In the mean time, an act had passed the Irish parliament, authorising grand juries to present any newspaper, containing seditious or libellous matter, as a nuisance; and also authorising the magistrates, on such presentation, to suppress the paper, and scise and destroy the printing materials, &c. The paper called The Press was therefore suppressed, and some of its principal supporters taken into custody; but Ho discovery of importance resulted from this transaction. The crisis had now arrived which was to prove fatal to the united Irishmen: and the discoveries which led to the developement and disappointment of all their machinations seems to have been effected with little effort on the part of government. In a complicated plan of conspiracy the agency of many persons must be employed; and as the plot ripens to maturity, the secret of it must be gradually disclosed. Among the persons whom it became necessary to entrust with a considerable share of confidence, was a Mr. Reynolds, who had formerly been a silk manufacturer of some note in the city of Dublin, but had latterly resided in the county of Kildare. Having been sworn a united Irish man in February 1797, Reynolds was, in the following winter, appointed treasurer for the county, and also a colonel in the rebel army. The first disclosure which he made of the transactions of the united Irishmen was to a Mr. Cope, with whom Reynolds had some pecuniary transactions relative to a mortgage on lands in the neighbourhood of Castle Jordon. It was on the 25th of February, 1798, in the course of a journey to take possession of these lands, that Reynolds first communicated with Mr. Cope on the business. At the persuasion of this gentleman, he disclosed to him from time' to time the nature and extent of the conspiracy; and as a meeting of delegates for the province of Leinster was summoned for the 12th of March, at the house of Mr. Oliver Bond, he also gave information of it to the government, through Mr. Cope. At the day and hour appointed for the meeting, the house of Mr. Bond was beset by the officers of justice; fourteen of the delegates were ap prehended, with their secretary M'Can; at the same time Dr. M'Nevin, and counsellor Emmett, and some other active members of the society, were taken into custody. A warrant had been issued against lord Edward Fitzgerald, but he escaped, and remained undiscovered for upwards of two months in the City of Dublin. He was discovered, however, on the 19th of May, at the house of one Murphy, a dealer in feathers, who resided near St. James's Gate. On the police officers entering the room, the unhappy nobleman made a desperate defence; he wounded two of the principal of them, Mr. justice Swan, and a captain Ryan, dangerously; and was himself so severely wounded, that be languished a few days only before he expired. His death, it is said, was that of a christian; and his courage and fortitude would have done honour to a better cause than that in which he was engaged. The seisure of the delegates was a death-blow to the schemes of the united Irishmen. A new directory was chosen, but they soon experienced the fate of the former; and, indeed, the rashness of their own conduct, in all probability, hastened the catastrophe. Their proceedings M 4 were were developed and disclosed by another informer; this was a captain Armstrong, of the King's County militia, who had pretended to enter into the conspiracy with the intention of discovering their schemes, and betraying them to the government. It appears that a part of their plan was to gain over as many of his majesty's troops as possible to their side, and particularly of the militia regiments, previous to their making a general attack upon the royal camp of Loughlinstown. For this purpose captain Armstrong appeared a fit instrument. He had been in the habits of frequenting the shop of a bookseller, of the name of Byrne, in Grafton-street, Dublin, who was generally regarded as one of the literary agents of the rebel faction. Among the leading members of the united Irishmen were two young barristers, of the name of Sheares, both men of excellent talents, and of unsullied reputation, and who had, both of them, we believe, been elected members of the Irish executive after the arrest of the old members on the 12th of March. To the acquaintance of the gentlemen, Byrne proposed to introduce captain Armstrong, whom he had, from various conversations, been led to consider as a convert to their cause; and Armstrong had soon the address to insinuate himself completely into their confidence. It was on the 10th of May that Armstrong was introduced to the Sheares's, and, at that time, the affairs of the united Irishmen appeared to verge towards a crisis. From this man, and other agents, the government learned that a general rising," as it was termed by them, of the people, must im 66 mediately take place; that the peo ple began to be impatient from the criminal prosecutions; and that it was become necessary to make a home exertion, and relinquish the original plan of waiting for French succour. The whole of the united Irishmen throughout the kingdom, or at least throughout the province of Leinster, it appears, were to act at once in concert; and it was their intention to seise the camp of Loughlinstowu, the artillery at Chapel-izod, and the castle of Dublin, in one night, the 23d of May. One