o* MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE RIGHT HONORABLE RICHARD BRINSLET SHERl- DAX. Bj' Thomas Moore. Two volumes in one. 12mo., cloth, g-old and black, with steel portrait. $1.50. SKETCHES OF THE IRISH BAR. By the Rig-ht Honorable Richard Lalor Shiel, M. P., Avith Memoir and Notes by R. Shelton, Mack- enzie, D. C. L. 12mo., cloth, gold and black, with steel portrait. $1.50. THE LIFE OF THE RIGHT HONORABLE JOT IX PHILPOT CURRAN, late Master of the Rolls in Ireland. By his son, William Henry Curran, with additions and notes by R. Shelton Mackenzie, D. C. L. 12mo., cloth, gold nnd black, with steel portrait. $1.50. PERSONAL SKETCHES OF HIS OWN TIMES. By Sir Jonah Barrington. Judge of the High Court of Admirality in Ireland, etc., etc. 12mo., cloth, gold and black, with illustra- tions by Darley. $1.-50, '98 and '48. THE MODERN REVOLUTION- ARY HISTORY AND LITERATURE OFIRE- LAND. By John Savn go. Fourth Edition, Avith an Appendex and Index. 12mo., cloth, gold and black. $1.50. BITS OF BLARNEY. Edited by R. Shelton Mackenzie. I). C. L., Editor of Shiel's Sketches of the Irish Bar, etc. 12mo., cloth, gold and black. $1.50. '98 AND '48 THE MODERN REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AND LITERATURE OIP lE.ElIli.^Vl^ID. By JOHN SAVAGE. 'Here is a mourniug Rome, a dangerous Rome." , Shakespeare. 'Her virtues are her own — her vices have been forced upon uer." ' ' Robert Holmes. FOURTH EDITION, WITH AN APPEISDIX AND INDEX. CHICAGO: Union Catholic Publishing Company, mdccclxxxii, ^ ' ."'luANUFACTURED BY o^^- DoNOHUE & Henneberry, V.' ", CHICAGO. ^Z''2'^t^ TO THE MEMORY MY F A^ T H E K WITH DEEPEST LOVE AND VENERATION I INSCRIBE THIS VOLUME, HE WAS THE SON OF A UNITED IRISHMAN OF '98, ,^Tifr rOJXOWjiD THE MI9F0RTDNES OF '48 INTO F.XTIK. THE AUTHOR. / (y^CV^^ a / CONTEITTS INTRODUCTORY REMARKis. PAGl HiSTORi 111 General, and the Case of Ireland in Particular — O'Connell versus Jefferson — Yo">"r Ireland— " Poor Ireland "—Her History in the Emigrant Depots and Streets, ix. — xx. THE ORATOR AND THE ORGANIZER, WOLFE TONE AND HENRY GRATTAN. National Ideas— Theories of Irish Nationality— Grattan, his Yoath— Imitations of Pope- -( riticism on Pope — Grattan's Residence In London — Day-dreaming and Ni^;-r walkir.;^— Entert the Irish Commons— Tlie Men and the Time — Flood, Hiissey Burgh, Yelverton, Denis Daly, the Ponsonltys, A . ?r..ace, fcipaiu, J !rica— Grattan circumscribes himself within " The K. i^ Lords, and Commons" — "Ireland for the Irish, God Save the Queen" — Grattan enters the British Commons, and pares the knobs off his club — Tone, hia Youth, College Days, f nd Marriage — The Law — Pamphleteering — Early Opinions — Address or- the War with Spain — Quotations therefrom — Grattan and Tone — Michtlet on " liberal " Europeans — Coal £5 a Ton — Was the "Independent" Irish Farliament Indepen lent ?— Position of Protestants, Dissenters, and Catholic?r— Tone in the Catholic Cause — Founds the Society of United Irishmen — Tone and Tandy — Growth of Uaited Irishism-— Rev. Wm. Jackson, his Arrest and Death— Tone Exiled to America— Returns to France — His Labors there, and Tliree Expeditions— Capture and Death — Grattan and Alexander Hamilton, Tone and Thomas Jefferson— Analysis of Grattan and Tone, , 28-62 THE ^YEXFORD CAMPAIGN OF '98. Btate of the County Wexford Previous to the Rising — Nature and Character of the People — Intolerance of the Wexford Volunteers — Orangeisra Introduced by the No'th Cork Militia — Wexford under Martial Law — TheYecmen — Tor« 5 VI CONTENTS. TKGt tures — General Abercrombie Resigns — Musgiave Whips a Whiteboy — Mus- grave and Lord Cornwallis — Massacres at Dunlavin and Carnew — Retribu- tion — Father Murphy, of Boolavogue, takes the Field — War in the Pulpit, and a Colonel in a Cassock — Battle of Oulart Hill — Father Murphy " a Fana- tic"— Progress of the Insurgents — Storming of Enuiscorthy — Arrest of Har- vey, Colclough, and Fitzgerald — Fight near Three Rock Mountains — General Fawcett's "quick-step" backwards — Wexford Town Surrendered to the Insur- gents — Harvey Commander-in-Chief — Insurgent Camps — Captain Keugh.and his Little Republic— Priests Kearns and Redmond at Newtownbarry — Battle of Tubberneering— Priest Roche defeats Col. Walpole — Loyalist Account of it — Desperate Battle of New Ross — Plunder and Drink — The Peasantry " die happy" — Scullabogue — Gordon on the Atrocities of the Soldiers — Blood will have Blood — General Roche's Proclamation— Father Roche CommandexMn- Chief of the " Rebels"— Battle of Arklow— Father Michael Murphy dies Fight- ing — Sanguinary Spirit of the Priests —Rebel Movements at Borris, Tinehaly, Lacken — Massacre on Wexford Bridge — Fight at Fookes' Mill — Great Combi- nation of Royalist Forces — Twenty Thousand Men, and Nine General Officers — Battle of Enniscorthy — The Forlorn Hope at Vinegar Hill — Surrender of Wexford — No Terms with the " Rebels" — Importance of the Wexford Cam- paign — Gallantry of the " Rebels " — Deductions and Warnings, . . 65-llC THE TRAIL OF THE MENAPII. Men of Wexford, Modern Menapians — General Lake and Lord Kingsborough Decoy the "Rebel" Chiefs— Father Roche, Keugh, Colclough, Bagnal Harvey, Cornelius Grogan, hanged— Lord Kingsborough a Thief— Executions— Cap- ture and Death of John Kelly and Esmoade Kyan— Kelly's Head a Foot-ball — Christianity and Progress — The Trail of Blood — Retreat of the Wexford Men Out of Wexford — Murphy, of Boolavogue, still with Arms in his Hands — At Scollagh Gap— Burns Killedmond— Victorious at Goresbridge— at Cas- tlecomer — Surprised in a Fog on Kilcomney Hill — Massacre — Retreat — Murphy Hanged at Tullow — Still on the Trail — Fight at Hacketstown — Near Carnew — Discomfitures— Fight at Ballygullen — William Aylmer, Edward Fitzgerald, Garret Byrne, and their Expeditions — Anthony Perry and Father Kearns Hanged — About Kearns — Rebel Generals force the Government to Terms, 119-148 THE UNITED IRISHMEN. List of Leading Members of the United Irish Society — Pi-ogress of the Society \ from "Reform" to " Revolution "—A Gallery of Rebels— Hamilton Rowan- Thomas Russell, Character and Death — Rev. W. Steele Dickson, Henry Joy McCracken, and the Battle of Antrim, His Character and Death— Henry Munroe, and the Battle of Ballinahiuch, His Character and Death— Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Career and Character— Doctor John Esmonde, Character CONTENTS. VU and Death— William Putnam McCabe, His Remarkable Career— Disguises, Escapes, and Death — James Hope, the "Weaver — Rev. Denis Taafe— Watty Cox, and Dr. Brennan— Edward Molloy, of Rathangan— The "Northern Star," and " Press," and their Writers — Samuel Neilson, Doctor Drennan, the Sheares's, Deane Swift, William Preston, T. Addis Emmet, O'Connor, Samp- son, and others— Robert Emmet, His Career and Death— List of Men in His Conspiracy, 151-218 BARON PLUNKET. The Voice of Death and the Voice of War— Plunket lived Fifty Years too Long — His Inconsistency — His Game — Plunket in 1800 in the Commons — In 1803 in the Court Prosecuting Emmet — The Brutality of His Speech in the Latter —Charles Phillips on Plunket— Plunket made Solicitor-General — "Sneers Down" Daly in the Commons — Shell's Opinion of Plunket — A Life in a Para- graph — No Apology — Character of His Intellect — Imbecility — Death, . 221- YOUNG IRELAND.— DANIEL O'CONNELL AND JOHN MITCHEL. How Posterity treats men — Difference between O'Connell and Mitchel — Three points in O'Connell's career — Richard Lalor Sheil, his career and writings — Character of his eloquence, compared with that of O'Connell — The latter sends Michael Doheny on a confidential mission to Sheil — Catholic Emancipation — Its effects — Popular frenzy — A caged eagle — Singing old ditties — Repeal Asso- ciation — Young Ireland — Thomas Davis — Library of Ireland — Death of Davis, Opinions on him — Thomas Francis Meagher — Mitchel's " Aodh O'Neill" — Mitchel's Birth, Youth and Marriage — Joins the " Nation " — The uses of Rail- ways — Prosecution — Holmes's defence — "Old" and "Young" in the " Hall" — Differences — Meagher's thunderbolt at the Whigs —Politics in England, Ben- tinck, Peel, D'Israeli, Russell- O'Connell falls into a Whig trap — Meagher sounds the tocsin of War — Tom Steele — R. O'Gorman, M. J. Barry and Mitchel on Whig Alliance — "Juvenile Orators" — Tories out of, Whigs in OflBce — Dungarvan Election, John Dillon's opinion — O'Connell in the Hall — Dun- garvan sold to the Whigs — Peace Resolutions — Lord John Russell, O'Con- nell's authority against Young Ireland — A marked line between "Young" and " Old " — Squire Topertoe in the " Hall " — The debate — Meagher's Speech— Mitchel on' 76 and '82— A "drop of blood"— Smith O'Brien and Father John Kenyon— John O'Connell — Secession — Remonstrance Committee — Great Meetings in the Rotunda, notes of the Speeches — Bishop Blake and O'Connell — Irish Confederation formed — Mitchel's Speech — Death of O'Con- nell — Character of his power — Ireland his Mistress, not his Wife — A " Great Medicine " — Dust to the desert — Kenyon on O'Connell — Pikes vers7is Peti- tions, Mitchel-s prayer for the "royal, yet vulgar soul— Land Tenures— Con- cuiation Hall, Irish Council — Mitchel's labors — Beneficial Measures of the ' ai CONTElfTS. Vhigs — Mitphel's Speech an Agrarian Outrage — The Confederation — He leaves Ae "Nation" — Mr. Duffy — Causes of quarrel — T. Devin Reilly leaves the "Nation" — The Agitator's legacy — The "United Irishman" and its success — A barn better than a royal house — The paper in the House of Lords — Case of Ireland's starvation— The Remedy— The Clergy— European Revolu- tions incite the Confederation— Arrest of Mitchel, O'Ericn and Meagher, Bail accepted — Popular sympathy — Limerick banquet and riot — Treason- Felony act — Mitchel arrested— State of the town and Clubs — The trial — '98 and '48, Holmes's defence of Mitchel — Mitchel in the Dock — " Promise for me " — Banishment — Holmes's defiance — Mitchel and Carlyle — O'Connell and Mitchel — The " Irish Tribune " and " Irish Felon " — Seizure of the National Organs, and arrest of John Martin, C. Gavan Duffy, Kevin O'Doherty, R. D'Alton Williams — Tlie City of Dublin in state of siege — Protestant Repeal Association — Meagher in Watei'ford, Doheny in Cashel — Down with the barricades — The leaders in the mountains — Ballingarry, Killenaule, Glenbower, Portlaw, Rathgormuck — The Priests of '98 and '48 — Arrests of O'Brien, Meagher, O'Donohoe, McManus — John Martin in the Dock — O'Doherty in the Dock — " Shamrock " Williams Acquitted, His Genius and Writings — Smith O'Brien, His Career and Charac- ter- -In the Dock — McManus in the Dock — Meagher, His Career, Nature of Hi-s Eloquence — Speech In the Dock — James FentonLalor — Dillon — O'Gorman — ^Doheny — Joseph Brenan — Dr. Antisell — John O'Mahony, and others — List of State Prisoners of '48, 243-355 THOMAS DEVIN REILLY. His Youth — A Revolutionist — Joins the " Nation" — Writes Himself into a Front Rank— On Tom Steele— On the Miltonian Theory— " Artful Cecil"— Reilly Leaves the " Hall " — The " Road Before Us" — Friendship between Mitchel and Reilly — Extracts from Reilly's Speeches— His Writings in " United Irish- man and " Felon" — Arrested — Escapes to America, with Rags and Melan- choly — Finds out Judge Ejimet— "The People" — Uncertainty; Walks and Talks — Music and Tears — " Protective Union," and Marriage — Writings in "American Review" — George N. Sanders, Reilly, D. W. Holly, and "Demo- cratic Review" — Old Fogy Trepidation — The Review the rage— Birth of "Young America," its Sponsors — Reilly on Naturalization — In Washington — Letters — Absorbed in Politics— Death — Public Expression of Sympathy — The End 8o9-i INTRODUCTOEY REMARKS, HISTORY IN GENERAL, AND THE CASE OF IRELAND IN PARTICULAR. "History is tlie essence of innumerable biographies;" so saith Carlyle. The truth of this is probably never more manifest than in the chronicle of a revolutionary struggle ; or, as exhibited in the annals of a people constantly engaged in an agitation to effect the supremacy of a national will as the ruling trust of the governing power. In such movements, the leading spirits, the popular rulers — which does n©t always mean the actual rulers — the men who are appointed to, or take the helm, are those who enjoy the largest amount of confidence, and whose acts are assented to in a sufficiently palpable manner, by masses of their fellow-meu — who exhibit in their persons, by their skill, courage, and deter- mination, the wants and wishes of the multitude — whom the multitude, by an individuality of opinion, identify as holding and pronouncing their desires and ideas, and as shaping the latter into an argumentative tangibility. These men so placed \^ 9 X INTRODUCTOKY EEMAEKS. are, therefore, not so much the leaders as they are the followers of the jDeople. Tliey may indicate the wants of the people, or dictate measures for their redress; but without the necessity in the first place, there would be no indication or dictation. As they thus measure, or administrate for, the populace, they are the essence of it, and their lives fill the history of the times. So is it ; the life of Tell is the history of the liberation of Switzerland. The lives of Eieuzi and Tomas Anniello unfold more of the glory, intrigues, fickleness, and fate of Italy, in their times, than if the chronicles of the Colonna, Orsini, Guelph, Ghibelhne, and a score of such, were lingering on the lips of the four winds of heaven. How much of European history is there not due to Luther ; and in a later day, how much is there not centered on, and absorbed by ISTapoleon. In Columbus's life, as in a Banquo mirror, the startled muse of history beheld a new inspiration, an almost bewildering occupation — an extending cavalcade of events and men; and in George Washington's biography we peruse the history of American Independence. Tlie spirit of the Man of the day, is the history of all those of whom he is the centre ; for in him are centered all their hopes and feai's. From the creation of the world to the present time, mark each mighty epoch : come over those beacons as you would stepping- stones in an unfordable stream — come over them steadily, and observe the indentations made by the stream of time, and you have passed thrsugh the brain of centuries, and grasped the history of the world. History is the cable by which Time fastens the thoughts and actions of his particular eras to their proper moorings. If of the time gone by, it is the golden or iron link with the present; and INTEODUCTOKY REMARKS. XI if of the iDi-esent, it is the monument which Truth piles up to the nobleness, worth, heroism, or genius of the era — it is the golden recompense of the day, or the black warning for the future, and its study must ever form one of the most intellectual resources of, and attractive influences on man. If true to its province, it shall include all provinces of literature. It sliall present all the amusement and interest of fiction ; for the romantic realities of one thousand brains in their strife with the world, present more startling incidents and conflicting scenes than the imagination of one brain could ever produce. It shall combine all the charm and instruction of biography ; for it is nothing more or less than a picking of the grains from the chaff — the raising of a good and stately edifice from the choice materials of a thousand indifferent mansions. It shall be full of the grandeur of epic verse ; for the record of everything noble in man, or extensive and beautiful in nature, is hallowed with poetry. The feeling, identification, and appreciation, is poetry, whether it be dashed off in rugged prose, or meted out in syllables harmonious. Poetry is not a jingle, fighting through eight or ten syllables of a line, like a bell tolling in a church -tower, at the end of the rope that pulls it, but it is the thought to explain which it is there. When the bell tolls a death-knell, we do not think of the means by which it is rung, or how far it is from the ground. There is poetry in it then. We identify ourselves with its purpose — we unconsciously thrill, chilly, at its unearthly tone. The very ivy leaves on the belfry tremble suspiciously, unlike their gay flutter on a marriage morn. The tombstones, which every day looked mere blocks of marble, now are dis-entombed portions of that which is beneath, come up to tell their pedigrees to the new-comer. There, then, is the poetry, the feeling, the identification ; and there is not a 3ai INTRODUCTORY RiaiARKS. living tiling but which, truly appreciated, contains more poetry than ever Ossian thought or Shakspere wrote. Upon these general principles, and under their influences, the present volume has been written. The eras of which it treats are illustrated by their leading ideas, which, in turn, are illustrated by the men who either combined those ideas on paper, or fought for them in the field. The work is a history, if being the condensed " essence of innumerable biographies " can make it one ; but on the other hand, it is, more properly speaking, a series of historical essays, in so far as the Author, while giving tlie facts which make history, has taken representative men whose lives, he believes, were at once the consequence of the bad government of the day, and of the move- ments set on foot to either correct its evils, or overturn it altogether — and through and by them has given pictures of the respective periods. The views of character, and critical and political deductions given throughout the book, of course present the writer's esti- mate of men and movements; based on the facts stated, and guided by the principles w^hich he believes to be true and just, and alone of vital importance to the subject under notice. Believing that either of two things should be adopted by Irishmen — to chalk out a Republican line, and walk it, or to give up agitation altogether ; and having adopted the first course, the Author has consistently condemned those who have wasted the energies of the people by directing a means without the man- liness of either. Irishmen must come out in the broad daylight, or sit passive in abysmal night. The twilight only creates fantasies that em barrass, and induces a stealthiness that makes cowards. It INTEODUCTORY EEMAB^KS. Xlll produces physical and moral trepidation, under the influence of which minor things receive a shadowy importance, and major ones expand to such a fearful extent as to only inspire hopeless- ness and groping despair. This twihght of the people is the morning glory of the politi- cian. His is the voice that sounds in the darkness. "While they pay him for seeing the light, the people forget they are groping in dismay. He toils in their cavernous gloom, as the fabled gnomes grope for gold and precious stones in the darkness of mid-earth. Like the diamonds, the peaple do not know, nor cannot see, tlieir own brightness — a very brightness by which both are made manifest to politician and gnome. These politicians have " laughed and grown fat " for years, while in exact ratio with the clamor they raised about making the country fit to live in, have the people, haggard and miserable, wended their weary steps away from it, a walking commentary on "agitation." The writer believes the whole career of O'Oonnell to have been — to use the mildest term— a brilliant error. His teaching was all wrong, and productive of nothing but Repeal rent and petitions. He constantly charged the British Government with greater enormities, both in chfirycter and number, against his country, than a Jefferson could condense into a dozen Declarations of Independence ; but even "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind " could neither drive his body, nor philosophize his mind into such a position as that by w hich *' life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness " are won. It comes to this — if Jefferaon was light, O'0onp«ll was wrong. They are as opposite as day and night. Their principles are irreconcilable. Either must be wrong, both cannot be right If XIV INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Irishmen in America have reason to bless Jefferson, Irishmen in Ireland for the same reason should not bless O'Connell. With regard to that party which in latter days arose on the national side of Irish pohtics, which did believe in the abstract ideas of Jefferson, and consequently brought down the ire of tJie British Government in a manner not exercised for fifty years, a few words are here necessary in review. The members of that party were men who could have entered the army or navy, and won distinction ; who, in their profes- sions, certainly would have earned reputation, if not fortune, at the bar, in the laboratory, in the studio ; who, applying their clear intelligence, unruffled by politics, would have risen in mer- cantile status, and brought a vigor to mechanical pursuits which would have insured ease and success. Such men they were, as with the axe, the shuttle, the pestle, the pencil or the pen in hand, form the soul and sinew of society, enriching it as well by the products of the brain, as the energy of the hand. They were not enamored with politics, but they worshipped Ireland. They had nothing to gain; much to lose. They were unbought by the pence of the people, or the bribes of the Crown ; for they were ecjually unpurchasable to both. The very ftict that young men were found ready to give up every chance of personal aggrandizement — to quit all the allure- ments which so affect the senses, and disaffect the morals of their age — to shut down the panel that divided them from the dazzling excitements of society — from the gayety, the smiles, the beauty, the fairy fingers, the almost irresistible incantations that weave spells over young minds, and make old ones young — ready to forget fortune, shun peace, sunder the links of family, scoff at the golden prospects of court favor, and fling themselves before INTRODUCTOEY KEMARKS. XV and around the weeping fig-ure of their country, when she was disgraced and sneered at, is in itself something which gives a character to the modern history of the ishxnd, and alone relieves its rayless condition during the present century. Young Ireland was "legally and constitutionally" banished and exiled, but not defeated. Young Ireland did revolutionrz« the country. It gave it a new Hterature, to warn the old, and to educate tlie young generation. It trampled to the dust tii4' dogmas that enslave; and held up to the scorn of the world thi political routine tliat effaces true nationality, and disgraces eve'r its sham representative. It swung the sling against the recog' nized Goliah of the time, and felled him. It took up the haa'pi ' of Drennan, and struck its choi'ds with fingers passionate with"' an increase of half a century's disgrace, and half a century's ambition. It actually groped its way through the fog of " Emancipation;'^' and dared to look upon the "legal and constitu'-ional" graves and scaffolds of illegal and unconstitutional priests and laymen — the Roches and Tones of '98. It had the daring to win sec-' tional Ulster back to the national position it assumed under Munroe and McCracken. It accomplished much arduous labor — gave an impetus to Irish art and manufacture, pushed the history of the country into the studios of the one, and exhibited in a hundred points of view the necessities and resources of the other. It seduced the young tradesman from the tavern, and the young professional man from the gambling-house. The laborer began to think he was living for something under the words of cheer it uttered. The tenant became more sel'f-reliant, the agriculturist more ex- perimental, the landlord more fearful of his head. XVI INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. These things young Ireland effected. In issuing a work, devoted to revohitionary reminiscences like the present, some argument relating to periods anterior to those treated of, showing the causes which induced the popular movements, is generally looked upon as a necessity. Some case is; generally made out to defend the revolutionists, or qualify their provocation. In the present instance the writer thinks "Otherwise. 'co' It is quite unnecessary to state the case of Ireland now. It ,'t-as been done often and well — proved by Molyneux, Swift, Lucas, Flood, Grattan, and Holmes, upon English constitutional grounds, that Ireland, while under the rule of England, was outside the p-cde of its constitution. The greatest English jurists have been brought to evidence the fact ; atid the standard law books of the empire remain witness of its injustice to the ''sister isle." The question of Ireland's wrongs, or the causes tliat led to its ,'t rebellions," needs no explanation. And this, too, in the teeth of the truism, that the English press has had for years the ready ear of the world. It is an insult to the common sense and the .i" sympathy " of the world to state the case of Ireland. •■'- Generations after generations have been born with the words, " poor Ireland," on their lips, and have died uttering the same monotonous but suggestive syllables. The present generation see no reason to change the tune, which, with every variety of vocal intonation, haunts the Irishman in every nook and cranny of the wide, wide earth. Spoken in whatsoever language, it is unmistakable to the most ignorant Celt. Like, the last trumpet, there is but one sound, but it is intelligible beyond all others. "Poor Ireland" — ^it blusters and moans in every roar and INTBODUCTORY REMARKS. XVH sough of the wind that disperses or tangles the cloudy fringes, bringing day and night to every climate of the globe. It bellies the sails of every ship that wanders over ocean. The lordly trees that shiver before the emigrant axe in primeval forests, fall, a memento of " poor Ireland." The kitchen garden, skirting the log-cabin, looks up through the clearing, and smiles, " poor Ireland," in the face of Heaven. The railroad, with its millions of sleepers indicates the words, and the engine that rattles over it, at every gust of smoke, seems to belch them out. The words are raised into monumental stone and statue, as well in France, Spain, Austria, in the Poet's Corner of Westminster, under St. Paul's, New York, as in St. Patrick's, Dublin. AVlier ever there is a poet's corner, or a pauper grave-yard, you will meet the words, "poor Ireland," " Poor Ireland ! " Under several signatures which pledged their owner's "lives, fortunes, and sacred honors," to the De- claration of American Independence, the words are written. The names of Andrew Jackson, Calhoun, Carroll, Barry, and Stewart, in American history, suggest " poor Ireland " almost as vividly as those of Tone and Emmet. The same cause tliat sent the former " abroad," hanged the latter " at home." 'Tis thus New Orleans avenges Vinegar Hill. " Poor Ireland ! " Statesmen pronounce the words with sen- timental emphasis; demagogues tear them to tatters. From legislative bench to pot-house beer-barrel, they are common property. They are in every ink-bottle, and no pen splashes in writing them. They are sneered at, jeered at, laughed at, quaffed at, and used without moderation, both by friends and foes; sometimes having little interest, most times with no prin- ciple, but generally with considerable profit. They are put into XVI 11 INTKODUCTOKY REMARKS. ballot-boxes by the tlionsand, and lead millions by the nose. The idler uses them to live off the Irishman who has amassed wealth. The artful use them to win service from the poor. " Poor Ireland ! " The united words were the parents of " Old Ireland " and "Young Ireland;" the resource of the one, and the inspiration of the other. They are the disgrace of some Irishmen, and the glory of others, but disgrace or glory, the fact is recognized, and thus is the case of Ireland stated. State the case of Ireland in this year of our Lord, when emi- grant depots, like fortifications, sentinel every great port on the Atlantic sea-board of America? Look into one of those depots There is an old woman. " Well ? " Well, there she is, at once the history of Ireland, and an epitome of London law. Her father was killed in '98, her son transported in '48, not having died like his younger brothers, of the famine in '46. Her daughter married a tradesman, who couldn't make " salt to his porridge ;" English capitalists have so inundated the Irish markets with clieap goods, manufactured by skeletons who exist on opium. Tc be sure, he wove a poplin ball-dress for Queen Victoria, and lived on the praises of " poor Ireland," which the shamrocks on it drew forth from the good Court Journal, but he couldn't live long on that, and they all managed somehow to get to America. Look at her, the poor shrivelled old creature ; her cheek, despite famine, fever, and grim necessity, still looking like a wrinkled rose-leaf, and a light beaming from her clear grey eye, indicating the vitality of her race. She sways backward and forward, hushing her grandchild to sleep, crooning the while with fitful modula- tions, suiting the babe's i-estlessness or quiet, some glorious old melody, to score which would make an Italian composer's fortune. INTKODUCTUKY REMARKS. XlX Stute the case of Ireland, indeed ? You have been in Broad- way during the past winter. You have seen that Irish army witli pick-axes and spades, clearing away the accumulated muddy snow and ice from the thorouglifare of tlie Republic. Well, every time the pick-axe sunk into the filth, it splashed "poor Ireland" into the face of the laborer. Every wagon-load — every shovel-full of the stuff" stated the case of Ireland. Ay ! that poor old woman — these thousands of stout shovel- lers, state the case of Ireland more clearly than if all the rags on their backs were made into paper, and covered with the facts and statistics of every writer on the subject, from Molyneux to Mitchel. While other countries have been completely sw^amped, or have risen into greatness, Ireland alone has remained pretty nearly the same way for years. Her great misfortune is, that she is ever ready for rebellion without getting ready. There is no counting on her appearance. She seems apathetic at present, but those who know her are aware that it is not her nature. Her fault is on the other side. She is excited too easily. She seems at present, to all outward appearance, stiff" and cold. But remember, when the Hudson river is frozen over, the current underneath but rolls the swifter for being pent up — there is cold ice atop — there is flashing fury beneath it. To speculate on her future is utter insanity. What she ought to be, is easily told. What she might be, every statesman and literateur, artist and agriculturist, knows full well. We may analyze her past — explain her present, but her future ? Let us never despair. If this volume produces a conviction on the mind of any Irish reader, which may lead him to give up agitation in toto^ or pursue it with resolute republicanism, XX INTRODUCTOEY REMARKS. unwarped by personal ambition, unsecluced by sectionality, and unblemished by bigotry, the Author will feel happy that he has made that man either a better friend to his family or his lacher- land. J. a Fayal OoUage, Long Mand. March Uth, 1866. V THE ORATOR AND THE ORGANIZER ^V^OLFE TON'E AND HENRY GRATTAN. 'NINETY- PLIGHT AND 'FORTY-EIGHT. WOLFE TOl^E AND HENKY GR ATTAIN". It is to the latter half of the last century that the student of Irish history must look for the causes which, carrying their effects into, principally inspired the political movements that have agitated the middle of the century in which w^e live. To that period we must look for the first distinctive manifestation of those ideas which divide tliat portion of the Irish race claiming to be national at present. National ideas, by which I mean those principles which are at once the ready resource, as well as fun- damental reliance of great national parties, are never impromptu. They are the accumulation of years, the united offspring of many parents, the combina- tion of the best of the good, even as the attractive 24 juxtaposition of many stars formS' a constellation. The discoverer of a great idea or a continent, a star or a stream, has a pride, and is accorded by his fellow men a glory only less than that attached to the Power that created them ; because the discovery leads to the full appreciation of such creation. After the creation, the discovery of this continent of America is the proudest date in its history. After the beginning, when the heavens and the earth were created, " and the sj^irit of God moved upon the face of the waters," the next date is 1492. After Genesis, the Genoese. After God, Columbus. The very act of delivering it from the misty womb of ages, and its consequent acknowledgment by the world, paid the solemn debt due Nature for its conception, and indicated a path to those stupendous reforms and benefits, robed in the majesty of which we of this day and hour have a being, a manhood, and a purpose. ISTational ideas are the growth of time, and do not belong in reality to one period any more than the earth would bear fruits this year if there were not seeds placed on her bosom to suckle themselves into richness from the growth of the last. l^othing comes from nothing. And when great originality is attributed to one individual, who produces startling theories or profound practical plans, it accrues purely from the originality, the daring, or the subtlety of his combinations, the j)Ower with which he accu- mulates and purifies ; the practical energy with which he applies his reproductions to the wants of those whom he aspires to teach, and the capacity he there WOLFE TONE AND HENKY GRATTAN. 25 unfolds, of sucli principles and ideas, to present tlie noblest, most satisfactory and revivifying medium for such people's redemption. Such men, with such powers, growing from and dignifying nationality, are like the blossoms of the century plant, and flower once in a hundred years. Thus, as the inspiration of Algernon Sidney who was "stiff to republican principles,"^ John Hampden, Eliot, and the republicans of the Cromwellian era, is visible in the thought and writings of the men who gave a tone and immortality to the pen-labor of the American Revolution : so the Irish movement of our day, may, with small effort, be traced to the combina- tions formed in the brains of Henry Grattan and Theo- bald Wolfe Tone; just as the popular men, who immediately preceded them in influence, the Lucases and Floods, adapted to their times, and to suit their capacities, the embers of the national flres ignited by the^orks of Molyneux and Swift in the preceding century. The theories of Irish Nationality, immortalized by the vehement agitation of Grattan, and the restless energy of Tone; by the active eloquence of the former, and the acted eloquence of the latter ; by the devoted passion of the one, and the passionate devotion of the other ; by the soaring life of the orator, and the mar- tyr death of the organizer: — ^These theories still divide what are known as Irish [NTationalists, in and out of Ireland. "Repeal" and "Republicanism" are the * Bishop Burnet. 2 26 sliibboletlis under wliich tliey manifest themselves; nad "Old Ireland" and "Young Ireland," the le&s perspicuous clan-rally which designates either party. These facts suggested to me the propriety of placing those theories side by side. It appeared to me that it would not alone be highly beneficial to Irish, but to American sympathizers and readers, to see those men brou2:ht throuo^h the fitful and ever-gather- ii.g storm of Irish agitation — untombed, and placed " ashes to ashes," that the one class might view clearly, and with no sophisticated vision, what folds a. e in the flag they would unfuil — what meaning may be attached to their respective shibboleths ; and that the other class might thoroughly understand V hat has actuated, and actuates the sympathies and political animosities of a race with whom there is, and ought to be, at least one bond of fraternity, that of both being the sons of sires who, for the common cause of freedom, fought the common enemy of both. Henry Grattan was born in Dublin, on the third of July, 1746, and died in London, June, 1820. His sev^enty-four years of existence may be divided into three epochs: his youth and studentage ; his Irish parliamentary career ; his cai-eer in the English Par- liument. These divisions are the morning, noon, and night, embracing and filling his day. His morning opened bright and promising, gradu- ally became overcast, cloudy meditations and fitful glimpses of poetic light chasing each other, parting, co-mingling, now exhibiting dreariness, now delight, ard anon clearing up into a dazzling and almost WOLFE TONE AND HENRY GRATTAN. 27 oppressively glorious noon — an immortal noon, tlie sun of which stands still ; his night w^as subdued, but, borrowing some of the lustre which preceded it, was yet splendid. In childhood he displayed that anx- ious energy which so characterized his manhood : and the friends of his school-days, in after times, were proud to dwell on the promise which the develoj)- ment of his early nature made. In 1763 he entered Trinity College, and for the suc- ceeding four years, until he became a member of the Middle Temple, and went to London with the inten- tion of becoming a law^yer, the love of polite litera- ture appears to have taken serious possession of him ; and during this period he laid the foundation of that peculiar style w^iich tinges all he spoke or wrote. As Curran's mother used to lament that her son did not become a clergyman, there are some who appear to grieve that Grattan did not become a poet. " Oh Jacky, Jacky, w^hat a preacher was lost in you," Mrs. Curran used to say, in retrospective mouriangs that her son had not made his passionate and patri- otic appeals in a surplice instead of a lawyer's gown : and one of Grattan's commentators, Mr. Madden, alluding to the youth and natural tendencies of the future orator, thinks that " had he, in those days, bravely relied upon nature, and given us his own sympathies with her charms, the world might have had some fine poetry." But fortunately, or unfortu- nately, it matters little which, Alexander Pope and his poetry were the fashion ; and the ardent young Irishman, striving to imitate the elegant versifier, 28 'ninety-eight A.ND ^^'ORTY-EIG^f . became, in his poetic mcocls, a veiy subservient an J vigorless follower. He was a shadow of the original, and not being a shadow of himself, could not put any life or motion into his verses. " The moment he came to write verse, he only could see with the eyes of Mr. Pope." Pope himself, a complete mirror of, as well as index to, the artificial manners, stilted chivalry, theatrical enthusiasm, and polished sentimentalism of the time, was anything but a suitable model for any literary pretensions, an Irish poetic spirit least of all. Faultless in all the mechanism of verse-making, elegant in his epithets, epigrammatic in antithetical effects, clear as filtered water, with logical precision, dignity of sentence, a frigidity of mannerism, and mo- notonously wearisome railroad sort of cadence, Pope, though giving English poetry the first useful polish it received, and perhaps, as De Quincey thinks, " the most brilliant of all wits who liave, at any period, applied themselves to the poetic treatment of human manners," was not one of those bounteously-freighted spirits of song, who can either stand out like a great statue for rapturous admiration, or spread, like a mighty tree, any sheltering arm over a youthful wor- shipper. He occupies Qvery place himself so much, that none ma}^ touch that place or topic in his fashion. While we read one of his poems, even his translations, we are more constantly reminded of Mr. Pope and his exquisite word-machinery, with his trap-doors that open and fall so smoothly, and the eternal sameness of the coloring of his side-scenes, and the steady glare or his footlights ; we are, I say, far more constantly WOLFE TONE ^ND HENRY GEATTAN. 29 reminded of these than the subject enacted, of which thej were to be only the accessories, and Mr. Pope, so to speak, the prompter. It is no wonder, then, that Grattan conld not find a seat on the back of Pope's Pegasus. Grattan's correspondence at this period of his Kfe also disagreeably afi^ects us w^ith the artificial beauty of Pope's letters, wliich were written for the public eye, and in which, says the same shrew^d critic, I have alluded to, " every nerve w^as strained to outdo each other in carving all into a fillagree work of rhetoric."^" But through all the art and afifectation of style, the ardent flame of Grattan's native genius bursts up, and produces a better effect by the contrast. There w^as a great struggle between his genius and the prevail- ing taste, and of course his nature — receiving its gifts, not for a day, not to be put on or off, like tiiose gar- ments which hang on Fashion, that providence of parvenues — rose triumphant. His genius loomed up over the debilitated taste of the town, even as it shed a halo round the fragile frame through which he manifested his energy. Ilis nature, like the seven- league boots of the nursery fable, bore his frail body wdth giant strides above the common-places of imita- tion ; and soon finding, in the masterly powders and startling eloquence of Lord Chatham more congenial and commanding attraction, his style aspired beyond degrading the " dignity of rhetoric." Having lost a sister by death to whom, he was * p6 ^'uixicey's biographical Sssays. 30 'kine,ty-eight and devotedly attaclied, lie, with a college companion, rented a house in Windsor Forest ; and here his soul, feeding npon melancholy, solitude, and natural scenery, three bounteous tenders to the though tfuL Grattan's mind expanded largely. His occupations were fitful, liis chief delight wandering through the forest, when the midnight moon, shining through the intertangled branches and foliage, wove a weird web of shadows around him, through which he struggled unconsciously, until he tired out his keeper, the moon, and the dawn and the birds awaked him from his reverie. His being was thoroughly unsettled at this time ; but, like an unsettled stream, it dashed wildly — • if noiselessly to the outside world — along, and carried with it many springs that poured their sparkling- beauty into it ; carried with it the vigor of its own momentum, bore on its crest, like a chaplet, the wild flowers it gathered by the margins in its bounding career, and sj^rang riotously onward, flaunting like a flag above it, the perfume and fragrance it had cap- tured fi'om the banks and shrubbei'ies and gardens it overran. His residence in London, though of an unsocial character in the main, was beneficial to one so consti- tuted as Grattan. Flung from the aflfectation of his college days into all the crowding sensations and sym- pathies which melancholy and loneliness, heightened by the poetical affinities of his thought, produced, he sought, at every new phase of such a living, some medium for its greater indulgence, or some antidote against its poignant effects. Thus^ last night we found WOI.FE TONE AND lllONRY GRATTAN. 31 liiin haDging like an echo to the words of Cliatham in the House of Lords : to-night he is wandering like a disturbed spirit though the thickets of Windsor Forest : now, he is declaiming to a marrowless skeleton dang- ling from a gibbet ; here, listening to some fascinating cantatrice at the Italian opera — the music rushing through his susceptible soul as the wind played upon the latticed ribs of the gibbeted skeleton. Again he is wrapped in the shadowy mantle of meditation ; and now riant in the society of the fickle substantialities of the fashionable world. "The slave of a thousand passions," he writes himself, 'Miow intoxicated with company, now saddening in solitude ; sometime dis- turbed with hope, sometimes depressed with despair, and equally ravaged with each ; disgusted often, and often precipitately enamored." Thus day-dreaming and night-walking, in the box at the play-house, or the gallery of the Parliament House, lounging about the Grecian CoiFee-house, or poring over the chief writers of the day, and carry- ing with him, through every experience, an impressi- ble nature, easily roused sympathies, and a fancy which adapted to itself, and steeped in its own hues and colors, everytliing he saw, heard, or touched, Grattan possessed himself of a strength, capable, under the Prospero-wand of his energy, to arouse the storms that slumber beneath the calm, sluggish exte- rior of an oppressed people — to use tlie invoked whirlwind of resonant wrong — to marshal its gusty currents against the battlements of the oppressor — to ride on as well as rouse tlie elements — to still them 32 as well as surcharge tliein with electricity ; and to suffuse the veins of a distracted and disunited people with the hot tide of purpose, passion, patriotic ardor and armed and belted pride. The example offered by Harry Flood's career, and the intimacy formed with that ready and powerful cliampion of Irish Eights, had an influence on the career and mind of Grattan, productive of some of the finest oratory of ancient or modern times, and of one of the grandest, perhaps the very proudest, of all scenes in the too sorrowfully picturesque history of Ireland. Introduced to Lord Charlemont as a man of elo- quence and ability, that noblemian nominated the whilom vague dreamer of Windsor Forest for par- liament, and on the lltli December, 1775, lie took his seat in the Irish House of Commons, as member for the borough of Charlemont. The time was auspi- cious. Flood, who, reaping the growth of the seeds dropped by Molyneux, Swift, and Lucas, and com- bining them, had formed the broadest platform of Irish interest known up to that time ; who had formed a party and rendered the arena of the Irish Parliament one to attract the ambition of talent to its strife — was comparatively silent, and by a strange logic, based, no doubt, on the fact of his having forced the government to termsj advocated that a patriot could be of more use to his country when holding office under its oppressor, than otherwise. Conciliation Hall revivified those principles, and in 1846, I remember Mr. O'Connell's congratulating the conntrj on the fact that Lord Lieutenant Besborough WOLFE TONE AND HENRY GRATTAN. 33 was of opinion, that a man's being a Repealer would not exclude him from office under the Whig: o-overn- m.ent. Whatever pliilosophy may be in this, we see that its application has not been salutary. I have seen it fatten some individuals to be sure, but I have also seen it starve, and worse than starve, degrade the country. To resume : — Henry Flood, " the candidate for contradictory honors," was silent in the Parliament. There w^ere others there, Hnssey Burgh, loved and respected everywhere, uncorriipted, disinterested, eloquent, and who, as Sir Jonah Barrington remarks, " was equally attentive to j^ublic concerns and care- less of his own ;" Yelverton of commanding argu- ments, and whose humor even exhibited solidity; Denis Daly, " a man of great ability, large fortune, exquisite eloquence, and high character ;" the Pon- sonbys, Conollys, and a crowd of talent, but without a great audacious, combining, resistless power. France and Spain were growling over the Bourbon bone ; the administration of Lord North, who, be it remembered spoke of repealing certain Port Duties, not until " America was prostrate at the feet of Eng- land," wdiose arbitrary measures against the colonies and wretched obsequiousness to the court, had dis- graced one portion of England, and distracted the other. America, like a giant roused from slumber, spoke wdth a voice that shook the British Empire, until Ireland almost fell from it. The tramp of armed men in one province of the empire though three thousand 34 'nine:ty-eight and 'fokty-eight. miles distant, set the nerves of anotlier province of the same empire quivering with anxiety. There were men and brothers too, from the four quarters of that province who had carried witli them to the indignant colonies, the hate of Ulster, the enthusiasm of Minister, the intcgrit}^ of Leinster, and the latent fire of Connaught. Every chord struck in America vibrated in Ireland, and the military spirit wliich took shape in 1760, when the French squadron under Thurot unfurled their fiag in the bay of Carrick- fergus, was spreading through all classes. Consecutive Irish administrations had consecutively impoverished the land, ruined its trade, traded on its politics, hunted the Catholics, humbugged the Pro- testants, chained the peasantry, and manacled with a mock dignity the peers ; when Henry Grattan came forth, like an Apocalyptic soul with burning revela- tions on his lips, and a revolution poising on his arm. Though much of that national desire was extant when he come upon the scene, there was no one to collect the scattei-ed fire, and ofi'er it on the altar of patriotism and truth, as a holocaust to the god of Liberty. It was his mission to be great and to confer greatness. If he did not create the military ardor, the combination of which efiTected the revolution of '82, he cherished the seeds of soldierdom, he nurtured the being, inspired the faith, glorified the mission, until one hundred thousand swords and bayonets, by their presence spoke even with more significant ekx^uence than his own If he did not entirely evoke WOLFE TONE AND HENEY GKATTAN. 60 the Yolunteers, lie immortalized them ; and were it not that the god of Liberty he worshipped was the deity of what is known as English Constitulional Liberty, those eloquent swords and cannon of the Yolunteers, might liave effected for the country that immortality of freedom which his eloquence conferred on them. He circumscribed himself within " The King, Lords and Commons of Ireland." He could not see beyond tlie British constitution — not beyond the "palladium of English liberty" which Jefferson, and Washington, and Henry, and Hancock, and Marion, and Montgomery, and Franklin, and Paul Jones, and others of the like stamp, wisely got out- side of. He spoke passionately of a distinctive Irish nation- hood : but also argued connexion with England. "Ireland is a colony without the benefit of a char- ter," says he, in his Declaration of Irish Rights, " and you ai-e a provincial synod, without the privi- leges of a parliament." Again he says, wrought to tlie highest pitch of enthusiasm, " Liberty with England, if possible — if not, without her. Perish the British Empire — live Iieland." Here it would seem that he had a doubt of the possibility of "liberty with England;'' but Lord Cloncurry quotes sundry passages of a written address to the citizens of Dublin from Grattan, in wliich he seriously says, " May the kingly Power, that forms one estate in our Constitution, continue for ever." In the Declaration of Rights he asked for a " Constitution " for the people, to the supposed attainment of which, np 36 doubt, he alludes in his address. He further says, iD the latter ; " May the connexion with Great Britain continue ; but let the result of that connexion be, the perfect freedom, in the fairest and fullest sense, of all descriptions of men, without distinction of religion."* He labored long, gloriously, wondrously against the legislative Union of the two countries, and just as long held those doctrines of constitutional con- nexion I have shown. He made the cause of Ireland more deeply felt than they had ever been by his extraordinary powers of eloquence ; and, at the same time, indicated no means for their alleviation, but left it as far as it ever was, or could be — as far as the English connexion. How he reasoned these incompatibilities into one voluble sentence I never could ima2;ine — no more than I understood what " Ireland for the Irish — God save the Queen," of Mr. O'Connell meant, saving that it was the pith of Grattan's motion, and meant nothing. I cannot reconcile the combination of ideas representing such widely different and deadly antagonistic interests. However, it is not for me to dwell on the fact, but to represent to you the political theory which Grattan has given us. After the legislative Union we have little interest, save personally with Grattan. He entered the British House of Commons in 1805, and continued • Vide Personal Recollections of the Life and Times of Valentine Lord Clon« carry, p= 44. WOtiFE TONE AND HENKY GRATTAN. 8? to be, as he ever was, the advocate of religious tole- ration. Cioncurry, in his " Personal Recollections," says, that Grattan, in his interconrse with him, painfully evinced the change in his position. He was "transplanted into the English Legislature," says his friend, " and his reputation, as an orator and statesman outlived the change, but in a condition of languid vitality, incapable of effecting more than the preservation from decay of the relics of his name and genius." This allusion to the " languid vital- ity " seems to be but too well founded. Curran said — "Grattan brought his club into the English House of Commons, but took care, beforehand, to pare off its knobs." That same year of 1Y63, in which Grattan entered college, and in the same city of Dublin, Theobald Wolfe Tone entered this life. His father, a coach- maker, and grandfather, a farmer; he was essentially of the people. At the age of twelve the talents of the child interested his schoolmaster so much that he prevailed on his father to send him to a Latin school, telling him it was a thousand pities to throw the boy away on business — that he would rise, with propei education, to a fellowship in Trinity College, which was quite sufficient to dazzle the solicitude of any parent, as the position indicated was one, not only entailing literary glory, but worldly independence. The parson of the parish, notwithstanding Theo- bald's stupidity on the subject of catechism, urged the claims of the youth's talents to a classical education, and he was accordingly placed under a ^S ^NINETY-EIGHT AND 'FORTY-EIGHT. clergyman capable of the charge. The boy attacked the Latin with ardor, and in two years found the Greek much more to his taste. At sixteen he entered old Trinity as a pensioner, and remaining within its jurisdiction for five years, although very idle, as he says himself, passionately devoted to a military life, and, no doubt, often led away by the movements, music, and display of the Volunteers, managed, by the tenacious and grasping character of his intellect, to overcome the more volatile obstacles of hie nature, and to acquit himself with distin- guished credit. He carried off a scholarship, three premiums, three medals from the celebrated Histori- cal Society, took the degree of Bachelor of Arts; and, to a certainty, would have fulfilled his school- master's prophecy, by tilling a Fellowship, if that honor unfortunately did not carry with its more bright prospects the very dismal one of celibacy. This point of good fellowship with the softer portion of humanity was a primal one with the collegian, whose bachelorship he did not intend should be other than a degree from his Alma Mater. In a word, he had fallen in love with one not sixteen years of age, and " beautiful as an angel !" Matilda Witheringtcn, the grand-daughter of a rich old clergyman, who resided in the vicinit}" of the University, and in pas- sing whose window, his eyes first rested on that noble creature whose soitows, trials, and heroism have lit up many a lovely girl's hopes, inspired many an ardent sigh from the gentle but resolute patriotism that would emulate her virtues ; and tinged many a WOLFE TONE AND HENRY GRATTAN. 39 cheek that could not sympathize with her fortune, but worshipped her fortitude. Tone was a man of action, and soon opened the way, not only to her grandfather's house, but tc Matilda's heart, and found a complete recognition of his love in a mutual and trustful affection. " I pro- posed to her to marry me without asking consent of any one," says he, " knowing well it would be vain to expect it; she accepted the proposal as frankly as I made it, and one beautiful morning, in the month of July, we ran off and were married." He carried his wife out of town, achieved the temporary forgive- ness of her relations, and thus flinging off' his odd fellowship with a snug income, for a man-ied life with- out a shilling, soon found himself in the wilderness of London. He entered the Temple, but the profession of law being one which only excited his antipathies, he did little else towards that end than write his name on the books of the Temple, and pay for, by some means or other, twenty-four dinners in the Common Hall. While in London, he wrote for the " European Magazine," and, in company with two friends, a bur- lesque novel called "Belmont Castle," which was printed afterwards with some success in Dublin. He was not rid of the law however, for his wife's grandfather paying her portion of five hundred pounds, Tone returned to Dublin, laid out one-fifth of the sum in law books, and ultimately was called to the bar in Trinity Term, 1789. On his first circuit he surprised himself by nearly paying his expenses ; but nothing could overcome his distaste for the pro io fession. His mind grasped largely, and sought to act with the same executive power as it received. His nature, generous, chivah-ous, ardent, and strongly given to military pursuits, casting off the law soon found in the excited politics of the time something to aiTest the flight of his intellect, and receive from it a recognition destined to expand in a very ominous degree. A pamphlet defending the Whig Club, against which the government press was devotedly rapacious, was his first sign of political life. The club, however, falling for behind his political opinions, could not enlist his complete sympathies, but only commanded his praise, inasmuch as it was the best constituted body of the time. His pamphlet, how- ever, had a great success, and was rej^rinted by the Northern Whig Club, who elected its author a member. Members of Parliament and leading 'politicians turned their eyes to the pamphleteer. They would like to engage him to their particular service, but carefully observant. Tone found that he should retro- grade rather than progress, and wisely determined not to connect himself with any man or set of men. He speedily came to the opinion that the English influence was the radical vice of the Irish Govern- ment, " and consequently that Ireland would never be either free, jDrosperous, or haj^i^y, until she was independent ; and that independence was unattaina- ble whilst the connexion with England existed." There, he very plainly arrives at the root of the evil, and men have not to bewilder themselves iu WOLFE TONE ANti HENRY GKATTAN. 41 striving to reconcile impossibilities. In taking this wide view, he lost sight of the Whig Club completely, and without sorrow. On the appearance of a rupture with Spain, he issued a masterly address asserting the right of his country to independence, and proving that she was not bound by the declaration of war, but could, and should as a nation stipulate for a neutrality. In this pamphlet he unswervingly advanced his ideas of separation. Bold and convincing was he in this pro- duction, and with clearness and energy does he treat the subject. After reviewing the blood, treasure, trade that would be sacrificed, he showed that the arguments for going to war were reduceable to three — to wit : " The good of the em'pire^ the honor of the British flag^ and the protection which England affords us,-^ and then proceeds — " I confess I am, at the outset, mucli staggered by a phrase so very specious, and of such general acceptation as this of ' the good of the empire /' Yet, after all, what does it mean,? or what is the empire? * * * * * * ** " It is convenient, doubtless, for England, and for her instru- ments in this country, to cry up the ''good of the empire^' because it lays the power of Ireland at her disposal ; but if the empire consists of two parts, one of which is to reap the whole profit of a contest, and the other to share only the difficulties and the danger, I know not why we should be so misled by sounds as to sacrifice solid advantages to the whistling of the name of ' e?}ipire.'' The good of the whole empire consists of the good of all the parts; but in our case, the good of one part IS renounced to establish the good of the other. Let us, for God's sake, caU things 1)y their proper names; let us analyze 42 * -"—■■" •"- ' FOKTT-EtOHT. this unmeaning and fallacious mixed mode '■ emjyire'' into its components England and Ireland, and then see how the matter stands. * * * * Ireland has 7io quarrel^ but, on the con- trary, a very beneficial intercourse with Spain, which she is called upon to renounce to her infinite present detriment ; she is called on, likewise, to squander her wealth and shed her blood in this English East Indian quarrel, and then she is told, to con- bole her, that she has been advancing ' the good of the empire P Let us substitute ''England'' for the '■empire^'' and see if it be not nearer the fact and truth." Again, speaking of the honor of the British flag, he says : " Wheee is the National Flag of Ireland ? I know there are those who, covering their apathy or their corruption with the specious garb of wise and prudent caution, may raise their hands in astonishment at this, as an idle exclamation ; but I say, that such a badge of inferiority between the two kingdoms, is a serious grievance. * * * Is national rank nothing ? If the flag of England be, as it is, dearer to every brave Englishman than his life, is the wish for a similar badge of honor to Ireland to be scouted as a chimera ? Can the same sentiment be great and glorious on one side of the channel, and wild and absurd on the other ? It is a mortifying truth, but not the less true for its severity, that the honor of the British is the degradation of the Irish flag!" And he continues in this strain, growing fiercer and even more convincing to the end. These passages are so applicable to the present usage of Irish valor, and blood, and money, in the present war, that I make no excuse for quoting them. They exhibit the confirmed opinions of their author, moreover, and WOLFE TONE AND HENRY GRATTAN. 43 oiFer a striking contrast, in their direct and powerful simplicity of style, truth, and logical conviction, to the more purple-phrased and purposeless theories of Gi-attan. To make Ireland a slave, the British minister should have kept her a beggar ; said Grattan i"^ " There is no middle policy," says he, yet he swung all his life between an enthusiastic patriotism on the one hand, and a loud loyalty on the other. We cannot well impeach his patriotism. He went as far, pi-obably, as the dazzling haze of language he enctrcled liimself wdth, would allow him in security to go. He was brilliant enough to have been harder metal. He was not a statesman, for he talked much more than he acted. Mr. D. Owen Madden, reviewing his letters and speeches, truly says : " He was utterly mistaken in the nature of political power. He confounded fame with authority — celebrity with influence." This is the mistake of all men who make what may be called an impromptu reputation. The populace ever ready to cheer, are quick to detect the inconsistencies betw^een the sayings and the doings of a man, who, either is, or aspires to be, a leader. Thoughts must be crowned with acts ; for as Shakspere hath it, " The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed go with it." Grattan could pi-obe the wound but never heal it; "greatly emancipate, or fundamentally destroy," said he ; and while I think the eifect of his life and theory * Declaration of Irish Rights. April 19, 1780. i4: ^NINETY-EIGHT AND WrTY-EIGHT. not calculated to do either tliorougldy, I must admit, that while believing he was attempting the former, he was accomplishing the latter ; it may be by slow, and oratorically unapparent, but nevertheless sure processes. He continues : " We may talk plausibly to England, but so long as she exercises a power to bind this country, so long are the nations in a state of war ; the claims of the one, go against the liberty of the other, and the sentiments of the hitter, go to oppose those claims, to the last drop of her blood." Tone could not have been clearer on the point ; but why delude ourselves by merely reading the passage? Grattan's life is a commentary upon it. He perpetu- ated by his tongue and example, the " power to bind " his country, and the " claims " of the English crown against its liberty, by his infatuation after con- nexion. He lived to sit in the senate of that con- nexion. Tone died for those very ideas that Grattau talked, thus : " A country enlightened as Ireland, chartered as Ireland, armed as Ireland, injui-ed as Ireland, will be satisfied with nothing less than liberty." How widely apart were their ideas of liberty. They were men of different vision^ and saw Freedom under various guises. This reminds me of what Michelet says : " Take the most liberal, a German or an Englishman, at random ; speak to him of liberty, he will answer, ' liberty !' And then just try to see what they will understand by it. You will then per- ceive that this word has as many meanings as there are nations. That the German or English democrats WOLFE TONE AND HENKY GRATTAN. 45 are aristocrats at heart ; that the barrier of nation- alities, which you beheve effaced, remains ahiiost entire. All those people whom you believe so near, are five hundred leagues from you.""^ This in the abstract, is true, varying with the necessities of the people ; but one is not bound to believe a man free, because he is satisfied with his life ; nor regard as liberty what would satisfy an individual. It is the philosophy that is embodied, the principle to be maintained, the truth to be asserted, and not the individual that embodies, maintains, or asserts. "Mr. Byrne," said a notorious slave of the Com- mons, Sir Henry Cavendish, to Tone's publisher, the day after the publication of the paniphlet quoted above, " Mr. Byrne, if the author of that work is serious, he ought to be hanged." So unaccustomed was lie to such language, Cavendish, no doubt, thought the writer mad. Tone tells us that an Eng- lish Bishop with five or six thousand a year, labo- T'iously earned in the church, also said to his publisher: " Sir, if the principles contained in that abominable work were to spread, do you know that you would have to pay for your coals at the rate of £5 a ton?" The pamphlet, however, created little impression, the timid publisher having suppressed it. It was now some years after the great display of the Yolunteers, wdien the nation had been declared " independent;" but the Irish Parliament was only a shadow of the English one. Reform was • Tbe People. By J. Michelet. 46 demanded, conventions of the Yolunteers met, plans were proposed, but nothing effected. There were able minds who espoused the national cause in the Parliament, but the patriotism of even the most gifted was displayed in a modified form. It all arose from the sophistication of the people into the belief that they were independent when they were not. Lord Edward Fitzgerald denounced Grattan for his unrepublicaiiism, and for his avowing that the Irish would back up the English in the war. This came of acknowledging the king over the Lords and Commons. But men in Parliament like Fitzgerald, and out of it like Wolfe Tone, were noble exceptions to the rule of men engaged at that period in the poli- tics of their country. The action of the few great men of the opposition, was to be sure, not so much their own fault as the position into which they were thrown : and strange as it may seem they were looked upon in the senate as seditionists and rebels. Par- liament in possession of the Protestants, was a mere caucus of the aristocracy. " To the English," says an able writer, " it was a convenient servant and a helpless antagonist." The Protestant party had been for above a century in easy enjoyment of the church, the law, the revenue, the army, the navy, the magistracy, the corj)orations, and all institutions receiving or extending patronage. Not one-tenth of the entire population, and descended from foreign plunderers and usurpers, in English con- nection they alone beheld security ; and England, profiting by their weaknesses, augmented their fears, VVOLFE TO^E AND HENRY GRATTAN. 47 gave them her protection, and took in exchange the commerce, the liberties of Ireland. The events of the American Revolution emboldened the Catholics and Presbyterians, and thns forced the Protestants into some slightly -beneficial measures of redress, but they remained attached to their j)rotectress ; a pro- perty party, an aristocracy. The Dissenters — double in numbers to the Protes- tants — were chiefly manufacturers and traders, and did not believe their existence depended on the immutability of their slavishness to England. They formed the flower of the army of '82. They were the first to demand parliamentary reform. The first to come forward in vindication of the principles of the French Revolution. The Catholics, numerically were the most formida- ble, embracing, as they did, the peasantry of three provinces, and a considerable j)ortion of the business class. The exactions of the Penal Laws had left them but a small proportion of the landed interest. "There was no injustice, no disgrace, no disqualification, moral, political or religious, civil or military that was not heaped upon them." Thus stood the island. Tone threw himself into the Catholic cause. He wisely saw that to eftect anything for the country they should think and speak boldly ; and so determined to amalgamate them with the Presbyterians. He saw that in the identification of their interests and afifec- tions — the interests and afifections of the people as they were — lay the only foundation — the sole hope 48 of the liberty of either or the glorious desire which inspired his heart and soul. "To unite the whole people of Ireland ; to abolish the memory of past dis- sensions ; and to substitute the common name of Irishman in place of the denominations of Protes- tant, Catholic, and Dissenter," — these were the means he employed, or ambitioned to employ, in the asser- tion of the final independence of his land. With these views he wrote his " Argument in Behalf of the Catholics of Ireland," addressed to the Dissenters. He was the apostle of union, consoli- dation, strength, liberty ; and enjoyed the gratifica- tion of finding that his arguments and doctrines fell wholesomely on the ear of the JSTorth, for which they were intended. Tlirough the instrumentality of this pamphlet he became acquainted with Keogh, McCor- mick, Sweetman, Byrne, and other leaders of the General Catholic Committee. His reputation spread- ing rapidly, the Yolunteers of Belfast elected him an honorary member ; a favor never bestowed but in one other instance, on Harry Flood. Following up these flattering tokens of approval, he went to Belfast, in company mth his friend Thomas Kussell, and on the 12th October, 1791, he founded the Society of United Irishmen. On the 18th the first regular meeting was held. The club consisted of thirty-six original members, and Tone wrote all the resolutions as well as the declaration of the society ; which expressed emphatically that idea of fraternity which the name indicated. Thus were planted the geeds of that ors^anization which was destined to con- * WOLFE TONE AND HENRY GRATTAN. 4:9 7ulsc the empire, and exhibit the Irish in a noble and unfortunate^ though gloriously-fought assertion of their rigl ts. In JN^ovember Tone returning to Dublin, set abo'jt making the accpaintance of some prominent men, and on the 9tli of the same month a Dublin branch of the United Irishmen, was held ; Hon. Simon Butler being the chairman and I^apper Tandy the secretary. So progresses the organizer and his organization. " It is w^orth}^ of attention," says Dr. Madden, " tliat botli Tone and Tandy at this period were republicans, and yet the society they founded was formed expressly to obtain a reform in Parliament, and the abolition of the Penal Code."^ Tone knew well that he could not effect anything by such a premature movement as phmging them, from their comparative darkness, into the full light which illu- mined his principles. They should be led boldly, though with a self-preservative caution, which, with- out breeding timidity in the bold, w^ould make bold the timid. Tone himself says : " At this time the establishment of a Pe2:)ublic was not the immediate object of my speculations, my object was to secure the independence of my country under o/ny form of government — to which object I was led by a hatred of England, so deeply rooted in my nature that it was rather an instinct than a principle." The new society grew rapidly into stateliness and strength by the adhesion of the Catholics and many * Lives and Times of United Irishmen. 50 'ninety EIGHT AND FOETY-EIGHT. Protestants. Tlie Catholic Committee, which was by voice of the country ordained its representative, look- ing anxiously for some man of abib'ty, truth, and courage to be their agent, rested its ejes before the intrepid soul and manly attributes of Tone. A pro- posal was made to him and was accepted. Thus th« reins were falling into his bands ; and in the eyes of history and his contemporaries, he filled the arduous trust with honor and sagacity, and attached to his position a significant power ; for the fact of the founder of the United Irishmen being appointed agent of the Catholic Committee gave, in the words of Moore, " warning, sufficiently intelligible, that the time was at hand when the same spirit would be found to actuate both of these bodies."* Meanwhile the continued and heightening inso lence of the administration had a o;ood efl:ect in rous- ing the spirit of the people into antagonism ; and did more to extend the oro-anization of United Irishmen than could have been accomplished by the most ener- getic of its leaders. Growing in thought, with its strength the society began to look outside of Catholic Rights and Parliamentary Reform. The leaders panted for vengeance, and aimed at separation. Their clubs took a more desperate complexion, and now, for the first time, oaths of secrecy were intro- duced ; whilst, under the auspices of government on the other hand, were fostered and encouraged the Orange lodges. The objects of the latter were the * Life of Lord Edward Fitzgerald. WOLFE TONE AND HENRY GRATTAN. 