Chapter XXVII: Appendix: Lord Downshire's Mysterious Visitor (2)

Camden's counsel was followed, that the Viceroy of Ireland--in such times--ought to be a military man. Lord Cornwallis, the new chief governor, went down to Connaught at the head of 20,000 troops, and Humbert surrendered. On September 8, 1798, after a fortnight's progress through the country, 96 officers and 748 French rank and file became prisoners of war; and, according to Gordon, 500 peasant auxiliaries were put to the sword. Several sympathisers, chiefly local gentry, were hanged; including, as Lord Carleton notes, Messrs. Blake, French, and O'Dowd. Thus ended Humbert's quixotic enterprise; but the previous expedition to Bantry Bay, in 1796, was very formidable; and England had not had such an escape since the Spanish Armada. In this connection Lord Carleton has another word to say; and I do not feel warranted in omitting what serves to explain some things hitherto a puzzle. Few believed that Hoche's expedition of 1796 could have escaped the vigilance and vengeance of the English fleet which had long been watching it off Brest.

'Admiral Kingsmill (a most excellent naval officer), who commanded in Cork Harbour, was one of these sceptics. He thought it impossible so large a fleet could have escaped the vigilance of all his cruisers. Kingsmill had no intelligence of it, and repeatedly said, if the French fleet was in Bantry he would suffer his head to be chopped off on his own quarter-deck. Had not the French, when they first made the land, mistaken the Durseys for Three-Castle-Head, by which they missed their port, and were several hours beating back again, they would have got so far up the bay as to have been able to effect their purpose. It is much to be lamented that an officer of high rank in the British navy, Keith Elphinstone (afterwards Lord Keith), returning from India in the 'Monarch' of 74 guns, and putting by accident into Crookhaven at the very time the two French ships and frigates were in Bantry Bay, could not be prevailed upon to put himself at the head of the ships then in Cork Harbour--the 'Powerful' of 74 guns, and three stout frigates--and block up the bay till Lord Bridport's fleet could arrive. "_It was not his business._" He got all the stores Kingsmill could send him, and sailed off to England. I assert this fact as positively true.--H. C.'

The signature of Lord Chief Justice Carleton is affixed to all the Government proclamations of the time. His peculiar knowledge was largely derived as a member of the Irish Privy Council, and from his relations with Cork, of which he was a native.

It was not 'the Shan Van Voght' who first announced, as the old ballad has it, that 'the French were on the sea.' The news came from Darrynane Abbey, where the waves roll in unbroken from Labrador. Daniel O'Connell's people have been accused of treasonable leanings--but unfairly. Old Maurice Connell, or O'Connell, chieftain of Darrynane, made money through 'smuggling,' but he was no rebel. Opening that scantily explored mine--the Pelham MSS.--I find Maurice Connell announcing to an under-strapper of the Government, who reports it to Pelham, that a French fleet is in Bantry Bay, and he calls it 'most melancholy intelligence.' The letter is dated 'Darrynane, December 20, 1796.' 'I give you this early information,' writes Maurice from his mountain crag, 'in order that every proper measure should be pursued on an event _soe_ very alarming.'[785]

This timely information had the start by two days of Mr. Richard White's, who notoriously received his peerage in acknowledgment of a message of similar tenor. We learn from the old pamphlet of Edward Morgan, that 'A servant of his (White's) brought the first despatch to General Dalrymple, in Cork, of the arrival of the French, on the night of Thursday, December 22, who was but four hours going forty-two miles, Irish, on a single horse.'[786] The above is culled from Lord Carleton's copy, and it is added in his autograph, 'Mr. White, for his services on this occasion, which were very meritorious, was created Lord Bantry.'

Communication with London proved so slow in those days that reward was justly due to those who sought to mend a state of things now hard to realise. The King's messenger, when autumnal or wintry winds prevailed, had often to wait three or four weeks ere the boat could sail from Dublin to Holyhead; and on one occasion in the seventeenth century Dublin Castle was three months without letters from London.[787] Even on _terra firma_ a snail's pace too often marked the progress of great officials who ought to have set a better example. Carew, when going from Dublin to London, lost five days in accomplishing the 'run' between Holyhead and Chester. When the winds proved propitious, and the King's messenger was an active man, he was able to deliver in Dublin in one week the despatch from Whitehall.

_JOHN POLLOCK_

(See p. 178, _ante_.)

John Pollock, Clerk of the Crown for Leinster, who, according to the 'Cornwallis Papers,' 'managed' the counsel and attorney of the United Irishmen, deserves a note, especially as he is one of the men regarding whom the industrious editor of that work found it impossible to ascertain particulars. His services, which, Cooke says, 'ought to be thought of,' were rewarded in 1800 by the Deputy Clerkship of the Pleas of the Exchequer. Gross abuse defiled this post; but until 1816 the iniquity was not brought before Parliament. On April 29 Mr. Leslie Foster declared that 'Mr. Pollock drew 10,000_l._ out of the profits, and on which he ought to pay the salaries of the other clerks; but, instead of this, he pocketed the whole of the money, leaving them to raise the fees upon the suitors on no other authority than their own assumptions!' In 1803 Pollock's emoluments from this office did not exceed 3,000_l._ a year. Mr. Attorney-General Saurin impeached him in nine distinct charges, and as a result he was deposed.[788]

Pollock's name constantly appears in that curious manuscript known as the 'S.S. Money Book,' one of the last payments to him being on January 10, 1799, for 1,137_l._ 10_s._ The frequent payments to 'John Pollock for J. W.' suggested to me that the gold which he disbursed was usually for persons connected with the law, and with this clue I am able to trace and make clear various ciphers which Dr. Madden was unable to explain when publishing a copy of the Secret Account just named. For instance, we find: '1799--16 Feb. J. Pollock for J. W.--£150--G. M. £50.' Again, on May 3 following: 'J. Pollock for G. M. I.--£50.' And on June 5 and August 3, '£150 to G. M. I.' Who is 'G. M.' and 'G. M. I.'?

