CHAP. XI.] DUPLICITY OF GOVernment.

375

as the Ministers-Carhampton, Clare, Castlereagh, and last, not least-Archbishop Agar. This, indeed, almost drove him to a state of distraction. It is probable that if his real opinion had been asked, he would have told the United Men,-"You are a pack of blockheads! and will surely get yourselves hanged; and you should all be put in the pillory for your mischief and your folly!" Unquestionably, Mr. Grattan would not have followed the example of the Minister, who, knowing the treason, deliberately permitted it to proceed, and thereby irretrievably injured the country. Reynolds, the informer, has removed all doubt on the subject. In a very long and involved affidavit, he completely exposed the conduct of Government; for he swore that on the 24th of February, 1798, he dined with Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who gave him various papers in his own writing, to copy; that these stated the number of men-the amount of prisoners-the military and political resolutions of the United party. He swears that the next day, the 25th, he made the disclosure to Cope, for the purpose of informing the Government: he told all he knew of their plans, and in particular, the account of the proceedings that he got from Lord Edward. Cope proceeded to inform the Government, having purposely applied to Reynolds. It is thus clear that Lord Edward could have been immediately apprehended and very possibly on the next day, if the Government party chose it; but far from that, they did not arrest him till nearly three months after, and within three days of the insurrection breaking out. During that interval, this spy of Government (in their pay, and receiving 500l. for his discovery), had repeated interviews, and by appointment, with Lord Edward. He swears, that on the 11th of March, before the arrests took place, he met him at Leinster House, (the Government all

376 LD.CLONMELL'S OPINION OF MINISTERS; [CHAP. XI.

this time being aware that Lord Edward was thus implicated) that on the 14th of March he had another interview with him; and on the 15th of March, a third, specially arranged the night previous, by Lord Edward, with Reynolds, to take place at the same hour and the same house. Thus his arrest could easily have been made,- and he being early taken, the subsequent bloodshed and carnage would have been spared to the country, and to humanity.

It was for this connivance-this misprision of treason, that Lord Clonmell found fault with the Minister he did not wish to conceal the treason, and let it ripen. Lord Clonmell, who had some knowledge of law, though, perhaps, no great love for the Constitution of Ireland, thought that the state was likely to receive great injury, whether the conspiracy was kept secret by the party who wished it to succeed, or by those who wished the reverse; whether it was hatched by the conspirator, or fostered by the Minister-by a man who did not wish to hang the traitors, or by one who wished to destroy them--and something more -the Constitution also. Lord Clonmell was not of a cold-blooded temperament; he strove to stop this disastrous business at the outset; but, as he stated to his nephew, he was over-ruled, and his advice rejected by the Council. Hence his strong and homely phrase, reproaching the Government, and saying, "he would rather be a chimney-sweeper than be connected with them.' Hence his dying declaration to Dean Scott, the disclosure of his conduct, and that of his colleagues. At his last hour, he sought to clear himself before the world, and to free his conscience of the heinous crime of blood; and he stands acquitted in the sight of his country and his God!

But it is impossible that other members of that Government can escape the censure of a cool and

CHAP. XI.] AND THEIR TREACHEROUS CONDUCT. 377

calm-judging posterity. Let the foregoing statements be read-the facts and dates referred to,and no honest man will hesitate to pass upon them the sentence of 'Guilty.' It almost seemed on their part a refinement, as well as a love of cruelty; for while they were ensnaring their victims, and stealthily drawing the net over their devoted heads, they affected a regard for the individuals they were victimizing; and Lord Clare tells some of the Leinster family, "For God's sake let that young man be sent out of the kingdom-the ports shall be left open for his departure;" while at that very time the paid spy and protégé of Castlereagh -this notorious Reynolds-was meeting, conferring, consulting, and plotting with Lord Edward, under the sanction of Government, from the 25th of February to the 16th of March!! What dereliction of public duty could be greater? --what private treachery more infamous? What more cruel or cold-blooded crime-more odious or abhorred in sight of God or man! More— much more I could add; but enough has been said to extenuate the conduct of the ensnared and unhappy people, and to vindicate, though, perhaps, not to clear, the character of my ill-treated country.