51 support of the Anglican Chiircli and interest, to the subjection of all others ; whilst the former as determinedly designed the independence of Ire- land. That the issues between them could alone be settled by force was clearly evident; and as England was the open i-esonrce of the one, the nature of existing circumstances led Tone to form an alliance with France for the support of the other. At length, in 1794, the arrest and trial of Rev. Wm. Jackson (a Protestant clergyman), drew the suspicions of the government upon Tone. Jackson, on the representations of an old Irishman named Madge t, engaged in the department of foreign affairs in Paris, was sent by the French government to sound the people of Ireland respecting their inclina- tion for French aid. He was accompanied from Eng- by one Cockayne, an English attorney, to whom he indiscreetly opened his mind, being seduced by the lawyer's apparent truth. With Wolfe Tone, as the chief mind of the revolutionary parties, Jackson had many conferences ; but the former, disgusted with the rash confidence placed in Cockayne, never spoke in the presence of that person. " This business," said he to Jackson, " is one thing for us Irishmen ; but an Englishman who engages in it must be a ti'aitor one way or the other." As Tone foresaw, the Englishman was in connection with the government ; Jackson was arresled on his information, and by his death proved his truth to that cause which he so foolishly jeopardized. Kis 52 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. patriotism was and is undoubted ; but liis temper and simplicity were not so characterized as to conduct a secret mission with success. Tone's connection with liim made it imperative that for his future services to the cause he should leave the country, and he was earnestly urged to it by Addis Emmet, Russell, Keogh, McCormick, and others. As the consequence of this, on the 1st August, 1705, there arrived at Wilmington, on the Delaware, a young man, with a beautiful wife, and a precious freight of three children, and a devoted sister. Ban- ished from the land of their birth, they sought upon the great, throbbing bosom of this continent at least the shelter of a temporary home. The head of this little band is a young man of about thirty, gifted with all that makes life noble — truth, intellect, enthusiasm, sincerity, with an energy irrepressible, and a temper capable of embracing any emergency. He is a man among men — a man for a people — fit for a country to adore — fit to ennoble a country. His exile from fatherland did not sever his heart or his intellect from it. Soon this young man has an audience of the French minister, citizen Adet, who desires a memo- rial from him on the state of Ireland. In two or three days he has it. Tone urged the necessity of his proceeding immediately to France. Adet thought otherwise, but sent the memorial, backed with his strongest recommendations. Letters from Keogh and Eussell, however, put all personal inac- tion out of the question, and on the 1st January, 1796, the exile set sail from Sandy Hook for France, WotlTE TOISTE Al^i) HENRY GRATTijsr. 53 having despatched his brother Arthnr to inform the leaders in Ireland of his intentions. With himself he carried to France a letter from Adet, in cyplier, to the Comite de Salut Pnbliqne, and the entire love and concurrence of his noble wife. On the 1st February he landed at Havre and imme- diately proceeded to Paris. It is impossible that in the space allotted I could follow the indomitable spirit and energy, the states- manlike views, the unqnailing determination, and un- equalled adroitness of his labors in France and Ham- burgh, nor do more than allude to the three great expeditions he projected. Addressing himself to Carnot, the Frenchman pro- posed to send a force of 2,000 men, which, through Tone's persuasions was augmented- to 8,000 and 50,000 stand of arms ; but Hoche, being induced to head the expedition, and determining on deeds worthy of his fame as a general, the force was doubled. Tone now wrote an address to the People of Ire- land, characterized by all that clearness of style, vigor of diction, and relentless scorn of all opposition to the project of Irish independence, which make his writings at once as attractive irom their simplicity as their force. He set out into an examination of the situation and interests of the country, and felt strong in the belief that God had given it the means if it had the courage to be free. He hailed the French Revo- lution as the avatar of European freedom, and ex- pressed his conviction that '* the doctrine of republi- canism will finally subvert that of monarchy, and 54 *NINETT-EIGHT AND 'FORTY-EIGH'r. establish a system of rational liberty, on the ruins of the thrones of the despots of Europe." The blessed desire was father to the thought. He truly believed that there was no need for subtle arcrument or silken phrases, no ingenuity necessary to state tlie grievances of Ireland, and discarding any " third way," sub- mitted to the people for their choice the alternatives of Union or Bejyaration. " To a raagnanimous people," said he, " it is unnecessary to prove that it ia 'ba^e^ to an enhghtened peojjle it is unnecessary to prove tliat it is ruinous^ to exist in dependence on the will of a foreign power, and that power an ambitious rival. To you this is not matter of mere speculation. You feel it in your Government, in your laws, in your manners, in ^our principles, in your education ; with all the great moral and physical-ad van- tages of which you are possessed, yt)u are unnoticed and un- known as a nation in Europe ; your bodies and your minds are bent down by the incumbent pressure of your tyrant ; she, to maintain whose avarice and ambition you are daily forced to spill your best blood, in whose cause you fight without glor}' and without profit, where victory but, rivets your chains the faster, and where defeat adds to slaver}', mortification and disgrace."* Sixty years have passed and Tone's address might be issued, as daguerreotyping" the existing state and indicating the necessities of Ireland. The difficulty is to condense any portion of it, lest one might omit a truth. Hereditary monarchs, liereditary legisla- tors, the aristoci-atic faction wdiicli, " though not the tenth part of your population, has arrogated to itself iive-sixths of the property," " the inestimable ♦ Life of Theobald Wolfe Tone, edited by his son. Appendix, tjI. :j. p. 977. WOLFE TON^E AXD HENllY GRATTAN. bo blessings of the British constitution." The army and navy and the whole Irish establishment came beneath and felt his iron grasp, his sarcasm, his convincing- scorn, his clear exposition, his republican ordeal. He pointed exultinglj to A^merica, and besought his countrj-men '' to see whether every motive which actuated her in the contest," did not apply to them Vv'ith tenfold force. "The sword is drawn, the Rubicon is passed, and we have no retreat. We must conquer England or they will conquer us." How Tone's heart must have throbbed to see this armament, which had leaped from his brain, as did Pallas Athense fi'om that of Jupiter, sail out from Brest on that 15th day of December 1796. What bounding joy, freaked with flashes of retributive vengeance on the Ted flag, must have illumined the soul and made glad the heart of the young sire of the expedition, as he speculated on the mission and chivalry of his belted offspring. The grand armament consisted of seventeen sail of the line, thirteen frigates and an equal number of transports, making in all, forty-three sail with an army of 15,000 men. The elements warred with the god of battles, and this splendid force, which in the opinion of Napoleon, would have conquered the island, had it landed, was destined to be the sport of the air ; until, reduced to sixteen vessels and but 6,500 fighting men, the remains of Heche's pride found themselves off Bantry Bay under the command (^f Grouchy, who would not take the responsibility of landing. They reached 66 'NLNEXr-EIGHT AND 'fORTY-EIGHT. ^ France tlie best way they could ; but four ships of the line, two frigates and a lugger returning together to that port from which the expedition started in high hopes and with a glorious prospect. But the winds and tides though they might thwart his designs and annihilate his plans, could not break the spirit or bow the determination of Wolfe Tone. His soul was as free as the storm, his energy as un- ceasing as the waves. Although he was discomfited he was not disheartened. Again he is at work, and in 1797 another expedition has a being in the Texel under the auspices of the Batavian Republic, con- sisting of fifteen sail of the line, eleven frigates, and a number of sloops, all carrying 14,000 men. — Alas, again the winds of heaven played false to that Free- dom of which they are the type — and yet again from the storm, like a clear day, rose the heart of Tone, still serene in its magnanimity, and invigorating in its elasticity. The third expedition, small in force, and weak in its general — Humbert — ^proved fatal to the heart whose devoted patriotism propelled them all like arrows from a bow. Humbert landed with 1,200 men at Killalla, on the 22d August, 1798, wasted valuable time, and, for a period, struck terror into the island ; but, being surrounded on the 8th Sep- tember by the British army, he surrendered at Ballinamuck. Three Irishmen accompanied Humbert : Tone's brother, Matthew, Bartholomew Teeling, and Sulli- van, a nephew of Madgett. The latter escaped in -WoLFE TONE AND HENRY GRATTAN. 0< the disguise of a Frenchman. Matthew Tone and Teeling were bronght to Dublin, t!*ied, and exe- cuted. The gallant master-spirit of all, the man who has in modern times, more than any other, shed a lustre on Irish patriotism and Irish determination, Theobald Wolfe Tone, was captured on board the Hoche, where he commanded one of the batteries during a despe- rate engagement which lasted six hours, that vessel being surrounded bj four ships of the line. The French oflScers reported Tone as fighting with the "utmost desperation." He was recognized, ironed, tried by court-martial, and sentenced to death — which he anticipated. Grattan died in London, and sleeps surrounded by the congenial dust of the poets in Westminster Abbey. Tone rests in the old churchyard of Bodens- town, in the county of Kildare. Of that dust which immortalizes the kindred clay there, by resting in its lonely embrace, Thomas Davis tells us : " In him the heart of a woman combined With a heroic life, and a governing mind — A martyr for Ireland- —his grave has no stone — His name seldom nam'd, and his virtues unknown." His name and his virtues should not be unknown ; for the one is evermore as typical of liberty as the others are w^orthy of imitation. To all seekers of truth and manhood — to all lovers of energy displayed in a sacred cause — to all worshippers of freedom, of whatever race or clime, and especially to all Irish- 4^ S8 FORTY-EIGH'T. men, should the virtues of him who rests in that green grave be known, and his name be dear. The first great Irish Eepublican, Theobald "vYolfe Tone, sleeps there, and makes the grass above him eloquent. In the lives and actions of Theobald Wolfe Tone and Henry Grattan there is mucli for all Irishmen to be 23roud of, and very much to ponder on. Giving, as they do, maxims and examples from which have sprung two great parties in tlieir native land, they may fairly be esteemed, as they really are, the repre- sentative men of modern Irish politics. Both born in Dublin, both educated at that great university, from wdiose venerable cloisters have issued so much dazzling genius, and so many minds famous on the records of literature, science, and politics; they are totally opposite in the measures they proposed for the amelioratio!! of their country's wrongs and the decla- ration of their country's I'ights. In the character of their respective talents, in the variety of their accomplisliments, in the peculiarity of the services rendered to their country, there is a striking parallel between Tone and Grattan and two famous leaders of the American Revolution — Jefi'erson and Hamil- ton. Like the American, the Irish leaders were both great friends of liberty, as they respectively viewed its means and necessities ; and like them, also, dif- fered widely as to the best means of serving it. Tone, like Jefferson, " attributed all the evils of socie'y to the bad government" of the day. Grattan WOLT'E TONE AXD HENRY GRATTAN. ^0 thoiiglit as did Hamilton, tliat the British govern- ment was the best in the world. Hamilton doubted if anything short of it would suit America ; Grattan thought likewise regarding Ireland. Judge Bald- win,"^ reviewing the American statesman's opinions, thinks the intimation unworthy of Hamilton's intel- lect ; one of the objects of my essay is to prove it thoronghly so of Grattan's. Like Jefferson, Tone would make a government to suit the people ; like Hamilton, Grattan would have a people to suit the government. Tone's labors have left a perfect and unmistakable beacon for his people. So have those of Jefferson, and " if he was not entirely accurate, he was distinct." Grattan, like Hamilton, swung between the necessities of the people and the sup- posed glories of the British constitution, the former of which grew out of the latter, even as crime comes out of darkness. Tone had the same fanatic confi- dence in the truth of the j)rinciples and doctrines he combined and promulgated as Jefferson. All great men feel this fire within them. It is that which gives them their strength — that l)nrns their ideas into the brains of their listeners — that renders obstacles to them of no importance — that infuses them with energy, courage, directness of purpose, force of character. Fire is a resistless element, and is power- ful alike in the frame of the mortal as in the forest. It renders them impervious to the contentional waters outside, and when guided by a purpose, consolidates ♦ Party Leaders. By Jo. G. Baldwin. 60 all things, and every occurrence, tlie most trivial as the most visibly important within the brain. A man lirm in his belief adapts everything to his purpose ; and his intellect is never without resources, some- times startling, but all times characteristically im- pressive. " Grattan," says Barrington, '' worshipped popula- rity, yet there was a tinge of aristocracy in his devo- tion which, while it qualified its enthusiasm, still added to its purity." Though not lacking enthusiasm, he was considerable as an artist, while with Tone, as he says himself, his cause was more a natural instinct than an acquired principle. Grattan was the most poetical of orators. Tone the most practical of organizers. The one fed with brilliant thoughts, incited to action a national army of 100,000 men, commanded by the flower of the Irish nobility, and declared his country free — inde|)endent of everything save the king, and its union with Great Britain. The other called forth three armed expeditions from the French and Batavian Kepublics to invade the English garrison in Ireland, and declare his country and her people fi'ee and independent of everything, save the obligations due to the state and dignity of an Irish Republic. In their intellectual character, they were equally different and equally striking. Grattan depended more on his manner ; Tone on his matter. The one, florid in style, exuberant in expression, gorgeous in coloring, and of a richness of fancy equal to an WOLFE TONE AND HENRY GEATTAN. 61 oriental fantasy. The other, combinmg great fei'vor of manner, force of thought, clearness of perception, and coloring vividly and freshly, because natu- rally. Grattan — of an observation keen and judicious, accomplishments manifold ; all steej)ed in aristocratic hues, and fringed with the polished mannerisms of the best society. Tone — of equally observant powers, more clearness, less sophistry — more restless for immediate action, and dess dependent on style for the success of his thought. His acquirements were many, his ability to receive, to augment them, great. Naturally, he was possessed of an intuitive understanding, and saw things clearly, and learned to call them by their proper names, Mdulst others only dreamt of distending them by elastic and everlasting rhetoric. Grattan's own glowing and magical words, it would seem deluded himself, as well as the applauding listeners in the lobbies and galleries. Tone was as devoted to his idea of Irish Freedom as the fanatical Hindustanee to his Juggernaut, and like him sacrificed himself to it. He followed up that idea as he did his beautiful wife, with the love and passion which are the offspring of truth and sim- plicity. Grattan by his nature and capacities was one to be a shining star in the constellation of which the king and a British constitution were the predominant orbs. Tone would be the ever active, ever vigilant, ever proud and anxious citizen of a Republican state, of 62 whose honor he would boast, and whose destiny he would indicate. To sum up in a few words the signs left by those men on the road of renown, and to deduce from them, their achievements and their teaching for the future, I would say : — Grattan gave Irish politics an enthu- siasm, an intellectual glory, a position they had not before. Tone marked out the position they should hold in future. Graitan was a politician. Tone a hero. Grattan would have everything Irish save the government. Tone would have nothing English save the enemy. Grattan, was a connexionist : Tone, a separatist. Grattan, was an elocutionist: Tone, a revolutionist. Grattan, w^as an orator : Tone, an organizer. Grattan, was a Monarchist: Tone, a Re- publican. THR WEXFORD CAMPAIGN THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 65 THE WEXFOED CAMPAIGK Ttie boldj brief, brilliant and bloody struggle, through the historical monuments of whose gloom and glory I shall now w^ander witli you, was as remarkable and unexpected in '98, as it is fraught with a thrilling interest and manifold admonitions for us to-day. If the issue was not successful, neither w^as it dis- honorable ; and we can afford to let that ghastly, blood-bespattered past speak to us without shame. Though it may accuse our race from its Wexford graves and scaffolds of many excesses and eirors, they were the excesses of success, the errors of revenge. It may accuse us of willfulness and bigotry ; they were, if not the natural, the expedient wea- pons to meet willfulness and bigotry. They were the resources of the day — the dreadful weapons alone within grasp when the insurgents considered every Protestant a tyrant; when Pi'otestants proclaimed every Catliolic a rebel ; when reason was banished, mercy denounced, and the reciprocal thirst for blood insatiable.^ These it may accuse that struggle with^ but it cannot accuse it of cowardice. ♦ Barringtoii's Rise and Fall, p. 347, 6Q Looming as the spectre does from Mount Leinster to Duncannon, it still hears mournfully impassioned tales of Oiilart and Ross, of Enniscorthy and Vinegar Hill, of Gorey and Tubberneering, The Bari'ow, the Slaney, and the Kore liave paid unceasingly their tribute to the ocean, but they have not washed away the heroic memories so impetuously written on their banks. Half a century of summers brought fruit and flowers and wealthy vegetation there ; and half a century of winters, like the ghostly bridegroom of the German tale, disrobed the trustful, loving earth of all her flowery garments, and wrapped her in the icy folds of death. Summer and winter — the fruits and flowers of the one, and the snows and storms of the other, are alike transitory. They came and have gone ; but that which comes and goes not, the memory of the brave and just is richer than the luxuriance of June and stronger than the winds of December. The spectre of that year still rears its war-worn front, chi- valric though haggard, gashed and bleeding above those hills and plains, above those old towns and towers. The cause which produced it may be questioned by some ; but the courage which supported it never by any. If the end of the Wexford struggle was not attained, the means then taken still live glorious with exam- ples of devotion, courage, and fortitude, from which the Irish nationalist of to-day may profitably take hope and warning. The rising of Wexford was unexpected in '98. It THE WEXFORD CAMrAIGN. 67 was riot included in the progrannne of organization formed in Dublin. There was no preconcerted arrangement with any other county. On tlie arrest of the delegates of United Irishmen, at Oliver Bond's, on the 12th March, 1798, it was neither represented by a delegate, nor by letter. The celebrated William Putnam McCabe made an attempt to organize tlie County Wexford, and though he considered it among the boldest of his many bold efforts, he had but little success, and from the apathy of the people, a systematic organization, under the auspices of the United Irishmen, was thought fruitless. The people of Wexford, descended in part from the English adventurers furnished to Dermod McMurrogh by Henry the Second, with an admixture of tlie Cromwellian phmderers of a later period, and a more remote sprinkling of the blood of Dane and Gael, were ever considered a brave race, but lived witliin themselves, took little notice of outside agita- tion, and had for many years attained a character for peace and probity, which was held out for the exam- ple and emulation of other parts of Ireland. From the industry of the inhabitants, their peaceable nature, the absence of rioting, and the good reputa- tion of the county in all respects. Hay states that " landed property was -considered of higher value in it than in many other parts of the island. An exe- cution for a capital crime rarel}^ took place there ; and in the calendar of its criminals, it has as few on record as any part of either Great Britain or Ire- 68 'ninety-eight and fokty-eight. land."^" Yet with all its ambition to sliow an exam- ple of inclnstiy and peac^ to tlie conn try, Wexford wss also ambitions to be the most intolerant. And while thronghont the land, the ranks of the Yolanteers were snndering those bigoted feelings and antipa- thies springing from the fears of Catholic or Protest- ant ascendency' — while in those ranks Catholic and Protestant soldiers felt each other a necessity for the preservation of both ; the Volunteers of Wexford willfully abused the privileges and purposes of the organization — created a taction of the intended nationality, and sowed that seed from which sprang the inhuman fruit at Carnew and Scullabogue — in a w^ord, tlie Wexford Yolunteers excluded all Catholics from their ranks, and it was the only county in Ire- land where intolerance completely usurped the garb and functions of religion in a manner so narrow- minded and unmanly. For some time peace and industry continued to hold the Wexford peasant ; but from the year 1792 when the Catholics held meetings, and by private document and public petition, agitated the question of their rights — from this year to that in which the rebellion broke out, various portions of the Connty Wexford were prominent in this agitation, and in that referring to the tithe-paying, occasionally a dis- turbance occurred between the people and the militia or soldieiy, on a few occasions being attended with loss of life. ♦ History of the "irish Insurrection. By Ed. Hay. P. 61 THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. m On the 30th of March, 1798, all Ireland was put under martial law and officially proclaimed in a state of rebellion, by Lord Camden. To this proclamation and the appearance of the North Cork Militia, commanded by Lord Kings- borough in Wexford, may jnstly be attributed the insurrection in that county. Up to this period the society of United Irishmen had made but little progress in Wexford ; neither had Orangeism on the other hand any ostensible being, until the North Cork, among whom were many indefatigable propa- gandists of the Orange system, set about proselytizing and swearing in the Protestants whose minds were easily inflamed, and who, being backed by the mili- tary soon openly endorsed and aided the persecutions perpetrated in the name of faith and justice, against the peasantry. The proclamation of the Lord Lieute- nant incited the military to suppress in the most summary manner all attempts at riot or disturbance. Thus empowered, these lawless ruffians went about the country inciting and swearing one portion of it into utter hostility to the other, creating feuds for the sake of punishing individuals ; and involving indivi- duals that whole districts might be plundered. Their enemies thus banded together as Orangemen, yeomen, militia-men, the peasantry had no resource but in the organization of the United Irishmen ; and although the persecution and intimidation under which the Catholic peasant and liberal Protestant then suffered, gave some slight impetus to the United Irish system in Wexford, still, it never was as exten- 70 'ninety-eight and 'eortt-eight. sive as it slioiild have been, nor at all in comparison witli the development attained in other counties. It is no doubt but that when hostilities commenced the self-protective necessities of the people drove them under the banner of the republican Union, but who may not imagine a glorious and successful issue had the organization been perfected before the people were ci'ushed and tortured into self-defence. Who, on reading the history of the tinie, and beholding what was accomplished under such adverse circumstances, miffht not reasonablv feel the deep loss which the want of earlier concert upon a divine principle ot liberty entailed? There was no preconcert, no arrangement, no organization. The inhuman tortures instituted by the yeomen, the barbarities inflicted without regard to age or sex, the scourgings, pitch-caps, house-burnings, and mur- ders, then drew a distinct and bloody line between those who acted for, and under the protection of, the govern- ment and the people. No man was safe, no woman inviolable, private pique found vent in public ven- geance : and the magistracy falling into the hands of Orange fi\ctionists, was at once witness, judge, jury and executioner. On the twenty-fifth of April twenty-seven magis- trates met at Gorey, and two days after Wexford 7:-a.g proclaimed, the more fully to legalize their onslaughts on the people. Under the pretext of putting down rebellion, and with the fresh powers voted to them- selves, all persons suspected of being United Irishmen THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 71 and all houses supposed to shelter pikes were sub- mitted to the rack and the flame. In this foray against life and property every Catholic was sus- pected, his house plundered, and his family hunted to the ditches and woods for shelter, which fact was in turn pointed against the man, family and house as conclusive evidence that all together were in conspi- racy against the state. Men were banged at tiieir own doors until near dead, and were then resuscitated only to be banged up again. Wet gunpowder was rubbed into the heads of some, and ignited when dry ; the heads of others were 'smeared and saturated with boiling pitch ; ears, noses, and other limbs were cut off or maimed, and under such tortures numbers of innocent and harmless men were forced during the weakness and insanity thus induced, to make confes- sions of what they did not know, and acquiesce in all that the violence or invention of their torturers dic- tated. Thus was the whole county in a state Ox disruption, and especially in the districts of Ross, Enniscorthy and Gorey. The most innocent people were fearful of presenting themselves in public, not knowing w^here a private enemy might step forward, armed with his badge of Orangeism, or in a militia uniform, to denounce, arraign, torture or murder him. Con- sequently business was at a stand-still ; the markets were unprovided with food, provisions rose in price, the people suffered and the military seeking supplies for themselves, only found another medium to carry out the design of Pitt and Castlereagh— to drive the country into rebellion that a pretext might be made for their completely accomplislii ng the ruin of the remains of the so-called Irish Legislative Indepen- dence, and the union of Ireland to EngUind. What with free quarters, slow tortures and all their attend- ant horrors, the people were driven to madness. General Abercrombie, who was sent to Ireland as commander-in-cliief, after a tour of observation, severely reprobated the military, and failing to impress on the ministers the necessity of a mild gov- ernment in Ireland, as well as being unwilling to be a party to their infamous plans, resigned his com- mand in the close of April. All the historians of the period, Protestant as well as Catholic, with only one exception, sustain the opinion of Abercrombie and trace all the hellish barbarities of that unfortunate year to the administration. That exception was Sir Eichard Musgrave, who, in his history, gives us a defence of torture, and who, on one occasion, when, being high sheriff of the County Waterford, he failed to procure an executioner to whip a whiteboy, per- formed the office himself, as Doctor Madden adds, " with all the zeal of an amateur performer." In this unconscionable scoundrel Lord Castlereagh, and his troupe of scourgers and assassins, the Beres- fords, Hem.penstals, Sandys', Gowans, Reynoldses, and Armstrongs found a voluminous and filthy apologist ; and he was, of course, faithfully rewarded with the office of Eeceiver of Customs, and a salary of £1,200 ($6,000) a year.* * In a few line?, the narrow-mindedness, intolerance, and general character of Musgrave, as well as his qualifications for an impartial historian, are admirabljr struck ofif in Barrington's Personal Sketches, when he states that " except on the THE WEXFOKD CAMPAIGN. n While Wexford was thus excited, tlie ai:>pearance on the public roads of cart-loads of prisoners from other counties, on their way to Duncannon fort, at once paralyzed the weak, and told the more hopeful that the distractions under which they suffered, were not wholly confined to them. Hay records that from twelve to fifteen cart-loads went through Ross at the one time. Soon^ under the jurisdiction of the Orange magistrates, wiio, with yeomen cavalry, attended by a regular executioner in case of necessity, scoured the country, great numbers were arrested and con- demned to transportation, a law being enacted to give su^b powers to these marauders. abstract topics of politics, religion, martial-law, his wife, the Pope, the Pretender, the Jes>-j'.ts, Napper Tandy, and the whipping-post," Sir Richard was " generally in his se ir,es." H?a work, to which I shall have occasion to refer, is entitled, " Memoirs of the Different Rebellions in Ireland, from the Arrival of the English," &c., and is what Francis Plowden calls it (Introduct. Hist, of Ireland since the Union, Vol. 1, p. 107), " an undigested heap of acrimonious falsehood and obloquy." It was compiled immediately on the suppression of the insurrection, and dedicated by permission to the Marquis Cornwallis, who, however, prevented the publication until after the " Union " was effected, lest, from its irritable and irritating nature, it might raise fresh dissension on the Catholic side, while opposition could be made available. When the work did appear, Cornwallis, who had permitted the dedica- tion, and delayed the publication to defeat the Catholics, but was also anxious to make the latter believe he was their friend, wrote a letter disclaiming Sir Richard's inscription and history, "as being a work tending to revive the dreadful animosities, wJiivh it was the duty of every good suhject to endeavor to com- pose." Cornwallis was a wary, unscrupulous, pliant, and plausible tool of Pitt. He at once managed directly himself, or indi^-ectly through, his aid, Castlereagh, to esta- blish Orange lodges, flatter the Protestants, and openly favor, to all appearance, the Catholics. "After his return to England," says Plowden (Vol. 1, p. 93), "he was never known, either in public or private, to have attempted to forward the emancipation of the Irish Catholics, to which, however, he ever aifected to have sacrificed his situation." For the curious in such matters, I will observe that in the third edition of Musgrave's work, 2 vols., Dublin, 1802, now before me, tiio dedication to Cornwallis is omitted. 4 ti ''nixp:ty eight and Emboldened by these depredations, the '' autliori- t'es " at Ross, Enniscorthj, Gorej, and other places, carried their loyalty to the extremest lengths ; but tiie wholesale massacres at Dunlavin and Carnew, if less torturous (because more deadly) put all previous loyalty to the blush. Having lashed and imprisoned, mostly on suspicion, twenty-eight farmers in a dun- geon under an old castle at Carnew, on the 25th of May, the Orangemen got drunk and held a council as t') the most expert mode of getting rid of them. It was proposed to sufibcate them, by means of lighted straw ; but the hoary villain w^ho made the proposition — through economy to save powder and ball, was scouted for his miserable spirit; and the majority desirous of seeing the "papists" die (and cursing the expense), brought out the poor fellows into the ball- alley, and there they were deliberately shot by the yeomen and a party of the Antrim militia, their officers sanctioning the deed. At Dunlavin, three days previous, thirty-four men were shot witliout a trial. Retribution is at hand ; we are on the eve of the Wexford Campaign. On the next night, Saturday, the 26th May, the chapel of Boolavogue, the house of the curate, John Murphy, and the dwellings of about twenty farmers in the neighborhood, were burnt by the yeomen. Ah ! It was not alone w^alls and rafters they set in flames. It was the fire of revolution they kindled ; and such a flame, too, as is not yet extinguished in the rebellious Irish heart. The chapel house of Boola- vogue is still flaming — still crackling and flinging up THE WEXFOKD CAMPMGN. n its bright embers on the dark pages of that year's history. On this niglit the people along the road from Car- new to Oulart turned out. Tlie dreadful tidings of devastation and murder hunted them like criminals from their hearths. The news, too, that Kildare was in arms roused them; and to the west of Gorey, on Kilthomas Hill, one of the ridges of the Slieve Bwee mountain, and farther south on Oulart, the insurgents mio:ht be seen o^atlierino; like sullen thunder-clouds — undecided, gloomy, thi-eatening, and portentous. On the morning of the twenty- seventh, Whit Sunday, those on Kilthomas Hill were dislodged from their position by a body of yeomen. The indecision in the ranks of the insurgents created a panic — they fled and were pursued with great slaughter, the death of their commanding officer, so exasperating the loyalists that they spared no man the}^ met, and, as Gordon admits " burned two Romish chapels, and about one hundred cabins and farm-houses of Roman- ists in the course of seven miles' march."* * History of the Rebellion in Ireland, &c., with an Impartial Account of the proceedings of the Irish Revolutionists, &c. By the Rev. James Gordon. The author was a Protestant clergyman having rectorships both in the counties of Wexford and Coi'k. He professed to write impartially. Musgrave accuses him of having written with more regard to policy than accuracy " for the obvious pur- pose of conciliating the priests and the popish multitude, and to secure the punc- tual payment of his titlies." Musgrave's coarse nature did not understand how a man might, could, would, or should write history under any inspiration save that of a party, a purse, or a poor-box. Gordon replying to him in a preface to a second edition, and in defence of the middle course he adopted states, that he. expected to be reprobated by the " irrational zealots of two opposite and mutually hostile parties." Considering the fury of sectional strife, and the white heats into which Protestant and Catholic writers and disputants of the per.'^d blew them.fielTaev ?e How fares it at Oulart? The insurgents had increased in considerable num- bers, but they were unarmed, and, as Gordon states, ''a confused multitude of both sexes and all ages." On that morning of Whit Sunday, the churchless minister of religion, surrounded by his hunted flock, un- sheathed the sword as the only symbol of deliver- ance. In the American Revolution a scene took place which is peculiarly apposite. An eloquent pastor on the frontiers of Virginia gave notice that on a cer- tain Sabbath he would preach his farewell sermon. The day came. The homely temple was thronged with hardy mountaineers. They over-filled the church and crowded the little burial-place. Every one was breathless. That intuitive knowledge of comino^ events, which at times aa^itates the most slu^- gish intellects, guided by peculiar circumstances, excited the assemblage to a marvellous anxiety. The theme of the day was the subject of the sermon. Peace or war — Liberty or death? He was a plain vigoi-ous speaker was this pastor. Every word fell on the audience like a mallet knocking ofi' their chains. He portrayed their suflerings, their wrongs, and dwelt on the sacred character of the War of Inde- pendence. " Aye," said he in conclusion, " in the language of Holy Writ, there is a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times have passed away " — and then in a voice of thunder, /r, Gordon's work is remarkably, though not altogether, free from polemical *«pertty. THE WEXFOKD CAMPAIGN. 77 "there is also a time to fight. And that time has now come !" Pronouncing the benediction, he deli- berately removed his gown, and an armed warrior stood before them. Tliis soldier-priest was the Kev. Peter Muhlenberg, afterwards a Major General in the Pevolutionary Army. Father John Murphy's last sermon was preached in Boolavogue ; the time for preaching and praying was told out by the Orange incendaries ; and the time for fighting had come. '' Better," said he, " die cou- rageously in the field, than be butchered in the houses." Early on this morning, Hawtrey White with two troops left Gorey in search of the insurgents ; and on the south side one hundred and ten picked men of the North Cork regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Foote and six ofhcei's, marched from Wexford. From opposite directions the royal- ists were advancing on the people. The rapid move- ments of the North Cork, now joined by sixteen mounted yeomen, who made a diversion on the side of the hill, for a moment flung indecision amongst the insurgents. A volley from the royalists drove them up the hill, whither they were followed by the North Cork. A rapid movement on the part of the insurgents — an ambuscade — up come the North Cork incited by Foote : the rebels have opened to receive them, and out sprang the pikemen from their ambush, while the great mass of the people, men, women, and children, stood looking on the top of the hill. " We must conquer or perish," cried Murphy. A deadly vengeance steadied every pike. Dying groans 78 wBre in the men's ears, blazing homes had driven them to battle : one wild charge, and the royalist bandits rolled over, as if one monstrous corpse. Mus- grave, who is blind to the massacre at Carnew, and but half sees that at Dunlavin, is forced to admit that " the entire party was cut to pieces, except the lieu- tenant-colonel, a sergeant, and three privates." In this fiofht the insurojents lost five men and had two wounded. Thus it was that Oulart Hill became the Lexington of the Wexford insurrection. Musgrave, on the authority of Colonel White, states, that there were between four and live thousand rebels on the hill. All accounts prove that they were in great numbers ; but not more than three hundred took part in the action, only six of whom had fii-elocks. Cloney states "that the number of the peasantry who shared in this victory scarcely exceeded the number of the slain." The mounted yeomen fled to Wexford, and the cavalry under White, which had come from Gorey in the morning, not knowing of Foote's pre- sence on tlie south side of the hill, took fright at the position of the insurgents, beat a retreat, and, says Gordon, " After the killing of some few unarmed stragglers, and some old men who had remained in their honses, they returned to Gorey." Father Murpliy, the soldier-priest who thus nobly exhorted his people, was the son of a small farmer at Tincurry, in the parish of Ferns. He was educated at a hedge-school and afterwards in Spain, where he graduated and took holy orders at Seville in 1785, THE WEXPORD CAMPAIGN, T9 Of course the writers in the English interest do not love him. Unfortunately he had been originally most active against the United Irishmen and was only dri\'en to the sword in defence of freedom when the royalists had burnt the altar dedicated to Free- dom's God. Cloney tells us he was a quiet inoffen- sive man. He was "a fanatic in religion," says Gordon, and but " too well qualified to inflame the superstitious minds of the ignoi-ant multitude." Hea- ven send us such fanatics ! Musgrave howls over his military career. "Considering the time of its duration, and the limits to which it was confined," says this delicate epicure in torture, " we must allow that it was as destructive as that of Attila, Gengis Khan or Tamerlane :" and truly they caught a Tartar in the ruins of Boolavogue. Victory flies on the wind and the fight of Oulart Hill struck hope and terror to such ears as heard the tale for weal or woe. Encamping for the night at Carrigrue, the insur- gents, flushed with success, marched on Monday morning upon the town of Camolin where they pos- sessed themselves of a quantity of arms which had been deposited there for safety. Thence, they ad- vanced on the ancient town of Ferns whither the loyalists had fled. Scouts and couriers with orders from Father Murphy, written in " red ink," says Musgrave, were dispersed over all the adjacent country, commanding at the peril of their lives, all persons capable of bearing arms to join his army forthwith. The loyalists, flying before the victors 80 'ninety-eight and 'forty- eight. like emigrants before a prairie fire, having evacuated Ferns, the insurgents crossed the Slaney at Scara- walsh Bridge, halting for some time on Ballyorrell Hill, where they received considerable accessions; and by one o'clock Edward Roche and his reverence, General Murphy with, according to Musgrave, five thousand men, eight hundred of whoui, says Gordon, had guns, commenced the stormiiig of Enniscorthy. The town — situate on both sides of the beautiful Slaney, the most considerable portion being on the west — was prepared to receive them. The available positions were garrisoned. The North Cork under Captain Snow, burning to avenge the defeat of their comrades at Oulart, were posted on the bridge. The yeomen infantry under Captain Pounden held the Duffry Gate, at the western extremity of the town, commanding the public road to Eoss, on tlie south- west, Carlow on the west, and Xewtownbarry and Ferns on the north. Other posts were protected, and all within the town had been on the alert for hours, the fugitives having full early sounded tlie note of preparation. The insurgents opened the attack by driving a number of horses and oxen to disorder the troops at the western side quickly following up the movement with an irregular but furious onset of such force that the defenders of the gate retreated after a few discharges of musketry to the market-house, where they made a stand. A division of a thousand insurgents commanded by Thomas Synnott, an independent farmer of sixty years, waded the river on the north side under the fire THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 8l of both cavalry and iiifaiitiy, gained the oppcsito bank and made good their position in the eastern part of the town. A disorderly fight raged through the streets, the garrison being driven from place to place until tlie bridge, connecting the two parts of the town, became the chief post of peril and attack. The town was on fire in various 2)laces;the inhabitants exhibited the orange and green ribbons alternately, to suit the temper of their fright, and the feelings of the prevailing party. Confusion, uncertainty, dis- may sat upon the town, while one after another the various corps fled before the insurgents. The ^ortli Cork were soon routed at the bridge, and the yeo- manry, disordered, broken and completely terrified, fled with the utmost precipitancy to Wexford. In this fight, which lasted four hours, the royalists lost ninety men, including three officers, besides wounded ; the insurgents about 100.* Both parties fought with determined bravery. ■ A Captain Drury,t who had served in the American war, and was present at Enniscorthy, declared he had never expe- rienced a heavier or better directed fire than that with which the insurgents assailed DuffVy Gate. Snow, who commanded fhe ]^orth Cork, was made the su^bject of much animadversion because he did not rout the "rebels," and had to publish a pamphlet in vindication of himself Gordon defends him, and believes " his situation to have been such as might * Personal Narratives, &c., of Transactions in the County Wesford, in wtich the author was engaged in 1798, &c. By Thomas Clcney.— P. 14. + Quoted by Musgrave. — P. 431, vol. i. 82 ^-NINETY-EIGHT AND have puzzled the brain of even a BoDapartc' The facetious Musgrave, in the face of all other loyal accounts, coolly says, "when the action terminated, the rebels were completely routed and expelled from the town.'' "The loyalists, however, did not think it tenable," he adds, and in which I perfectly agree, for once, with the loyalists."^ And so it turned out that the flames of Boola- vogue had made a conflagration at Enniscorthy, and by its light the insurgents encamped on Yinegar HilL The news brought to Wexford by the defeated royalists was more w^elcome than the bearers of it; for the town of Wexford was not quite well afi'ected towards the authorities, and had been greatly excited by the victory of Oulart. It was now determined to organize a defence of this post, instead of meetiug the " rebels " on the open held. A few days previous Beaucluimp Bagnal Harvey of Bargy Castle, Jolm Heni-y ColchDugh of Ballj^teigue, and Edward Fitzgerald of Newpai-k, had been arrested on suspicion of treason, and lodged in Wex- ford jail. To gain time, divert tlie insurgents, or probably, with some faint hope of deluding them, it was proposed that Colclough and Fitzgerald, Harvey being kept as a hostage, should proceed to the insur- gent camp, to persuade them to disperse, but without * A regfular retreat being sounded, gave the military an opportunity of bringing avay their families and friends, together with a great many men, women, and chCdrea, who proceeded in the best rnaoner they could to Wexford." — Hay's Hist-t p. 141. THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 83 aiUbority to make any terms. The appearance of the embassy from Wexford, had a directly opposite effect to that intended. Jnst previons to the arrival of Fitzgerald and Colclongh the greatest disorder and disagreement prevailed in the camp. Now that they had gone so far, and attained such considerable success, tlieir probable disability to sustain them- selves loomed np in formidable doubts. Men from various districts desired immediate action in their own localities, while others advised the complete disbanding of the nisurgent army to their homes. This advice to a great extent prevailed; the camp was almost deserted, when some of the retiring par- ties met the liberated messengers from the govern- ment authorities. The shouls of welcome which greeted them, arrested the already disbanded army ; the various groups returned to know the cause of such sudden rejoicing; and, by the time the gentle- men reached Yinegar Hill, the numbers w^ere as strong as before. Neither the message nor remonstrance was effec- tual. The fact of their presence showed the weak- ness of the authorities, and the prominent leaders taking advantage of the circumstances, harangued the multitude so much to the pui-pose, that Fitzgerald w^as detained in the camp, and Colclongh sent back with word that they would march immediately on the town. That night, the national army encamped on Three-Kock Mountain, within about three miles of Wexford. Early on the following morning, the scouts dig- 84 cerned the advance-guard of General Fawcett's reinforcement for the relief of Wexford. Fawcett halting at Taghnioii, tlie night previous, sent for- ward a detachment of eighty-eight, including eiglit- een artillerymen and two howitzers under Captain Adams. A party of the ijisurgents, accompanied by Thomas Cloney and the brave John Kelly of Killan, met them, and, after an engagement of ten or fifteen minutes, captured the guns and dispatched almost every man of the king's troops. General Fawcett hearing of the disaster, and remembering that discre- tion was the better part of valor, illustrated that wor- thy maxim by moving, as Cloney remarks, " with a much quicker pace back to Duncannon than he advanced." Colclough's message to Wexford produced the greatest consternation. The ships in the harbor were crowded with people, the streets were deserted, the shops shut. Soon after the success at the Three Rocks, the garrison of Wexford, composed of more than one thousand regulars and yeomen, under Colonel Max- well, sallied out to retake the howitzei'S ; confidently exjJGCting the promised aid trom General Fawcett. As they advanced within gunshot, Colonel Watson, proceeding ahead to reconnoitre, was shot dead ; which gave the instant signal for the retreat of the king's troops. The importance of the town, the repeated successes of the insurgents, the fright of the inhabitants, the consternation of the soldiery, pro- duced the utmost dismay. A council was called, and THE WEXFOEE CAMPAIGN. 85 tte authorities prevailed on Bagnal Harvey, still in jail, to write a message to the united forces, which was forwarded by a deputation instructed to treat for the surrender of the town. The "rebel" prisoner was the virtual governor of the town at that moment, and the letter a ruse^ to make time for the escape of the late " authorities." The insurgent srenerals stipulated that the arms and ammunition of the garrison should be given up. Commissioners from the camp went into Wexford — but they found it evacuated by the soldieiy, who, in their rage, fired several places, spared neither age nor sex, and com- mitted the most violent excesses in their flio^ht. Here, indeed, was a victory! The town surren- dered; Wexford abandoned; officers, yeomen, magis- trates, some flying to Duncannon — others crowding the ships, and some, ruffians who never spared a life, begging their own — flinging themselves on the mag- nanimity of the " rebels." Thank heaven, the "rebels" could affiord to be magnanimous! The united forces entered. On the old walls and towers which silently chronicle the incursions of piratic Dane, and Anglo-]^orman robber, the green flag is proudly reared — green ribbons and branches of trees decorate the windows of almost every house — the prisons are unbarred — and there Bagnal Harvey, giving protection to many w^lio w^ould a few hours before have dashed his brains out, is pro- claimed, by the victorious "rebels," Commander-in- chief of the army of the people. The next day, June 1st, at a meeting of the 86 'ninety-eight and -FORTY-EiailT. coiiiiiiaiiders of tlie united army held at Carrigbyrne camp, "Harvey was regularly appointed and elected" to the chief command, and Edward Roche to the rank of general oJBficer of the same ai'my. The insurgents being greatly augmented, it became necessary to divide them into different camps, as well for their better workino- as for the ireneral defence. One cam]i was formed on Windmills Hill, another portion marched towards Gorey, while that on Vinegar Hill, formed the day of the capture of Enniscorthy, continued a per?nancnt one to the end of the campaign. Trouble arising in the town of Wexford, in consequence of the lawless- ness of those characters which every revolution flings up. Captain Iveugh, of the united army, was ap- pointed commander. The town was now divided into wards and military districts, which appointed their own ofticors, on tlie republican rule. A regular parade was held morning and evening, and a military discipline strictly enforced. The insurrection, by this period, had grown so general, and the success of the insurgents so decided, that, Hay states, every person in the county thought it best to come forward and make common cause with them. In the meanwhile, the northern part of the county had its share of activity. On the 2Sth, Gorey was evacuated by tlie royalists. On the 1st of June, a detachment from the camp at Vinegar Hill, com- manded by Captain Doyle, and two soldier-priests, Moses Kearns and Xichohis Tvcdmond, drove Colonel L'Estranae and a partv of drao-oons into Xewtown- THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGX. 87 bany, pursue*! thein, and after engaging the garrison of over five liuiidred troops, took pos-^ession of the town. The soldiers, however, rallied outside, re- turned, and while the insurgents were in a state of disorder, retook it. On the same day, a detachment nnder Father Michael Murphy, from the Carrigrue camp, suiFered a discomfiture, after a ver}- smart action of an hour, near the village of Balljcanew ; a great number of horses falling into the hands of rlie militia. Skirmishes and conflicts were incessant, in which the insurgents were chiefly successful, and almost generally the assailants. Who could have di-eamed that this peaceful, indus- trious anti-United Irish County of AVexford was such a nest of rebels? Who could have dreamed that within a week from the sounding of the tocsin, the king's right worshipful authorities would pi-opose a parley with a Protestant "traitor," as they called him, in prison, and treat with Romi>h rebels in their camp — who, I say, could have dreamed that such Arcadian rustics would have exchanp:ed, under anv provocation, the ploughshare for the musket, the sickle for the pike, and their cots and cabins for the canopy of Heaven ? It w^as not in the besotted sleep of di-unken Orange authorities to dream such fool- ish dreams. Ah ! they had been playing with a mine ; the flames of Boolavogue expL)ded it! The British commanders have at leno^th decided that this playing at rebellion must end. They must 88 end it with a coup de main^ to show how thej can do such things. Gorey, wdiich had been previously evacuated, but apparently uncared for by the insur- gents, became the object of particnlar attention on the part of the government. It was considered a position of great importance, as it opened up the road by the way of Ai-ldow, to the metropolis. Its garrison was now well supplied by tlie British. Keinforcements were crowding in daily. General Loftus had arrived with an additional force of fifteen hundred men. Colonel Walpole ai-rived from Carnew ; an organized cooperation with the garrisons of Carnew and I^ew- townbarry was arranged; the Carrigrue camp had been satisfactorily reconnoitered ; the insnrgents were to be attacked on all sides, and from the preparations made, and force to be employed against them, there was no doubt of their utter demolition. Tlie field was fought and won— the slumbering insurgents butchered on their Carrigrue couch, and deathless wreaths of loyal laurels twined around the brows of tlie astnte Loftus, and the courtly "Walpole ! Yea, all this and more was transacted over the council board in Gorey ; but the soldier even sleeping on his arms, dreams ; and the crafty courtier builds castles in the air. The wine cup hath its bubbles. On the -ith June the army in two divisions under General Loftus and Colonel Walpole, left Gorey on their mission. Loftus took the route towards Bally- canew ; Walpole, that of the Camolin road, to com- mence the attack on the Carrigrue camp. Lord Ancram, Lieutenant Colonel Scott, Sir Watkin-Wil- THii we:S:fokd campaign. 89 liams Wynne, and )tlier officers commanding regulars and yeomen, were dispatched to various points surromiding the insurgents, to cooperate with the generah The generals of the popular forces at Carrigrue, however, had not been nnwatchful, and by a fortu- nate calculation had determined on attacking Gorey that very daj. The presence of these British generals was not polite under the circumstances ; and so it happened that the parties met much sooner than either expected. "Walpole's command and the insur- gents, chiefly led by Father Philip Eoche, met at Tubberneering. Neither party having scouts ahead, the collision was instantaneous, bloody, and decisive. ''The rebels," says Gordon, "poured a tremendous fire from the fields on both sides of the road." A bullet passing through the head of Walpole,'^ sent that officer's dreams of military fame floating on the air, with which both his hopes and capacity had a remarkable affinity. The soldiers were thunder- struck ; the pikes flashed like lightning. '' In a little time their line broke," says a soldier of the Armagh militia engaged in the fight, " which we took for an omen of defeat ; but this was only to deceive us — for their two wings set up the war- whoop, and made for Gorey to cut ofi:' our retreat, * " This gentleman, an extraordinary favorite of Lord Camden, is said to have been sent to the County of Wexford, with the design that he should reap the glory of conquest, by the complete suppression of the rebels. A panic (which certainly surprised me, doubtless from my ignorance of mf.itary affairs,) appeared to ha-ve seized our officers in general, after the slaughter at Oulart and the taking of Ennis- corthy."— Gordon, Hist., p. 267. 00 ^nixety-eiCtIit and px^kty-eigiit. wliicii had been ordered to ^'le made." Ah ! trickj rebels, to deceive lionest royahst troops ! and then to hem them in, and hng them to very death — inhnman ! The scene made many a loyal heart — like Colonel AValpole's — ^bleed. Hear this doleful eye-witness : — " It was truly painful, as we passed along, to behold our cannon on the road completely useless to us — the pikemen with exultation leaping over them, crying ^ JErin-go-hragh, the English cannon is ours,' also the groans of the wounded, whose bodies, torn and pierced by pikes, while yet living, rendered the scene altogether awful !"'^ Useless cannon — it must have been " truly painful ;" exultant pikemen — ''awful!'' On such another occasion, when the tables were turned, we learn that the soldiers presented a '* noble spectacle of daring," and the scene was " extremely inspiriting." But then, pikemen — for whom the royalists had what is vulgarly but expressively termed a '* holy horror "— ^had no right to be victorious — no right to capture English cannons, which had belched fiery dogmas at them for seven hmidred years, and kept sending their forefathers and kinsmen, long before their allotted three score and ten, from their own o^ood land into kiuii'dom come. The soldiers tied, leaving over a hundred slain, * Vide " An Impartial Narrative of the most Important Engagements, Ac. &c., during the Irish Rebellion of 179S," p. 71. The impartiality of this book may be gleaned from the Dedication, which states that it is a "Record of the Glorious Achievements" of the Yeomanry of Ireland; to the lords and gentlemen of which it is inscribed, in testimony of the ''loyalty, courage, and patriotism" they exhibited under the " sacred banner of the king." It is a compilation by J. Jones, of letters from Orangemen and Yeomen, who were on duty at, or resided near, the insurrec- tionary districts. THE WPLtFORt) CA:vrPAIGN. di several officers prisoners, and three pieces of cannon. The fugitive royalists fju^ht and fled through Gorey. Sir AV^atkin Williams Wynne, having got the rear of his command clear of the town, used every effort to induce the troops to halt and form, but the panic was so great, that all his efforts were fruitless, and they rushed on precij)itately and in disorder to Arklow.'^ Some did not stop until they reached Dublin. The sound of the cannon brought the news of action to Loftus, who, hastening to Walpole's relief, found him utterly beyond it. lie paused a while on the battle-ground, and determining to enter Gorey, went in that direction, but found, in utter dereliction of his triumphant visions, the royalist cannons were now in " rebel " hands, and opposing his entrance, seemed to show a grim and traitor sympathy with their new masters. He then marclied to Carnew. And so the "rebels" and the royalists celebrated the 4tli of June, (" our gracious king's birth-day," says one of the latter parenthetically, " Oh ! may we never comm.emorate it with such a scene.") Gorey was evacuated, leaving the insurgents in possession of the whole county except Duncannon fort, Ross and [N^ewtownbarry. The force immediately under the commander-in chief, Bagnal Harvey, which had been stationed on the Hill of Carrigbyrne, since the 1st June, took up their position on Corbet Hill, within one mile of ]^ew * Musgrare, Tol. i., p. 497. 92 ^KINETY-EIGHT AND -'fORTY-EIGHT . Koss on the 4tli ; and soon after their arrival were saluted witli some sliot and shell from the royal out- posts near the town. Ross was a highly serviceable position, and its attainment would open the highway into Munster to the possessor. It had been greatly reinforced and now held a garrison of about two thousand men, with several pieces of cannon. Early on the morning of the 5th, General Harvey sent one of his aides, Matthew Furlong, witli a flag of truce, and a written summons for the immediate sur- render of the town by the king's .comniander Major General Johnson. Furlono- was shot on reachino^ the outposts,^ which so exasperated his comrades that they became almost unmanageable. John Kelly of Killan, was sent with five hundred men to drive in the outposts whicli occupied the ditches and fields between Corbet Hill and the town, and kept up a constant and galling fire. Kelly's success was so great that numbers on the hill could not refrain from *"To shoot all persons carrying flags of truce from the rebels, appears to have been a maxim with his majesty's forces." Gordon, Hist., p. 142. The following is a copy of General Beauchamp Bagnal Harvey's summons to the commander of New Ross. " Sir — As a friend to humanity, I request you will surrender the towa of Ross to the Wexford forces now assembled against that town. Your resistance will but pro- voke rapine and plunder to the ruin of the most innocent. Flushed with victory, the Wexford forces, now innumerable and irresistible, will not be controlled if they meet with any resistance. To prevent, therefore, the total ruin of all property in the town, I urge you to a speedy surrender, which you will be forced to do in a few hours, with loss and bloodshed, as you are surrounded on all sides. Your answer is required in four hours. Mr. Furlong carries this letter and will bring the answer, ^ "I am, Sir, &c., &c. "B. B. Habvey. " Camp at Cor'bet Hill, Ealf-pasl three o'clock, morning, June 5th, 1T98." THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 93 pouring to the outskirts of tlie town, thus at the very onset disarranging tlie phms hiid down by Harvey, and agreed to by his counsellors. By this movement the battle of Ross was i-endered perhaps the most disasti-ous of the campaign, as w^ell as, Barrington remarks, " one of the most bloody and protracted ever fought in Ireland." Harvey's plan was to attack the town in three dif- ferent places at once, which no doubt would have proved successful; although he himself was totally unfit for the position into which the fortune, or rather, in his case, misfortune of war placed him. In the excitement caused by the death of Furlong, the insurgents were almost entirely lost to the control of their general ; and a furious onset was made in the direction of the Three Bullet Gate, the principal entrance to Ross, and which was, of the three points laid down in Harvey's plan, the most dangerous to attack. This danger was much increaeed by not assaulting the other points at the same time, thereby allowing the troops either to concentrate inside or come out on the rear of the insursrents. Dislodging tlie soldiers from the walls and ditches where they were advantageously posted, and routing the cavalry before them into the town, the gallant band of insurgents faced this memorable gate which was defended by a large force and two. six-pounders. This they tumultuously carried with great slaughter. Lord Mountjoy fallmg at the head of the County Dublin regiment. While engaged here a detach- ment of cavalry attacked the people in the rear, 94: 'kixety-eight and 'forty-eight. The pikemen turned on them with great fury and in a few moments Cornet Dodwell and twenty-eight of the king's Fifth Dragoons fell, the remainder fleeing in dismay. Driving the army into the town, a despe- rate conflict was maintained* in the streets and houses. The royalists, their artillery captured and turned on themselves, everywhere fell before the furious people. Taking refuge in the market-house, they were, after a protracted contest, driven to the quays, and finally across the long bridge, over the Barrow and into the County Kilkenny on the opposite side. Three times during that eventful fifth of June was the royal standard levelled by the insurgents. Three times did the national force possess Koss. Three times did both sides rally and alternately dispossess each other who had alternately the upper-hand. Each time that the insurgents were victorious, num- bers of the men believing the fight over, gave them- selves up to plunder and drink ; and thus at last, from bare want of opposing nun:ibers, the English held the town ; while through the carelessness and criminality of their leaders a great mass of men were on the outside at the camp, not knowing what to do, or uninformed of what was taking place. Cloney, who was all through the fight, which lasted nearly thirteen hours, states that not much more than three thousand participated in the battle. Of the fourth time that the insurgents retreated to the Three Bullet Gate, Cloney says "it was quite disheartening to be- hold the smallness of our numbers, yet," he adds, '' the few who remained &eemed to prefer death to THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 95 the abandonment of a victory wliich, throughout the day, appeared to be within their grasp. "'^ The pea- santry wlio were in the series of fights which occu- pied that day fought with a desperation unparalleled ; and under the most gloomy circumstances continued to cheer up and incite each other upon the enemy. As they fell wounded, they exhorted their comrades to the onset, some exhibiting their scars and gashes, and declaring the pride they felt in having bled for Ij-e- land ! Some, before whose eyes the death-mist was hovering, roused themselves with anxious efforts ; and others, in the last turbulent agony of life, calmed to inquire " is victory on our side?" and grasping at the comforting affirmative, ejaculated that " they died happy !" and rolled into the eternal slumbers, blessed visions of an Irish Republic coming between them and Heaven. It is conceded on all hands that had Harvey, during any period of the day, sent a reinforcement victory was certain. So little hope of success appeared to the royalists that the news of their total defeat was car- ried into Waterford, twelve miles, and ATexford, nine- teen miles distant, by fugitives from the king's troops. Such an issue was inevitable, had not the people, in temporary delirium of success, given the advantage to General Johnson, by getting drunk, at each rally being considerably weakened, and in which wretched condition great numbers were slaughtered — as they deserved to be : — for mark you — men who cannot con- * Persooal Narrative, pp. 39, 40, 96 trol themselves at such a time, coiikl not guard the state at any. Clonev states that there were about three hundred killed and tive hundred wounded on each side. Other accounts give the insurgents killed at five hundred ; while the government writers greatly augment the number. Certain it is that the majority of those slaughtered were not killed fighting, but when disabled by liquor. In the second capture of the town, Kelly of Killan was disabled ; and among others distinguished on that day, must be mentioned, John Boxwell of Sara- hill, " a Protestant gentleman of great respectability, high character, and undoubted courage," who was killed; Harry Hughes of Ballytreat ; AYalter Deve- reaux of Ballybrittas ; John Devereaux of Taghmon, then a lad, but afterwards famous as a general in the Bolivian war of independence ; Michael Furlong, brother to Matthew ; and a boy named Lett, only thirteen years old, who, by liis presence of mind, was material in rallying the peasantry and driving the royalists the second time to the bridge. AY ell may Barrington remark, "There is scarcely a trait of individual courage which was not exemplified during that contest ; the battle occasionally slackened, but never ceased for a moment." This battle was the turning point of the Wexford Campaign. As it had failed through drunkenness, it was suc- ceeded by the most barbarous cruelty in the massa- cre and burning of a crowd of royalist and Protestant THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 07 prisoners in a barn at Scullabogiie, under tlie hill of Carrigbyrne, by some infuriated people who had, it is believed, beheld the slaughter at Ross. The chief agent of the crime was never discovered; Davis says it was not burned by the lighting men, and it is certain, that no leader of the peasant forces either sanctioned or incited the deed. Scullabogue may have been fired by some of the fugitives from Ross, inflamed to madness and re- venge by liquor and the butcheries there witnessed ; or by the friends or relatives of some who had fallen victims to Orange rage and brutality. But while it is natural to trace the deed to some such source, it is equally natural, and just as probable, that the parties engaged in the burning were incited by tools of the governmental factions, for the purpose of throwing disgrace on the insurgent arms, and creating a horror against them in the breasts of w^avering and unde- cided people all over -the country. The tactics of the British government in this respect, need no illustration to refresh the reader of history. At this particular juncture, men of loyal sympathies through- out the land had to blush for the massacres perpe- trated in the name of royalty and order. Their shame was to be obliterated only by arousing their half-latent antipathies by some^ fresh Catholic enor- mity. The fears already existing in the minds of Protestants on the subject of Catholic ascendency were to be branded and seared into the very marrow of their bones ; and so they were. It is not my intention to defend the crime, or the 5 98 'ninety-eight and Catholics who are accused of it, but to give what may seem a reasonable review of both sides of the question. Blood will have blood ; and looking at the aifair fearlessl}', and handling it w^ith no kid-glove affecta- tion, I can readily understand how little was needed to excite an infuriated, goaded, reckless mob to take such revenge for broken hopes, burned homes, vio- lated families, and tortures without number, as the maddening impulses of the moment and circum- stances afforded. Everv advantao^e had been taken to dispatch the peasantry ; infancy had no innocence, age no shield; sickness no recommendation to merc}^ ; maidenhood no inspiration of bravery, in the eyes of the factionists, who, under the name and warrant of *' authorities," ransacked, ravaged, and ravished, the homesteads, the men, and the women, of the County Wexford. " If the commanders of his majesty's forces," says Gordon, " acting against the rebels, committed any small errors in their proper province, ample compen- sation was commonly made by the press, in the dispatches to government published in their name, and other pieces of writing of a like nature. The numbers killed, if otherwise tlian on paper, might have alarmingly thinned the population of a county. I have taken much pains to make inquiry from various persons, who had been on the scenes of action, and could never find ground to think other- wise, than that the numbers of men slain among the rebels, in their several eno^ao:ements with the mill- THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 99 taiy, were vastly less than thej were stated to be in the bulletins and public prints. I have reason to think, that more men than tell in battle were slain in cold blood. JN'o quarter was given to persons taken prisoners as rebels, with or without arms. For one instance — fifty-four were shot in the little town of Carnew, in the space of three days, and thirty-nine in one day in the town of Dunlavin ! How many fell in this manner, or were put to death unresisting, in houses, fields, and elsewhere, would be as difiicult to state with accuracy, as the number slain in battle."* By these means, and in addition to, and supersed- ing in its relentless nature, the political and religious fervor which animated the peasant, was kindled a spirit of personal revenge. He had some murdered father, or violated wife or sister, maimed brother or butchered babe to put in his account against his barbarian foe ; and he cherished the settlement of that account with hopes that only added fury to delay, and with satisfaction surmounting all others. So long as man is man, blood will have blood. Scullaboo'ue and Wexford Brido^e but reflect Carnew and Dunlavin. The same barbarities repro- ducing themselves under diflerent spell-words. Who sows a Carnew should exj^ect to reap a Scul- labogue.f * Gordon's Hist., p. 26S-9. t " To counteract the reports of religious intolerance, it must be stated that fifteeii 100 'ninety-eight and 'forty- eight. The news of the latter, so calculated to sully the arms of the popular forces, which were of course immediately accused with its perpetration, suggested the publication of a series of resolutions adopted " at a meeting of the general and several officers of the United Army of the County Wexford," the conclu- sion of which is as follows. " It is also resolved that any person or persons who shall take upon them to kill or murder any person or prisoner, burn any house, or commit any plunder, Avithout special written orders from the commander-in-chief, shall suffer death. " By order of "B. B. Haryey, Commander-in-Cliief. "Feancis Beeen, Sec. and Adj. " Head Quarters, Carrickbtrne Camp, " June Qth, 1708." The day following General Edward Roche issued from Wexford Town a proclamation advising a thanksgiving for the triumphs, and conjuring unani- mity, confidence and obedience to the chiefs.^ or sixteen Catholics shared in the sorrowful catastrophe of Scullabogue, whence only two Protestants and one Catholic escaped." — Hay. Hist., p. 307. This may be the proper place, in referring to the atrocities of both parties, to record that the government troops, military and yeomen, burned the insurgent depot of wounded men in New Ross, the insurgent hospital at Enniscortliy with its seventy sick and wounded inmates, and murdered the patients in the insurgent hospital of Wexford when repossession took place under General Lake after the BatUe of Vinegar Hill. *I give the proclamation in full as a record of the spirit which actuated, and the feelings expressed by, at least some of the popular leaders. If it is not brilliant in style it is manly in conception and sensible in expression. tiiE WEXFOKD CAMPAiGN. lOl On the eighth, there being almost unanimous dis- content at Harvey's generalship, the camj^ removed from Carrigbjrne to Sleeve-keelter mountain, and here Father Philip Roche, who commanded at Tub- berneering, was elected generalissimo. Wexford town in the meantime continued under TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND. " Countrymen and fellow soldiers ! your patriotic exertions in the cause of your country have hitherto exceeded our most sanguine expectations, and in a short time must ultimately be crowned with success. Liberty has raised her drooping head : tliousands daily flock to her standard : the voice of her children every where pre- vails; Let us then, in the moment of triumph, return thanks to the Almiglity Ruler of the universe, that a total stop has been put to those sanguinary measures, which of late were but too often resorted to by the creatures of Government, to keep the people in slavery. '' Nothing now, my countrymen, appears necessary to secure tlie conquests you have already won, but an implicit obedience to the commands of your chiefs; for through a want of proper subordination and discipline, all may be endangered. "At this evenlfuJ period, all Europe must admire, and posterity will read with astonishment, the heroic acts achieved by people strangers to military tactics, and having but few professional commanders — but what power can resist men fighting for liberty ! " In the moment of triumph, my countrymen, let not your victories be tarnished with any wanton act of cruelty : many of those unfortunate men now in prison were not your enemies from principle ; most of them compelled by necessity, were obliged to oppose you: neitlier let a difference in religious sentiments cause a dif- ference among the people. Recur to the debates in the Irish House of Lords on the 18th of February last ; you will see there a patriotic and enlightened Protestant Bishop, (Down) and many of the lay lords, with manly eloquence pleading for Catholic emancipation and parliamentary reform, in opposition to the haughty arguments of the Lord-Chancellor and the powerful opposition of his fellow courtiers. " To promote a union of brotherhood and afl'ection among our countrymen of all religious persuasions, has been our principal object ; we have sworn in the most solemn manner— have associated for this laudable purpose, and no power on earth shall shake our resolution. "To my Protestant soldiers I feel much indebted for their gallant behavior in the fteid, where they exhibited signal proofs of bravery in the cause. " Wexford, June 7th, 1798." " "^"^^^^ ^°'^^=- 102 the insurgent anspices to preserve a peaceable and well-regulated character, adopting the laws and rules of the new authorities. It was a miniature Republic. Lord Kingsborough and Captains O'llea and Bourke, who had been captured at sea by some fishermen, were prisoners in tlie hands of Keugh, the governor. On the ninth of June the Wexford forces from Gorey attacked Arklo\v in the County Carlo w and there foughr the most re^^ular eno^ao^ement of the whole insurrec- tion. General Xeedham commanded the king's troops, aided by Lord Farnham, Sir Watkin Wynne, Colonel Skerret, Colonel Bainbridge and others. At Colgreeny the insurgents divided themselves into two columns, one proceeding towards the sea-side, the other to the upper end of the town, intending to attack Arklow at both ends at once. The garrison, however, learn- ing this, and receiving large ]-einforcements, posted themselves to great advantage outside the town ; where the two forces encountered each other in a level field. They met face to face in a regular pitched battle. The fire began as regularly as between disciplined armies,* and was kept up for hours. The fortune of the day was various, but the insurgents at length threw the army into confusion by dismounting the royal cannon, which was followed up by singular braver3\ The ro^'al oflicers became alarmed. Gene- ral Needham had given orders for retreat. Victory apparently hovered over the rebels — when, alas, their * Rise and FaU, p. 358. THE WEXFOKD CAMPAIGN. 