George McIntagart is described in 1798 as an attorney-at-law. Benjamin P. Binns, in an autobiographical sketch, speaks of this man as his step-father. It was George McIntagart who, when Mayor of Drogheda in 1798, dressed up Orangemen in French uniforms, and sent them through the country to entrap simple peasants. He then flogged them until, they revealed whatever they knew. The future Duke of Wellington, writing to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on March 17, 1809, observes: 'Will you have Mr. McIntagart appointed to be Collector of Drogheda?'[789]

'February 24, 1798. Mr. Pollock for J. W. H.' appears on record. Turning to the list of attorneys in that year, the name of 'J. Wright Heatly' is found. Dr. Madden also prints, 'August 23. Major Sirr for W. A. H., £68 5_s._ 0_d._,' but offers no conjecture as to the owner of these initials. He must be the man described by Plowden who, after an interview with the Irish Privy Council, was equipped at the expense of Dublin Castle with a showy rebel uniform, including a cocked hat and feathers, and sent on a mission to Belfast to seduce and to betray. An orderly dragoon repaired with instructions to General Sir Charles Ross, who commanded in Belfast, that Houlton was a confidential agent and not to be molested. Houlton, however, having started in a chaise and four, arrived at Belfast in advance of the orderly, and the result was that, when in the act of declaiming treason at a tavern, he was arrested by the local authorities, paraded in his uniform round the town, and sent back a prisoner to Dublin.[790] The Belfast papers of the day give his name as William Ainslie Houlton, and he is clearly identical with the W. A. H. of Mr. Cooke's cipher. It would be endless to pursue this subject. Meanwhile, those who care to follow the various ciphers in the 'S.S. Money Book,' and to know the circumstances under which each item is penned, can obtain full information from the present writer.

Pollock in his new sinecure did not cease to gratify the instincts which made him so efficient in 1798. A letter from him is found in the 'Wellington Correspondence,' dated January 12, 1809, directing attention to McNevin's 'Pieces of Irish History,' then recently published in New York. Pollock assures the future subjugator of Napoleon that, from information he received, this book is the precursor of a French invasion of Ireland. '_If you have Cox_,'[791] he adds '(who keeps a small bookshop in Anglesea Street), he can let you into the whole object of sending this book to Ireland at this time; and further, if you have not Cox, believe me that no sum of money at all within reason would be misapplied in riveting him to the Government. I have spoken of this man before to Sir Edward Littlehales and to Sir Charles Saxton. He is the most able, and, if not secured, by far the most formidable man that I know of in Ireland.'[792] This letter, from the niche assigned to it in the 'Wellington Correspondence,' calls for a distinct notice of Cox, whose name occurs so frequently in the foregoing sheets.

_WALTER COX_[793]

(See p. 71, _ante_.)

Mr. O'Donoghue, in 'Irish Humourists,' states of Cox and his rebel sheet, the 'Union Star,' which openly urged assassination: 'While the moderate organs of the United Irishmen--the 'Press' and the 'Northern Star'--were being suppressed and their editors persecuted and imprisoned, Watty Cox and his sheet were left severely alone.' I am sure the author will allow me, in the interests of history, to set this point right. The Pelham MSS. contain the following letter from Cooke:--'This day I suppressed the "Union Star." Cox offered [Justice] Bell to disclose the author, and to tell what he knew to Government on condition of pardon. I accepted the terms and have seen him. He was sole author, printer, and publisher. He composed the "Star" at different printing houses with types of different printers and struck them off by a small bellows press of his own. He says he continued the publication more from vanity than mischief; says that he has been for some time against continuing the scheme of separation from England because he thought it could not succeed ... thinks it will if there be any invasion. Lord Edward F. [_sic_] and O'Connor have been often with him; they knew of his writing the "Star." Cox pronounced Lord Edward "weak but very zealous"; O'Connor has abilities and is an enthusiast, but he thinks they want system.' Much more follows, and Cooke adds, 'he [Cox] is a clever man and deep.'[794]

The viceroy, Camden, writing two days later, says: 'He [Cox] seems able to give much important information;'[795] but Camden assumes this merely on the strength of the fact mentioned in Cooke's letter, and Cox does not seem to have compromised his friends by any actual disclosure. Arthur O'Connor, addressing Dr. Madden in 1842, declared that Cox remained always faithful to him, and also to Lord Edward Fitzgerald. Whatever changes may have taken place in his conduct, it was not until after Lord Edward's death and O'Connor's exile. While there was a chance of success, he was one of the staunchest men in Ireland to their cause. Had O'Connor--a person of great vanity--dreamt that Cox called him an enthusiast, and Lord Edward weak, his praise might perhaps have been modified.

In 1803, when Dublin Castle was dismayed by the outbreak of Emmet's rebellion within shadow of its walls, I find addressed to Cox the copy of a letter from Under-Secretary Marsden requesting him to call upon him, and 'nobody would be the wiser.' Cox replies in writing to the effect that he did not care how public their communications should be; and certainly at this time he cannot be called 'a spy,' if indeed he ever was.

The Viceroy Hardwicke wrote, soon after, an official vindication of his conduct; and he mentions incidentally that it had been meditated to place Cox under arrest as a dangerous democrat. His 'Irish Magazine' is a marvellous medley, and contains, intermingled with some rubbish, a good deal of valuable matter useful for future reference. Having been put in the pillory more than once for his writings, and finally been sentenced to pay a fine of 300_l._, and enter into security himself for one thousand, with two others of 500_l._ each, to keep in good behaviour for seven years, as well as suffer one year's confinement in Newgate, Cox at last consented, on receiving a pension of 100_l._ a year, to expatriate himself to America. This Lord Mulgrave stopped in 1835, and the death of Cox occurred soon after.[796]

'_REMEMBER ORR!_'

(See chap. xxi.)

