delivering up their arms.-Their hopes from France had been miserably disappointed; and nothing appeared before their eyes but individual destruction, without having effected any one purpose for which they had associated. Thus prepared for submission, and for the disclosure of the destructive plans in which they had been engaged, a negotiation was happily opened between the Irish government and the state delinquents. The circumstances which led to this treaty have never been published by authority; but we have reason to think, that our information on the whole is not incorrect. As Mr. Bond was highly and respectably connected, great interest was made from different quarters to save his life. We believe it was then intimated on the part of government, that if Mr. Bond would consent to give to administration all the information of which he was possessed relative to the conspiracy and the rebellion, his sentence might be commuted for that of banishment. Mr. Bond, we have understood, at first rejected this proposal, if his information or evidence should endanger the life of any man with whom he was connected. The scheme of mercy was then extended, it is said, on the part of government, to the whole of the state prisoners; and in the mean time Mr. Bond was indulged with a respite. After some negotiation therefore, in which it is said Mr. Dobbs, a member of the Irish parliament, took a very humane and active part, the whole of the state prisoners, including the two O'Connors,counsellor Emmett, Dr. M'Nevin, and Mr. Neilson, consented to give to the government every information in their power,

on the conditions that they should be at liberty voluntarily to transport themselves to any country not at war with his majesty; that Mr. Bond should receive a pardon on the same condition; and that no further prosecutions should be carried on upon the score of the conspiracy, except against actual murderers, or such rebels as should hereafter be taken in arms. The interesting information communicated by these gentlemen has been consolidated in the report which, on the 21st of August, was presented to the house of commons by lord viscount Castlereagh, and the substance of it has already been detailed with other matter in the preceding part of this chapter.

The system of moderation and mercy pursued by lord Cornwallis appeared peculiarly seasonable at this crisis, and was apparently attended with the happiest effects. The system of military law and military execution was relaxed throughout all those parts of the kingdom where the flames of rebellion appeared to be extinguished. In one instance, indeed, his lordship gave some offence to the more violent partisans of government, while his conduct had the praise of every friend of justice and humanity.-A yeoman was tried by a court-martial for the murder, in cold blood, of a person whom he asserted to have been a rebel. The yeoman was acquitted by the court-martial, but on grounds so unsatisfactory, that his lordship publicly testified his disapprobation of the sentence, and dissolved the court-martial. How far the passing a bill of attainder, and forfeiture of the estates of lord Edward Fitzgerald, Mr. B. Harvey,

and

and Mr. Grogan, may hereafter be considered as in some degree a departure from this system of equity and moderation, we are unable to determine. Though justified by precedent, it may be questioned, whether to punish the children for the crimes of the parents be perfectly consistent with the mild and equitable spirit which otherwise animates the general system of British jurisprudence. The celebrated Irish advocate, Mr. Curran, in pleading against the bill, is said to have characterised it in his bold and energetic language as-" a measure of supplementary vengeance, seeking reprisals on the grave of the supposed culprit, and plundering the pittance of the widow, and the cradle of the orphan."

To compensate, however, for this solitary instance of severity, a bill of general amnesty was passed in the course of the session, with the exception only of Mr. Napper Tandy, and about thirty others, chiefly fugitives in France. A bill was also passed for granting compensation to such of his majesty's loyal subjects as had sustained losses in their property, in consequence of the late rebellion; and commissaries were named for carrying the same into effect.

After the signal defeat of the rebels at Vinegar-hill, and their consequent expulsion from Enniscorthy, Wexford, &c. a considerable number dispersed, and returned to their usual occupations. The more desperate retired to the mountainous parts of Wexford and Wicklow counties, where, for a while, they waged a desultory warfare-but in the course of a few weeks were completely subdued. On the 12th of July, however, a large body attacked the town of Clonard, but were repulsed with the loss of sixty

men, by colonel Blake. The rebel corps, after its defeat, moved towards Longwood, whence they were pursued almost to Culmullin, and about thirty were killed in the pursuit. The main body of rebels after this took post on a hill at Garretstown, whither general Myers directed his march, but found that they took advantage of the night to decamp. They at length took a strong position in the road to Ardee, where they seemed determined to make a stand; but as soon as the Sunderland regiment arrived with the battalion guns, they fell into confusion, and were driven into a bog, where great numbers were killed, and a quantity of pikes and muskets taken.

After these transactions, several of the rebel corps laid down their arms, and took the benefit of the amnesty, covenanting only for their chiefs, that they should be allowed to transport themselves to some country at peace with Great Britain. Those who still resisted might rather be considered as small companies of banditti, who lurked in the woods and mountains, and committed nocturnal depredations, than as an embodied force.