103 ammunition gave out, and thej had to beat lack to Gorev, unpursned however by the army, for as Gor- don wisely adds, " a pursuit would have been very hazardous." At this battle the priest-general, Michael Murphy, leading on a division of pikemen, was torn to pieces by a cannon ball. He had been with the peasantr^r from the rising on the night of the twenty-sixth of May. " Under the veil of sanctity," says the analy- tical Musgrave, " he concealed a furious and san- guinary spirit." Three days previous to his death, feeling certain of capturing Arklow, he wrote to a friend in Dublin thus : — " We shall have an army of brave republicans, one hundred thousand, with four- teen pieces of cannon, on Tuesday, before Dublin ; your heart will beat high at the news. You will rise with a proportionable force." Truly was he a char- acter to make the loyal Sir Richard shudder. Another document preserved by Musgrave helped to give that person a dreadful opinion of the " furious and sanguinary spirit" of the clerical generals of Wexford. It is addressed to the Rev. James Doyle, and reads thus : — Rev. Sie: "■ You are hereby ordered, in conjunction witli Edmund Walsh, to order all your parishioners to the camp on Lacken Hill, under pain of the most severe punishment ; for I declare to you and to them, in tlie name of the people, if you do not, that I Avill censure all Sutton's parish with fire and sword. Come to to see me this day. "ROOHE." " Lacken Hill, June lUh, 1798." 104 'ls^LN"ETY- EIGHT AND 'fORTY-EIGHT. On this same 14:t]iof June "The Council for directing the affairs of the people of the County of Wexford/' instituted a test oath to be taken " by the United Army in the most public and solemn manner," which bound each member to " persevere in endeavoring to form a brotherhood of affection among Irishmen of every religious persuasion, "&c., " and an equal, full, and adequate representation of all the people of Ireland." Bj^ this time the United Irish element was spreading in Wexford, and national views were beginning to supersede the purely religious and sectional ideas, which gave to royalist and " rebel " the violence that disgraced both, and which is only excused by the upholders of either, as the sole power thought fit .to cope with, or retaliate upon, the resources of the other. A detachment of the insurgents from Wexford, on the 12th, made an unsuccessful foray into Borris, in Carlo w, in search of ammunition ; and, on the 16th, had a smart skirmish with the army at Tinehah^, enriching their commissariat by the capture of a great quantity of cattle. Early on the morning of the 19th, General Boche's camp, on Lacken, was sur- prised by the military from Boss ; but by the address of Thomas Cloney, the insurgents effected a safe retreat to the Three Bocks. Both the royalist and insurgent armies were now constantly on the move; the latter from necessity and late want of success; the former to make a combined effort for the annihilation of the other. Generals Lake. Dundas, Loftus, ISTeedham, Johnson, Eustace, THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. lot Asgiil, Moore, and Duff, were all' on the move by various routes, towards Wexford and Yinegar Hill. The insurgents of the northern part of the county had concentrated round the latter, toward which, daily, ]3easants were flying from the scattered districts devastated by the king's troops. In the south the Three Rocks was the place of encampment, but the numbers were inconsiderable. Over the county a general alarm was spread. The town of Wexford became the chief rendezvous for the fugitives, who increased the uneasy state of the public mind, by tales of the ruthlessness of the advancing army. Tlie entrance to the harbor was blocked with gun-boats, and vessels of war were seen off the coast, which precluded all possibility of escape by sea. While in this dilemma, and chiefly at the instigation of one Thomas Dixon, thirty-six royalist prisoners were massacred on the bridge. The slaughter would have been much greater but for the timely arrival and interference of General Edward Eoche, Esmonde Kyan, and the Rev. Mr. Curran.^ Dixon was incited by revenge, a relative of his, the Rev. Mr. Dixon, a Catholic clergyman, having been tried, sentenced to transportation, and sent to Duncannon fort the day preceding the insurrection. On the march the insurgents suff'ered severely from * The massacre was " suddenly stopped" at seven in the evening. Father Curran having vainly supplicated the assassins to desist, commanded them to pray before they should proceed further in the work of death ; and having thus caused them to kneel, dictated a prayer that God v>ould shmo the same inercy to them which they ehould show tc the surviving prisoners.— GfOvHion^ p. 182. 5^- 106 FORTY- KIGHT. tlie want of ammunition, tliougli in every skirmish tliey exhibited increased intrepidity. On the 20th, the day after General Johnson had forced Roche to retreat from Lacken Hill, the latter, with Cheney, encoun- tered General Sir John Moore's troops at Fooke's Mill, and, after a spirited engagement of four hours, was obliged to retreat to Wexford, having killed near two hundred of the enemv, the insuri2:ent loss beino: much less. But the last scene was approaching. AYliilo General Moore was on his way to Wexford, General Johnson directed his attention to Enniscorthy and General Lake, the chief in command, to Yinegar Hill, the other generals I have mentioned cooperating on all sides. While Father Roche and Clonev were eno-aorino- the former, some of Johnson's troops took up a posi- tion on the southern side of Enniscorthy, from which, however, they were quickly dislodged ; Father Moses Kearns heading a division of the Yinegar Hill camp, poured down on them and forced them back to the main body, a mile distant from the town. On the morning of June 21st Lake and Johnson commenced their respective attacks. The insurgents were very badly prepared to meet them; but never in that brave campaign did they exhibit greater brav- ery. Father Kearns fiercely contested the entrance to the town with General Johnson, wdiile AYilliani Bai-ker *' who had seen some service on the Continent" performed miracles of valor in defence of the Bridge. With but a few pounds of powder the popular forces THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 107 defended the town for two liours with the most deter- mined spirit against an army of great force, perfectly appointed and abundantly provided with every necessity. The brave, noble felk)ws, for these two hours disputed possession, meeting the well-armed soldiers, hand to hand in the sti'cets, amid the roar of guns, the conflagration of houses, enveloped in smoke, and surrounded with the cries of women, and the revengeful shouts of their comrades whom they could at times scarcely discern. Enniscorthy was taken, but who will say that these heroes were defeated ; wdio can call a sacrifice a defeat ! The Martyr is the victor in his death. Vinegar Hill is a l)eautiful eminence standing directly between Enniscorthy and the river Slaney, which winds round its base to the town. On the top of this hill stands a dilapidated stone building, indicating, as it were, in its shattered strength and ruined prominence, the fortunes of the day which has fixed its name and pictured its figure immortally on the pages of history. Here the forlorn hope of the Wexford Insurgents are collected ; a great mass of men and women, with about two thousand arms, and as Hay tells us, only two charges for cannon, of which they possessed a few disabled pieces. Against them Lieutenant General Lake has mus- tered twenty thousand regular troops. As day broke Lake disposed his attack in four columns ;"^ and with the dawn, bomb-shell, and can- * Major Generals Johnson and Eustace commanded the column which operated against Enniscorthy, " clope ur ier Vinegar Hill on the right ;" Lieutenant General lOB ^NINETY-EIGHT AND 'FORtY-EIGHl*. non opened on the desperate heroes on the hilL With a cheer of defiance they return the fire. Now streams of shell and grape poured on the four sides of the insurgent position ; every volley, like a cataract roaring through the gorges of a mountain side, was answered by a wild mocking echo from the granite- souls it broke upon. Gradually and cautiously the troops advanced up the slopes — nearer and nearer, like a serpent tightening its coils upon its victim. The peasantry maintain their fire until the flint is useless for want of powder. But there is that in these men's souls which is ignited by an immortal spark. The leaders exhort the men, and with that greater elo- quence of action, incite them with examples of daring and. defiance. Closer and closer the English troops advance — now the women — wives, mothers, daugh- ters, sisters, forgetful of all, save that inherent spirit of heroic guardianship over man, which is their gift from Heaven, and which ever is the purer when the danger is blackest — now these women dash through the insurgent ranks to the sides of those dear relatives Dundas ocraraanricd the centre column, which was supported by a third column under Major Grenerals Sir James Duff and Loftus; and the fourth column was under the honorable Major General Needham. The Earl of Ancram,Lord Roden,LordBla- ney, and Lord Glenworth were in the battle, the two first named in command of caval- ry regiments and to wliom General Lake gives " great praise in his dispatch" to Lord Castlereagh. Major Generals Hewitt and Cradock in addition to the above-named generals are cited as deserving of " great gratitude " for their share in the action. Also " honorable mention " is made of Colonels King, Vesey, Canipbellv and Hand- field, Lieutenant Colonels Blythe, and Reed, Captains Nicholson, Bloomfield, Crawford and Lieut. Sandys who was killed. (See Lake's dispatch quoted in Musgrave's appendix.) General Needham's infantry did not arrive in time to be effectual, but " by rapidly advancing with liis cavalry, he was able to cut off many of the fugitive rebels." {Musgrave.) The "rebels " chiefly made their escape through the opening his in- fantry was to have occupied. THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. 109 wtorn they are to clieer to victory, or sootlie in death. It is too grand — too dreadful — too bloody — enough : in a torrent of flame and smoke, men and women, the leaves and branches of the insurgent forest are swept down the ruthless cnrrents of devastation and death. The leaders of the insurgents on this day accord- ins: to the authorities I have been able to consult were the priests Phihp Eoche, John Murphy, Moses Kearns, and Clinch ; witli Edward Fitzgerald Esmonde Ryan, xlnthony Perry, Win. Barker, John Ila}^, and, it is probable. Garret Byrne. General Edward Roche, whose attendance was desired at Yinegar Hill and who had been sent to collect reinforcements, was delayed as we have seen, in staying the massacre of Wexford Bridge. In the excitement it was with great difficulty he could get the ear of the populace ; but owing to his energy he was ultimately enabled to lead a body of men out of the town. He arrived, like JSTeedham's infantry, too late for the fight at the hill ; but he succeeded in cover- ing the retreat of the insurgents to Wexford, by arresting tlie murderous career of the cavalry in pur- suit of them. Wexford town, after being in the possession of the in- surgents for twenty-three days, surrendered to its loyal prisoner. Lord Kingsborough, as it had done before to its " i-ebel " prisoner Bagnal Harvey. Three depu- ties from the popular forces with three officers, their prisoners, were sent to the successful generals of the 110 king's troops, with letters from Lord Kiiigsborough statino: that Wexford would be delivered to them on condition that persons and property should be res- pected. Thomas Cloney, Edward Hay, and Robert Cartj were the deputies from the people. The terms proposed by the insurgents and signed officially by the governor of the little republic were to the following efiect: — " That Captain McManiis shall proceed from "Wexford towards Oulart, accompanied by Mr. E. Hay, appointed by the inhabit- ants, of all religious persuasions, to inform the officer command- ing the king's troops, that they are ready to deliver np the town of Wexford without opposition, lay down their arms, and return to their allegiance, provided that their persons and properties are guaranteed by the commanding officer ; and that they will use every influence in their power to induce the people of the coun- try at large to return to their allegiance also. These terms we hope Captain McManus will be able to procure. " Signed, by order of the inhabitants of Wexford. "Matt. Keugh." General Lake, of whom it has been said that he could not justly be accused with one act of clemency during his military career in Ireland — gave them the following reply. "Lieutenant General Lake cannot attend to any terms by rebels in arms against their sovereign ; while they continue so he must use the force entrusted to him, with the utmost energy, for their destruction. To the deluded multitude he promises pardon, on their delivering into his hands their leaders, surrendering theii arms, and returning with sincerity to their allegiance. "Signed "G. Lake. «« Ihmiacorthy, June I'ind, 1798." THE WEXFORD CAMPAIGN. Ill It is needless to state that the leaders were not delivered up ; and that the " utmost energy " was used for tlie destruction of the people. The head of Kengh — " the subscriber of the inso- lent proposals"^' was soon severed from his body and raised above the court-house on a pike. Uncon- sciously they paid the tribute due him, and placed his head in death, where it was in life, erect — above their law and loyalty. So ended the campaign in Wexford ; and then began the trials and the executions. Looking over the records of this campaign there is no one who can deny that it reflects honor and credit on the Irish. What Barrington says in his " Eise and Fall" on the Wexford insurrection may well be adopted by any who attentively scans the period. He writes : '' The insurgents were unpaid — many of them nearly unclothed, few of them well armed, all of them undisciplined, with scarcely any artillery, no cavalry, their powder and ammunition mostly prepared by themselves, no tents or covering, no money, no certainty of provisions, obedience to their chiefs, and adherence to their cause were altogether voluntary. Under these circumstances, their condi- tion must have been precarious, and their numbers variable. 'No one leader amongst them had sufficient power to control or counteract their propensities, yet they fought with wonderful persevei-ance, address and intrepidity." All this is true of that gallant band ; and more. * Creneral Lake's letter to Lord Castlereagh, June 23d[, 112 'ninety-eight and 'forty- eight. In the lieat of excitement, writL.ing under the per sonal torture inflicted not only on themselves but or their women, by the royalists, they forgot not, or rather acted up to, that natural galhintrj^ which is fully accredited to even the humblest and most unedu- cated Irishman. It is recoi'ded of even the darkest moments of the insurrection, that " the fair sex was respected even by tliose who did not hesitate to rob and murder ;" no one instance existing of a female being injured or violated by a "rebel."* The same manly consideration was extended to children by the insurgents ; Hay telling us that some who were abandoned or lost by their loyalist parents, were taken care of by tlie so-called ''rebels," and grew up cherished and protected by them. The importance of the Wexford Campaign may easily be seen from the number of generals employed by the government, whose loss, as shown by Charles James Fox in the British senate, was ten thousand men. It is computed that from thirty to thirty- five thousand Wexfordians turned out ; and it is to be lamented that the insurrection, however glorious, however brave, or however disastrous, was not based upon those principles of union, which would have given it the greatest hopes and means of deli- verance. I allude to its not being a rising of United Irishmen ; for I cannot call it one. Neither can I see that it was at any time during the struggle thoroughly United Irish. Lacking organization, its first impetus was received from religious causes. At * Hay, p. 217. THE WEXFOKD CAMPAIGN. 113 first the people rose as Catliollcs, because tlie priests were driven to it: and growing in importance from their victories, great nmnbers joined them on national grounds ; yet even in the heat of it I find one of its most important leaders, the heroic priest who fell at Arklow, taking written grounds against the enemy because they were " heretics." while many of the leaders on his own side were Protestants, or so-called " heretics." Had the campaign in Wexford been sustained, it would soon have been, as it was steadily becoming. United Irish. Had the leaders paid more attention to Gorey, and marched directly on Arklow, when in the flush of their first victories, Dublin was in their hands. The day of New Ross is at once perhaps the proudest and the gloomiest in the campaign ; memo- rable at once for the fiercest battle, as well as the first fatal step downwards of the men of Wexford. It broke up the chief camp, and gave rise to recrimi- nations amongst, and feelings of doubt in the capacity of some of the most prominent men. These clergymen, too, who had bravely led the peasantry throngh many a field, had been the most strenuous antagonists of the United Irish movement in Wexford before they were driven to the field to defend their altars ; and thus annulled and defeated that power which would have proved their salvation. By this means all attempt at organization proved fruitless ; and though we cannot withhold our admira- tion of the campaign, we cannot at the same time be blind to the disasters o^rowino- out of the sectional grounds which facilitated it. Ill NINETY-EIGHT AND FORTr-EIGHT. ' We must take warning from the past. Irishmen must learn that the cause of Ireland is not a Catholic cause, not a Protestant cause, not a Presbyterian cause. It is the cause of Freedom — the cause of God ! And who will dare affix to the Creator the partialities or antipathies which grow out of either the strength or the weakness of the human mind. The Protestant clergyman, William Jackson, and the Catholic jDriest, Philip Poclie, w^orshipping the Supreme Being at different shrines, sacrificed them- selves for the one idea of truth and justice, npon the one altar of Irish Freedom, to prove that Liberty was not the monopoly of any one creed or class — that it was not alone Protestant or Catholic, but both ; and above all that God was greater than any tabernacle raised to him. These are not isolated instances of the union of creeds in the shadow of the scaffold. As the streams of various climates leaping from their mountain beds or valley cradles, rush over, or ruminate through the world, growing heartier, state- lier, more impetuous, more resistless with every expe- rience, until they sacrifice their accumulated strength and identity in the eternity of ocean — and ocean like a mighty choir rolls forth the combined harmonies of all ; so Death, receiving the patriotic, variously inspired life-streams of Catholic, Protestant, and Pres- byterian ardor, hymns forth unceasingly the glories and passions of all, indistinguishably harmonized, to inspire the living with that devotion and unity which qualifies the scaffold to be the teacher and benefactor of the Irish. THE WEXFORD CAMPAlGJN. 115 It teaches, in tones unmistakable, tliat Irishmen must unite, not on fanatical but fraternal grounds ; not on sectional but sacred grounds; not as bigots but as brothers. THE TRAIL OF THE ME:N'APII THE TRAIT- OF THE MENAPII. llD THE TRAIL OF THE ME]S"APIL The Menapii ? Although Aiiastasiiis, the librarian of the Yatican, writing to Charles the Bald, the patron of John Erigena in the ninth century, alludes deprecatingly to Ireland as " the very ends of the world,"* he might have known better. Geographically speak- ing, it was one of the ends of the then eartli ; but men- tally and intellectually it had been for centuries the centre. f * The passage in which the allusion occurs is noteworthy. He was " astonished how such a ' vir barbarus,' placed in the very ends of the world, so remote from conversation with mankind as this Irishman, John Erigena, was, could comprehend such things with his intellect, and transfuse them so ably into another language." "So ancient," says Cliristopher Anderson in his "Historical Sketches of the Ancient Native Irish," &c., Edin., 1828, " so ancient is the ignorant prejudice against the fine natural capacity of this hitherto neglected people." This John Scotus Erigena was an eminent scholar and philosopher of the ninth century, notices of whose great learning and works may be found in the writings of Bishop Bale (1495-1563) , Ware; Colgan; Warton's History of Poetry; Turner's History of Anglo-Saxons ; Anderson's Treatise quoted, and others which the various references will suggest. t Its scholars had been the school-founders and preceptors of Europe. To have studied in Ireland, like Alfred the Great, and Willibrord, the Northumbrian— who, says Alcuine (a famous Saxon writer and correspondent of Erigena, quoted by Anderson), " studied twelve years in Ireland, under masters of high reputation, being intended for a preacher to many people," was one of the greatest recoumiendations of Christianity as well as learning. The Latin and Greek of the Irish was famed, and Erigena even translated one of Aristotle's works into Chaldaic and Arabic as well as Latin. In the two earliest schools of learning in Europe, Paris and Pavia, were the celebrated Irish scholars, Clement and Albin. It is recorded that such 120 NINETY-EIGHT AND ' FORTY- EIGilt. Anastasius should not have been astonished at any- thing coming from an Irishman of his day, for much of everything in the shape of learning had a begin- ning and no end in that " end of the world." He had heard no doubt of the works and maps of Clau- dius Ptolomeus, of Alexandria, in Egypt, a celebrated astronomer and geographer in the Greek tongue, who gave an account of the world as then known, and departed from it about the year of Christianity, 140. From Ptolemy he might have made himself acquainted with the great cities, the heroic races, and the sacred monuments of the island : but it is not for me to dwell here on either the ignorance or the pre- judice, or both combined — the "ignorant prejudice" of Anastasius, but explain in as few words as needful, before entering on the narrative, wherefore comes tlie title which heads this page : — The Teail of the Menapii. Manapioi or Menapii, is the name found on Ptole- my's maj) of Ireland for the people inhabiting the territories now known as Wexford and Waterford. The city of Menapia, one of the ten chief cities of L'eland in the second century, was what is now the town of Wexford. The Menapii were a colony from Belgic Gaul, " chief nation of the Celts," and are known as Belgge. Viri Belgici, and, by our old Irish writers, Fir-Bolgs. This Leinster colony of Fir-Bolgs or Belgge wa? men went to the European connnent, proclaiming that they had " wisdom to sell and demanded only food and raiment for reward." — Nolker Balbalus cited bj Anderson, p. 8. THE TRAIL OF THE MENAPIt. 12 1 settled over three centuries before the time of. Ptolemy, having arrived at Inver Slainge — the bay of Slaney — two centuries before the Christian era. Csesar gives some account of the tribes of Belgge, the Bellovaci, Menapii, Atrebates, Hemii, &c. Tlie Menapii are spoken of as a very valiant people, whose manner of making w^ar on the Romans was, by retiring with their property, cattle, &c., into the woods, morasses, and inaccessible places, and thence making sudden assaults on the enemy ; " a mode of warfare," says Dr. Mac Dermott, " precisely similar to that adopted by the Irish clans against the English."* In the third century those Menapians of Wexford gave a Roman emperor to Britain, or rather he gave Britain to himself, and with his owm red right hand grasped the imperial purple and flung it on his shoul- ders, where it haughtily hung for more than seven years.f The Trail of the Menapii ! May we not find on the fields and mountains of the Wexford Campaign traces of the old Fir-Bolg nature * Notes to Annals of the Four Masters, p. 194. t Caransias, a native of the maritime Menapia, was bred up to play with and master the sea. He took service under the Roman Emperors, Diocletian and Maxi- mian, tamed the Scandinavian sea-kings, and the Franks and Saxons for them, became very popular, and in 285-287, or 288, it is variously stated, assumed the imperial purple, defeated Maximian's forces, compelled Maximian to acknowledge him associate emperor, and took Britain for his share. For a more extensive notice of the Menapii, and this emperor, see MacDermott's able and erudite annotations to Owen Connellan's translation of tlie " Annals of the Four Masters." Geraghty, Dublin, 1846. Also, Coesar (Oommentariorum De Bello Galileo, lib. II., IV.) Usher,. Ware, Camdf^nj and the numerous autlmrities cited by Dr. Mac Dermott. 122 'ninety-eight and 'fokty-eight. — tracks of the Celtic stuff — bloodinarks of the valiant Menapii whose prowess in Gaul cost Caesar so much brain and blood — and whose resistance, if power is measured by it,"^ bums like a lamp above their heroic history that all ages may read — not their disgrace in being overran, but the power of the conqueror they resisted. May we not, through the colonization clouds that hover, and loom and settle over these Menapian towns and districts, in the intervening centuries, observe the Fir-Bolg lightning flashing out in mad recognition of its ancient atmosphere ! The modern Menapii certainly have fair claims to the tribute paid their ancient fathers and brethren, the Gauls — that, "without possessing military science they were the most warlike nation of antiquity." The military science of Ca3sar conquered the an- cient Gauls. The want of it 1)rought the modern Menapii to make terms with the English. Caesar paid due honor to the valor of his foe ; to be worthy of his steel was in itself reputation. The English generals not being Caesars, neither conferred honor on their foe, nor won it from them. Having recognized and gotten on the trail of the Menapii let us follow it. On the track of many of those noble spirits whom we have noted at various points, the scaflold suddenly rises up and bids us go no further. It warns back, ♦ "Power Is measured by resistance." — Da Quincey's " Cajsars." THE TKAIL OF THE MENAPII. 1^3 for here tliese good-intentioned men are forced to wind lip tlieii eartlilj affairs, and like the characters in some grim romance, are compelled to sign the deed in blood. The terms entered into by the leaders with Lord Kingsborough were totally disregarded. General Lake would not confirm Lord Kingsbor- ongh's promises, but issued a proclamation for the apprehension of the insurgent chiefs. The whole thing was a ruse to possess themselves of the town and lay hands on the chiefs. ^'My lord " makes terms with the rebel generals, or rather with the inhabitants of the town. Many lay down their arms. The king's general scouts the right of Lord Kingsborough to make such, or any terms, will not fulfill the promises in the name of the king, law, justice and the like ; and in fact, will not answer his lordship's dispatch. His lordship, to keep the better face on the matter, stoutly persists, stating that General Moore, who entered Wexford, had made him commander of the town. Lake also persists, and being the stronger of the two, does it with effect — grasping the foolish-minded rebels who were seduced from their wild ways and weapons — j^onncing upon the chiefs who were chivalric enough to expect soldier treatment, and blistering the Bridge of Wex- ford with the affluent and hot blood of all. Those loyal lords and generals understood each other. It was the fault of the insurgents if they did not understand them. God knows they had sufficient opportunity. Bagnal Harvev heard at his castle of Bargy that l24 the terms of surrender were but so much thistle down before the storm}' passion of the king's representatives. Flying to Colclough with the news, he discovered that his friend, taking with him his wife and child, had found temporary refuge in one of the Saltee Islands, whither he followed. They were captured in a cave disguised as peasants on the 23rd June. A court martial was instituted. The place of execution was the bridge. The first tried and condemned was Father Philip Eoche. He came unarmed to surrender himself on Kingsboi-ough's promises. His anticipation of any- thino' save the treatment usual in such cases, and what a soldier expects, was so little that he actually advanced within the En owlish lines. He should have known better. On being recognized, he was ignominiously dragged from his horse, pulled by the hair and bufieted through the camp to Wexford jail. The royalists could not easily forget that powerful form. It had swayed and plunged over many a fight, like the mast of a laboring craft, borne up by, and indi- cating the strength of the waves by which it was surrounded. As it stood before the gale, so did the royalists fly before him. As it rose, or rocked, or fell, so fell, and shook, and rose the hopes of the royalists. They had him now. A thousand hawks around a toiled eagle. With very little delay he was dragged to the place of execution, and with a second rope, his weight having broken the first, ended his life in great torture. Boche was tall^ turbulent and excitable. He was THE TRAIL OF THE MENAPII. 125 a man of action, brave even to recklessness, and like all brave men, generous and humane, as even his religious enemies have testified. If he was, as his foes say, an indulgent liver, they have good reason to know he was also an indulgent victor. Keugh the governor of the town, was next put on trial and suffered at the same time with Roche. The head of the former, as before stated, was placed over the court-honse. After being decapitated the bodies of both were stripped, and being subjected to the most indecent and inhuman brutality were flung into the river. Keugh was an aged gentleman and officer living on half-j)ay. To him the organization of the town, after it fell into the hands of the people, was entrusted. To him, by the observance of a strict military discipline and the enforcement of regularity and subordination, were the inhabitants highly indebted, for the pro- tection of life and property. Harvey was executed on the twenty-seventh and with him an old gentleman named Cornelius Grogan of Johnstown, who had been high sheriff for the county, and member of parliament for the town of Enniscorthy. One of his brothers was killed fighting against the " rebels " at Arklow, and another had been badly wounded in the service of the king. He had been surrounded by a straggling party of insurgents, forced on horseback and brought into Wexford under peril of his life. To give them- selves some importance, he was also, unknown to himself, made a commissary. Foi these crimes he 126 'ninety-eight and was hanged. The entire proceedings relative to this old man wei-e thoroughly foul, and indicate the non- chalance with which the " authorities " butchered ^'justice " and the people. Their license was unlim- ited as was their villainy, and respectively tended and guarded by each other, both combined to write such pages of history as can only arouse feelings of heart- sickness, disgust and a hope for the retributive time. " It appeared before Parliament, upon interrogating the president of the court, that the members of the court-martial which tried him, had not been sworn — that they were only seven instead of thirteen, the usual number — that his material witness was shot by the military, while on the road between Johns- town Castle and Wexford, to give evidence of Mr. Grogan's entire innocence." * Grogan's estates valued at from £8,000 to £10,000 per annum, were, in the opinion of Doctor Madden, "the dangerous objects that attracted attention" from those wdio hoped to profit by their confiscation. Pillaging, publicly and privately, was one of the chiefest incentives to loyalist vigilance, and not alone a ready source of perquisite for the cunning syco- phantic rabble, but a certain means of judicious reimbursement for time spent in looking after the king's — and their own — affairs by even titled Orange- men : for instance we learn from Gordon,t that Lord * » Rise and Fall," p. 365. t " Doubtless Lord K. thought his conduct blameless ♦ * * But if we should find the attention of -any general officer so absorbed in a system ofphmder, as to leave him no leisure for fighting, perhaps we might not think hun so entirely blame- less."— Gordon, Hist., p. 239, 40, not0. THE TEAJL OF THE MENAPII. 127 Kingsboroiigli, the day after his liberation, went to Mr. Giogan's house and '■ tooh out of the stable two coach horses to sell." " Ah poor Grogan, you die an innocent man," said Harvey meeting the former in the jail-yard. Their heads were cut olf ; and one placed at each side of Keugh's. The trail of many — oh how many of these Menapii can no farther be tracked than this crimson bridge- and running water. The royalists hold a carnival of blood ! Among the crowd immolated were Oolclough, Prendergast, who had accepted a civil office under the insurgents ; John Hay, who had been a lieuten- ant in Dillon's regiment in the Irish Brigade in France, and upon whom was found a letter from Perry of Inch dated from the Vinegar Hill camp demanding his attendance there ; and others more famous. Of the latter were two brave hearts- -John Kelly of Kill an and Esmonde Kyan. It will be remembered that Kelly was dangerously wounded at the battle of New lioss. For medical aid he was conveyed to Wexford. His solicitude for the fate of the struggle — his inability to participate in it, and the pangs of illness had greatly weakened and re- duced him. In this state he lay coniined to bed. But he was not forgotten. Tlie Three Rock Mountain and Hoss were too scornfully visible to royalist eyes. He was dragged from his bed, carried through a trial and drawn on a car to the bridge. Well may the autliorities yell — w^ell may the Orange furies shout. 128 'ninety-eight and 'fokty-eight. Thej have time to do it now. The young hero of twenty-five summers is bent into the winter of old age in beating yon. Shout on. These shouts remove the pallor of the grave fi-om about his heart and flush it into ripeness again. The more extrava- gant yonr display the greater must be the reason you have for it. It comforts him— he feels you esteem him a great enemy. It is something to die for — the hatred of the foes of one's country ! He is dead. But yet the authorities are not safe, while yet his features in all the ghastly nobility of patriot death stare them in the face. He was decapitated, his body treated as those of all the others were, and his head — made a football and kicked through the streets amid the jests and vociferations of the mercenaries who crowded the town. But the more they found he was dead the more life come to them. They rolled the head along until they reached the residence of the dear sister who had devoted herself to the bedside of that beloved brother ; and there, before her window, resumed the game of football, and when tired flung it into the air with wild and demon exultations. It was ultimately, according to sentence, placed above Keugh's at the court-house. And it was in the last days of the eighteenth cen- tury of Christianity that such things came to pass ! Up in the future, and not very far either, stern skeptics and ideal religionists, taking up such acts from the history of a " civilized country," the ruler of THE TRAIL OF THE MENAPi'I, ' 129 which was styled "Defender of the Faith''' may argue that Christ had not come ; had neither lived on earth, nor taught, nor died — that the years counted under the head " A. D." were delusions — Homeric and Ossianic epics, brilliant witli blood ; that our grand- fathers were in the savage darkness and chaotic frenzies of some transition state, in which the light broke in enough to let us see its horrors— in wdiicli there was sufficient — and barely sufficient civilization to give a pleasant variety to barbarism by making it keener with improvement — Setting it to the air « of English " Progress." But then — some will say — that w^as the age of Pitt and Fox — of Junius and Doctor Johnson, of great orators and mighty moralists ! and so forth. It was the age of "Wasliington and Jefferson, too ! Which will make the former remember that the very same " authorities " who kicked the Irish " rebel's " head through the streets in '98, offered, a few years before, premiums for the scalps of Ameri- can " rebels " — so much a package for the scalps of their helpless infants, and more hopelessly helpless old men, and of women, the life and succor and com- fort of both. He will then be certain that a doubt of the Christianity and civilization of sucli " autho- rities" should, if it does not, exist. But we are in the past, and on this old bridge again. And Esmonde Kyan, who was there on the 20th of June as a saviour, is there again now — a corpse Being wounded at the battle of Arklow, and to a* 130 which wound the loss of the day is attributed, Kjan was brought to Wexford, like Kellj, for surgical assistance. Hearing of the massacres under Dixon on the 20tli, he sprang, gaiuing strength from his liumanitj, from his sick-bed — tottei'ed to the bridge, and with peculiar intrepidity succeeded in saving the lives of many. But the merciful received no mere v. In a treaty made between the insurgent Generals Fitzgerald and Aylmer and General Dundas, provi- sions were entered into for Kyan's safety, and per- mission for exile out of Ireland guaranteed. In the face of this, and relying upon its truth, he was arrest- ed, tried, convicted and executed the next day. Vainly he referred to the ti-eaty. Yainlj he asked for time. Time? — it might have saved him; and he was arrested not to be saved — but to be hanged. The trail of many — oh, how very many of the "Wexford men, can be tracked througli burning home- steads, and pillaged villages, and mustering groups, and sullen crowds, and mountain camps, and wild charges, and shattered ranks, and promiscuous retreats, and impromptu victories, and broken trea- ties to this old bridge — those pikedieads on the court- house — the trackless current of the Slaney? How many cannot be tracked further than this crimson bridge. We cannot pass it. Seeking an end to the trail of these Menapii, we are at it. It ends in blood. While we look about inquiringly on that bridge, THE TRA.il of the MENAPII. 181 oiir very feet patter in the blood of patriots, and we carry it with ns through the streets, and through the work], and into every house, as a legacy of misfor- tune. And strangei's who see the bloody marks upon us, and hear the story of their being, arise above the prescribed limits of their nationalities to a passionate pallor, and whisperingly question us of " Yengeance ?" Let us take refuge in the open air, for though "the ashes of the just smell sweet and blossom in the dust," still this blood, from the nature of the sacrifice, will remain stagnant and quivering before us. There are others of the Menapii on the roads and mountains — in retreat it may be, but they have arms in their hands. Let us on their trail. After Vinegar Hill the various detachments of the king's troops, now having comparatively a "fair field," continued to burn and pillage in all directions. They even grew valiant over the dead bodies of their foes. Mr. Edward Hay, one of the deputies from Wexford to General Lake, describes the state of the country on his retuin. "Captain O^Hea (a former prisoner of the insurgents) and I," he writes, " were then led to the head of the army by a general officer, and we set oflf with all expedition, to avoid as much as possible the horrid spectacle of the dead bodies of men and w^omen strewed along the roads and over the adjacent fields ; some bearing marks of the most savage and indecent cruelty ; some with their bowels ripped open, and others with their brains dashed out 132 — situations whicii they did not at all exhibit the day before, when I saw them lying dead on my way to Enniscorthy." Shall we never get clear of this trail of blood? On the night of the 21st June, the insurgents who had gathered in Wexford, with the remains of the forlorn hope which had escaped from Yinegar Hill, were in a state of confusion almost amounting to dis- may. The thunders that had broken in upon them with the dawn still rolled about them. The inhabi- tants had delivered up the town to General Moore's division ; Lord Kingsborough was made governor ; the grand army was on its march ; the insurgents' camps were broken into remnants, all of which, dis- appointed, furious, and in confusion, were in or about the town, eagerly, and by look, gesture, and word inquiring what was to be done ? The chiefs met. Their hopes have not sunk behind Yinegar Hill. As it, their faith is immovable and unshaken. The insurgents are divided into two bodies. Those living to the north and northeast of the Slaney, crossed Wexford Bridge, commanded by Edward Fitzgerald, Edward Koche, Garret Byrne, Esmonde Kyan, and others. The other division under the three priests, Boche, Murphy, and Kearns, directed their steps into the barony of Bargy, and encamped that night at Sleedagh, about five miles from the fiited town. We shall follow the trail of the latter division. Kearns, suffering from wounds received the day THE TEAIL OF THE MENAPII. 133 previous, in Lis gallant defence of Euniscorthy, was unable to bear the fatigue, and took shelter in a far- mer's house. At a council held that night, Roche being duped by 'Uhe terms," proposed to surrender. He consi- dered that they could offer no determined resistance. Murphy had no reliance on their terms in the first place ; and, in the second, would make no tenns. As for himself he cried, " If he stood alone, he would never willingly surrender to them." ' Mnrphy had borne the torch from Boolavoo:ue to Sleedao^h. He had been with the peasantry from the hill of Oulart to Yinegar Hill. He had many attached partisans ; and his declaration was echoed throughout the divi- sion. They would not willingly surrender ! Roche went to Wexford to receive his " terms." We have seen how he o^ot them — from the hancr- man. Murphy, resolving to make for the County Carlow, and through it, Kilkenny, in hopes of commencing a fresh campaign there, pushed on, the next day, through Scollagh Gap, a pass in the great ridge of Mount Leinster, wliicli divides Wexford and Carlow. Driving before bini a body of troops, placed there to protect the Pass, he burned the village of Killed- mond, on the Carlow side of the Gap, and continued his march to the town of Goresbridge, on the river Barrow, in Kilkenny, where he arrived on the morn- ing of the 23d. A body of the Fourth Dragoon Guards and Wexford Militia took position on the bridge to oppose the insurgents; but they were 1^4 ^NINETY EIGHT AND VoKTY-EIGHT. quickly forced, driven back into the village, and nearly all either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners.^ Major-General Sir Charles iVsgill, who, with a thou- sand men, was on the march to seize this post, arrived too late ; the insurgents having, after tlieir success, made a rapid movement to the Kidge of Leinster, where they rested in good spirits that night. On the next morning tliey proceeded towards Castlecomer, defeated and chased into it, with con- siderable loss, a party of loyalists, and commenced a furious assault on the town. The chief resistance was offered from a fortified house at the foot of the bridge ; and upon which the insurgents wasted much good time. The town was set on lire, of whicli con- flagration each party accuses the other, f The smoke prevented the insurgents from discerning the nature of the ibrce opposed to them ; and also per- mitted Sir Charles Asgill, wlio iiad followed them, to approach without their knowledge. His arrival was announced by his artillery, which raked the streets and houses, and suggested a retreat to the insurgents, which they made, leaving behind them the prisoners taken at Goresbridge. The royalists and many inhabitants imitated the insurgent example and also retreated, in an opposite direction, their general thinking the same "prudent." The insurgents of course immediately returned, took possession of, and sacked the town. The insurgents are again on the hills, but they are ♦ Cloney,p. 82. t Gordon, Hist., p. 202; Hay, p. 808. THE TRAIL OF THE MENAPII. 135 disappointed. Tlie country throngli whicli they pass- ed did not rise ; they liad some victories to be sure, but their amnnition was running out. It was resolved to go back to the County Wexford: rebel hearts were plenty there as the blossoms on the furze ; and accordingly on the 25th they retraced their steps to Goresbridge and bivouacked that night on Kilcom- ney HilL Discomfited and overpowered by fatigue, want of regular food and necessary raiment, tiieir minds as well as their bodies were encircled with mist. They did not well know what to do; neither could they see the danger that menaced them on the following morning as a heavy depressing haze hung over the hill. While in this position of mind and body, they were suddenly aroused by a severe discharge of cannon pouring on one side of the bivouack. They moved to the opposite side ; another volley thoroughly shook them up. Asgill with twelve hundred men, and Major Mathews with live hundred were upon them. The struggle continued for an hour. The insur- gents had no resource save in flight, and in the brave exertions of tlieir horsemen, who rallied, and to some extent covered the retreat of their comrades. But for this they must have been entirely cut oflP. As it was, the slaughter was great. Being disappointed in not butchering the complete body of the Wexford men, Asgill fell upon the district, and ravaged and murdered indiscriminately. Over 136 'kINETY-EIGHT and VoKTY-EIGnT. one hundred and fifty persons in the neighborhood of Kilcomney were put to the sword. Gordon sajs — " The great part of the slain were inhabitants of the connty wliich had unfortunately become the scene of action, who had not joined the rebels nor left their houses ; and that great part of the plunder was taken from people of the same description." ^ The insurgents pursued their way to ScoUagh Gap, " a body of the king's cavalry hanging on their rear, but which kept at a respectful distance." At the Gap the broken Wexfordians were pressed by some troops ; and while many sought to escape up the mountains, two brave fellows taking shelter under cover of a rock, opened 11 re on the enemy, defended the pass, and enabled maiiy of their comrades to achieve their retreat. Those two men — James Cody of Ballindaggin and Michael Lacy of Ballyboggin, whose names deserve to be recorded — thus placed, kept up a quick and unerring fire on the advancing dragoons until the death of over a dozen of them effected the temporarj- safety of the chief part of the insurgents. About two miles from Scollagh, Father Murphy and a single follower, Gallagher, sought rest after the har- assment of the morning. Being somewliat refreshed, tliey wended their weary steps towards Tullow, where they fell into the hands of the enemy and were hang- ed " without delay or ceremony." ♦Gordon, Elst., p. 205. He adds, "The behaylor of the army in other places renders thi^ account very probable." TTIE TRAIL OF THE MENAPIT. 13? Tljns one of tho bivands fi'om Boolavogue has burn- ed out at Tullow. Some of the insurgents took to the mountains of Leinster and Blackstairs, where thej were either killed or dispersed. Some sought the woods of Kil- laughran ; others the woods about Ferns, where death met them still resisting but unavailingly so ; while a considerable number sought out in "W' icklow the other division of the Wexford men which had gone north on the night of the 21st. "What became of that division ? We are still on the trail of the modern Menapii. On the 22nd a party of them under Anthony Perry hearing that some Gorey loyalists were scouring the country for " rebels " proceeded to that town, and hunted the troops from it with considerable sLaugh- ter; after Avhicli they proceeded to the Whiteheaps in the County Wicklow. The trail of this division, may be discovered through the lead-mines, to Monaseed, to Donard, to Glanmullen, to Aughrim, to Blessington, to Bally- manus — where uniting with the men under Garret Byrne they encamped. On the morning of the 25th by five o'clock they were before Ilacketstown. The king's troops commenced the attack, but after a few volleys wei-e forced to retreat, in which Captain Hardy was killed. They fled to the barracks, while the insurgents were wading the river to invest the place on all sides. After an obstinate attempt, and gallant defence of nine hours, the insurgents retreated, 138 carrying off their wounded and all the cattle in the town to Blessingion.* Fitzgerald and Byrne now directed their forces towards Carnew, and on the road near it, met and sur- rounded a party of cav^alry — among whom were tlie ancient Britons long notorious for their excesses — which was sent as part of a defence for the town. The troops were totally defeated witli a loss of overeiglitj, including two officers, the insurgents not having lost one man. Thev were foiled however in their designs on Carnew^, the fugitive horsemen having sounded the alarm. On the 2nd of July, v/hile moving towards Shille- lagh they were pursued by the troops, cavalry and infantry. The insurgents suddenly stopped, quickly retired up Ballyrahn Hill, from which as the troops advanced, they poured down with such velocity and violence as to completely shock them, killing seventy privates and two officers of the infantry. Some of the trooi)S retreated to a house at the foot of the hill, and after standing a siege repulsed the insurgents. A neighboring house, having been fired by the latter, ♦ " In the midst of so atrocious a warfare, many instances occm-red of respectful treatment of the fair sex, one of which had place in thii» attack. The wife and two adult daughters of Lieutenant Chamney, and the wife of Captain Hanly, who had early in the action fallen into the hands of the assailants, were, by the influence of Perry, and another chief, named McMahon, conveyed to a place of safety, and pro- tected from insult. The wives of the rebel couin\anders, Perry and Byrne, were at the same time in the han Is of the loyalists, and as must naturally be supposed,** under tte circumstance " were treated w^th courtesy."— Gordon > Hist., p. 207. fliK TRAIL OF THE MENAPII. IS^ gave the soldiers an opportunity — as it was night — to take aim at the "rebels," who were unprotected. We next are on the trail at the foot of the Croofhan Mountains, where, on tlie ith, at night, they are marching to Wicklow Gap. In the morning they were met by the army under Sir James Duff, and forced to face towards Gorey. But the elements as well as the English were against them. A dense fog, not to count four powerful detachments, surrounded them. At twenty yards nothing was visible but a grey eternity. Finding themselves in this position, and unable to withstand a battle, they broke through the pursuing cavalry of Sir James Duff's army, of whom they slew about eighty ; and moved with great celerity in the direc- tion of Carnew."^ But they were dissatisfied with their -partial suc- cesses and discomfitures of late, and from one extreme took refuge and ho[)e by leaping into another. They resolved to await the approach of the king's troops, whatever their number, and fight them, although their own forces were considerably lessened. Probably the poor fellows — harassed, hunted, and fatigued, as they were — ambitioned to fight one glorious battle ; and fighting, die happy, like their conn-ades at New Roes, There was no past to fall back upon, out of which they might, if they were so willing, build quiet homes. The future was like the fogs at Kilconmey ♦ Hay's ffistory. 1-iO ^NINETY-EIGHT AND and AVicklow Gap — impenetrable or full of disasters, according to the capacity of the mind that groped into it. What could they do but die ? And then to die nobly — to die as became them — to die up to their character — on the necks of the foe, and in no loving embrace — that was the point. They awaited the troops at Ballygnllen. A close and bitter fight took pUice, which lasted an hour and a half. The insurgents fought with desperate resolution. They repulsed the cavalry, and drove the artillerymen three times from their cannon. They wooed death in the most valorous mood, but they could not be killed. Eeinforcements of the army pouring in from every side, they quitted the field in different directions, in much better spirits than before the fight commenced, and having an agreement to meet again on Cori'igrue Hill. They could not be killed fighting, and to be but- chered was not their ambition. They met at Corrigrue. And ended the warfare in the County of Wexford. But the trail of the Menapii ends not here. William Aylmer at the head of a body of Kildarc insurgents was still in the field and pursuing a system' of certainly brilliant, if not decidedly eflective, guerilla warfare. Although he w^as unprovided with artillery, and laboring under a great disadvantage in the nature of the country in which his fortunes were thrown, it being flat, still the velocity of his movements, and the decision with which he executed THE TEAIL OF THE MENAPII. 141 his jDlans, had made him not only formidable, but destructive to his enemies. At night on the extended plains of Kildare, in the morning twenty miles in advance, cutting off the supplies of the enemy, storming their posts, or driving back the advance of their army in full march to lay waste some devoted village or town ; always on the alert, indefatigable in his pursuits, and exhaustless in his enterprise, his military character seemed a perfect copy of the " great Dundee." * It was but natural that the remnant of Wexford men still intent on keeping the field, should be attracted towards the Kildare chief. Edward Fitzgerald with his Wexford men, and Garret Byrne with the Wicklow insurgents marched into Kildare and formed a coalition at Prosperous, whence they moved to Clonard on the Boyne, tw^enty- five miles west of Dublin ; with the intention of pushing on to Athlone and arousing the west country. At Clonard they suffered a severe repulse on the 11th of July. The defenders of the place, with great determination, lield out until the arrival of reinforce- ments from Kinnegad and Mullingar, when the insur- gents abandoned the assault and their designs on Athlone. The " fierce Wexfordians " deemino^ their associates less hardy and warlike than themselves, separated from them after the failure of this enter- prise. The modern Menapii — a flying battalion— -contin- • Charles Hamilton Teeling ; Personal Narraliye of the Rebellion, p. 1T7. 142 NINETY-EIGHT AND Tied to make incursions into, and leave a trail of blood and flame tlirougli the counties of Kildare, Meath, Lou til and Dublin. Their fortune was various, their skirmishes with the army incessant. They plundered Carbery in Kildare ; and revelled in Lord Harberton's house : sped to Johnstow^n on the morning of the 12th July, thence by the Nineteen- mile house into the County Meath. They were over- taken here by Colonel Gougli and routed. Anthony Perry and Father Moses Kearns attempt- ing to push on to the Boyne were captured and exe- cuted in Edenderry. Still the scaffold warns the follower on the trail of the Menapii to go no farther. Perry was a refined and well-informed gentleman ; having been tortured, and his house sacked by the yeomen, he had to fly for his life, disguised himself as a beggar and threw himself into the insurgent cause. Driven to defence he was hanged for defend- ing himself. Kearns on the authority of Cloney was brave, generous and humane. Gordon pictures him as a man of extraordinary stature, strength and ferocity. Another accounf^ which if reliable, the writer may truly term '* somewhat extraordinary." Kearns is represented as having been actually hanged in Paris, during the ascendency of ]tobespierre; but being a large, heavy man, the lamp-iron from which he was suspended, gave way, till his toes reached the ground. ♦ See the po-called " Impartial Narrative " compiled by J. Jones, before cited. THE TRAIL OF THE MENAPH. 14:3 In this state he was cut clown by a physician, who had known him, brought him to his house, and under whose care he recovered. He escaped into Ireland, became a curate in Clonard, and was looked upon by the authorities as a serviceable acquisition, incon- sequence of tlie torture he had suffered from French *' democracy " and fury. He, however, was soon in Wexford, a member of the committee for the protec- tion of the town, and afterwards led the insurgents in their gallant defence of Enniscortliy. While a prisoner he was " silent and sulky " and could not be forced to give any information as to the state or numbers of the insurgents. Unfortunate in Meath, the Wexford insurgents made a rapid march to the Boyne, near Duleek, and crossed into tlie County Louth. Here they were hunted vigorously and vigilantly. On the 14th they turned on tlieir pursuers, Major General Wemys and Brigadier General Meyrick with two divisions of the army, and " made a desperate stand between Ardee and the Boyne." ^ The great want of the insurgents — artillery — and the reinforcements of the king's troops defeated them. They sought refuge and defence in a bog whither the army could not follow. In the niglit a small portion left, and under many adventurous circumstances, and by many circuitous routes sought their homes. The remainder re-crossed the Boyne and actually were on the straight road to Dublin, within about * Gordon, Hist., p. 215. 144 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. eight miles of it northward, when tliey w^ere inter cepted by a strong body of horse and foot at Bally boghill, near Swords, and finally dispersed. They did not collect again. Fitzgerald and Aylnier with a small body that had remained with them, brought the govei'nment to terms. They neo^otiated with General Diindas and effected a treaty guaranteeing safety and exile. Garret Byrne secured the same terms from General Moore : as did Edward Koche and John Devereux with Gen. Hunter. The mountains of Wicklow became the asylum for the more desperate of the insurgent fugitives, and large bodies, under Holt and Hacket, continued to hold their own. " That county " (Wicklow^), says Musgrave, ''fi'om the strong posts and fastnesses which its steep, craggy mountains and deep defiles afford, was the last place in Ireland in which rebellion was subdued in the reigns of Elizabeth and Charles I. and King William " — he should have added and King George. Hacket was killed near Arklow. Holt brought the government to terms of expatriation. Garret Byrne, of Ballymanns, was a gentleman of estate and education, 'manly, brave, and sincere, and one of that great Wicklow clan — ever ready and ripe for "rebellion." Fitzgerald, when he had taken his stand decisively with the insurgents, proved himself one of the ablest of the leaders. Courageous in the field, mercy was ever the uppermost thought when the victor. He w^as indefatigable in restraining the sectional hatreds of some of the men under him, and strove diligently THE TEAIL OF THE MENAPII. liS and nobly to prove that it was not a war of religious words and massacres, but of Independence, they were engaged in. Of considerable culture and keen natural powers, he truly estimated the nature of the persons at the head of the Irish government, and could not be seduced into any hasty terms, until he was enabled to force from them what they would not give, if he yet had not arms in his hands. After spending some time at the Hot Wells, Bi-istol, for the recovery of their health, Fitzgerald and Byi-ne, in the end of March, 1799, were arrested, kept some time in custody, and finally allowed to proceed to Hamburgh, where the former ended his days. Byrne died in Bath. Of Aylmer, so brave, vigilant, and decisive, no doubt the reader is anxious to know something more. Lord Cloncurry gives a sketch of his romantic his- tory, which — as the scope of my work prevents any peculiar individual detail on the one liand, and .as less cannot be said with justice on the other — I adopt. " He belonged to an ancient and respectable family in Kildare. In the year 1Y96, William Aylmer was a lieutenant in the Kildare Militia, and was quartered with his regiment in the camp at Loughlinstown, near Bray, to which I was in the habit of going, to dine with the Duke of Leinster, then colonel of the reo-i- ment, and, also, to visit General Crosbie, the chief in command. Upon one of those occasions I was accom- panied by Mr. Sampson, who was at that time in tlie full blossom of his United Irish sins; and there Ayl- mer and Sampson became acquainted, and an inti- T 146 macy was begun, which ended in a full conversion of the former to the political opinions of his new friend. On the occasion alluded to, Sampson illustrated the reckless character of his zeal by privately scattering political tracts and patriotic songs among the huts, as he walked through the camp after dinner. IS'ever- theless, he was able to influence Aylmer, who, in the course of a year afterwards, was promoted from his lieutenancy in the royal militia, to a general com- mand in the rebel army. In that position he main- tained a struggle for a considerable time in the County of Kildare, and, finally, fought the battle of Ovidstown with so much skill as to be able to make a capitulation with the king's troops, under the terms of which his life was spared. His career at the liead of his little army, during this campaign, was a hijou of /alor and enterprise ; but was chiefly distinguished in the estimation of the country people, by the chi- valrous generosity witli which, when in great distress for provisions, lie spared the smaller farmers, but levied his forced contributions, with an unsparing hand, upon the herds, and flocks, and granaries of his own father. After some time, Aylmer was allowed to leave the country ; and I observe among the Castlereagh j^^^pei's, a letter complaining of his being permitted to be at large about the streets of London. Eventually he entered the Austrian service, in which he distinguished liimself so much, tliat he was appointed to command the escort that attended Maria Louisa, on lier return from Paris to Vienna, after the fall of Napoleon, AVhen the allied sove- THE TRAIL OF THE MENAPII. 14:7 reigns visited Loiulonj in 1814, Ajlmer accoinpaiiied the Emperor of Austria, and, upon the request of the Prince Regent, he was selected and left in England to teach the sword exercise to the Britisli army. His immediate pnpils were the 10th Dragoons; and he conducted himself so satisfactorily in liis task, that he received a free pardon, and was presented with a handsome sword by the prince. After this i^ylmer settled in his native country, where his constitutional activity led him into a quarrel with the Dnke of Leinster's gamekeepers, &c., ifec. The jDui'suit of hares and partridge, however, soon ceased to interest Aylmer's stirring mind, and lie joined General Devereux in heading an expedition of Irish sympa- thizers, designed to aid the South American pati'iots, then in the beginning of their struggle under Bolivar. He fought, as I have heard, bravely at the battle of Rio de la Hache, where he received a wound that caused his death, shortly afterwards, at Jamaica, whither he and several others were conveyed in a small vessel, during the heats of a tropical sum- mer."^ Thus have we followed the trail of the Menapii through bastinado and bivouac, through victory and defeat, to the scalfold and into exile. Hardy natures and brave hearts! Enduring much and fighting much : almost unarmed and undisciplined they taught a lesson to their enemies, wdiich the assiduous labors of their depredators since, have not succeeded in flinging into obscurity. * Cloncurry's Personal Recollections, &c., p. 140, et seq. 148 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. They proved that pikes and principles can at times match arrogance and artilleiy — that if they did not absohitely succeed themselves — they terrified their enemies into the vilest subterfno-es for their demoli- tion. They foi'ced tliem into conventions whicli tliey broke, and into history wliich they disgrace. The trail of the Menapii. The scaffolds of Wexford, Enniscorthy, Edenderry, Tnllow. The fio'hts from Onlart to Vine^^ar Hill — to Ballyboghill. The high-ways and by-ways of great European cities ; the battle-fields of Austria, France, Spain, and England. In the prison and the palace — • in native outlawry, and exiled glory — there the trail of the modern Menapii may be found. THE UNITED IRISHMEN THE UXITKD IRISHMEN. 151 THE UNITED IKISHMEN. Doctor Madden, in a table made to exhibit the religion professed by the leading members of the United Irish Society, or persons suspected of so being, gives the following list of names :'^ PROTESTANTS. tThomas A. Emmett, Bar. tArtliur O'Connor, " tRoger O'Connor. " *tThomas Russell, tJohn Chambers, tMatthew Dowling, fEdward Hudson, tHugh Wilson, tWilliam Dowdall, tRobert Hunter, Hon. Simon Butler, Bar. A. H. Rowan, PRESBYTERIANS. tWilliam Tennant, M. D. tRobert Slmins, tSamuel Wilson, tGeorge Cumming, t Joseph Cuthbert, tRev. W. Steele Dickson, William Drennan, M. D. ♦William Orr, CATHOLIUS. tW. J. M'Nevin, M, D. tJohn Sweeny, t Joseph M'Cormlck, tJohn Sweetman, Peter Finerty, *William Michael Byrne, * See Appendix No. IV., vol. ii., Madden's " Lives and Times of the United Irishmen." The indefatigable energy exliibited by Dr. Madden is beyond all praise, in hunting up and publishing such an amount of matericUs for a history of the men and times indicated by the title. There is a great accumulation of facts, documents, and coeval narratives compiled ; but the labor of reading them is only less than that expended in collecting the same. But for the intrinsic interest of the bare facts, the manner of the compilation would confound and deter even an industrious histori- cal student from their perusal. All must be, as we decidedly are, thankful, how- ever, for the great industry and vi^lance of the Doctor, so far as his compilation goes. As to his political opinions, we must take exception; also, to the ambiguity which characterizes too many of his reflective paragi-aplis In Madden's list, those marked thus (t) were state prisoners in Fort George, Scot- land. Those marked with an asterisk (*) were hanged. 152 ^NINETY-EIGHT AND 'FORTY-EIGtiT. PROTESTANTS. James Napper Tandy, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, *Henry Sheares, ♦John Sheares, Oliver Bond, *B. B. Harvey, ♦Leonard M'Nally, Bar. John Russell, ♦Anthony Perry, *T. W. Tone, Bar. ♦Bartholomew Tone, Thomas Wright, Wm. Livingston Webb, William Hamilton, Matthew Bowling, Att'y? Richard Kirwan, James Reynolds, M. D. Deane Swift, Bar. ♦Matthew Keugh, Thomas Corbett, William Corbett, WiUiam Weir, John Allen, Thomas Bacon, Robert Emmett, Joseph Holt. PRESBYTERIANS. ♦Samuel Orr, Wm. Putnam M'Cabe, ♦Henry Monroe. ♦James Dickey, Att'y, Henry Haslett, William Sampson, Bar. ♦Henry Joy M'Cracken, William Sinclair, J. Sinclair, Robert M'Gee, M. D. Israel Milliken, Gilbert M'llvrain, jun. Robert Byers, ♦Henry Byers, S. Kennedy, Robert Hunter, Robert Orr, Hugh Grimes, WiUiam Kean, James Burnside, James Greer, Rowley Osborne, Mr. Turner, William Simms, John Rabb, James Hope. CATHOLICS. ♦John M'Cann, ♦J. Esmond, M. D. William Lawless, E.lward John Lewins, ♦William Byrne, ♦Walter Devereux, John Devereux (the Geo. Devereux). Garret Byrne, ♦Esmond Kyan, Charles Teeling, Bartholomew Teeling, Richard M'Cormick, Thomas Doorley. ♦Felix Rourke, Bernard Mahon, John Sweetman, E. Fitzgerald (AVexford), William Aylmer, ♦S. Barrett, Ferdinand O'Donnell, ♦Col. O'Doude, ♦John Kelly, Thomas Cloney, ♦John Clinch, James Farrell, Michael Dwyer. The clergy who were implicated, or accused of be- ing concerned in the Rebellion, were the following: PRESBYTERIANS. ♦Rev. Mr. Warwick, Rev. W. Steele Dickson, ♦Rev. William Porter, Rev. Mr. Barber, Rev. Mr, Mahon, Rev, Mr. Birch, Rev. Mr. Ward, Rev. Mr, Smith, Rev. Mr. Sinclair, ♦Rev. Mr. Stevelly, Rev. Mr. M'Neill, Rev. Mr. Simpson. CATHOLICS. *Rev. Moses Kearns, ♦Rev. John Murphy, Rev. Michael Murphy, Rev. Mr. Kavanagh, ♦Rev. Mr. Redmond, Rev. Mr. Stafford, ♦Rev. P. Roche, Rev. H. O'Keon, ♦Rev. Mr. Prendergast, Rev. Mr. Harrold, ♦Rev. J. Quigley, Rev. Dennis Taalfe. THE UNITED iElSIIMEN. l53 In addition to this very full list,^ I must add the following names, which have been overlooked. Names of delegates (with others men- Names (not mentioned by Madden) in a tioned above) frcm various United list of rebel officers of Wexford, Wiok- Irish Societies, arrested at Oliver low, and Kildare, found in Governor Bond's, on the 12th March, 1798, Keugh's house by General Lake. Peter Ivers, Oarlow, Edward Roche, Lawrence Grififen, do. Nicholas Dixon, Lawrence Kelly, Queen's County, Martin Myrna, Peter Bannan, do. Nicholas Murphy, Thomas Reynolds, Kilkenny, "William Carton, Christopher Martin, Meath, John Rossiter, Patrick Devine, County of DubRn, Denis Doyle, James Rose, Dublin City, John Doyle, John Lynch, do. John Tiffin, Thomas Trenor, do. Martin Quinn, Edward Synnot, Philip Murphy, Patrick Redmond, Kelly, Reynolds. Thomas Synnott. A chief at Enniscorthy, 28th May. Francis Jordan. Treasurer of the U. I. S. of Antrim. Alexander Lawry, do. do. do. Down. John Magennis. Thomas Braughall. John Henry Colclough. Hanged. Patrick Prendergast. do. ♦ " The preceding list," says Dr. Madden, " of the names of the leaders of the United Irishmen, includes those of the actors in the rebellion, as well as those of the origina- tors and organizers of it ; but if we separate the one from the other, and enumerate the organizing leaders, we shall find that the Protestant and Presbyterian members, when compared with the Roman Catholic members, are in the proportion of fouv to one. There never was a greater mistake than to call this struggle a Popish rebellion ; the movement was pre-eminently a Protestant one." Whilst the disabilities of the Ca- tholics gave an early and fundamental basis of operations for the reform and revolu- tionary leaders, as I have indicated in my view of Tone, the junction of the Presby- terians of the North, and the spreading faith of the United Irish Society, linked all on national grounds. It was only in Wexford, where the society did not, until they had been sometime in arms, thrive, that the Catholics, as such, rose to defend them- selves and their priests. Yet here, full one half of the chiefs were Protestants — as, Harvey, Keugh, Perry, Boxwell, Colclough, etc. 7* 154 Matthew Furlong. Shot on the morning of New Ross. Michael Furlong. A chief at Three Roclis and Ross. WilUam Barker. do. at Enniscorthy. John Boxwell. Killed at New Ross. Hon. Valentine Lawless. (Afterwards Lord Cloncurry). John Binns. Arrested with O'Connor at Margate. Patrick Sutton. Robert Meyler. Perkins. A Kildare chief, who made terms of expatriation with Gen. Dundas. Robert Carty, Wexford. Deputy to General Lake. Capt. M'Cance, » Capt. Townsheud. \ ^°^^'" Monroe at BaUinahinch. Anthony M'Cann. On whose history Campbell, having met the refugee In Ham- bui-gh, wrote the " Exile of Erin." Andrew Farrell. A chief at Prosperous and Timahoe, 24:th May. Col. Lumm. Col. James Plunkett. Edward Molloy, of Rathangan. John and Patrick Byrne, of Dundalk. Father John Murphy. Shot at Kilcomney — aid-de-camp to the more celebrated priest of the same name. These are the names of men who acted as leaders, or were accounted as such by the people and the government, in their localities, during the Eebelliou. They may fairly stand at the head of this portion of the work as a text, which I am to illustrate with such notices of the leading names as will harmonize with the design and extent of my work. At the time the Society of United Irishmen was fonnded, in 1791, it was not the intention of the body, whatever may have been the opinions of Tone, Rus- sel, Neilson, and others, to create a separation with England. To nnite the Catholics and Protestants, and thereby create a parliamentary reform, was the primitive idea, if not of the founder, certainly of a large number of leading men who cooperated with him. At the close of 1792, an address was issued by the THE UNITED TRISHMEN. 