote to his mother: — Drummond to his Mother. "Dublin, September \, 1836. "My Dearest Mother, — I send you a lock of your little grand-daughter's hair ; where it has got the colour I cannot tell, for it is neither like its father's nor its mother's. Poor little thing ; it looks so gentle and innocent. Both mother and child go on admirably, and, as to Mrs Sharp, she is always peeping at baby. Dr Johnson said to her, when sitting by its little cot, ' You seem to be watching as if you were afraid somebody would run away with it.' . . . " Have you any fancy about the child being called after you ? I have always considered my own name such an abomination that I should certainly never have a child called after me. My notion is to give them pretty sweetly sounding names. Maria feels in regard to this as I do ; and as we both agree with Walter Scott in thinking Mary the prettiest name on the list of female names, we are disposed 1 Mrs Kay. 1S36] DANIEL O'CONNELL. 235 to call it Mary Elizabeth ; the latter of course after you. Now tell us honestly whether you have any feeling on the subject, any desire that it should have your name alone, or that it should be Elizabeth Mary. I like the sound Mary Elizabeth rather better, so does Maria ; but we shall be delighted to do what is agreeable to you if you have any wish on the subject. " I am glad, very glad, that you give a favourable account of Eliza, and that you look forward to a better winter this year than last. Kindest regards to my aunt, kindest love to my dearest Eliza and to John, and believe me, — Ever, my dearest mother, your truly affectionate son, "T. Drummond." I find among Drummond's papers one letter from O'Connell. There was a rumour that Mr Sergeant Greene would be raised to the bench. O'Connell regarded the appointment as objectionable, and wrote to Drummond on the subject. Daniel O'Connell to Drummond. "Darrynane Abbey, Oct. 13, 1836. " My Dear Sir, — Nothing but the overwhelming sense of the importance of the subject on which I write could move me to do so. It is said that there is a question of Mr Sergeant Greene being promoted to the vacant place on the bench. I, however, firmly believe, that Lord Mulgrave would resign first, and, for his honour, I hope so. " I could wish he should know — if you can convey to him respectfully — that the leading object of the Irish Reform members in supporting the present Government is to purify the administration of justice. The Tories have filled the bench with men who distort justice on every occasion — and they are multitudinous when their party can be served by injustice. 236 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 Partiality on the bench — judicial as well as magisterial — is the great curse of the country. The country actually pants with impatience to have the place of Baron Smith filled by an honest, intelligent, and impartial man. If the ministry place Mr Greene there, they take away the main- spring of my attachment to them. Why should I suffer the obloquy of a moment in supporting a Government treading in the most vital points in the foul footsteps of our, and their, enemies. I speak of myself, of course, as one of many — and supposing Greene a judge. " Lord Plunket is, I am quite convinced, the ' calamity ' of the Irish Government. His conduct in having all the filth of the magistracy introduced is most melancholy, and — if it be he who suggests Greene — he should himself be separated from this administration, " This is the very touchstone of the ministerial wishes for Ireland. " Pardon me, but it drives me almost mad to think of the cruelty to your friends of even hesitating about Greene, who is in heart and conduct Orange, and who, besides, is not of that competence in knowledge to entitle him by any means to the bench. " I write this, of course, in confidence to you as indeed a duty I owe to the first and only honest Lord Lieutenant I have ever seen. " I sincerely congratulate j/^w upon escaping the calamity of calamities. — I have the honour to be. Sir, your obedient servant, " Daniel O'Connell." Drummond endorsed this letter : " I have not heard Sergeant Greene mentioned for this or any other appointment." Drummond sent O'Connell's letter to Lord Mulgrave, who was then in London ; Lord Mulgrave replied : — 1836] orangeism and the police. 