SECRET SERVICE UNDER PITT
_Two vols. Crn. 8vo. with Portrait, 36s._
THE PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE AND MEMOIRS
OF
DANIEL O'CONNELL, M.P.
BY WM. J. FITZPATRICK, F.S.A.
KNT. ST. GREG. GT.
'In these volumes there is nothing tedious, and they are well put
together.'--STANDARD.
'Mr. Fitzpatrick, who has done more than any living writer for Irish
biography, has in this, his latest and most important work earned the
gratitude of all students of Irish politics.'--DAILY TELEGRAPH.
'This work stands high above the extravagant and indiscriminating
eulogies of O'Connell, accompanied by ignorant and malignant
denunciations of all opposed to him, hitherto given to the world by
patriotic biographers.'--TIMES.
'Inspired by love and admiration, pursued with laborious and
indefatigable industry, and guided by honesty and good judgment. It
gives a higher and, we believe, a truer view of O'Connell's character
than has been given to the world before.'--VANITY FAIR.
'Fresh light is thrown upon a most interesting period of Irish history
by this publication, in which Daniel O'Connell reveals his innermost
thoughts upon great public questions, as well as on themes of sacred
and private import. Courts and Cabinets--the intrigues of public men
and the subtleties of political organisations--are alike laid open to
the public gaze.'--DAILY CHRONICLE.
'To Mr. Fitzpatrick is due the gratitude of all students of history,
of truth, and of human character for the patience and pertinacity with
which he has collected these letters, and the knowledge, discretion,
and tact of his arrangement. He has let O'Connell tell his own story,
and the connecting thread is slight and scientific, such as only minute
knowledge of his period could make it. The reader is hardly conscious
of its presence, yet it suffices to weld a huge mass of miscellaneous
correspondence into an authentic biography and lifelike portrait of the
man who, of all others, made the greatest mark on his country and his
generation.'--ATHENÆUM.
'Mr. Fitzpatrick, while presenting to us a collection of moderate
extent, has not only woven them into a web of fair average continuity,
but has, as a sculptor would, presented to us his hero "in the round,"
so that we may consider each of his qualities in each varied light,
and judge of their combination into a whole, whether it is mean or
noble, consistent or inconsistent, natural or forced.... Few indeed,
as I think, of those who give a careful perusal to these pages, will
withhold their assent from the double assertion that O'Connell was a
great man, and that he was a good man. Upon this issue the volumes
now before us will enable us to try him: and in trying him to try
ourselves. For who can any longer doubt that some debt is still
due to him; that he was, to say the least, both over-censured and
undervalued?'--Mr. GLADSTONE, in _The Nineteenth Century_.
London: JOHN MURRAY, Albemarle Street.
SECRET SERVICE UNDER PITT
BY
W. J. FITZPATRICK, F.S.A.
AUTHOR OF 'LIFE, TIMES, AND CORRESPONDENCE OF BISHOP DOYLE'
'LIFE OF LORD CLONCURRY'
'CORRESPONDENCE AND MEMOIRS OF DANIEL O'CONNELL'
'IRELAND BEFORE THE UNION' ETC.
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16ᵗʰ STREET
1892
_All rights reserved_
PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
LONDON
PREFACE
These rough notes--begun long ago and continued at slow intervals--were
put aside during the onerous task of editing for Mr. Murray the
O'Connell Correspondence. The recent publication of Mr. Lecky's final
volumes, awakening by their grasp a fixed interest in pre-Union times,
and confirming much that by circumstantial evidence I had sought to
establish, affords a reason, perhaps, that my later researches in
the same field ought not to be wholly lost. Mr. Lecky's kindness in
frequently quoting me[1] merits grateful acknowledgment, not less than
his recognition of some things that I brought to light as explanatory
of points to which the State Papers afford no clue. This and other
circumstances encourage me in offering more.
My sole purpose at the outset was to expose a well-cloaked case of
long-continued betrayal by one of whom Mr. Froude confesses that all
efforts to identify had failed;[2] but afterwards it seemed desirable
to disclose to the reader a wider knowledge of an exciting time.[3] In
various instances a veil will be found lifted, or a visor unlocked,
revealing features which may prove a surprise. Nor is the story without
a moral. The organisers of illegal societies will see that, in spite
of the apparent secrecy and ingenuity of their system, informers sit
with them at the same council-board and dinner-table, ready at any
moment to sell their blood; and that the wider the ramifications of
conspiracy, the greater becomes the certainty of detection.
It may be that some of these researches are more likely to interest
and assist students of the history of the time than to prove pleasant
reading for those who take up a book merely for enjoyment. Yet if
there is truth in the axiom that men who write with ease are read with
difficulty, and _vice versâ_, these chapters ought to find readers.
Every page had its hard work. Tantalising delays attended at times the
search for some missing--but finally discovered--link. Indeed, volumes
of popular reading, written _currente calamo_, might have been thrown
off for a tithe of the trouble.