Documents previously quoted make ambiguous reference to the fate of William Orr. This unfortunate person was arraigned at Carrickfergus in September 1797, for having administered to a soldier named Wheatley the United Irishman's oath. He was found guilty on evidence so glaringly bad that Baron Yelverton, in sentencing him, sobbed. Most of the inhabitants left the town to mark their horror of the sacrifice. Newspapers of the last century did not deal much in sensational headings. The _Courier_, an influential London journal, of December 25, 1797, affords some exception:--

'Murder Most Foul!--The Irish papers which arrived this morning contain the affidavits of the Rev. George Macartney, D.L., magistrate for the county Antrim; the Rev. James Elder, Dissenting Minister; and of Alexander Montgomery, Esq., stating that Hugh Wheatley--one of the witnesses brought forward by the Crown against Mr. Orr, lately executed in Ireland--had confessed that he had been guilty of _perjury_ and _murder_!!'

Some of the jury also came forward and admitted that they were drunk when they gave their verdict. These facts, duly deposed to and attested, were laid before the Viceroy, Lord Camden, by the magistrate who had caused Orr to be arrested, 'and who,' writes Dr. Madden, 'when he found the practices that had been resorted to, used every effort, though fruitlessly, to move Lord Camden to save the prisoner. Orr was executed because of his known connection with the United Irish system, but not on account of the crime legally laid to his charge.'

The date of Lord Camden's fatal decision, in reply to the influential appeal which had reached him, merits attention. Turner, on October 8, 1797, disclosed to Downshire--for the private information of the Government--a list of men, including 'two Orrs,' who, he said, were members of the Executive Directory of the United Irishmen; and Camden, probably, thought that Orr, who then lay in jail, adjudged guilty of having administered the rebel oath, was one of them. On October 13, Camden surprised Great Britain quite as much as Ireland, by deciding that William Orr should hang, and within forty-eight hours he suffered death.[797] A painful sensation passed through the country: Drennan's fine lyric, 'The Wake of William Orr,' will live as long as 'The Burial of Sir John Moore.' '_Remember Orr_' were the last words in the manuscript which hanged Sheares. The fate of Orr had more effect in hurrying rebellion to a premature explosion than all the efforts of Tone, McNevin, and O'Connor. The latter urged that Ireland should strike without further waiting for French aid.

Dr. Madden re-awakened interest in this case of Orr by claiming to show that Wheatley, by whose tainted testimony he died, was identical with a subsequently well-known military officer. Hugh Wheatley, the informer and common soldier (Dr. Madden holds), is the same man who afterwards figured as Captain Wheatley in the West Middlesex Regiment, who served in Egypt, 'wore the Sphinx on his cap,' and in 1827 resided at Uxbridge.[798] In 1844 Dr. Madden addressed to a brother officer of this man--a Captain Hester--various queries, all of which drew forth answers disparaging to Captain Wheatley, including the fact that he was remarkable for his love of money and his profligacy. 'How did he get his commission?' asked Dr. Madden: 'I cannot say,' replied Hester, 'nor could any of the officers. The commanding officers appeared always in fear of him. It was not because he had good pistols, for he never used them himself, but he would lend them--as he would his cash--on interest.'

It seems almost a pity to spoil the piquancy of an attractive page, but 'truth is stranger than fiction,' and as Dr. Madden declares more than once that justice to the dead and historic accuracy are his objects, it is right to show that in this case he has confounded two utterly different men. Even a son of the wronged officer is brought on the _tapis_ as a person Dr. Madden had known in another land. The following letter confirming my doubts will help to distinguish between the two Wheatleys:--

'War Office: September 6, 1866.

'Sir,--I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st ultimo, asking
for particulars of the service &c. of a Mr. Hugh Wheatly in the
West Middlesex Militia, between the years 1799 and 1810, and to
acquaint you that he regrets that he is unable to give you the
information you wish for.

'I may add that a Mr. W. Wheatley was appointed to the Regiment
as Lieutenant on the 21st February, 1804, and was promoted to a
Company, 17th December, 1811.[799]

'A Mr. Hugh Wheatly was serving in the Tenth (Edinburghshire)
Militia in 1800 as Lieutenant. His commission was dated 26th March,
1798.

'I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,
'L. SHADWELL, Col.

'W. J. Fitzpatrick, Esq., J.P.'

The Hugh Wheatley who--as we are informed by the War Office--received a commission in the Edinburghshire Militia on March 26, 1798, is certainly Orr's Wheatley. One of the depositions of the Rev. George Macartney--a magistrate and D.L. for Antrim--speaks of Hugh Wheatly as a _Scotch_ soldier, who confessed he had been instigated to give false evidence against Orr. Even after he had received his commission we find Wheatley in receipt of Secret Service money; and on February 5, 1800, 115_l._ 2_s._ 9_d._--or one hundred guineas old currency--appears on record to his credit.

Notes of a conversation with the late Dr. Verdon--a representative of William Orr--discloses some things new to students of the time. Major Orr, son of William Orr, served with distinction in the Peninsular War; he obtained his commission at the age of twenty-three, and on his return to England the Duke of York, then Commander-in-Chief, after complimenting him upon his services, asked if there was any promotion he ambitioned. 'I hate the sword I wear,' was Orr's sullen reply; 'perhaps your Royal Highness will allow me to retire from the service.' 'Pray are you related to Orr who suffered in '98?' inquired the Duke. 'I have the honour to be his son,' the soldier replied. The Duke with reluctance accepted the resignation, and next day wrote a cheque for 1,000_l._, and sent it to the widow of William Orr 'as some slight compensation for the loss she had sustained' twenty years before. The Duke of York was at this time heir apparent to the throne. Captain Orr retired on full pay with the rank of brevet major. Some years after, finding that his means were inadequate to meet domestic expenses, he asked the Duke for a barrack mastership. Orr filled this office in Longford, and subsequently in Dublin till his death.