237 Lord Mulgrave to Drummond. ''Oct. 1S36. " My Dear Drummond, — " I hope you will express to O'Connell as strongly^ as possible that I think he might have known me enough now, from everything I have done since I have been in Ireland, to feel very sure that nothing would have induced me to make a doubtful or fadical appointment upon this vacancy. I am too well aware of the importance of using every opportunity to make my government, to the utmost of my power, particularly beneficial to the Irish people, ever to have contemplated the possibility of making such a mistake. — Ever yours, " MULGRAVE." ^ In November Drummond's attention was turned to an incident in the ever-disturbing career of Orangeism. An Orangeman had died, and his brethren, always anxious for occasions of display, marched in solemn procession at the funeral with fife, flag, and drum. The procession passed close to a police barrack, where two constables were on duty. Drummond, who was determined to put down all Orange processions, no matter on what pretence they might have been got up, wrote to the chief constable of the district for the names of the men who had marched on this particular occasion. The chief constable reported : — " Sub-constables Ker and Keenan, who were in charge of the station at this time, could not recognise any of the party, although they zvalked very close to the barrack.'' Drummond underlined the words in italics with red ink, and wrote : — ^ The vacant judgeship was given to Mr (afterwards Sir Michael) O'Loghlen, He was the first Irish Catholic judge since the Revolution ; and one of the best judges and men that ever sat on the Irish bench. 238 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 "As the party walked very close to the barrack, sub- constables Ker and Keenan must be very inefficient per- sons if they were not able to recognise any of them. His Excellency desires that these sub-constables be forthwith removed to another station. " T. Drummond." '■'■Nov. 25, 1836." As an instance of the sharp and decisive way in which Drummond managed the police, I may quote a minute made by him on a report, stating that a faction fight had taken place, that some hundreds of men, "armed with blunderbusses, guns, and pistols," had taken part in it, and that the police were unable to stop the riot until several people were seriously wounded. "This occurrence is discreditable to the police. The constable will state : — Why he was on the alert several days previously .-' What force he assembled at the fair } What force he might, without difficulty, have assembled at the fair } How near is the nearest military station to the village ? And he will further state whether forty men, armed with blunderbusses, guns, and pistols could have entered the village unknown to the police, if the police had been doing their duty ? When did this riot begin } When did the party proceed to the grave > How long did they remain there ^ Was there time to have sent for a reinforcement of constabulary or military } Was their intention of returning unknown to the police 1 Were any steps taken with a view to identify- ing any of them } Have any since been taken .? The police appear to have been utterly useless on this occasion. Let the chief constable give ;^ 10 for such information as will enable him to bring any one of these rioters to justice (^10 per head); and let him well and fully understand, that he is expected to use more diligence and show more intelligence in bringing these offenders to justice, than he I S36] RAIL WA YS : FREDLE Y. 239 has done to prevent the exhibition, so disgraceful to the police, of a village being in the possession of a band of armed ruffians. Why is the number of persons injured not reported, and the injuries which they received not stated ? " I shall conclude this correspondence with a bright and humorous letter written by Drummond on a subject in which he and his wife felt deeply interested. In 1836 it was proposed to run a line of railway through their property at Fredley, in the charming valley of Mickleham, Surrey. Drummond was strongly opposed to the scheme. With characteristic frankness, he said that his interest was chiefly personal ; but on public grounds he urged, that the line might with more advantage be brought another way. Drummond to Mr Vizard. " Dublin Castle, March wth, 1836. " My Dear Sir, — When you proposed to me to become the purchaser of Mrs Smith's property, I did not expect that your Railway Co. were to be the sellers. " I do not deny that your power of annoying me has become much greater by your having acquired this ground, if it be in the position which we suppose it to be, but of which your description does not enable us to judge very accurately. My course is therefore clear. I must either redouble my efforts in opposing, — sticking close to you through the Commons, if you should unhappily ever get through, and making common cause with all sufferers, and fighting you by every means in our power in the Lords. I must either do this, or come to terms of neutrality with you. " I most sincerely wish your destructive Railway and its ' Mr Vizard was solicitor to the promoters of the railway. 