hour was to be allowed between seising the camp of Loughlinstown, and the artillery at Chapel-izod, and one hour and a half between seising the artillery and surprising the castle; and the parties who executed both of the external plans were to enter the city of Dublin at the same moment. The stopping of the mail-coaches was to be the signal for the insurgents every where to commence their operations. was also planned that a great insurrection should take place at Cork at the same time. The united men were, however, at this period, not exactly agreed as to the nature of the insurrection. Mr. Samuel Neilson, who had been peculiarly active in Belfast, and (as was intimated before) one of the proprietors of the Northern Star, with some others of the leaders, were bent upon attacking first the county gaol of Kilmainham, and the gaol of Newgate, in order to set their comrades at liberty; and the project for attacking the latter, was also fixed for the 23d of May, the night of the general insurrection. The Sheares's, however, and others, were of a contrary opinion, and they wished to defer the attack of the gaols till after the general insur It rection rection had taken place; and even threatened to give notice to government of the plot, if Neilson and his friends did not immediately desist. Both plots were, however, completely frustrated. Messrs. John and Henry Sheares, with some others of the principal conspirators, were apprehended on the 21st of May, and Mr. Neilson and others on the 23d; the city and county of Dublin were proclaimed by the lord lieutenant and council in a state of insurrection; the guards at the castle, and all the great objects of attack were trebled; and in fact the whole city was converted into a garrison. Thus the rebels were unable to effect any thing by surprise; and without leaders, almost without arms or ammunition, the infatuated multitude adventured on the bloody contest. Notwithstanding the apparent forwardness of the north, the first commotions appeared in dif ferent parts of Leinster. The northern and Connaught mail-coaches were stopped by parties of the insurgents on the night of the 23d of May; and, at about twelve o'clock on the morning of the 24th, a large body of rebels attacked the town and gaol of Naas, about fourteen miles from Dublin, where lord Gosford commanded. As the guard had been seasonably increased, in expectation of such an attack, the assailants were re pulsed, and driven into a narrow avenue, where, without order or discipline, they sustained, for some time, the attack of the Armagh militia, and of the fencible corps raised by sir W. W. Wynne, and known by the name of the Ancient Britons. The king's troops lost two officers and about thirty men, and the rebels had about 140 killed before they took to flight. They were, however, completely dispersed, and several of them taken prisoners. On the same day, a small division of his Majesty's forces were surprised at the town of Prosperous; and a detachment at the village of Clare cut their way through to Naas, with considerable loss. About the same time general Dundas encountered a large body of insurgents on the hills near Kilcullen, and 130 of these misguided persons were left dead upon the field. ' On the following day, a body of about 400 rebels, under the command of two gentlemen of the names of Ledwich and Keough, marched from Rathfarnham, in the neighbourhood of Dublin, along the foot of the mountain towards Belgatt and Cloudalkin in their progress, they were met by a party of thirty-five dragoons, under the command of lord Roden. After some resistance, the rebels were defeated, great numbers were killed and wounded, and their leaders Ledwich and Keough were taken. They were immediately tried by a court-martial, and executed, having pleaded in vain that they had been forced into the service. On the 26th another body of rebels was defeated at Tallagh-hill, about 13 miles from Dublin, with the loss of 350 killed; among whom was their commander, who was supposed, from different circumstances, to have been an officer in the French service. In the mean time alarming commotions had appeared in the remoter parts. The town of Carlow was attacked on the morning of the 24th of May, by about 1000 rebels. The first movement, on the part of the insurgents, was to possess themselves of some pieces of cannon, which, however, however, they were forced to abandon. The command of the town, or the garrison, as it was termed (for at this unfortunate period the principal towns were converted into garrisons), was entrusted to Major Dennis, who, with one troop of horse, and two companies of militia, assisted by some corps of volunteers, defeated the rebels with the loss of 400 men. As the inhabitants were accused of having fired out of their houses upon the king's troops, the military, in revenge, are said to have burned a part of the town. The town of Kildare was also rescued from the rebels by sir James Duff, on the 29th of May, after an action in which 200 of the insurgents were killed. It was, however, in the counties of Wicklow and Wexford that the rebellion raged with the greatest violence. On the 25th of May they appeared in great force, supposed to the amount of 15,000 strong, in the neighbourhood of Wexford and Enniscorthy, which is situated on the river Slaney, a bout 12 miles distant from Wexford. A party of the North