'_THE WEARING OF THE GREEN_'

Mrs. Anastasia O'Byrne, who died in 1875, had been in the habit of sending me rough recollections of such small things as came within the cognisance of a very unobtrusive woman. Some of her letters appeared in a former book. The following is new:--

'In May, 1798,' says Mrs. O'Byrne, 'the narrator, then a comely
matron of thirty, possessing a soft innocent expression and a
delicate rose-hue complexion, donned her bonnet of the previous
season, with intent to make some purchases in the drapery line
at a flourishing mart in Thomas Street. The bonnet was of bright
green silk, had often been worn without remark, was purchased for
its supposed becoming effect, and had lain quietly ensconced in
its bandbox throughout the winter. But during that eventful season
the political atmosphere had undergone disturbance, and the storm
which shattered to pieces many happy homesteads was about to sweep
through Ireland. Amid other signs of the times, "the wearing of
the green" came to be regarded with suspicion and dislike by the
authorities of the day. Of this, however, the wearer of the green
bonnet was then quite unconscious. On she went, but was rather
concerned, and somewhat puzzled, to find herself attracting an
unusual share of the attention of the passers-by, particularly as
she was alone. As she passed out of Dame Street into Castle Street
and Skinner's Row,[800] where the narrowness of the flag-way made
collisions of passengers a rule rather than an exception, she was
startled to hear, every other moment, a voice whispering, almost
under her bonnet: "God bless your colour, ma'am!" She remarked
that those who did not use this phrase regarded her with an angry
scowl; but still no thought of connecting these incidents with
the _hue_ of her bonnet ever crossed her mind. On her return
from Thomas Street her attractive power seemed to increase, the
cabalistic words: "God bless your colour, ma'am!" were not uttered
so frequently, but the streets were greatly crowded by men, some of
whom regarded her bonnet with so fierce a glare that she thought
they had a notion of plucking it from her head. She then began to
perceive, with some alarm, that scarcely any women were abroad,
and that military and yeomanry paraded the streets. When she
reached Cork Hill she saw masses of people thronging the line of
way in Dame Street, whilst the crowd about the Castle gates and
the Royal Exchange seemed heaving in agitation like the waves of a
troubled sea. Whilst trying to pierce the dense crowd around the
Royal Exchange she heard a familiar voice shout her name twice in a
loud, excited tone. She glanced in the direction of the sound, and
saw the pale, eager face of a young man of her acquaintance, the
husband and brother of two intimate female friends, peering at her
through one of the windows of the Royal Exchange, then a receptacle
for State prisoners. Entering a little by-street she turned with
great difficulty from the surge of the crowd which was floating
from College Green side, and soon got into more quiet quarters.
By the circuitous route she reached home unmolested, but found the
household in great alarm about her, for tidings had reached them
that several females during the tumult of the day had been rudely
insulted, and roughly treated, for wearing ribbons or garments
of green hue, one most respectable lady having had a gown of the
obnoxious colour sliced from her body by the sabre of a loyal
trooper. The excitement of the day was caused by the arrest of the
unfortunate brothers Sheares. The young prisoner who called on
her from the window had just recently been arrested in the street
on suspicion, solely on account of having used indignant words of
remark in the hearing of a loyal yeoman. His great anxiety to gain
the notice of the wearer of the green bonnet was caused by his
desire that his relatives, who were ignorant of his arrest, should
learn it, and take measures for his release, before the tidings of
it could reach the ears of a very youthful wife in a very delicate
condition.

'The poor fellow was speedily released, for higher game had been
bagged, and nothing beyond his warm words could be adduced against
him. But the young wife, whom he soon after left a widow, always
believed that his early death was caused by his arrest. He had
caught a severe cold whilst in prison, his lungs became affected,
and rapid decline and early death ensued.

'On the day of the arrest of the Sheareses the wearer of the green
bonnet beheld the sacking and the attempted burning of the house
and stock-in-trade of Patrick Byrne, the bookseller of Grafton
Street in whose shop the brothers were first introduced to their
betrayer, Captain Armstrong. It was a pitiful sight to behold the
amount of property in beautifully bound books ruthlessly torn
to pieces and tossed out of windows into the street. Byrne was
arrested, but afterwards got safely out of the country, and settled
in Philadelphia. His brother, a Roman Catholic priest in Rosemary
Lane Chapel, followed him to America.'

The old lady's garrulousness about her green bonnet has been allowed space the more readily because the following contemporary statement comes to illustrate and explain, not only her own reminiscence, but an oft-quoted phrase which has become historic. I have culled it from the London _Courier_ of August 29, 1797. The _Dublin Journal_ to which it refers was the organ of the Irish Government, and the property of Jack Giffard:--

IRELAND.

_Dublin, August 24._--The _Dublin Journal_, with base malignity,
throws out the most indecent insinuations against the virtue of
every female who wears _green_ in her apparel. How the citizens of
Dublin, and the inhabitants of the country, who are also included
in this infamous denunciation, will bear to have their wives and
daughters so stigmatised, remains to be seen. A more villainous
libel never disgraced the Press. In case of success, it must render
useless all the goods in silk, cotton, or woollen which have been
dyed green, to the ruin of the manufacturers. Language is not
adequate to express the abhorrence that arises at this hellish
meditation to rob women of their character and working-people of
bread!

A corps, called the 'Antient Britons,' attained by their cruelties notoriety in '98. Pelham, in a secret letter, recognises their activity and loyalty; but casually adds (a trait which, coming from him, will be more regarded than if told by a partisan): 'They were quartered at Newry,' he writes, 'where there was a lady as active as the Miss Greggs at Belfast, and upon her accosting a soldier on guard, she was certainly very roughly treated.... They tied her petticoats round her neck, and sent her home showing her garters.'[801] Pelham probably learned this fact from one of the letters of Samuel Turner, formerly of Newry.

_FATHER O'LEARY_

(See chap. xvi. p. 236.)

O'LEARY IN 1782.

The following letter--one honourable to O'Leary--has escaped the vigilance of all his biographers. It seems to have been addressed to Mr. Kirwan, a Catholic leader who held some military rank in the Volunteer army, and who at mess had been asked to drink 'The glorious, pious, and immortal memory' of William III.! '_Jungamus dexteras_' was the motto of O'Leary and Grattan at this time. The former, in his reply to the Bishop of Cloyne in 1796, states that the policy of Dublin Castle was '_Divide et impera_.'

This letter is dated a year previous to Lord Sydney's effort to corrupt O'Leary. From that hour no such courageousness of demand marked his utterances.

'Cork: October 4, 1782.

