I fhall now return to the metropolis, to give the reader a fhort fketch of its fituation, as its difaffected inhabitants flill continued to give unquestionable proofs that they hoped to fucceed in a general infurrection, with the affiftance of the country rebels, and fome of the difloyal yeomen, who were flill attached to their caufe in the city.

On the twenty-ninth of May, the Sepulchre’s corps, who muftered about fifty effective men, commanded by captain Ryan, was ordered to mount guard at Dolphin’s-barn, an outlet on the South Weft fide of the city of Dublin. As they were marching to their poft, a man of the name of Raymond, a Romanift, and one of the moft active privates in the corps entered into converfation with one Jennings, who was alfo in the ranks, and faid to him, “Do you fee that our lieutenant has got piftols?” (alluding to lieutenant Maturin, the officer of the guard.) Jennings anfwered, “Yes.” Raymond then faid, “They will not be of any ufe to him, for we will do him out.” When they arrived at their poft, Jennings afked him what he meant, in the allufion which he made to the lieutenant. Raymond then informed him of the following plot “That, in

cafe of an attack, which was hourly expelled, and which it was believed he had previoufly concerted with the rebels, the difaffected members of the corps were to maffacre the officers and the proteftants of it, and to deliver up the bridge to the affailants: They were then to proceed to the battery in the park; to inform the guard that they had been defeated; to afk admittance; and on being let in, to murder the guard; to take poffeffion of the battery and ammunition; and to turn it to their own ufe.”

Jennings had been fworn an united Irifhman, and was attached to their caufe from pure republican principles; but being a proteftant, and having difcovered from the maffacres which had taken place, in the counties of Dublin, Meath and Kildare, that the extirpation of his own order was intended, he informed lieutenant Maturin of the plot; and he having communicated it to government, Raymond was taken up, tried, convicted and hanged on the Old Bridge the firft of June.

As the Roman catholick members of that corps, who formed the majority of it, were difcovered to be difaffected, they were difarmed on parade the Sunday following, and difbanded.

Raymond would not have formed fo defperate a defign, which muft have been defeated, and have terminated in the ruin of him and his fellow confpirators, if it were not connected with a general infurrection, which the difaffected in the metropolis conftantly meditated.

The fanatical zeal of fome of the rebels was fuch, and their hopes of fucceeding by a general infurrection, were ftill fo fanguine as to extinguifh all prudence.

Two foldiers, who were conducting a prifoner by Peter’s-row, were attacked at noon-day by two ruffians, who fnatched their firelocks from them, with which they knocked them down. One of them, of the name of Fennel, a notorious traitor, was taken up, tried and hanged on the twenty-ninth of May, on one of the bridges. He was fo great a fanatick, that he faid, when he was about to afcend the fatal ftep, “That he would live and die an united Irifhman.” This fellow had been captain of a corps of united Irifhmen; and was at the head of a numerous body of them, in the fields, near the floating docks, on the night of the twenty-third of May, waiting for a fignal to rufh into the city.

Committees were frequently difcovered in deliberation; blackfmiths were detected in the act of making pikes; and fentinels were frequently

fired at, or knocked down while at their pofts: Information was obtained from fome notorious traitors by whipping them, of the extent and malignity of the plot; and of immenfe quantities of pikes and other arms, which were difcovered and feized in different parts of the city.

There was a conftant communication between the rebels of the metropolis and thofe of the country, which was proved by the frequent interception of letters; and that the former expected the co-operation of the latter.

On the evening of the twenty-fifth of May, a detachment of the merchants corps, confifting of one officer, one ferjeant, and twenty privates, was ordered to efcort four waggons of ammunition to Naas; and it was confidered by government to be a fervice of fo much danger, that their deftination was kept a profound fecret, till the moment of their departure; and a military officer, who accompanied the party, had orders not to fuffer any perfon to go before them, left the country rebels, rifen in great multitudes in the county of Kildare, and who had four encampments there, might cut them off. During the whole of their progrefs, one K——, a Romanift, and ftrongly fufpected of difaffection, inveighed bitterly againft government for the difrefpect fhewn to the corps, in having fent them off in fo fudden and unexpected a manner.

Next morning, when on their return to town, about a dozen rebels came out of a wood near Johnftown, as if to provoke an attack from the yeomen. The officer drew up his fmall party, who fired fome fhots at the rebels, on which they retired into the wood. K—— urged the party to purfue them, which would have been fatal to the whole of them; as it has fince been difcovered, that there were from twelve to fourteen hundred rebels in the wood, ready to cut them off on their return, of which K—— had given them information the night before; and that the ten who shewed themfelves were intended to draw them into an ambufh.

On Monday the twenty-feventh of May, a party of the merchants corps, confifting of one officer, two ferjeants, and thirty privates, were ordered on the fame fervice to Naas. On that night, captain Beresford waited on captain Stanley, who commanded that corps, to inform him, that he had informations againft K——, who was immediately arrefted; and fhewing ftrong marks of perturbation, he confeffed that he was a colonel in the rebel army, and that he was to have headed a very large party on the twenty-third of May, in an attack upon Newgate.

On Tuefday the twenty-eighth of May, an exprefs going from Dublin had been flopped, and a letter was found upon him from K—— to the rebels, written on Monday; the purport of which was, to inform them of every particular refpecting the efcort which was to go to Naas, and expreffing a wifh that they might be more fuccefsful in cutting off this party than the former.
It was obfervable, that for fome days previous and fubfequent to the intended infurrection, the difaffected tradefmen, among whom the butchers were very confpicuous, would not take bank notes. Though it had been defeated on the night of the twenty-third of May, the rebels were fo confident of fucceeding in another effort, that fellows were at different times employed in marking the doors of the loyalifts, and particularly thofe of the yeomen. Seven men were detected and feized on the thirtieth of May in the act of doing fo; and on being whipped by a party of the attornies corps, in the old Exchange, they acknowledged that they belonged to a committee of fifteen employed in that fervice; that there were many fimilar committees, and that each of them had its refpective department.
As an infurrection was flill expected every night, the lord mayor publifhed the following caution:

CITY OF DUBLIN.
Manfion-houfe, 26th May, 1798.

The lord mayor requefts his fellow citizens to keep within their houfes as much as poffibly they can, fuitable to their convenience, after fun-fet, in this time of peril, as the ftreets fhould be kept as clear as poffible, fhould any tumult or rifing to fupport rebellion be attempted, in order that the troops and artillery may act with full effect in cafe of any difturbance.
The lord mayor’s fervant acknowledged to his lordfhip, that he was at the head of a numerous body of fervants, who were to have affaffinated their mafters; and that he and his party were to have murdered rhe lord mayor and his family, and two others of his fervants, who had hefitated to join them; and that this atrocious deed was to have been the fignal for the other fervants in the vicinity to rife and commit fimilar enormities.
290]

Purfuant to a notice to the Roman catholicks, inferted in the Dublin Journal of the twenty-fourth of May, an addrefs, purporting to be that of the Roman catholicks of Ireland, was prefented to his excellency the lord lieutenant, on the thirtieth of May, “expreffing their firm attachment to his majefly’s royal perfon, and the conftitution, under which they have the happinefs to live: That the fhare of political liberty, and the advantages which they poffefs under it, leave them nothing to expect from foreign aid, nor any motive to induce them to look elfewhere, than to the tried benignity of their fovereign, and the unbiaffed determination of the legiftature, as the fource of future advantage; and they expreffed their regret, that many of the lower order of their religious perfuafion were engaged in unlawful affociations and practices.”