240 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1836 energetic solicitor at the bottom of the sea, with Mrs Smith's thirty acres on the top of you, to keep both down. I mean I wish you this watery grave in your capacity of solicitor to the Railway, for I have no desire to part with my friend. " Your railway under any circumstances, even the most favourable, will be to us a serious inconvenience ; but if, in the event of success, you choose to build on the land which you have got possession of, undoubtedly you could drive us from the county, and destroy what I had hoped would some day have been one of the prettiest things in that part of the country ; therefore, with respect to con- tinued and increased opposition or neutrality, I must be guided by circumstances. I do not love you ; but I hate and fear you. " You will oblige me much by allowing a friend of mine, Mr Dawson, to look at the plan of Mrs Smith's ground, and to take a sketch of it, that I may understand how it lies with respect to Fredley. " To prevent any misunderstanding, I must state at once that I cannot under any circumstances take any steps to withdraw either the letters or the arguments which I have used against you. The treaty must only be as to my further non-interference. " This you will of course consider a confidential com- munication. — Always, my dear Sir, very truly yours, "T. Drummond." " I have been applied to, to come over and oppose you." "W. Vizard, Esq." Drummond's objections, and the objections of others, prevailed for the time being, and the bill was thrown out. But a line of rail to Brighton now runs through the valley of Mickleham, and Mrs Drummond's charming residence at Fredley is none the worse. CHAPTER IX. 1837. The question raised by Drummond, that the police were not bound to aid in executing writs of rebellion, still remained open. The subject was to have come before the House of Lords in August 1836,^ but it was postponed on the motion of Lord Lyndhurst.^ It remained postponed until May 1838. In the meanwhile Drummond continued to hold his ground firmly. He allowed no departure from the rule that police aid could only be given when the public peace was in danger. He was overwhelmed with abuse, but he never flinched. He was denounced as a partisan, but his resolution stood unchanged. How little there was of partisan feeling in the calm and thoughtful judgment of Drummond may be gathered from an incident which occurred at this time. A hot-headed Catholic named Balfe posted this placard in the County Meath :— " The Orangemen — once more the base, bloody, and brutal Orangemen — are endeavouring to usurp the reins of government and to make Ireland weep tears of blood, and unless every man in Ireland lends the present Government his most strenuous support, we will have to curse the hour that gave us birth. Let every man who is not an Orange^ man attend the meeting on Thursday at Drumcoura to petition the King and House of Commons not to allow ^ Ante, p. 224. ^ Morpeth to Drummond, Aug. il, 1836. " Lyndhurst," Morpeth said, " feared an adverse decision." 242 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S37 the bloody miscreants to pollute the constitution by the imposition of their hands." Balfe was caught in the act of posting the placard by a policeman named Hogg. Hogg — " You must take down that notice." Balfe—'' Why } " Hogg — " Because there is no name to it." Balfe — " I'll put my name to it." Hogg — " No. I won't let you." Balfe — " I don't care about you, you brat of an Orange- man." Hogg — "Yes, I am an Orangeman, I won't deny it." Drummond had made it an inflexible rule that no Orangeman should be allowed in the police. Hogg, there- fore, by his confession laid himself open to instant dis- missal. But he had only done his duty in pulling down Mr Balfe's violent rigmarole. In such circumstances how ought he to have been treated .«• He was reported to the Inspector-General for having declared himself an Orange- man, and his dismissal was demanded. The Inspector- General wrote to Drummond : — " I find great difficulty in coming to any decision in this case ; and there seems to me so much of a political feeling in it, that I submit it." Drummond asked for a copy of the placard. It was sent him. He then replied : — " Mr Balfe seems a very hot-headed man, and the notices which he posted are of a very reprehensible character. All that seems necessary in this case is to remove the policeman at such a time and in such manner as the Inspector-General may think fit, taking care that such removal will not be looked on as a punishment." Drummond's action in this matter may be contrasted with the action of an Orange grandee in another. Mr Handcock, J. P., wrote to Drummond in March 1837 : — 1S37J ORANGE 'TEKSECUriON." 243 Handcock to Drummond. " LuRGAN, March 29, 1S37. " My Dear Sir, — At the last Armagh Assizes, David M'Murray, Thomas Darken, George Gibson, jun., John Best, William Wilson, John M'Murray, Robert Fitz- simons, Samuel M'Gladdery, James Menzies, and James Gray, were found guilty of a riot at Miggravaly on the 8th of August last, and were sentenced to two months' imprisonment each. " The prosecutors in this case were Patrick Rowley and his brother. The whole transaction arose out of a party row at a public house — the convicted men being of the Orange party and the prosecutors being Catholics. Since the assizes, the Catholics have been turned out of posses- sion of their houses and lands by Mr John Overend, the agent of the property, upon the grounds that the Catholics attempted to prosecute