It was happy for Great Britain and Ireland at this alarming crisis, that the French government was in the hands of the most incapable politicians, that, perhaps, Europe had ever seen upon the theatre of public affairs. They must have been acquainted well with the state in which Ireland was at this time.Wexford was nearly three weeks in the possession of the insurgents, and their armies were, during the whole of that time, able to keep the field, and brave his majesty's forces.--Had the French directory embraced the opportunity, and pursued the plan which was laid N 2

out

out for them by lord Edward Fitzgerald and others of the malcontents in Ireland; had they risked a few frigates and light vessels, with a proper supply of officers, arms and ammunition, with a few troops to keep the insurgents in spirits, Ireland would have been lost for ever, and ultimately Great Britain itself, since, we are persuaded that, in the present state of Europe, both islands must stand or fall together. They are naturally united, and the interests of neither will bear a separation. Providence ordered it better; and ordained that from this moment, and by this one fatal oversight, the enormous fabric of French power, raised on the ruins of order and of justice, should now commence its decline, and should gradually moulder to ruin. With that kind of after-thought, that sluggish and wavering policy, which particularly marks weak and bad statesmen, the French, inthe latter end of August, detached a small force to the north of Ireland, under the command of gene- ral Humbert, the man of the French guards (if we are not mistaken) who stands recorded in our volume for 1791 as having been one of the first to enter the fortress of the Bastile on the meniorable 14th of July, 1789. On the 224 of August, general Humbert landed at Killala, and the appearance of a French force excited, as might be expected, a general consternation throughout the kingdom. The numbers of the enemy were greatly exaggerated in the first accounts, and the invasion appeared in so formidable a light, that the lord-li utenant determined personally to take the field at the head of a considerable army. It is remarkable that the invaders were joined by very few of the natives; and those who did

ir to their standard were scon

disgusted, as we have understood, since the strictness of French discipline but ill accorded with the licentiousness and disorder in which the Irish insurgents had been accustomed to indulge. The first movements of general Humbert proved him a consummate officer, and worthy of a great command. Though the British force, which was to impede his progress, was not contemptible, he judiciously saw that to advance with confidence was essential to his future success. He proceeded, therefore, without loss of time to Castlebar, where general Lake was collecting his forces. On the 27th, he attacked the British general, and forced him to retreat with the loss of six picces of cannon, and a few men. The force under general Lake has been variously stated; it was at first represented as amounting to 6,000 men, which number was afterwards reduced to about 1,000. The London Gazette says, general Lake" had not yet collected his forces;" yet it is hardly probable, that an officer so high in command should take a station so near the enemy with a very contemptible force. After this success, the French advanced towards Tuam; but their triumph was not of long duration; for on the 7th of September, the marquis CornWallis came up with them in the vicinity of Castlebar, and obliged them to make a retrograde movement before day-break the following morning. The French generai made a circuitous march to favour the flight of the rebel Irish, the majority of whom escaped by this manoeuvre. A column of general Lake's army, however, under the command of lieutenant-colonel Crawford, overtook the rear guard of the French, at Ballinnamuck, at about seven o'clock in the morn

ing of the 8th, and summoned them to surrender; but as they did not attend to the summons, they were attacked by the British forces, when about 200 of the French infantry threw down their arms, expecting their example to be followed by the rest of their comrades. On general Craddock, and some other British officers advancing towards them, however, the enemy commenced a fire of cannon and musquetry, which wounded general Craddock, upon which general Lake ordered up a fresh reinforce ment, and commenced an attack on every part of their position. The action then lasted half an hour, when the remainder of the Brit sh column making its appearance, the French surrendered at discretion. General Lake adds, "that the rebels who fled in all directions suffered severely." The loss of the British, in this action, was only three killed, and about sixteen wounded and missing. When the return of French prisoners was made, the public were surprised to find that this formidable host' amounted to no more, including officers, than the contemptible number of eight hundred and fortyfour. Three rebel officers, who had assumed the title of generals, fell into the hands of the victors; their names were Blake, Roach, and Teeling about ninety-three of the insurgents, besides, were made prisoners. It has been said, that four of the rebels, who joined the invaders, were hanged at Castlebar for plundering, by the command of Humbert; and that one of the rebels, who attempted to massacre the prisoners, was cut down by the French.

What success the French directory could promise themselves from so contemptible a force is not easy

to conjecture; but that they did flatter themselves with some effects advantageous to their cause is evident; for on the 16th of September a French brig appeared off the little island of Rutland, on the north-west coast of Donegal. About eight o'clock the crew landed, and with them general Rey, and the celebrated Napper Tandy, invested with the title of general of brigade in the French service. They anxiously inquired after the fate of the French army which had landed at Killala, and, strange as it may appear, seemed disconcerted on hearing of their defeat. They next distributed some manifestoes among the country people; but the Irish had already suffered too much by their reliance upon Gallic faith, and were not too easily to be led into insurrection. Thus disappointed

in every view, the enemy re-embarked, and immediately quitted the Irish coast.

A more serious attempt was soon after made by the enemy; but, like all their operations, it was ill timed and ill concerted; it was not made till the alarm was given, and when the Irish coast was closely guarded by the British navy. In the latter end of September, a squadron sailed from Brest, consisting of one ship of the line, the Hochè, and eight frigates, with troops and animunition on board, destined for Ireland. On the 11th of October they were descried by the British squadron, under sir John Borlase Warren, which consisted of the Canada, Robust, Foudroyant, Magnanime, Athalion, Melampus, and Amelia; and which, in the latter part of the action, were joined by the Anson. At half past seven, on the morning of the 12th, the action commenced; and at eleven, the Hoche, after a gallant N 3 detence,