'Much esteemed and dear Sir,--I am honoured this instant with your
kind favour, which makes me doubly happy, in the information that
you are well, and the satisfaction of still retaining a share in
your remembrance. Your choice of Lord Mornington[802] for your
Colonel gave me infinite satisfaction, and your design to continue
him at your head until he forfeits his claim to that honour by
some unbecoming and well-attested steps is equally founded in
wisdom and justice. Let it be the province of bigots to censure the
toast, after the reasons alleged for having given it. King William
was the first who scattered the seeds of liberty in this kingdom.
There is nothing in the frame of a Catholic that is averse to its
growth. He never violated his engagements with the Catholics of
Ireland, though often solicited to a breach of promise. There was
not a Stuart, from the first to the last, but betrayed them, either
from cowardice or treachery. James II. promised to repeal his
Declaration, on condition of being reinstated. What could freedom
expect from the resumption of his dignity?

'In the very heat of action, when the alternative was death or
victory, he commands _to spare his English subjects_.[803] _Poor
man! he was tender-hearted and pusillanimous!_ I care not. Bears
are fierce, and deer are timid. It is equal to me whether I suffer
by the claws of the one or the horns of the other. In my opinion,
though our sufferings have been long and unmerited, it is happy
for us that King William came over; for under weak kings of our
own religion, controlled by laws, we would be for ever obnoxious
to our fellow-subjects. Every gentleman from Dublin whom I meet
here talks with admiration of the Irish Brigade.[804] Sir Boyle
Roche, who wrote me a letter the other day, talks of them in a
strain of rapture. I never have seen an address from the Catholics
of Ireland but I spurned with indignation at, except your late
address to Earl Temple. They were always couched in the cringing
language of servility, and even falsehood, boasting of _common
blessings_, when it was in the power of your children to strip
you of your kitchen-gardens and the shoeboy of your houses. In
your last address you spoke as Gentlemen, thankful for what you
got, and decently intimating that you want and deserve more. I
make it my humble request that, whilst one Penal Law stands upon
record, except those that exclude you from the Senate and high
offices under the Crown, in every address you will glance at
your restraints. Were it not from an apprehension of incurring
the displeasure of the Catholic Gentlemen of Dublin, I would
have torn Gormanston's[805] address, and Portland's answer, to
pieces. The former addressed as a contented slave, and the latter
answered with the rudeness of a Batavian burgomaster who would say
"_Behave always so, or else ----!_" The liberal-minded Protestants
themselves acknowledge that enough has not been done for us. It
is what Lord Beauchamp wrote to me when I was in Dublin. I send
you Mr. Hamilton's letter on the same subject. I received it
here, in a letter from Sir Boyle, who applauds _the wisdom of the
Irish Brigade in not adopting the violent measures of several
armed societies_. There is some meaning in these words, which I
here would not have communicated but to a few of the discreet
of our own. You can keep Mr. Hamilton's letter until I pay you
my respects in Dublin. I wish I knew who he is.[806] As to the
Dungannonists,[807] they should be remembered with gratitude by
the Catholics of this kingdom. But as the Brigade is composed of
all parties without distinction but such as merit confers, whether
a letter which would give them the appearance of a Roman Catholic
armed society would be expedient, however merited, you are the
more competent judge. Whether the sycophants of Government, averse
to the Northerns, would not represent Peter leaguing with John
against Martin, who once confined them to a boxing-match over
a tub, but sees them now shake hands over the table when they
can appear with their swords and bucklers in the hall. However,
should you deem the measure eligible, considering time, place,
circumstances, the sympathies of some, the antipathies of others,
the clashing of interests, the factions of parties, the jealousy of
Government wishing the metamorphosis of your shining blades into
shepherd's crooks,--there is not one living who would sooner comply
with my friend's request than I would. But from conviction, free
from flattery, I affirm that he is better qualified for a similar
letter. I heard of him before I knew him; known, I conversed with
him. I guessed what he could do. I read the sentimental and correct
Las Casas. I was convinced that I had not guessed in vain. From
this motive I cannot be prevailed on, besides the time, which has
grown so scanty on my hands since my arrival here that I cannot
spare one hour; exhorting every Sunday, and attending to several
avocations, which, though of some benefit to others, often make me
regret that I ever quitted my solitude and books. I suggested once
to Mr. Weldon to propose Dr. Dunn--a Dissenting minister--to the
Brigade for a third chaplain. If he be proposed and elected about
the beginning of March, or any time after, I shall write him a
letter, in which I shall pay those of his profession the compliment
they deserve without giving offence to others. Ever &c.

'ARTHUR O'LEARY.

'My best regards to Mrs. Kirwan, Messieurs Braughill, Ryan, Gavan,
without forgetting our worthy Brigadier Sutton.'[808]

The biographer of Grattan cannot be regarded as an authority when speaking of O'Leary. A letter headed 'Dr. O'Leary to Mr. Grattan,' appears in Grattan's 'Life,' vol. v. pp. 263-4. It is dated May 25, 1805; begins, 'My dear Grattan;' speaks of his (O'Leary's) little grandson, and ends, 'Believe me, with truth and affection, your sincere friend and faithful confessor, Father O'Leary.' 'I congratulate you, myself and my country on the honour your speech on the Catholic question has conferred on us,' he writes, and thanks Grattan in extravagant terms for having introduced his name with laudation.

Grattan's speech--delivered on May 13, 1805--occupies from page 914 to 940 of 'Hansard,' and O'Leary is not once named in it. Grattan's biographer inserts with all the prominence and respect due to a genuine document this transparent hoax. He adds a foot-note to say that Grattan's speech in May, 1805, praised O'Leary. The biographer ought to have known that O'Leary had been three years dead in 1805, and that it is not usual for friars to rejoice in grandsons.

OLD ST. PANCRAS.