the Orangemen for this riot. Mr Overend is the District Master of Orangemen, and it is really a pity for the unfortunate prosecutors, who have lived in the present houses and lands for four generations. " I should be the last person to interfere in the slightest degree with the prerogative of mercy so wisely and pro- perly exercised upon many occasions by His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant. I understand a memorial is about to be presented in this case. I wish His Excellency should be fully acquainted with all the circumstances of the case which occurred in the petty sessions district of Lurgan, and at the very spot where a sham battle was to have been fought on the 13th of July last, and which was only pre- vented by the attendance of Colonel Osborne and myself, with the police and military there placed at our disposal, and upon which occasion several persons were convicted summarily of a breach of the Procession Act, and sent to Armagh for one month by Colonel Osborne and myself. " What will become of the Rowleys and their families I really do not know ; but persecution such as they have 244 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1837 suffered should be met in a decided manner. I hope you will excuse my troubling you on this occasion. — I am, my dear Sir, "Wm. John Handcock." Drummond endorsed this letter : " If such a memorial should be presented to His Excel- lency, Mr Handcock may rely upon careful inquiry being made with respect to the facts stated in it. " T. D." Between March and June affairs went smoothly in Ireland. Drummond had established a government which was at once strong, just, and rational. His predecessors had ruled for a faction and by a faction. Drummond ruled for the people and by the people. They had coerced. He conciliated. They feared. He trusted. They relied on bayonets and gibbets ; he on a just administration of the law, and the removal of grievances. They failed. He succeeded. It has been said of O'Connell that he was " the incarna- tion of a whole people." He said of himself in the House of Commons : ** I am not the representative of any par- ticular borough, or of any particular county ; I am the representative of a nation." Yet this man, throughout his career, had been the bugbear of English parties and Irish Ascendancy men. He was the friend of Drummond. Even Lord Melbourne had once said : " We cannot govern with O'Connell, and we cannot govern without him." Drummond governed with O'Connell, and the verdict of history has justified the experiment. "I have never," said Lord Plunket, in 1836, "known Ireland in such a state of tranquillity as at this moment." ^ Indeed, it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that Drum- mond was the first ruler who really introduced constitutional authority into Ireland ; who insisted on governing by the ^ " Hansard," 3rd series, vol. xxxi. p. 1296. I S3 7] ELEMENTS OF DISTURBANCE: ORANGEISM. 245 ordinary law, and who, from the beginning to the end of his administrative life, consulted and considered the represen- tatives of the people. The three great elements of disturbance in Ireland during Drummond's administration were, as we have seen, Orangeism, Ribbonism, and the Factions. To suppress Orangeism, Drummond relied on the stipendiary magistrates. The local justices could not be trusted ; they were almost all Orangemen. No one could depend on such functionaries to stop Orange processions, or punish those who walked in them ; to prevent Orange outrages, or make those who committed them amenable to the law. We have seen how, in July 1836, Drummond sent twelve troops and a half of cavalry and thirty-four companies of infantry, under the directions of thirty-three stipendiary magistrates, to preserve the peace in Ulster. This system — the system of striking at Orangeism when- ever and wherever it showed its head — the Under Secre- tary kept up to the end. The system proved successful, and Orange rowdyism was held in check in Drummond's day. The police, the shrievalty, the magisterial bench, the jury box, were weeded of Orange partizans, and Catholics no longer saw an enemy in every official from the highest to the lowest in the land. Orangemen grew careful of violating the law, when they were forced to face impartial tribunals. Catholics respected the law when they found that it was honestly administered. In the general result. Orange Ascendancy steadily declined ; Catholic loyalty steadily increased. The Factions, which consisted of local parties among the peasantry, and whose quarrels arose out of domestic feuds, were easily dealt with.i Faction fights generally ^ Major Willcocks was examined on the subject of Factions before a Com- mittee of the House of Commons in 1824. " Q. You spoke of parties or factions ; are the Committee right in suppos- ing that all the peasantry have a particular name, suppose the Delaneys, the 246 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1837 took place at markets or fairs. On these occasions