This addrefs was figned by four noblemen, fome gentlemen of landed property, fome refpectable merchants, and by twenty-eight titular bifhops. Had the latter, fo early as the year 1793, informed government, which they might have done, having learned it in their confeffion boxes, that a confpiracy was at that time formed for fubverting the conftitution, they would have endeared themfelves to the beft; of kings, and to his government in England and Ireland. It may be faid, that the fecrefy required in the article of confeffion, raifed infuperable obftacles to it. There is not a fentence in the fcripture which gives the moft remote fanction to the doftrines of confeffion and abfolution, and the extraordinary fuperftrufture raifed on them, except that faying of our Saviour to his apoftles, “Whofe fins ye remit, they fhall be remitted to them; and whofe fins ye retain, they fhall be retained.”

The Almighty thought proper, at one particular period, to make ufe of fupernatural means, and to inveft with extraordinary powers a certain fet of men, whom he felected to difpel that darknefs which invefted [sic] the pagan world, and to work the falvation of his creatures; but that end being attained, it muft be confidered the higheft arrogance in any chriftian paftor afterwards to claim a delegation from his Creator, and a right, to exercife thofe powers.

Thefe doftrines were a device invented by the artful policy of the court of Rome, to gain an afcendancy for its members, wherever the Romifh faith was profeffed; and it is moft certain, that a fet of men, in whom celibacy extinguifhes all focial affections, who are infulated in fociety,

and whofe primary object therefore is the aggrandizement of their own order, muft have very great influence in fociety, when they can extract from their communicants of every rank and degree, their moft important fecrets. The Romifh priefts, thus circumftanced, may be confidered as in a ftate of ambufh, in refpect to the reft of the community.

From the various and fluduating opinions delivered by the learned divines and fchoolmen of the Romifh church on this doctrine, it is very evident, that fecrefy in confeffion is a pofitive human inftitution; and it is very extraordinary, that a fet of men who profefs to be of the religion of Chrift, which is the bond of peace, and enjoins the practice of every moral virtue, fhould prefcribe a rule under the article of confeffion, which fanftions the concealment of crimes, and by doing fo, prevents the punifhment, and confequently encourages the commiffion of them. This is contrary to the divine law; for any thing unworthy of the Deity cannot be true, and whatever is repugnant to his attributes of wifdom, juftice and mercy, muft be falfe.

St. Paul tells us, “That our Saviour was all things to all men, that he might by all means fave fome.”* But a prieft is prohibited from difclofing a fecret, on which the lives of thoufands, or the exiftence of an empire, might depend. Mifprifion of treafon is a capital offence by the laws of every ftate in Europe; and yet the popifh priefts are compelled to be guilty of it, in confequence of their not being allowed to break the feal of confeffion.

By the divine law we are ordered to fubmit to the laws and ordinances of the ftate under which we live. “Let every foul be fubjeft to the higher powers; for there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whofoever therefore refifteth the fuperior power, refifteth the ordinance of God; and they that refift, fhall receive damnation to themfelves.”†

“Wherefore ye needs muft be fubjeft, not only for wrath, but for conscience fake.”‡ “Submit yourfelves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s fake; whether it be to the king, as fupreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are fent by him for the punifhment of evil doers, and for the praife of them that do well.”||

* I Corinthians x. ii.    † Romans xiii. 1, 2.     ‡Ibid. 5.    || I Peter ii. 13, 14.

Now the prieft, who obtains a knowledge of crimes, fhould, according to the ordinance of man for the Lord’s fake, and for the punifhment of evil doers, difclofe them to the civil magiftrate; but in doing fo, he is guilty of facrilege, as confeffion is a facrament in his church, according to the canons of it; and by concealing them, he violates both the divine and human law.

By the ancient canons, particularly by the council of Lateran, under pope Innocent III. in the year 1 2 1 5, every confeffor, who reveals a confeffion, fhall be interdicted and imprifoned for life. Cardinal Tolet fays, “that the feal of confeffion fhould not be broken, to fave the lives of princes, or even the republick And Henriquez adds, “not even to fave the whole world, or to keep it from burning, or all the facraments from demolition.” But cardinal Bellarmine* fays, “if treafon be known to a prieft in confeffion, he may give notice of it to a pious and catholic prince, but not to a heretick:” And father Suarez faid, that that was acutely and prudently faid by him.” This fhews that it was founded in human policy, and framed as a fyftem of terror to drive fovereign princes within the pale of the Romifh church. Father Binet differed from Bellarmine, and fays, “it were better that all the princes in the world perifhed, than that the feal of confeffion were broken.”

Jaurigny and Balthazard Gerard, who murdered William I. prince of Orange, Clement the Dominican, who affaffinated Henry III. of France, Chatel, Ravaillac, and all the parricides of that period, went to confeffion before they committed thofe crimes. Strada, a jefuit, diftinguifhed for his learning, tells us, “that Jaurigny expiated the guilt of that crime, before its perpetration, by receiving the facrament from a Dominican friar.†”

Fanaticifm was carried to fuch excefs in that dark age, that confeffion was an additional engagement to the perpetration of crimes; for, it was held facred, as confeffion is regarded as a facrament in the Romifh church.

In thofe counties in Ireland, where the rebellion broke out, the lower clafs of people, fome days previous to it, reforted in great numbers to the confeffion boxes of their priefts.

* One of their moft learned divines.        † Non ante facinus aggredi fuftinuit, quam expiatam ejus animam, apud Dominichanum facerdotem, cœlefti pane, firmaverat.

Soon after the affaffination of Henry IV. and while the French were lamenting the death of that amiable monarch, the advocate-general Servin, of iliuftrious memory, required that the Jefuits fhould be obliged to fign the four following articles:

It is worth notice, that the court of Rome, which would not fuffer a confpiracy againft the life of a fovereign to be revealed in confeffion, ordered confeffors to inform the inquifition, in every inflance, where a female fhould accufe another prieft of having feduced, or attempted to feduce her. This revelation was ordered by Paul IV. Pius IV. Clement VIII. and Gregory XV.

Some of the moft learned divines of the Romifh church have fpecified certain cafes in which confeffion might be revealed; and others have contended, that it might be difciofed in every inflance, with the confent of the penitent.

This horrible abfurdity is one of the unhappy confequences of the conftant ftruggle, which has fubfifted for ages between the ecclefiaftical and civil power,* and which has been the fource of inextricable error; for mankind have been fufpended between the crimes of facrilege and high treafon; and the diftinctions of right and wrong have been buried in a chaos, from which they are not yet emerged.

To return. The roads leading to the metropolis, were fo much obftrufled by the rebels, that no mail-coach arrived there from the twenty-fourth of May until the thirty-firft, when the fpirited and gallant Sir James Duff struck terror into the rebels, by the defeat which he gave them on the

* Fortunately avoided by the Englifh conftitution.

curragh of Kildare, by which, he opened a free intercourfe between Dublin and the fouthern parts of the kingdom; but it fhould not be forgotten, that general Campbell, by his good fenfe and fpirited exertions in the vicinity of Athy, Narraghmore, and Ballytore, contributed materially to elFed this.

As the difaffected in the metropolis were difappointed in their expectations of raifing an infurrection there, numbers of them left it at different times, and difplayed their zeal in the caufe of the union, by joining rebel encampments in the country.

On the twelfth and thirteenth of June, a great many fervants and mechanicks, and other perfons of various defcription, fuddenly difappeared in Dublin, and the neighbourhood of Blackrock; and it was obfervable, that the fame thing took place, when the rebels were about to make any great effort in Wexford, Wicklow or Kildare.

The loyalty, magnanimity, and firmnefs, of the corporation of Dublin, in the courfe of the confpiracy and rebellion, fhould never be forgotten. They raifed four regiments of yeomanry, with uncommon celerity; and it is well known, that the indefatigable exertions of thofe brave corps preferved the metropolis from deftruction. The vigilance and activity of the corporation in enforcing the execution of the laws were fuch, as to fuperfede the neceffity of proclaiming the city, till the nineteenth day of May; and many counties claimed the protection of the infurrection law, two years before that period.