Father Arthur O'Leary died in London on January 8, 1802. The remains lay in state; a grand dirge was sung; an imposing funeral cortège followed them to Old St. Pancras, where a fine monument to his memory, inscribed with words of praise, soon marked the spot. Tradition states that Old St. Pancras was the last church in London where Mass was said after the Reformation: hence the wish felt by Catholics in penal days to sleep within its precincts. A visit to this historic graveyard in its present desecrated state awakens emotion. No ground, however, is sacred to the engineer. Old St. Pancras is now traversed by two lines of railway--more regard being paid to the 'sleepers' above than to the sleepers below. Passing trains ever and anon cause this resting-place of the dead to tremble violently as if by earthquake. Indeed a seismic shock, had it passed through the churchyard, could hardly have produced more wreck. Here many an old tombstone inscribed '_Requiescat in pace_'--others displaying grand heraldic sculpture--even a bishop's mitre and a shattered coronet--proclaim the irony of fate. The scorched and begrimed soil, once green and rural, but now split into a hundred fissures--almost tends to remind one of a great Scriptural picture, where shrouded dead are seen rising in protest from the riven earth. Tablets and tombs sufficient to represent the life of a city are rudely removed and ranged far from the graves they ought to mark. 'Old Mortality' will find them piled--close as cards in a pack--beneath a dark archway, over which locomotives rush, their shrill scream suggesting a cruel travesty of the last trumpet. A few massive mausoleums are certainly spared, and amongst them that to the memory of O'Leary. Another part of the disused cemetery creates quite a contrast to the scene of desolation just described. Parterres smiling with flowers may be seen; also winding walks, and an occasional shaded seat, where whispering love repeats a story older even than Old St. Pancras.

_PRIESTS AS SECRET AGENTS_

Dr. Hussey was not the last Catholic priest sent by the Court of England on a private mission to the Continent. The subsequent Duke of Wellington, writing from London to Dublin Castle on March 18, 1808, says:--

'It would be very desirable to have a person to send over to Holland and France just at the present moment, and I know nobody that would answer our purpose so well as ----, the Scotch priest. I wish, therefore, that you would desire him to come over to me.'

On the following day he writes:--

'As I intend to send ---- to Paris, it might not be inconvenient to know the person through whom the disaffected communicate with the French Government in order that ---- might watch him.'[809]

The chief blank may be filled with the name of the Rev. James Robertson. The nephew of this man, Mr. A. B. Fraser, found among his papers, 'A Narrative of a Secret Mission to the Danish Island in 1808.' The priest had been sent by Wellington to the Spanish general Romana, and the result was the transmission of the Spanish army from the service of France, by the British fleet, from North Germany to Spain.

Spain was the theatre of a still more important case of secret service rendered by a Catholic priest. In 1860 I wrote to Field-Marshal Lord Combermere as the only man then living likely to know of the relations which subsisted, during the Peninsular War, between Wellington and Dr. Curtis, Rector of the Irish College of Salamanca. The following is a portion of his reply:--

'Dr. Curtis had been fifty years head of the College when he left
Spain to become Roman Catholic Primate of Ireland.

'He had communicated very valuable information to the Duke of
Wellington while Soult held his headquarters at Salamanca.

'His connection with the Duke was suspected before the first entry
of the British into Salamanca, and two days previous to this event,
while dining with Soult, Dr. C. heard the General remark how
strange it was that Lord Wellington seemed so well acquainted with
his proceedings.

'Some of the aides-de-camp looked at Dr. Curtis pointedly on this
occasion, and the next day, while at table with the same party,
similar observations were made, and Dr. Curtis perceived that the
suspicions of Soult had been in some manner confirmed.

'On his return home that night, he found two gendarmes awaiting
him, and he was at once conveyed to prison.

'He assured Lord Combermere that had not the English arrived the
next day, he would have been executed as a spy.'

It may be added that the mysterious reference in Wellington's despatch of May 8, 1811,[810] is to Dr. Curtis.

The appointment of this priest by the Pope as 'Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of All Ireland' was directly due to influence exerted with Cardinal Gonsalvi by British statesmen, including Lord Castlereagh, Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Duke of Wellington maintained for many years a constant and cordial correspondence with the Primate, and the Duke's change of policy on the Catholic Question was not uninfluenced by it. The papers of this eminent prelate, varied and voluminous in their character, have been long in the custody of the present writer, and at a future day may be dealt with as their importance demands.

FOOTNOTES:

[712] Froude, iii. 277.

[713] See _Castlereagh Correspondence_, i. 285.

[714] _Castlereagh Correspondence_, i. 285.

[715] Turner's is the only name in the list to which Hughes prefixes this title of courtesy, which shows that he was looked up to as a man superior to his fellows.

[716] _Castlereagh Correspondence_, iv. 504.

[717] _Report of the Secret Committee of the House of Lords_, 1798, pp. 26-8.

[718] _Castlereagh Correspondence_, i. 283. Turner was known by the _alias_ of 'Furness,' partly, perhaps, in allusion to his seemingly red-hot patriotism.

[719] _Ibid._

[720] James Hope in his narrative speaks of Colonel Plunket as at first a flaming rebel, who had been assigned to the command of Roscommon; but Lord Carleton, in a manuscript note to _Irish Pamphlets_, vol. 129 (Nat. Lib. of Ireland), says that on the eve of action he surrendered to Dr. Law, Bishop of Elphin. Plunket was tried by court-martial and hanged.

[721] _Castlereagh Correspondence_, ii. 231.

[722] _Castlereagh Correspondence_, ii. 232.

[723] Every man desiring to become a barrister is obliged to lodge a memorial describing himself and his parentage. Anxious to ascertain whether the description of Lord Downshire's friend would apply to Turner, as the son of a gentleman of property in Ulster, I applied at the King's Inns, Dublin, to be allowed to see how Turner described himself--but was refused, although the object was explained to be one purely historical. This greatly retarded my inquiries, which were begun many years ago. At last an examination of the wills and the entrance-book of Trinity College, Dublin, established all that I had surmised, and the following letter, which I find in the Pelham MSS., is further important in this connection:--'The arms belonging to Mr. Turner, senior, a magistrate near Newry, were taken from him at the time of the general search for arms in that county. I believe that his conduct has been misconceived owing to the conduct of his son, and, if you see no particular objection to it, I should be glad that his arms should be restored to him' (Pelham to General Lake, Phœnix Park, August 3, 1797).