Cork militia were ordered out from Wexford, under the cominand of lieutenant-colonel Foot, and major Lombard, to meet the party of rebels, which was advancing towards that place. They marched to a place called Oulard, where they were met by the insurgents in great force. The ground where the king's forces took post was só un favourable, that, after firing three rounds, the whole party was surrounded and cut to pieces, except colonel Foote and two privates, who alone escaped. Flushed with this success, the rebels, on the 28th, made an attack on the town of Enniscorthy, which they carried sword in hand, with the loss however of 500 men. "The loyalists," it is said, "would have repulsed the rebels, had not the catholic inhabitants treacherously set fire to the town, to smother the troops who were defending it." The mode in which the insurgents, made their attack is said, on the same authority, to have been by driving an immense number of horses and cattle before them to disorder the ranks of the loyalists, and throw them into confusion. On the 29th, a small reinforcement of the Donegal militia arrived in Wexford; but a party of the Meath militia, with three bowitzers, advancing on the same service, fell into the hands of the rebels. On the preceding day, however, the Cork and Donegal militia, who were in Wexford, marched out to a place called the Three Rocks, to meet the rebels; but they found them in such force, that, after some firing, they were obliged to retreat, and re-enter the town. There were, at this period, confined in the gaol of Wexford, where they had been committed on the 26th, on treasonable charges, Mr. Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, and Mr. J. Colclough; the former a protestant, and we believe educated to the bar; the latter Roman-catholics; but all of them men of fortune, and of considerable interest in the county. The majority of the protestant inhabitants, who were not on military service, with numbers of the wo men and children, had got board the vessels in the harbour, in order to effect their escape to some * See a Narrative of the Sufferings and Escape of Charles Jackson. on Fart part of England or Wales. Those who remained on the 30th of May assembled in council with the principal officers, for the melancholy purpose of deliberating on the best mode of treating with the rebels; and it was determined that two gentlemen, Mr. Richards, a barrister; and Dr. Jacob, a physician, who was at that time mayor of the town; should proceed to the rebel camp, and make the best conditions they were able with respect to the lives and properties of the inhabitants. In the mean time the troops and some of the women effected their escape to Duncannon fort, which was distant about twenty miles. At about one o'clock that day the white flag was displayed on the town-house, and the vessels in the harbour were ordered back to the quay, having been unable to sail. A scene of abominable tumult and disorder ensued on the rebels gaining possession of the town; the houses of the protestants were ransacked, and their inhabitants, or the majority of them, cast into prison. The gentlemen, whom we just now mentioned as having been confined on treasonable charges, were liberated, and Mr. B. Harvey was nominated to the chief command of the rebel army. After leaving a large garrison in the town, the rebel army marched, under the command of Mr. Harvey, to the attack of New Ross, where major-general Johnson was posted with a considerable force. The town was regularly summoned by Harvey, who now assumed the character of General; and, on the morning of the 5th of June, it was attacked with great impetuosity; but, after a contest of several hours, the rebels were completely repulsed; and late in the evening they retired to Carrickburne, leav ing behind them several iron shipguns, which appear to be the only artillery with which they were provided on this occasion. The slaughter of the rebels was prodigious; the king's troops lost about ninety men in killed, among whom was lord Mountjoy, colonel of the county of Dublin militia, and about 130 in wounded and missing. It is shocking to relate, that in revenge for this miscarriage, the rebels in Wexford massacred, in cold blood, ten of the unfortunate protestants of Enniscorthy, who were imprisoned in Wexford gaol. Ninety-five of the loyalists of Wexford were, in a few days after, taken out of the prison, and wantonly and barbarously murdered on the bridge by the rebels. In the mean time, another party. of the county of Wexford rebels attacked the small town of Gorey, but were repulsed; and another party from Vinegar-hill, a strong station within a mile of Enniscorthy, proceeded on the 1st of June to Newtown Barry. They surrounded the town in such a manner, that colonel Lestrange of the King's County militia, who com manded there, was obliged at first to retreat in order to collect his forces. He then attacked the rebels, and drove them through the town with great slaughter, their loss being computed at 500 killed; while colonel Lestrange's whole force was, at least, 100 men short of that number. These successes were, in some measure, counterbalanced by a check which the royal forces experienced on the 4th of June. Colonel Walpole, on that day, attacked a strong post of the rebels, near the Slievebay mountain. In the beginning of the action, the com |