I already mentioned the barbarous outrages committed by the rebels in Dunboyne and Dunfhaughlin; from whence, having proceeded towards Tara, in the county of Meath, moft of the farmers and labourers of the county through which they paffed, flocked to their ftandard; and in fhort, the mafs of the people in the county of Meath, and in that part of the county of Dublin bordering on it, were in a ftate of infurrection, and plundered every houfe in the country, which happened not to have been well guarded, of provifions, wines, fpirits bed cloaths, wearing apparel and furniture. As there were no military

* Eighteen miles to the north of Dublin, and in the county of Meath.

in the country, and as the officers of the yeomen corps perceived that their fafety depended on the concentration of their forces, they, by mutual and immediate communication, adopted meafures for that purpofe. The corps of lord Fingal and captain Gorges performed that fervice with great activity and vigilance.

On the morning of the twenty-fourth of May, the officers of the Navan cavalry, John Prefton, efquire, captain, Philip Barry, lieutenant, wrote a letter to the officer commanding the garrifon at Kells, to requeft that he would fend them fuch troops as he could fpare for their protection,; as a private of captain Gorges’s yeomanry had arrived there, and informed them of the atrocities committed at Dunboyne and Dunfhaughlin; and that the rebels had planted the tree of liberty at the latter.

Captain Molloy, who commanded at Kells, on receiving that intelligence, marched the yeomen cavalry and infantry of that town, to relieve them; but finding on his arrival there, that the town was not immediately threatened with an attack, he returned to Kells for the protection of its inhabitants, and of a large depot of ammunition in that town, which lay expofed in his abfence.

It was then determined, that the Kells cavalry, with a detachment of the Navan troop, fhould proceed towards Dunfhaughlin, and reconnoitre the enemy; and they having difcovered that the mafs of the people were in a ftate of infurrection, and were committing various enormities, Mr. Barry, lieutenant of the latter, wrote the following letter to captain Molloy, at Kells:

“Sir,
“Prepare your yeomanry immediately, as an infurrection has appeared from Dublin to Dunfhaughlin, and numbers have been murdered. Communicate this to all the other officers.”

In confequence of this, captain Molloy apprized the different yeomen officers of thefe alarming circumftances; and recommended to them to be in readinefs. Captain Prefton, commanding the Navan cavalry, having been informed that the Rea fencibles were to be in Navan on the night of the twenty-fifth of May, on their route to Dublin, refolved to join them, in hopes of being able to obtain their co-operation in attacking next day the rebels, whom he had reconnoitred in great force, at Dunlhaughlin; and they having complied, and all the yeomanry in

the adjacent country having joined them, they proceeded at break of day, on the morning of the twenty-fixth of May, from Navan, to attack the enemy at Dunfhaughlin.

On their arrival there, they found that the rebels had changed their pofition; and as they could not learn whither they had gone, the Rea fencibles, having refolved to quit them, fet out for Dublin, and the yeomanry determined to retire to their refpective homes, which would have been fatal to the whole country, as the rebels would have fpread univerfal defolation.

He then followed the Rea fencibles, who had proceeded two miles on their march, and informed the commanding officer that he would engage to find out the rebels in two hours, if he would confent to ftay; but having refufed to comply, he informed him, that he would proceed to Dublin, and obtain an order from the lord lieutenant for him to return, before he could proceed half way on his march; on which he confented to return, and gave him two hundred and ten men, and one battalion gun, the whole commanded by captain Blanch; and they were joined by the yeomanry, commanded by lord Fingal and captain Prefton.

After going fome time in quell of the rebels, they found them very ilrongly pofted on Tara-hill, where they had been four hours, and were about four thoufand in number; and the country people were flocking to them in great multitudes from every quarter. They plundered the houfes in all the adjacent country of provifions of every kind, and were proceeding to cook their victuals, having lighted near forty fires. They hoifted white flags in their camp.

The hill of Tara is very fteep, and the upper part is furrounded by three circular Danifh forts, with ramparts and tofles; and on the top lies the church-yard, furrounded with a wall, which the rebels regarded as their citadel, and confidered as impregnable.

The king’s troops, including the yeomanry, might have amounted to about four hundred. As foon as the rebels perceived them, they put their hats on the tops of their pikes, fent forth fome dreadful yells, and at the fame time began to jump, and put themfelves in various fingular attitudes, as if bidding defiance to their adverfaries. They then began to advance, firing at the fame time, but in an irregular manner.

Our line of infantry advanced with the greateft coolnefs, and did not fire a fhot until they were within fifty yards of them. One part of the cavalry, commanded by lord Fingal, were ordered to the right, the other to the left, to prevent our line from being outflanked, which the enemy endeavoured to accomphlh. The rebels made three defperate onfets, and in the laft laid hold of the cannon; but the officer, who commanded the gun, having laid the match to it, before they could completely furround it, proftrated ten or twelve of the ailailants, and difperfed the remainder. The Rea fencibles preferved their line, and fired with as much coolnefs as if they had been exercifing on a field day.

They at length routed the rebels, who fled in all directions, after having loft about four hundred in killed* and wounded. In their flight, they threw away their arms and ammunition, and every thing that could encumber them. We took three hundred horfes, all their provifions, arms, ammunition and baggage, and eight of the Rea fencibles whom they had taken prifoners two days before, and whom they employed to drill them.

It was much to be lamented, that the brave Rea fencibles loft twentyfix men in killed and wounded; and the Upper Kells infantry had one killed, aud five wounded.

The king’s troops would have remained on the field all night, but that they had not a fingle cartridge left, either for the gun or the fmall arms: The prifoners, of whom they took a good many, informed our officers, that their intention was, to have proceeded that night to plunder Navan, and then Kells, where there was a great quantity of ammunition, and little or no force to protect it; and that when they had fucceeded, they expected, according to a preconcerted plan, to have been joined by a great number of infurgents from Meath, Weftmeath, Louth, Monaghan and Cavan, and to have releafed all the prifoners confined in Trim, where they would not have met with any oppofition.

So general an infurrection might have been fatal to the kingdom, for the rebellion in Wexford and Kildare was raging with inextinguifhable fury: It was ftill deftructive in Wicklow and Carlow, and the mafs of the people, in many parts of Leinfter and Munfter, were on the point of rifing.

* In their pockets, popifh prayer books, beads, rofaries, crucifixes, pious ejaculations to our Saviour and the Virgin Mary, and republican fongs were found, and fcapulars on the bodies of many of them.

The garrifon of Dublin was fo weak, and fo much exhaufted by fatigue in the fevere duty which they underwent, in endeavouring to prevent its difaffected inhabitants from rifing, that they could not fend any troops to the adjacent country.
Part of the rebels who fled from Tara, retired to the bogs of Meath and Kildare, where they continued for three weeks to plunder and defolate the furrounding country.

The earl of Fingal, who commanded the yeomanry in this action, fhewed great fpirit and courage in it; for which, and his noted loyalty and zeal in the fervice of his king and country, during the progrefs of the confpiracy and rebellion, he became fo obnoxious to the difaffecteded m the county of Meath, that it was refolved to cut him off; and hig affaffination was to have been a fignal for a general maffacre of all the loyalifts in that county.

I think it right alfo to fay, that captain Molloy, who commanded the yeomen infantry, under lord Fingal, difplayed the moft fteady and deliberate valour; and that the officers and privates under him fought with the coolnefs of veterans.

On the fourth of June, lord Edward Fitzgerald died in the gaol of Newgate. During his confinement he often enquired, with apparent folicitude, of Mr. Gregg the gaoler, and thofe perfons who attended him, of the ftate of the metropolis, and the kingdom in general. Any extraordinary noife which he happened to hear, he fuppofed to be occafioned by the explofion of that confpiracy which he had planned.