[724] _Records of the Probate Court, Dublin._

[725] _United Irishmen_, 1st edit. i. 252.

[726] _United Irishmen_, 1st edit. i. 240. These references to Turner, supplied by Hope, were not reprinted by Dr. Madden in the second edition of his _United Irishmen_. 'The Cornwallis Papers' had not then appeared, disclosing the name of Samuel Turner as a recipient of a pension for important but unexplained services in connection with the Rebellion.

[727] Bourrienne's _Life of Napoleon_ describes Reinhard as a Lutheran.

[728] The betrayer, in his letter to Lord Downshire, states that Lowry wrote from Paris to him on October 11, 1797, in great despondency on account of Hoche's death.

[729] Mr. Cashel Hoey, grandson of Conlan's victim, an important Government official in London, decorated by the Crown, died Jan. 6, 1892. Antony Marmion, author of _The Maritime Ports of Ireland_, was the son of Conlan's second victim.

[730] The Sirr MSS. Trin. Coll. Dublin.

[731] Froude's _English in Ireland_, iii. 284.

[732] Froude's _English in Ireland_, iii. 305.

[733] _Ibid._ 281.

[734] Samuel Turner, B.A., T.C.D., 1786; LL.D., T.C.D. 1787, _College Calendar_. He claimed to have descended, I believe, from Dr. Samuel Turner, M.A. of Oxford in 1605, whose parliamentary career and daring spirit are noticed in L'Estrange's _History of the Reign of Charles I._

[735] A wild district near Gweedore, on the coast of Donegal, embracing the contiguous island of Rutland.

[736] The facsimile of this proclamation, as furnished by Mr. Allingham, is headed 'Liberty or Death!' and displays a drawing of the Irish harp and the cap of liberty; but as the text appears in the _Castlereagh Papers_ (i. 407), a sample must suffice here:--'Horrid crimes have been perpetrated in your country, your friends have fallen a sacrifice to their devotion to your cause, their shadows are around you and call aloud for vengeance, etc.'

[737] These and other statements appear in a letter signed 'O.' which will be dealt with presently.

[738] From 1795 the Duke enjoyed the titles of Field-Marshal, Commander-in-Chief, and Bishop of Osnaburg.

[739] The Corporation at that time was notoriously Orange.

[740] James Farrell, though a Rebel leader during the troubles, is afterwards found entertaining at dinner H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex and Major Sirr.

[741] Letter dated 'Salmon Pool Lodge, Dublin, September 21, 1846.' (O'Connell MSS. Derrinane Abbey.) If it were not for the letter of Sir A. Wellesley, which fixes the date, I would be disposed to place this incident earlier.

[742] Madden's _United Irishmen_, ii. 391.

[743] There is an account in Musgrave of the arrival of the 'Anacréon' with notices of some of the men on board, but it throws no light on 'O.' He was lost in the crowd of French officers and adherents.

[744] _Castlereagh Correspondence_, i. 405.

[745] O'Herne, otherwise Aherne (see _Castlereagh_, i. 308). He is often mentioned in _Tone's Journal_.

[746] O'Finn (see _Castlereagh_, ii. 5). O'Finn figures in the Fugitive Bill. See p. 96, _ante_.

[747] Ormby, an Irish rebel in France (_Castlereagh_, i. 307).

[748] O'Mealy, an Irish rebel in France (_ibid._ ii. 7, 359 _et seq._).

[749] O'Hara (_ibid._ i. 327).

[750] Colonel O'Neill (_ibid._ ii. 230).

[751] O'Connor (_Castlereagh_, i. 374).

[752] O'Keon, who went with the French to Killala. See _Byrne's Memoirs_, iii. 164. (Paris, 1863.)

[753] At Paris 'O' had three interviews with General Lawless in reference to the invasion, which is detailed in his clever letter (see _Castlereagh_, i. 397). He is able to tell Lawless the number of men the French Directory were prepared to sacrifice in the attempt. The added statement that 'Orr did not seem to like going' is consistent with his sneering tone at all that passed on board the 'Anacréon.' Were Orr discovered to have been a spy, he would have swung from the yard-arm.

[754] MSS. Record Tower, Dublin. A narrative of the progress of Tandy's expedition, dated October 21, 1799, and preserved in the same archives, is endorsed 'G. O.'

[755] Turner (see p. 5, _ante_) announces Orr as at Paris with Tandy, Teeling, Lewins, and other arch-rebels.

[756] See p. 56, _ante_, and _Castlereagh Papers_, i. 405.

[757] The most trivial incidents are chronicled, including Tandy's fondness for gazing on a few laced coats that he had in his wardrobe. Tone himself was not proof against this vanity: 'Put on my regimentals--as pleased as a little boy in his first breeches' (ii. 176). 'O' announces that 'Turner refused to accompany any of the expeditions to Ireland, and went from Paris to the Hague' (i. 409). Turner had been in dread of assassination as the penalty of betrayal, and could not be persuaded to revisit Ireland while the troubles and their excitement continued.

[758] _Castlereagh Papers_, i. 408.

[759] _Ibid._ p. 410 (October, 1798).

[760] _Wellington Correspondence (Ireland)_, p. 455.

[761] But Flint seems to have had more to do in this _rôle_ than paternally to extend the ægis. Lord Cloncurry, describing his own arrest in 1798, writes (_Memoirs_, p. 68) that his Swiss valet was seized under the Alien Act, sent out of the country, and never heard of more.

[762] _United Irishmen_, iv. 232-5. Sir Jonah, in his _Personal Sketches_ (pp. 163-6), tells this himself, but without the elaborate colouring of Madden.

[763] Probably Foster. Some of the papers in the same volume are addressed to the Right Hon. the Speaker, Collon (Pelham MSS. fol. 205). Thomas Pelham, Earl of Chichester, whose name has been often mentioned in this book, died July 4, 1826. A pleasing sketch of Pelham appears in _Barrington's Memoirs_, i. 180.

[764] Francis Magan (see p. 134, _ante_).