155 society, warning the government against continuing its abuses, calling for a reform, and threatening that, unless such reform took ])lace, the peoj^le would be driven into republicanism. In a very able address — written by Dr. Drennan, and emanating from a meeting of which he was chairman, and Archibald Hamilton Rowan secretary, January 27th, 1793 — the society is reviewed, the calumnies heaped upon it flung off, and its purposes more broadly indicated. As it is the fiishion now, with government tools and govei-nment organs in the oppressed nations of Europe, but more especially with those in Ireland, or out of it, to call the repub- licans by every name which is supj^osed to be most obnoxious to order, honesty, and justice : so was it in the infant days of the United Irish Society. Says the address : ""We have encountered much calumny. We have, among a thousand contradictory epithets, been called republicans and levellers, as if by artfully making the terms synonymous, their nature could be made the same : as if a republican were a level- ler, or a leveller a republican." Reviewing the state of Parliamentary representa- tion, the address continues : " We address your understanding— the common sense of the common weal— and we ask you, is it not truth that where a peo- ple do not participate in the legislature by a delegation of repre- sentatives, freely, fairly, and frequently elected, there can be no public liberty ? Is it not the fact that in this country there is 156 'ninety-eight and forty-eight. no representative legislature, because the people are not repre- sented in the legislature, and have no partnership in the consti- tution ? If it be the principle of the constitution, that it is the right of every commoner in this realm to have a vote in the election of his representative, and that, without such vote, no man can be actually represented, it is our wish, in that case, to renovate that constitution, and to revive its suspended anima- tion, by giving free motion and full play to its vital principle. If, on the other hand, the constitution does not fully provide for an impartial and adequate representation of all the people — ^if it be more exclusive than inclusive in its nature ; if it be a mono- poly, a privilege, or a prerogative — in that case, it is our desire to alter it ; for, what is the constitution to us, if we are nothing to the constitution ? Is the constitution made for you, or you for it ? If the people do not constitute a part of it, what is it to them more than the ghost of Alfred ; and what are principles without practice, which they hear and read, to practice without principles, which they see and feel ?" In January, 1794, Hamilton Rowan was prosecuted for seditious libel, convicted, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and five hundred pounds fine. The "libel" was an address issued, thirteen months previous, from the body to the Volunteers of Ireland, with the distribution of Avhicli Eowan was charged. The trial was postponed, in order to allow the govern- ment time to perfect their arrangements in " the new plan that had been devised of securing a convic- tion ;" * that is, to pack a jury. With the progress of civilization, jury-packing has also wonderfully advanced. Fifty years' experience has added much to the dexterity and coolness with * Madden. THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 167 which this limb — or rather body, and able body, at that — of the law is conjured up to subvert, throttle, and completely blacken both the eyes of Justice. Thirteen months! Why. in '48, it took but as many days to arrest, pack a jury, try, and banish Mitchel. The address, for the distribution of which Rowan was convicted of sedition, called on the Yolunteers to arm — that, inasmuch as they had taken up arms " to protect their country fj-om foreign enemies, and from domestic enemies; for the same purposes, it then became necessary that they should resume them." On the 4th of May, this same year, the police attacked the meeting of the society, dispersed it, and seized the papers. Simon Butler, Oliver Bond, E"apper Tandy, and Rowan had been prosecuted and imprisoned. Coer- cive measures were used to break up the freedom of speech at the open meetings of the society. It took refuge in secrecy. The government had torn the mantle from the back of the United Irish Society. It tore its " Re- form " and ''Emancipation'' garments into rags and tatters — and, lo ! the unclothed, naked fact reveals itself as — Revolution ! — Republicanism ! The society, many timid people withdrawing, com- pletely remodelled itself to meet the exigencies of the time. A course of highly judicions and effective organization on the club and representative system was applied to the country; and, by the 10th of May, 1Y95, it v/as comparatively completed. A military organization became the natural offspring of the civil, 158 and every tiling was earned out on the electiv^e plan. A head Directory in Dublin, with provincial directo- ries, governed the Union, and, in the beginning of '98, hve hundred thousand men, had taken the test: three-fifths of whom were considered available to bear arms. Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Arthnr O'Connor, Edward J. Lewins, and Dr. William McXevin had, since May, 1796, been sent as ambassadors to the French government, to solicit cooperation and aid. In every instance, succor was promised ; but it was owing completely to the indefatigable nature, the ■unwearying determination, and marked abilities of Tone that the expeditions I have before enumerated were raised. With such an outline of the history of the time, to make which the men whose names I have taken for a text so heroically contributed, we may proceed to un- ravel, to a certain extent, the personal details which created and emanated from that history and time. As one wandering through a pantheon, in which are sheltered the effigies of the brave, just, and wise, I shall recall to mind those memories which give to the marble and the canvas, a significance equal to the actual presence of the patriot, poet, or orator, limned npon the one or chiselled f.om the other. Here are Thomas Russell and Thomas Addis Em- mett, who were esteemed by Tone " as the first of his friends." They were worthy of that esteem in every respect, eminently worthy of the cause they adorned, and the affection which rises like an echo in the bo- THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 159 soms of those wlio have taken their histories to heart. Both were noble, chivah-ous, and refined. liussell was a great, good man ; Emii/ett a good, great man. It miglitbe said that all who met them were refreshed bj the amiability and direct honesty of the one, and the more stern intelligence of the other. There was, if I might use tlie phrase, a manly boyishness about Russell that endeared him to his friends, while his attainments, like the pillars supporting a beautifully constructed and symmetrical dome, prevented the least chance of his being regarded as indiscreetly tri- vial or unsteadily balanced. To those who did not know him he appeared haughty, from the martial car- riage and stateliness of his mien ; which, with the sensitive delicacy of his nature, made him at times reserved. The beauty of his nature shone through his actions and accomplishments, irradiating and giv- ing them that peculiar brilliant ease which, from its rarity, we so delight to find in the world. I have seen on an early Christmas morning, the lights struggling and beaming out through the mas- sive stained windows of a great cathedral, enliven- ing the grey, frosty atmosphere, making the falling snow alive with beautiful tints, and embi-acino: in its calm variety the devotees who were surrounding the temple. Those lights beaming out told the world the nature of the pure movements within. So it was with Eussell. " We have arrested Eussell," said Lord Castle- reagh, visiting the prison of Charles H^-miltou Teel- ing. 160 "Then," said the latter, " the soul of honor is cap- tive." Look at his picture, drawn bj a bold, yet delicate hand : " A model of manly beauty. * * Though more than six feet high, his majestic stature was scarcely observed, owing to the exquisite symmetry of liis form. Martial in his gait and demea- nor, his appearance was not altogether that of a soldier. His dark and steady eye, compressed lip, and somewhat haughty bearing, were occasionally strongly indicative of the camp; but in general, the classical contour of his finely-formed head, the expression of almost infantine sweetness which characterized his smile, and the benevolence that beamed in his fine countenance, seemed to mark him out as one who was destined to be the orna- ment, grace, and blessing of private life. His voice was deep- toned and melodious ; and though his conversational powers were not of the first order, yet, when roused to enthusiasm, he was sometimes more than eloquent. His manners were those of the finished gentleman, combined with that native grace which nothing but superiority of intellect can give."* Russell was born on the 21st of Nov., 1767, at Bels- borough, Dunnahane, parish of Kilshaniek, Cuunty Cork. He was entirely educated by his father, v\^hom Tone describes as being, in 1790, " a veteran of near seventy, with the courage of a hero, the serenity of a philosopher, and the piety of a saint." Thomas be- ing intended for the Church, was made familiar, while yet young, with the Greek and Latin tongues. But the cassock was thrown aside for the martial cloak, and we find him, at the age of fifteen, going * Ulster Magazine, quoted by Maddeo. THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 161 out to India as a volunteer, with a gallant brother who had earned some honor, and the especial approbation of King George, for his conduct at the storming of Fort Montgomery, in the American war. Having served for five years with such distinction as to recommend him favorably to the notice of Sir John Burgoyne and Lord Cornwallis, he came^home, in disgust, it was stated by a relative, his nature being shocked by being a witness of some " unjust and rapacious con- duct pursued by the authorities in the case of two native women of exalted rank." As he returned to Europe, the Church entered his head again, and he even proceeded to the Isle of Man for ordination. Some regulations, however, had to be complied with, which caused his return to Ireland, soon after which he was appointed to the 64th regiment, and gave up his religious intentions professionally. Tone met Eussell in the gallery of the Irish Com- mons ; their acquaintance commenced in an argu- ment. They differed so widely that, being evidently struck with, and hoping, no doubt, to convert each other, they agreed to dine together the next day, and discuss the question ; which was an admirable in- stance of the good sense of both. They had, even at their first meeting, created a respect for each other's opinion, which, after all, is the real foundation for admiration and lasting friendship between man and man. Eussell w^as a Whig. Tone soon shook him out of the delusion. From that period forward, they were dear and bosom friends. " I think the better of myself," says 1(>2 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. Tone, "for being the object of tiie esteem of such a man as Knssell. I love him, and I honor him." ^'Tlie affection of his wife and the friendship of Rns- sel," lie warmly on his heart : they embalm it into the most loying repose, and inspire it witli the teii- derest and manliest emotions. After Rnssell left Dublin, and the happy reunions at Tone's '' little box of a house" at Sandy mount, for his regiment, lie was appointed a magistrate in Tyrone, and was '• beloved and respected," for some years, at Dungannon, from which place lie removed to Belfast. lie became a member of the iirst United Irish Society formed in Belfast, and was arrested in 1796, and, with Samuel Xeilson and others, brought to Newgate, in Dublin, where he remained until 1798, when he was sent to Fort George, in Scotland. Pre vious to his arrest, the chief command of the United Irishmen of Down had been assigned to Russell, "and the military organization of this county was considered complete, when talent and virtue were combined in the person of its chief." ^ He was liberated, with others, in 1802, proceeded to France, thence returned to the Xorth of Ireland ; and had no sooner ariived than he devoted himself, with renewed energy, to the attainment of the object to which his dear friend Tone and himself had bound themselves, and for which the former had died. He quickly followed that brave soul. Of the premedi- tated movement of Robert Emmett, Russell was a * Teeling's Narrative, p. 224. THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 163 member of the Provisional Government, and o-eneral- in-cliief of the Northern District. In tin's capacity, he issued a proclamation," da^:ed Julj^ 2tl:th, 1803, the day after Emmett's rising in Dublin. He was arrested on the evening of the 9th September. When brought before the authorities at the Castle, he lost none of that firmness peculiar to him. All that was haughty in his nature arose. His lofty figure was erect : his face more beautiful than usual with the intense conviction of riu-ht that was movino^ his soul, before finding utterance. Balanced between enthusiasm and determination, and taking from each those emotional indications wliich the soul, at such a moment, both incites and grasps at, he looked the cavalier that he trulv was : * "THOMAS RUSSELL, ^'■Member of the Pi ovlsioiutl Government, and General-in-Chief of ihe Northern Diatrict. "Men of Ireland! — Once more in arms to assert the rights of mankind, liberate your country ! You see by the secrecy with which this effort has been conducted, and by tlie multitudes in all parts of Ireland, who are engaged in executing this great object, that your Provisional Government has acted with wisdom. You will see that in Dublin, the West, the North, and the South, the blow has been struck in the same moment. Your enemies can no more withstand than they could foresee this mighty exertion. The proclamation and regulations will show that your inte- rests and honor have been considered. Your General, appointed by that Govern- ment to command in this district, has only to exhort you to comply with these regulations. Your valor is well known; be as just and humane as you are brave, and then rely, with confidence, that God, with whom alone is victory, will crown your efforts with success. The General orders that hostages shall be secm'ed in all quarters: and hereby apprises the English Commander, that any outrage, contrary to the acknowledged laws of war, and of morality, shall be retaliated in the severest manner. And he further makes known, that such Irish as, in ten days from the date of this, are found in arms against their country, shall be treated as rebels, committed for trial, and their properties confiscated. But all men behaving peace» ably, shall be under the protection of the law. " Head Quarters, Juhj 2ith, 1803 " 1Q4: 'ninety-eight and 'fq-kty-eight. "I glory in the cause," said he, "in which I havo engaged ; and for it, I would meet death with plea- sure, either in the field or on the scaffold.'" True, indeed, is it, Gioberti — " Faith adorns disso- lution." Eussell was tried and convicted at Downpatrick, on the 20th of October, lie declined calling any witnesses in his defence; and in reply to the usual question of the court — wliat had he to offer why sentence should not be pronounced? — made an elo- quent and impressive speech, of about twenty min- utes' duration. He reviewed the transactions of his life, from 1790, when, with Tone, he came to those conclusions from which neither ever swerved, and boasted of those years with triumph. He vindicated his conduct, ou the grounds of conviction of con- science, and entreated the coui't to spare the lives of those whom his example had brought into the move- ment, and make him the only victim. He was executed the following day. On the arrest of Eussell, 16th September, 1796, the Adjutant-generalship becoming vacant, the Rev. William Steele Dickson — a good, popular, and cour- ageous Presbyterian clergyman, who had been, says Teeling, the " early asserter of Ireland's indepeiid- ence, the eloquent advocate of his Catliolic fellow- countrymen" — was appointed to that post. He, however, was arrested on the 4th of June, 1798, and Henry Joy McCracken was made Commander-in- Chief of the Army of the Xcnth. McCracken was born in Belfast, on the 31st of l^E vmrEt> IRISHMEN. 165 August, 1Y6T. The son of a father remarkable for his integrity and polished manner, and of a mother, whose sweetness and practical charity rendered her jji'esence tliat of an endearing spell ; the boy Henry strongly partook of these characteristics. He w^as the heir, too, of persecution ; his father's ancestors having been driven from Scotland, and his mother's from France, for their religious predilections. Thus, France, Scotland, and Ireland contributing to form his nature, it is not sui'prising that the full-blooded young Celt should exhibit that love of adventure, courage, and perception, amounting almost to intui- tion, which characterize the race. As he grew^ up, and the unbending strength of his nature was thor- oughly defined, the simplicity of his heart also became equally prominent. One supported the other, and were the necessary adjuncts of his cha- racter, as the strong and simple buttments that sustain a perfect arch. Tall, slightly-formed, active, and prepossessing, alike susceptible to the calm advances of philosophy, or the happy diablerie of fan ; the child of humanity and humor ; the friend of droll wit and severe wis- dom ; generous and mechanical, brave and gentle, McCracken w^as a happy combination, and a thor- ough man. His family had introduced the manufacture of cotton into Ireland, and his father and uncles being pai'tners in a factory for that purpose, Henry was employed in it. He afterwards, the firm having been dissolved, formed a partnership wnth an appren- l66 ^NINETY-EIGHT AND 'fORTY-EIGHT. tice of the old firm, and opened a calico-j)rinting factory. He was, however, at this time, deeply immersed in the political waters, the struggling in which so occupied his energies that, in over a year, the money sunk in his establishment was lost. He had been a great friend of Russell's since 1790, the latter throwing oyer the former the influence which Tone had already flung over him. In the in- telligence, energy, and influence of McCraken, Rus- sell discovered a new power far the furtherance of the political schemes of the day. McCracken was a member of the first United Irish Society formed in Belfast ; and from his position among the middle and working classes, by whom he was beloved, as well as keeping comparatively in the back-ground, the better to shield his activity, and laboring early and late, he proved of the greatest importance in the Korth. The activity displayed in winning members was only equalled by the ingenuity of the plans by which he baflled the attempts of the authorities to tamper with the members. In 1795, McCracken entered the reorganized Society. The date of his certificate is March 3d, 1795. He had devoted much of his ener- gies to fostering a union between the Catholics and Presbyterians, by inducing the members of the organ- ization called Defenders, who were at first opposed to republicanism, to join the United Irishmen ; consider- able success attended his endeavors, and in '9S he boasted of having at his disposal seven thousand of the former. He became a mark for the hatred of the Orangemen, from the succor he aflorded to their vie- THE UNITED IRISHMEN. l67 tims ; and on the lOtli October, 1796, was arrested and conveyed to Newgate, Dublin. He was after- wards removed toKilinainliam jail, whei'e his brother WiUiam was confined, having been arrested in April, 1797. June the 9th, of this year, he wa^ote to his sis- ter, " The day before yesterday, we saw from our windows two militia-men. conducted to the Pai-k by all the military in this neighborhood, and there shot for being United Irishtnen." The brothers were admitted to bail on the 8th Sep- tember, 1797, Henry's health being so much injni-ed by liis imprisonment, as to incapacitate him for busi- ness on his return to Belfast. He had no time, however, for illness. The body of such a man is completely subservient to the soul. His mind was soon employed, and the body, in utter forgetfulness of its ills, followed the bent of the for- mer's inclination. As the mind, like a bow, is bent, so the body, like the arrow, is directed and i-eceives an impetus. McCracken, with renewed energies, visits Dublin in February '98, on an embassy from the North ; and after some time bears back the instructions of the Leinster Directory. It was about this period that he had a narrow escape from the assault of some armed yeomen in Hercules street, Belfast ; and owed his life to the daring assistance of a butcher's wife, who, armed with her husband's knife, came to the rescue, and ultimately put the ruffians to flight. When McCracken received the chief command of Ulster, it was but three days before that appointed for 168 the outbreak. His great energy, comprehensiveness, and decision, now found congenial and necessary action. His plans exhibit organizing and executive powers of a high order. He issued instructions for simultaneous attacks on Antrim, Randalstown, Bal- linahinch, Saintfield, IS'ewtown-Ards, and Portaferry. By such he hoped to possess himself of the chief points in the counties of Antrim and Down, and the means of communication with Tyrone and Donegal. The day preceding his March on Antrim, he ad- dressed the following bulletin to the army of Ulster : "To-morrow we march on Antrim — drive the garrison of Eandalstown before you, and hasten to form a junction with tlie commander-in-chief. "Heney Joy MoCeaoken. " Tlie First Year of Liberty, June Qth, 1798." Mustering at the old fort of Cregarogan, he marched his forces in three divisions on Antrim. The most perfect order was observed in his little army ; the martial cadences of the Marseillaise hymn, chaunted aloud, inspiring regularity, and agitating the green banners that arose from the centre of each division. Within view of the town the General, in delibe- rately passionate strains, addressed the insurgents. They cry — '' Lead us to liberty or death !" However informed, it is needless to conjecture, but the fact is known that General Xugent had been made aware of McCracken's plans. A loyalist, quo- THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 160 ted by Dr. Madden, states that " the authorities at Belfast had been apprised of the intended rising at one o'clock in the morning, the day of the attack on Antrim." McCracken advanced boldly into the town, under a steady and well-directed fire of the king's cavalry — still the insurgents proceeded on, and at the third volley from the enemy, opened on them a galling fire, which forced the cavalry to give way. Here, the pikemen advanced to the very jaws of the ene- my's guns — grapeshot hailing a death-storm around them — there, the cavalry charge, and are welcomely received by another cordon of pikes. Now they close, and roll over, and rise and fall, and some rise, leaving their foe's dead w^eight upon the earth. In this first attack on Antrim, the brave conduct of the insurgent general chiefly contributed to their temporary success. " It was now that McCracken displayed that bold and daring spirit so conspicuous in the leaders of the Wexford Campaign. Following up his success, he pressed on the foe, drove the enemy from their guns, bore down rank after rank in succession, min- ghng hand to hand with the bravest of the fight. In an hour after his entry he became master of the town, but a fatal mistake blasted his success, and changed at once the fortune of the day."* This mistake was made by a party of successful *' rebels" from the northern district, who were march- * Teeling's Narrative, p. 285. 8 170 'ninkty-eight and 'forty- eight. ing to join their Commander-in-Chief, according to orders. They met a coi-ps of royalist cavah*y on retreat, wliicli the former mistook for a charge; and, conclnding that they were too late, and that the insnrge-nts were routed, became panic-stricken, and fled. The cavalry took heart, halted, were reinforced by troops from Belfast and the camp of Blaris- Moore, and in turn became the assailants. A party of insnro'ents, observino: the transaction, conveyed the panic to the town, which the most desperate endeavors of McCracken and James Hope — " a man whose talents were far above his fortunes, and whose fidelity, as well on this occasion as in subseqnent calamities, would have honored the days of ancient chivali-y" — were not able to stay. The division headed by Hope maintained its ground to the last. McCracken retreated with his troops in order, and planted his shattered flag on the heights of Done- gore. Manoeuvring for some time in the adjacent moun- tains, he baffled and frightened the enemy that hnng on his trail, by his ingenuity. His follow^ers reduced, as Teeling states, to seven, he kept the yeomen in a state of dismay by dressing up poles, and placing them in advantageous positions, retreating under this cover : repeating the same deception at intervals and various places. But this could not last. He w^as arrested at Car- rickfergns, tried on the ITth July, and executed at Belfast. The brave James Hope, wdio survived the troubles THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 171 of that year, was living in 181:6. He had an cy]->por- tunity of knowing the great majority of the leaders, for he was a faitlifnl and trusted soldier under, and messenger between, them. He was well acquainted with the talents and capacities of many, and was quite capable of counselling, as well as obeying them. He says, "Henry Joy McCi-acken was the most dis- cerning and detei-mined man of all our northern leaders ; and by his exertion, chiefly, the Union of tlie societies of the JS'orth and South was main- tained." Upon the walls of his cell, the captive wrote the following line from the "jN"iglit Thouglits," which indicates the love of mankind that prompted him to give his life for their freedom : "A friend's worth all the hazard we can rim." Let us, from the scaffold of McCracken, after the United Irishmen of Down. There is plenty of time for contemplation— for quiet in the next world, or retrospection in exile. Xow let us follow action. The men of Down appeared in arms, near Saint- field, on the 9tli, two days after the battle of Antrim. Here, by means of an ambuscade — being foi-ced to battle before any formidable number had collected— they created great slaughter of an English force led against them by Colonel Stapelton. The action was indecisive, but sanguinary, Stapelton retreating in order to Combei-. The next day, Captain Matthews made a gallant defence of Portaferry against the 172 'nTNETY-EIGHT and ^FORTY-ElGfif. insui'gents, %Yho retreated, after a very spirited con^ test. Matthews, also, not considering it " prudent" to risk a second attack, passed over to Strangford. On this same morning, a considerable body of pikemen entered Newtown-Ards, were repulsed, but returned with a few ship-cannon, in the day, and possessed theraselves of the town. Saintfield became the rendezvous for the United troops. On the 11th, nearly seven thousand men presented themselves. Henry Munroe was chosen commander. Chivalrous, romantic, enterprising, and brave, he accepted the command with every feeling of pride, and every hope of success. Possessed of consider- able military ability, having been in the Yolunteers from boyhood, and having mental energies equal to bodily activity, his sanguine temperament already had visions of the triumphs he longed for. Panting for glory, his devoted passion overleaped barriers which should have been met ; and gifted with remarkable powers, his romance, at times, either disdaining the collision, or fearful of such an encoun- ter, did not afford them a fair test of displaying their resources. For good or ill, however, Munroe has one great point : he is decisive. What he makes his mind up to, he flings his body at it. On the 11th, he had garrisoned Ballinahinch under the brave Townshend ; and, on the next day, cover- ing the rear of his army by a strong force on Creevy Rocks, he marched thither himself. THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 1Y3 General JS'ugent, supported by General Barber, is on the way from Belfast to attack him. Mnnroe, posting his best marksmen in various lines of ditches which divided some fields on the side of a steep hill by which the king's troops must pass— and where the fences rose, as it were, tier over tier, a windmill crowning the summit — placed one of his ofiicers, McCance, in command ; drew up tlie main body on the hill of Ednevady; and anxiously awaited the advance of Nugent. They come. First a spark, and then a flame, brightening as it approached, and having a lurid train of fire and smoke, announced the march of the enemy. Eed havoc fills the eye ; for, fVir as it can reach, the English have fired the country. Munroe sent a party of insurgents to an eminence, close by, to create a diversion, the more surely to throw E'ugent into the ambuscade, as well as check an advancing division of king's troops, coming from Downpatrick. The latter avoided the insurgents, and succeeded in joining the General. Nugent advancing, hastens to dislodge the "rebels" on the eminence. Munroe's movement has suc- ceeded, and McOance from his ambush pours out such a fire, that the whole British line is struck back, and for an hour, with considerable losg, vainly at- tempts to advance. The party which seduced the British General into his position, now possess them- selves of the Windmill hill, and, making good use of the advantage, keep up a well-directed fire, flinging such death and dismay into the troops, that it is with 174 great difficulty they are made to approacli it: "In one regiment, in particular," says Teeling, " the utmost exertions of the officers were necessary to induce the men to advance." General IN'ugent, now between Ballinahinch and the hill, formed a front, and directed fire against both. General Barber's heavy artillery was very effective, and Munroc, having but a few ship-guns, of small calibre, to oppose him, withdrew his men from Windmill Hill,* ordered Townsliend to evacuate the town, sent word to McCanco — who, until a third message, refused to retire from the ambuscade, and concentrated his whole force on Edrevady, where he formed for ac- tion, and offered battle to Nugent. The latter did not accept the challenge, but entered the town during the night. Tlie troops revelled in licentiousness — the rebels were awake with suspense — that night. The activity and hope of Munroe were redoubled. He was seen everywhere through the camp, cheering enlivening, and attending the wants of his men. In consequence of a message from the town, stating the drunkenness and disorder which pre- * Teeling gives a couple of anecdotes illustrative of the enthusiasm and devotion exhibited by the peasantry. On retiring from the hill, the division left two of its numbers behind. One absolutely refused to quit his post, and did not until he fired his last round, then bounded over a fence and reached his division. The other, through the fatigues of the previous days, had lain on the ground and fallen into a profound sleep. He was roused by the British walking on him. " When it was discovered that life was not extinct, he. was ordered up for immediate execution. 'I came here to die,' he observed, with the greatest composure, 'and whether on Ednevady or tlie Windmill Hill, it can make but little difiference.' He was suspended to one of the a»ms of the windmill." That answer would have won his freedom from any other foe. Vide JS^arratwe, p. 351. THE UNITED IRISHME2T. 175 vailed amongst the troops, miicli disagreement en- sued — the insurgents being desirous of marching in ; Mnnroe being as positivel}'^ opposed to it. Many arguments were used, bnt to no purpose. Munroe was immovable. "We scorn," said he, "to avail ourselves of tire ungenerous advantage which night affords — we will meet them in the blush of open day — we will fight them like men ; not under the cloud of night, but the first rays of to-moi'row's sun !" Who, that knows anything of the conduct of the royalists dui-ing that year in Ireland, will have any hesitation in saying that here Mnnroe was too far above his enemies to be any benefit to his friends? Had the burning trail of Kugent no eloquence to urge him on ? Had the burning impatience of his men, or the fear of disheartening them, no warning? Who reads his character aright must know that he would not willingly lose any chance. Personal glory, as well as patriotism would not allow him. And he was brave, too — ay, as the bravest of that brave year. A mistaken notion of chivalry shattered the hopes of Ulster' — but it is useless to speculate. He should have thaidvcd his God for the opportunity, and sacked the town. His speech created discontent : numbers, and amono^ them a bodv of seven hundred of the best armed, left the camp. Munroe is stirring with the dawn : those who remained gave evidence of their strong faith in him, whi'di be was well calculated to inspire. He divided his force into two divisions — one to 176 penetrate tlie town on the rigbt, tlie other com- manded by himself, marching to the left. With eight small ship-cannon drawn np against the town, he commenced the attack. The right division met a desperate fire, which for a wdiile checked their advance. The British commanding officer falling, however, his men retreated to the town. Mnnroe's division seemed inspired with the bril- liant designs of its chief, and it in turn filled his glowing mind with the most hopeful self-reliance. Of the chief and his brave band, at this period, no words can give a better idea than this spirited description of Teeling : " They bore clown all opposition ; forced an entrance into tlie town, under the most destructive fire of musketry and cannon, repeated rounds of grapeshot sweeping whole ranks, which were as rapidly replaced. A piece of heavy artillery fell into the hands of the pikemen, who charged to the very muzzle of the guns. "Munroe gained the centre of the town; exposed to a cross fire of musketry in the market square, raked by artillery, his ammuni- tion exhausted, he pressed boldly ©n the enemy with the bayo- net and the pike; the charge was irresistible, and the British General ordered a retreat. Here followed a scene unexampled, perhaps, in ancient or modern warfare. The United troops, unacquainted with the trumpet's note, and enveloped by the smoke which prevented a distinct view of the hurried move- ments in the British line, mistook the sounded retreat for the signal of a charge, and shrinking, as they conceived, from the advance of fresh numbers, fied with precipitation in a southerly direction from the town, wliile the British were as rapidly eva- cuating it on the north." * ♦ Narrative, p. 2M. THE UNIIED IRISHMEN. ITT A regiment of cavalry, unoccupied previously, charged the insurgents, and gave the infantry time to recover from the effects of their panic. Munroe's presence of mind never deserted him. He had shown both great skill and. valor; and even now, with but a handful, reached the hill of Edne- vady. halted, rallied his men, and face-d the enemy again. The hill was almost encircled. One gap remained open ; and through tliis, at last, the chief dashed, followed by the remnant of his glorious band — not one hundred and fifty men. He was a noble fellow of thirty and one summers. Two days after the battle, he was discovered, identified, and hanged before his own house, where his wife, mother, and sister recided. He faced the scaffold as he faced the foe — proudly, and with " undaunted comjoosure." His death quieted the North. Lord Edward Fitzgerald, whom Margaret Fuller (d'Ossoli) calls the "noblest and loveliest of modern Preux," was born on the 15th October, 1763. He w^as the fifth son of Augustus Frederick, first Duke of Leinster, and Emilia Mary, daughter of Charles, Duke of Eichmond. From youth, the future patriot exhibited a fondness fur militaiy affairs ; and in one of his letters, when quite a boy, to his mother, he tells her that he was busily engaged in erecting a fortification in the orangery ^ ^ ^. '^ AVlien it is finished, I intend to put the cannons of both our ships upon it, and to fire away. What is the pleas- antest of all, I laid it all out myself I also took a 178 'nixkty-eight and very pretty survey of the fields round tlie Garonne." He continues, "I was delighted to see, by the last "Courier," that Lord lN"ortli had been so attacked in the House of Commons, and that the opposition car- ried off everything.'' These passages in the boy's letter well indicate the future man. We see there the embryo soldier, and tlie hater of intolerance. The mimic thunder of his fortification on the Garonne rolled into the future, to give warning of the daring Si3irit and heroic nature that was to follow. Soon his boy-glory was transferred into actual service ; and long before he was a man, we find him reaping military honors in .America. On a retreat near Charleston, when the 19th king's regiment were frightened by Colonel Lee, young Fitzgerald covered the movement of the British colonel, saved the bag- gage, and kept the American corps in check until he cut off their approach by bi-eaking up a wooden bridge over a ci-eek which separated them. For this act of bravery and self-possession, he was made aide- de-canip to Lord Rawdon ; in which position he was enabled to gratify his taste " on a larger and more scientific scale." General Sir Jolm Doyle says of liim, during this period, " Danger enhanced the value of the enterprise in the eyes of this brave young creature." He was ever active and ever vigilant that he should never be absent when anything was to be done, and where the greatest difiiculties were to be overcome. " It was impossible," says Doyle, " to refuse the fellow, whose frank, manly, and ingenuous THE UNITED IKISIIMEN. 179 manner would liave won over even a greater tyrant than myself." This romantic pnrsiiit of difficulties got liim rebuked by Lord Moira and Doyle. At Eutaw Springs, be was wounded, but bis own ailings did not prevent bim from offering liis services to Colonel Wasbington, wbo was likewise wounded, and a prisoner. "It is, indeed, not a little striking, that there should have been engaged at this time, on opposite sides, in America, two noble youths, Lafayette and Lord Edward Fitzgerald, whose political principles afterwards so entirely coincided; and that, while one of theni Avas fated soon to become the victim of an unsuccessful assertion of these principles, it has been the far brighter destiny of the other to contribute, more than once, splendidly to their triumph." * He returned borne by tbe way of St. Lucia, wbere be was for a sbort time on tbe staff of General O'Hara ; and under date August 3d, 1783, writing from Carton, tbe family seat in Kildare, to bis mo- tber, we find bim still cberisbing bis transatlantic experiences. '■' If you insist on letters," be says, "I must write you an account of my American cam- paigns over again, as tbat is tbe only tbing T remem- ber. I am just now interrupted by tbe borrid par- son." In a montb be is tired of borne, and pants for action. "If it were not for you" (bis motber) "I really believe I should go join either the Turks or Kussians." * Moore's " Life and Death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald." Am. Ed., p. 18, 180 'ninety-eight and In this year lie entered Parliament for the borough of Ath J, but it was stupid work. Being of a suscep- tible nature, and having fallen in love once or twice, the affection being entirely on his side, he proceeded to Nova Scotia, and made many excursions through the then untamed wilds. He went through Buffalo to Detroit and Mackinaw — was the pilot ol' an unknown course for twenty days, and wsis made a citizen of the Bear tribe of Indians by Joseph Brandt. To this visit may be traced Fitzgerald's republican ideas. His letters, during the period, exhibit the changes, or rather the formation of his mincl. "The equality of everybody, and of their manner of life, I like very much. There are no gentlemen ; everybody is on a footing. ^ * Every man is exactly what he can make himself, or has made himself.""^ He found republi- canism in the forest. He learnt equality from the red men. " There is nothing," says Margaret Fuller, in allusion to this period of Lord Edw^ard^s life, '^ more interesting than to see the civilized man thus thrown wdiolly on himself and his manhood, and not found at fault. "f Fitzgerald had arrived at Jeffer- son's idea without knowing it, that such societies as the Indians, living without government, "enjoy, in their general mass, an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under the European o-overnments." Flvino^ with a wounded heart from society, Fitzgerald found in savage simplicity the * Letter to his mother, July 18, 1788. Moore's Life, p. 44 Am. Ed- t " Summer on the Lakes," p. 228, THE ttNlTED lEiSHMEiT. 18l foundation of a theory which, while it quieted his heart, gave fresh vigor to his liead, and took him from the aristocratic net- work witli which his early associations and class were surrounded. He was a new man. His letters from America are excessively interesting, but as they can be easily obtained, I con- fine myself barely to give such glimpes of them as tend to exhibit the leanings, points, and burdens of his lovely nature. After staying three days at J^iag- ara, he was "absolutely obliged to tear himself away." It was "impossible to describe" the Falls : "Homer could not I" From Michilimackinack he proceeded to the Mississippi, went down in a canoe, carrying "presents for the Indian villages," and arrived at New Orleans at the beginning of Decem- ber, 1789. He returned home at the commencement of the following year. Ee-entering Parliament, his uncle, the Duke of Richmond, besought him to quit the opposition and vote for the government. This the nephew promptly refused, and the relatives parted in anger. In 1792, Fitzgerald went to France, lodged "with his friend Paine"— Tom, of the " Rights of Man "*— renounced his title at a public meeting — there drank to " the speedy abolition of all hereditary titles and feudal distinctions,"— wrote his mother to direct to him " Le Citoyen Edouard Fitz- gerald"— was "delighted" at the success of the * He says of him in a letter, " Tlie more I see of his interior, the more I like and respect him. I cannot express how land he is to me ; there is a simpHcity of man- ner, a goodness of heart, and a strength of mind in him, that I never knew a man before l82 'ninety-eight and -FOUTY-EIGnT. Freucli Eevolution, and fell in love with the beantV fill Pamela, daughter of De Genii* by the Duke of Orleans,^ to whom he Vv^as married, and with whom, on the 2d January, 1793, he arrived in Lon- don. Always siding with the opposition, it is no wonder that Fitzgerald's experiences in France, his residence w^ith Paine, and above all the course of the Irish administration, should accelerate his capacity and warm his intellect to the heat of the revolutionary movements of the period. He joined the United Irishmen, became one of the executive directory,f received the chief direction of * There is much mystery conceroing tliis beautiful creature, whose loveUness, mis- fortunes, and ultimate miserable fate, have trembled the tear to many a sympathetic eye. A halo of romance is about her, and wliere there is not a halo there is a shroud. Little doubt as to her being the daugliter of Orleans, as above stated, was held until the publication of Dr. Madden's second volume of the " Lives of the United Irish- men." In Appendix No. VI. he says, " The Due de Chartres was then (1782) in correspondence with a Mr. Forth, and requested him to find out, and send over to France, a handsome little girl of from five to six years of age. Mr. Forth * * * sent by his valet a horse, together with an infant. * * Tins infant was Pamela, afterwards Lady Fitzgerald. Her arrival at the Palais Royale, occasioned odd conjectures. She was, however, educated with the prince and princesses, as a companion and friend, * * * and her astonishing resemblance to the Duke's children would have made her pass for their sister, were it not for her foreign accent." Where Dr. Mad- den received this intelligence he does not inform us. I think it rather remarkable that of all the children in England, " Mr. Forth" should have sent that one bearing so " astonishing a resemblance " to tlie Duke's children. If a child was sent from England, it no doubt was changed for the proper one ; the sending the valet being a ruse, the better to bring the Duke's child under the care of its mother, Madame de Genlis, who was at tliat time educating the Duke's children, and was suddenly possessed with the idea of bringing up wljh them, as a companion, an " English child of their own age." Again : the actual cliild might have been left for a couple of years in England, to get " its foreign accent," to make the thing easier. Dr. Madden's story but convinces me that Pamela was as stated in the text. t The first directory of United Irishmen was the Ulster one, there being no organ- ization of the United Irish in other provinces until two years after the Northern directory was organized. The latter consisted of Samuel Neilson, Doctor Williauj THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 183 it? military affairs, went to Switzerland with Arthur O'Connor, where, on the French frontier, he iiad a satisfactoi-y interview with lluche, determined event- ually on rising in March, '\)S, and said confidently that, "without risking a general engagement, he would be able to get possession of JJublin.'' He was opposed to French aid — did not e.\[»ect it — and believed in preparing tlie couniiy tor an iminediaie rising, on which he would depend, lie gave a docu- ment to lieynolds, estimating a load «.'f 2*9,890 armed men m tiie country. iCvyi.olos, iiu Arnold ol li'eland, beiraved the movemeni. Tnc uelei;ates at Bond's were ariested; tliis wa^ quickly lollowed up by the seizure of JLmmeit anu iViCxNeviii. Lord Edward's family pressed on him the necessity of Hight. Lord Clare begged his ^tepf.Lller, for (jod's sake, to get him out of tne couiniy — nih r.ng dua rlie pons siiouid be thrown open lo i.im. llie safety of Lord Loward w;.^ c. becoiiuary thought: the «Jovernment tear^u liis i>r^^>i'e vvuli the people, and would rather let liim escupe .han arre&t him. Eut Fitzgej'ald was imuKjvaluc : one thousand pounds was offered for his ap|a\ hen&ion, aid the emissarits of govermnem were on iiis T-^jinaiit, Robert Sininis, William Simnis, &c. Arthur O'Connor au.. L.n-A Edward Fiizgerald established the Lelnster, or chief directory. Tne fi)r.;:cr became a Uniied Irishman and a director, in November, 1T96 Lord Eiwuni was nominated at the same tiaie. Di^. weeii tiuj and the close of 1797, Bond, M.Nov.ii, INKCormick, Jackson, and Adu. K umjtt ^(ica le directors. Ein uett, wi.o nail been a member of the society sinit.- S^p lii.bcr or October, 1796, refused to be a director, but on the arrest of O'Co.iuor, and during the laVter's imprisonment in the Tower of Dublin, he accepieii the post, in Jan., 1797.— Madden's Lives, &c. The Memoir furnished the Government by Eiumett, O'Connor, and McNevin, &c. 184 'ninety ElGUT AND track. After evading tliem for sorae time, bj the devotion of his friends, lie was arrested on the 19th May, at the house of ^N^icholas Murphy, " a respecta- ble feather merchant," in Thomas street, Dublin. Major Sirr, Major Swan, one E-yan, and a drummer, were instrumental in his arrest. With them he had a desperate struggle — his only weapon a dagger — and though not of large stature or make, he fought like a tiger. He was in bed when Swan entered, quickly followed by the rest. He killed Ryan, gave numer- ous wounds to Swan, and was shot in the shoulder by Sirr, who took deliberate aim while the hero was engaged with Swan. The drummer stabbed him in the back of the neck. He was conveyed to l^ewgate, and died of his wounds, June 3d. Thus died Fitzgerald. Well might we say of him that the nobility of his soul put the coronet out of si^ht. Of a chivalrous and heroic line, in him all the best qualities of his race seemed to culminate. In him w^ere all those qualities to make a popular, if not a great leader ; and from him emanated all that conspired to shed lustre on whatever he undertook. To him, as Ave have seen, danger had no threats. Difficulty to him was not. His enthusiasm, springing from the fountains of a pure heart, lit up his purposes with an almost divine frenzy. He was thoroughly possessed with the truth of his cause ; and through the clouds which surrounded it, beheld it alone, clear, distinct, and beautiful. All that was necessary to gain it was courage. He never knew fear, and thus counted not the contingencies which hang on TfiE UNITED iRiBHMEN. 185 eartlily troubles. He never weiglied danger against duty. The inspiration under wliicli Joliann Ficlite Bouglit to arouse the Prussians, in 1808, is truly applicable to Fitzgerald : " the good to be attained is greater than the danger. The good is the re-awaken- ing and elevation of the people; against which my personal danger is not to be reckoned, but for which it may rather be most advantageously incurred. My family and my son shall not want the support of the nation- — the least of the advantages of having a mar- tyr for their fatlier. This is the best choice. I could not devote my life to a better end." ^ The French trumpets might drown the voice of Fichte ; but the words were uttered, and remain. British hounds may woiry Fitzgerald to death, but every dagger pointed at him, and every bayonet against which he was mustering his people, but indicate the power of the adversary, and are so many references to the pages of history. The contemporaries of Fitzgerald vie with each other in weaving a garland to his memory ; and famous men have made themselves more famous by loving him. His enemies even aspire to recount his good qualities ; and obscure men wlio beheld him have edged themselves into history by telling how he looked. He envied no one, and was loved by all. His generosity of temper only equalled his obstinacy in what he thought right. If his mind was not severe • Memoir of Johann Gottlieb Ficlite, by William Smith, p. 108, ?_.._,. .,.^ * 18G NI.NTETr-EIGHT AND FORTY-ElGHT. or deep, it was just and lively ; and if he was not politic he was honest. Such was Edward Fitzgerald: free not only from a vice, but a defect."^ . Doctor John (brother of Sir Tlionias) Esnionde was a AV^exford man, but had settled, to practise his pro- fession, in Kihhire. His personal attractions were remarkable, having a line, manly figure, and a bril- liant, yet nrbane manner. Qualified to predispose the thoughtful by ]iis mental acquirements, as well as harmonize conviviality by liis ease and humor, he flitted through the dreams of many a fair beauty; and was soon married to one who, in addition to rare per- sonal favors, was possessed of S(^ large a fortune that her husband cared little al)out his practice, which liad become considerable. Fi'om his position and wealth, Esmonde was assigned a prominent position in local ali'airs ; and had become connected with the United Ii-ishmen at an early date. On the removal, on the ISth March, of Eeynolds — who had betrayed the delegates at Bond's, on the li^tli — from the County Committee, Dr. Esmonde was appointed to fill the vacancy. On the 24111 of May, he was in command of the Kildare insurgents, who sujprised, attacked, and sacked Prosperous. He was arrested in Eathcoole, the next day. At the time, some hopes of his release were entertained, by exchanging him for the son of General Eustace — a .prisoner in the hands of the people. Eustace, however, escaped (by bribery, it is supposed) from a • "I never saw in him, I will not say a vice, but a defect." — Arthur O'Connor. THK UNITED IRISHMEN. 187 Quaker meetiiig-hoiise, wliere he was confined ; and Esinonde, being sent to Dublin, was banged on Carlisle Bridge. The fate of Esmonde excited much feeling, as he was beloved by the peo^^le by whom he was sur- rounded, in consequence of his frequent charities, his attendance on the sick, and the deep sympathy he felt for, and the practical consolation he afforded to, the poor. The enemies of his cause and country, who inva- riably looked upon the friends of either with the malevolence of personal liatred, admit Esmonde to have been a man of honor, humanity, and rare men- tal acquirements. Of all tlie remarkable men on the public stage at the time, to my mind one of the most remarkable was William Putnam McCabe^ He stands certainly next to Tone as an organizer. If Tone organized with rulers, ministers of state, and generals, McCabe worked with tlie people, and kept the cauldron of United Irishmen ^seething sedition. If the lives of otlier members of the conspiracy strike us with deejD revei-ence for the philosophy with which they met their fates, McCabe's life warms us into admiration at the romance which sustained his love of fatherland. To o-ive a characteristic outline of a career wliich, to follow its never-ceasing action, would fill volumes, is no easy task to the writer, nor one which insures complete justice to the subject. Yet to consign him to a paragraph would be unpardonable. Between 1^8 ^NINETY-ETGHT AND 'fORTT- EIGHT. Other leaders there exist man}^ characteristics in com- mon. McCabe stands alone. Born in Antrim, he was fortunate in having an up- right, high-minded, and patriotic father,"^ who was a distant connexion of the American General Putnam, after whom our hero was named. In youth McCabe, being wdld and rather mischievous, w^as sent to Man- chester, in hopes that absence from the scene of his pranks would steady him. He knew nothing of poli- tics when he left home, but returned fully imbued w^ith the ideas of Tom Paine. He became a United Irishman on Tone's visit to Belfast, and being gifted with energy and speaking talent, w^as soon employed by the committee on missions among the people. He was inimitable as a mimic, quick-witted, of an auda- city not to be overcome, and a courage quite equal to any emergency. As the *task imposed on him was one of great danger, his chief desire was to attract the people without exciting the vigilance of the authori- ties. Thus we find the announcement that a " con- verted papist w^ould preach the Word in a certain barn, and explain how he became convinced of the true doctrines of Presbyterianism." Of course a crowd collected, as they do on the docks in 'New * In 1793, old McCabe's shop, in Belfast, was wantonly sacked by the king's troops, on an occasion when they were excited by seeing over some ale-houses the portraits of the French General Dumourier, Mirabeau, and Franklin, which they demolished. He rehoisted his sign, and in large- letters had painted thereon " Thomas McCabe, an Irish slave, licensed to sell gold and silver." But one pane of glass remained, and he would not have the others replaced. Orders were given to illuminate on the ensuing birth-day of the king. McCabe stuck several candles in the lonely pane, saying that the military could do nothing more to the others, and would not harm that. THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 189 York, or elsewhere, to liear some trumpeter blow himself and Christianity out. Djessed for the occa- sion, and with a voice to suit, young McCabe would then knock down religion, leap on politics, and finally swear in his auditory. This could not go on steadily for any length of time ; the magistrates were on the track of the preacher, and sent a body of yeomanry to get religion. The place was a barn two miles from any habitation. To this lonely house' of worship, on the night appointed, might be seen serious and well-clad Presbyterians directing their nags ; poor and shoeless Catholics, too, were attracted to hear the "unknown divine." The barn was crowded. Presently a figure, in a trailing, religiously-fashioned garment, green spectacles on nose, and a broad-brimmed quaker hat, approaches. He ascends the table. He is earnest and eloquent. He touches the feelings of all present. He makes them forget that they are of different religions. He exhorts them to forbearance — to brotherly love — to Union. Seeing that they are impressed, and quite apropos of union, he touches on the state of the country — he en- larges on the theme. From the disunion of Irishmen, he argued tbe intolerance of England to all sects. Ah, if they w ere united ? He proposes the oath of brother- hood ; numbers crowd to take it ; when a loud whis- tle is heard, and the door is filled with soldiers, while the officer calls on the preacher to surrender. " Put out the lights !" roars the man of God, flatten- ing the candle nearest to him with his beaver. In a second all was darkness. 190 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. The officer is heard in a state of exasperation, order] iiii" the soldiers to ojLiard the door, and ao:aiii threaten iiigl J asks the surrender of the green spec- tacles. An excited soldier, cursing the " croppies," calls for his gun, which he had left outside, and is told to go for it ; but no sooner is outside the barn than the loud voice of the preacher is there, imploring the peo- ple to be true to each other and their country. That nifi'ht he swore in two hundred. The ability of the exploit, to say nothing of the truths enunciated, would have won a less quick-wit- ted people than the Irish. McCabe became too marked an individual to stay long in Belfast now. Tlis fame had gone abroad ; he disappeared, and turned up in Dublin, where he was well repeived by, and received new^ commissions from the leaders in the metropolis. At the trial of some "Defenders" in Eoscomiiion, an officer, having a thorough English accent, ap- peared in the court-house, attended by his sergeant The officer was led to a prominent seat. The trials went on. The first man, named Dry, was found guilty. The officer addressed the judge, informed him he w^as authorized to attempt the wdnning of such rebellious characters as the prisoner into the army, and requested that his sergeant might confer with the fellow. Assent was heartily given. Dry looked at the sergeant, who asked him " if he were w^illing to enter the service," and enlisted. A second prisoner, through stupidity, w^as not so ready to enter the ser- THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 191 vice, which somehow awakened suspicions in the mind of the judge ; but the three principal actors had disaj)peared. McCabe, it is needless to say, was the officer, Hope tlie sergeant. After some little time warrants were issued for McCabe in all j)arts of the country. He was no sooner missed at one place, than lie was heard of at another. Tlie-activity of his movements completely baffled the officials. Soon after the above affiiir, he travelled in the mail-coach with a member of Parlia- ment w^ell acquainted with his appearance, but who never recognized in the person and conversation of a Yorkshire manufacturer the famous and ubiquitous conspirator. With every day's necessities McCabe's energies increased. He undertook to organize Wex- ford^ and Kildare. In the former he was indefati2:a- ble, in the disguises of beggar, peddler, farmer, etc. A Wexford gentleman, who took the oath, told McCabe's biographer that " he met McCabe in twenty different places of that county, in 1798 (it must have been in the first four months of the year), and never knew him, until McCabe chose, each time, to discover himself. In truth," said the informant, *'no one could know him; I cannot imagine how he disguised himself; but of this I am certain, he must have had a number of wigs, differently fash- ioned, in his pocket." He was arrested once, while escorting Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and lodged in the Provost, which^ at the * I have alluded to this expedition in "Tlie "Wexford Campaiga," 192 'ninety-eight and forty-eight. time, was guarded by the Dumbarton Fencibles, He represented himself as a Scotcli weaver, " per- suaded the sero^eant he had worked in his father-in- law's factory," and told to the Scotch soldiers and tlieir wives, such anecdotes concerning them, that he had wormed from one and the other, that tliej sent a memorial to the secretary, stating he was not a traitor, but " a decent, industrious lad, well known and respected in Glasgow." He was released. To-day, he was to be found in the Castle-Yard, dressed as a yeoman, hearing what he could ; the next day, in Westmeath, superintending the manu- facture of pikes ; the third, with the French invaders about Castlebar. Immediately, we find him piloting through a country, restless with vigilance, some offi- cers to Dublin, and baffling the sentinel at one of the outposts. On the borders of Wicklow, he ofters his services to an officer to help him arrest " the notorious McCabe," which he did by taldng himself offi At the disruption of the movement, he disappeared. He was believed to be in France or America — the government hoped so ; but he was in Wales, and one day turns up in London, with a plan to organize an insurrection in Eno-land. It is thouo-ht that he was connected with the disturbances that took place in London, in 1800, with the projects for which Colonel Despard was executed, in 1802, and other revolution- ary attempts in England. In 1801, he was in France, married. He settled near Eouen, and establislied a cotton factory. JSTapoleon once visited him, and THE UNITED IKISHMEN. 193 ordered a present of four thousand francs to the dilbj for encuuraging native industry. His factory nourished, he made money, and lent £4,750 ($23,700) to Arthur O'Connor, on an assignment of the pro- perty of the hitter, in Ireland. This led to litigation, which only ended by his life. His restless spirit could not be still. After his first flight, he visited London, Nottingham, Paisley, Glasgow, Stockport, Manches- ter, and Belfast, and left a train of popular discontent behind him. He had a very narrow escape at Bel- fast. He heard the tramp of the soldiers on tlie stairs ; flung up the window, and leaped — not out of it, any one might do that, but — between the feather bed and the mattress. Looking round the room, the soldiers hurried off, and searched the neighborhood. This was in 1803, at the time of Emmett's and Rus- sel's rising. From 1810 to 1814, he paid several visits to look after the law proceedings instituted against O'Connor. He was arrested- on the 19th of February, 181-4, and taken to London the follow- ing month. Stating to Sir Robert Peel that he was aware he could be prosecuted for treason ; but that '98 was passed, and that " he did not think it was Mr. Peel's wish to put a man to death who had come back to his country for the sole purpose of recovering his property," he was, after some time, sent to Portu- gal, " as the air of Ireland did not agree with his health ;" and great danger being expressed as conse- quent upon his being found there again. There, however, he was again found, and arrested 194 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. in Belfast, in 181T. For a year and a half-, he was kept in prison ; his frame withered, and his system '' convulsed by incessant attacks of rhenmatism." His lovel}^ daughter, of sixteen, attending him, offered a striking and beautiful contrast beside the prema- ture old man, of forty-five. His declining health, and the personal purpose for which he came to Ire- land, wxre represented to the executive. The secre- tary replied that it '*' was very extraordinary that, in whatever part of the king's dominions his (William Putnam McCabe's) business brought him, some pub- lic disturbance w^as sure to take place." He was permitted to go to France. The next year, lie made his \Yi\j to Glasgow, vrlien "disturbances took place," and he was again arrested, but found means to get off. He died near Paris, in 1821. Such is a bird's-eye view of the career of Putnam McCabe. Is there not stuff enough — action, situa- tions, humor, courage, and purpose sufficient to fill the pockets of a few hearty roman cists ? Here is a hero for any and every mood — preacher, soldier, peddler, farmer, beggar, York foctor, Scotch weaver, Irish patriot, and what not besides — who began his public career in activity and pious nasal English, and ended it strapped with rheumatism, and swearing in French, through polite consideration for his hearers. The sadness of his last days but carried out that law of nature which is illustrated by the morning, noon, and night of every twenty-four hours — by the months, by the seasons. His life was premature. THE UNITED miSHMEN. 195 His spring was earl}^, and bis winter came when iLe Indian snmmer of liis days should have been dif- fusing geniality and comfort. Let us move on. Here are two or three others, rarely mentioned, but remarkable men. James Hope — McCabe's sergeant in Eoscommon, and also mentioned In reference to the battle of Antrim — is the name of a man who, irresj^ective of the relations he held with some of the most impor tant revolutionary leaders, and which must eml)alm his memory, sliould ever command the fullest sympa- thy and most resijectful honor from all students and lovei's of the '98 struggle. Born of humble parents (in the pai'ish of Temple Patrick, County Antrim, on the 25th August, 1764), he received but fifteen weeks at a day-school in his life, earned his livelihood from childhood, and, in the winter evenings, listened to his master, "William Bell, reading the Histories of Greece, Kome, Ireland, Scotland, and England. j^ext hired to a farmer named Gibson ; the father of the latter set the boy to read and write. He died soon, however ; and half a year's service with another farmer (Ritchey) "gave me," says Hope, "a little moie help in writing." Beturned to his former master, he learned to read the Bible ; and so, by assiduously devoting himself, in the spare hours of a closely-occupied and necessitous life, Hope accumu- lated a variety of sound knowledge, strengthened a naturally clear and vigorous intellect, and was received into the confidence of such men as Bussell, Emmet, McCracken, McCabe, and IsTeilson. His 196 FORTY-EIGHT. labors in '98 were incessant, from the peculiar and iiisinnating character of his niincl, which was at once blnnt and politic, convincing and quiet. He was a working-man in every sense. He was not calculated for a public speaker : " Mj mind," says he, " was like Swift's church — the more that was inside, the slower the mass came out;" but lie was indispensable in sounding and organizing the masses, as well as com- municating between the chiefs. As a weaver he has lived and supported himself since, having escaped the notice which his great ability, used under peculiar circumstances, helped so materially to draw upon others. Madden speaks of him (1846) as "a modest, observant, though retiring man — discreet and thought- ful. His height is about five feet seven inches, his frame slight and compact, his features remarkable for the tranquillity and simplicity of their expression. ^ ^ '^ His private character is most excellent: he is strictly moral, utterly fearless, inflexible and incor- ruptible. -^ * * He is a man of very profound reflection." What thoughts, what memories must encompass the last days — the winter's hearth, upon which are gathered the embers of such a brave and eventful life! With capacities far above those which have achieved place, pension, and notoriety for the heads of some agitators, and the tails of others, Hope has preferred to fling his shuttle, than to throw the poli- tical dice-box for a living — preferred the monotonous rattle of the loom to the fitful cheers of the mob. THE UNITED TEISHMEN. 19? But lie was a patriot, and not a jDolitician. He remained himself, under all circumstances : and must be such a type of humanity as Michelet longs for, to people the " good time," when " strong men will be found who will not want to rise ; who, being born of the people, will wish to remain of the people." Dennis Taafe — a very remarkable member of the Church militant — is deserving of notice. Born in Louth, of respectable parents, being w^ell educated, and finishing his studies by a residence of several years in Prague, he entered a Franciscan convent, • and became a priest of that order. Returning to Ire- land, proud of his great acquirements, it appears he took every occasion to exhibit the ignorance of his superiors, and was, of course, both "feared and hated." He is described, and correctly, no doubt, as "a proud, indolent, slovenly, overbearing scholar," a '' turbulent and satirical young friar."-^ Beino- sus- pended, he rushed into Protestantism, and a Hebrew professorship in Trinity College, and almost immedi- ately rebounded into his original church, having given bis new^ Bishop and brethren some assurances of his " distinguished consideration." Study, politics, and the pen, became his refuge, until one day he took it into his head to see for himself what the United Irishmen were doing, went up into Wicklow, devised and fouglit the battle of Ballyellis, which ended so disastrously for the loyalists, and for the skillful man- agement of which Holt got all the credit. Taafe's * Madden. First Series, vol. I. 198 desperate courage and cool judgment in the figlit, are landed bj Watty Cox and Dr. Brennan.* Being severely wonnded, lie made liis way to Dublin, packed in a load of bay, and got into an hospital. It was at Bally ellis that the obnoxious corps, the Ancient Britons, were all but demolished ; in reference to which Taafe used to boast, "1 have taught both ancient and modern Britons I could fight as well as write." After suffering some imprisonment in Newgate, he v/as discharged for want of " informations ;" when, in respect for his literary abilities. Bishop Macarthy, of Cork, and Keogh, of Mount Jerome, Dublin, allowed, him an annuity. lie also received assistance from Coyne, the Dublin bookseller, and a Mr. Fitzpatrick. He devoted much time to w^riting a history of Ire- land, which he left unfinished, and died in 1813, aged * Both well-known characters of tlie period. Cox edited, with much turbulent and sledge-hammer talent, the Irish Magazine. He was perpetually at war with the government, was tried for several libels, and after three years' imprisonment, ulti- mately received a pension, and was enabled to quit for America. In 1817, he started " The Exile," at New York, which ceased in 1818. He wrote and published here the ablest and most violent of all his writings — an attack on America, called " The Snufif-Box." In America, he was " all things by turns, but nothing long ;" his ex- periences including those of editor, pawnbroker, chandler, dairyman, and, " last infirmity of a noble mind," whisky-dealer. He went to Bordeaux, in 1821, and sub- sequently to Ireland. His pension was stopped in 1835. He survived its receipt two years, and died poor, the 17t!i June, 1837. He was, with all his violence, a man of liberal education and decided talent. Doctor Brennan, known professionally as " Turpentine Brennan," from his first havingintroduced the use of turpentine in the treatment of puerperal diseases (for which he became famous in Europe), was a man of very great capacity, which he directed to out-Cox Cox in sarcasm and pasquin- ade. He was born in Carlow, of an ancient and wealthy family, whose property he ruined by going to law on the decease of his father. He had been a contributor to Cox's periodical, but quarrelling with him, established a rival — the Milesian Maga- ■ine. He died in July, 183D. In both of these magazines there are very considerable historical details relative to the period. They need a careful reader, however, to direst them of the personalities with which they abound. THE UNITED IKISHMEN. 199 sixty years. Just previous to his deatli, he had a lite- rary battle with the Oxford Review, edited by mem- bers of the University, in which he hurled the noted distich at them : " Hencefortli, oli Ox-fovd ! Cow-ford be fliy name, Thou rearest calves, and long hast reared the same." Edward Molloy, leader of the insurgents in the locality of Rathangan, was an opulent farmer, and a second lieutenant in a yeomanry corps. His influ- ence, it is stated by government authority, had the most baneful effect, in seducing from their allegiance the principal part of the cavalry. He was captured on the 27th May, and hanged. De Jean (Fraser) has embalmed his memory in a spirited ballad: " Six feet to the forehead, with muscle and limb To match, had made out his commission for him ; But a spirit in danger more recklessly brave, True men never followed to glory, or grave — Though heart never beat in the breast of a dove, With gentler affections for woman to love ; — His wisdom withal, and his rough, honest pride In the people their tyrants both robbed and belied, Confirmed to the man, what he won as a boy — An empire of friendship for Edward Molloy." The transition from the yeomanry corps into the insurgent ranks had become very general thronghout I^^ildare ; which "disaffection " is spoken of by Mus- grave as " highly disgraceful." Indeed, it was so great that he had no difficulty in enumerating those not 200 'ninety-eight and Vorty-j:ight. tainted. Roger McGarrj was a " rebel" leader at Monasterevan, where the priest Prendergast, "being deeply concerned in the rebellion," was hanged. The chief organs of tlie United Irishmen were the " Northern Star" and " The Press." The former was established in Belfast, January -ith, 1792. The chief owner and editor was Samuel ]N"eilson, there being eleven others associated with him in the proprietor- ship. Russell, Sampson, and the three Presbyterian clergymen. Porter, Kilburne, and Dickson, were the principal contributors. Tlie success of its teaching may be inferred from the persecution it received from the government. In 1792, it was prosecuted by the crown, and acquitted ; in the year following, six in- formations were tiled in the King's Bench against its conductors for seditious libels; in 1791, Rabb, the printer, was prosecuted and found guilty ; in Septem- ber, 1796, the office was devastated, the printer and proprietors seized, and after being imprisoned in Newgate, Dublin, for more than eigliteen montlis, were then liberated without trial; in January, 1797, the office was again pillaged by the militar^^, and the printing materials demolished. I cannot speak from my own knowledge of its ability, never having seen a copy of the paper. It appears, however, that its managers appreciated the idea that "history was philosophy teaching by example ;" Dr. Madden, " after a careful perusal of its columns," informing us that " The grand object seems to have been, to keep the example and events of the French Revolution constantly before the eyes of the people." flit UJSriTED IRISHMEIT. 20l Samuel ^eilso'J, born September, 1761, at Balro- nej, in the connl"j of Down, was the son of a dissent- ing minister. He received a liberal education, and in his youth was remarkable for a bold, manly, and generous character. In 1785, having nmrried the daugliter of a wealthy merchant, he entered the woollen trade ; and in the succeeding seven years accumulated forty thousand dollars, a very fine for- tune at that period. He is generally looked upon as the originator of the society into which Tone breathed an actual being ; and was one of the most active, un- deviating, and sincere of the leaders of the Union. Tone speaks of him as distinguished for virtue, talent, and patriotism. With pen and tongue he devoted the energy and ability of both to exorcise sectionality from the breasts of Irishmen. He travelled through the T^Torth, composing the differences and healing the wounds of 23arty strife, and for this alone his memory ought to be ever green. From the first he was a re- publican, as indeed the northern men generally were. This is the more remarkable in contrast to the early leaders in Dublin, and accounts for the influ- ence of Tone among the former, whilst in Dublin, as he himself states, the club was scarcely formed before he was discovered to be so far ahead of them, that he lost all pretensions to influence in their measures.