As the execution of Clinch on the fecond day of June, attended by a numerous body of troops, and a vaft concourfe of people, occafioned much noife in the metropolis, he anxioufly enquired the caufe of it; and having been informed, it affected him fo much, as almoft to put him into a ftate of derangement. Lady Louifa Conolly, his aunt, attended by the earl of Clare, vifited him the day before his death, but he was completely delirious. A perfon who was prefent informed me, that it was a moft affefting fcene, as the degraded and deplorable ftate to which his crimes and misfortunes had reduced him, made a very deep impreffion on that very amiable and refpectable lady.

Lord Edward had ferved with reputation in the fifteenth regiment, during a great part of the American war, and on many occafions had difplayed great valour and confiderable abilities as an officer. When in the

army, he was confidered a man of honour and humanity, and was much efteemed by his brother officers for his franknefs, courage, and good nature; qualities, which he was fuppofed to poffefs in a very high degree. After the war he retired on the half-pay lift; but having again entered into the fervice, he obtained the majority of the 54th regiment, quartered at St. John’s, New Brunfwick, on the bay of Fundy, and joined it in May, 1788.

The following adventure is a ftrong proof of that active mind and enterprizing fpirit which he difplayed on all occafions: He fet out from Frederick-town on the river St. John’s for Quebeck, in the winter of 1788, through woods and defarts, which had never before been traverfed by any European; and without any other attendant than captain Brifbane of his regiment, a guide, and his own fervant, who was a negro. From the great depth of fnow, they were obliged to ufe fnow fhoes, and they had no other provifions but what they carried on a fledge, which lord Edward drew in his turn. This journey, which was fome hundred miles, took them many weeks to perform.

In the month of November, 1791, the regiment landed at Portfmouth, where lord Edward received a letter from lieutenant-colonel Bruce of the fame corps, from Naples, acquainting him, that he was in a rapid confumption, and advifing him to take proper meafures for fucceeding him: But as his lordfhip and his family were at that time in oppofition in parliament, he would not folicit a favour from government; but at the fame time expected that the commiffion would have been given to him without felicitation, though he had many competitors of longer ftanding.

On hearing that colonel Sturt fucceeded to the commiffion, lord Edward, foured with difappointment, and fired with indignation, repaired to Paris the latter end of the year 1791, or the beginning of the year 1792, and became, from difguft, an enthufiaftic admirer of the extravagant political theories of the French, which were repugnant to, and fubverfive of the glorious conftitution under which he lived, but of whofe defects he pretended to be a reformift; and having manifefted thefe principles without referve, his majefty thought proper to ftrike his name out of the lift of the army; but allowed him at the fame time to fell his commiffion.

He became fo great a devotee to French principles, that he married a little French woman, whofe birth and origin* were unknown, except by conjecture, and who had nothing to recommend her to him, but the extravagance and malignity of her republican principles.

The fate of lord Edward affords a ftrong and inftructive leffon to fuch gentlemen as oppofe the crown, from motives of difguft and difappointed ambition, not to exceed the bounds of moderation; for a perfon, enflamed and blinded by refentment, may, from an infatiable defire to gratify it, gradually fink into a dereliction of every religious, moral, and political duty; and a vehement reformift is often an incipient traitor.

“Nemo repente fuit turpiffimus.”

The reader may form fome idea of the perfecution of the proteftant clergy in the archdiocefe of Dublin, from Appendix, No. XV.

The reader will find the origin and progrefs of the confpiracy in the county of Carlow, in Appendix, No. XI.

* She was fuppofed to be the natural daughter of the duke of Orleans, by madam Genlis. 

Previous to the introduction of the principles of the united Irifhmen into it, in the year 1796, it was the moft peaceable and amenable to the laws, of any county in the kingdom; and the active and unabating induftry of its inhabitants, had improved it fo much, that its appearance was entirely changed within the laft twenty years.

Religious animofities between proteftants and papifts were at an end, or at leaft were dormant; and tythes were not complained of as a grievance. The gentlemen of the country refided on their eftates; employed great numbers in building, planting, and agricultural improvements; maintained focial order, and gave energy to the execution of the laws. The farmers followed the example of their landlords, meliorated the ftate of their arable lands, and, in general, built good and commodious houfes.

The labourers, who had conftant employment, received as wages ten pence a day in the fummer, and eight pence in the winter; and paid but

     § Plate 1. 8.  

two guineas a year for a cottage and an acre of land; but in fome places their wages were higher.

In the parifh of Rathdrum, twenty good ftated houfes were built within a few years, with fuitable offices, fit for gentlemen of large fortune; and many others on a fmaller fcale, but neat and commodious.

Moft of thefe buildings have been deftroyed; every thing that art could accomplifh for the happinefs of man has been annihilated; and all progreffive induftry has been fufpended by the late rebellion, promoted by the united Irifhmen.

For fome weeks previous to the breaking-out of the rebellion, the magiftrates of the county of Wicklow met almoft every week, for the purpofe of preventing, if poffible, the explofion fo much dreaded.

Every means were ufed to call the lower clafs of people to a fenfe of their duty, and a fubmiffion to the laws. Friendly exhortations, and promifes of protection, were for a long time reforted to; but they were treated with derifion. Threats were then ufed, with no better effect. The magiftrates then had recourfe to rewards for publick or private information of feditious meetings, and concealed arms; however, friendly and conciliating admonitions were ftill continued. The refolutions of the magiftrates, containing pathetick exhortations, and threats, and rewards, were printed and circulated through the country; but the mafs of the people had drunk fo deep of the intoxicating poifon of French republicanifm, fublimated by fanaticifm, that no antidote could counteract its baneful influence.

I fhall refer the reader to Appendix, No. XVI, 1. for part of a pathetick addrefs, publifhed by the magiftrates, on the third of April, 1798; when finding that mild and conciliatory meafures were difregarded, they were driven to the neceffity of proclaiming the whole county. The upper and lower half barony of Talbotftown was fo much difturbed, that it was proclaimed the tenth of November, 1797.

The firft feeds of difaffection fown in the county of Wicklow were by a party of defenders, who had been hunted out of the county of Louth by the Speaker, in the year 1792; and were employed as labourers in the mines of Meffrs. Camacs, at Ballymurtagh.

Thofe mifcreants, with their moft zealous exertions, could not propagate defenderifm any farther than the diftrict in which they lived; and it was not accompanied with any acts of violence or outrage. All the efforts of the united Irifhmen to make the people of the county of Wicklow join in their rebellious defigns, proved unavailing, till they perfuaded the Popifh clergy to co-operate with them for that purpofe; which took place in the year 1796, as ftated in the report of the fecret committee, on the evidence of doctor M’Nevin, a Roman catholick, and one of the leaders in the rebellion.

A loyal papift, who was tenant to captain King, of Rathdrum, informed his landlord, that he had been preffed by a neighbour to take the united Irifhmen’s oath, and threatened, if he refufed, or delayed to comply, with the total deftruction of him and his family; but he peremptorily refufed, having afhgned as a reafon, that he had taken the oath of allegiance. This objection was laughed at by his pretended friend, who affured him, that it had been decided, and declared, by their clergy, that the oath of allegiance, and all other oaths prefcribed by law, were to be confidered as compulfory, and therefore not binding; and that none but thofe which were voluntarily taken, impofed any obligation on confciences.* He at the fame time recommended to him, to confult father C. a prieft, on the subject; and having afked him, whether it was finful to take the united Irifhman’s oath, after having taken the oath of allegiance? he affured him, that it was no fin. This man, having been informed that his life would be in imminent danger, unlefs he joined the united party, as he was told that a refolution had paffed at one of their meetings, that fuch perfons as refufed to do fo fhould be put to death, told his landlord captain King of what had paffed; and by his advice, he afked father C. and two more priefts, who happened to be in his company, whether a perfon could get abfolution in their church, for having deliberately killed a heretic, or one who differed from them in religious tenets? The anfwer of the priefts, which was evafive and equivocal, fhocked him fo much, that he refolved to become a proteftant; and he and all his family have continued to go to church ever since the rebellion.