Drum- mond massed a strong force of police, with orders to interfere on the slightest sign of disturbance ; to disperse rioters, and arrest all disorderly persons. Formerly^ the Factions had been allowed to fight it out among them- selves, and Drummond was warned by Castle officials, that if the police were allowed to interfere, bloodshed would ensue ; a most extraordinary, and, indeed, almost in- credible representation. But we have the fact on Drum- mond's word. ** I ought to mention," he says before a Committee of the House of Lords :i "that it was a practice at one time not uncommon, to draw the police from fairs with a view to prevent collision with the people ; and when the order that they should attend was given, I re- ceived a representation from Sir John Harvey, the pro- vincial inspector of Leinster, begging that the subject might be well considered before the order was sent out, for he felt that very serious consequences might result from it — the policy having been to withdraw the men out of sight, and leave the people to fight among themselves unrestrained, rather than risk the loss of life by collision with the constabulary." What a light does this simple statement throw upon the admiinistration of Ireland. There was no hesitation in allow- ing the police to shoot down peasants who refused to pay tithes ; but drunken brawlers at markets and fairs were not to be interfered with ! Sir George Cornewall Lewis sup- O'Briens, the O'Ryans, or whatever particular name it may, belong to one faction in a particular district of country, and that two or three other par- ticular names may belong to another district of country? "A. Yes ; if one of the Delaneys was beaten at a fair, he would recruit all his own friends to avenge it at the next fair. " Q. Will you state a little of the original cause of war on these occasions? What may have excited, for instance, the Delaneys, the O'Briens, and the O'Ryans to take up arms against each other in the way you have described? "A. It arises very often out of some family dispute or quarrel, as I have stated before, from intoxication." — Lewis, "Irish Disturbances," p. 282. ' Post. 1837] FACTIONS. 247 plies the explanation. " At one time the local authorities encouraged faction fighting ; it seemed to them that the people must necessarily raise their hands against some one ; and they thought that factions would serve the same purpose as the stone thrown by Cadmus among the earth- born warriors of Thebes — that of turning the violence of the combatants from themselves upon one another." ^ ^ "Irish Disturbances," p. 289. "The following statement furnishes the details respecting the factions in the northern part of Tipperary at the end of 1834. " Factions frequenting fairs and markets to fight, in the following baronies of the county of Tipperary. "Barony of Owney and Arra [Iffa and Offa ?] — Ruskavallas and Caffees, Dingens and Dawsons. "Upper Ormond, in the vicinity of Nenagh — Bootashees, Bog Boys, and the Tubbers. " Toomavara, five miles from Nenagh — Cumminses and Darrigs. " Lower Ormond, from Burrisakane to the Shannon and Brusna River. — There are no particular designations for rioters in this district. The parishioners of Kilbarron are most celebrated for their turbulent disposition. " Explanation. " Ruskavalla is a district near Newport ; people named Munianes reside there, and have a long-standing quarrel without any rational foundation with the Caffees. The Dingens have taken their name from a hill near their different dwellings; they consisted of 'Kennedys,' ' Ryans,' and 'Gleesans,' of Kilmore, Ballinaclough, and Beneathen. The cause of the quarrel between those parties cannot be at present ascertained. The Dawsons are composed of ' Breens and Seymours,' all of Duharrow, assisted by the mob of Nenagh, and have taken that name in opposition to the party calling themselves Dingen. The cause of the quarrel between these parties is : a woman named Seymour died ; she was married to a man named Gleesan ; the Seymours wanted to have her buried in their native churchyard, this the Gleesans opposed, then a serious battle ensued in which two men were killed and others severely wounded at different periods up to the present. The Bootashees are the O'Briens. A leader of their party appeared in boots, and all his followers had pieces of leather or other material wrapped around their legs, tied with thongs, from which they obtained the name of Bootashees. The Bootashees mostly reside in Ballywilliam and Carrigatsher ; the Tubbers and Bogboys opposed to them are ' Kennedys and Hogans ;' they reside in the parishes of Kilmore, Youghal, and Ballywilliam. The original cause of the quarrel was, that two small boys, one named Hogan and the other O'Brien, had been playing marbles ; the boys quarrelled and one knocked down the other, when men, relatives of both, interfered and sti'uck each other. This happened about thirty years ago, and from that period to the present, the factions have continued fighting at fairs and markets, and other public meetings. "The Bogboys were those living in and near the lands of Cappaghrue and bogs of Tulla, about four miles from Nenagh. 