* Keleased from prison on the 22nd of February, 1798, a proclamationf dated 22nd May was issued, * See Tone's Life. Washington Ed. Vo.. i. p. 55. t In the sane proclamation were also included Richard McCormick, John Cham- 9* 202 offering £300 for his apprehension ; and while recon- noiteririg ISTewgate on the following day, with the intention of attacking it that night and rescuing his friend Lord Edward and others, he was recognized and captured after a most desperate straggle ; his clothes being torn off, and his body having npwards of fifty gashes where the soldiers cut and hacked hini. He was only saved by the number of his assailants, which numbered a whole file of soldiers.* His arrest took place on the day designed for the rising in the city, and a number of people who had collected to meet him, not knowing why he did not come, dispersed. On the 26th of June, true bills were found against Neilson, the brothers John and Henry Sheares, John McCann, William Michael Byrne and Oliver Bond.f Heavily chained, Neilson was brought into court, the jailer having thought it necessary to place him in " such irons as he would not think of putting on any two men." Being called on to plead, I^eilson in a stentorian voice replied — " 'No ! I have been robbed of every- thing ; I could not fee a counsel ; my property, every- thing, has been taken from me." He then retired, but immediately returning to the dock, exclaimed : bers, Ed'vrard Rattigan, John Corniicb, William Lawless,Thomas Trenor, and Michael Reynolds, for each of whom the same amount was offered. * See Grattan's Life and Times, by liis Son. Vol. IV. t The Sheares were executed on the 14th July, McCann on the 19th, and Byrne on the 28th. Bond was sentenced to death on the 23rd, but a negotiation having been entered into between the state prisoners and the crown, he was respited. He, how- ever, died suddenly in Newgate on the 6th September, having been "as well as ever" on the evening previous. Apoplexy was given out as the cause; much evi- dence having accumulated to prove "murder most foul." THE UNITED IRISHMEN. ^03 "For myself, I Lave nothing to say; I scorn your power, and despise that authority, that it shall ever be my pride to have opposed." Fortunately, the delay created by his refusal to engage counsel saved his life, as he was included in the negotiation with government, and was banislied. He died in Pough- keepsie, in the State of New York, on the 29tli Aug., 1803, where a simple slab records the name and birthplace of one " who discharged all the duties of a husband, father, and a persecuted patriot." He was an able, fearless, and devoted friend of Freedom. He had all the bluntness and vigor of action and speech which characterize men who love and labor for one i^lea. He never has had full justice done him: and none deserve a fuller meed. His sacrifice was not less than that of any other man engaged in the struggle ; his sufferings much more than those of many. The first number of " The Press" was issued in Dublin, September 2Stli, 1797 f tlie last, March 3rd of the following year, running sixty-seven numbers ; besides two, which were suppressed by the govern- ment. The writers in it were, as fixr as known, Arthur O'Connor, Deane Swift (" Marcus") ; Thomas Addis Emmet (" Montanus") ; William Preston, a '* distinguished scholar of Trinity," and one of the * Dr. Madden is erroneous in stating that " ' The Press' made its first appearance on tlie 4'h October, 1797." There was no "Press" issued on tliat date; the paper came out on the Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays of each week, and the 4th Oct. did not fall on either of those days that year. Number 3, is dated Oct. 3rd, and number 4, Oct. 5th. 201 'ninety-eight and 'fokty-eight. foimilers of the Royal Irisli AcacUniij ; William Sampson (supposed to be " Fortesque") ; Dr. Dren- nan, Eoger O'Connor, and other able men under the signatures of " Wm. Caxou," "an Irishman," " Sars- field," " Energetes," " Dion," " Scsevola," " Boling- broke," '' a Militia Officer," '' Yincent," and others. In the eleventh number there is a clever, though not remarkable piece of verse, entitled " The London Pride and Shamrock, a Fable," signed Trebor ; which Dr. Madden believes was written by Robert Emmet, the signature being i-ead backwards spelling his Christian name. Thomas Moore tells us that he wrote something for " The Press," and that it was included in the secret report of "the Committee of the House." His contributions were of no moment, however. Those papers which seemed to have created the most noise, and with some justice, were written by Deane Swift (" Marcus"), who is described by Barrington as " tall, thin and gentlemanly, but withal an unqualified reformer and revolutionist :" also, Addis Emmet's " Montanus " letters, and John Sheares' " Dion" letter to " The Author of Coercion" (Lord Clare), which, some rumor of its embryo exist- ence getting out, caused the seizure of the sixty- eighth number of the paper, when all ready for publi- cation. Thus, the sixty-seventh number was the last published ; but in a collection of the chief articles and letters, issued soon after " to fan," says Musgrave, " the seemingly smothered flame of rebellion," the sixty-eighth number is restored, as well as an intended THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 205 Bixtj-iiiutli, being "The Appeal of the People of Ulster to their Couiitrjinen, and the empire at large."* The man of all others wlio carried a literary repu- tation out of the period, and whose lyrics are identiied with it, is Doctor William Drennan. As early as 1779 he had published his letters of " Orel- lana, the Irish Helot," which, to use Davis's phrase, were written with a " passionate vigor." In tliem he advocated a free Constitution, and made hiui- self famous. AVith Emmet, Eussell, Pullock (cele- brated as the author of the letters of " Owen Koe O'l^eil," against the United Irishmen, 1790-3), Whit- ley Stokes, and others, Drennan was a member of the literary club started in Dublin, by Tone, in 1790. With regard to literary empire, Tone says, Drennan and Pollock wei'e the Csesar and Pompey of the club, and soon manifested a dislike to each other. Drennan early joined the Union; wrote the test; many of their addresses in 1792 and 'i)3 ; and June 25th, 1791, was prosecuted on the same charge as that brought against Rowan, in the preceding January, Curran defended both ; but in the case of Drennan a verdict of " Not Guilty " was rendered. He ^wrote in prose and poetry in " The Press," and his contribu- tions in the latter have survived as worthy monu- ments to the pen and patriotism of the author. Dazis * An American i-eprint is now before me: the title runs, " Extracts from the Press : a Newspaper published in the Capital of Ireland, during part of the years 1797 and 1798. Including numbers sixty-eight and sixty-nine, which were suppressed by order of the Irish Government, before the usual time of publication. Philadelphia : prinfcud by William Duane, Aurora Office, 1802." 206 pajs him a liigli tribute, wlien lie says that his let- ters to Pitt against the Union, rank with the pam- phlets of Goold, Grattan, Taafe, and Biishe. From 1808 to 1814 he conducted, with two other gentle- men, the "Belfast Magazine;" ai.^d died, aged sixty- three, on the 5th of February, 1820. His most famous poem is " Erin," in which he first names his country the " Emerald Isle." In his " Wake of William Orr," there is a direct energy and passion, and a simplicity of diction, almost sublime. Every line is a sermon, every stanza a history. There are no " w^omen's cries " in this death-chant. It is a sorrow^ that has no tears ; and yet we caimot well call it a sorrow, for there is more indignation than lamentation in it. It is an ode to the living, more than for the dead, yet neither arc forgot. The living are made to remember that a lanient is needed for them more than for the dead. That in fact they are dead; and in this does its great power exist, and to this was its immense effect at the time due. It suited its time, consequently must live with it. It is not my purpose to go through" the list. I have given you, reader, types of the men who made the struggle famous. Lord Edward and Hope, the peer and the peasant ; Tone and Esmonde, and McCracken and Monroe ; the professions and the mercantile class ; Russell and MoUoy, the military and militia officers, represent the general body of United Irishmen, including all religions. I have illustrated the period, too, with the actions of men not so widely known or frequently spoken of, with one or two THE UNITED IKISHMEN. 207 exceptions, as Addis Emmet, Arthur O'Connor, Dr. McNevin, Sampson, and others. Without dero- gating from the justly great repntations of these men, it is but truth to say, that though some of them composed the chief Directory, they neither founded nor were the actual leaders of the movement. United Irishism commenced in Ulster, and from that pro- vince I have chiefly taken my representatives of it. The principal f ghting men were from the North, from Wexford, and Ivildare, and Wicklow. As it has been my object to exhibit the active spirit of the time, I have jjnncipally followed the men of those localities. It but remains here to glance at the young hero who worthily carried the faith of '98 to the scaffold of 1803. Robert Em met was born in Dublin, in the memorable year 1782. He was the youngest brother of Thomas Addis Emmet, an abler man than whom Wolfe Tone left not behind him. Eloquent, practical and clear- sighted, the latter possessed all those gifts which form the great statesman of a free country, but his nature could never bend or accommodate itself to the petty meannesses which distinguish those who win that title by- inventing chains for a weak state. Highly educa- ted, deeply versed in legal science, with a philosophic composure, and reason based on humanity, a grasping intellect and a pure heart — Thomas Addis Emmet was precisely such a man as might — had not many occurrences combined against the party to which he belonged — have led the Irish Revolution to a success- 20S 'jSriNETY-EIGHT AND 'fORTT-EIGHT. fill issue. Ill 1797, lie was decidedly the ablest, tliougli not the leading naan, in Ireland. How well his various attainments were appreciated by this country, to which he came as an exile, con- tributing to her the richness of his manhood in return for the shelter ensured him, may be seen by the testi- mony raised to his memory and his merits in the judicial halls of the chief city of these American States ; and by the monument which^ — near that raised to the valor of his illustrious countryman, and defender of American liberty. General Richard Montgomery, under the portico of Saint Paul's — first meets the eye of the stranger as he wanders from the Battery up one of tlie most populous and opulent thoroughfares in the w^oiid. It is at once a high testi- mony of American recognition to the European out- cast, and a guide to all worthy of American citizenship. A voice speaks from the cold marble. There is a sermon in that stone. A sermon that preaches straight to the hearts of men. It says : Here Freedom has a home — here truth and genius are the only divine rights acknowledojed under God. Come and do likewise as this dust has done, and make yourself immortal. The youngest brother of that man was well w^orthy of the name which his brother bore with honor, and which he, with enthusiasm almost divine, has made more famous by writing it on the scaffold with the blood of martyrdom. The genius, heroism, and above all the youth of Robert Emmet must ever render his name one of deep THE UNITED IRISHMEN. interest to those whose anxious ejes gleam over the history of Freedom, or weep over the pages devoted to the record of hor bitter struggles, and her martjr- ologj. Aye, many lighter hearts and more careless eyes — hearts and eyes for whom the page of history mayhap will have no allurement, will be tenderly betrayed into tears, over the incidents of his closing history, so sorrowfully beautiful, and so touchingly given in Washington Irving's sketch of " the Broken Heart." Robert Emmet was fashioned by nature to be a great man. He possessed all the qualities that furnish forth a stirring orator, with intellect to guide culture, sympathetic feelings to sway the finer chords of the heart, enthusiasm to stir up the noblest passions, energy to labor, and determination capable of mould- ing incessant action, or commanding or directing the movements of others in a revolutionary strug- gle. At the age of sixteen he entered Trinity College, and by his rare endowments, and the nobility of his nature, soon gained the respect and love of his fellow students, and a reputation which is still cherished as a holy tradition within those old walls. Some of these college traditions occasionally leap out of their old boundaries, and come to us all the purer from the time elapsed since the action which bred them, as the spring is all the purer trom the density of the rock through which it has had to toil. In Moore's life we catch a glimpse of Emmet as he was in those davs, when liis abilities overwhelmed 210 in their brilliancy eveij feeling tliat envy might suggest. In their debating society of the college, the subject for discussion arose — " Whether an aristocracy or democracy was most favorable to the advancement of science and literature." Emmet took the latter point of view, and in its defence, says Moore, " the power of his eloquence was wonderful." "After a brief review," he continues, " of the great republics of antiquity, showing how much they had all done for the advancement of literature and arts, he hastened, lastly, to the grand and perilous example of the young Republic of France ; and referring to the story of Caesar, carrying with him across the river only his sword and his Commentaries, he said, ' Thus France at this time swims through a sea of blood, but while in one hand she wields the sword against her aggres- sors, with the other she upholds the interests of litera- ture uncontaminated by the bloody tide through which she struggles.' " Of another speech on the question — " Whether a soldier was bound on all occasions to obey the orders of his commanding officer" — Moore gives us his reminiscence thus : " Emmet, after refuting the notion as degrading to human nature, imagined the case of a soldier who, having thus blindly fought in the ranks of the oppressor had fallen in the combat, and then most powerfully described him as rushing, after death, into the presence of his Creator, and exclaiming in the agony of remorse, while he holds forthi his swoid, reeking still with the blood of the THE UNITED IRISHMEN. 211 Oppressed and innocent, ' Oli God ! I know not wliy I have done this.' " And again — for these recollections are too precious that we should lose any of them — here is a truly repubhcan doctrine well expressed, " When a j^eople, advancing rapidly in civilization, and the knowledge of their rights, look back after a long lapse of time, and perceive how far the spirit of the then govern- ment has lagged behind them ; what then, I ask, is to be done by them in such a case ? What, but to pull the government up to the people ?" These extracts are pages from the history of his mind. They show how firmly seated were those opi- nions for which he was destined to shed his blood. Impressed on him in early youth, as well by the schoolmaster under whom lie was placed — a Kev. Mr. Lewis, who, though a Protestant minister, was dia- metrically opposed to the persecution of his Catholic brethren, and failed not to instill into the mind of his young charge those doctrines which he held himself — as well as the example of Brother Addis — these ideas of democracy, toleration, and republicanism grew into his mind with his growth. Everything he read or studied was looked on as an evidence for or against those cherished principles. In the Historical Society, notwithstanding that the utmost care was taken to exclude j^olitical topics, especially anything anxl everything which touched on those questions of the day, it was always easy for Emmet, by a digression or illustration, to bring Ireland vividly before them. " So exciting and pow- 212 erful," — we again quote Moore, who was an eye-wit- ness of tlieir effect — " in this respect were the speeches of Emmet, and so little were the most dis- tinguished speakers among our opponents able to cope with his eloquence, that the Board at length actually thought it right to send among us, a num of advanced staiiding in the University, and belonging to a former race of good speakers in the society, in order that he might answer the speeches of Emmet, and endeavor to obviate what they considered the mischievous impressions produced by them." During the st6rmy period of 1798, young Emmet had drawn upon himself the malignant vigilance of the govej-nment, as well, no doubt, by his family con- nections as his democratic rejDutation in college; which led to his and others being examined by Lord Clare — then vice-chancellor of the University — on a charge of spreading the doctrines of the United Irish Society within its sacred walls. In the repoi-t of the secret committee of the Irish House of Lords, this exten- sion of the conspiracy to the College is termed " A desperate project of the same faction to corrupt the youth of the country by introducing tlieir organized system of treason into the University." For these reasons, it was fonnd prudent that he should reside abroad during the suspension of the habeas corpus act. He fled to the continent, and after some time, proceeded to Paris, with the inten- tion of meeting some of the escaped chiefs of the preceding insurrection. With them he held consul- tation, and the scheme of another revolution was THE UNITED IRiSlIMEj^. gig set on foot. JSTapoleon favored the project: ana Emmet was assigned tlie dii'ectorsliip of the fresh attempt for the liberties of the poor old land. He returned to Dublin on the restoration of the habeas corpus act, but from prudential motives, and the more effectively to further his objects, lived in privacy at Harold's Cross, a village some two miles from the city, and on the road to the Dublin Moun- tains. Here he held his meetings with the men who still had hope in the cause. Here, from the golden- fountain of his eloquence, he poured into them new life and vigor, and with the force of his impetuous spirit, stirred the slumbering fire in their souls. He sent agents to various parts of the country, while he superintended the preparations in the city himself, which was to light the entire country anew. During the first four months of his labor nothing transpired to thwart ^le growth of the conspiracy, or endanger them in their preparations. All his portion of £2,500 he sacrificed to his enthusiasm in the national cause. His amiability and force of character won all who met him. Speaking of the soldiery in contradistinction to the people, he said truly that " A man does not necessarily acquire either superior courage or address from the color of his coat, and a soldier with a fixed bayonet has no advantage over a fierce peasant with a well- tempered pike. AhTiost every victory of modern times has been gained by coming to close action, and that mode, to which a well-regulated army is indebted for success, is as available to a determined band of freemen as to any hired troops in Europe." 21i 'ninety-eight and And again: *'As different animals have different modes of attack and defence, an insurgent army has a disciphne of its own, recom- mended by reason, and sanctioned by experience. With walled towns and close garrisons they have nothing to do ; the hills of the country serve them as places of retreat ; marshes, rivers, and lakes are their best bastions, while defiles afford them opportunities of attack, and woods and valleys serve them as places, of ambush. The face of nature solicits the oppressed to regain their freedom ; and certainly, no country on the globe has so many invitations to revolt as our own." In snch a manner, and by such striking argu- ments did he overpower the minds, and disperse the timidity, of his hearers. The principles which Emmet held were exactly the same as those held by Wolfe Tone. Like Tone, too, his energy was inex- haustibly great; and I believe that no man who reads the life of Emmet will fail to be struck with the irrepressible vigor with which he carried on his preparations ; now planning, now superintending his various depots and the manufacture of weapons. In one of these places he slept on a mattress on the floor, that he might be always present to oversee what was going on, to animate the workmen, or meet any emer- gency that might arise to demand his presence and example. His plot had been so adroitly managed, and the appearance of quiet so undisturbed in the city, that it was difficult to make the authorities believe that such a thing was in being, until on the 1-Ith of July, the anniversary of the French Revolution, when bonfires l^ilE UNITED IRISHMEN. ^15 were lighted in memory of tliat event, and people, as if imbued with its spirit, formed into groups in the streets and joined the festivity. On the 16th, the accidental blowing up of the powder depot, in Patrick street, further awakened the anxiety of the authorities. For the next seven days Emmet was scarcely out of the depot in Mar- shalsea Lane hurrying on preparations. In a rear house were about a dozen men at work, engaged in making cartridges, casting bullets, fabricating rock- ets, and forging and fashioning pike-heads. As an evidence of the earnestness with which he toiled and instilled life and purpose into those about him, we find his magazine to be rather formidable ; comprising 451bs of cannon powder, in bundles — eleven boxes of fine powder — one hundred bottles filled with powder, enveloped with musket balls, and covered with can- vas — two hundred and forty-six hand grenades, formed of ink-bottles, filled with powder, encircled with buck-shot — sixty-two thousand rounds of mus- ket ball cartridges — three bushels of musket balls — a quantity of tow mixed with tar and gunpowder, and other combustible matter, for throwing against wood- work, which, when ignited would cause an instanta- neous conflagration ; sky-rockets and other signals, &c., and false beams filled with combustibles, with not less than eight thousand pikes.* On the 23d July, 1803, the projected rising took place — but, alas ! the issue is too well known here * Madden's Life, p. 117. 210 ^J^INETY-EIGHT AND ^FOKTY-EIGHT. to need recounting. It is the man we have to look at. After the discomfiture of the insurgents, Emmet escaped to the mountains, where he was met by seve- ral leaders in tlie conspiracy to discuss and deter- mine future plans of operations. But the dream of the enthusiast was dissolved. He could not believe the reiteration of such sweeping promises of aid as left him in the position he was. He argued that as the government did not know their real state, it was best to remain still, and give the authorities a false notion of security, in order that they (the revolution- ists) might improve on a future opportunity. " Be cautious, be silent," he said, " and do not afford our enemies any ground for either tyranny or suspi cion ; but, above all, never forget that you are United Irishmen, sworn to promote the liberty of your country by all means in your power." After eluding the government for some time, he was arrested at Harold's Cross. An 'opportunity offered for his escope, but was put off by him for a few days — " Excuse my obstinacy, but there is one to whom I must bid an eternal farewell, before the terrors of government shall force me into exile." This one was Sarah Curran, the daughter of the celebrated orator and advocate. Emmet was tried and convicted, on the 19th of September, and luxnged on a temporary scaffold erected in Thomas street, nearly opposite St. Cathe- rine's Church, the next day. tSe united IRISH:^rEN". SlY His blood streaming through the open planks fell upon the pavement, where the dogs lapped it up. At the suggestion of a woman, the sentinels break in upon the repast of the brutes and hunt them off; while some dumb enthusiast, " prowling about the scaifold of his chief, seizes the opportunity, while the sentinel's back is turned, deftlj saps his kerchief in the blood, nervously thrusts it in his bosom, and huddles off as though his whole being was rolled ]'Ound the spotted rag. Thus died Robert Emmet. His speech in the dock is familiar through the school books of America. One, the closing passage, I shall alone intrude on : " I have but one request to ask at my departure from this world : it is the cliarity of its silence. Let no man write my epita}:»li ; for as no man who knows my motives dare now vindi- cate them, let not prejudice or ignorance asperse them. Let them rest in obscurity and peace, my memory be left in obli- vion, and my tomb remain uninscribed, until otlier men can do justice to my character. When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written. I have done."* * The names of the parties engaged in Emmet's conspiracy, were : — Thomaa Russell, Belfast; John Allen, Philip Long, Dublin, Thomas Wylde, John Hevey, Denis Lambert Redmond, and Nicholas Stafford, of Dublin ; Ilenry Wm. Hamilton, of Enniskillen ; William Dowdall, of Miillingar; M. Byrne and Nicholas Gray, of Wexford, the latter Bagnal Harvey's aide-de-camp at New Ross ; Colonel Lumm, Carthy, Thomas Trenahan, Thomas Frayne, and Michael Quigley, of Co. Kildare; Thomas Brangan, of Irishtown ; Alliburn, of Kilmacud, and Felix Rourke of Rathcoole, Co. Dublin ; James Hope of Templepatri^^k; Bernard Duggan of Tyrone; Edwai'd Kearney. Thomas Maxwell Roche, Owen Kirwan, James Byrne, John 10 218 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. Beggs, John Killen, John McCann^ Joseph Doran, Thomas Donclly^ Lawrence Begley, Nicliolas Tyrrdl., 2Iichael Kelly, John Hays, Henry Eawley, John Mcintosh, Patrick Maguire, Martin Bourke, Thomas Keenan, Malachy Delany, and the famous Michael Dwyer of Wicklow. Those printed in italics were hanged. Allen carved his way to a colonelcy and Brangan to a captaincy in the French ser- vice. Plowden (Vol. I., p. 213, Hist, since the Union), states that Denis Lambert Redmond, coal- factor, of 14 Coal Quay, Dublin, was respited. This is incorrect. Redmond was brouglit to trial October 5th, 1S03, and executed the following day on the Coal Quay. See Ridgeway's Report of State Trials of ISoS. A young man . named Walter Clare, who was arrested, tried, and found guilty, was respited. B A R N"- P L TJ X K E T t.i BAKON PLUNKET. 321 THE DEATH OF BAEOK PLUNKET. "Let us not ask of history, if man on the whole be yet become more purely moral." — J. Gottlieb Fichte. February, 1852 : — -ximid tlie trembling but clamo- rous jargon of monarchies, the flashing and crashing of Tnrkish cimeter and Muscovite lances on the Danube ; the rumbling echoes of the massacre at Sincpe, that, throbbing between the hills of Greece, and the Balkan uud Carpathian Mor nti *n.;^ reddened the Black Sea, startled from their ancient rest the classic gods of Crete and Ithaca, Euboea and Lesbos, the Cyclades and Scfo : thundered new and dire revelations to the soil of Patmos, which John the Prophet may not recognize in Heaven ; and is yet flinging restlessly through the cavernous hills of Em'ope — amid this clang and anger of massacre and war, and the more useless clangor of diplomacy, there is a faint, low sound of death, distinct from all the rest, wafted to us over the Atlantic. It cometh from the west of Europe ; from that isle called Ireland. Its monition is that of Death in Life, and that sound amid which it is convoyed is o^ I-lfe in Death. The former to the latter is, in its death-chill, 222 art an icicle to an iceberg, a mere frozen diop to a pyramid of water, a cataract entranced in massive ^•allor and awe-inspiring eloquence. It is a low, faint sound, as when a sickly infant uies, for he wliose death is feebly chronicled, had g«)ne back into his infantage, from which originally it were well, indeed, he had never issued forth. Yet i*" was the death-note of a voice that once shook senates, and sent indignation coursing through the souls of men, and held all eyes and ears as ready rponsors for the thoughts that he, among a crowd of gifted, had tlu gift to utter. Aye, that tongue which cjuld scarcely articulate a farewell to Life, spoke out its " Good-morrow " in so brave and bold a tone that generous echoes rose in every bosom to bid its owner \ 'elcome. But he tired his welcome out by half a century, and in so doing, betrayed the trust that God ajid his country had vouchsafed unto him; the genius, the eloquence, entrusted to him by the one ; the confidence, the hope, by the other. And the Lian who, in 1800, during the memorable debate on tlje Union of Ireland with England, stood up in the Irish Senate, and said : " For my part, I will I'esist i' (the Union) to the last gasp of my existence, and with the last drop of my blood ; and when I feel the h.>ur of my dissolution approaching, I will, like the f'Uher of Hannibal, take my children to the altar, and swear them to eternal hostility against the inva- G3rs of their country's freedom." The man who Raid this died " unanointed, unannealed," with the blessing of any true fellow-countryman ; for wdiatso- BAEON PLUNKET. 223 ever Irisliman that is true to him, lappeth up the blood of Emmet as the dogs did beneath his scaffold. Gather his children around the altar of his coun- try's wrong? Swear them to eternal hostility to the invaders of his country's freedom? Say, rather, that he devoured these offspring words, these glorious images of his brain, to qualify him for patronage and place, as Saturn devoured his own male cliil- dren to grasp the Titans' power. Aye, it is painful — perhaps, could we brook to admit it, humiliating, to utter such words of one, of whose intellect and eloquence, even we Irishmen well might be proud. We would not, if we could, pronounce them, nor could we, if we would, pronounce against him stronger than have his own actions. We do not judge him. He has long since sentenced himself, and this *' last gasp of his existence," which cometh over the wintry troubles of the ocean, but awakes us to the fact, and tells us, yet again, how forcibly it plays the liar to almost his first public breath. "^ William Conyngham Plunket lived fifty years too long. He should have died with the Irish Parlia- ment, wdiose inviolability he so vehemently defended. He should have died then in the body as he did in the soul. He would have taken a 23ure rejDutation with him, and have saved us from alluding to the debasement placed to his account on the page of his- tory, from that date to the 4th of January, 1854 ; when, imbecile in body and in mincl, with a softened brain, an extinguished intellect, he rolled, lightless and cheerless, from the English pension list into the 224: 'ninety- EIGHT AND 'fORTY-EIGIIT. grave. Aye, it comes to this — lie sold liis country to ]3urchase tlie tomb of a peer, and being in it, liath no more air than a beggar. Was the name of William Conyngham Plunket, " so stated in the bond " of the Legislative Union, that when Ireland had lost her freedom, he, too, should annex himself to England ? His inconsistency when he became a dabbler in the affairs of the " United Kingdom," in taking office under the Whigs and Tories, was less remarkable than his making fiery speeches against the govern- ment, and threatening " separation " in 1800, and in discharoina: a virulent and uncalled-for oration against Robert Emmet in 1803, only by the less remarkable nature of the occurrences in which he was an actor. Great falsity requires great fortitude to support it; and we mio;ht be somewhat startled at Mr. Plunket's courage in belying his anti-union speeches by his brutal exposition at the trial of Emmet, but that we are well aware under what a prospective shelter of government emolument and ease the actors on such occasions rest. The government encourages such praiseworthy bravery, especially on the part of a " patriot," and never fails to reward with a more ihan Irish generosity the Irish who exhibit it. Words come as easy to the diction-monger for that occasion as for this, and it recks little to a person of Plunket's mould, whether a nation is to lose its riglits to-daj, or its noblest soul, its Emmet, to-morrow, provided he is the popular man with the former, or BARON PLrNKET. 225 the j)aid man against the latter. Siicli a nature makes emohiment from one as from the other. The means may be different, and to most people, involve a serious distinction, but the end, which is eveiy- thing, is the same. Phmket played a bokl game, and he was deter- mined he would play it. It was William Conyng- ham Plunket, Barrister-at-law, but ex-Member of Parliament of famous anti-union memory, against his psist life, his associates, and all gamblers in ambi- tion : government adoption being the stakes. It would appear that the very existence of Plunket hung more upon the trial of Emmet, than did that of the prisoner, so determined was he to prove his loyalty to the crown, and his utter abhorrence and condemnation of " the centre, the life, blood, and soul of this atrocious conspiracy " at the bar. We can conceive of nothing more brutal than the desire to make this speech when its delivery was unneces- sary ; nor of anything more cold-blooded, audacious, and thoroughly abandoned than it when spoken. It was brutal in its conception; unnecessary, as the prisoner called no witnesses and made no defence: cold-blooded, that it attacked the motives of the pure, unspotted soal who confronted him ; audacious, that it so turned into ridicule his own previous parlia- mentary career ; and abandoned for these several reasons. It printed twelve pages of the report, while the Attorney-General's speech on opening the indict- ment occupied but nine. So desirous was he of 10- 226 " defending liis position " on the occasion, that lie out-prosecuted tlie Chief Prosecutor of Irehmd. The speech of the one, "in which," savs Dr. Madden,^ " the establislnuent of the prisoner's guilt seeined not to be a matter of more importance than the defence of the government from the appearance of a surprisal," has sunk into comparative oblivion, whi- ther Plunket's would have gone but that it wraps him round like the swathing of an Egyptian mummy, and preserves his infamy intact. ."The learned gentleman," says Emmet's biogra- pher, "commented on the evidence with extraordi- nary skill and precision, and brought home, at every sentence of it, guilt enough to have convicted twenty men, in the aw^ful situation of the prisoner." In almost the same words Barrington refers to the speech made three years previous on the other side of the question by Plunket He r-e!ers to it as " the ablest speech ever heard by any n-iember in that Parliament. ^ ^ ^ His language was irresistible. It was perfect in eloquence and unanswerable in rea- soning. ^ ^ -^ It was of great weight, and proved the eloquence, the sincerity, and the fortitude of the speaker.f "I do not hesitate to declare," silid Plunket, in a speech of great enthusiasm and brilliant invective, in 1800, " I do not hesitate to declare, that if the mad- ness of the revolutionist should tell me, ' You must sacrifice British connexion,' I would adhere to that * Life and Times of Robert Emmet, pp. 224, 234. t Rise and Fall of the Irish Nation, p. 4U4. BARON PLUNKET. 227 connexion in preference to tlie independence of my country ; but I have as little hesitation in saying, that if the wanton ambition of a minister should assault the freedom of Ireland, and compel me to the alternative, I would fling the connexion to the winds, and I would clasp the independence of my country to my heart." He '' hesitated " just as little in 1803, " to talk of the frantic desperation of the plan of any man who speculates upon the dissolution of that empire, whose glory and whose happiness depends upon its indissoluble connexion."* " I warn the ministers of this country against per- severing in their present system. Let them not pro- ceed to offer violence. to the settled principles, or to shake the settled loyalty of the country," said he. in 1800. f And when both the system, princi]3les, and "loyalty " of the country had been violently unset- tled, we find his evil heart exuding opinions in viru- lent anathema of Emmet and his associates thus, '' They forget to tell the people whom they address, that they have been enjoying the benefit of equal laws, by which the property, the person, and consti- tutional rights and privileges of every man were abundantly protected." In 1800 : " Let them (the ministers) not persist in the wicked and desperate doctrine," said he, " wdiich places British connexion in contradistinction to Irish Freedom ;" and when these " desperate doctrines " had been persisted in, and brought the " connexion * Speech in Prosecution of Emmet. t Speech in a debate on the Union, Jan. 16, 1800. Parliamentary Debates, 228 in conlmdistiDction to Irish Freedom ;'' lie said, "tliej (the revolutionists) have not pointed out a single instance of oppression. -^ * * * AYhat is it that anj' rational freedom could expect, and that this country were not fully and amph' in the possession ofT' In 1800, said he, *' If it should come " (his '' alter- native*' of an insurrection), "be the guilt of it on the heads of those who make it necessary^ And, in 1803, " A well-judging mind and a human heart would pause awhile, and stop upon the brink of his purpose, before he would hazard tlie peace of his country, by resorting to force for the establishment of his system." These parallel passages are not more startlingly conclusive of the speaker's treachery, than the pas- sage in which he alludes to the position of Emmet, is brutally suggestive of his own double nature. He seems to be fully aware that as he stings the patriot to the very foot of the scaffold, he is creating an official future for himself, and purchasing the yet unseen coronet for his brow, by " warning his deluded countrymen from persevering in the schemes " which he had anticipated the prisoner in promulgating. " When the prisoner reflected," said he, " that he had stooped from the honorable situation, in which his birth, talents, and education placed him, to debauch the minds of the lower orders of ignorant men, with the phantoms of liberty and equality, he must feel that it was an unworthy use of his talents. * * ■» ^ It was not for him (Mr. Phmket) to say, BAROK PLUKKET. M^3 wliat were the limits of the mere) of God, what a sincere repentence of those crimes might eifect ; but he did say, that if this unfortunate joung gentleman retained any of the seeds of humanity in his heart, or possessed any of those qualities which a virtuous education, in a libe^-al seminary, must have planted in his bosom, he will make atonement to his God and his country, by employing whatever time remains to liim, in warning his deluded countrymen from perse- verin^r in their schemes." He desio-nated the follow- ers of Emmet as " a blood-thirsty crew," incapable of listening to reason, or of '• obtaining rational free- dom, if such were wanting." " They call upon God to prosper their cause, as it is just," he concluded, " but as it is atrocious, wicked, and abominable, 1 most devoutly invoke that God to confound and over- whelm it." , Let us again contrast this with another extract from a speech, from which we have already drawn many figurative swords, and much platform patriot- ism. It is from the Hannibal Oration in the Irish Commons, and is such a damning " better-half" of the foregoing passage of advice to Robert Emmet, that we cannot retrain from quoting it : — • " I should be proud," said Mr. Plunket, " to think my name should be handed down to posterity, in the same roll with those disinterested patriots who successfully resisted the enemies of their country — successfully I trust it will be. In all events, I have my exceeding great reward. I shall bear in my heart the consciousness of having done my duty ; and in the liour of death, I shall not be haunted by the reflection of having basely 230 Rolfl, or meanly abandoned the liberties of my native land. Can every man who gives his vote this night on the other side, lay his hand upon his heart and make the same declaration ? I hope so ; it will be well for his own peace. The indignation and abhorrence of his countrymen will not accompany him through life, and the curses of his children will not follow him to his grave." And what is all this value for now ? what was it worth three years after ? Oh, iinmaciilate king's counsel, most pious crown- prosecutor, rebaptized loyalist! What? What, indeed, if it is not and was not just current commo- dity for the indignation, abhorrence", and curses, which, as you state, should follow the forsaker of his country's freedom to the grave. Extracting that passage into one of his works,^ Charles Phillips says, " Let us oidy fancy with what a kindling eye, and burning cheek, and throbbing heart, young Emmet must have bent over such a page as this." And Emmet himself is reported to have said in his speech in the dock, alluding to his prosecutor, " He it was from whose lips I first imbibed those principles and doctrines, which now, by their effects, drag me to my grave." Some discussion has been raised in doubt of Ennnet's using these words. It matters little as the fact is inviolable. If he did not, he could have spoken them. Their truth is worthy of him. Can any impartial mind ponder on such utterances * Curran and his Contemporariea. BAEON PLUNKET. 231 without sliuclderiiig over their foul malignity and traitorous cant. Some men have attempted to defend the position of Plunket on the trial of Emmet; but they were men who in themselves imitated all the faults of Plunket's career, and thereby com- pletely obscured what virtues they might originally have possessed. Men they were, like Richard Lalor Shell and Charles Phillips, both of whom found in the English treasury much more logical reasons for so doing, than could be afforded in the national oratory of either. All the sparks that fell from the metaphorical fire of Phillips' eloquence, are hid beneath the pile of ashes heaped on them by his subsequent career. The rainbow beauty of Sheil's more brilliant and purely oratorical visionings, is but a damp, cold mist. The sun that toiled aslant through it, and blended its light with the melody of the fountain, sank in a red glare of splendor behind those ever-looming hills of British influence and place; the fount still played, when it could not help itself, but never again did the natural light of heaven beget jewels in the spray. It is but justice to Shell to say, that his Sketch of " Lord Plunket " was written and appeared in 1822, long before he had subsided into an English member of Parliament, but also before he joined O'Connell in xhe then great national movement which took place in 1823. In his defence, he thinks it " quite natural and laudable " for Mr. Plunket, " that he should have seized the opportunity of reprobating, in the most emphatic terms, the visionary projects of 232 revolution that still prevailed." On what did Mn Shell base his ^conclusion as to Plunket's " quite natural" reprobation of revolution? Certainly not on the Anti-Union Speeches. What then ? Plunket's own avowal, made in an affidavit on J^ovember 23d, 1811, is to the effect that " he was then of opinion that it would be of some service to the public that this deponent should avail himself of the public opportunity of speaking to the evidence in said trial, by pointing out the foll}^ and wildness, as well as the wickedness of the treasonable conspi- racy."* Tiiough Phillips defended him, lie believed it to have been " a very unnecessary speech, as Emmet scarcely denied his guilt;" but ungenerously adds, after a few sentences, " undoubtedly, in its ardor and its ability, there was nothing left to the government to desire." Another laudatory biogra- pher of Plunketf is forced to condemn the "eager zeal" that — notwitl^standing both the Attorney and Solicitor Generals had declined making any remark — " assailed the sad enthusiast in the hour of his deepest suffering, on a theme of invective which might have been well spared." This speech, which has become famous by being so infamous, was made on the 19th September, 1803. Two months afterwards, on the ITth JSTovember, the speaker was gazetted as Solicitor-General; was made, in fact, that official whose duty he usurped on the trial. Any soul that was in him died then, and his body * Appendix to Life and Times of Eminet. + Dublin University Magazine, March, 1840. BARON^ 'pLUNKET. 23o lived on, and, in turn, became the tool of Eng land. "Was this his " alternative " against the " wanton ambition of a minister?" Was this tlie logician's resistance to the *' last drop of his blood ?" Was this the example of Hamilcar Plnnket, as Cobbet scof- fingly called him, "to his young Ilannibalsf Or did he look upon the arguments of Lord Castlereagh as " the madness of the revolutionist," and seal his connexion with England " in preference to the inde- pendence of his own country," to defeat, in a self-con- ciliatory manner, the schemes of that potent villain ? Was it so ? Or, was it that his brilliant intellect, rendered keen by cultivation, was but the jackal to his desires, and hunted up his prey with ingenious scent and nimble- footed invective, to satiate them? Was it that the saturnine temperament, which years brought promi- nently to the surface of his character, was padded over with youthful flesh, and lay embedded there, living, as a toad lives in a rock, to prove that nature was convulsed when it was first enclosed within its stony heart? Was it that he longed to flash that satire at a people, with which he could so ably demo- lish an individual? Was it that this man, who became famous for disconcerting and breaking up the arguments of Saint George Daly, during the Union Debate in the House of Commons, by a look, a " curled sneer," aspired to look down the Irish nation ? To each of these queries might be answered " doubtless." 234 'ninety-eight and Clasp the independence of his country to his heart! Ah, he should have said, in his jpocket ! for it is hut too evident, that from that receptacle his impulses became logically enthusiastic. Sheil tells us that Plunket's aristocratic leaning ever prevented him from becoming a " man of the people " — that in all matters between the people and the State, he sided with the latter. " He thought for the people, and not loith them," says Sheil. But his history, which is broadly written, shows that he thought for himself^ and with nobody else on the subject. The chief points of his complete career may be embraced in a paragraph, thus : Born at Fermanagh, in 1765, he graduated at Trinity College, adopted the profession of the law, and was called to the bar in 1788 ; was introduced, through Charlemont, into the Irish Parliament, and won a foremost rank the same year by oj^posiiig the Union. In 1803, he appeared as one of the Crown counsel at the trial of Robert Emmet, and also against all the rest of the patriots, with the exception of some four, and was made Solicitor-General. Joining Lord Grenville in 1805, he was made Irish Attorney- General in the Ministry of "All the Talents," and quitted office with them in 1807. In 1818, he was returned to the British Parliament for Dublin Uni- versity ; and appeared in the Imperial Parliament as extenuator of the pohcy of the Liverpool Cabinet. When the Marquis of Wellesley became Viceroy, in 1822, Mr. Pluiiket was again made Attorney-General, at the instance of Lord Castlereagh, who desired aid BARON PLrNKET. 23^ against Brougham and the "hollow friendship" of Canning. And when Canning, in 1827, became Premier, he elevated Plunket to the peerage as Baron Plnnket, offered him a seat in the cabinet, and the office of Master of the Bolls in England. The English bar refnsed to plead before him. So he was made Chief Jnstice of the Irish Conrt of Common Pleas, which he filled np to 1830. In 1829, he took a conspicnous part in the movement for Catholic Emancipation, in wliich the career of Lord Plunket in Parliament maj be said to have closed. On the accession of Earl Grey and the Whigs to power, in 1830, he was made Lord Chancellor for Ireland, which lie held until 1831:. He resumed this office in the following year, and retained it until 1841, when he was obliged to retire, with the pension of $4,000 per annum, to make way for Sir John, now Lord Campbell, the present Chief Justice of Eng- land. He died on the Irtli of January of the present year (1854). We ^ have had no squeamishness in dealing with Lord Plunket's actions. Some may say we have insulted his memory. Conld we respect it? Cer- tainly not, no more than we could the man who respects not the reasons we have shown for disres- pecting him. Others may say we have invaded tlie sanctity of the grave. History is not a grave, but tlie tombstone of the world, where all may read. ♦ This paper originally appeared in The Citizen, February ISth, 1854, which wiU amount for the recurrence of the editorial mt nosyllable — we. 236 We liave dealt witli history, witli tlionglits, and acts, which agitated the minds of onr grandsires ; with words and deeds, which will not, cannot lie still, from the restless uncertainty of their nature. It is well to stay tliose gibbering ghosts betimes. The dead body suffers not by it, nor doth it cheat the worm of a meal the less. Another may say he was a genius, and that we should respect the man whose intellect sheds lusti-e upon Ireland. We say he was greater, no doubt, than better men ; but we will never respect the intel- lect whose highest, or whose lowest gauge, is the sale of his country, even supposing that country not to be our own, and above all, when that sale is made in tlie court-room, where at the very moment the noblest patriot of that country is receiving the sentence of death. Apologists may be found for him, but among them shall we never be identified. We, who have looked to Emmet as the mariner looks to the Polar star, as a guidance and a monitor who might dictate, by his course, our path in search of truth and freedom on the troublous ocean of life ; we, who have panted to see our young countrymen emulate his purity, his enthusiasm, and his fortitude, as young Christians do, when poring over the book of martyrs ; we, who have read the same pages which inspired him, witli the addition of another half century of oppression and famine — we, who are of him, as legitimately as day grows out of darkness, or night from noon — we, who are but separated from lum bodily by the length EAEON PLUNKET. 237 of Plunket's infamy — by a short fifty years — a veriest grain of sand in tlie time-glass of the ages — can we act the Vandal in that sacred temple — the human heart, and level the inscribed tomb there f Can we deny the Godhead that as a man, we feel within ns, which recognizes in the young apostle of his country's free- dom the highest earthly attribute of divinity? ITo. It is not so easy as Lord Plunket's career might suggest. ISTor can that insatiable avengei-. Conscience^ be appeased with titles or traitorism. Horse-hair wigs cannot cover it, nor ermined gown mantle it to quiet. No covering can be a j^rotection, for the storm Cometh not from without, but is within, ever within, from the centre to the surface ; gnawing the one away until the other falls in, shrivelled, and gaunt, and thin, sensible to the slightest breath, and stabbed by every pointed finger. We would have given Plunhet copies of his great Anti-Union and Emmet sj)eeches to read on alternate days, to feed the devil of his conscience. While condemning with candor the manner in which he used his great intellect, it is not only the truth, but justice to say of it that which has been so often and so ably stated. He had a powerful and versatile genius. Whether we follow him through the intellectual ratiocination of metaphysics, as, with luminous ease, he explained, suggested, accumulated his thoughts to a final and comprehensive unravel- ling ; or whether, as a lawyer, we track his inge- nious sophistry through the resources of his easil}^- excited and self-suggesting powers, his untiring 238 energy, his excessive command of language, and his intricate applications which seemed a pastime, not a profession, to elucidate, " his satire," says Barring- ton, " was at times of that corroding, yet witty nature, that no patience could endure." Phillips sketched him as a "square-built, solitary, ascetic- looking person, pacing to and fro, his hands crossed behind his back, so apparently absoi'bed in self — the observer of all, yet the companion of none." JSlieil has given a very able analysis of his powers as an oi-ator in his Sketches of the Irish Bai\ to which we cannot make more than a reference. For some years Lord Plunket had been imbecile. His frame, like O'Connell's, had outworn the mind ; but on a late occasion, just previous to his death, and during one of those gleams of reason which fitfully visited his clouded intellect, he sought his papers, and destroyed a quantity of MSS. which he had, in his retirement, collected as a contribution towards a biography of himself. Did this gleam of sunshine reveal to bim, in one comprehensive group of years, the past? Did he again grow from childhood (the infancy of old age) to manhood, and feel its responsibilities withered ? Was it that conscience shook liim into a new life for an hour, that he might destroy the records of his years ? Or had he that sense of duty which Curran mapped out, when he said : "You, that propose to be the historian of yourself, go first aud trace out the boundary of your grave — stretch forth your BARON PLUNKET. 239 hand and toucli the stone tliat is to mark yonr head, and swear by tlie majesty of death thy.t your testimony shall be true, unwarped by prejudice, unbiased by favor, and unstained by malice ; so mayest thou be a witness not unworthy to be exam- ined before the awful tribunal of that after time, which cannot begin until you shall have been numbered with the dead." We will not dare imagine what filled that awful moment of reason. All is mystery ! DANIEL O'CONNELL AND JOHN MITOHEL. 11 241 AND MITCHEL. 243 DAE-IEL O'COTsTISrELL AND JOHN MITCHEL. Posterity treats men as men treat tliemseh'es. If a man lives for the world, thinking at the same time that he himself is the Alpha and Omega of it, he will not see in his excess of selfishness what must follow as a consequence : that his world will but live for him, and that when he dies his world is as before when he was born. If he is remembered, it is as a warning. If not, futurity will not miss him. The man who casts the light of his loving eyes and the warmth of a huge soul over and upon the heads of his less heated brethren, shall live in their thankfulness. The richness and fellowship engen- dered by his sun-soul shall be reflected on an equally large circle, which shall do likewise to its prc2^eny^ and thus the goodnesses of the true man live, and s"«.^iead over all time, with the romance of tradit'on and the heartiness of truth. He has truly lived foi man, and man lives for him. He makes man t reflex, or the component parts of hims'^lf ; and mei' live, and die, and bequeath to men those parts ; anc all, be it never so far distant from his time, by virtue of the unselfishness bred of his influence, are readj ';;o deliver up to his memory that part of which thej 244 were iiidivn'dnallj only as borrowers or care-takers, nourishing it in trust. The lives and misfortunes of true men make their persecutors and betrayers notorious ; — thus Arnold sliall paragraph a page with Washington, Louis JN^apoleon live with the w^orks of Victor Hugo, Gorgey for ever betray Kossuth, and Keynolds assas- sinate Lord Edward Fitzgerald. In like manner, great rivals preserve each other's memories ; and the greater the attraction of repulsion, the more indelible the marks chiselled on the tablets of histor3^ Althougl) O'Connell and Mitchel cannot truly be said to have been rivals, as the star of the former was sinking, if not sunk, wlien that of the latter arose ; yet, as the professed object of both was the same, and the means to attain it so deadly antagonis- tic, they certainly were, if age and time put personal rivalry out of the question, at least rivals in theory. Tbe difference was just this. For the attainment -of Irish nationality, O'Connell believed in the capa- city of his mouth ; Mitchel in that of the mouth of a cannon. And considering the effects of over ibrty years' experience of the former, it is much to be marvelled at, that no otlier man had courage suffi- cient to indicate a trial of the latter. But in sad, though honest t"ruth, O'Connell's wea- pon was a powerful one, not only exasperating by defiance, and making ridiculous by scorn, the ranks of Ireland's enemies, but humiliating by insinuations, and weakening by distrust, those wdio were, and those who could be her friends. O CONKELL AND MlTCHEL. 245 O'Connell was born in Keriy, on the 6th Angnst. 1775, and died at Genoa, on the 15th May, 1847. The future historian of Ireland will not find mucli to dwell on in tlie period embraced by those dates, although for the greater portion of it, the name of O'Connell, will boisterously battle for recognition. The lawyer, liowever, will be more prominent than the statesman; and some yet embryo Slieil will gloat over tlie materials for his chronicle of the Irish bar. The great points in O'Connell's career are three ; they are : — his entry into his profession, in Easter term, 1798, and his joining the "Lawyers' Corps" to aid the government to put down the United Irish- men — second, the Catholic Emancipation ; third, his attempt to put down Young Ireland. What his ideas of Irish nationality tended to, may be completely indicated, as they are embraced by his entrance into and exit from public life. He entered it with arms in his hands against the United Irishmen, and died in enmity with those wlio would imitate them." The title-page and "finis" of his life's volume were so far worthy of each other. Those facts should be engraved upon his tomb ; they are on a more lasting monument — History. " Catholic Emancipa- tion " can neither obliterate tlie first, nor palliate the last action ; nor should it. Emancipation did not free the popular tide, but placed a rock in its course which divided it. But for this, the people would have been irresistible. O'Connell became famous in the struggle, and from it carried such capital as lasted almost to the day of his death. Although ho 246 'kinety-eight and VoRTY-Eiaffi^ alone lias been awarded the gloiy of the strife, and worn its laurels, there was another whose eloquence gave him a position not second to that of his stalwart coadjutor : — that was Richard Lalor Shell, whose career I shall embrace here in a few digressive pages. One could scarcely find a better epitome of Richard Lalor Shell, both as regards his capacities and political career, than in liis famous speech in 1821, when he avowed the principle of petitioning Parliament, Mr. O'Connell being opposed to it. He attacked O'Connell with more brilliancy than bitter- ness, though with the very evident desire to sting. It is not a little remarkable, as carrying out the application of the following extract to both parties, to recollect that O'Connell afterwards became the very humblest petitioner, when Mr. Shell had ceased to petition, but enjoyed the favors of the British Gov ernment. Attacking O'Connell, Shell said : — " By i flexil)le accordance between his sense of duty and his love of popular praise, he served for some time to indicate the varieties of popular excitement. I should be loath to compare him to a sort of political vane, by whicli all the veerings of the breeze might be detenr.ined. -J^ * * -h- xi^q gentleman was certainly elevated in a very gaudy vehicle, embel- lished with every diversity of hue. He had risen with the shout of the multitude, and after throwing out all his ballast, and waving his green flag, he very skillfully adapted his course, in this serial voyage, to all the mutations of impulse which agitated the oVoNNELL AND MITCIIEL. 24? Stormy medium through which he passed, until at last, in attempting to rise into a still more lofty region, he has allowed the thin and combustible materials of his buoyancy to take fire, and comes tumbling down in a volume of fiery vapor." There was "manifest destiny" in this. It is Shell's career, so far as nationality to Ireland is concerned ; and that will ever be deeply concerned in conjunc- tion with the name of anj one who, like Slieil, makes snch a volcanic eruption into Irish j)olitics, and dis- appears, leaving the people of the new Hercnlaneum buried beneath its lava. The eruption was so short, so brilliant, so gushing, they were held entranced before they could escape it. Shell was born in Waterford, on the 16th August, 1791, and died at Florence, 26th April, 1851. He was thoroughly educated, first at his home by a French refugee, a clergyman ; next at Kensington House, Loudon, by the French Jesuits, who had, strangely enough, taken the Magdalen residence of a mistress of Charles the Second, and purified it into a home for Peres de la Foi; afterwards at Stoneyhurst in Lancashire; and lastly, in Trinity College, Dublin. His father being ruined by a speculation, Kichard flung himself upon his intellectual resources, and ov^ercame the temporary obstacles which stood in the way of his being admitted to the bar. To defray the necessary expenses, he wrote a tragedy — " Adelaide," ' — which, owing solely to the acting of Miss O'Keill, had some success. Not progressing as a lawyer, he again looked to the stage, having in the meantime 2^8 NINETY-EIGHT AND FOKTY-EIGHT. taken unto lilinself a wife, and produced " The Apos- tate " and " Bellamira," which, though excessively theatrical, and reljing chiefly on scenic effect, yielded him considerable funds. '' Evadne '' made its appearance in 1819, " which had a great run, and in which Miss O'Neil astonished London.""^ Shell entered political life as the mouthpiece of the Catholic aristocracy of Ireland. Although very young, he commanded a position among them, became the " observed of all observers," as a fire- cracker flung into a crowd, scatters them about to witness it jerk and fizzle and burn itself out. He ended the same and his mortal life, " looking," says Dr. Shelton Mackenzie, with a dubious idea of dig- nity in an Irish orator, " to his appointment as a dignified close to his public career " in the capacity of Minister to the petty court of Florence. Between these periods he was a notable man — a very notable man — and at one time the "t\\in leader" of the Irish Catholics, as Mr. W. Fagan, M. P., calls hiin in his memoirs of O'Connell. Meet- ing the latter at the house of a mutual friend, former differences were healed, and Shell was the first to flatter the ready ear of the other into action upon the " great project " which made them both so famous, and thus from this dinner j^arty in the County * This tragedy still holds the stage ; and la America it has found an able heroine m Mrs. Julia Dean Hayne. By his labors as a dramatist, Sheil realized £2,000. William Henry Curran, son of the great orator, has always received a share of the credit due to the authorship of the " Sketches of the Irish Bar," which appeared about this period ; l>ut Dr. Mackenzie, who had Sheil's authority, says that " the id«a originated " with the former, "but the execution was Slieil's." 2J:9 Wicklow, emanated the appeal to the Catholics of the countiy. Sheil's startling eloquence — its energetic denuncia- tion of wrong, rhetorical persuasiveness of right, rapid accunnihition of imagery, poetic sympathies, and nervous declamation — dazzled, as well it might, his hearers and readers. For "twins," the leaders of the Catholic movement had not the slightest family likeness. No two could well be more diffe- rent in form, size, power, and manner, than were Shell and O'Connell. One was as the commingled voices of the i-apids, lashing over the rocks and throwing up beautiful and brilliant spray in profuse diamonds; the other, in a word, the broad cataract. The mould and manner of each was typical of the individual power, and there could be no greater con- trast than iu the characteristics of the two : O'Con- nell, impassioned stolidity, if I may use the phrase ; Shell — small, slight, and nervons-looking — inspired restlessness. His speeches could not but be effective, for he combined the most exciting qualities of the French revolutionary and Irish schools of oratory. This combination grew out of Ijis enrly proficiency in the French tongue, and his natural Irish genius. What could stop or stay the fountain springing thence ? Certainly not an Irish audience, whose warm sympa- tiiies and indigenous excitability almost anticipate tlie words of any orator who speaks to them of their country. They bear the gifts and the consequences 11* f350 'ninety-eight and 'forty- eight. of an excitable, intellectual nation. They anticipate too much, and as a consequence vacillate accordingly. Yesterday they have anticipated to-day, and to-mor- row will be seeking that which they have anticipated ; thus are they seldom clearly with the present. They are ever before or behind the time. They leap at conclusions, such as believing that O'Connell had the ''Repeal of the Union" in his pocket, or that "he would lay his head on the block in six months" if he did not produce it. The orator thus purchases half a year's quietude, at the slight expense of the people's anticipation. They leaped with Shell through all his fiery ordeals of metaphor or exagge- ration, and, delighted to find a man who could out- excite their excitement (giving his own time), raised him to a dizzy height of popularity. From this heiglit — after working as he could wOik, after mak- ing that reputation on which he live.i to the day of his deatli, and for which he will live ^n history — after rousing as well the notabilities of England as the people of Ireland, and forcing them to acknowledge his genius, if not his cause, and di awing forth per- sonal attentions (deadening influences these to a mere orator), from dukes, lords, baronet.^, and the praises of even Jeremy Bentham — he fell into a seat in the English House of Commons, for tl e English borough of Milbourne Port, by favor and patxonage of my Lord Anglesea, in March, 1831 ; and became a mere Whig placeman. I have heard anecdotes of S ieil which in th& O CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 25l minds of some palliate tlie career wliicli all Irish nationalists much condemn. One of tliose, being wprojpos to O'Connell, I give. Soon after the release of O'Connell and the state prisoners in 1844, it was resolved in tlie Committee of the Kepeal Association to send a deputation to Shell, who had been counsel of John O'Connell, at the late state trials, to propose his accession to the ranks of Conciliation Hall. Mr. Doheny was named by Mr. O'Connell for the mission, and to him was confided a message to the effect that "he (O'Connell) would resign the leadership if Sheil would join them." Doheny went to London, sought Sheil at the Athenaeum Club House, and opened the nature of his mission to him. Sbeil immediately postponed anv reference to it save in the presence of his wife. l^ext morning tlie Eepeal deputy breakfasted with the family of the " iambic rhapsodist," as O'Connell called his twin emancipator ; when, Sheil stating to his wife the purpose of their guest, the matter was quickly discussed and closed. When Doheny delivered the " confidential mes- sage," Sheil laughed ontright, saying, " You do not know O'Connell—/ do !" He did not pretend to know what the opinion or purposes of others were; but this he knew, that if they meditated anything " O'Connell would crush them." He condemned O'Connell as intolerant — a great aristocrat — and said that if the Kepeal Associa- tion would go for separation from England, then he (Sheil) would be with it. S52 'NixiTY-KiGiiT an:) 'l-01?rY-EIGilT. The iiDbonuded joy wliicli followed the struggle so misunderstood and exaggerated — the Emancipation — was in no little manner ruinons to the futnre freedom of Ireland. Eninons, inasmuch as, in the first fit of popular intoxication, it placed nnlimited power in the hands of a man who could have worked out for himself and for his country, a brighter and a higher destin)^, had lie not been thus inopportunely and indiscreetly placed in an immature zenith of political leadership. In that struggle the wonderful and selfish sagacity, undeniable power, and pDlitical craft of Daniel O'Connell became manifest. He had a degraded people — degraded in having to deny their religion to preserve their lives and properties — to fashion to his purpose. He had to encounter in his enemies, power, dexterity, and daring ; yet, ere the contest w^as over, he outwitted the most cunning, and out- brazoned the most intolerant. He succeeded in deceiving his opponents, and of all the great qualities characteristic of the struggle, the most prized, was the " cunning of evasion," the influence of which has since paralyzed the country. He deceived his constituents also as well as his foes; broke up, when he had used, the forty- shilling freeholders' right of franchise — npon the powers of whicli he based his success — and flung the mantle of emancipation over the houseless hundreds of thousands sent wandering on the highways and byways by his consent. These poor forty-shilling freeholders were the parents of his powei- ; and he, like other, though un-Irish, sons. O'CONNELL i^ND MITCHEL. 253 who became conspicuous throiigli the endeavors and truthfulness of poor fathers— forgot the means of his being, and looked only to his own ends. O'Connell, a great tactician, knew that a success was needed to fix his position. He knew that in the clamor of a victory, the means or the sacrifices taken to achieve it woukl be fogotten. So he fought the "bloodless" battle, and sacrificed willingly the greater portion of the army, whose very muster-roll frightened the enemy. The clergy and middle classes — whose tongues, passionate from long experience of silence, or lialf- uttered disquietudes, were too eager to show the world the use they could make of them — talked the "Emancipator" into an impromptu immortality, cheered him with a frenzy that grew delighted with its own delusive exuberance, shouted themselves, if not O'Connell, into the actual belief that they were redeemed and disenthralled; and deduced from the recorded echoes of yesterday's clamor, the chief reason why they should continue, if not surpass it to-day. •In the self-created excitement, they forgot the past. Forgot, or seemed to forget the Protestants and Pres- byterians who died for them— the United Irishmen, whose lives were devoted to them upon a grander issue. The priests apparently forgot tliose of their own order, who left them the scaffold as well as the altar for a legacy, and sacrificed the glowing patriotism which they inherited, for the cold and sectional, but meretricicus political desires of the day. 25J It v/a3 not O'Conn ell's purpose to aid their memory. The giorj of the dead as well as the living created his jealousy and inspired him to silence. In the flush of insanity, the people styled him " Liberator," consigning to oblivion all those who had preceded him in the struggle for their national rights. They raised the giant hate and envy of the Protest- ants, wliich has since pi-oved to be the most enduring and stubborn connectino^-link with Enoi;land, and wliich John Mitchel, of all men of our generation, directed his energies most effectually to sunder. And to crown their madness, they reared up an annual tribute — put gold into the balance with his patriotism, gave up thinking for themselves, and paid him for being their j)rox3^ He was the retained lawyer of the Irish Catholics. It is superfluous to explain how unfortunate such a movement was for the future prospects of Ireland. An eagle is as much degraded in a golden as in an iron cage. They are both one to the bird. A cage is a cage ; and the ambitious pride of the natural monarch of the air becomes so mopish in its thral- dom, that at last, its movements are merely mecha- nical, occasionally fluttering its wings to attract jjas- sing attention, stooping for its carrion, or listlessly perched upon the dead and mamifactured branches ornamenting the centre of its prison. Such was O'Connell's fate. His o^randlv gifted O I/O intellect, which might have soared to immortality, was chained down with the golden bands which sophistry called a "tribute," His speeches, instead of being O'CONNELL AND MITCHEL. '2i>6 the natural instinct and inspiration of truth, tscame the efforts of tlie paid advocate : thej were the same old ditties, the " Clare Election," the "Heredi- tary Bondsmen," the " finest peasantry on the face of the earth," and " the base, bloody, and brutal Whigs," upon which he played numberless varia- tions, as he alone could, with staccato notes on " Scor- pion Stanley," on " the descendant of the impenitent thief who died upon the cross, D'Israeli," with andante-movements of late on the "Godless Colleges," and allegro passages on almost every public man and measure of his time. His new associations became periodical, and as a matter of course. In fact, his agitation had all the complexity, effect, and noise of mechanism : partaking, too, for a period, its perfec- tion, so far at least as the desire of the inventor was interested. His fluttering, his retirements, and his stooping for the carrion followed regularly. He was wound up like a clock, and had to strike to let all know he was there — keeping time for the " cause." His months went on like the gradations of the hours, heightening towards the twelfth, which was very loud, and gave notice of an approaching interest in number one. Thus it was, and the people, alas ! at a very late hour became undeceived. The career of O'Connell was as wonderful as it was deceptive.- He entered the British senate, stormed it till its ablest representatives listened in silence and awe to the " Irish Leader." He reared enemies on all sides, and frightened them by his audacity and skill. He contracted, and seemed to revel in^ thQ Vi 256 'ninety-eight and increasing opposition and distrust of the Protestants; while he fostered the sectionality of Catholicism. He begot societies with the fecundity of a rabbit; all of which •' were tried and found wanting," as Devin Eeilly said, " in everything but oratory, funds to pay for the same, and impoverished believers." He earned the steady watchfulness and opposition of the government : was more than once arrested for sedi- tion ; and became a public derai-god — an idol paid for putting his foot upon any one wlio had genius or daring enough to aspire to a place in the popular will. And lastly, started the "Loyal National Eepeal Association," built Conciliation Hall, and dazzled the adoiing people's eyes with the antagonistic mottoes ' Ireland for the Irish," — "God save the Queen." This last association looked so like a daguerreotype of its predecessors, that it met with but little success at first, and needs must have fallen still-born, were it not that O'Connell's audacity and wariness provoked the government to proscription, and a menace was held out by Lord Ebrington, that no one should be employed by the government who followed in his path. The government-hating and opposition-loving spirit of the land was aroused, and the Kepeal ranks and treasury at the same time were soon filled. But there was fast growing, both in strength and in the love and confidence of the countiy, a party wdio were soon destined to shed a o^lorv on their era — the nestlings who were soon to take wing, and soar untrammelled by any other will save that which Omnipotence endowed them with — "Young AND MITCHEL. 