* See the council of Lateran, pages 10, 11, and the opinions of doctor Burke, and the cardinal Legate, on fuch an oath, pages 39, 40.

This man being fatisfied that papifts, under priefts influence, regarded the oath of allegiance as not binding, fuggefted to his landlord, captain King, the following teft oath, and recommended that it might be propofed to the Cronebane corps of yeomen; and affured him, that numbers of them, who were difaffected, would refufe to take it.

“I ———, do in the prefence of my neighbours, folemnly fwear by the contents of this book, containing the holy gofpel of Chrift, that I have not joined, nor in any manner entered into, any fociety, or affociation of perfons, ftyling themfelves united Irifhmen, or any other feditious fociety or affociation whatfoever, or taken any oath to keep the fecrets of any fuch fociety: And that I will not join, nor enter into, any fuch fociety, or take any oath to the prejudice of his majefty king George III. or contrary to the exifting laws, or conftitution of this kingdom of Ireland. And all this I fwear, freely and voluntarily, without any mental evafion, or fecret refervation whatfoever.
“So help me God.”

The fact turned out as predicted; forty-four of that corps who were deeply difaffected, refufed to take the oath, which a prieft of the name of Meagher, pronounced to be blafphemous, when it was propofed for his confideration; though he would allow his flock to take the oath of allegiance, or any other prefcribed by law.

This prieft declared that he had loft all influence over his congregation ever since the introduftion of French principles; and yet, when a fearch for arms was about to be made, he gave notice to them to come in and take the oath of allegiance, which was immediately and implicitly obeyed by aii his parifhioners.

It was univerfally believed that he did fo from an idea that the taking that oath would fuperfede the neceffity of fearching for arms, and throw a veil over the malignant defigns of the united Iriftmien. Captain Mills, who commanded the Cronebane corps, difarmed the forty-four difaffected members, and their places were fupplied by loyal men.

This teft oath, and the occafion of framing it, having been mentioned in the Dublin Journal, was adopted by the officers of many other corps in the counties of Wicklow, Dublin, and Wexford, by whom it was propofed to be taken; and it produced univerfally the fame effect, as almoft the whole of the popifh yeomen refufed to take it, and were therefore difmifted; which tended much to ftrengthen the caufe of loyalty;

as fome corps were purged of many traitors by it. Fourteen Roman catholicks of the Coolgreany corps, commanded by captain John Beauman, refufed to take it, and were therefore difmiffed.

In the Caftletown corps, commanded by captain Grogan Knox, there were about fifty papifts, and ten proteftants. The captain intended to propofe the above teft oath to be taken, but was diffuaded by his two lieutenants, Sir Thomas Efmond and Laurence Doyle, both papifts; but as the difaffection of the popifh members were very ftrongly fufpected, the gentlemen of the country infifted on having them difmifted, which was very fortvmate, as many of them were afterwards hanged, or fhot, for having been concerned in the rebellion.

There was very great difaftection in the popifh yeomen of Bray. In fhort, there appeared a fpirit of difaffection among the popifh yeomen of every corps in the county of Wicklow. Captain Hume’s corps confifted of proteftants, and were of courfe loyal.
William Byrne of Ballymanus, a rebel captain, and a member of the Wicklow yeomanry, having refufed to take the oath, quitted it. He was afterwards hanged, for having been an active rebel leader.

Some time previous to the rebellion, and during its exiftence, many proteftants were murdered with horrid circumftances of barbarity. The magiftrates and gentry of the country, by frequent adreffes, endeavoured to recal the people to a fenfe of their duty; and offered large rewards for the difcovery of fuch atrocities.

Captain King having fent one of thofe papers to father C—— to be read from the altar; he, in anfwer, faid, “That he had received a paper from him, which contained rewards for the difcovery of crimes, and that he was fure it was well intended. That our Saviour was betrayed for thirty pieces of filver, but he hoped that none of his parifhioners would act the part of Judas.”

For fome months previous to the rebellion, the priefts ftrongly inculcated the neceffity of fobriety and peaceable demeanour,* to lull the magiftrates and government, and to prevent the rebels from betraying their fecrets, which had fuch immediate and univerfal effect, that the whifkey houfes were deferted, and thofe who had been the moft notorious drunkards, could not by any perfuafion be induced to drink any fpirits, and

* This appeared to have been the main object of the defenders, as appeared in their profpectus found on Sharky at Drumbanagher, fo early as the year 1789. See Appendix, No, II.

abftained from broils and quarrels, and particularly from feditious language in any mixed affemblies.

Such inftructions, penned with energy and elegance, were printed and circulated among the people, which rapidly produced an apparent reformation in their manners, to the great furprife of thofe who were ignorant of the fecret motives which occafioned it.

Very early in the rebellion, two men of the names of Doyle and Lancafter, were found in arms near Glenmalier. The former, a papift, was condemned to die; but it appearing that he was more than once inftrumental in faving the life of Lancafter, who was a loyal man, and had been compelled to join the rebels, he was pardoned at the interceffion of captain King and Ifaac Eccles, efquire, two magiftrates. When the mitigation in his fentence was communicated to him, he related feveral circumftances concerning the rebellion; among others, that he believed the priefts promoted the rebellion to the utmoft of their power, and that twenty-eight of them were in the rebel army at the camp of Vinegar-hill.

In fact, the war there was purely religious; for there was no other motive to actuate the mafs of the people, except the hope of plunder, which was held out as an additional encouragement.

The old obfolete popifh holydays were revived, in order to give the feditious more frequent opportunities of affembling, which could have proceeded only from the clergy, who attended on thofe days.

When the united Irifhmen had diffeminated their principles among the mafs of the people, iheir leaders tried many devices to afcertain the rirength and numbers of the party, and at the fame time to inflame their refentment againft the proteftants of the eftabfhed church, whofe loyalty was unquestionable. For that purpofe, they propagated reports, “That the Roman catholicks were to be murdered on a particular night, by the yeomen and loyalifts.”* This aflbrded a plaufible pretext to the difaffected to affemble in their refpective diftricts, to avoid or oppofe the intended maffacre.

At other times it was faid, that the orangemen harboured that barbarous defign, though at that time the very name of orangeman was unknown

* See fimilar reports propagated in the rebellion of 1689, p.74 and 75.

there. The firft meeting of that kind took place the eleventh of October, and was general in the country, from Arklow to Bray, taking in the whole of the county east of the mountains.

On the tenth of October, a man who affumed the name of James Collins, and faid he was the fervant of captain King, perambulated a great part of the county on horfeback, and propagated a report, “That he had been employed three days in giving notice to all the orangemen in it, to meet the Rathdrum troop (all of whom but four were orangemen,) the next night, to begin the maffacre of the Roman catholicks; and the reafon he affigned was, that all the yeomanry corps were to be ordered to march to Bantry bay, and that they were to perform that office before they fet out.”

He declared, “That though he was fervant to that loyal gentleman, captain King, he was a warm friend to the Roman catholicks, and for that reafon he wifhed to put them on their guard.”

This perfon having been well defcribed, captain King traced him to the mines of Ballymurtagh, where he was employed by the Meffrs. Camacs; and he difcovered alfo, that his name was James McQuillan, a native of the county of Louth, where he had been active among the defenders.

On being committed to gaol, he acknowledged, “That at a meeting of the Ballymurtagh men, (many of whom had been defenders,) it was agreed, that he fhould undertake his miffion, and propagate the report about the defigns of the orangemen; that he went by the fea-fide to Dublin, and returned by another road to make the diffemination of it more general.”
He affumed the name of Collins, becaufe feveral perfons of that name were in the fervice of captain King.