The object of those in power, and their underlings, which might almost be called "the order of the day," seemed to be to get one man to swear against another, and on the slightest information the person was taken up and sent to Dublin Castle or to gaol. I recollect to have heard that some of the furious self-styled loyalists used to exclaim, "Will no one swear against Grattan!" and I remember on one occasion great alarm was excited in the neighbourhood of Tinnehinch, by the sergeant of the Yeomanry corps coming up the road at full gallop, and his sabre drawn, exclaiming, Such a man, by G-! has sworn against Grattan!" The

66

378

MR. GRATTAN'S ESCAPE FROM [CHAP. XI.

people were also thrown into a state of the greatest terror by the Ancient Britons, who were quartered in the county, who frightened the inhabitants, and committed the greatest excesses.* Such being the fearful state of affairs, a relation of Mrs. Grattan (Stevenson Blackwood, afterwards Lord Dufferin,) a member of Parliament, and supporter of Government, a man of the best heart and kindest feelings, came purposely to Tinnehinch, and represented to her "that as her health was infirm, and caused her frequently to go to England, it would be prudent of her to make such an excuse at present, and that it could be done without creating any bad appearance in order to take Mr. Grattan out of the country, for the times were dangerous, and that he was watched.† This she mentioned to Mr. Grattan; but he was obstinate, and would not stir. At length Mr. Fox and Arthur O'Connor did by accident what she and her friends in vain attempted; they applied to him to go over to England to give evidence at Maidstone at the trials for high treason: O'Connor, along with four individuals, had been arrested on the 27th of February, in attempting to get across from Margate to the Continent. O'Connor had taken an active part in Parliament on the Catholic question, and had made some sacrifices for the maintenance of his opinions: he was acquainted with Sir Francis Burdett and several members of Parliament in England; his case was

* Barrington, in his History of the Union, asserts that the ancient Britons actually sawed a man's head off; they were commanded by Major Wardle, who instituted the proceedings in 1809 against the Duke of York respecting Mrs. Clarke: their colonel was Sir Watkin Williams Wynn; they were a savage and a sanguinary crew, and expiated their cruelties and their crimes at Ballyellis, in the county of Wexford, where most of them were killed by Holt and his party.—See Gordon — Musgrave-Holt's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 78.

† Lord Dufferin was a great friend of Lord Castlereagh, and it is likely that he may have been apprised through this channel of Hughes' visit to Tinnehinch.

CHAP. XI.] THE INIQUITOUS SPY SYSTEM.

379

taken up by them with much eagerness, and he was warmly espoused by the English Opposition. Mr. Grattan was now applied to, to give evidence as to his character;-and he felt that it would have been a great reflection upon him, when his fellow-countryman was on trial for his life, if he should have been supported by Englishmen and abandoned by the Irish. He accordingly went over in the month of April. The result is well known; O'Connor was acquitted, and O'Coigley, a Roman Catholic priest, was found guilty and executed.*

A memorandum, made by Mrs. Grattan, of the events at this period, and which I procured from her, will serve to throw some light on the subjects just alluded to, and will also present a faithful picture of those trying difficulties, from which good fortune and Providence alone enabled her and Mr. Grattan to escape. She observes:

* On reading the report of this trial, the certainty of justice in an English court, contrasted with the chance of it at that period in an Irish one, is very striking. Here the jury were impartial, the judge unbiassed, and Mr. O'Connor had ample justice done to him. A strong instance appeared in an attempt which had been made by a clergyman of the name of Young, to prejudice the jurors. He had written a letter, stating that he had "exerted all his eloquence with three of the jurymen to convince them how absolutely necessary it was at the present moment that the felons should swing, and I urged them by all possible means in my power to hang them through mercy, as a memento to others." This letter being produced, roused the indignation of Judge Buller, who presided, and who condemned in the severest manner the shameful proceeding, but he could not get the reverend offender within his jurisdiction, or he would have punished him as he deserved. O'Connor's examination of one of the witnesses was injudicious, and injurious to O'Coigley; in Ireland he possibly would have been convicted: the high character of those who gave evidence in his behalf, probably saved his life. These were, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Suffolk, Lord John Russell, Lord Thanet, Lord Oxford, Lord Lauderdale, Messrs. Fox, Sheridan, Grattan, Erskine, Taylor, and Whitbread. I may here do to Sir Francis Burdett the justice to say, that at a period long subsequent, he came over to Ireland in a case of Roger O'Connor (brother to Arthur), and gave evidence in his favour at a trial in the county of Meath, whereby he was mainly instrumental in procuring his acquittal. Such is the unflinching spirit of men in a cause which they consider to be just. After the trial Arthur O'Connor was immediately arrested under a warrant from the Duke of Portland, and sent to Ireland.