257 Ireland," whose name has since become world-wide, as synonymous with, genius, and whose enemies have been betrayed into rapture over the lyrical and oratorical passion that was distinctly heard even amid the more practical agony of Europe in the rage of revolution. It was not long before the members of this party showed a growing spirit of antagonism to the usual hum-drum proceedings of " the Hall." They were young spirits, full of enthusiasm and sincerity ; believing .in self-reliance, and a glorious deliverance. They had no cant, no duplicity, no cliicaner}^ Bursting with love, genius, and energy, they could not brook silence when Truth demanded utterance. When dissimulation was visible, they would crush it fearlessly, no matter w^ho the dissem- bler. After the God of Life — Honor and Justice, were their household deities. This party had an organ characterized by all those qualities for. which they were celebrated — " The I^ation " — the publica- tion of which marked a new era in the history of Ire- land. The talent of that journal — tlie combined energies of the Young Ireland party — soon raised it to such a jDinnacle in Ireland, that it argued a down- right ignorance, and Avant of appreciation of lite- rature, to be without it : nor did its real merits or reputation stay until it was second to no literary or political journal of Europe, at the same time that it was steadily rearing a transatlantic fame. The founder of this party, and the first who "dared" to cross the path of O'Connell, was the young and gifted Thomas Davis, by far the greatest 258 man of the day, of his own or any other party in Ire- land. It seemed as if the combined worth of the party was centred in him, and he toiled with gigantic efforts, as if he knew it. At one of the re-unions of the party at tlie house of Thomas Mac^evin, an accomplished scholar, forcible writer, and brilliant orator, the series of works widely known as the " Library of Ireland," was pro- jected and determined upon. Whatever of gran- deur and greatness there was in the land — its poetry, its legends, the lives of its men of piety, learning, and distinction — the annals of its wars and soldiers — its struggles and its martyrs — all that was national and instructive — the scenery aad resources — rivers and ruins from Donegal to Kerry, from the isles of Achill to Ben Heder — was to be illustrated, and presented in a cheap yet worthy form to the people. The series were issued monthly, and ran to twenty- two volumes. Some of them had a remarkable suc- cess, remarkable so far that it w^as proven that works of a truly national character were seized with avidity and heartily welcomed by the people. As a means of educating the country, the value of the chief volumes, cannot be over-estimated. Scarcely, however, had the work received sure promise of success, than an attendant shadow followed the light which shone upon the land. A deep and sudden gloom swept over it, in the death of that active and ever-restless spirit who had insj)ired so much faith and purpose into his comrades. Mozart died finishing the requiem that was first S59 destined to chant over its creator, and then to enchant creation. De Lisle wrote tlie cliant that conducted him to the scaffold ; and which then became and since remained the war-cry of his nation — the Marseillaise Tasso lived long, yet died only when appreciated — the blithe notes of Fame singing him out of the world, with the laurels on his brow for a death-chaplet. And Thomas Davis fled from the earth when he had created a spirit and fostered an appreciation that could weep tears of blood for his loss. The genius of the ablest and best, as well as the sympathies of the people, hovered over and took a sad inspiration from his grave. Kichard D'Alton Williams, Samuel Ferguson, Francis Davis ("The Belfast Man,") J. De Jean Ffraser, Fisher Murray, Martin Mac Dermott, Charles Gavan Duffy, and others, wove his virtues and his life into loving strands of melodious mourning and lamentation : there was no voice, save of sorrow in the Association. " I am deeply afflicted at that loss, and Ireland has cause to mourn it," said O'Connell. " With him," wrote Smith O'Brien, "Love of country was more than a sentiment — more than a principle of duty. It was the absorbing passion of his life — the motive of every action — the foundation of every feeling." " He struck living fire from inert wayside stones," said Michael Doheny, " To him the meanest rill, the rugged mountain, the barren waste, the rudest frag- ment of barbaric history, spoke the language of ele- vation, harmony, and hope." And in that Hall, into the affairs and purposes of which Davis infused 260 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. so Diucli vigor and cutliusiasrn, the future orator, Meaglier — as the knights of old before going forth to uphold the living, devoted the night previous to the ^ead — gave the first promise of his devotion to the country, in a tribute to its lost organizer. "His ser- vices," said Meagher, '* excited the j^outh. of the country to generous purposes and lofty deeds, and consoled the old patriots in their progress to the grave." Taking hope from the generous sentiments and liberal views of the dead, which incited Union amongst Irishmen, and looking forward for the con- summation of his desires, the eulogist concluded by picturing at once the indebtedness and duty of the liberated land to Davis, thus: "In the day of vie-, tory, towards which he had often looked with a panting heart and a glowing soul, they will beckon us to the grave, bid us pluck a laurel from the nation's brow, and plant it on his tomb." The public journals of every shade of opinion — those that could not agree with his full and decided views, and those that completely differed with him and his party — rivalled each other in doing justice to his character and talents. One of the former, while admitting that "he often ventured to differ from the Liberator," thought it scarcely possible " to enume- rate the many services he rendered his country."* Of the latter, one exhalted his *' patriotism as a citizen — h-is acquirements as a scholar — his influence as a writer ;"f and another, the chief Tory organ, enqmr- * Dublin "Freeman's Journal," 17th Sept., 1845. "f Publin " Evenuig Post," 18tli Sept., 1845. O OONNELL AND MITCHEL. 261 ing—'' Why siiould not the grave suspend, at least, onr political animosities," when " deatli levels all dis- tinctions?" tlius made room in its columns to recounc tlie " vigor of intellect, * * intense sincerity, and unflinching boldness, the learning and science,"* that characterized his life and efforts. The death of a great opponent, as of a great friend, is a deep loss ; for in tlie grave of the one, not less tlian that of tlie other, are buried much hearty im petus and inspiration to intellectual labor. On the 1st October, 1845, the fourth volume of the " Library of Ireland " made its appearance, and brouglit prominently before the public the master nn'nd of Irish patriotism in this generation. The volume was the life of the great Ulster chief and statesman, Aodh O'J^eill, and the author, John Mit- cliel. In this book and its author Davis was deeply interested. He looked upon both as the ablest and most serviceable contribution to Ireland. I have read many letters from him to the author, during the pi-ogress of the work, all full of friendship and suggestion, which were dearly cherished, and ex- pectation which was nobly redeemed by the re- ceiver. On the fresh grave of his "dear friend," Mitchel placed the first fruits of his passionate devo- tion, his tierce calmness, his deep research, his analy- tical humor. The work was dedicated, with " deep reverence," to the memory of Davis, and remains as it; is likely to do, the most enduring monument to ♦ Dublin " Evening Mail," 17th September, 1846. ^62 Iiim. It is the connecting link between the two greatest Irishmen of our day. Mitchel was born at Diingiven, County Deny, Ulster, in tlie year 1816. His latlier was a distin- guished Unitarian minister, and — as his son boasted to O'Connell on the memorable 13th July, 181:6*— a United Irishman. His mother, who still lives to behold her son's reputation, and of wliom it may be said, as of the mother of the Gracchi, that in her chiidi-en she beholds her greatest treasui-es — was a Miss Haslett, of Deny. While 3'et young his parents removed to Newry, where the boy received the rudi- ments of an excellent education; he afterwai'ds en- tered Trinity College, Dublin, and graduated with several honors, as Bachelor of Arts. One of those who combine all the resistless assi- duity of the student, with the more decided charac- teristics, both of speech and action, which make the revolutionist — Mitchel is a man who grasps almost intuitively, and while he absorbs knowledge, sifts, discards, combines and arranges it, as the character and truth of the study has an affinity with his intel- lect. It is thus that law, theolog^^, philosophy, metaphysics, history, political economy, Greek, Ro- man and English classics, and the vexed and com- plex story of Ireland pouring round him from its Jiundred chronicles, seem respectively to have com- manded his particular study. This variety does not detract from the profundity of his knowledge, but, See speedi of Mitchel, in Conciliation Hall, of this datOb O CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 26^ on tlie conti-arj, liis brain, like the sea, is made Btroiiger hy every stream. He is the least pretentious, or (as the phrase goes) " showy " public or literary man I have ever met, for the reason that the river makes less noise than the rapids. Any one who visits IS^iagara may hear more clamor in a da}^ than he would catch on the ocean in a summer. Mitchel ^\as orio^inallv intended for the church, but he became an attorney, and began life as partner in a law iirm in Banbi-idge. Of the period of his apprenticeship to the law there is an episode, the happy effects of which will forever keep it smiling through the story of his early life. It is that episode in every man's life which niakes or unmakes him — • his choice of a life-partner. Mitchel's was of a pecu- liarly romantic nature, ending in an elopement, when not quite twenty years old, with Miss Jane Yerner, wliose rare personal attractions but indicated the gentle beauty of her nature ; and wdiose heroic forti- tude, and relentless, though womanly dignity, under tlie trying circumstances attending her husband's career, will inspire some future poet to steal her name and virtues from the page of past history to ffive a soul and a character to romance. Mitchel had joined tlie Kepeal ranks in May, 1843, but still resided in Banbridge, engaged in an already lucrative business as a lawyer. The publication of his " Aodh O'Xeill," however, at once made his reputation as a writer. From this day his power was felt. Yery soon he was induced to quit the North and assume the position left vacant by the 264 'ninety -ETCrllT AND death of Davis — that of chief writer on the " Xatioii :" and ahiiost at the same time Deviii Eeilly became a contributor to its columns. Althougli the nucleus of the party had been for some time in existence, and numbered many able men in its coterie before Mit- chel came to Dublin, he had scarcely set foot per- manently among them until he became the leading thinker of the band. He had scarcely set foot in the editorial office of the " E'ation " when his steps shook the Castle. Almost instantaneously the presence of a fresh and able mind was discovered in the councils of the nationalists ; and but a few weeks sufficed to draw down the wrath of the government. Kailroad speculations were engaging the attention of the rich and the reckless ; famine was harassing the stomachs of the poor. The former were looking for bills, the latter for bread ; and there was much clamor about stocks and starvation, when the gov- ernment of Sir Kobert Peel thought tit, through its oi"g:ans, to hold out threats of coercion. In the rail- ways Peel beheld the panacea for Irish disquietude. " Law must be vindicated and sedition crushed," cries one of his oi'gans,* while another congratulates the administration on the ready means, and, looking to the Irish railways, exclaims : " Every part of Ire- land will soon be within six hours of the garrison of Dublin."t Mitchel took up the gauntlet thus thrown down. He welcomed the threats with the words : " It is * " London Morning Herald." t " Loudon Standard." 265 good for us that the instinctive insolence of our enemies should sometimes recal ns to onr sober senses." He welcomed the coercive acts of govern- ment, believing that external violence would only consolidate the purposes of the country ; and as for tlie railways, he conld make as good use of them as the government. Reminding the latter and the people how the Hollnnders prevented the advance of French armies into their country by opening the embankments, and admitting the sea; how, "in one day, those fertile plains, with all their waving corn, were a portion of the stormy German Ocean," he deduced the fact that people might sacrifice the rail- roads to their patriotism. They were "inconceiv- ably valuable " for commercial purposes, but for the transport of invading armies they could well be dis- pensed with. If they were valuable to a government, they miglit be made above all price to a rising people. In a few clear sentences he showed how in one night every railroad within five miles of Dublin could be cut off from the interior ; that the materials, " good hammered iron and wooden sleepers," were useful "in other lines than assisting locomotion;" "that troops on march by rail might be conveniently met with in divers places," and concluded in the belief that " Ilofer, with his Tyroleans, could hardly desire a deadlier ambush than the brinks of a deep cutting upon a railway. Imagine a few hundred men lying in wait upon such a spot, with masses of rock and trunks of trees ready to roll down — and a train or two advancing with a regiment of infantry, and the 12 266 engine panting near and nearer, till the polished studs of brass on its front are distinguishable, and its name may nearly be read ; ' Now, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ! — now ' " Bnt 'tis a dream. ]^o enemy will dare put us to realize these scenes. Yet, let all understand what a railway may and what it may not do."* The " Xation " was prosecuted for this reply to the Government, but the trial did not take place until June, IT, of the following year. The venerable Robert Holmes, as counsel for tlie defense, made a veiy powerful speech, the most remarkable feature of which was the detailed ac- count, based on English law authorities, such as Sir John Davies, Chief Justice Yaughan, Lord Mans- iield and Blackstone, showing that according to the English reading, Ireland did not possess a shadow of the true j^rinciple of freedom. He defied any consti- tutional lawyer to deny the fact. He showed that certain cases cited by the Attorney-General on the law of libel, were thoroughly irrelevant to the present issue, as they j)ertained to England; drew- a forcible picture of the state of the country, justified the pub- lication of the article, as a necessary consequence of the government publications and threats, and argued on constitutional grounds that, as " insurrection against lawful authority was rebellion, and to excite to it, sedition; so resistance to oppression was not rebel- * " Nation " Nov. 22, 1845. O CONKELL AND MITCfiEL. 20? lion, nor to teach a people the means of successfully resisting oppression, sedition." After a clear, bold, and eloquent effort, in which he appeared more the accuser of the crown than the defender of his client, he called on the jury for a verdict of acquittal, " not as the boon of mercy — not as the safety valve of doubt, but as the clear, unequivocal, decisive expres- sion of their regard for the rights of nature, and the cause for which ' Wallace fought and Hampden bled.' " It was a noble sight to see that old man, t^he memories of '82 and '98 and 1803 conjured up by his presence at any time, but vividly suggested by the peculiarity of his position then, coming forth, with the ashes of his martyred kinsmen and friends upon him, to sanctify sedition by illumining it with the spirit of the past. " We thought we heard the blood of Emmet crying aloud from the ground f said Mitchel : "His catalogue of England's crimes, sounded like the accusing voice of our dead patriots and martyrs, saying to us — 'Awake ! arise ; or be for ever fallen.' " The Chief Justice, in charging the jury, desired them to dismiss from their minds the impressions left by Holmes' address — " an addi-ess," he added, "which has never been surpassed in a court of jus- tice." As it was not the desire of the bench " to control " but " to assist " the jurors, he would say that the publication in question was a seditious libel, and proceeded at some length to " assist " their convic- tions into his own belief. The jury, however, dis- 268 NINETY-EIGHT AND agreed ; and being locked up all night and continuing to disagree all next day were discharged at three in tlie afternoon. This was a triumph for Young Ireland because for the " Xation," which, notwithstanding its good effect on the country, was not received by Conciliation Hall with even a favorably disguised silence. The " Young " and the " Old " were watchful of each other. The latter, rocked in the cradle of, made idlers by, having hopes only from, and grown pre- maturely grey in, the routine of useless agitations, had not sufficient talent to hide the conscious roguery of their movements and anticipations. The former, young, educated, and chivalrous, had joined the ranks of what they believed a national party, not to temporize on the repntation of that party, not to wheedle the people and fawn upon the officials, not to enter on a series of misei-able concessions which degraded the receivers while they did not weaken the government — and were naturally jealous of the character of the associates and the Association, among whom and into which their naturall}^ honest and. high-toned impulses led them. ^rationality was the trade of the one — the dream of the other. The " Old " lived by it ; the " Young " lived for it. It was the platform of the former; it might be tlie scaffold of the latter. The old O'Connellite party, from time to time, began to feel the power and the evident determina- tion of the younger and more intelligent body. There had been many differences between them. 269 Mr. Smith O'Brien, who had joined the Eepeal ranks in the excitable times of 18-13, during the period of the State Trials, sided with the young party, not through any premeditated desire, but purely from expressing himself in favor of "education, self-re- liance, organization and progress." The Young Ire- landers saw it was necessary to curtail the expenses with which Conciliation Hall was wantonly beset, by a lot of sinecure emj^loyments, and took an oppor- tunity of so doing at a time when O'Connell was absent at Deri-ynane. They continued their efforts w4ien he came to town, and so differences arose in committee. On one of these occasions, matters were pushed to a division. O'Connell was in the chair, when the votes stood, the Reforming party twenty- three, the O'Connellite twenty-two. " Here O'Con- nell assumed the right to give two votes, one as member, which made the numbers equal, and a casting vote as chairman."* It was without pre- cedent, and its unfairness is palpable to all. There was a bitter quarrel, also, on a discussion of the Col- leges Bill, which proposed a system of mixed edu- cation, which would be most beneficial to Ireland, inasmuch as by it the youth of the land would be reared free from the bigotry which a separate and sectional education instils into tlie young mind, and which it is impossible thoroughly to eradicate. It was denounced by extreme bigots as " godless," and in '• opposition to Scripture." Some Protestants, * Vide Mr. Doheny's " Felon's Track," p. 84. 270 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. and one Catholic bigot, joined on this ground. The Young Irelanders were in favor of education, sup- ported it, and argued its necessity. Mr. O'Connell would have " new colleges, purely Catholic, and entirely under the control of the Catholic Bishops," and was " against mixed education." The success of the " Nation," which, while it ever upheld O'Connell as the Irish leader, also held itself independent, was at once a warning and a matter of jealousy to the ^' Hall.". The speech of Mr. Holmes, too, and the eclat which instantaneously greeted it, came at a time calculated to hurry on the differences existing between the men of action and the agitators. On the Monday (June 15th), previous to the trial, Meagher, by levelling a thunderbolt at the Whigs, had created the greatest excitement in the Hall. It was a bold experiment and a successful one — as suc- cessful as it was dai-ing. In England, political excitement ran high. There was defection in the ranks of the Tories. The Pro^ tectionists, under Lord George Bentinck and Benja- min D'Israeli, had seceded from Sir Robert Peel. Owing to this defection, and the visible ^veakness of the government party, the accession of the Whigs to office was confidently looked to. The introduction into the House of Commons of the Irish Coercion Bill, gave them an opportunity for a general break up. On the second i-eading (June 5th), the Protec- tionists, as well as the chief members of the Whi^r party, opposed the coercive measures of the govern- ment ; but on totally different grounds. O^CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 271 The former were well disposed to the measure, but, anxious to revenge themselves on Peel for his declaration respecting the repeal of the corn- laws and the opening of the ports, pretended a dis- belief in the sincere motives of the government in desiring to carry it. Lord Bentinck, after reviewing the state of Ireland, and showing that the offences to be met by the bill had lessened twenty per cent. ; that in the postponement of the bill from the month of January to the middle of June, but poor evidence of its necessity was exhibited ; concluded by stating it as a " mockery and an insult to both parties in Ire- land, to brandish before their eyes a measure which it is never intended to carry into effect," — and be- lieved that the "sooner they kicked out the bill, and w^itli it her majesty's ministers, the better." D'Israeli supported Bentinck in a bitter speech against Peel, in which he charged him with having got into power by professing opinions contrary to those which he now sought to force on the country. He believed that IN'emesis regulated the division that had taken place, and " was then about to stamp, with the seal of parliamentaiy reprobation, the catastrophe of a sinister career." The Whigs, on the other hand, opposed the gov- ernment by making a display of feeling towards Ireland. "Do not," said Lord John Kussell, "let the people of Ireland believe that you have no sym- pathy with their afflictions — no care for their wrongs ;" and, following up this key-note, strained every nerve to form a coalition with the Irish Kepeal 272 members. O'Connell fell into the trap, so far as to compliment Russell, by feeling "deeply gratified" at his course. It was evident that the Tory adminis- tration would fall, and scarcely less so that the Whigs would succeed ; and with their accession were coupled rumors of repeal combination and action therewith. It was at this juncture that Meagher made the speech alluded to in the Hall. He flung back the sym- pathy as well as the promises of redress held out by the Whig leaders. Whig and Tory were all one to him — all one to Ireland. '• Whatever statesmen rule the empire — whatever policy may prevail, the prin- ciples of this Association shall remain inviolate." " I state this boldly," he said, " for the suspicion is abroad that the national cause will be sacrificed to Whig supremacy, and that the people, who are now striding on to freedom, will be purchased back into factious vassalage. The Whigs calculate upon your apostacy, the Conservatives predict it." He re- proached the people with having been too long the "credulous menials of English liberalism." "The aristocrat of Bedford," he cried, " marshalled you against the plebeian of Tam worth, when you should have lifted up a distinct flag and have marched against them both." He gave a scathing review of the Whigs ; held out a brilliantly satirical programme to those who would agitate for their ascendancy, and pictared the great onus resting on O'Connell, by adroitly asking the people if it was for such ends they " gathered in thousands round the hill of Tara> O'CONNELL AND MITOHEL. 273 and liailed their leader upon tli^ rath of Mullagh- mort, as the Eoraans did Rienzi in the Palace of the CapitoL" His M^ords created tlie highest enthusiasm — he was applauded to the echo, and, feeling the 23ulse of the people riglit, he exclaimed: "I should not pursue this strain, knowing as I do, your deter- mination — knowing that you would repel the man who, in this Hal], would vote a compromise, and beat down the traitor, whoever he might be." Loud cheers of approval sounded the tocsin of war. Immediately on Mr. Meagher's conclusion, Mr. Thomas Steele rose in condemnation of the address. Poor Steele, who joined to considerable scientific attainments anything but a mathematical precision of speech, was deserving of a much better fate than that to which a veneration, only not sacrilegious, be- cause so stupid, for O'Connell destined him. Origin- ally a man of means and mind, the waters of agitation had swamped the one, and so diluted the other as scarcely to leave a trace of common sense. O'Con- nell had nicknamed him into sundry oflQces, and the old man gloried in being recognised as " O'Connell's Head Repeal Warden ;" the " Head pacificator of the Liberator of his country," etc. That he was honest his wretched poverty too plainly and sadly told ; but that he had become incapable of anything save watching the by-play of his leader, and giving the word to " cheer " was equally plain. Agitation was necessary to his existence, broken in fortune and hopes as it was. He fancied he was doing good, which fiction must be recorded to his honor; and 274 when O'Coiinell died, and Young Ireland was trinm- pliant, there being notliing for him to do, lie facili- tated his death by flinging himself into the Thames. It is impossible to view liis career without pity. He liad I'uined himself in forwarding the fortunes of the O'Connells, .^nd from them could not claim even a death-bed. At the period of which I speak, Mr. Steele was much broken down in everything save rhodomontade. He was, to borrow for the nonce somewhat of his style, a mere rhetorical wreck of an originally bombastic paragraph. He thought Meagher's address " not at all respect- ful to the Irish repealers and to O'Connell, their leader." He immediately put Meagher into the balance with O'Connell, and did not require the counsel of the former. He eulogized the "prophetic sapience " of the latter, whom he characterized as the "lay pontiff" of Catholicity — tlie " dareful champion of freedom " — " the august and almost sanctified peaceful moral force revolutionist." A debate was thus opened in w^hich several participated. Meagher had touched the sensitive spot. Kichard O'Gorman, considering that the time demanded it. took occasion to refer to the suspicions abroad, and followed up by asking if they should be content in being the "hangers-on of an English party," or to " rest on the fulfillment of their promises for our hopes of reward." M. J. Barry reminded the Association that he, in the previous week had spoken in substance nearly as Meagher had done that day, and that it was not t^ken O'CONITELL AND MITCHEL. 275 m an insult. He could nat see that it was insultin o to O'Connell to proclaim that we had nothing to do with Whiggeiy." Mitchel, in a short but vigorous speech, supported Meagher. He thought it was tlie time, the day, the hour to enunciate sucli principles; and in defending the "^Nation " from the attacks of a previous speaker, and while repelling the rumors against O'Connell, rendered their open denial bj that gentleman a neces- sity. " There were rumors and there are rumors (said lie), that a compact of some kind was to be made with these Whigs. The ' Nation,' to which one gentleman referred, found it stated in number after number of the 'Evening Mail,' that Mr. O'Connell said at a meeting at Lord John Kussell's, that ' all he ever wished Avas a real union;' and the 'Nation,' as a newspaper, professing Repeal principles, finding that audacious calumny in circulation, mentioned it merely to deny it — to deny it on the ground that no Repealer could use such language. The ' Nation ' was right in denying this. I feel quite safe for one in denying it ; for if such language could be held by Mr. O'Connell — if any overture could be made by him for a compact with any English faction whatever — if we were now to give any facility, directly or indirectly, to the government of this country by Whig or Tory — then this Asso- ciation commits suicide, abandons the principle which reared these walls around us — the principle that Ireland is entitled to govern herself, and shall govern herself. No, sir, the business of this Association is to take good care that Ireland, which was the ' chief difficulty ' to the Tories, shall become an utter impos- sibility to the Whigs." He believed — and many others also believed — that in the then attitude of the Repeal agitation, if the 276 'ninety-eight and fokty-eight. necessary exertion was made, tl:e goveriiinent of tho country by England was impracticable. He con- cluded by saying : — "If the Repeal Association is to enter into compacts once more Avith factions, who will use us while they despise us ? then, sir, the best thing we can do is to shut up this Hall, to lock that door, to go home to our respective business, and for ever here- after to hang down our heads when men speak of honor, or patriotism, or truth." Following this scene, with but a day's intermission, Holmes' forcible speech was not very welcome to the Hall. It was too bold for the agitators, but gave cheer to the younger spirits. On the next meeting at the Hall (June 22d), the discussion between " Young '' and " Old " Ireland was resumed. A letter was read from O'Connell in Lon- don, in which he spoke of the efforts " made by our juvenile members to create dissension." The speakers on the previous occasion reiterated their sentiments on this, and repudiated the idea that they desired to create dissension. Mr. Doheny was pre- sent, and took his stand with the reviled party. He declared himself opposed to Whig and Tory, and to any connexion with either. Some wretched tools of O'Connell sheltering themselves beneath that gentle- man's letter, proceeded in stupidly laborious speeches to infuse much ill-feeling into the meeting. Kone of these people kept within the point at issue. They all raised a cry of treason to the Liberator, not- with which Mitchel, O CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 27? Meagher, O'Gonnan, Dolieny, and others stated their feelings and position. The object was plain. The jackal agitators were instructed to goad and hunt the prey up to the lion's paw^ — to make the quarrel worth O'Con- nell's w^hile to put it down. In the tirades of these knaves and slaves — whom I shall leave in the name- less obscurity from which they rose, and into which they have fallen — low clap-trap took the place of capacity, personal alnise became political analysis, and voluminous vulgarity revelled with the aspira- tions, though unrecognized, of ready wit. Now, one of the most turgid praised " the brilliant and hospi- table court of the Marquis of Normanby," and another, the most presumptuous and elaborately abu- sive, complimented the talent of Young Ireland, then defended the Whigs, again abused the latter and attacked the former with personalities ; but all wound up with professions, that under any govern- ment. Whig or Torv, the cause of Eepeal would not be abandoned or compromised. While they were forced to make this profession, which the Young Irelanders evoked from them, they attempted to cast odium on the upholders of the very principle under the shadow^ of which they could only find popular refuge. I have given at some length, considering the scope of the work, a view of the state of party and opinion at the beginning of open diiferences between the agi- tators and the men of action in the national councils. We shall soon see if the warning of the latter v/»^ 278 necessary to tlie country, and if the former were truckling or meant to truckle with the Wliigs. On June the 25tli, the government was defeated on the second reading of the coercion bill, by a majority of seventy-three, there being five hundred and eleven members present in the house. Sir Eobert Peel had left the house before the echo of its announcement had died. On tlie following Monday (the 27th), Wel- lington in the Lords, and Peel in the Commons, announced the resignation of tlie ministry ; and on July 3d the new Wliig ministry was published with Pussell at its head. Pichard Lalor Slieil was made Master of the Mint, and a vacancy thus took place in the borough of Dungarvan. Shell resigns his seat, and has firm hopes to be re- elected. O'Connell is in Dublin; and the Young Ireland party point to the chance thus given of show- ing opposition to the Whigs. They argue that Sheil is not a Pepealer. O'Connell declared Dungarvan in a position not fit to contest the seat — that no Kepeal member was fortlicoming. They point to his son Daniel, to Sir Col man O'Loghlin, to Meagher, but O'Connell will not listen — he had his mind made up. It was about this [)enod that, in the committee, the Liberator took occasion to speak of the intentions of the "juvenile orators " being opposed to him. They replied that they were antagonistic to the Whigs, and not to him, and that they would never fail to say so. It was on this occasion that Meagher's feelings thus broke out : "I abhor the Whigs, and shall de- o con:n:ell and mitchel. 279 noiince them more bitterly than I have ever de- noimced the Tories. It was to obtain Irehand's independence, not to truckle to English factions, I vowed mj youth to politics. If the Eepeal Associa- tion fall back now, or fail, it will then be mj duty to preach insurrection to the countiy."* The Young Irelandcrs met to consider what should be done under the mean aspect of affairs. " It is clear," said John B. Dillon, " Repeal is postponed or abandoned to Whig promises : we must dissent, pro- test — everything but consent to this dastardly policy." From his general moderation of speech, and tenacity of principle, Dillon's words always commanded attention. He now spoke the sentiments of all. A line of action was adopted ; and Mitchel, Meagher, and O'Gorman named to fight the battle. In the Hall, on the 6th July, towards the close of a lengthy speech, O'Connell, while speaking of the probability of "returning Repealers for such places as may be " shortly vacant," was interrupted by a voice crying out "Dungarvan," which was followed by the cheers of the meeting. Thus reminded both of the point and its popular side, O'Connell replied in answer to the voice : " You are right — quite right. If we can get a Eepealer in for Dungarvan we will do it. (Loud cheering.) By this time of da}^ you should believe me. It shall be referred to the commit- tee to take into consideration the providing of candidates for the ♦ Memoir of Thomas Francis Meagher, re-published from "The Nation" for pri- ▼ate circulation. Dublin, 1850, p. 28. 280 ViNETY-ETGHT AND vacant places. If we can get Kepealers for all those places, ^e shall of conrse do so, and, if necessary^ I icill go to Dungarvan myself. (Cheers.) / will ha/ue the men of Dungarvan with me; * * I -^vill not oppose men who support the present ministry, unless there be a chance that w^e can put in a Eepealer; and a S7?uill chance will le enough when the people are on our side^ Being again interrupted by a cry of " Mallow," he said : "Mallow is not vacant; its representative has not taken a place under the government^" which the people understood to convey a sneer at Shell, who had taken a place. Contrary, however, to all expectation, and to the litter disappointment of all true nationalists. Shell was permitted to resume, unopposed, the seat under the auspices of O'Connell. Thus did the latter break all faith with the people and the people's cause. 1^0 great recapitulation is necessary, but a few points are worth keeping before the mind's eye. O'Connell pledged himself to return a Eepealer, if he could get one ; he knew that the Whig candidate would have small chance, when the people were with him; several Repealers were willing to come forward ; a deputation from Dungarvan had waited and urged upon the Committee of the Repeal Asso- ciation tlie necessity of a contest, and lastl}' he knew that upon the registry of Dungarvan there was a clear nuijority of seventy in favor of Repeal; as reported by a barrister commissioned by the above committee some time previous, to visit the boroughs O'CO^^NfiLL A]SrD MITCHEL. 28l and ascertain tlie strength of the Ile]3eal cause in the various constituencies.* Is it to be marvelled at that in the knowledge of those facts the Yonng Ireland party should feel in- dignant. Could they who set out in life to write and speak tlie whole truth — whose great ambition it was to disrobe politics of the trappings in which, as a courtesan, it wooed and tainted the blood of the country — who had attained the position they occupied by having attempted to educate, not to blindfold the people^conld they remain silent, feeling the blush of shame upon their cheeks, and their hearts throb- bing against the badge of disgrace so clearly and designedly tightened round its national pulsation. They could not. O'Connell knew they w^ould not. He desired that they should not ; and while he feared their ability, imagined his popularity beyond its reach — his power supreme. With a view to their total expulsion he introduced into the Association, on the I3th July, what are generally known as the " Peace Eesolutions." These resolutions re-stated the original principles of the Association, but further declared " abhorrence of all attempts to improve and augment constitutional liberty by means of force, violence, or bloodshed — that to promote political amelioration, peaceable means alone should be used, to the exclusion of all others." For the introduction of these resolutions ♦ Vide '• Nation," July 11, 1846 ; article " Dungarvan Elections," written by J. B. Dillon. 282 'ninety-eight and 'foktt-]';tght. O'Coiniell had no ostensible reason, save in a speech made by Lord John Knssell in the Honse of Com- mons, June 1 5. After alhiding to those demanding a domestic parliament in Ireland, Enssell continued : " There are others, I fear, who, if I read rightly their senti- ments, as expressed in a newspaper — I will name it — called the " ITation," which has great circulation in Ireland, who go be- yond that question of the legislative union — who would write, not merely to have such a parliament as that which it was the boast of Grattan to found, and which legislated under the sceptre of the same sovereign as the parliament of Great Britain, but a party which exerts every species of violence, which looks to disturbance as its means, and regards separation from England as its end." At the time, O'Connell knew that this was false; yet afterward, (August 31st), having cited the pas- sage, he admitted its influence on his action. Lord John, he said, "was not the man to put anything forward to serve a party pnrpose, and was it not time for him (O'Connell) to take np the subject when he found his lordship saying that the 'Nation' had a tendency to separation ?" How complimentary to Lord John, the leader of the '' base, bloody, and brutal Whigs !" How con- sistent of the " dareful champion " to put down the " ISTation " when it disagreed with his lordship ! Certainly it was "time" for the " sanctified, moral- force revolutionist " to be awake. Tom Steele was no longer the head pacificator. O'Connell had as- sumed that office under the immaculate Whig chief. 0*CONrELL AJSTD JSHTCHEL. 2S8 But the passage quoted from Eussell's speech was but a plea for O'Connell, which, however, tied him to the Whigs while he used it against Youug Ireland. A plea nevertheless it was. At the time, he could not very consistently attack them for their opposi- tion to the Whigs ; but to get rid of them by some means he was determined. To couple them with the cry of war' — 'illegal agitation — physical force, he deemed the most expedient as well as the most effect- ive plan, and was led to this conclusion no doubt by the state to which his forty years of demoralizing agitation had brought the country. The people had supported him for that period. Would or cc nld they believe in driving anything more or less th&n a coach and six through an act of parliament? He thought not. On the strength,' therefore, of Russell's fictiuous announcement — without one word or act being cited against them to sustain tlie charge — the Young ire- landers were accused of a design to introduce reTolii- tionary ideas into the Repeal Association. As ir*em- bers of the Association they were walling to subscribe to its original principles, but refused to concur in the abstract principle that tlie " amelioration of political institutions ought not to be sought for by any other means " than peaceful and legal ones. O'Connell knew that they would not so deny history, honor, and manhood as to subscribe to such a creed; and, consequently, moved the " peace resolutions," soi he himself avowed on that day, " to draw a marked line between Young Ireland and Old Ireland " Tbo 284 Lord Mayor occupied the chair. With his usual adroitness, O'Connell, at the opening of his speech, flung himself on the body of the meeting and desired unanimous cooperation in " the great work of strug- gling for the nationality of Ireland." This stereo- typed phrase, from being so well worn, was always interrupted by "great cheers." It was like the eternal opening of Squire Topertoe's speeches — ■ " Here I am again, ye blaggards ; your own ould Topertoe" --which always put the mob in good humor.^ He followed by calling on them to declare for " peaceable but continuous agitation," to banish " the fiendish nonsense which suggests physical force ;" and reiterated his imposing promise of never relaxing his exertions, that is, his continuous agita- tion, " until he was able to walk into our own parlia- ment in Colle2:e Green." It is not a little dissrustins: that such patent clap-traps has to furnish the links of the political history of a decent country. Meagher regretted exceedingly that the battle for Kepeal was not fought upon the hustings of Dungar- van, against all odds, and in the teeth of every risk. He believed that if the Whig government was sin- cere in its professions, their measures could be passed without any wavering on the part of the minister, or any compromise on that of the Association. Warm- ing in debate, and, amid commingled dismay and confusion, he exclaimed : *' it is true, my lord, that bome men may desert from the national ranks, take • Vide Carleton's " Valentine McClutchy." O'CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 2S5 place, abandon Repeal, and violate tlie national vow. It is the curse of society that, from principles the most sacred, there have ever been apostates."" Much uproar and interruption followed, and in the course of the debate O'Connell defended the accept- ance of government places by Repealers. Mitchel considered constitutional agitation as the basis of the Association, and as a member of it he subscribed to it ; but as for the abstract and universal principle in the resolutions — that it was essentially sinful and immoral to right national wrongs by the sword or that those who had used it should be held up for the abhorrence of mankind, he widely, irrecon- cilably dissented from that. lie referred to the volunteers who took up arms, and continued : '"Sir, I hope that in even these piping times no man will tell us that the volunteers of '82 were criminals and miscreants. America sought a political amelioration, and won it by some- what similar means. It was not to resist military violence they flew to arms ; they drew their swords against tlie preamble of an act of parliament — the act which declared the right of Great Britain to tax her colonies — and they cut both act and preamble into shreds, trampled them under foot, and swept them and the supporters of them into the Atlantic ocean. That was a noble deed, sir, and instead of abhorring those Americans, I honor and envy them. Even if we, in this Hall, passed an unanimous vote of abhorrence against George Washington, I apprehend that s\\ mankind, while the world stands, will proclaim him a hero and a patriot. My father, sir, was a United Irishman. The men of '98 thought hberty worth some blood-letting; and, altLough * Vide Meagher's Speech. " Nation," July 18, 1846. 2S6 t]iey failed, it were rather hard that one of their sons would now be thonglit unwortliy to unite in a peaceful struggle for the inde- pendence of his country, unless he will proclaim that he ' abhors ' the memory of his own father." Mitcliel was interrupted by O'Connell, who asked : " What can this man's object be ? He purports to be a man of peace, yet preaches war. ^ "^ ^ He talks of '98 ; why there were several good men en- gaged in the contest in '98, but ahis, their struggle was one of blood." Almost in the next sentence he says : " Washington bravely defended his country from aggression and won its independence, and that principle we not only recognize but are prepared to act upon ;" of course this was received with acclama- tion, which had scarcely subsided until he leaped back to the doctrine "that the greatest political advantages are not worth the sacrifice of one drop of blood." Well indeed might Mitchel, in that indignant but calmly keen spirit of sarcasm peculiar to him, ob- serve, when he obtained a hearing, that if the respected mover of the resolutions " should wish to embody in them the doctrine that a man who is struck on the one cheek is bound immediately to turn the other also, I for one shall have no objection ; I should say, let it pass, and suffer us to proceed with our business."* The peace resolutions were carried amidst " deaf- ening acclamation." O'Connell returned to London, believing that "ha ♦ Tide "Nation" report. 28T had effectually composed all differences," but finding from the journals, that " Young Ireland," after being, as he considered, " virtually expelled," still attended at the Hall, he wrote to the secretary of the Associa- tion condemning them, and instructing his son, John O'Connell, to re-open the discussion on the resolutions already adopted, with the view of ascertaining, once for all, who were for them, and, in the second, of expelling those who were not. In the meantime tw^o very distinguished, trusted, and able Irishmen, whose labors and sacrifices in their country's cause make it imperative to chronicle the fact, alluded, to the question of the day, outside the Hall. On the 22d July a public meeting and Eepeal soiree was held at Kilrush, County Clare, in honor of Smith O'Brien. Here that gentleman stated his dis- appointment at the Dungarvan election; he could not understand it. " I believe," said he, "that for repeal at the present moment, the influence of that election would not have been less than that of great Clare in '28. The election of Dungarvan has told tlie public men of this country, that if they wished to gain the favor of the Irish people, they must lend themselves to Lord John, or Lord George, or Sir Eobert." At the same place Father John Kenyon, adverting to the recent discussion, thought it a fanatical doc- trine, to say that no force but moral force should ever be used. A¥hen the millenium arrived it was time enough to revive that chapter of our thealogy. " Though I conceive," he said, " the moml force doctrine, as advanced by Mr. O'Connell, to be false and visionary, I admit 2SS '^'INETY-EIGHT AND that it is a beautiful vision, and wish him all the benefit of its adoption. But I would never resign my right to hold the oppo- site doctrine, sanctioned, as I believe it to be, by the history of all times and countries — sanctioned by many wise men and noblemen, aye, and sainted men, and more harmonizing with the conditions of human nature, and the apparent ordinations of Providence." He would not consent, nor did he believe tlie think- ing portion of the Irish people would consent, to expel any person from tlie Association for holding such doctrines. Tlie re-introduction of the '' peace resolution " gave rise to a long, bitter, and brilliant debate, whicli lasted two daj's — the 27th and 28th Julj. It is unnecessary to enter into its details, after the somewhat extended, tliough condensed, view given of the opinions held by the respective parties. It will suffice to say that the ability and honesty displayed by " Young Ireland " on this occasion, gave the party so named a hold on the thinking portion of the island, which soon was productive of a healthy action. The reputation of the party was established. Smith O'Brien attended, and, with his cliaracteristic force and purity, defended Young Ireland. MitchePs rej^ly to John O'Connell was a masterpiece. It has been truly observed that " he met every objection, dissected every plausible pretext, demolished every tissue of sophistry, and placed the question before the meeting, in all its contemptible deformity.*" There was not a rhetorical flower, nor a stem of sentiment in it. Every sentence was an argument. It was eloquent with common sense. The speech of Meagher, more than any other he ever 289 delivered, Las helped to make liim famous. It was talked of everywhere, criticised everywhere, and is well known as the " sword speech," so called from the brilliant concluding apostrophe to that weapon. Korner is famed for his sword song. Meagher's lyrical apostrophe far surpasses ir. John O'Connell brought the debate to a close, by throwing all princijjle in the matter overboard and making the issue a personal one. If the Young Ire- land did not adopt the resolutions, they should, said he, " adopt another leader." Here Smith O'Brien left the Hall, followed by Mitchel, Meagher, Devin Reilly, Gavan Duff}", Father C. P. Meehan and others. The ladies, whose bosoms ever throb for liberty and the chivalry that defends it, left the galleries^ and a large number of people followed, applauding the " seceders.'' Thus the secession took place. The secretary of the Association was deluged with letters from all parts of the country condemning the course pursued by it ; and the columns of the " [N'ation " for months were the recipients of communications, the character and ability of which were sufficient testimony to the position and intelligence of the writers ; all of whom clearly, distinctly, and forcibly advanced arguments in favor of the new nationality that had come into Ireland. Towards the close of September some few men determined to remonstrate with the Repeal Associa- tion. They exerted influence chiefly among the trades, but were then unknown in public. They 290 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. were T. M. Ilalpin, M. Crean, E. Hollywood, James McCormick, J. Ke-elj, P. J. Barry. They were neither abetted nor recognized by the Young Ireland party. In Thomas Devin Keilly, however, they found an ally. He wrote a remonstrance for them, to which, after working silently for a few weeks, they had appended fifteen hundred names of citizens of Dublin, who were members of the Association. On the 24th October the remonstrance was presented to tlie chairman of the Association, but was, by the orders of John O'Connell, flung into the gutter on Burgh Quay. The paid attaches of the Hall organized attacks on the members of the remonstrance committee. They watched and ferreted them out even in private rooms, and on one occasion the committee had to barricade themselves in a house in Wicklow street, against the '' peaceful " overtures of the moral force ruffians of the Hall. The remonstrants, however, were getting so strong that it was necessary to hold a public meeting on the 3d of November. Another was held on the 2d of December in the Rotunda, at which the leading seceders attended. It surpassed all anticipation. Crowds who could not gain admission (and amongst them several Catholic clergymen) surrounded the building, while inside, over two thousand of the most intelligent classes of tiie citizens, welcomed and endorsed the men who had dared to differ with O'Con- nell. It was a strange sight in that Irisii capital, where the " crownless monarcti" had ruled with more than AND MITCHEL. 291 aristocratic despotism, and had sliut up men's tongues into their mouths, as one wouhJ close the bhide of a knife into its handle, just to prevent harm — it was truly a strange sight to see that mass of intelligent men and hopeful-looking, smiling women flinging off the old despotism of ignorant agitation, and welcom- ing the young apostles of education and fi-eedom of opinion. In the speakers every class was represented. The fiirmer and the merchant, the church and the journal, law and physic, the trader and the ti-adesman, w^ere identified with this noble display. Meagher reviewed the " battle of the forces," and impeached the policy of O'Connell. Dillon repelled the charges, wdiich for four months the Hall had only existed to utter. Doheny indicated hope for the future, and promised that they would meet the people in January to enter upon a new course. O'Gorman pictured the sorrow- ful sj)ectacle presented by the Hall, which had lived upon the hard-earned wages of the poor, now become the advertising office of men in search of plac6. Rev. C. P. Meehan, as a priest, defended the " I^ation " and its writers against the charges of infidelity heaped upon it and them. He amiounced that many clergy- men were with Young Ireland ; and the Rev. Dr. O'Carroll followed in the same tone, and instanced Bishop Blake's condemnation of O'Connell."^ Mitchel * The venerable Bishop of Dromore, indignant at the proceedings of Conciliation Hall since the secession, wrote a strong letter of remonstrance to the Association. This letter naturally caused desperate apprehension and dismay; and Mr. O'Con- nell wrote to Dr. Blake, vehemently soliciting the withdrawal of it; and enforcing his petition with an assurance that, " if he thought that by going on his knees from DuDlin to Violet Hill, he could induce his dear and venerated Lord to compY with bis most respectful request," he would cheerfully undergo the pilgrimage or make 292 'ninety-eight and was not present, being ill : he sent a letter, the reading of which, say the newspaper reports of the day, " was frequently interrupted with loud cheering, and on the announcement of his name the enthusiastic applause did not subside for a considerable time.' Sucli popular indications, taken in conjunction with such queries as O'Connell's — " what can that man's object be?" are noteworthy. O'Connell beheld with dismay the spirit evoked by Young Ireland. In vain he sought to crush it, and, acknowledging reluctantly its power, made overtures of peace. Some negotiations, were entered upon, but all failed, and on the 13th of January, 1847, the seceders formed the Irish Confederation. It is known but to few that about this period one of the most eminent and distino-uished barristers in Dublin waited on O'Connell to impress on him the necessity of reconciliation and union with " Young Ireland." The " old man " had great esteem for the character and ability as well as confidence in the aid of the gentleman in question. He felt the full force of his remarks and agreed with him. His son John, however, who was present, flew into a passion, and expressed a determination to leave the country for ever, if his father "received" the seceders ; it would be a personal slight to him (John). "You see how I am placed," said O'Connell, and he went away to die. any personal saciifice his lordship would suggest." Dr. Blake consented to gratify Mr. O'Connell by modifying the term^ of his remonstrance, but refused to be a silent spectator of oppression and injustice. Accordingly he wrote a second letter, but, says the " Telegraph," it hkewise had its sharp points ; but the case was despe- rate, and tlie usual ' trick' was had recourse to. A portion, but a portion only was read to the Association." — Nation, Dec. 5, 1846. O^CONNELL AND MITCnEL. 293 Disclaiming any antagonism to the Repeal Asso- ciation, tlie confederates desired to create for them- selves "a se23arate sphere of activity." Tliey were opposed to nationalists seeking office under govern- ment. All the genius and enthusiasm of the country rallied round tlie confederation. The songs of its poets, the speeches of its orators, the essays of its journalists have become the property of the republic of letters and will preserve its name. These, with the sufferings of its ablest tribunes and thinkers will weave its fortunes into the litany in which the Mar- tyrs to Freedom are remembered and prayed for. Truly it was a hopeful, as it will be a memorable day in the history of the island, that on which its youth and chivalry met to league themselves in brotherhood for "Love of the Grreen." Mitchel's speech on this occasion was one of stern purpose. lie reviewed the responsibility into which they were flinging themselves, justified the cause for which they assumed it, and tersely but vigorously recounted the facts of the question at issue, was Ireland for the Irish, or Ireland for the English? He told the people it was for the latter ; for, said he, " the nation that governs not itself has nothing — nothing in Heaven above, or in earth beneath." He showed how the English government treated the Irish land- lords and tenants as enemies to each other. " What is given to the one class they say must be taken from the other ; if we let this labor go to the landlords we wrons: the tenants — if to the tenants we mulct the landlords; so they escape Vie dilemma by giving it ^94 to neither." He went into the new movement like one whose heart was in it — and how deeply was it in it ! The following extract from his speech on this occasion exhibits the line he had marked out for himself: " I say that system of government is altogetlier intolerable ; and if there be common manhood or common sense remaining amongst Irishmen, Ave must bring it to a speedy end. Whatever scheme of agitation, whatever power or machinery seems most avaihxble for the doing of that work, it is tlie duty of us all to support. While tlie Union lasts it is not for Irishmen to shun politics, to enjoy life, and leave public cares to those who may undertake thera. If one organization ftiil, another must be created. If one weapon break in our hands we must grasp another. It is easy for men to say, these Irish are forever in a tumult of political discontent — they are naturally disaffected — see how they are no sooner relieved from one agitation than they hurry into a new one. Ah ! we have no choice. Political strife is our lot till we see an end of the foul and fraudulent Union ; other alternative there is none but eternal shame. Disaffected! to be sure, we are deeply disaffected. I should like to know which of you is well affected to a foreign government. I believe, my friends, the time is coming when plain speaking will be needed in Ireland ; and I, for one, make no scruple to say (speak- ing only for m3^self, and not pretending to express the sentiments of others) that until we have an Irish legislature I shall be irre- concilably disaffected towards the government of the country, that I mean to excite disaffection in others, and that I think it a sacred duty to rear up my children in that sentiment." The Library of Ireland still continued to be issued and to educate the people. Smith O'Brien addressed a series of statesman-like letters to the landed proprie- tors of Ireland ; the " Nation " issued its clarion tones with clearer vigor than ever. The educated young o'cONiSELL AND MITCHEL. ^05 men, and the intelligent middle classes vvcre fast pouring into the new organization. The fact that laro-e bodies of " moral force men" attacked the con- federate meetings, and waylaid the leaders, only created a wider sympathy and seduced people into a closer analysis of their principles. Early in March of this year O'Connell left Ireland, his health having been declining for some months. On the 21st he set out for Rome, accompanied by his chaplain, Rev. Dr. Miley. On the route through Paris, Orleans, and Lyons, he received the attention of many notable personages and the homage of the people. lie was picking up the laurels on his way to the grave. He died in Genoa, on the 15th May. Let us confront his coffin. O'Connell was a much gri;ater man tlian Grattan, consequently his political sins fell heavier on the country. If he had not the intense polish and startling entlmsiasm of Grattan, he had a popular intensity which was more powerful. Grattan spoke to Grat- tans, and reached the people through them. O'Con- nell spoke to the people, and held the minor leaders by capturing their supporters. None of them could be said to have a hold, whatever might be their per- sonal or intellectual right to such, on the people. As the Irish landlords dispossess their tenantry, so O'Con- nell evicted the holders of political position about him. As the first he was merciless and unceremon- ious. Thus to laud O'Connell constituted a leader- ship in. many, to appear constantly in his train made obscure names tamiliar in the papers, to collect hi» 296 repeal rent gave local importance, and to clieer lilm lustily entitled others to a ''still small voice" in pub- lic affairs. He was tlie landlord of patriotism, and all others but tenants at will. People say what right have you, Young Ireland, to talk against him who obtained leave for you to speak. This is simply nonsense. In the first place I do not speak against him — but of him, historical facts which are common property. In the second, the Emancipation only gave him the right to talk. E'one dare " talk " of the so-called nationality but himself. None had the right to differ. Dr. Mackenzie says : " Few men so well out-argued the sophistry of tyran- ny," but also does well to remark that he had " the art of using strong words without committing him- self;" and that was the secret of his "continuous ao-itation" which midit have been "continued from our last" Monday, but never "concluded" during eternity. Talking for " liberty," he was a model tyrant, and preaching toleration, he never prac- tised it. When he met Ireland in public life she had a healthy frame — a stalwart body as his own. "When he left her she was also like him in being imbecile. His insidious arts, his glowing tongue, his oratorical artifices, his pathetic craft, his audacious devotion, his towering passion, his childlike naivete, his provok- ing sarcasm, his fioods of humor, his wondrous wag- gery, his Titan figure ; the measure of his tread, the suavity of his arm, the bearing of his chest, the roguish twinkle of his eye, won her to himself. He O'CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 29? paraded liis beauty to tlie world. But slie was only his mistress, not his wife. He would not shed a drop of blood foi- lier. Tom Steele, in •^ paroxysm of adoration, called O'Connell "the sap.ent physician for the ills of Ire- land." If indeed he was a physician — a " great medicine" (as tlie Indians say) at all; it certainly was of that new class who attempt a cure by the wilful and premeditated infliction of greater ills. As Paracelsus stole the ideas of Galen and Avicenna, then burnt their works and sneered down their cha- racters, so O'Connell adopted such ideas of the men of '98 as suited his purposes and then publicly reviled them. In his death he carried out his sectionality. He bequeathed his dust to Ireland, which his teaching had helped to make almost a desert. His heart, as if to identify the partisan inspiration under which it throbbed, he ordered to Rome. His skeleton to Ire- land — his fountain of life to the Eternal City. " Judged in his totality," wrote Father Kenyon, " O'Connell deserved, at the time of his death, no gratitude from Ireland, and was entitled to no respect. * * ^ His conduct was most prejudi- cial to the interests, and more prejudicial to the morals and character of his country. " Other patriots, struggling for riglit, had staked upon the issue life, and limb, and princely domains, and after years of hodily toil and mental agony, perished, amidst the ruins of their family and fortune, in the trench, or on the scaffold, or in exile, pinched ard lonel}', with tlie glow of their young devotion nn- 13-^ ^98 dimmed by a regret. Others, again, victorious in the same immortal strife, now sinning as stars of human freedom and glorj througli the spaces of history, were invested witli a smaller lion's share of renown, after the consummation of their task than has been appropriated by O'Oonnell for his comparatively insignifi- cant achievement. Making all possible allowances for the danger of undervaluing a prophet in his own country, I cannot pesrsuade myself, since the scales have fallen from ray eyes, but that O'Connell has been grievously overrated ; and that when judged by Time and impartial Truth, he will be as nothing compared to those men of diviner mould who dared to renounce themselves while stamping the world with their fame."* In a word, O'Connell found the people with pikes in their hands, and he left them with petitions instead, in the holding up of which their strength had become paralj'zed ; and their brains, like their bodies, stagnant. " What a royal, yet vulgar soul !" says Mitchel, contemplating that able miniature drawn in the *' Jail Journal," " and after one has thought of all this, and more, what then can a man say? What but pray that Irish earth may lie liglit on O'Connell's breast, and that the good God who knew how to create so wondrous a creature may have mercy upon his soul." In the course of the year 184Y, Mitchel deUvered some lectures on the " Land Tenures of Europe," which wore published by the Irish Confederation and widely distributed. He also edited some of the writings of Dean Swift and Bishop Berkeley, regarding • Tide Letter of Father Kenyon, in " United Trisliman," Feb. 26, 1848. O CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 2&0 Ireland, prepared a " Report on the Levy of Rates ic Ireland," wrote in the '' Nation." and otherwise was busilj engaged in the national cause. The Lectures on the Land Tenure, were of vita* importance to Ireland. He gave a rapid but com- prehensive view of the question, as it pertained to Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Italv, France, Spain. Portugal, Germany, Holland and Belgium, Sweden and Norway, Russia, Poland, Prussia, and Ireland. Believing the agriculturist to be the true pillar of the State, he labored to place him on that basis which his mission deserved. The tillers of the soil were other than mere slaves in his mind, and it was one of Mitchel's great desires to imbue into every man with sweated brow or brawny hand, w4io held the plough or swayed a sickle, the importance of his position, as well as to get that position recognized by others. He held that from the soil the income of every class is derived ; that, in his own words to the Swift club, "it is out of the produce of the soil that landlords receive rent, farmers profit, laborers wages ; it is out of that rent, profit, and wages, that profes- sional men get fees, shop-keepers get custom, artisans employment; it is out of accumulations arising from all those kinds of income that manufactures and com- merce grow." On these premises he argued that if the agricultural system of a country be unsound, then the entire structure is rotten, and will inevitably come down. He enlarged on these views, and from what then appeared (from the vile state of society as regarded the recognition of the working-man in Ire- ^00 land) startling but profoiindlj just views, the atten- tion of all classes, more particularly the natives of Ulster, was attracted to this very vital suuject. In the meantime, Conciliation Hall continued its weekly sessions, and became the last resource for place-hunters and office-seekers, recommending them- selves to government by getting np a fictitious im- portance on the Eepeal side. Some dribblings of "rent" still were collected, and John O'Connell per- sisted in being an " hereditary bondsman." A witty poet,"^ at the time, descanting on the Whig principles and prospects of the " Hall," its leader, and adher- ents, thus happily (to a popular air) hits off alt : " Oh ! is't not wlien Eussell's petf fish are thine own, And thy chin, one by one, disappear, That the folly and fudge of thy dupes can be known, To whom hunibng but makes thee more dear? The fool that is truly gulFd never can doubt, But as truly is gulPd to the close ; As a bull, if you once get a ring through his snout, Ever after is led by the nose!" Early in this yeai- (18iT), a meeting of nobility and landed proprietors took place, and from it emanated a Society named the "Irish Council" the first meet- ing of which took place on the 1st of June. The " Council" embraced men representing all shades of political faith ; and its stated objects were: the com- bination of Irishmen of all grades and opinions, the • Richard D'Alton Williams (Shamrock), t Plaices, perhaps. O'CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 301 guardiansliip and assertion of the rights and interests "of onr common country," and the reflection of its wants and wishes : in a word, it was " to create, foster, and develop a sound Irish opinion." The fullest free- dom of discussion was recognized by it, the society not being compromised by any individual expres- sion. Mitchel beheld it with the fondest anticipation, and labored zealously to raise it to the height his fflowino; brain desired. The o^reat object of liis heart was a combination of the classes, and in the Irish Council he fondly hoped to iind a fearless exponent, as it apparently was a faithful admixture of all classes. His energies were unceasing, and his active and laborious intellect reviewed and analyzed every question, illustrated every resource, and suggested every means capable of contributing to, or accom- plishing the great end. lie entered into and shed a clearer light upon every topic of discussion, and was especially prominent in the advocacy of Ten- ant-Eight, in November, he broadly and ably expounded and introduced a resolution for the estab- lishment of the system, which was defeated by a majority of two. He labored earnestly, but in vain. His facts were patent, his arguments undenied, because undeniable. His hearers listened, but did not progress. The Council was more the critic of the English parlia- ment than the advocate of an Irish one. It would not go beyond a certain distance ; and, lilce a tethered ram, butted its head against the bare ground, having 302 nibbled to the very roots the pasture within the range of rope allowed it. In vain Mitchel pointed to the two years' famine, and the lieartless State-craft that had accelerated it, and made the world weep and shudder over the Irish graves of Irish millions. It listened, but still, as a body, the Council was opposed to Tenant-Right, the only measure calculated to endow the peasant with prosperity — or even potatoes. He was too far above the Council to drag it up to him ; it became a con- clave of talkers, and movers and seconders, constantly "reporting" to the government ills and grievances which the State having conferred, had no desire to cure. Coercion was the eternal prescription of the ministerial doctoi-s. They woukl never consent to transfer the rights of the landlords to the tenants, "as some proposed ;" the disorders of Ireland were deep- rooted, to be sure, but coercion would eradicate the disease.* Aye, it would be better for the govern- ment to "outrage the constitution," f than that " the present state of affairs " should continue in Ire- land. In this cry, the sons of two " liberators " of Ireland, J and the voices of others — Irish Repeal hacks — joined. Thus, between London and Dublin, Mitchel could only see outrage on the one hand, and cowardice on the other. He saw that " legal and constitutional " * See Speech of Sir George Grey, moving for leave to bring In the Coercion (Agrarian outrages) Bill in Commons, Nov. 29th, 1847. + Words of Lord Barnard. X Henry Grattan, sen of "82," and M)rgan J. O'Connfill. O'CONNELL AJN^D MITCHEL. 303 means were as ineffectual out of, as in Conciliation Hall. He saw that it was useless to waste more time attempting to conciliate the landlords or argue with the aristocracy ; that the former were but the Sepojs of the State, and the latter the Coolies of the cabinet. Now was it palpable how " Old Ireland " had sold the country to the Whigs, and the indignant tone of " Young Ireland " justified. Coercion turned out to be one of the " twelve beneficial measures " promised by Lord John Eussell. Instead of giving " extended franchise," and " generous landlord and tenant" accommodation, as promised, the Wliig government raised the cry of "Agrarian Outrage." Mitchel explained it in the Confederation. His reply is the history of the time, and cannot be imj)roved by condensation. " There has been nothing " (said he) " to prevent or delay all that beneficial legislation we heard so much of. There has been no lack of patience and quietness — far too much patience and qnietness — nnmanly, unchristian, inhuman patience and quiet- ness. * * * From one end of the island to the other they (the Whig Ministers) have dug the public highways into trenches and pit-falls. They have looked on at landlord exterminations, far more sweeping than which scandalized them while in opposi- tion — they have helped the extermination themselves by their mode of administering relief in the famine — they have swept the small farmers by tens of thousands off their fjxrras to the public works ; and then, upon a signal from London, those said public works have disgorged in one day seventy thousand, in another day a hundred and twenty thousand famit^hing and homeless men, and cast them forth upon the wide world to beg, or rob, or perish, as they might. And now men are amazed that the land 30:1: is stained with crime. But that was not all; for all this time landlords were enforcing wiiat are called in parliament their legal rights — that is to say, n;aking the land, notwithstanding the hlight upon its produce, paj^ them their rents as usual, ay, tJiough the tenant should go home that night to his family with no provision betw^een him and death but a stamped receipt — and the liberal ministers, the enlightened, well-intentioned min- isters, looked on at all this for eighteen weary months, pretend- ing they were govei'ning the country ; until now, when one- eiglith of our people have perished by the most hideous of deaths, and most of the survivors are in a life-and-death struggle for the residue of the food that English greediness has spared them — when the poor rates and the landlords together are engaged in clearing, as Ireland was never cleared before ; and there are hundreds of thousands of wretched paupers who have not where to lay their heads ; it seems there is crime, and outrage, and bloodshed ; some few of the able-bodied paupers have turned out able-bodied robbers — red-handed murderers, as might have been expected ; and these amiable Whig statesmen, in this age of what they call enliglitenment and human progress ; these men, so profound in sanitary conditions of towns, so far before the rest of the w^orld in political economy, and general benevo- lism, have nothing to propose for the good government of Ire- land but the old and well-known remedies of the bayonet, the jail, and the gibbet."