The rifing and affembling of the people was preconcerted, and McQuillan’s miffion was merely to give them notice on what night it was to take place.

Captain King’s name was much made ufe of to have him affaffinated, as he was very active as a magiftrate, and a yeoman officer, in checking the progrefs of rebellion; for which purpofe he was one of the firft perfons marked as an object of rebel vengeance in the Union Star.*

* See an account of it in page 187.

The informations relative to McQuillan are lodged in the clerk of the crown’s office.

Many other agents were employed to fpread fuch reports in the county of Wicklow.

On the feventh of Auguft 1797, William McDaniel of Crownaroe, announced publickly at Humewood, and in other parts of the county, that many of the proteftant members of captain Hume’s corps,* in which there was but one Roman catholick, took a folemn oath, to burn all the Roman catholick houfes in the county, and to fhoot their inmates, and that they would foon fwim in Catholick blood. This ruffian was taken up, convicted of that crime at the affizes, and imprifoned fix months.

A female vagrant went about the country near Weft-Afton, fpreading a report, with active malignity, “That Mr. Acton, a gentleman of good landed property, faid, that an order had been received from government, that the proteftants fhould put all the Roman catholicks to death; and that he expreffed concern at it, to fome of the lower clafs of that perfuafion.” That gentleman offered a reward for the difcovery of that wretch, but he could not obtain it..

The conduct of the united Irifhmen in the county of Wicklow, previous to the rebellion, was exactly fimilar to what took place in every other part of the kingdom; except that they murdered but few perfons in plundering houfes of arms.

The firft perfon affaffinated in it, was an inoffenfive old gentleman of the name of Nickfon, on the feventh of November, 1797.

When the rebels went to his houfe for arms, he opened the door himfelf, informed them, that they fhould have what arms he had, and faid, they fhould alfo have fomething to drink, if they went in.

One in the rear of the party cried out, “Does the old rafcal prate? No. 4, fhoot him directly.” On which. No. 4 flepped forward, and fhot him through the body.

The popifh multitude in Wicklow, as well as in moft other counties, previous to the rebellion, repaired to the magiftrates, fwore oaths of allegiance, and obtained protections, with no other view but to deceive them and the government.

* It had not a fingle united Irifhman in it.

Even fo late as the twentieth of May, great numbers of people went to Arklow, took oaths of allegiance, and furrendered pikes to the reverend Mr. Bayly of Lamberton, a magiftrate; but for no other purpofe than to delude the government and the loyal subjects.

Had protections been withheld till the people had furrendered their arms, and had fncwn fome figns of returning obedience, this praftice would have been attended with the beft efleds; but the general officers in their refpective diftricts granted them indifcriminately, and without any condition. An artful rebel has obtained two protections for himfelf, from two different quarters, and had given one of them to a neighbour, who affumed his name.

Dwyer, the noted rebel leader, more cruel than Hackett or Holt, and who has been the occafion of many atrocious murders near Baltinglafs, obtained a protection from general Moore, in the year 1798, and remained fome time in his camp, corrupting his foldiers; and yet for near two years he bids defiance to the king’s troops, and keeps the inhabitants of a large tract of the county of Wicklow in terror and difmay.

Four deferters from the Antrim militia, and another rebel, were taken at their harbour, at Aughavanagh, with their arms, and carried to the general’s camp; but having pretended that they were on their way to furrender, he gave them protections, and difcharged them. They were afterwards (except one who was fhot,) the moft defperate robbing party in the country.

It is not to be fuppofed that the general would have treated them with fuch lenity, had he known that they were deferters. Had he confulted the yeomen, or the country gentlemen of the diftrict, he could not have been deceived; but at that time it was the fafhion to abufe the yeomanry, and to treat the opinion of the country gentlemen with contempt, which was fatal to many parts of that county.

From the following extract, taken from informations fworn before the reverend Edward Bayly, of Lamberton, in that county, the reader may judge of the defigns of the rebels. Simon Beahy fwore the twenty-fifth of May, 1798, that the object of the rebels was, to affift the French, when they came to conquer the kingdom.
Owen Redmond depofed the twenty-third of May, that he was fworn to join the French, and affift them, and to kill all thofe who would not join them.

John Hall depofed the fame, the twenty-third of May.

John Bryan made the fame depofition, the twenty-feventh of May.

Patrick Myrna fwore the fame the twenty-third of May. Michael Stafford fwore the twenty-third of May, that all thofe who were not united would be murdered.

Terence Kinfley fwore, the twenty-third of May, that the united Irifhmen were to rife in rebellion againft the king and his government, and to deftroy all perfons who were not of the popifh religion.*

I have feen a great number of informations of the fame tenor, fworn by repentant rebels.

I did not hear of a fingle inftance of difaffection among the proteftant yeomen in the county of Wicklow,† or that a perfon of that perfuafion was concerned in the confpiracy or rebellion.

Part of the Arklow corps quartered at Gorey, patroled the country on the night of the twenty-feventh of May, and in doing fo, took up a wounded rebel, whofe life they promifed to fpare, if he would difclofe what he knew of the united bufinefs; on which he freely and voluntarily confeffed, before many refpettable witneffes, “That he had been fworn by his prieft, to rife againft the government, and to kill all the hereticks.”

Many rebels in the county of Wicklow enlifted in the king’s troops, while they were qnartered there, merely for the purpofe of obtaining arms and ammunition, and a knowledge of military difcipline. On the night of the twenty-firft of September, twenty-two of the king’s county militia, who had practifed this bafe artifice, deferted with their arms and ammunition. Some yeomen cavalry were fent in purfuit of them, but the deferters having lain in wait, fired on them when they were in a deep road, with high hedges on each fide, killed two of them, and wounded fome more. This method was univerfally adopted by the rebels, for the above purpofes, and to feduce the king’s troops from their allegiance.

On the thirteenth of May, 1798, the magiftrates and yeomen officers for fome miles round Baltinglafs, publifhed | exhortations to the lower clafs of

* See Appendix, No. XVI. a.    † Except Holt, a low fellow, without any kind of principle.     ‡ Plate I. 8.

people, recommending to them to furrender their arms, to make full confeffions of their guilt, to fwear oaths of allegiance, and to receive protections; and vaft multitudes of them continued to do fo, from morning till night, from the fifteenth to the twenty-fourth of May; and yet, on the morning of that day, the infurrection of the lower clafs of people was general; and they were all armed with pikes or mufkets, though, with their ufual diffimulation, they had for fome days before put on the femblance of contrition.

On the nineteenth of May, a decent looking man went through the country contiguous to Baltinglafs, exhorting the people to be in readinefs to rife at a moment’s warning, as no excufe would be taken.

On the morning of the twenty-third of May, the following notice was put under the door of a yeoman of captain Saunders’s corps:
“This is to give you notice, that if you do not do as you are defired to do, you will be left defolate: and further, if you let any bad perfons know, you will be burnt in your houfe.”

Captain Saunders of the Saunders-grove corps, having received a hint that fome of its members were feduced by the united Irifhmen, called a full parade of them on the twentieth of May, and exhorted them, if any of them had been unfortunately tempted to fwerve from their allegiance, to acknowledge it to him either publickly or privately; but his addrefs to them did not produce any effect.

Such of them as were difaffected, had refolved that evening to difclofe their guilt to their captain, but that James Dunn, the corporal, who had feduced them, perfuaded them to adhere to the united caufe, and not to violate the oath of fecrefy which they had taken. Full information having been received of the guilt of Dunn, he was taken up on the twenty-firft of May, by the Wicklow militia, and on being arrefted, he impeached fome of the members of his own corps.