248 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1837 But Drummond did not confine his efforts to the em- ployment of force ; he was not satisfied in dealing only with symptoms. He conciliated ; he struck at causes. The causes of faction fights were, in a great measure, fairs and markets at which fighting was the principal business. He broke up many of those markets and fairs, and appealed to the good feeling of the peasantry. An Irish Secretary reasoning with an Irish peasant was a strange sight. But Drummond's whole administration was a strange sight. His sister tells us : — " On the Sunday afternoons and evenings crowds used to assemble in the Phoenix Park. Drinking booths were opened, and few Sundays passed without riot and mischief ensuing. My brother talked over the matter with some friends, who told him he must not dream of interfering, because it was a very old custom, and it would not do to attempt to put it down. He resolved, however, that he would make the attempt ; so one Sunday after- noon, the people having assembled as usual, he rode out unattended among the crowd. To the keeper of the nearest booth he represented the consequences of the meetings — drunkenness, brawls, fighting, and then punish- ment ; he said these things were to him very painful, and that it would give him great satisfaction could the meetings be altogether given up. The man immediately, without a word of remonstrance, complaint, or even a show of sullen- ness, set about packing up. He quickly left the grounds, and never returned again. The same result occurred at other booths, and in a short time the park was cleared, and the ' old custom ' given up for ever." "The Cumminses are a numerous body of men residing in the mountains, between Toomavara and Borrisaleigh. The Darrigs are Kellys and Kil- niartins, who mostly reside in the line of road between Kilcommon and Borrisaleigh ; they took that name from a man named Kelly, a leader, who had red hair and a florid complexion; Darig signifies red." — Lewis, "Irish Disturbances," pp. 288, 289. 1837] KIBBONlS^r. 249 Thus in putting down the Factions, as in dealing with all Irish disorders, Drummond adhered to the principles on which his government was based : faith in the people ; strength in the Executive, " There is no doubt," said a police inspector, who at first disbelieved in the possibility of preventing faction fights, " there is no doubt, if the busi- ness be well followed up for a sufficient time, those dis- graceful riots will presently be put a stop to." The busi- ness was "followed up ;" the "disgraceful riots were put a stop to;" and the Under Secretary lost none of his popu- larity for abolishing the " old custom." But Drummond's greatest trouble was the Ribbon Society. Orangeism and the Factions could be put down by administrative skill ; but the suppression of Ribbonism required legislative enactments. Ribbon outrages were the result of landlord oppression. Rackrenting and evictions drove the peasantry into crime. The remedy lay in curb- ing the landlords' power ; but the Legislature was not pre- pared to do this in Drummond's time, nor for more than a quarter of a century afterwards. Nevertheless Drummond struck vigorously at the Ribbon Society, He brought more Ribbon offenders to justice without coercion than his predecessors had done with it. Why .'* Because by show- ing the peasantry that the Government sympathised with their grievances, he drew them to the side of law. Wit- nesses were forthcoming to prosecute ; juries ready to con- vict. He made the law popular, and sympathy with law- lessness decreased. In Tipperary, the centre of agrarian disturbances, a society of peasants was formed to put down Ribbonism. Its members pledged themselves " to dis- courage bad characters ; to refuse to employ or keep such persons in their houses ; to report to some one of the com- mittee the appearance of any bad character, or any person accused, or suspected of crime in their neighbourhood ; to communicate to a magistrate, or to any one of the com- 250 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1837 mittee, any facts likely to lead to the prevention of outrage ; and to use every exertion to prevent fighting between factions at fairs." The reasons for its formation were publicly given. " They (the members) have associated thus at this time (1836), because they are convinced that a spirit and temper have fast grown up among the people, inclining them to aid the efforts of a vigorous and enlight- ened Government in extending to all parts of this island the protection of equal law ; and in order to answer the reasonable expectation of such a Government that the exertion thus made for the people's benefit shall be seconded by the people's co-operation." ^ This society died with Drummond ; no similar society has ever been established since. The fact is a significant