* To meet the "bayonet, jail and gibbet," the only resource was revolution, and a preparation there- for the only "agitation" which held out any hope to Mitchel. The Confederation had prospered be- yond all expectation, and he thought some sterling use should be made of it. He felt that writing and speech-making might go on till doomsday without any result beyond gaining a literary and "Dratorical repu * Speech in the " Irish Confederation," December 1st, 184T. 305 tation for the parties concerned. Violent charges had been made — witli steel pens, and much ink spilled ; fields of paper captured and sentineled with leading articles. In fact, England had been over-run on paper, in prose and poetry ; but with the increas- ing reputation, tlie Confederation was not holding up with the necessities of the day. Its members seemed very busy organizing debating and lecturing, and its council became a sort of reputable political tread- mill on which every one kept moving without gain- ing a single foot. As '48 came in, Mitchel marched out of the " Na- tion " ofiice. The '^iNTation" and the Confederation were each the organ of the other. The Confederation was the "Nation" in the forum. The "Nation," the Con- federation in the green-room. The writers of the one were omtors in the other ; and all the orators of the latter were contributors to the former. They w^ere w^orthy of each other ; and the men (with one or two exceptions) quite capable of both capacities. The "Nation/' up to this period, w^as the greatest journal ever produced in Ireland, and one of the noblest in the world ; the Confederation the most brilliant of political associations. For some months, Mitchel, who for two years had written the "Nation" into its proud attitude, w^as precluded from speaking through its columns, the proprietor objecting to the "seditious" nature and bold tone of his essays. "This kind of restriction, slight and casual at first, became gradually more con- 306 'ninety- EIGHT AND 'fORTY-EIOHT. stant and annoying," while the times demanded " more and more unmitigated plain speaking." Mitchel desired to warn his countrjnnen against delivering up their guns to the police, as they would " be putting weapons into the hands of their deadly enemies, and committing virtual suicide " — to show them tliat the country was actually in a state of war, " a war of ' property ' against poverty — a war of ' law ' against life ; and that their safety lay, not in trusting to any laws or legislation of the enemy's parliament, but solely in their determination to stand upon their own individual rights, defend them to the last, and sell their lives and lands as dear as they could."* Mr. Duffy, a man of considerable talent, superficial culture and profound weakness — who imagining him- self a statesman, ever had on hand a " policy," forget- ful that honesty should be the chief characteristic of a patriot, — was incited to diflPer with Mitchel. If the *' Nation " preached such doctrines, it might be put down, and the " Nation " was a good property to Mr. Duffy. Into Mr. Duffy's ear, this fact, and the fic- tion that he, Duffy, could dictate a " policy " for the country, were hissed by an ambitious subordinate, and the employer, neither proof against faction nor flattery, consented to make an issue with Mitchel. Mitch el's letter, of Tth January, 1848, to Mr. Duffy, resigning connection with the " Nation," stating the * Letter of John Mitchel to 0. Q. Duffy, Jan. Tth, 1848. The letter complete may b« found in the notes accompanying " Meagher'a Speeches," p. 208. AND MITCHEL. 307 reasons and giving an outline of the difference which led to it, appeared and excited the strongest interest and anxiety. He there stated that he had made up his mind that the '^ Nation " and tlie Confederation should employ themselves in promulgating military instruction, ''not with a view to any immediate insurrection, but in order that the stupid ' legal and constitutional ' shouting, voting and 'agitating' that have made our country an abomination to the whole earth, should be changed- into a deliberate study of the theory and practice of guerilla warfare ; and that the true and only method of regenerating Ireland, might, in course of time, recommend itself to a nation so long abused and deluded by ' legal ' humbug. When you informed me," he continues, " that the columns of the ' E"ation ' should no longer be open even to such a modified and subdued exposition of my doctrines as they had heretofore been, I at once removed all difficulty." This disagreement suggested the necessity of draw- ing up a programme of guidance for the Confedera- tion. A committee was appointed. It was drawn up. It was the " Nation " answering Mitchel. The latter objected to it on principle, and a long and ear- nest debate ensued. One party seemed to think the resources of Conciliation Hall not yet exhausted — they talked of the force of opinion ; Mitchel believed in "public opinion with a helmet on its head." Devin Keilly strenuously advanced MitchePs ideas ; he read but one lesson in the history of the United Irishmen, or at the grave of St. Michans " that men should spring up to die, if necessary, that on that 808 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. tomb there might be an inscription." Concluding his speech, Mitchel warned the Confederation, and pic- tured the agitator's legacy thus : — " And now I say, adopt these resolutions and you seal the fate of the Confederation ; you make it merely one of the long series of moral force agitating associations that have plagued Ireland for forty years. Adopt these, and all the world will see that you have thrown the people overboard to conciliate the gentry. If you pass these resolutions you may as well write on your walls, at one side, 'Patience and Perseverance,' at the other, 'the man who commits a crime, gives strength to the enemy.'* And so you may count upon a seven years' course of organizing, agitating, and speechifying ; and at the end of tliat time you can begin again, and try another seven years. The thing will last your time, and dying in a good old age, you will leave to your children a noble legacy of Confederate Cards." But men, not principles, were swaying the Society, and Mitchel and Keilly retired from its ranks. On the 12th February, 1848, Mitchel started the " United Irishman," to promulgate the principles which he considered alone beneficial to Ireland. His forcible style, his boldness, his honesty soon found readers in every corner of the island. The circula- tioTi of his journal attained an unexampled width. The vigorous pen of Devin Reilly in politics and literature — the poetry of Mangan and " Mary," who retired from the columns of the "E'ation," and has entirely ceased to write since Mitchel's banishment, made it the most powerful exponent of Republican faith, and the sternest adviser of Republican desires. * The mottoes posted in Conciliation Hall. 309 A century and a quarter had passed since the letters of " M. B. Drapier " drew " papist, fanatic, Tory and Whig " nnder his banner, and made Swift " the idol of the people of Ireland to a degree of devotion, that in the most superstitious country scarce any idol ever obtained."* Exactly one hundred years had rolled over since diaries Lucas poured out his addresses to the " free citizens and free-holders of Dublin," and from the flames to which the public hangman had consigned the writings of Molyneux, snatched a brand to re-state and re-illumine the case of Ireland. Fifty years had gone by since Tone died like the Roman on his own sword, and cheated the English out of exhibiting their greatest enemy on the scaffold. And almost twenty years of gusty rhodomontade, in the name of " civil and religious liberty," had well nigh blown away the landmarks of Irish nationality, when this " United Irishman " came upon the scene, and by a wonderful combination of the faculties of the great dead, brought their purposes into the brains of living men. " Our independence must be had at all hazards. If the men of property will not support us, they must fall: we can sup- port ourselves by the aid of that numerous and respectable class of the community, the Men of no property.''^ — Theobald Wolfe Tone. Under this motto Mitchel addressed a series of • John, ESarl of Orrery. 310 letters' to Lord Clarendon, and the Protestant far- mers of Ulster, which created the most intense excitement. A guard of policemen was necessary to keep order around his office, the demand for the paper was so great. The anxiety to know " what Mitchel said " was so wide-spread, that " it was eagerly bought in the streets of Dublin at Is. 6d. and 2s. a number."* The success of his writings was instantaneous. One of the writers of the " ISTation '^ himself, he no sooner left that paper and spoke as himself, than he created a more distinct feeling, a more tangible sympath}^, and, necessarily, a greater national partisanship than had ever been accorded ta that famous journal. The songs of the " Kation '^ might inspire, the essays strengthen, and the litera- ture seduce the minds of readers, but their nation- ality was comparatively undefined. This was a necessity of the time. The songs and essays were deeply, heartily, beautifully national, because they were intensely Irish — -as much so as the hills and valleys, as the mechanics and peasantry ; but the end thereof was not broadly and distinctly written until Mitchel told the people that the life of a peasant was equal to the life of a peer, that he was "not wedded to the Queen of England, nor unaltera- bly attached to the House of Brunswick " — that " he loved his own barn better than he loved that house " — tliat " the time was long gone by since Jehovah • 8TJrison«^r i&as huddled off, waving his hand to his friends; t-^'o of whom, Meagher and Doheny, were iiTested for giving vent to the feelings impossible to uippreGS at such a moment. After they had been discharged, and when order was restored. Holmes rose to add his defiance to that )f the prisoner ; as if in utter contempt of the mock- ery of law in Ireland, making the defiance surrounded Dy that law's representatives. He said : " My lords, I think I had a perfect right to nse the language I did yesterday. I wish now to state tliat what I said yesterday, as an advocate, I adopt to-day as my own opinion. I here avow all T have said ; and perhaps, under the late act of parliament, her Majesty's Attorney-General, if I have violated the law, may think it his duty to proceed against me in that way. But if I have violated the law in anything I said, I must, with great respeo/- to the court, assert that I had a perfect right to say what I statnius, no doubt is owing the friendship and respect, notwitiistanding the great political diver- sity of opinion existing between, Thomas Carlyle and Mitchel. No doubt the " wee, modest, crimson-tip ped flower " was a magic link between them in their walks and talks about the Dublin mountains. As a politician, Mitchel has no claims to recogni- tion. As a statesman, in the too common reading of that term, his claims are scarcely more recognizable. As a patriot, he will live. If Algernon Sydney and Patrick Henry were statesmen, Mitchel will rank as one. Between O'ConneL and Mitchel, there is even a greater difference than that which I have instanced in my comparison between Grattan and Tone ; inas- much as, that while Mitchel renewed the purposes of Tone, O'Connell was far behind Grattan. Gratliin incited an army of over 100,000 men, with weapona O'OONNELL AND MITCHEL. 321 in their bands. He would have used them for hisj purpose, though not for the separation of Irehand from England. O'Oonnell, for his purpose, was utterly opposed to force. To him liberty was not worth the powder — notliing when weighed against the " villainous saltpetre." After Mitel lel's banishment, the action of the Council of the Confederation was generally and undisguisedly condemned. Dissatisfaction followed the disgrace of not attempting a rescue. Deputies from the clubs were summoned, they met, and the council wa-p' unanimously reduced to twenty-one.* Everything w^ore a stern, defiant and exasperating aspect. Tlie scenes at the clubs became of the most exciting and revolutionary nature. There was one universal word — arm — that linked their proceed- ings, and now they lo(^ked passionately forward to the harvest, to retrieve the degradation of Mitchel's banishment. Two republican journals rushed into the gap, made by the proscription of the " United Irishman," to continue its principles and sacrifice noble men to them. On the 10th June, ^'The Irish Tribune " was issued by the chief members of the Student's Club, to sus- tain the enthusiasm, and keep up, or at least to echo, the tone in which Mitchel spoke. The stock was * The following are the names, alpliabetically arranged of the persons chosen: M. J. Bany, John Barry, Robert Cane, M. D., and J. P.; James Cantwell, Michae) Crean, B. Bowling, J. B. Dillon, Charles G. DuCfy, Michael Doheny, Daniel Griffin, Rev. John Kenyon, Denny Lane, Thomas Francis Meagher, John Martin, Francis Morgan, W. S. O'Brien, M. P.; Richard O'Gorman, John O'llagan, P. J. Smyth, J»mes Rainor, R. D. Williams. 322 issued in sliares, and owned by Kevin O'Dolierty, 1 D'Alton AYillianis, Dr. Antisell, J. l)e Courcy Young, Walter T. Meyler, myself and two others.* Michael Dolieny and Stephen J, Meaiiy, with the proprietor>, wrote the paper. On the 2-ith June, " tlie Irish Felon" appeared; it was conducted by John Martin, Thomas Devin Reilly, Fenton Laloi", and Joseph Brenan, whose names are a sufficient guaranty of both the power and i"epiiblicanisni with which it was written. Mar- tin Mac Dermott and De Jean Fraser also contributed to it. The appearance of those journals created an excite- ment not less than that of their great predecessor Early copies readily brought twice and three times the publishing price ; and, becoming " scarce " when a day old, their value ofren run up to half a crown and three shillings a copy. The street in which both were published was one scene of excitement and trouble between the police, the nationalists, the newsvenders, and the crowd led by curiosity to the locality. In the provincial towns the weekly appear- ance of the papei'S was looked for with the intensest eagerness, and created a repetition of the enthusiasm, clamor, and excitement of the metropolis. In and about Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and other • Both of those gentlemen are distinguished ; one of them remarkably so in th« scientific world. As tlieir names have not been made public in connection with the movements of '48, and as they rosiJe in Dublin, it is not for me to publish them. Among the prosecuted articles in the "Tribune" were two of which they were tU« authors. O'CONNELL AND MITCIIEL. 523 ^ji^lisli and Scotch towns where tliero were luvge .'ongregations of Irish and Chardsts the like scenes were enacted ; nor was London wholly free from the anticipations of revolution. The principles and popularity of these journals were of too decided a character to enjoy long life. Their exuberance of passion, power and hanglity defiance, forced the " Nation " into a bolder tone than nsual ; and on the 8th July the registered proprietors of all were seized and committed to Kewgate. Martin, for whom a warrant had been issued for some time, sur- rendered at tw^elve o'clock. Duffy was arrested at seven in the evening, at his house at E-anelagh ; O'Doherty was taken at ten at night, and at the same hour Denis Hoban, the nominal printer of the *' Tribune," was seized. On the next morning (Sun- day), Williams was discovered and arrested at the house of Doctor Antisell.- On Saturday evening the offices of the " Nation " and '^ Felon" were ransacked ; and at midnight a descent w^as made on the " Tri- bune," by the police, who seized the manuscripts of all the editoral articles and letters published in that journal since it was started. Autographs became valuable witnesses ; types w^ere smashed, for that they were accessories both before and after the act of publication ; and in the streets frequent collisions took place between the " delegated aucliorities" and the venders of the penny publications- that floated gallantly under heavy freights of treason-felony. * The "National Guard " by Jas McCormick, and the "Young Irishman" by Q H9A 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. '.rhe clubs were niglitly crowded, and their orators were more opeii-moiitbed, and wilder, than ever. The Protestants canght the patriotic flame, and had formed a Repeal Association, of which Samuel Fer- guson, that noble poet, was the leading member and orator. A new hope struck the hearts of the leading Old Irelanders (John O'Connell excepted), and the Confederation adjourned sine die, to form a '' League " with them. There seemed to be unanimity and a purpose on all sides. In the mean time the terrible condition of tlie countr}^, which liad forced the nationalists to a bolder policy, also made the government active. Every available and commanding position was occupied and fortified. In the Bank of reland, soldiers as well as cashiers were ready '' i j/.-Ule up accounts." The young artists and stu lei.fs r the Eoyal Hiber- nian Academy and Royal L'lib? ;i Society had to quit their easels to make way for l^e garrison. The squares of old Trinity College resounded with the tramp of daily reviews; the Custom House at last le ceived some occupation by being turned into a camp. The Linen Hall, the Rotunda, Holmes' Hotel, Aid- borough House, Dycer's Stables in Stephen's Green ; every institution, literary, artistic and commercial, was confiscated to powder and pipe-clay. The bar- racks were provisioned as for a siege ; cavalry horses were shod with plates of steel, to prevent their being TV. Draper. J. De C. Young and myself had issued the "Patriot" in Api-il, which the police discontinued, by ren^oving the placards and confisca 'ing the stock in the hands of the venders. We then projected the "Tribune," and were joined by th^ parties named above, O^CONNELL Aiq-D MITCHEL. S25 injured and thrown into disorder by broken bottles, iron spikes, or the like ; and the infantry were occn pied in familiarizing themselves with the art of fusil- ad ing footpaths and thoioughfares.* Arms were taken from the people ; and the houses of loyal fami- lies stocked with the implements of war. While these dreadful notes of preparation were flinging consternation over the peaceable inliabitants, and harmonizing tlie nationalists of the metropolis, O'Brien was in Louth, Meagher in Waterford, Doheny in Tipperary, and other leaders in different localities, wdiere the people received them with acclamation. Two days subsequent to the arrests in Dublin, the populace in Wateiford and Casliel flung up barricades to prevent the arrest of Meagher and "Doiicny, who, fearing to precipitate a revolt witliont naving a settled )lv dissuaded tlie people from their noble intenti ^. It needed the most impas- sioned exertions of j •' agher to calm the multitude. "For God's sake, sir, ^ ,e us the word ; for heaven's sake give us the word !" arose wildly from tliose men, whose devotion to the prisoner broke the stub- born patriotism within them. They cut the traces of the horses, so that the carriage could not proceed, hoping that reflection might invoke the barricades. But Meagher was immovable. "You will regret it," they cried — " you will regret it ; and it is your own fault." They almost turned upon him then. His progress out of the city was several times intercepted ♦ Vide Notes to " Meagher's Speeches.** 323 ViNETY-EIGHT AND FuRTY-EtuHt- by harricades. They even managed to divide the dragoons tliat formed his escort ; but to no purpose. After some hours of the greatest danger, surrounded at once by turbulence, anger and devotion, Meagher was allowed to leave the city. At the time, the city was in his hands. He ordered himself out of it. In Cashel the display of the po2:>ulace was not less devoted, and scarcely less exciting. When Doheny's arrest was known, the people crowded the way to the Jail, andres(^ued him. He alone, and with difficulty could preserve order, and recapture himself Implor- ing the populace to let him go with the authorities as his offence was bailable, he was taken to jail, being too truly his own guard. 1 have elsewhere stated my belief that those were perhaps the niost hopeful opportunities during the year. There is no doubt but that a decided suc- cess would have attended the people, had they been left to themselves. With such a beginning as the capture of an important city like Waterford, and a triumphant rising in a locality so situated as Cashel, I believe the southern men would have been in a stalwart attitude, if not in undeniable possession of Munster in a week. Those glorious moments were lost through the want of a settled plan among the leaders. It is no wonder that the god of battles and of barricades for- sook us. Whatever were the scruples of honor which guided Ifeagher and Doheny, I cannot but believe that they would have been completely justified in the success an opposite course would have met. And O^CONNELL AND MITCHEL. 32^ wliile it is jut fair to acquit those gentlemen, from their point of view, of any lack of earnestness in the cause, or desire for its success, it is but just to defend the people against the charges which have been made against them since, of want of sympathy and devo- tion. Sach circumstances engender apathy, careless- ness and distrust. In a couple of weeks j^ublic speech was effectually crushed out in Dublin. The journal offices were tenantless— the club rooms echoless. The leaders had to fiy irom the towns. O'Brien, Meagher, Dil- on, O'Gorman, and Doheny, for whom large rewards were offered,'=^ were in the South. Every noticea- ble clubbist was either in jail, or on his way to thf- mountains of Tipperary. Reilly, McManus, Cant well, Kavanagh, Stevens, O'Donohoe, Leyne and Halpin, made their way to the leaders. " Brenan, Lalor and others, were arrested while seeking some sphere of action in which to precipitate a rising. J was almost the last man in the city. For some davs, rumors of my arrest were current, and on the 27th July, Waltei- T. Meyler, a well-known literary-mer chant in the city, came to my room, having found out that he and I would certainly be arrested. From a surer source my ftilher had heard the same. We con- sulted. I determined to join O'Brien in the South, and left Dublin the next morning. Meyler did not, and was arrested that day. Of the incidents which led to, and attended the movements at Ballingarry, MuUinahone, Killenaule, ♦ J6500 for O'Brien ; £300 for each of the oth«w. 32B 'nJNETY-ELGHT and 'rOKTY-EiOHT. and the Slate Quarries, by O'Brien, Dillon, McMa nns, Kavanagh, and their comrades ; and at Abbey- f'eale and its locality, by Richard O'Gorman and Daniel Hartnett, it is outside the scope of the present work to speak in detail. l^either can I enter into any narrative of the adventures and wanderings of John O'Mahony and myself prior to, nor the incidents of, the second rising in September, when all those who were better known, were eitlier in the hands of the enemy, or escaping from them. After some weeks of prepara- tion, we finally " lit the fires '' on the midnight of the 1 2th September. On the assaults at the barracks of Glenbower, Scogh, and the localities around Slievena- mon by the Tipperary men under O'Mahony ; or, on the movements at Portlaw, Rathgormuck, and other insignificant places along the northern slope of the Commeragh Mountains, in which I was made some- what conspicuous, it would be, even if I had space, bootless to dwell. I may, however, be permitted to say, as well in justice to my friend on the one 'liand, as without any foolish egotism on the other, that onr success was not commensurate with our endeavors. In connection with these movements there is one fact which cannot be omitted, and that is the antago- nism of the priests having jurisdiction ov^er the localities into which the "rebels" were thrown. The names of the Rev. Messrs. Conolly and Byrne oi Carrick-on-Suir, -Corcoran and Cahill of Mullinahone, P. Lafliin of Keilavalla, and Morissy of Ballyneale. will afford to the student who may be sufficientlv JOHN MARTIN. S^O interested in tlie aifiiirs of '48 as to look into ita details, a sad contrast to tliose of the Kearns, Roches and Murplijs of fifty years previous. After many dislieartening adventures, much weary wandering, much hope and serious misfortune, the brave and gifted Ixmd who were flung into ill designed rebellion some months sooner than the period their calculations had led them to look upon as most opportune, were hunted, scattered, captured and banished. O'Brien w^as arrested at Thurles, on the 0th Au- gust ; Meagher and O'Donohoe near Rathgannon, on the loth ; and McManus in the bay (if Cove, on board the ship N. D. Chase, on the 7th September. The others escaped after many vicissitudes, and in many disguises, out of the country. The trials proceeded. John Martin, the pure and estimable, who, com- bining with his persistent republicanism, a chivalrous friendship, rare in these days, settled up his worldly accounts, and staked the proceeds and his person in the columns of a journal, that Mitcliel might not lie when he had promised for him in the dock. He was brought to trial on the 16th August, and sentenced to ten years' transportation on the 19th. His remarks at the bar were highly characteristic of the man. '' There have (said he) been certain formalities car- ried on here for three days, but I have not been put upon my country, according to the Constitution said to exist in Ireland." He avowed his purposes, and added — '* being a man who loves retirement, I never would have engaged in politics did I not think it 330 necessary to do all in my power To make an end of the horrible scenes the country presents." Upon the jury's recommending him to mercy, he indignantly, but with his peculiar calmness, exclaimed : — " I can- not condescend to accept mercy where I believe I have been morally right. I wawt justice, not mercy." After undergoing two lengthy trials, on which the juries disagreed, Kevin J. O'Doherty was brought a third time to the bar, on the 30th of October. Young, promising, and gifted with those superior talents that o'ive iron streno-th to a conclusion in the mind of an enthusiast, O'Doherty was in every respect equal to the time. His conviction became a passion with tlie vice-regal despot, wlio avowed that he did pack the jury, and that " under the circum- stances," he did right. Although but twenty-four years old, he was already distinguished in his pro- fession, having taken the prize for certain essays on medical science. O'Dohert}^ flung himself with great enthnsiasm into the movement ; and proved him- self as worthy of its honors and sacrifices as the best. He was transported for ten years. At the conclusion of the trial, he confessed with pride that he desired to resist the government ; and also disclaimed the authorship of one of the articles included in the indictment in the •' Tribune," Avhich suggested the flinging of burning hoops on the soldiery, and concluded by believing his jury to be " twelve conscientious enemies," and by deploring the destiny that gave him birth in Ireland, and com- pelled him to receive a felon's doom for dischargiUj^ what he conceived to be his duty. i^'VARD D ALTON WILLIAMS. 331 Williams was tried on the same cliaro-e and f'^'* tlie o same articles as O'Doherty, and acquitted. At the the time of his arrest, this "— — fickle, audacious, inconstant, imprndent, Bloodshedding, verse-writing, medical student," was twenty-nine years old, and had been one of the earliest as well as one of the most distinguished of the poets whc made the '' Nation " famous. He was born in Tipperary — Tipperary of the broads hills and golden valleys ; Tipperary where the rivers flow like Irish melodies, dividing their chorus with the more rngged and j^ictnresqne hills of Waterford, that seem to grow tame with listening, as the " rnde sea " erst did to the " dnlcet and har- monious breath " of Oberon's mermaid. PI ere the soul of Williams was enlarged and charmed into the flashing wit of its mountain rills, the quiet humor of its whispering streams, the immovable patriotism of its liills, the broad, gushing passion of its potent rivers. Educated in Carlow College, monastic life seemed to have but given his studious temperament a greater fondness for retirement. He was pious as he was patriotic, and I well remember that his two great weapons in '48, were his praj^er-book and his rifle. lie went as regularly to religious service as to the rifle-gallery, and considered the preaching at the former incomplete without the practice at the latter. The crack of the rifle was the necessary " Amen " to liis morning prayer. His genius is peculiarly and 332 fflorioiislv versatile. His writin£!:3 under tlie well O ■> CD known signature of " Shamrock," are in every mood, and witl) equal success. In his patriotic odes a deep tone of elevated piety holds in, witli beautiful effect, the struggles of an exuberant and well-stored fancy. His love poems are full of tenderness and feeling, and his "Misadventures of a Medical Student," — in which he cracks jokes out of every joint of the human body ; and rattles the " lank phalanges " of the skeleton to as merry a tune as some Andalusian castanet-player in a bolero — are really unmatched and unmatchable for wit and drollery. In his hands chemical science is a comical one ; the Pharmaco- peia becomes a " marvellous horn " of fun and frolic, and is thus put to its proper use, a hearty laugh being the best of physic. In his company the " Dub- lin Dissector " cuts up such pranks before high heaven as make the angels weep with laughter; and " Statistics, the moon, or geology, Matbeiiiatics, liydraiilics, the tides, ichthyology," are figured, stoned, squared, pumped and fished up for the quaint and jocular revels of his muse. His acquittal was chiefly due to his being the author of a poem entitled the " Sisters of Charity," on the beauty, tenderness and pious feeling of which, his advocate Samuel Ferguson, dwelt with such force as to affect the jury. It is not a little remark- able that when the " Nation " was charged with infidelity, the Kev. C. P. Meehan, denying the im- putation, referred to the fact that this same poem ,SMITEI O i>KlEN. 333 vas republished iVom its columns by tbe nuns aiid circulated by them. At present, Williams is a pro- fessor in a College in Mobile. Smith O'Brien was brouglit to trial on the SStP September. His calm, heroic dignity has well bee compared to that which histoiy records of '98. O'Brien was born on the 17th October, 1803. and is the second son of Sir Edward O'Brien, of Cahirmoyle, County Clare. Sir Edward was one of those who in 1800 opposed the Union. He was a good-natured, impassioned man, and of a strong Irish character, which was heightened by the fact of his being the lineal descendant of the famous King Brian Born. Smith O'Brien's entry into public life was made memorable by his joining the Catholic Association, and making in Parliament, which he entered early, a remarkably vigorous defence of that body, in moving an inquir}' into the state of Ireland. He was ever the consistent and fearless advocate of his coun- try, though he was not always an O'Connellite. He oined the Repeal movement at a time when the government was using every exertion to put it jown ; and while O'Connell was incarcerated, he took the lead in Irisli affairs and conducted the business of Conciliation Plall. He looked upon it as the proper sphere of action, when hopes from an English Parliament became more than chimerical. In 1816 declining to enter on the routine of parlia- mentary duty, and beii.g l^acked by the O'Connells' pledging to do likewise, he would not serve on a railway committee, and was imprisoned for twenty- 3U five cLys in consequence. In tliis affair, his con- duct >\ao ^ade tiie subject of animadvei-sion and ridicule ; out, though betrayed by the O'Connells, he pursued nis course of lionest integrity, and re- ceived tlie universal acclamation of his countrymen. Conciliation Hall passed a vote of confidence in liis ^' integrity, patriotism and personal courage." His constituents of Limerick held a public meetir.g in approval , the corporation of Limerick voted confi- dence in, and an address to him ; and from Water- ford, Gal way, Athlone, I^Tewry, Ennis, Kilkenny, Cashel, Cork, Tuam, Ballingarry, Kilrush, and other places, the united expression of the people poured in to cheer and ratify the purity of his motives. A deputation of the celebrated '82 Club, consisting of Messrs. O'Gorman, Mitchel, Bryan, Doheny, Meagher and McManus, presented him an address in prison ; a deputation of the Liverpool Repealers did likewise, and the voice of the liberal press of L-elard had but one word of congratulation. Educated, eloquent, fearless and disinterested, O'Brien did not receive more lionor from the cause, pure as it was-, than he conferred upon it. Of a noble family, his sympathies were ever with the people ; and tlie advocate of their rights, he never disgraced them by demagoguis.ia. He neither kissed the blarney-stone, nor touched tlie purse, which is so prominent an institution, and so prolific a fountain in Irish politics.. In the Parliament — he towered above the Irish hacks there, as an Irish round tower, full of historic memories, ascends to heaven amid the i?.> 335 dern hovels by which it is surrounded. As a Sena tor he was dignified, and as a rebel only too chival- rous. While true to the democracy, he was an aris- tocrat, and while an aristocrat, impeached tlie intolerance of his order. His speeches, if not always "=?loc[uent, are generally able ; and his purity alwa^^s iiiade an impression where his rhetoric might fail. What Louis Blanc says of Odillon Barrot, may be applied to O'Brien. '' His eloquence left a lasting impression, because it was sound, lofty and strong. * * Despite the ^htly scornful turn of his lip, and the apparent st:> "jss of his demeanor, there was in him a simplicity of feeling, an ignorance of guile, a nobleness of heart and character, that gave him a great power to attract, if xiot to charm and captivate. People forget to bear him envy."* On his return from Paris, after presenting an address from the Irish Confederation to the French Republic, he made a most powerful and gallant speech in the Commons. The Government charged tte deputation with seeking French aid. The speech f O'Brien, while it denied the charge, createt. the greatest excitement and consternation in the House '* Irish Freedom must be won by Irish courage and Irish firmness," he said. " I have no desire to impose upon my country one description of servitude for another — for I believe that if the liberty of Ire- lard, and its redemption from its present position ^ere won by foreign bayonets, its permanent position • History of Ten Years. Vol I, p. 48T. J^Sb 'JSiNETY-EIGHT AN^D 'fORTY-EIG tTT. could be retained only by foreign bayonets." He went on to thank the French for having given an impulse to the cause of freedom, which he trusted would re-act beneficially on his own country. " Every statesman in the civilized globe," he cried, " looks upon L'eland, as you look upon Poland, and upon yom- connection as entirely analogous to that of Russia with Poland." He dwelt on the sympathy of the Chartists, a petition signed by ^yq millions of whom was that evening presented to the house. He went through the grievances of Ireland with a bold- ness only equalled by the condensed and graphic energy of every sentence ; suggested what might be the situation of England with " an independent republic on the one side, and an independent repub- lic on the other," and concluded by impeaching the ministers of the crown as traitors to the country, queen and Constitution. At every word he was impeded, at almost every -^entence hooted, mocked, yelled and laughed at. One single voice was heard in approval, and that was Feargus O'Connor's. But he was there to speak his mind, and he did speak it. In look, stature, bearing and character, he was a man. Facing the Court on the morning of the 9th of October, 1848, he was asked " if he had anything to say why sentence of death and execution should not be passed upon him." He replied, " My lords, it is not my intention to enter into any vindication of my ooii duct, however much I might have desired to avail luj self of this opportunity of so doing. T ara perfef-tl? TERENCE BELLEW MCMANITS. 337 satisfied with the consciousness that I have performed my duty to my country — that I have done only that which, in my opinion, it was the duty of every Irish- man to have done, and I am now prepared to abide the consequences of having performed my duty to my native land. Proceed with your sentence." McManus was brought to trial on the 9th, O'Don- ohae on the 13th, and Meagher on the 16th October. On the 23d they were brought up for sentence. O'Donohue spoke but a few words ; McManus' speech was thoroughly characteristic of his soldier heart and manly nature ; he paid a fine tribute to the genius and legal ability of his counsel, felt his heart free and his conscience light, and concluded thus : — " I have spent some of the fiappiest and most pros- perous days of my life iu England ; and in no part of my career have I been actuated by enmity to Eng- lishmen, however much I may have felt the injustice of English rule in this island. My lords, I have nothing more to say. It is not for having loved Eng land less, but for having loved Ireland more, that I now stand before you." Meagher, at the time of his arrest, had just com- pleted his twenty-fifth year, having been born in Wa- terford city, on the 3d of August, 1823. At an early age he was sent to Clongowes Wood college, and afterwards to Stonyhurst, in Lancashire, England, where his frank and happy nature endeared him to his associates. Here he was distinguished for the heartiness with which he joined in all the freaks of student life, and the sudden impulses of study that 15 338 enabled liim to cany off tlie lioiiors from those who had paled their brows in months of laborious scrutiny. His mind was quick as gay, and retentive as playful. In English com230sition and rhetoric he was above all competitors, and already became remarkable for that elegant enthusiasm whicli afterwards, in so short a space of time, placed his name in the list of the recognized orators who have contributed so largely to make the history and literature of his country. Leaving Stonyhnrsf in lSdt3, fresh from the converse with the poets, soldiers, and heroes of Greek and Eo- man antiquity, with a rich brain and a richer heart, he flung himself into the national cause, around which so much fervor circled at the time. He attended the great meetings held at Lismore, Kilkenny, and other places ; became interested in the politics of his native city, occasional!}^ made a few remarks, but was not prominently before the public until after the death of Davis. From that occasion to the present his name is a portion of Irish history, and synony- mous with truth, courage, and eloquence. The true orator has more living influence than the author, because he combines the actor and the author, and his gesticulation — which is as necessary to a fin- ished orator, and produces an equal effect on his audi- ence, as the matter of his discourse — aids his words, and stamps his thoughts upon the mind of his hearers Dead, he has the same chance of reputation and influ- ence as the author, if his discourses are what they should be, besides having the prestige of the influence they commanded when first he uttered them. THOMAS FRANCM ^ffiAGHER. 339 Cicero, Demosthenes, Burke, Patrick Ileurj, Slier- idan, and Curran, are read in the closet as classics. They influence thonght as mnch as any of their merely writing cotemporaries. And Shakspere is made ever present to lis, because lie is so constantly acted. His written eloquence is given to us as acted tliought nighth^, which keeps up his influence on parties who never read, while those who do read receive a double gratiflcation from seeing him acted. The true orator has the greatest certainty of extensive reputation and lasting influence. Meagher's career is an evidence of the one, and no doubt will exert the other. As Grattan was the orator of the Yolunteers, Meagher was the orator of the Confederates. He was more completely than any other man the living symbol and mouthpiece of that brilliant organization. Like that of Yergniaud, to whom he has been frequently compared, Meagher's "public life lasted only two years." Yet, in that short period, he made the world his audience ; and it is no wonder, for as Brenan beautifully says, " His bright musical thoughts circled round his fallen country as spring birds round a ruin." In those two years he became the acknowledged orator of a country proverbially wealthy in gifted speakers. In those two years he imbued national politics (if I can use such a combination), with a beauty, fervor, and force, to which his generation heretofore M^as unaccustomed. In those two years he became the most popular of the patriots. He flung demagoguism from the popular rostrum, and set up S40 honesty and cliivalry in its place. He made the tri- bune an altar of invocation and defiance, from being the confessional of servile petitioners, and the show- box of wordj acrobats. He was immediately felt. His first burst of enthusiasm startled and created ad- miration ; and his constant appearance, sustaining himself more brilliantly the more daring his flight, whirled the people into an excess of enthnsiasm which is not yet abated. His speeches, previous to and about the period of the Secession, were criticised hy the English joiirnals as the speeches of no man of onr dav have been. Alludino^ to this remarkable and unusual fact, Mr. Henry Grattan expressed himself as not astonished, for " they displayed the talent of Junius, the spirit of Burke, and the courage of Flood and Burgh." His speech in the dock at Clonmel is a peculiarly elegant and interesting eff'ort. Thougli lacking the characteristics of his great bursts of passion, it has a purity and manly dignity so suitable to the occasion that I give it entire : — "My lords," he said, "it is my intention to say a few words only. I desire that tlie last act of a proceeding whicli has occu- pied so much of the public time should be of short duration. iN'or have I the indelicate wish to close the dreary ceremony of a State prosecution with a vain display of words. Did I fear that, hereafter, when I shall be no more, the country I have tried to serve would think ill of me, I might, indeed, avail my- self of this solemn moment to vindicate my sentiments and my conduct. But I have no such fear. The country will judge of those sentiments and that conduct in a light far different from Thomas feancis Meagher. S4i that in which the jury by which I have been convicted have viewed them ; and by the country, the sentence which you, my lords, are about to pronounce, will be remembered only as the severe and solemn attestation of my rectitude and truth. What- ever be the language in which that sentence be spoken, I know that ray fate will meet with sympathy and that my memory will be honored. Tn speaking thus, accuse me not, my lords, of an indecorous presumption. To the efforts I have made in a just and noble cause I ascribe no vain importance, nor do I claim for those efforts any high reward. But it so happens, and it will ever happen so, that they who have tried to serve their country, no matter how weak the effort may have been, are sure to receive the thanks and the blessings of its people. " With my country, then, I leave my memory — my sentiments -my acts— proudly feeling that they require no vindication from me this day. A jury of my countrymen, it is true, have found me guilty of the crime of which I stood indicted. For this I entertain not the slightest feeling of resentment towards them. Influenced as they must have been by the charge of the Lord Chief Justice, they could have found no other verdict. What of that charge ? Any strong observations on it, I feel sin- cerel}^, would ill befit the solemnity of this scene ; but I would earnestly beseech of you, my lord, you, who preside on that bench, wiien the passions and the prejudices of this hour have passed away, to appeal to your conscience, and ask of it, was your charge as it ought to have been, impartial and indifferent between the subject and the Ci'own. " My lords, you may deem this language unbecoming in me, and perhaps it may seal my fate. But I am here to speak the truth, whatever it may cost. I am here to regret nothing I have ever done — to retract nothing I have ever said. I am here to crave, with no lying lip, the life I consecrate to the liberty of my country. Far from it; even here — here, where the thief, the libertine, the murderer, have left their foot-prints in the dust; here, on this spot, where the shadows of death surround me, and from which I see my early grave in an un anointed soil opened to 343 'ninety-eight and 'forty-f/gs1*. receive me — even here, encircled by these terrors, the hope which has beckoned me to the perilous sea upon which I haTe been wrecked, still consoles, animates, enraptures me. No, I do not despair of my poor old country, her peace, her Hberty, her glory. For that country I can do no more than bid her hope. To lift this island up — to make her a benefactor to humanity, instead of being the meanest beggar in the world — to restore to her her native powers and her ancient constitution — ^this has been my ambition, and this ambition has been my crime. Judged by the law of England, I know this .crime entails the penalty of death ; but the history of Ireland explains this crime, and justi- fies it. Judged by that history, I am no criminal — ^you (address* ing Mr. M'Manus) are no criminal — you (addressing Mr. Dono- hue) are no criminal — I deserve no punishment — we deserve no punishment. Judged by that history, the treason of which I stand convicted loses all its guilt, is sanctified as a duty, will be ennobled as a sacrifice. " With these sentiments, my lord, I await the sentence of the Court. Having done what I felt to be my duty — having spoken what I felt to be the truth, as I have done on every other occa- sion of my short career, I now bid farewell to the country of my birth, my passion, and my death— the country Avhose misfortunes have invoked my sympathies — whose factions I have sought to still — whose intellect I have prompted to a lofty aim — whose freedom has been my fatal dream. I ofter to that country, as a proof of the love I bear her, and the sincerity with which I thought, and spoke, and struggled for her freedom — ^the life of a young heart, and with that life, all the hopes, the honors, the endearments of a happy and an honorable home. Pronounce then, my lords, the sentence which the law directs, I am prepared to hear it. I trust I shall be prepared to meet its execution. I hope to be able, with a pure heart and perfect composure, to appear before a higher tribunal — a tribunal where a Judge of infinite goodness, as well as of justice, will preside, and where, my lords, many — many of the judgments of this world will be reversed." .fAMES FENTON LALOR. S4S The prisoners were then sentenced to be "hanged, drawn and quartered," which was afterwards com- nmted to transportation for life."^ In addition to these men, some mention of other leading sj)irits becomes necessary, and I regret that space will not allow me to dwell as minutely on their genius, good faith and sacrifices as my inclinations desire. One of the most remarkable men of the movement, taking either his personal appearance or mental acquirements into view, was James Fenton Lalor. Of a deformed person, ungainly action, compara- tively blind and deaf, soured in temper, splenetic, bitter and self-opinionated, he was one of the most powerful political writers that ever took pen in hand. His arguments were as logical as his conclusions were fierce ; his denunciations as bitter as they were eloquent, and his style as pure as his indignation was savage. The more ferocious his intentions, the bet- ter was his English ; and never being in an amiable mood, his manner, consequently, was never faulty. He was as fearless to act as to i3lan. He knew no such thing as temporization ; a half-measure would drive him wholly mad. Truth was the only expe- dient he believed in. He did not publicly enter * Of the prisoners sent to Van Dieman's Land, M'Manus, O'Donohue, Meagher, anJ Mitchel efifected then- escai)e to America. M'Manus landed in 1851; he resides in California. O'Donohue landed in 1852, and died early in 1854. Meagher arrived in 1852 ; he resides in New York ; and Mitchel arrived at the close of 1853. The latter started the " Citizen," in New York, on January 1st 1854, conducted it for one year, and then retired to a farm in Tennessee, wliere he now resides. In the conduct of the "Citizen," the writer was associated with Mitchel as literary ed'.tor. 34:4. ViKETY-EIGHT AND ^FORTY-EIGfif . political life until after Mitcliel's baiiisliment ; but liis letters to the latter show that he was ever a revo- lutionist, and like Kenjon disbelieved in the O'Con- nellite policy. A true patriot, a passionate hater of tji^anny under any form or sky, he died a relentless republican, his health having been shattered^by the treatment he received in prison. John B. Dillon was born in the County Galway in the 3^ear 181-i. Originally intended for the priest- hood, he received a considerable portion of his edu- cation at Maynooth College ; but changing his mind, he finished it at Trinity College, Dublin, and in due time became a lawyer. At the University, Dillon and Davis met, and from their meeting, no doubt, much of the healthy tone subsequently introduced into Msh politics emanated. They, sounded the depths of each other's soul ; and together ambitioned, projected and planned a national future. In figure, gesture, and everything personal, these students were unlike ; but their national faith, hope and charity linked them together. Of the two, Dillon was the tallest and the handsomest, with luminously thought- ful eyes, an expression of serious sadness about the mouth in repose, of appreciative sweetness when moved with humor — and a sombre, Spanish visage, veiling a heart of Milesian heat and enthusiasm. Davis's manner betrayed the enthusiast — ^his bent shoulder, his more readably ex]3ressive face, his quickness of action, plainly exhibited the man of pur- pose, the student of many projects. Wliile in College, Dillon wrote some articles for .tOHN B. DILI ON. MS the " Morning Kegister," reviewing the rnle that prevented Catholics from attaining the degree of Scholar in the University ; they attracted notice, which induced Mr. Michael Staunton to offer the writer the editorship of his paper. On ih.Q starting of the Repeal Movement, Dillon's enthu- siasm in its advocacy was too strong for the " Regis- ter." He requested the proprietor to make it a Repeal organ, and failing in the request, left the office. Soon, however, the entire population of Dub- lin were repealers ; and as the " Register," had to live, it tui-ned with the tide, and Dillon again entered the office. Knowing the talent of Davis, and the vast pov^er latent in him, Dillon persuaded Mr. Staunton to associate his friend with him, which he did, and thus the students were fairly afloat with a glorious purpose and two stern pens. About this time it was that the notice of the Irish Government was attracted to the " Register," and an attempt made to purchase the source of its spirit. The under-secretary for Ireland, I^orman MacDonald, sent for the writer of certain articles. John Dillon went to the Castle. He was met in the most polite and elegant manner by the veiy " vain and empty " Secretary. Many arguments were used to prove how beneficial it would be for him to become a Whig, but were as firmly rejected as temptingly displayed. This was the turning point in Dillon's life. He might have joined the Government then, and easily Avorked his handsome head into a big wig, and his tall body to the bench since; 15* ue A notion soon entered the heads of Dillon and Davis that thej would purchase the " Weekly Regis- ter," and change it into a high-toned, literary, politi- cal and educational journal. They had made up their minds to it, when one day in the hall of the Four Courts, they met Mr. C. G. Duffy, with whom Dillon had some acquaintance. They learned from him that he came from Belfast to start just such a journal as occupied their thoughts. They heard him with some surprise, but offered him, as he was a pro- fessional journalist, their services and support. The plans of all were united ; and of this union the " I^ation " was the noble child. In the very first number of the " Nation," Dillon came boldly out in an article of remarkable force on that curse of Ireland, the landed aristocracy. He gave the key-note of democracy, which has been swelled since into such choral volume. Take such sentences as the following, for instance : " The existence of a landed aristocracy is incompatible with public economy. Primogeniture is the basis on which it rests. The eldest son gets the estate, the rest must live. * * * " A landed aristocracy makes idlers, and gives them the bread of industry — still worse, it makes idleness reputable, and indus- try contemptible." * * * " The idlers' fund — the taxes and rents of these countries — are close upon one hundred and fifty millions a year. It is the business of every man who helps to produce the fund, to inquire whether it is well laid out. It is time to ascertain in what relation we of the plebeian order stand towards those people — whether we pay them a tribute as their slaves, or a salary for their servicas." * '* * RTCHAKD o'gOEMAN-. 84? Good maxims, taese ! There is a pliilosophic firm- ness about Dillon's speaking and writing wliicli make botli attractive. After the discomfiture in the South, Dillon made his way to his native Galwaj, eluded the authorities in the Achil isles, and with a brave comrade, Pat- rick J. Smyth, escaped to America disguised as a priest, from the actuality of which he formerly retired, and formed those associations wdiich led to his exile. As a lawyer in New York, he is highly esteemed, and has associated w^ith him, professionally, the partner of his principles and exile, E-ichard O'Gorman, who, after sharing the perils and misfor- tunes of the party in the South, made his escape in a vessel that turned him up, or set him down, in Con- stantinople. Knowing the powxr of England over the Ottoman Empire, O'Gorman secured passports by communicating with General Cavaignac, and ultimately arrived in America in 1849. Tlie name of Michael Doheny is intimately con- nected wdth every movement suggested by the ills of his country, or projected for its amelioration, for twenty years. His life is an evidence at once of the untamable nature of indigenous ability, and of the cares wdiicli unconquerable devotion to an idea engenders and overcomes. His first twenty years were as remarkable in their unlettered throbbings, as the remainder were active in the rostrum, at the hustings, in the journal office. In those latter years, he was but putting into energetic and eloquent eer- vice, the visions ii\d impulses that visited him at the 848 ninp:ty-eight and forty-etght. plough. Actually, lie was an inspired ploLgh-boy. Dolieny was born on tlie 22cl May, 1805, at Bi-ooldiill, near Fetliard, County Tipperary. His cliildliood was precocious, and from the age of five to eight years, he was noted for remarkable mathematical know- ledge, which submerged almost evfery other branch- of the education he at this period received from a " poor scholar " domiciled in his father's house. From a position of comparative independence, Dohe- ny's father fell under misfortunes, and the child was put to guide the j^lough. The passion for knowledge was upon him, and having a brother at the time being educated for the priesthood, some translations of the classics fell into his hands. Mounted on the horse, he pored into the magic realm of Greek and Roman story, became a creature of another world, until the animal, left to itself, jerked the plough from its intended furrow, raised the audible indignation ot the holder, and brought our child-dreamer from the classic heaven to his Tipperary earth. "Blair's Compendium " fell in his way, and scarcely ever left the person of the boy. It learnt the horse to be idle, it initiated rust on the spade ; and dispossessed for the time the old hills and the historic links that sur- rounded him. ISTo thing could seduce him from the " Compendium," but one thing — and that was, a fox- hunt. The sound of the horn, the yelp of the hounds, were to him, as the " warlocks and witches " to Tam O'Shanter, they bewitched him ; and mounting Ids " grey mare, Meg," away the boy went, helter skel- ter, over ditch and dyke and fence and gap, as thougJj MICHAEL DOHENY. 349 all tlie " rigwoodie liags," were cliasing him to the Brig a' Doon. Thus the boy grew np to be twenty- one years old, when in company with Pat. Daverne,* he went into Limerick in search of education. Meet- ing a noted scliolar named Maher, of Emly, on the road, the three adjourned to a " neighboring . ale- house " (as the novelists say) and the two young men stipulated with the schoolmaster, that for thirty Brit- ish shillings, the latter should, in the course of the ensuing eight or ten months, transfer all he knew in the way of classics to them. Thus at twenty-one years old, Doheny went to school — to read, write, and get the Latin ; and the fifteen shillings then paid, was all that his education ever cost him. He boasts of this. Lie is proud of it, and looking at the position he attained, the speeches, he made, and the various writings both in prose and verse from his accomplished pen, there are none who can deny the assiduity and energy that must have produced such results. Li due time, having wonderful facility and popular power as an orator, he become a lawyer, writing for the London press to defray the expense of putting in his terms in that city ; settled in Cashel, became a prominent local politician, and afterwards well-known on the national platform. In '48 he escaped (in the garb of a pig-drover) from the South of Ireland to Bristol, reached London, went to Paris, and finally to America, where he resides, and follows ♦ Afterwards a most distinguished priest, and noted as the author of a series of powerful letters to Lord Hawarden, 350 'ninety-eight and 'foett-eight. the profession of law. In his course, Doheny has been as true and firm as the famous rock opposite to his house at Cashel. He was, and is, as Mitchel calls him in his " Jail Journal," " a devoted rebel." His great facility for public speaking often puts bini for- ward to bear the brunt of public criticism ; but he is fearless, and quite as ready to attack as to defend. He rarely thinks of consequences if he has made up his mind that he is right. His honesty renders him impolitic, and the brusqueness of his manner at times, demands the consideration of even his most ardent friends. He is withal an Irishman of true capacity and action. As an orator, he has stood beside O'Connell with advantage ; and in the " Young L*e-- land" movement, was scarcely less effective than Meagher. Jose23li Brenan, whom Mangan said had " all of Shelley's soul," has seen at present about twenty- eight summers, and was born in the ISTorth of Ire- land. Corkmen generally claim him among the list of their notabilities, which, while but just to his intellect, is not true in fact. At an early age he was removed to Cork, and grew up there, which has led to the error. He was originally intended for the Church, but disappointed " fond anticipations," like many of his friends, and took to writing very clevei articles, when not more than eighteen or nineteen, in one of the Cork papers. He met Mitchel in Cork early in '48, beheld his ideal L'ish revolutionist, and soon afterwards sold his rifle to pay his expenses to Dublin, where, about the last days of the " United JOSEPH BEEN AN". 351 L'ishman " lie arrived, to see tlie man banislied, to join whom he had left his home. Brenan became immediately known to his Dublin associates and tht government, as a brilliant, forcible yonng fellow, equal and ready to face any emergency. Some of his writings in the " Felon " were prosecuted. He was imprisoned in Dublin and Belfast for about nine months, and wrote there some beautiful poems. After his release he edited the " Irishman " with great force, versatility and elegance, and in October of 1849, had to fly to America, being implicated in an attack on the police barracks of Cappoqnin, and the leader of an insurrectionary movement in that locality. At present he is chief writer on the l>lew Orleans " Delta." Brenan has written more really fine, sterling things than any man of his years ; and many men whose names make a " sensation " — peo- ple of many years' " literary standing " which does not always imply under-standing — will never write anything half so good. His temperament is highly poetic, which, coupled witli a delicate appreciation of nature, and a bold, copious phraseology, makes him at once a writer of great flexible vigor, and an orator of much picturesque expression. He sees things originally, and gives a quaint, happy, or philosophic guise to everything he touches, according to the mood of his muse. For some years he has labored under the calamity of comparative blindness, induced by unsuccessful treatment while in the horrors of the yellow fever in 1853. Under this and the decima- ticn of his household, his poetic nature deepened 352 into gloomy sensitiveness, from wliicli liis spirits have happily arisen like the bright crocus from the deso- lation of winter. Dr. Thomas Antisell, at the time he joined with tlie students on their appearance in the political arena, was already distinguished as a geologist and chemist, to the archives of which sciences he has contributed some valuable treatises. lie was a pupil of Sir Rob- ert Kane, and regarded as second only to that cele- brated chemist and successful scientific experiment- alist. In America lie has found a prolific field of investigation, and has fully sustained and enlarged the reputation for which he received credit. He has lately been engaged on a scientific mission by the United States government in California. On the banks of the Suir, at a place called Mul- lough, in the county Tipperary, thei-e lived in the beginning of '48, a gentleman farmer, of ample means and thorough education, of unassuming manners and devoted patriotism, in whose vrarm southern nature a deep knowledge of the ancient Celtic tongue and misfortunes brooded, and tinct with a silent but lofty veneration and enthusiasm, the ho2)es and aspirations which at the period manifested themselves in the Young Ireland party — who in a word, was a " rebel ;" a pure souled, high-hearted, courageous, and in his district — which encompassed the counties of Tippe- rary, Waterford, and Kilkenny — most powerful rebel. His name was John 0']\[ahony. When the leaders took " to the hills," he succored, aided, and cheered them, and when they were i;.r- 353 rested, wandering outlawed through the island, or seeking the shores of America and France, O'Mahony still brooded over the wrongs and sorrows of the fatherland. He could not leave his native hills. He looked down the golden valle}^ of the Suir, and said, as Cromwell said when gloating over the same scene, " This is a country worth lighting for." The inspira- tion of Davis throbbed through him, and he felt the ambition of the poet's soul : •' Be mine the lot to bear that flag And bead tbe men of Tipperaiy." Looking for O'Brien and Meagher, I met O'Mahon}^, and having the same faith, being inspired by the same hopes, fresh prospects, and visious of success, or, at least, '* one bold efibrt," beckoned us on. Hunted almost by night and day, but resting secure in the devotion of the peasantr}^, we visited the '^disaffected" districts, and organized the rising before alluded to. O'Mahony, by a series of really startling adventures, eluded the vigilance of the police. He was in Clon- mel during the trial of O'Brien, organizing a force to attack the court-house, when he was discovered, and saved himself by leaping from a back window. He ultimately escaped fj-om Dungarvan, in the county Waterford, in a fishing-smack, and w^as landed in Wales, where he remained for six weeks, until an opportunity offered for his conveyance to France. He resided in Paris for five years, and came to America towards the close of 1853. Of indomitable 354 NLN^ETY- EIGHT AND FUETY-EIGHT. will, great pln^sical power, and scholastic and scien- tific strength — of a pure and elevated nature, stored not only with a variety but a profundit}^ of knowledge, — with a rectitude unbending, and a faith unfathom- able, O'Mahony is one of the greatest enthusiasts that ever drank music from a motli-eaten manuscript in the Celtic tongue, and as resolute a guerilla as ever inspired or mastered a nmltitude of like resolute souls. The same faculties which make him a student also make him a revolutionist. His great, quiet power is to overcome ; and at books or barricades, is equally capable. Of John Kavanagh, who was seriously wounded at Ballingarry, James Stevens, Dr. Hetherington Drumm, formerly sub-editor of the " Nation," James Cant- well, the late M. Crean, and other refugees, it is im- possible for me to say more than that they all deserved well of their countrymen in serving their country. The following is a list, alphabetically arranged, of those who were arrested in '48. I do not give it as perfect, for the means of making it so are not within reach : Michael Joseph Barry. * Patrick Balier. James Bergen. Joseph Brenan. * John Brennan. John Brennan, Dublin. Francis Bridgeman. John Burke. Edward Butler. Robert Cane, M. D., and J. T. W. Condon. * Brian Connell. * Michael Dacres. Peter Davy. Michael Doheny. * James Donovan. * Fenton Doran. DowHng, Chartist Repealer. Charles Gavan Duffy. Andrew English. Thomas Fahey. P.Patrick Ferrall. * Michael Flanagan. Lawrence Geoghegan. Patrick Gogarty. John Gray. Thomas Matthew Halpln. * Patrick Hannegan James Hayes. * Joseph Hewson. Denis Hoban. Edward Hollywood. John Hughes. * William Hunt. * Michael Jay. Patrick Kelly. * James Kenna. Philip Kennedy. THE STATE PEISONEES. 355 John Killilea. James Fenton Lalor. James Francis Lalor. Denny Lane. John Lawless. John Lee. Maurice Ricnard Leyne. Denny P. Lyons. Patrick Marron. Jolin Martin. Eugene Martin. William Mathews. * Daniel McCarthy. William McCarron, M. D. Thomas D. McGee. Thomas McGrade. Michael McKenna. Terence Bellew McManus Charles McNamara, William McNaughton. Tlwmas Francis Meagher. Stephen Joseph Meany. Walter Thomas Meyler. John Mitcliel. Morissey. Dennis Mullin. William Smith O'Briaji, M. John O'Brien, Cork. John O'Brien, Dublin. Kevin Izod O'Doherty. Patrick O'Donohue. John O'Donnell. Patrick O'Higgins. Thomas O'Rourke. Anthony O'Ryan, M. D. Frank O'Ryan, Bernard O'Sullivan. Miss Eliza Power. * Michael Power. John Rea. Thomas Deviu Reilly. Col. Rochford. Miss Ryan. Francis B. Ryan. * Pierce Saunders. Timothy Sexton. P.* Sheehan. * Edward Slaney. Thomas F. Strange. * Jeremiah Sullivan. * John Sullivan. Charles Taafe. Edward Trouton. Edward C. Varian. John Varian. * John Walsh. Edward C. West, M. D. Richard D'Alton Williams. John De Courcey Young. * Those marked thus (*) were arrested for taking part with the present writer in the attack on Portlaw. The principal of the above was Mr. James Kenna, a mas- ter smith, "a man of good circumstances," who kept "two forges." The assizes report of July 12, goes on to say, " It may be remarked that, with the exception of Kenna, who pleaded guilty, who was a respectable-looking tradesman, of about sixty years of age, all the prisoners were young men, apparently above the rank of common laborers, clad in good broad-cloth, and all ranging between tlie ages of twenty-one and twenty-five." Of those not mentioned there were some fifteen arrested in Cashel, sixteen in the "Wilderness," near Clonmel, a nnmber at Ballingarry, three at Carrick on Suir ; whose names I exceedingly regret 1 have not been able to ascertain. THOMAS DEVIN REILLY an THOMAS DEVLN" REILLT. ^5^ THOMAS DEYi:^ EEILLY. It is with great diffidence I approacli this portion of my " labor of love :" diffidence of my capacity to put on paper an idea of Thomas Devin Rellly equal to my knowledge of him, or worthy of the friendship which existed between us. This very friendship mars to a great extent the satisfaction which one who knew him less might feel in writing of him ; for so much rises before me — so many pleasant details of his life and genius crowd upon me as to render the curtailment a sad and perplexing duty. I shall, therefore, confine myself to an outline of his career, with such illustrative matter as the imperfect scope of these pages will permit. Thomas Devin Eeilly was born, as his mother's Bible informs me, in the town of Monaghan, County Monaghan, Ulster, at " lialf-past five a.m., Tuesday, 30th March, 1824." His father, an attorney of large practice, was solicitor for Lunatics and Minors in the Court of Chancery at the time of his son's opposition to the government, and at present is Taxing Master of the same Court. Devin received the rudiments of his education at Monaghan. On his father's removal to Dublin, about liie year 1836, he was put under the tuition of the priests on Usher Quay, and afterwards m received his college entrance course at Iluddart's noted seminary. In college he was distinguished for classical and mathematical attaimnents ; took some honors, bnt did not graduate, having flung himself from the cloisters and classics of old Trinity, into the national cause, at a time when Irish politics were at that white lieat which, under the bold strokes and Thor-liammer energy of " Young L-eland " soon took tangible shape in the Confederation. Keilly was an indignant scion of an untamable race. He liad all the restlessness, activity of brain, impatience under opposition, and love of war so characteristic of the Clan CoUa tribe of tlie Here- monians that ruled in ancient Oirgiall, from which he was descended. At the time he entered politics, Reilly was a sturdy, rugged, impetuous youth, with a loving heart, a passionate self-reliance, and an audacity fed by convictions as stubborn as they were stern. He was in a state of revolution, and impressed every sheet of paper that came beneath his pen with himself. The mass of knowledge he had accumulated in his youth, the philosophies, the histories, the political economies, and governmental sophistries that were in him, were in revolt ; and his brain, under the necessities of the period, and the natural bias of his organization, dashed amid the multitude and selected the component parts of a consistent government for the man. Tlie heroism of anti(]^uity, the fierce democracy of the French Revolution, the chivalry of the Irish Brigade, the gallant faith of '98, with the cheering vehemence THOMAS DEVIN KEILLY. M of Davis and the "Nation," combined to illuminate and command from him a homage and devotion as fierce and strong as such a union of influences will readily suggest. The first mention of Reilly's name I find among those who attended the funeral of Davis ; about a month after which, he made his appearance in the literary columns of the " I^ation."* The article is noticeable only for a clear exposition of the nature of the work nnder review ; and exhibits none of the remarkable power, freshness of style, and pictorial pen-labor which at once made his reputation on the appearance of his brilliant papers on Louis Blanc's " History of Ten Years," shortly afterwards. He seemed to have thoroughly caught the spirit of the great Frenchman, devolution was the natural bias of Eeilly's mind, and he revelled in the drama of 1830, which, to use his own words, made " Edmund Burke ' look daggers ' from his coffin — tumbled poor Niebuhr into his grave," aud made Europe stand aghast. While condemning the St. Simonism of Blanc, he could readily appreciate the love of the poor and miserable that was the secret of it ; and while differing with his doctrines of centralization, could not but " sympathize in the admiration of a great mind " which produced it. The thunders of * His first article was on Dr. Madiien's " Connection between the Kingdom of Ire- land and the Crown of England," Oct. 25, 1845. I have seen it several times stated, and by the "Nation" among others, since his death, that the noted review of Blanc's " Ten Years " was the first. The two parts of the latter appeared respec- tively on Dec. 27, 1845, and Jan. 17, 1846. My authority is his own handwriting, marking the articles he contributed to that journal. 16 S6^ 'ninkty-eight July still rolling through the pages of Blanc, sliook his young reviewer into as vivid an activity as if he had been one of the •polytechnique students, who led the workmen against the bari-acks in the Rue Tournon, or tramped through the galleries of the Tuilleries, and waked their gallant comrade in the throne of tlie Bourbons, surrounded with the broken statues of kings. Ah ! the dead student on the throne was greater than the living king. He commanded the people. Transferred to the Louvre, the student of Trinity could have knelt down and worshipped in wild Ulster accents, the officers who tore off their epaulettes and broke their SAVords sooner than point them at the throats of the people. He revelled in the blouses of the faubourgs, and chronicled with a characteristic vigor the " nobility of soul and principles of honor," that animated starvation and rags in a manner " un- known to the aristocratic herds and monarchic broods of earth." These papers gave Beilly an immediate position among the able men who were creating a new litera- ture for L-eland. He was fond in after years, of dAvelling on these volumes of Blanc, and of referring to his early appreciation of them. It appeared as though the study of them confirmed his opinions and helped to form his style ; to the aid of which, how- ever, he brought a more poetic organization, w^hich in turn, while it heightened its effect in general, to suit his particular audience, was more diffuse than that employed by the French historian. THOMAS BEYiN EEILLY. 868 In February of 1846, Mr. Steele called the atten- tion of Conciliation Hall to some resolutions moved by Hon. Felix McConnell, of Alabama, " in the American House of Assembly," which held out inducements for the annexation of Ireland to the Republic. Mr. Steele, who *' in the absence of O'Oonnell," felt it his duty to speak for him, would rather see the island " overwhelmed and submerged for ever by a swelling and upheaving of the wild Atlantic Ocean," than " annexed to a slave-holding republic." He " disdained the attainment of a sel- fish Irish nationality " at the sacrifice of " the sub- lime principle of universal liberty." This brought Reilly out in the " l^ation " of the following Satur- day. He denied that nationality was selfish, and condemned the mock philanthropy that negatives home interests while going abroad for principles to fight about. " Such pliilanthropy as Mr. Steele professes," wrote Eeilly, " is a species of nationalist polygamy. Tour true Cosmopolite is a moral Grand Yizier, a Platonic Tui'k, a lover on too large a scale to love at alL He loves every country and none truly. Nationality is a pearl — the richest, too, in charity's casket. Philanthropy enlarged is the pearl dissolved."