This difcovery induced captain Saunders to call a full parade the twenty-fecond of May, when he announced it to his men, in prefence of a party of the Wicklow militia, and the Dunlavin cavalry; and having defired three or four of the moft guilty to come forward, no lefs than twenty of them, touched with the ftings of compunction, advanced, and confeffed that they had been fworn. They were immediately conveyed as prifoners to Dunlavin, where many of them were fhot on the morning of the twenty-fourth

of May, when the general rifing took place. There was much difaffection in the popifh members of all the yeomen corps in that part of the country; but I could not hear of a fingle iuftance of treachery in a proteftant. There was a confpiracy formed to murder captain Saunders; but this is not furprifing, as all the proteftant gentlemen of that county were to have been cut off by their popifh fervants or tenants. Thomas Kavanagh, a popifh member of lord Aldborough’s corps, was a leader of the rebels; and was afterwards hanged: and his head was amputated, and fixed on a may-pole at Baltinglafs.

Mrs. Saunders, with heroic fortitude, remained at Saunders-grove, with her fix children, during the whole of the rebellion, while the tempeft howled around her; and, confiding in the fidelity of a few proteftant yeomen, fhe bid defiance to many bands of traitors who often approached her houfe, which fhe humanely made the afylum of many loyal proteftants, who narrowly efcaped from the pikes of the affaffins in the adjacent country.

The rebels having affembled to the number of four or five hundred, near Stratford upon Slaney, entered that town in order to pillage it. While they were proceeding to do fo, lieutenant Macauly, commanding thirty of the Antrim militia, and cornet Love, with twenty of the ninth dragoons, attacked them; and at the fame inftant, captain Stratford appeared at the other end of the town with a detachment of his corps. They attacked the rebels at the fame time, and completely routed them, having killed between one and two hundred; and many were wounded, who made their efcape. Thomas Kavanagh, who headed the rebels on that occafion, offered to mount guard next day at Baltinglafs, in order to betray it to the rebels, which he would have done, but that his treachery was difcovered.

Previous to relating the battle of Newtown-mount-kennedy, I fhall give an account of the progrefs of the rebellion in the adjacent country, and of the circumftances which immediately preceded it.

In the fpring and fummer of one thoufand feven hundred and ninety-feven, ftrong fymptoms of difaffection began to appear in it, fuch as cutting down trees to make pike handles, founding of horns, meetings of the people on moon-light [sic] nights for the purpofe of exercifing, and firing fhots to intimidate and keep within their houfes the loyal inhabitants. Some vigilant and intelligent magiftrates, feeing that nothing but active and feafonable exertions could fave the county from deftruction, had the landholders

principal inhabitants convened, to take its alarming ftate into confideration. Notwithftanding the moft indubitable proofs that treafon fermented, and had made a confiderable progrefs in the country, which was evinced by the facts which I have ftated, many noblemen and gentlemen were fo incredulous, in confequence of the artful conduct, and grofs mifreprefentation of the difaffected, and of the readinefs of the multitude to take the oath of allegiance, as not to believe that they had treafonable defigns, and for that reafon, the meetings were frequently adjourned; and inftead of adopting vigorous meafures, the moft friendly and pacifick addreffes to the people were publifhed, inviting them to refspect the laws, and to return to a fenfe of their duty.

The committees of the united Irifhmen regarded their patience and forbearance, as cowardice and pufillanimity; and the lower clafs of people became daring and infolent, pulling down the pacifick refolutions of the county meetings; and denouncing vengeance againft fuch magiftrates and loyal fubjects, as expreffed a difapprobation of their feditious proceedings; cr had taken an active part againft them; and at length it became dangerous for perfons of that defcription to traverfe the country, for fear of being affaffinated.

At laft they were driven to the neceffity of proclaiming the whole county, as the infection had fpread very widely. Some parts of it had been proclaimed the tenth of November, 1797. The general meetings of the people, in their refpective diftricts, on the eleventh of October, I have already mentioned. It had a moft terrifick appearance, in the country round Newtown-mount-kennedy. The people, in confiderable numbers, headed by their captains, and varioufly armed, paraded there. On being interrogated by the gentlemen of the country, who rernonftrated to them on the dangerous confequences of their conduct, they faid, in excufe, that they affembled in defence of their perfons and property, againft the orangemen, who, they faid, confpired againft them; and were to rife and cut off every perfon of their perfuafion without exception.

I have already mentioned, that fuch reports were framed for no other purpofe, but to kindle an inextinguifhable hatred in the Roman catholicks againft the proteftants; and the effects of it appeared afterwards in the maffacres which took place in the counties of Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow, Meath, Dublin, and Kildare.

Matters remained in that ftate, till the fpring of 1798, when a paper containing the proceedings and refolutions of the county of Wicklow committee was obtained, and was afterwards proved upon oath before the fecret committee of the houfe of lords, which fhewed the extent and malignity of the confpiracy.

Government ftill defirous, if poffible, to avoid harfh and coercive meafures, and to induce the people to return to their duty and their allegiance by mild and conciliating means, lieutenant-general Craig, by their orders, iffued a proclamation, dated the eleventh of May, 1798, for that purpofe, which fee in Appendix, No. XVI. 3 and major Hardy, a humane gentleman and a judicious officer, who then commanded in that county, ufed the moft zealous endeavours to the fame end.

Early in the month of May, as the country was in fuch an alarming ftate, that no loyal fubjects could with fafety remain in their houfes, the yeomen of the diftrict were ordered into garrifon at Newtownmount-kennedy.

Oh Tuefday the twenty-ninth of May, a party confifting of ten of the Ancient Britifh cavalry, commanded by lieutenant Edwards, and the fame number of the Newtownmount-kennedy cavalry, under lieutenant Archer, were ordered to proceed to Roundwood, and to return by the Devil’s-glynn, where the rebels were fuppofed to be encamped in confiderable force; and they were to reconnoitre them, and to afcertain their numbers and their pofition. As they approached Roundwood, they attacked and cut off fome fmall parties of the rebels.

Soon after they were informed, by exprefs, that the rebels were proceeding to burn all the houfes of the proteftants, and that they had begun with that of Mr. Hugo,* at Drummeen, about three miles off; the detachment arrived in time to fave the dwelling-houfe, but they found the offices in flames. They attacked and routed the rebel party, who committed that atrocity, with confiderable flaughter, and laid wafte the village of Clohogue, in which they took refuge.

On the twenty-ninth of May, two dragoons, one a yeoman, the other an Ancient Britifh fencible, were fent from Dublin, with an exprefs to lord

* He was lieutenant of the Wicklow cavalry, and was noted for his zeal, his activity and courage.

Rofsmore, at Newtownmount-kennedy, who was to forward it to Wicklow. When they were within two miles of Newtownmount-kennedy, fome rebels, who lined the hedges, fired on them, and killed the yeoman who carried the exprefs; and yet his comrade, though the traitors continued to fire at him, difmounted, and with great coolnefs took the exprefs out of his pocket, and delivered it, all covered with the blood of the deceafed, to lord Rofsmore.

For fome days previous to the thirtieth of May, immenfe numbers of rebels were feen on the mountains which overlook the village of Newtownmount-kennedy, which gave ftrong reafons for fufpecting that they meant to attack it.
About one o’clock, on the morning of that day, the town was affaulted by about one thoufand of them, varioufly armed, who began by fhouting and huzzaing for Napper Tandy, and then by fetting fire to feveral houfes, particularly to the liable of the Ancient Britons; but very fortunately the horfes had been removed the preceding day.

On their entering the town, they were oppofed by the fmall garrifon in it, confifting of forty Ancient Britons, twenty of the Antrim militia, forty of the Newtown-mount-kennedy cavalry, and forty difmounted men, who had only received their arms the preceding day.

Nothing could exceed the valour of this fmall force, in repelling fo fudden and violent an attack. In the firft onfet, captain Burgany of the Ancient Britons fell, covered with fhot and with pike wounds. Captain Gore of the Newtown-mount-kennedy cavalry, who bravely led the attack, was difmounted, and received fome dangerous pike wounds. Mr. Graves Archer, lieutenant of that corps, was feverely wounded in the charge, and his horfe was killed; and feveral of the yeomen received flight wounds.