commentary upon his government, and upon the govern- ment of those who came after him. His successors tried to force the people to the side of law ; he to win them. His name alone is associated with the successful adminis- tration of Ireland. In June 1837 William IV. died, and a general election ensued. The Government of Lord Melbourne came back triumphantly from the polls, and Drummond continued at his post in Dublin. On June 23rd he wrote to his mother : — Drummond to his Mother. "My Dearest Mother, — Every day brings its own work, and often something more to that. I have not been able to write my scrap till this morning. The death of the king being expected for the last two or three days has not caused much sensation ; but there are certain acts and ceremonies to be performed in consequence, and the ^ Edinburgh Review, vol. Ixvi. p. 242. 1837] THE DEATH OF THE KING. 251 arrangements for them occupied much of my time yester- day. . , . We are all well ; my eyes are better ; I save them as much as possible ; Maria quite well. Mrs Sharp and the little pet better — indeed, quite well ; she is sitting at my feet while I write, pulling a basket to pieces, turning it, and examining it, and talking to it, and wondering at it. She is a delightful little plaything. " What alterations may occur in the Government in con- sequence of the death of the King I cannot foresee. But I do foresee much embarrassment from new claims and fresh arrivals. There must be some persons admitted to office who have hitherto been excluded ; perhaps O'Connell ; Shell certainly should be ; and Dr Droiken is fit for nothing but to embroil— considerable ability, but totally destitute of temper, and disliked, without exception, by every man who has been his colleague. . . . — Your affectionate son, " T. Drummond." O'Connell, as we know, did not enter the Government, but Shell accepted office as Commissioner of Greenwich Hospital. Later on he became Vice-President of the Board of Trade. About this time a remarkable man visited Ireland — Gustave de Beaumont. It is allowed by competent critics that one of the best books ever written on Irish subjects is De Beaumont's ' LTrlande.' ^ And it will be interesting to the students of Irish history to learn that De Beaumont, during his stay in Ireland, was in close communication with Drummond, and that his admirable work was in no small degree inspired by the Under Secretary.^ De Beau- mont brought letters of introduction to Drummond from Mr Drinkwater Bethune and Lord Morpeth. ^ " L'Irlande Sociale, Politique, Religieuse." The work was translated by Dr Cooke Taylor of Dublin University, post. • post. 252 thomas drummond. [1837 Drinkwater Bethune to Drummond. " Home Office Chambers, '■^ June 19, 1S37. "Dear Drummond, — I wish to make known to you my friend Mons. de Beaumont, who will introduce himself to you with this letter. He is probably well known to you already by name as the fellow-traveller of De Tocqueville in America, and the author of " Marie, ou L'esclavage." He has recently married a grand-daughter of Lafayette, and is now on the point of passing over to Ireland with Madame de Beaumont for the purpose of informing himself on the condition of the country and its inhabitants, on which subject he has been occupying himself for some years. He was in Ireland two or three years back, and is acquainted with Lord Mulgrave ; but he says that he does not know you, and I know that I am doing you both a kindness in making you acquainted. I ask you to receive him, in the first instance, for my sake ; I am sure you will cultivate his acquaintance for his own. . . . — Yours very truly, "J. E. Drinkwater Bethune." Lord Morpeth to Drummond. "■ June 21, 1837. " Mv Dear Dru:\IMOND, — This is brought by Mons. de Beaumont, who accompanied Tocqueville to America, and wrote an admired book, 'Sur L'esclavage aux Etats- Unis.' He is now engaged in a work upon Ireland ; he seems an intelligent and truth-loving man, and though I have told him you are very busy, any little attention or assistance you could render him would be well bestowed. — Ever yours, "Morpeth." i837] GUSTAVE DE BEAUMONT. 253 We have a letter from Mrs Sharp to Drummond's mother, saying how the De Beaumonts fared in Dublin. ''June 1837. "My Dear Madam, — I will begin by answering your inquiry about Mons. and Madame de Beaumont, the foreigners, for whom the O'Connell party was made. Madame de Beaumont is a grand-daughter of the late Marquis Lafayette, and her husband is a private gentle- man, I believe, in no profession, but very fond of literature, and himself an author. He is now writing a statistical account of Ireland. "Mons. de Beaumont is a lively talking man, a thorough Frenchman ; his wife, to whom he has been only married a year, a pleasing, sensible, lady-like young woman, who has evidently lived in good society. They brought a letter of introduction to Mr Drummond from a friend in England, and as His Excellency was absent from Dublin on their arrival, Mr D. was the first person who showed