[765] It would be unlike Jones if his letters to Lady Moira did not deal with warmer topics than 'antiquities.' Tone's _Life_ contains a letter from Lady Moira to Jones, in which she says: 'As to making a democrat of me, that, you must be persuaded, is a fruitless hope.'

[766] It has never been my habit to print only such parts of letters as are convenient to my purpose. Lady Moira would be the last to suspect her neighbour Magan; and she naturally thought at once of Musgrave, who had so recently accepted Jones's challenge. But Lady Moira was wrong in thinking that, when their affair of honour ended, Musgrave owed spite to Jones. He afforded good proof to the contrary in omitting from later editions of his book the passages which had offended Jones. The duel took place at Rathgar, Musgrave was slightly wounded, and Ned Lysaght said that his next edition would probably be 'in boards.' Jones, in a private letter, written long after, speaks of his antagonist as 'Dick Musgrave,' and exonerates him from the suspicion of having spitefully caused his arrest. A notice of the duel appears in the _Annual Register_ for 1802, p. 410. T. O. Mara attended Jones as second.

[767] Under-Secretary at Dublin Castle.

[768] The Lady Elizabeth Craven, whom Mr. John Edward Maddox married, died in 1799.

[769] McCan, the agent of Grattan, was examined by the Privy Council; when the Attorney-General, O'Grady, is stated to have offered McCan office, and a payment of 10,000_l._ if he would criminate Grattan.--_Life of Grattan_, by his Son, v. 228. McCan, on behalf of Grattan, had remitted money to Dowdall, but only from motives of humanity. Dowdall was concerned in Robert Emmet's plot. Mathias O'Kelly told me that he met Dowdall, Magan, and Todd Jones dining at the table of James Dixon, the active rebel already noticed.

[770] The Countess of Granard. The Dowager Lady Moira, from whom her son inherited the baronies of Hungerford and Hastings, died on April 12, 1808.

[771] Plowden's _History of Ireland_, 1811, ii. 22.

[772] _Appeal_, p. 122; Halliday Collection, vol. 915. R. I. A.

[773] _Personal Recollections_, p. 246.

[774] J. W. Sunday evening, 9 o'clock.

[775] McNally himself.

[776] Camden to Pelham, Dublin Castle, June 6, 1798. (Pelham MSS., London.)

[777] Cooke to Wickham, Dublin Castle, September 1, 1798.

[778] Philip Crampton, afterwards the famous Surgeon-General and medical baronet, took part in the action at Castlebar, as assistant surgeon to the Longford Militia. His friends often chaffed him on having been the first man to reach Tuam.

[779] Cooke to Wickham, Dublin Castle, September 1, 1798.

[780] _Idem._

[781] Camden to Pelham, Dublin Castle, June 6, 1798. (Pelham MSS.)

[782] Froude's _English in Ireland_, iii. 351.

[783] Camden to Pelham, June 11, 1798. (MS.)

[784] Camden to Elliot, Dublin Castle, June 15, 1798. (Pelham MSS.) The only weak suggestion in the remaining part of Camden's letter--needless to transcribe--is that the scene in Ireland was sufficiently extensive for the Duke of York 'to assume the command-in-chief,' for York's failures in the field constitute unpleasant incidents in history.

[785] The Pelham MSS., London.

[786] _A Journal of the Movements of the French Fleet in Bantry Bay_ (Cork, 1797). Hugh Lord Carleton's copy, with manuscript notes. It was this peer who tried and sentenced the Sheareses to death. When the Legislative Union became law in 1800, Lord Carleton retired from the bench and continued to reside in London until his death on Feb. 25, 1826. Though twice married he left no issue, and his peerage, like that of Bantry, is extinct.

[787] From the first days of October to the end of December, 1605.

[788] William Sinclair, of Belfast, one of the founders of the Dungannon Convention, married John Pollock's sister. He afterwards took part in the battle of Antrim where Lord O'Neil fell. He survived until the year 1864, and had reached the age of ninety-eight.

[789] See _Wellington Correspondence (Ireland)_, p. 612.

[790] Plowden's _Post-Union History_, i. 223-5.

[791] Watty Cox, publisher of the _Irish Magazine_. Eighteen months previously, Mr. Trail, of Dublin Castle, reports to Sir A. Wellesley a long conversation with Cox. See _Wellington Correspondence (Ireland)_, p. 121.

[792] _Civil Correspondence and Memoranda of F. M. Arthur Duke of Wellington_, edited by his Son, p. 535.

[793] The author of _Irish Humourists_ describes Cox as one of the most peculiar individuals to be met with in Irish history, and expresses hope that some day the documents relating to him possessed by the late Dr. Madden, and other manuscripts that must be somewhere in existence, will be published, and a full biography given to the world of so striking a personality.

[794] Cooke to Pelham, Dublin Castle, December 14, 1797.

[795] Camden to Pelham, December 16, 1797. (Pelham MSS.)

[796] In Birmingham Tower, Dublin Castle, the box marked 'Carton 620-24' should be consulted.

[797] Hope, who knew most of the secrets of his party, has stated that the man who administered the oath to the soldier was not William Orr but William McKeever, a delegate from Derry, who afterwards escaped to America.

[798] _United Irishmen_, i. 486-7.

[799] This was the Wheatley known to Captain Hester.

[800] This narrow street--as well as the adjoining passage known as 'Hell'--was cleared away soon after, in order to form Christchurch Place in front of the cathedral.

[801] Letter of the Right Hon. Thomas Pelham, Phœnix Park, Nov. 1, 1797, to the Home Office. (Pelham MSS.)

[802] Garret, Earl of Mornington, married the daughter of Lord Dungannon, was father of the Duke of Wellington, and died May 22, 1784.

[803] The late John Cornelius O'Callaghan, the highest authority on the Jacobite and Williamite wars, assured me that this speech, attributed to James, was never uttered.

[804] O'Leary was honorary chaplain to the Irish Brigade Volunteers.

[805] A Catholic Peer.

[806] No doubt 'Counsellor Hamilton,' a democratic barrister of Ulster, uncle of Thomas Russell, who was executed in 1803 as the colleague of Emmet.