Notwithftanding thefe difcouraging circumftances, the rebels were routed and purfued with much flaughter, the purfuit having continued for fome hours; and the rebels, to facilitate their efcape, dropped fome hundred pikes in their flight.

The conduct of lieutenant Fergufon, and his detachment of the Antrim, was highly meritorious, not only for their courage and activity in the town, but in diflodging and difperfing a party of rebels, headed by one Maguire, a noted leader, who were too late for the attack on the

village, but materially affifted in covering the routed rebels in their retreat.
Holt, a famous rebel chieftain, who commanded at the attack on Mr. Hugo’s houfe, was to have affifted io the affault on Newtown-mountkennedy, with fix hundred men; but could not arrive there before the main body was defeated.

The reader may conceive in what a dangerous and terrifick ftate this country was in, on the breaking-out of the rebellion, from the following circumftance: Captain Beauman, who commanded the Goolgreany corps, was at Arklow,* when that event took place; and though his houfe was but five miles diftant, he did not venture to go to it, nor could he learn, what was going forward there for three weeks; fo completely was all communication cut off.

For fome months after the rebellion was faid to be extinguifhed in the county of Wicklow, the rebels continued to commit the moft fhocking atrocities, plundering and burning the houfes of proteftants, and murdering their inmates, though there were three camps ftationed there at that time, for the purpofe of preventing the commiffion of outrages.

In the parifh of Donoughmore, twenty-two of the principal proteftant houfes were burned, and no houfe of a Romanift, but one; and that, becaufe the woman of it lamented, that the houfe and property of her proteftant landlord had been deftroyed.
A hundred proteftants of that parifh fled for protection to Tullow,† Dunlavin, and Baltinglafs;‡ and were afraid to return to their refpective homes, in confequence of the threats and denunciations of their popifh neighbours.

All the proteftant houfes at each fide of the road from Baltinglafs to Hacketftown, from Hacketftown to Rathdrum, and from Rathdrum to Bleffington, were burnt; but the property of a Roman catholick did not receive the fmalleft injury in that extenfive tract. On Wednefday the twenty-fifth of July, they burned all the proteftant houfes, fixty in number, between Rathvilly and Hacketftown. This defolating fpirit was very much encouraged by the refufal of the general officers to affift the civil; magiftrates with troops to prevent it.

Plate II, I     †Ibid. II.    ‡Ibid.. I. 8.

Mr. Hume, member for the county, made fuch an application for general ——; but he openly and bluntly refufed him, having faid, that fuch outrages were occafioned by the burning of houfes, by country gentlemen.

The rebels, finding that they ran no rifk of punifhment, proceeded in large bands and with cool deliberation to lay wade extenfive tracts of country.

I shall refer the reader to Appendix, No. XVI. 4, for fome fpecimens of their treafonable defigns, of their deftructive fpirit, and of the cold-blooded murders which they committed.

About three o’clock, on the morning of the twenty-fourth of June, two yeomen patroling near the meeting of the waters, a place between Arklow and Rathdrum, faw a well-dreffed man, on a horfe covered with foam and fweat, from fevere riding; they feized him, and demanded who he was, and whence he came. He anfwered, that he was a gentleman, and had been riding about for pleafure, to fee the beauties of the country. Having conducted him to Rathdrum, he was examined by the commanding officer there, but would not give an aqcount of himfelf.

A young gentleman of Drogheda, a recruiting officer, who was prefent, recognifed the prifoner, gave privately a brief hiftory of him to captain Giffard, and requefted that he would keep it a profound fecret.
At that inflant an alarm having been given, that the rebels were advancing, the garrifon got under arms, the cannon were drawn out, and the matches were lighted.

Captain Giffard fhewed him thefe preparations: Told him, he knew that he was father Martin, a prieft, of Drogheda: That he was acting as a fpy: That unlefs he made a full confeffion, he fhould be put to death, as his life was forfeited by the laws of war: That if he complied, he fhould be left at the difpofal of the viceroy, who was merciful; but if he hefitated, he fhould be blown away at the mouth of a cannon.

He inftantly dropped on his knees, begged to be taken into a private room, where, he faid, he would make a full and candid confeffion.

At firft he began to trifle; but the captain having mentioned fome circumftances, which convinced the prifoner that he knew more of him thaa he fuppofed, he made the following full and unreferved confeffion upon path, and afterwards figned it:

“That his name was Martin, that he had been a friar of Drogheda, and that he recently officiated at Dunboyne: That he was early an united Irifhman, and very active in the caufe: That he preached up the maffacre of the proteftants at Dunboyne, which afterwards took place there: That he was in habits of intimacy with father Ledwich, parifh prieft of Rathfarnham, whofe nephew (Ledwich) and Wade, he excited to rebellion, in confequence of which they were both hanged on the Queen’s-bridge: That he was now come down to promote the caufe, and was in fearch of Byrne and Holt, who were at the head of a large body of rebels in the mountains, between Rathdrum and Hacketftown: That he had flept the preceding night at the houfe of a prieft at Roundwood.”

He alfo ftated, “That there was a club of traitors at that time fitting in Dublin, and another in Drogheda,” moft of whom have been since taken up, and punifhed. He faid, “That a large fum of money had been levied on the Roman catholicks in general, both clergy and laity, every perfon paying according to his wealth, fome an hundred pounds, others one fhilling: That he, though a poor prieft, was rated at a guinea: That the money fo levied, was to be applied to purchafe arms and ammunition, and to reward their friends both in and out of parliament.”

The practice of putting red tape on the necks of popifh children, a fhort time before the rebellion broke out, prevailed as much in the county of Wicklow as Wexford. It is certain, that the intent of it was, to diftinguifh the popifh from the proteftant children.

The pretext was, to protect them from the effects of a contagious diforder which would foon appear in the country, and be fatal to many of its inhabitants; but experience has since taught us that it was to enable the rebels to difcriminate proteftants from popifh children in the maffacre which was intended of the former.

A court-martial was held at Arklow, the eighteenth of June, 1798, by orders of general Needham, for the trial of Matthew Waddock, a traitor, found in arms, and for being in the action of the ninth of June, at Arklow.

The prifoner acknowledged the crime, and that while he attended the rebel army, he confidered as chief commanders in it, Anthony Perry of Inch, father Francis Kavenagh, parifh prieft of Gorey, father Roche of the fame, Bernard Murray, apothecary, and Matthew D’Arcy, both of the fame.

James Munigan, a prisoner, taken in arms with Waddock, depofed that fathers Roche, Stafford, Kavanagh and Redmond,* four priefts, were always confidered as commanders in the rebel army.

The death of captain Hume, member for the county of Wicklow, murdered by the rebels, happened in the following manner; which was proved on the trial of John Moore, the rebel who killed him:

John O’Neale fwore, that the party of rebels to which he belonged, wasclofely purfued by the king’s troops, through Glenmalier, into Aughavanagh, where they faw different parties of the king’s troops in purfuit of them. They had but fix horfemen of their party, three in red, and three in coloured clothes. Captain Hume, having miftaken them for a party of yeomen, advanced near them, and cried out, “Is there not enough to mind that pofition?” Conway, one of the rebels, afked him, Who he was to which he anfwered, “Captain of a corps of cavalry.” Conway then faid, “Did you ever hear of the Ballynatrochin cavalry?” and then raifing his firelock, miffed fire at him. On which Moore fhot him, and mounted his horfe, and Conway took his fpurs. This gentleman, who was univerfally and defervedly efteemed in his country, had difplayed great courage and activity at the head of his corps, during the progrefs of the rebellion. This melancholy event happened in the month of October, 1798.