them any attention, and being quite strangers here, they appeared grateful for it. . . . Finding that they had a vehement desire to be in company with O'Connell, whom Mons. de Beaumont had heard deliver the speech when he pulled off his wig, Mr Drummond good-naturedly made a dinner for the express purpose of their meeting ; and as Dublin was very empty at that time, poor Maria had some difficulty in getting a party together who could speak the French language fluently, as Madame de Beau- mont does not speak English. Well pleased at having succeeded, you may imagine her great disappointment on hearing, on the very morning of the day, that Lord Mul- grave had sent them an invitation, which invitation, accord- ing to etiquette, is a command. " The De Beaumonts returned from the Viceroy's party 254 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1S37 about half-past nine, and seemed like birds let out of a cage ; the dulness of the Viceregal Lodge dinner giving an increased zest to the party they met here. O'Connell talked a great deal with the foreigners. He speaks French beautifully. In case the Register should not name the party, I will tell you who they were as far as I can recollect : the Baron and Baroness de Robeck, Mr and Mrs Tighe Hamilton (a niece of Lord Duncannon), the Hon. Mr and Mrs Vaughan, Dr Stock, Mr Curran, Mr Kennedy, O'Connell, and Mr Hutton, his colleague. — Yours affectionately, " A. M. Sharp." We have another letter about the same date from Mrs Sharp, giving a picture of Drummond's home life. It was also written to Drummond's mother. {June 1837.] " My Dear Madam, — I yesterday at breakfast inquired of dear Mr Drummond if it was his intention to write to you ; and knowing how he was torn to pieces with business, I was surprised at his saying 'yes.' On his return from Dublin at half-past seven o'clock, he told me that he had found it impossible, and begged I would tell you to-day how very much he regretted it. We shall rejoice when the elections are all over, for until then there will, I fear, be no cessation of his labours. For the last fortnight we have never sat down to dinner until eight o'clock, and last night at eleven o'clock, as we were taking ourselves off to bed, poor Mr Drummond, quite tired out with the fatigues of the day, was summoned to the Viceregal Lodge, and did not return home until a quarter before one o'clock this morn- ing. I am happy to say that he stands all his fatigue better than might be expected, and that his eyes are 1S37] HOME LIFE. 255 not worse. When I see the delight he takes in playing with his dear little girl, and receiving her little caresses, it quite grieves me to think how little he sees of her. She is exceedingly fond of him, and her animated countenance always lights up at the sight of him. When she is in her mamma's chamber, and I ask her which is papa's door, she always points to the door that leads to his study, and her little legs begin kicking as soon as she finds me approach- ing the door to take her in to him. She seems to consider my tapping, and waiting for him to say * Come in,' as a very good joke. . . . — Your attached friend, " A. M. Sharp." A few days afterwards Mrs Drummond wrote to her mother-in-law. \Jiine 1837.] " My husband's eyes are better. ... I am exceedingly anxious he should have the best advice, as no one can tell what it may come to. At present there seems little to appre- hend. After a day's hard writing they are always much worse. It does not seem as if it were the mental work that hurts, for often when some very puzzling and hard case has en- grossed him to the exclusion of all other thoughts, when his brow has been knit, and eyes fixed, as it were, with intense thought, his eyes have not suffered. When, after a hard day's mere routine business, when he has had to scramble off a parcel of stupid, uninteresting letters, his eyes have been so much injured, that I have been quite uneasy. I do not suffer him to read or write a single line by candle light. If there is any business which must be got through, I sometimes read the necessary documents to him, particularly the railway investigations;^ but even when he begs and prays to be allowed to write a little at night, I am peremptory, and exert the authority of a nurse. 1 post. 256 THOMAS DRUMMOND. [1837 The merely bodily fag of this situation is tremendous, and, unfortunately, he cannot be more assisted than he is. So much is purely and strictly confidential, that the answers must be in his own handwriting, or the writers would think themselves betrayed, so that even I cannot assist him there. . . ." In July there was keen distress among the peasants of Donegal, and Drummond sought to obtain help from the Treasury for the sufferers. " How patient they are under their sufferings," he had written to his mother ; " but poverty depresses before famine destroys." A correspond- ence on the subject passed between him and Spring Rice, the Chancellor of the Exchequer: — Spring Rice to Drummond. " Trin. Coll., Cambridge, y>