* The increasing reputation of Reilly was soon visi- * On the ^Monday following (Feb. 9th) Mr. Steele, in the " Hall," made an oppor- tunity to reply, by stating he had received an anonymous letter desiring him to apologize to Mr. McConnell. He stigmatised the writer— evidently meaning the "Nation"— as "an anonymous miscreant Molly Maguire notice-writer," and sooner than retract his " truly O'Connellite speech, would have his head chopped Off." uG4: NINETY-EIGHT AND FORTY-EIGHT. ble in the annoiincemeHt in April, of two works from Ills pen, for the "Library of Ireland." They never were wiitten, but the fact of his name being used to strengthen the prospectus may be taken as evidence of the position he acquired so rapidly, and the reliance placed on his ability.* At intervals, I find his bold \vords flashing out in and lighting up the editorial columns. He attacks the Poor Laws. On the Oregon question he was for America, not wishing " to see a Canada on the north-west of the American continent ; and for other reasons." He welcomes the Portuguese insurrection of May, and invokes his brethren to watch well the lessons of Freedom. The Portuguese of northern Minho were forced, by excessive taxa- tion, to take up arms. The minister, Costa Cabral, introduced a bill into the Cortes, avowedly founded on Peel's Lisli Coercion Act, and enforced its adop- tion, by referring to it as a measure which enlight- ened England was preparing for peaceable Ireland. "Then," said Eeilly, " did we blush to think that our degradation was the strongest weapon of foreign ty- rants." But tlie flame spread through the provinces of Traz-os-Montes and Beira. The women com- menced the assault on the troops ; the men rushed to the defence of 'their women. The "Agrarian out- rage " turned into a revolution ; Cabral barely saved his life by flight, and the queen, "profoundly afiiict- ed," revoked tlie odious laws, and guaranteed liberty of tlie press. * Tlie works, as announced, were " Biographies of the United Irishmen," ami M The Penal Days." THOMAS DEVIN liL:iLLY. 805 I can see Reilly's soft blue eyes dancing at tlie news, and his mobile lips nttering mingled male- dictions and Imrralis. The circnmstances were pecu- liarly applicable to Ireland ; and by chronicling the facts, he felt he would be telling tlie Irish to imitate the brown sons of Portugal,- who rose up against ^^ Peel's policy." Kow, Peilly is defending Smith O'Brien in his parliamentary cellar on " legal '' grounds, and looking at his position as one not involving "personal but national liberty ;" and now, he is disentangling the misstatements and filling up the omissions in Moore's ^' Hietory of Ireland," which he looks upon as " the growth of an age which delights in teaching a little of everything, and nothing well." However he might glory in Moore as a poet, he had not the slightest resj^ect for him as a historian. "The rebel," says Moore, " has seldom a chronicler," to which Ileilly adds, "May he never have the hke of Jmn again." Tester eve he saw the sun setting in radiant splen- dor by the waters of the " thundering Oregon ;" this morning he saw it rise again on the quickening vine- yards of the Douro ; at noon he is in the pauper dis- tricts at home, where the Poor Law comes between the Irish race and the face of Heaven ; he takes refnge in the cellar of O'Brien, and in the quiet eve sits by the mangled carcass given by Moore as the body of Irish history, and re-writes the legend inflicted on its coffin. Every wdiere he carries with him an observant eye and an impressionable soul, a haughty step, and 3G6 'a^kyety-icight and Vorty-eight. a tongue forked with bitterness, tlie lavish dispenser of historic memories. parallels, and hopes. On the 22nd June, after the stormy debate on the "Juvenile orators," Mitchel proposed Keilly as a member of the Repeal Association. On the 6th July, Lord Milltown, in a letter to his " dear O'Connell," proposed to the latter the post- ponement of the Repeal agitation, " for a season, to give time to form an Irish party to assist the miaistry — if willing, to urc^e them on — if lagging, in procur ing justice for Ireland." Reilly immediately, in the editorial columns, exposed the cifrontery of the " Mil- tonian theory," which would "experimentalize) on poor Ireland in the old fashion — fuse her man*ow in a whig crucible — and obtain the invaluable resi- duum of half-a-dozen placed barristers, or colonial Dogberries, lately professed in Irish popular prin- ciples, and a few hundred Catholic policemen, ready drilled to shoot their own fathers." Postpone the nationality of Ireland until she tried to acquire a contented provincialism? "If Mr. O'Connell acted on the suggestion, he would be the basest and black- est traitor that ever poisoned God's air, even in Ire- land." A fortnight afterwards he gibbeted the Hon. Cecil Lawless (son of Lord Cloncurry), who took up the " Miltonian theory," and defended the Dungar- van election. " Let no stripling whig dare to talk of * poor Ireland ' begging at England's door, for * meas- ures of atonement,' we are sick of such stuff." Both of these articles w^ere included in the indictments of the " Hall " against the " Nation." THOMAS DEVm REILLY. 367 After that of his admission, the only occasion in which Eeilly's name is visible in the reports of Con- ciliation Hall, is upon the daj on which he left it for ever. It was immediately after Mitchel rose to reply to John O'ConnelL There was considerable excite- ment in the body of the Hall, in the midst of which, in the words of the report, "Mr. Devin Reilly rose and claimed the protection of the Lord Mayor, against a person who had grossly insulted him," and pointed out the man. After some confusion the Lord Mayor, from the chair, stated that no person was entitled to speak or express an opinion who was not a member. Mr, Reilly. — My lord, I am a member of this As- sociation, and I have a perfect right to approve or disapprove of any sentiment I please. (Oh, oh.) This man had the audacity to place his hand on my collar; he is a salaried officer of the Association. (Oh, and hisses.) Tlie Salaried Officer. — This gentleman, when Mr. Mitchel stood up, commenced cheering most unmean- ingly. (Oh, oh, and hisses.) The Head Pacificator came to the rescue in his official capacity ; "Keep yourself quiet, Maguire (said he), you are misbehaving yourself most grossly ;" the salaried officer disappeared like a weed in the ocean, and the debate was resumed which ended in the Se- cession. The ensuing issue of the "Nation" was bolder and more self-reliant than ever. Li the leading article, Mitchel fairly stated the position of " Young L'eland." "Ifj" said he, "it was merely in compliment to the 868 great leader of the Association, that those men have been laboring in it, then the first indication of tlieir having fallen under his displeasure will put them to flight in confusion and dismay." And Reillj, in a stirring appeal to the country, indicated '' The Hoad before us." He did not know such a word as despair. He wrote to the m^n of Ireland : — " If you are still slaves, it is not your fault. " Your leaders war with each other. Your supreme Council is torn asunder in internal dissension. Free and independent opinion, the right, the sacred ' right to differ,' is banned in the Hall, called of ' Conciliation.' Your giant Cenfederacy rocks in peril. Your winged hopes pause irresolute, or are borne back by the blast of disgust. The hell of damned provinciahsm seema closing over Ireland again. Do you, her sons, despair 2 * * " If the xissociation roll into eternity to-morrow, with all its Young Ireland and Old Ireland, are you to be dragged with it ?" He continued to expose the trickery of the Hall, and the whiggery for which O'Connell had sacrificed the heart and sinew of the country; and from "The Hill, Monaghan," under date August 25th, and over his own signature, sent a letter to the secretary of the , Association, reviewing sharply the whole question, and dissenting from Mr. O'Connell on the points at issue. In the movements which followed he took an active part, put himself in communication with the Remonstrance Committee, was the acting secretary to the Seceders, transacting the business with Mr. O'Connell and the provinces, during the period of the conferences between the " Young " and " Old " Ireland parties; was, with Mitchel, Dillon, O'Gorman, THOMAS DEVIN KEILLT. 369 aii'i Duffy, selected by the Dublin Eemonstrants to draw up an address to the country, on the " real posi- tion of the difference," and on the formation of the Confederation, was made one of the Conncil. Such, so far, is a view of Reilly's political life. A little more than a year since he beheld himself anony- mously in type ; and he has, by his powerful pen, written his burly figure into a front rank. Not twen- ty-three years old, and he might have died with honor. It is wortliy of remark, that Meagher, Mitchel, and Reilly, certainly the greatest combination of eloquence, knowledge, and vigor in the party, entered the stage at nearl}^ the same period. Reilly, fi'om wholly con- fining himself to the pen, was not so distinguished or publicly known as his friends, but he labored with a passion worthy of either, and which was thoroughly recognized by both. The friendship formed between Mitchel and Reilly was something beyond the scope of most men's comprehension. They could admire, but not understand it. It was a novelty in these lat- ter days of personal suspicion and universal benevo- lence. They were flung much together, were both Ul- stermen, equally fearless, and equally interested each other by the honesty of their views and the resources each brought to illustrate them. In Mitchel, Reilly beheld, and took every occasion to say so up to the day of his death, the truest as well as the most con- sistently great man he ever met. During 184:7, Reilly entered with full enthusiasm into the movement, wi-iting both literary .and political 10^ 370 'ninety-eight and 'fokty-eight. papers, attending tlie Irish Council and tlie Confede- ration. At tlie latter he rarely came forward, save to second some motion, or hand in subscriptions. Thono^h liavincr the brain, he liad neither confidence in his own powers, nor ease of manner so necessary to make an orator. He did not manifest any desire for the tribune. He was a student, and like all men of knowledge and enthusiasm, could, at a sudden crisis, surpass himself and astonish his friends. He made two speeches, however, from which I shall allow him to outline his own ideas. They hold brave principles in brave language : — "A peop]e, sir, which tamely lies down in its own land to starve, deserves to starve. If it be given to men to interpret the motives of the living God — and I, for one, do not believe this famine is Ilis work ; yet, whatever of it be His — was done by Him, I am convinced, to make the national existence of our country identical with our personal lives — to make us act like men, that we may live like animals — to make us brave in self- defence."* April 22nd he brought forward Mitchel's report on Mr. Godley's noted scheme for " raising in the back woods of Canada an Irish nationality, with its Irish Catholic Church, by means of a joint stock company of London merchants." After a very able review of this ])ropo5ition, in which he tore the mask off the " imperial cold-blooded juggle," he concluded by a scathing recital of the state into which the Irish had allowed themselves to fall. It was at once a bitter ♦ Speech at Confederation, April 7th, 1847. TUOMAS DEVIN KEILLY. 371 picture of tlie present — a maddening memorial of their dishonor as men, and a withering retrospect of the cowardice and shame entailed on them by their adherence to O'Connellite ao^itation, and their foro-et- fulness of the great men who had gone before him. After enumerating the degradations to which thej were subject, he continued : — ■ "You are all slaves. * * * False flatterers — sycophants of your vices — have told you, you are a brave and a noble people — that you are the bravest and the noblest people of Europe, and so forth.' ISToav, I, one of you --one of the class, in false language, called " the people " — one, too, of tliat native race which the English government propose to brush oif the Irish soil — tell you, you are no such thing. You are — nobles, citizens, merchants, farmers, beggars, and all — what your present masters and owners call you — an inferior caste, because they are your masters and owners. You are at this present moment tlie most humiliated, tlie most pitiable, the most helpless, the most despised people, with a white skin, on the face of God's whole earth. You are not Irish men^ but Irish slaves — a mean and broken species. For forty-seven years to what tyranny have you not submitted — to what depths of obse- quious servitude have you not sunk ! What insult has been too keen for you to bear — what degradation too gross — what op[)rcs- sion too grinding — what wrong too sore — what cruelty too cruel for yonr natures, slaves? * * * "Now, then, choose at last — choose whether you will wait on quietly till the most agonising of deaths, the most horrid of diseases, and the most cruel of infamous prcvjects sluill have swept you all from tlie Irish soil ; or whether you will at once spring to your feet from your apatliy and your degradation, and w.n y«nir spurs of nationhood like men. (T.oud cheers.) * * * Tell them that here, you, at all events, come what may, shall di^^ 872 'ninety EIGHT AND 'fOKTY-EIGHT. (Loud cheers.) So, even should Irish Nationahty i)erish for ever. * * * Even so, the workl will recognize in tlie nobil- ity of our deatli a grand example of patriotism and manhood ; and Heaven itself, moved to tenrs and wrath, looking down upon the land where we fell, will avenge the ftite of a nation of heroes." These bi'ave, bold and bitter sentences show the passion that was devouring and inspiring liis heart, and tlie holy purposes that enveloped him like a flame. He could not find words strong enongh to convey the diso^race lie felt, nor arms strono; enongh to remove it. He desired to free liis country '' from the empire's yoke should the empire fall in ruins around." With such faith it is not strange that he formed so deep a friendship with Mitchel. With the latter, and for the same reasons, he retired from tlie '-I^ation" and Confederat'on ; and in the " United Irishman," and afterwards in the " Felon," jioni-ed forth the irresistible throbbino;s and vearninu^s of his soul, in a manner which made them not less read, and scarcely less effective than Mitchel's writings. In his papers on the European revolutions, there was a lyrical beauty of diction, a picturesqueness of arrangement, and a passionate democracy that lield the breath like the beholding of the actual catastrophes. In his let- ters to Lord Clarendon, there was a cold-blooded brilliancy, that while it held one in amaze at the audacity, startled him with the truths so vividly horrible, and dazzled him with the hopes so defiantly THOMAS DEVIN EEILLY. 373 radiant. And lie changed off so suddenly from wild defiance to calm argument, from satirical to statisti- cal figures, balancing both with equal strength, that the reader was whirled away into lauding sedition -.for the sake of the style ; and into excited approval of treason, iinder the felonious felicity of the facts before him. Reilly was arrested for marching men throngli the streets, but was not prosecuted at the time. Becom- ing a most dangerous, because the ablest leader who visited the clubs, he was outlawed by the gorern- ment, and betook himself to the Tipperary mountains for safety, from which he wended his way to the North of Ireland, and ultimately, after many exciting adventures, escaped in a small cockle-shell of a ves- sel, which, however, bore him safely to I^ew York, wdiere he landed about the end of ^N'ovember, 18i8. He was in a very soriy plight. Kags and melan- choly smothered his big heart ; his burly frame had wasted to a gaunt incapacity, and his face was hag- gard w^ith combined sorrows of the mind, w^ants of the body, and the misery of an unusually long voyage, pent u]3 in a small and ill-stored craft. Thus he stood in the great city. He made a few inquiries, and in due time wended his way to the dwelling of Robert (since Judge) Emmet. How that name must have quivered through him ? what a torrent of heroism and disgrace — what con- trasts of historic devotion and abandoned agitation must have passed through his brain, at once quick- enino; bim into fervor and subduino; him into shame. 374 'ninety-eight and 'forty-eight. Freely would lie have died — oli, liovv freelj, like the noble uncle of the man before whose door he was standing in ragged outlawry — but his time had not come. He is reserved for something ? Ah, the time may come — it must come The dogs of the street may become historic by Lapping up Jiis blood ! The very thought enlivens him — he knocks. The attendant was rather struck aghast at the impudence of the "gentlempn who wished to speak with Mr. Emmet." The lat\er came into the hall, and the man in tattered freize, patched corduroy breeches, and brogans, with pale face and closely- cropped hair, introduced himself as " Devin Heilly." The name was sufficient. Judge Emmet greeted him, as became the name he bore, and led his comi- cal and sorrowful visitor into tlie parlor, when who should his exiled eyes fall upon, but John Dillon. In utter ignorance of each other's fate, neither know- ing that the other escaped, much less was in America, the meeting may be imagined. Reilly, surrounded by the ladies of the family, felt an awkwardness in his disguise which was at once highly ludicrous and touching. He begged Mrs. Emmet not to form any impression of him at present, gracefully referred to the Judge for a '^ character," and made the dinner table memorable to every one present. During the evening, he poured out his pent-up feelings, recounted his adventures with a mingled passion and humor, which is vividly remembered by his listeners. " With commingled crying and laughing," said Judge Em- met to the present waiter, '-Keilly went over tlie ■riiOMAS DEVIN EKILLY. S'j'S details of tlie past few months, aiurkept iis deeply interested, or shaking with huighter, the whole night." Soon he was at work, for the vulture was gnawing at his hosom. In January, 1819, he issued the "Peo- ple," with William E. Kobinson,"^ and after a bril- liant cai-eer of six months, the proprietors being of opposite American politics, it was discontinued. In it Eeillj sustained his reputation, and created an era in Irish-American journalism. For many months after the cessation of this jour- nal, Eeilly lived in Brooklyn, an uncertain, depress- ing and wandering life ; being chiefly sustained by occasional remittances from home. His chief delight and solace was in the study of the Kevolutionary history of America, and in fitful flights into the works of Jomini and other military strategists. He had once almost concluded to enter mercantile life ; and at another time had made some preparation to go to the West, and employ his mathematical know- ledge in such a manner as w^ould enable him ulti- mately to become a surveyor or engineer. His anti- English proclivities used to find vent in recounting, in our long w^alks and talks at the time, the horrois of the prison ships of AYallabout, in tracing the remains of Fort Greene, and following up the tracks of the Hevolutionary W^ar in the neighborhood of Brooklyn — in talking over his friendship with Mitcliel * To this talented gentleman nearly everj Irish refugee, especially th^e who Ian led iRimediiitely after tlie failure, is indebted for many serviceable attennoni tJ,e Dieraory of which sb.»al4 aat be foigottan. 376 —and in the evenings at Dolieny's residence, going over the whole movement, criticising t'lie men who suffered, and bitterly condemning those whom he believed had aided the failure. His passionate heart should unburden itself. On other evenings at my father's, the music of tlie Irish melodies would harmo- nize the chaos within him. Some quaint or tender old Irish song would stimulate his humor or pathos ; and there was one, Davis' " Lament for the Milesians," of which he was excessively fond, and the beautiful music of wdiich ever forced the tears to steal quietly down his cheeks. Poor fellow, he was more thor- oughly a man in being so truly a child. Kis guile- less simplicity as well as his uncompromising frank- ness, endeared him to those who thus met and under- stood him. Early in 1850, he was induced to go to Boston to write the chief articles in the " Protective Union," a paper started by the printers on the joint stock principle, to advocate the rights of labor. His letters of the period did not exhibit any great change in his monetary prospects. One of his earli- est says to me, " After some time I think I will be able to make room for you here. At present the re- turn is nil, and no vacancy on that same." In May, still coupling my prospects with his own, he writes, '^I have only a share in the 'Protective Union/ and it pays little or nothing ;" and from time to time he expresses much dissatisfaction at his position in Bos- ton However inauspicious in this regaid, his visit to taoMAS i)EVIN EEILLY. 37^ the " Athens of the E'orth," was productive of a great and healthy influence on the remainder of his life. He there met, and, after a short courtship, married, Miss Jennie Miller,* formerly of Enniskillen, who, under the many trying circumstances and anxieties of her husband's brilliant, but too brief career, proved herself thoroughly worthy of the title of "Roman matron," with which he dignified, her, in a letter to me, some few months before his death. After some solicitations on the part of Mr. D. W. Holly, then publisher of the " American Eeview," who had a great appreciation of Reilly's genius, the latter came to 'Naw York, and in the close of 1851 and. beginning of 1852, produced a series of splendid papers in that periodical, exposing the foreign policy and internal ignorance of England. His style lent a charm to statistics, that made them more important by taking away their dryness. He disrobed political economy and social philoso23hy of their musty and unintelligible technicalities, and made them so popu- lar, that Mr. Greeley, in a leading article in the "Tri- bune," directed attention to them, and said if they were printed in pamphlet form and scattered in Eu- rope, they would create a revolution. f He also de- voted much study to the Central American question, * They were married on the 30th of March, 1850, at Providence, R. I. t His principal articles in the " American Wliig Review " are entitled " British Policy, Here and There," Nov., 1850, "Russian Ambition" (a political and literary review of Talvi's "Sclavonic Literature"), and "British Policy, Ilcfe and There — Who feed England?" Dec, 1850, "'London Assurance,' or Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, versus Yankee Newspapers," Jan., 1851. "World's Fair," '' The First Olympiad of Cant," and "'More of it,' another ciinpter of 'London Assurance,'" Fob. " America and Europe, ' Peace and Foi-Lircu Relations,' "March. " The Democratic Reviewer Reviewed," (on Free Trade), April. 37 and wrote on the subject. After some time, Mr. Priestley, tlie proprietor of the " Re view," thouglit these w^ritings of too radical a nature, which opinion led to the cessation of Reillj's pen for some months. Hav- ing met Mr. George N. Sanders, that gentleman, with Reillj and Holly, entered upon sonje consultations, the issue of which was the purchase of the "Demo- cratic Eeview," and which, under the new manage- ment, produced an excitement memorable in the po- litical histor}^ of the day. Its republicanism was of the most ultra and unswerving caste ; and while indi- cating and sharing in the exciting political struggles in America, hoisted the Democratic banner over every nationality in Europe ; and took up the cause of Hungary, Italy, France, Germany, and Ireland. While belaboring the " Old Fogies " in America, it never forgot to dinge the crowns of Europe. Politi- cians were in a nervous fever in the breathing time from month to month, between congratulating them- selves on not having been noticed in the last number, and fear of being scarified in the next. The news- papers were eager to get an early copy to extend the obituary of some decapitated "Fogy," or contradict the rumor that the "Democratic Review" had killed him. Being always in a rage itself, the " Review " soon created a like feeling in the public — it became the rage. Comic papers caricatured its writers, and revivified its victims into ludicrous notoriety ; comic versifiers squibbed on its suggestions ; leading journals all over the country poured out praise and denunciation with equal heartiness ; and the wise heads of Congress ^J'llOMAS DEVIN REILLY. 379 even took to criticising and debating on its merits and men. In the midst of tliis clamor, '' Youiiix ximerica " was horn; a rotund " Ked " Kentnckian; a tall, and firm as tall, Buckeye ; a thin Connecticut Yankee ; and a brace of Young Ireland refugees, standing sponsors. Baptized in an ink-bottle, wrap- ped in the sheets of the " Review," and rocked in the cradle of Democracy, it was as healthy as the Consti- tution of tlie United States conld make it, and avowed its j^rinciples to be word for word the Declaration of Independence. The name then made popular has since been used to identify a sectionality beneath it, and to cover principles it could not ])reach. Through the chief part of 1853, Reiliy was compar- atively inactive. About September he w^ent to Washington, and soon was appointed to a position in the Land Office, by the President. lie wrote, a short time before leaving [Rew York, the famous paper on Naturalization, and the Koslza case, whicli was gene- rally regarded at the time, as a governmental, if not a State document, and was variously attributed to Gen- eral Cushing, Charles Sumner, Edward Everett, and other leading men. From that time I did not see him until he was in his coffin. The letters written during his residence in Washington, a couple of which I give, exhibit his good, thoughtful nature, and show some of those finer — because private— feel- i]igs, by the aid of which one may estimate him. The following familiar epistle w^as in reference to the death of Dr. F. B. Eyan, a mutual friend, and whose professional and other attentions to his family and mine fuUv iustified the tone in which he wrote. 880 Washington, D. C, Sept. 13, 1863. My Deae Jack ; The news of Ryan's death which you sent nie, has shocked me gi-eatly. He was, indeed, a kind-hearted, noble fel- low, and I am deeply sorry for him. We both have lost a true friend, and to Brenan the loss is that of a brother If Joe thinks well of a monument or stone for him, let me know at once. I wish, however, Ave could do something for his unhappy wife. But I am unable to suggest anything here. If you hear of any thing being done by his friends, let me know at once. My poor wife, too, has been miserably ill since I left — Good God ! what a desolation her loss would make. " I have not yet seen the President, but am waiting for the mo- ment. I predicate nothing on good fortune, and do not shun the worst. I am mucli obliged to you for your note. Love to Meagher. Ever yours, Dev. The following letter to the dangliters of Captain Samuel C. Reid, whom he highly prized for having beaten his " ancient enemy," the Briton, at Fayal, in 1814, and in whose family he stood on terms of the warmest friendship and intimacy, contains some very pleasing allusions to himself and home, and some happy indications of his nature. Our house is the corner of Cormeciicut Ate. and R. St Washikgtox, D, C. \st Dec, 1853. SiSTEES : — On this day five years ago, I had the honor of buy ing something between a hat and a cap, in some place near Chatham "street. It is a long story — ^but as I landed the night previous, without either hat, or cap, or coat, or anything but a gold piece, which the Jew somewhere about the corner of Cherry, changed for "four eighty-four," to oblige the other Jew from whom I bought the cap ; it is one of the most remarkable THOMAS DEVIN EEILLY. 381 3vents unrecorded in modern history. Suffice it to say that on this day, five years ago, I became a child of our great mother ; and as I pay liomage to her, and tlie stars and stripes, I seek a fairer and more ennobhng emblem of the beauty and of the glory of Republicanism — I seek something to which even as good a married man as Gen. J mu.-t bow his head, to bend mine to you and to your mother. If I meet but lilies on the way-side, I must stop my horse to get down to worship them. Can you feel offended if, on this weary long path through exis- tence, I pay the same homage to you. Beauty is to me a thing immense — the line of a lovely woman's face or arm, conveys to me, always did convey to me, all the " philosophy " '* sages " coax themselves so much about. It conveys to me, this look on a woman's face, the ideal of excellence. I see in it virtue, courage, right, fondness, love beyond all increasing, happiness to all about it, fidelity, incor- ruptibility, health,'horae, and that quiet, careful, dear care which takes us to its arms when we are young, and lays us, calling on the sextons not to let the stones grate upon our coffin-lid, when we die. Tliey have gone out to market. I am alone. I believe for the first, for a very long, time. I have, too, the happiness of not being compelled to write for a day or two. I thought the very lest thing I could do, was to write to you. It will ennoble me to raise, myself up beside the standards of grace and beauty so excellent. The poor vine so rich in bearing merry juice— the honey-suckle that used to creep into my windows, when as children Ave played about its leaves, all these had yet something to train them by, some great ideal of their own to whose alti- tude they wished to aspire. So it is with me. I remember taking pity once on a little rose-tree which was so small and weak, that'you could hardly think it would live, if it was asked for the fun of it. I took it— I got my head broke for my impudence in interfering with mother's choicest, x>etite, Chinese rose— but, oh! it did the work. It grew up. It is now a beauty in my own island of (lowers, and blushes with its deep damask among the vines and the honey-suckle which creep and festoon around 383 the windows where I used to meet a mother's smile, and where, for the first of my race, I was born. Well, it surely does a man good once in a while to look back to where he came from, and to measure Ms latitude in intellect, in virtue, and in the great ideals which onalte intellect and virtue. I thought that the best thing that I could do this day, was simply to write to you both. The town looks fine — nobody ever saw such preparations in "Washington to get up a regular " winter.'*'' For myself, being alone and desolate out here, '" on the corner of Connecticut Ave. and K. St.," in a (oh, I beg pardon, I was going to curse) very cold house, I have pretty much everything outside on the high-road with an otf-slantendicular by-road or two to get over, to my satisfaction. I have hkewise a room with a stove, and the neatest little furniture. In fact, if an angel from heaven would say she was coming here, Jennie would see all right for her, and could you ask a better servant than myself? Of course I have been misrepresented. I know that in the course I have pursued and am pursuing, and that, till the thing is done, which is only to yull down that British Jiag once more., I am open to every attack. Well, I can take everything and hve to do my work. More I do not Avish, unless it be the smile and love of beauty ; and oh ! girls ! wlienever you throw your arms about man, think what an inestimable treasure you throw around him. Greek and Roman, and Modern English, and Hollandeth Dutch, and all the Italians, and yet the '' Crystal Palace " half- dozen committees have sat on art. Horace Greeley, for instance, has given A /s judgment about Powers' slave, and other people have sat in judgment upon much finer statues. Well, then, my criti- cal judgment loses now, all its mere fanciful exactness. It may be that Powers has hit off the turn of reluctant and excelling beauty. It may be that according to the destiny of this vile and merely modern civilization, beauty may be to me as a for- gotten picture, or as a lily which has faded. Yet, still, tliough buried down with all the misfortunes of existence, think of me, often, very often, As your friend and worshipping servant, T. Devdt Reilly. THOMAS DEVIN EEILLY. 883 A P.S. to M. and L. — The occasion of tins is that they have just returned from market, and of course my wife wishes either to send yoii a whole rib -bone of this very valuable chicken, or else to ask you to come down and eat it, for herself; for you know that ladies always like to so do over, or overdo, all things. Dear Mary and Lou: — We have almost got a little cot- tage like Tone's — but yet, hardly yet, not so, we want some angels about our Godhead. Write somebody to one of us and say. K. Friday Morning. I wrote all the enclosed last night, blots and all. I thought' it should be torn when it is so blotted. But -yet I thought again that it was the very best compliment to send to you both. Mary will see a soul even through blots hke these, and Lou will rub away the blots and leave the soul all clear, as God first fashioned it. To your dear mother my kindness and most loving love. E. Soon lie was completely absorbed in politics, and could only steal occasional moments to inform Lis friends of his speculations, movements, and writings- In the highest quarters in Washington, his remarka- ble ability as a political writer soon made lasting impressions. He rode on the enthusiasm and trust he created, and present comfort was just closing his previous struggles from view, and disclosing a cer- tainty of future happiness and emolument, when he closed his eyes for ever. He died March 6tli, 1854. ;N"o sooner were the sad tidings made public, than the appreciation in which the genius of the dead was held, was manifested by several eminent and leading men calling in person on her who had so cheered in 384 misfortune, and liel|)ecl to concentrate in success, the mind of the deceased. President Pierce was deeply moved at the intelligence conveyed to him by Mr. Chas. A. Peilly ; and his private Secretary, Sydney "Webster, Esq., and the Under-Secretary of State, Col. Dudley Mann, in person conveyed to Mrs. Peilly the condolence of the Executive, as well as their own sympathy. A public meeting, of which Beverly Tucker, Esq., was president, and Senators Shields, and John P. Thompson, and John C. Breckenridge, Hiram Wall- bridge, and other members of Congress, with many professional and distinguished men, vice-presidents, gave expression to the feeling of his fellow-citizens, and embodied them in a series of resolutions, which too truly assured the public : — " That in the death of Thomas Devin Peilly, a great public loss lias been sustained — a loss to his fatherland, to his adopted country, and to the cause of 23rogressive principles." I met Devin Peilly in a riot, in the streets of Dub- lin, on an occasion when, the old Ireland party attack- ing the Confederates, we were thrown side by side ; I left him in the grave, resting on the bosom of that '' great mother," who was set free by the principles he so proudlv vaunted, and so energetically preached= APPENDIX. No. L [The following Address of the Council was adopted at a general and special meeting of the Irish Confederation, held March 9, 1848, at Music Hall, Dublin, to congratulate the French nation on the then recent republican successes. Michael Crean, operative, presided.] Address of the Council of the Irish Confederation to the People of Ireland. Fellow-Countkymen : In a circular addressed to its representa- tives at foreign courts, the great French Eepublic has thus spoken through the most illustrious of its servants : — " Thus we declare it openly, if the hour of the reconstruction of na- tionalities long oppressed, in Europe or elsewhere, should appear to us to have sounded in the decrees of Providence, the French Republic would believe itself entitled to arm for the protection of those legitimate movements for the greatness and nationality of states." Three nationalities there are, " long oppressed in Europe" — Italy — Poland — Ireland. The hour for Italy's redemption has already sounded — the bleeding breast of Poland heaves with the breath of returning life. Shair Ireland alone remain buried in darkness, while her sisters are emerging into liberty and light ? When the hour shall have sounded — when the virtues of nationhood shall appear, and the vices of provincialism shall be conquered and trodden down — when falsehood, cowardice, and selfishness, shall be cast aside, and regarded with scorn — when courage, self-sacrifice, and mu- tual love, shall mark the conduct of the people — then shall we be in a J7 886 APPENDIX. position to call upon the great protectress of oppressed nationalities to redeem her pledge. When shall this hour have sounded 1 Whether in a month, in a year, or never, depends, brother Irishmen, upon you. If, upon the threshold of this new career, we will blot out all recollections of past injury from our hearts — if, with hand clasped in hand, we will swear before Heaven tliat we will be true to each other — that no evil influence shall divide us — that no danger shall turn us back — then be of good hope, for the hour of deliverance is at hand, and a good and pitying God will not have sent us this fair opportunity in vain ! Courage, mutual confidence, and brotherly love — these are the virtues of the hour. Listen to the warning that is written in every page of the history of our servitude. Tiie craft of the tyrant is more formidnhle than his strength. Reptiles, whose breath is poison, will crawl around your steps, whis- pering suspicion, ridiculing all manly sentiment, decrying bold courses, undermining your confidence, and chilling the ardor of your hopes — you must tread these reptiles beneath your feet. Be prudent : when boldness risks the safety of a cause, it becomes rashness. Be prudent, but not for yourselves. The man who now shrinks from personal risk must stand aside ; he is fit neither to lead nor to follow. To what purpose do we express our admiration of the heroes who braved death for liberty, if we ourselves are frightened by the " meshes of the law" 1 Ereedom smiles not upon cowards ; she turns her radiant face away from those who will not woo her in the midst of danger.^ For ourselves, brother Irishmen, we have but one request — that we may be suffered to share the labor and the danger of your struggle, as we hope to participate in the fruits of your triumph. We are ready to forget our party, our injuries, arid our pride, for the sake of our coun- try. In her service, humiliation, and danger, and sacrifice, and death, are welcome to us. Wherever we ai-e required, we shall be present, in- different as to whether our post be humble or exalted. WhocA^er leads on, we shall follow, insisting only that we shall go forward — forward, though graves were to yawn, and gibbets to frown across his path. [Signed] J. B. Dillon, Chairman. APPENDIX. 387 No. II. Address of the Committee of Trades and Citizens to the People of Dublin. Fellow-Citizens : Although the object of our appointment by you was strictly to make the necessary preparations for the forthcoming meeting, still we will take the liberty of suggesting to you what (we think) your conduct should 'oe, both before and after that meeting. It appears to us (to speak familiarly) that loe have the game in our oivn hands if we will play it with boldness and with prudence. Seeing the disposition now universally prevalent toward a union of the national party — seeing the disturbances which are breaking forth in rapid suc- cession in England and Scotland — seeing, moreover, the almost inevi- table necessity of an immediate European war — it is impossible to arrive at any other conclusion than this, that if we are not too headlong, or too timid, Ave shall shiver this oppressive yoke to pieces within this very year. 6 brothers, think of this : the golden prize for which we have yearned, and sighed, and toiled, so long, is now within our reach, and will speed- ily be ours, if we do not forfeit it by our own rashness or cowardice ! There are but three conditions necessary to success ; neither of them impossible, or even difficult — AVe must unite. We must be prudent. We must be bold. We will not dwell on the expediency of Union in this emergency. The country calls loudly for it; and, in originating this united move- ment, the tradesmen of Dublin have sounded that call. Surely, no man will stand in the way of that union, so universally demanded, so vitally required. While expressing our admiration of the vaJor of the citizens of Paris, let us not overlook the other virtues which have surrounded their Eevo- kition with so much glory — their self-control, their love of order, their respect for property and for religion. Wiiile opposing a fearless front to the government, let us be careful not to afford them any colorable excuse for invading our constitutional rights. Let us, as we hope to leave a free and happy land to our children, avoid such disgraceful scenes of riot and plunder as have recently occurred at London, Edin« burgh, and Glasgow. Let us, by our peaceful and orderly demeanor, prove to our own people and to strangers the falsehood of the assertioa that we are unfit for self-government. o<58 APPENDIX. Brother Irishmen ! the enemies of our nationality have now but one hope, and that is, that you will break out into street riots, and v/ill thus afford them an opportunity to strike terror into the people of Ireland by a sanguinary example. They will possibly, by the agency of spies, and by petty provocations, endeavor to drive you into this fatal indis- cretion. We rely on your good sense and intelligence to defeat and baffle those old and too often successful machinations of the enemies of our country. It will be for us, in the execution of the task you have confided to us, to take care your cause shall no,t be compromised by any want of dis- cretion, nor your character sullied by any exhibition of cowardice. If you, the citizens of Dublin, Avill set an example to your fellow-country- men of that love of order and self-control without which no people ever yet have gained or preserved their freedom, we, on our part, will under- take to point out, before many days shall have elapsed, a course of ac- tion which, if followed up with that spirit which the time demands, will speedily put an end to English usurpation in this country. [Signed] John B. Dillon, Chairman. Westmoreland street, March, 18^8. No. III. Address of the Irish Confederation to the Citizens of the French Republic, adopted at a Meeting held in Music Hall^ Dublin, Wednesday, March 15, 1848, John B. Dillon pre- Illustrious Citizens : Permit us to offer to you such congratu- lations as a people still suffering under servitude may without reproach testify to a nation which has nobly vindicated its own liberties. We congratulate you upon the downfall of a tyranny elaborately con- structed with consummate art, but which has been prostrated in a mo- ment by your chivalrous enthusiasm. We know not whether most to admire your fiery valor in the hour of trial, or your sublime forbearance in the moment of success. You have respected religion, and God has, therefore, blessed your work. Your heroism has taught enslaved nations that emancipation ever dwaits those who dare to achieve it by their own intrepidity. APPEtois:. 8S9 By your firm maintenance of public order you have proved that true liberty claims no kindred with spoliation and anarchy. We hail you henceforth as arbiters of the destinies of mankind — as deliverers of the oppressed members of the great human family. We, whose nationality was extinguished by the basest arts — we, who daily experience the countless evils which result from that unspeakable loss — we, the inhabitants of Ireland, now claim your sympathy. We have firmly resolved that this ancient kingdom shall once again be free and independent. In imitation of your example, we propose to exhaust all the resources of constitutional action before we resort to other efforts for redress. Time will unfold our projects, but we hesitate not to tell you, in an- ticipation of the future, that your friendship may increase their efficacy, and accelerate their success. Our claims to fraternity with you rest upon the proudest traditions of your history. In other times, in the hour of Ireland's extremest need, your fore- fathers tendered shelter and hospitality to our exiled warriors ; and Fon- tenoy can testify how well that hospitality was requited by the cheerful effusion of Irish blood in maintenance of the glory of France. On our own account, as well as upon yours, we shall watch with in- tense interest the development of your Republican constitution. We augur the happiest results to yourselves and to mankind from your determination to found your institutions upon the broadest basis — to place them no longer upon privileged classes, but upon the whole French nation. Consolidate the great work which you have begun. Guaranty the rights of property, by securing the rights of industry. Indulge not the lust of conquest, but be ever ready to succor the oppressed. Render France the centre of European progress, as well in the march of free- dom as in the advance of civilization and of the arts. Continue to pre- sent to mankind a magnanimous example of manly virtue, and be as- sured that, among those who will greet you with applause and admira- tion, you will find no more affectionate ally than the people of Ireland. [Signed] On behalf of the Irish Confederation, William S. O'Brien, Chairman of the Coundt, 390 APPENDIX. No. lY. Add? ess of the Council of the Irish Confederation to the Ciii' zens of Dublin, adopted at the 3feeting held March 15, 1848. Fellow-Countrymen : A slander has gone forth against you. It is rumored, by your enemies, that the blind and anarchical riots, which have disgraced the great towns of England and Scotland, are to be imi- tated among us. Wilfully confounding your passionate ardor for the deliverance of your country, with these sordid offences against property and order, they dare to affirm that your aggregate meeting puts in peril the safety of your fellow-citizens. And the English Government, which rules this island, ignorant of your character, or indifferent to it, have thronged the metropolis with troops, and sworn in their English soldiers as magistrates of the city, to ovei'awe and dishonor the native citizens. Fellow-countrymen, we must disappoint the malice of our enemies. "We must guard our sacred cause against surprise or stratagem. The Council of the Irish Confederation appeal to you, in the name of our coming liberty, to watch over social order. They admonish you to be alive to the designs of your enemies, and to permit no provocation to tempt you into the most trifling disorder. Riot and rashness are the vices of slaves ; free men, or men worthy of freedom, are calm, orderly, and resolute. Let us be so. Let every good citizen regard himself as one of a future National Guard, bound to watch over the order and tranquillity of the metropolis. It is not to the vicious excesses of a mob, but to the heroic struggles which illumine the Continent, that your eyes are turned. It is there you look for examples of how liberty may be won, without outrage upon religion, property, or order. A majority of all the European states have exacted native indepen- dence, or free institutions, from their rulers, wliile we have been strug- gling in tlie agony of famine. Many of them conquered by the mere aspect of the angry people, before which Tyranny ti-embled and gave way ; some of them seized their rights with armed hands ; but all have attained their demands. It is beside them we ambition to take our place. For Ireland, too, has a great part to play — if she do not prove un- APPENDIX. 3^1 worthy of it. Of all the nations, none has suffered so deeply — none has made out so clearly her charter to independence, hy the multitude of her wrongs, and the hopelessness of all other remedies. Fellow- countrymen, it will be some criminal blunder of our own, if Ireland is not free as Sicily, and tranquil as France, before a single year has passed away. But we do not labor for the elevation of class or creed, but for all Irishmen ; and our countrymen must be made to feel universally that no just interest is periled by our success. This is all that remains to be done. Death has raged among us like an invading army — emigra- tion has drained our land of wealth and strength; we are justified be- fore God and man in refusing to endure our wrongs any longer. Our sole duty is to assure and unite all our own people who desire the inde- pendence of our country. That done, we can resume our ancient con- stitution, though all the foreign nations of the earth forbid it. And WE SHALL. But we must prove we are worthy of liberty. By forbearance, by self-control, by respect for property and order, we must combine with us all the good men of Ireland, who desire independence unsullied by crimes or excesses. ' Riot or tumult at this moment would disgrace our cause, and deliver it into the hands of our enemies. Be peaceful, then, fellow-countrymen, and patient. Trust to the Confederation to point the time and the M'ay to liberty. Day by day we shall advance toward it, and step by step. Give our enemies no advantage by rashness, and there shall be no backward step in the face of any peril, till our end is attained. [Signed] On behalf of the Council, Charles Gavan Duffy, Chairman. No. V. Address adopted at an open air Mass Meeting of the Trades and Citizens of Dublin, in " the Fields adjoining the Hi- bernian Tavern,'' at the North Wall, March 20, 1848, R, O Gorman, sen., presiding. To THE Citizens of the French Republic : As slaves should addi-ess freemen — as a land which has yet its independence to assert, and its social freedom to attain, should address a sovereign state and a Republic — we address you, citizens ! 892! APPENDIX. Had we a national government, a recognised centre, willing and corri- petent to act and speak for us, it would have long since boldly declared the admiration of your heroism, the sympathy with your cause, the de- light in your victory, which we feel, but are, from our condition, inca- pable of uttering. Foreign dominion and distraction among ourselves choke the best and noblest feelings of our hearts, and turn into empty wind the voice of millions. Receive from us, citizens, all the congratulations we can offer; and be assured that beneath them there is much that can not be uttered — behind, them the longings and passions of suffering and enslaved men. You who have only but yesterday broken through even a mild despot- ism, and yet who were compelled to hide in your hearts for eighteen years the hate of that despotism which now you have so nobly vindi- cated — you, citizens, you can understand us. We recognise in the French Republic the work of worthy men. We see in its every act justice to the rights of labor ; and its victories, its glories, its success, an enduring justice, we, working-men, participate. But, enslaved as we are, we can only offer you our individual sym- pathy and friendship, and we ask in return that you will look upon the sufferings of the eldest and most persecuted sister of our common Celtic race with commiseration and sorrow. We ask you not to blush for oar shame and our slavery, but to retain for us reciprocal friendsliip and sympathy till our liberated country can deserve it. RiCHAKD 0' Gorman, CJiairman. P. Barry, ^^^ | Secretarie,, Barth'w Redmon] No. VI. Address from (he Council of the Oonfederatiou to the Irish Nation^ adopted at a Meeting of the Confederation^ held at Music Hall^ DuUin, March 23, 1848, P. J. Barry presi- ding. Citizens of the Irish Nation: A voice calls you from afar! The breath of young nations mingles with your old and holiest aspira- tions. Awake ! If your cause must be consecrated by sacrifices, they shall not be wanted. Three of your truest friends have been already callea to the altar. APPENDIX-, SOS They have g-one with a proud st3p and fearless hearts, because they hope — hope in you. Citizens, this is the beginning of the end. All is now staked on the majesty and the virtue of the people. Be ours the post of suffering — yours, the path to liberty, its vindication in the hour of trial, its enjoy- ment in success ! Be wise, be steady, be prudent, but be bold. One backward step is death. Look around, and look within, and ask your hearts if the time has not come. From the east and the west — from the north and the south, murmurs Freedom's invocation ! Her lessons are read by the light of burning thrones — her echoes heard in the footfalls of flying ty- rants — and Religion and Peace are her handmaids. Here, too, her cause shall be sacred. Here, too, popular virtue shall sanctify popular tri- umph. There shall be order, protection, tranquillity. Property and life shall find their best security in the generous magnanimity of a lib- erated people. Stand together, and swear that the time is at hand. Stand together, and prepare. Prepare ! — for the trial will require all your firmness. The end is in view. Courage, truth, and virtue — and it is already yours ! So the people be saved, and be free, let us perish! We shall be happy. - [Signed] Michael Dohent, Chairman of the Council. No. VIL Address of the Medical Students of Dublin to all Irish Stu- dents of Science or Art, adopted at a Meeting of the Stu- dents' Gluh, held at the Northumberland Buildings, Eden Quag, Tuesdag, April 4, 1848, John Savage presiding. Fellow-Students : A war is waging at this hour, all over Europe, between Intelligence and Labor on the one side, and Despotism and Force on the other. Citizen-soldiers are, in every state of Europe, be- ing substituted for standing armies, constitutions for the sovereign's caprice, or republics for monarchy itself. You have read, in common with all the world, the records of these stirring events. You have glowed over the annals of the gallantry displayed by the students and 17* 394 APPENDIX. workmen of Paris — the sturlents and people of Belgium — and the stu- dents and burghers of Vienna. Has it never occurred to you that you, too, live in a country sorely in need of a revolution 1 — and that you might, with advantage to her and glory to yourselves, imitate the heroic examples of the JTrench Ecole Polytechnique and the Austrian Ecole des Beaux Arts ? For us, the medical students of Dublin, all of us of your own class and age, we have unanimously come to that conclusion, and hereby invite you to unite with us in resolve, and fraternize with us in action. We have seen the famine — we have lived in the presence of the pes- tilence. We have inquired into the origin of both, and we find that both have resulted from the gross misgovernment and spoliation of the victims, our brother Irishmen. We find that this country has been, for fifty years, under the sole control of state quacks, sent hither from Lon- don, and fallaciously gazetted as wise and lawful authorities ; we find that, as the number of officials has increased, so has the national mor- tality ; and we have traced a distinct connection of effect and cause in these two circumstances. We, therefore, have sworn in our souls, and by our hopes of honor, fame, and peace, that these poisonous " foreign bodies" shall be excised from the land. We ask you to concur in this oath, and to prepare to carry it into effect ; we ask you to enlist with us in the ranks of the people, not to create a riot, but to achieve a revo- lution. You know all the facts of the case as well as we do. You are nu- merous, energetic, and supple as young ash. The students of Paris and Vienna are not braver of heart, or stronger of hand. You are all ac- customed to the use of arms, and most of you are armed. There stands England, with the Castle at her back — here Ireland before the entrance of her ancient senate-house. Join with us — -join with us at once — and may God defend the right ! We are brief, for time is precious, and we deem it better to make gunpowder than orations. Let us coalesce in an " Irish Students' Club," grasp each other's hands, know each other's souls, and, while the stranger's cavdry are told to whet their sabres, let us also brace oui s})irits for the coming day of Freedom, the flashing flag of Freedom — ' The victor glaive, Thf^ mottoes brave, May we be there to lead them 1 That glorinus noon, God send it soon, Hurrah ft)r Human Freedom ?" R. D. Williams, Chairman of the Committee. Appendix. 89o No. VIII. Trish Proclamation^ adopted at a Meeting of the Irish Con- federation, held at 3fusic Hall, May o, 1848, Charles H. ONeill presiding. Whereas, divers persons representing the Government in Ireland of Her Majesty the Queen, and in particuLar His Excellency George William Frederick, Earl of Clarendon, Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant- Gencral and General Governor of Ireland, have, by a certain advertise- ment or proclamation, bearing date at Dublin Castle, the 29th day of April, 1848, presumed to assume the functions of both judge and jury in this kingdom, by declaring the law, without any legal or constitutional authority for so doing, and at the same time pronouncing a verdict upon the facts without any legal evidence with respect to the election of a cer- tain representative body in the said advertisement or proclamation said to have been summoned or advised to be elected, under the name of a National Council or Council of Three Hundred, in this kingdom; and also with respect to a certain requisition or declaration whereby the per- sons signing the same declare, " That we are willing to enroll ourselves as members of a National Guard, for the purpose of preserving social order, and of protecting tliis island against all foes, domestic and for- eign ; that we are prepared to furnish ourselves with suitable weapons and accoutrements, and are resolved to hazard our lives in defence of our country, in case any emergency shall arise which may require our services in its behalf" — and which Her Majesty's subjects in this king- dom have been invited to circulate and sign : and whereas, the said Na- tional Council has not been advised or summoned for any of the pur- poses in the act of Parliament hereinafter mentioned, described, or defined, and the form and purpose of the same have not yet been at all determined or published : and whereas, the advising, inviting, or sign- ing of the said requisition or declaration is and are not, and in the nature thereof can not be, a " drilling or training of persons to the use of arms, or to the practice of military evolutions or exercises," but only an inti- mation of willingness and intention at the proper time and place to arm and unite for the defence of this kingdom, and the preservation of order therein, as the subjects of this kingdom maij constitutionally do, and not otherwise : and whereas, the said advertisement or proclamation is calcu- lated to excite alarm and misapprehension of the law and fact in the minds of Her Majesty's subjects in general, and thereby manifestly tend 896 APPENDIX. to the disturbance of the public peace, and in particular not only by false statement of the facts as aforesaid, but also by falsely stating the purport and meaning of the a,ct passed in the Parliament of Ireland in the thirty-third year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Third (commonly called the Convention Act), therein referred to : and whereas, in fact, by the said act of Parliament, these assemblies, com- mittees, or other bodies of persons, only, are declared to be unlawful assemblies, who "being elected, or in any other manner constituted or appointed to represent, or assuming or exercising a right or authority to represent the people of this realm, or any number or description of the people of the same, or the people of any province, county, city, town, or other district within the same," shall be so elected to represent, or shall so assume to represent such people, "under pretence of petition- ing for, or in any other manner procuring, an alteration of matters estab- lished by laio in church or state," and so forth : and whereas, no conven- tion or representative assembly, elected, summoned, or held, for any other purpose or pretence than that of petitioning for, or in any other manner procuring, such alteration as in the said act mentioned, is pro- hibited or rendered unlawful by the same, and no convention or repre- sentative body has been elected or summoned by or with the authority of the Irish Confederation for any such or the like purpose or pre- tence ; but a National Convention, or Council of Three Hiindred, has been advised to be summoned and elected, without, as yet, defining the exact limits to the operations of the same, and such an arrangement of those operations may be made, and it is intended to be made, as shall in no way subject the same to the prohibition of the said act of Par- liament : Now, therefore, we, the Council of the Irish Confederation, do hereby declare every such National Convention or Council as last aforesaid, and every like Convention or Council not being for such purposes or under such pretences as by the said act of Parliament so prohibited and hereinbefore defined and set forth, and all elections of members or dele- gates thereto, and also every such requisition or declaration as afore- said, not being a pledge to drill or train, or to be drilled or trained to the use of arms, and so forth, and not being any such association for drilling or training, as in the said adA^ertisement or proclamation men- tioned, to be entirely laioful and within the legal rights of the subjects of this realm, under the existing laws of the same ; and we do earnestly invite and recommend all Her Majesty's well-disposed subjects in this kingdom of Ireland to support and take part in the same by every means in their power. APPENDIX. 397 And we warn all Sheriffs, Magistrates, Constables, and other Hef Majesty's subjects, who may be seduced or persuaded by the said un- lawful and unconstitutional Proclamation of the said Earl of Clarendon and his associates, that they are not by law authorized or emjiowered to prevent or repress any such Convention, Election, or Requisition, or delaration, as last aforesaid, the same being perfectly legal and in no- A»ise opposed in spirit or letter to the said acts of Parliament in the said Advertisement or Proclamation referred to ; and that if they, or any of them, shall illegally interfere to prevent or repress the same, such illegal interference will be at their proper peril. By order of the Council : William S. O'Brien, Chairman. Datod at tho Council Rooms of the Irish Cunfedoration, 9 D'Oiier stieef, Dublin, this 3iJ day of May, 1848. No. IX. Address of the Irish Students' Club to William Smith O'Brien, Thomas Francis Meagher, and John Mitchel, adopted at a Meeting of the Glub, May 6, 1848.* Gentlemen : We, the Irish Students' Club, deem it a duty, at the present moment, to express our feelings toward you. While the English Satrap and his satellites attack, in your persons, the liberty of all Irishmen — while state prosecutions, gagging-bills, and proclamations, are multiplied around us, we feel a pleasure in declaring, "open and advisedly," that we entirely sympathi^.e with, and shall, to the utmost of our power, support your efforts to restore our lost na- tionality. Our estimation of your personal sacrifices and public services can never be effaced by the slander or the bludgeons of Castle hirelings. For our own parts, we are resolved to be free, by any and by all means that may become necessary; and if this be felony, rebellion, or treason, we are, and desire to be known to all men, as' felons, rebels, and traitors. To this extent we are decidedly evil-disposed persons, according to law; and of our conversion from such evil-courses as you, gentlemen, * This was afttM- the riot in Limerick, alluded to in pnge 313, and may be taken as a type of the laith expressed in the numberless congratulatory addresses voted to the above gnutJemen. 398 APPENDIX. have taught us, by w-orcl and example, there is not the remotest chance or possibility. We are able to distinguish between law and justice — ideas too often conflicting — and which, in Ireland, have long been mortal and seemingly irreconcilable enemies. Whenever it is necessary to choose betv/een them, we trust that Irish students, thirsting for truth, and adoring jus- tice, shall never hesitate to defy and trample every lav/ that despises the one, and wars upon the other. Guiltless millions perish unavenged ; and when the stricken nation murmurs in her lethargy, and raves of the pure airs of freedom — when you, gentlemen, give voice to her anguish, resolve, and indignation, the foreign tyrant, who has robbed and murdered our people by law, to stifle the shrieks of the dying, immediately promulgated new law. Law is the poniard with which England stabs her victims, before she undis- guisedly proceeds to noonday murder. English law, then, however she may affect the antique phrase and spotless veil of justice, can never win our respect and obedience. We recognise and abhor the strumpet, although she have stolen the robes of a vestal. Whatever, gentlemen, may be the issue of your approaching trials, "according to law," we have already pronounced a verdict in our hearts — ^hearts that trust and love you ! — and if our arms can aid you — it be- comes young men, untried in battle, to speak modestly — but there is no presumption in saying that, should you ever test the sentiments herein expressed, we hope to be found not unworthy of our leaders. [Signed] On behalf of the Club, E. T. Stevenson, President. R. D. W1L1.1AMS. John Savage, Secretary, Kevin O Doherty, W. T. Mbylbb. APPENDIX. 399 No. X. The Protestant Repeal Association to the Protestants of Ul- ster, adopted at a Meeting of the Protestant Repeal Asso- ciation, held in the Music Hall, Dublin, May 30, 1848, J. .Nuttall, M. D., presiding. Protestant Fellow-Countrymen : Nothing is more evident tlian that the present state of things fan not continue. We must be either absorbed into Great Britain AvhoUy (and that can be only eife-cted by a tremendous aggravation of our sufferings), or our Legislature must be restored. Neither we nor Great Britain can longer afford the cost of maintaining the existing connection by military occupation against the will of fully six millions of Her Majesty's subjects, whose disquietude prevents, and must continue to prevent, all profitable occupation so long as the causes of it remain unremoved. The settlement of this moment- ous matter now depends in a great measure on the course which you will now pursue. If, clinging to traditionary animosities, or listening to the representations of fanatical alarmists, you hesitate to obey the impulses of your hearts, and to declai*e Ireland a nation, and not a province, and her sons freemen and not slaves, the consequence must speedily bo seen in the withdrawal of all the remnant of our institu- tions, and in the centralization of all our wealth, strength, and intellect, in the now favored portion of Her Majesty's dominions, leaving you and us to be mere tillers of the soil, and producers of the means of luxury for consumption among foreign masters. Fifty years' experience of the Union has shown us that, altliough our fields m.ay be better tilled, the condition of both farmer and laborer has been deteriorated; that although our trade has increased, it has been the losing trade of sending much away, and receiving little in return; that a population, double that which we had previous to the Union, ex- porting four times as much of the produce of the land, possess individ- ually less wealth and fewer comforts than our grandfathers : and that, wnile we have lost the self-respect which only belongs to a free people, we have failed to obtain even the sordid rewards proposed for our sub- mission. It is not alone because the Union was a fraud, nor because gross cor- ruption was used in effecting it, that we are dissatisfied. If we found in that forced partnership our rights — if the toiling peasant might eat the food his labor had produced — if the tenant-farmer's long-established 400 APPENDIX. ^ privileges were secure — if the attempt were made to raise up Ireland to the level of Ulster, not to reduce Ulster to the level of the other prov- inces — we might, perhaps, stifling the aspiration for self-government which is natural to every Protestant bosom — stifling the desire of all freemen to bequeath free institutions to our children — say to you : "Be satisfied ; apply yourselves to the arts of peace, and strive to reap, un- der a wise and judicious, though a foreign rule, the blessings of con- tentment." But the facts which surround us forbid our entertaining even these humble expectations. The laborer dies upon the fields he tilled ; the long-established rights, by which you have had security in your holdings, and inducement to profitable industry, are daily dimin- ished, and will soon disappear. The laws which might afford to your southern brethren the opportunity to follow your industrious example, have been denied or postponed ; the soil, for want of confidence, lies idle, while the men, whose honest labor ought to make it produce golden fruits, are mendicants. Can confidence ever be restored while the laws are held in contempt 1 Can any friendly feeling exist toward laws made by strangers ? Then, what shall we say 1 We would say, unite with us. You are strong — you are numerous ; but you will never be formidable till you are organized. We can not believe you to be anti-national — indeed, we know you are not. You may be Orangemen — we delight to know it — so are many of us ; and we know enough of Orange principles to have the satisfaction of declaring that there is nothing more repugnant to Orange principles than the meanness of serving as the garrison of a for- eign power in a man's own country. Need we remind you that the great Prince, William of Orange — he from whom the Orange Society derives its name and principles — fii'st made the name of Orangemen illustrious by his resistance to Spanish tyranny in Flanders ? He could not brook that the affairs of Ghent and Antwerp should be administered from Madrid by strangers to the Flemish people ; and as genuine Orange- ism has fallen into disrepute in these days of sycophancy and timid servili- ty, we will remind you of some of the sayings of the great founder of Or- ange freedom, when first he invited the German states to unite with the people of the Low Countries — as we invite you to unite with your fellow- countrymen of the other provinces — in getting the management of their affairs into their own hands, and taking them out of those of the "base Burgundians,*' by whom the laws enacted in Madrid were then admin- istered : "If the nobility have complained," said he, " their complaints have pi'oved vain to seem troubled rebellion, and the casual giddiness of the common people premeditated insurrection of the whole country; APPENDIX 401 in fine, nothing but a pretence to use force against Flanders is now ex- pected in Spain, and who could be better chosen to execute such vio- lence than the Duke of Alva?— the most haughty-minded man of all Spain, Flanders' greatest enemy; he hath begun to raise citadels in the chiefest cities, he hath placed garrisons everywhere; no more home laws are heard of, but foreign ones — the country is almost unpeopled by excitement, imprisonment, and running away, and. nothing but gliastly looljs, complaints, misery, desperation, and calamity, to be seen everywhere. Now I," he proceeds to say, "am more hated in Spain than any other of the Flemish, because of my German spirit; I am held to be the contriver of conspiracies, the head of sedition, the firebrand of 'those countries." Yes, heatlien William of Orange was called a fire- brand by the loyal Spanish garrison of the Low Countries in that day (as other worthy emulators of his patriotism are now called firebrands here) : " therefore," says the great Orangeman, " their anger rages against me, and their heaviest punishments are fa-Uen on me ; therefore they seek to turn my glory into infiimy — for what greater glory can there be than to maintain the liberties of one's own country, and to die rather than be enslaved V But we can not conclude this exposition. of the sentiments of that great man whom Orangemen are most bound to revere, without asking your aid in behalf of your southern fellow-countrymen in the very words with which he concluded his appeal for the Flemings to the German Diet : " The Flemings ex})ect your assistance to escape so sad a slavery, and I in their name implore it. Their cause can not be more just or more easily helped. It is yours no less than ours. All neighbors will take it for their own concernment, and the whole North will favor it; and by the title of our being oppressed you shall ever be counted our deliverers." We have put before you these sentiments of that renowned prince, in order to remind you of the generous and noble feelings to which the Orange institution is by its very name committed, but not, believe us, brethren, with any intention or desire to carry out the parallel, by sug- gesting a forcible separation of this country from Great Britain. jMcu of the North ! we have said that we desire your co-operation in having done with this Union. Believe us, we too are Protestants ; we too love our religion, and would at all hazards defend it; but we also love our country, and to serve it effectually we must unite with our Roman Catholic fellows. Do you hesitate to do this ? — ^}'ou must hesi- tate no longer. You will surely believe us when we say that you may safely do so. Those who profit by our strife in this unhappy land i02 APPENDIX. would fain make you believe that the Roman Catholics of the South and West can not be depended on — that for any purpose you should only join them to be betrayed. We tell you — we who have lived among them and know them — that this is a foul aspersion on their character. They, like ourselves, honestly and earnestly desire to serve their coun- try, and by union to preserve its liberties and our common interests. For this purpose they shall have our co-operation, for we know and respect them. Shall they not have yours 1 We could not at this time omit to allude to the unjust treatment which an Ulster man has received at the hands of the British Govern- ment, and in him we see our most sacred liberties menaced. Need we name John Mitchel, with whom we disagree, yet from whom we can not withhold our sympathy 1 Neither can we refrain from expressing our complete disgust at the shameful manner in which his trial was con- ducted, and at the cruel indignities practised upon his person. In con- clusion, we most earnestly recommend you to declare your national opinions by association, and to do so at once. Let each hamlet and town in Orange Ulster have its Protestant Repeal Association, and place itself in communication with the central body in Dublin. Believe us, brethren, if this be done, your rights are sacred ; and if your tenant- right be taken from you, it will be but that it may be restored under our local Legislature. [Signed] By order of the Meeting, J. NuTTALL, Chairman THE UNION CATHOLIC PUBLISHING CO. i Any book in this catalog-ue sent post paid on receipt of price. Books of all other American publishers, supplied in like manner. Catechisms. Deharbe's Catechisms. 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