'If the power to do hard work is not talent,' writes Garfield, 'it is
the best possible substitute for it. Things don't turn up in this world
until somebody turns them up.' Readers who, thanks to Froude and Lecky,
have been interested by glimpses of men in startling attitudes, would
naturally like to learn the curious sequel of their subsequent history.
This I have done my best to furnish. The present volume is humbly
offered as a companion to the two great works just alluded to. But
it will also prove useful to readers of the Wellington, Castlereagh,
Cornwallis, and Colchester Correspondence. These books abound in
passages which, without explanation, are unintelligible. The matter now
presented forms but a small part of the notes I have made with the same
end.
A word as regards some of the later sources of my information. The
Pelham MSS. were not accessible when Mr. Froude wrote. Thomas Pelham,
second Earl of Chichester, was Irish Secretary from 1795 to 1798, but
his correspondence until 1826 deals largely with Ireland, and I have
read as much of it as would load a float. Another mine was found in
the papers, ranging from 1795 to 1805, which filled two iron-clamped
chests in Dublin Castle, guarded with the Government seal and bearing
the words 'Secret and Confidential: Not to be Opened.' These chests
were for a long time familiar objects exteriorly, and when it was at
last permitted to disturb the rust of lock and hinge, peculiar interest
attended the exploration. Among the contents were 136 letters from
Francis Higgins, substantially supporting all that I had ventured
to say twenty years before in the book which claimed to portray his
career. But neither the Pelham Papers in London nor the archives at
Dublin Castle reveal the great secret to which Mr. Froude points.
That so many documents have been preserved is fortunate. Mr. Ross,
in his preface to the Cornwallis Correspondence, laments that 'the
Duke of Portland, Lord Chancellor Clare, Mr. Wickham, Mr. King, Sir
H. Taylor, Sir E. Littlehales, Mr. Marsden, and indeed almost all the
persons officially concerned, appear to have destroyed the whole of
their papers.' He adds: 'The destruction of so many valuable documents
respecting important transactions cannot but be regarded as a serious
loss to the political history of these times.'
I have freely used the Registry of Deeds Office, Dublin--a department
peculiar to Ireland. Originating in penal times, its object was to
trace any property acquired by Papists--such being liable to 'discovery
and forfeiture.' This office served as a valuable curb in the hands of
the oppressor, and ought to prove a not less useful aid to historic
inquirers; but, hitherto, it has been unconsulted for such purposes.
Few unless legal men can pursue the complicated references and
searches, and--unlike the Record Office--fees attend almost every stage
of the inquiry. Here things stranger than fiction nestle; while the
genealogist will find it an inexhaustible store.
I have to thank the Right Hon. the O'Conor Don, D.L.; Sir William H.
Cope, Bart.; Mrs. John Philpot Curran; Daniel O'Connell, Esq., D.L.;
D. Coffey, Esq.; Jeremiah Leyne, Esq.; the late Lord Donoughmore, and
the late Mr. Justice Hayes for the communication of manuscripts from
the archives of their respective houses. The Rev. Samuel Haughton,
F.T.C.D., kindly copied for me some memoranda made in 1798 by the Rev.
John Barrett, Vice-Provost T.C.D., regarding students of alleged rebel
leanings. Sir Charles Russell, when member for Dundalk, obligingly
made inquiries concerning Samuel Turner; Mr. Lecky transcribed for me
a curious paper concerning Aherne, the rebel envoy in France, and has
been otherwise kind. My indebtedness to Sir Bernard Burke, Keeper of
the Records, Dublin Castle, dates from the year 1855.
The late Brother Luke Cullen, a Carmelite monk, left at his death a
vast quantity of papers throwing light on the period of the Rebellion.
No writer but myself has ever had the use of these papers, and I beg
to thank the Superior of the Order to which Mr. Cullen belonged for
having, some years ago, placed them in my hands.
The array of notes and authorities on every page is not the best
way to please an artistic eye; but in a book of this sort they are
indispensable and would be certainly expected from the oldest living
contributor to 'Notes and Queries.'
While there are many persons who enjoy a fox hunt, there are others
would vote it a bore; and readers of this mind had better, perhaps,
pass over the various stages of my chase after Samuel Turner, and come
to something that may suit them better.
49 FITZWILLIAM SQUARE, DUBLIN:
_New Year's Day, 1892_.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Vide _England in the Eighteenth Century_, vii. 211; viii. 42-44,
45, 191, 240, etc.
[2] See Froude's _English in Ireland_, vol. iii. sec. vi.
[3] I have been further encouraged by the very favourable judgment of
an acute critic, the late Mr. Hepworth Dixon, regarding a book of mine,
written on the same lines as the present. See _Athenæum_, No. 1649, pp.
744 _et seq._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A MYSTERIOUS VISITOR 1
II. ARRESTS MULTIPLY 8
III. FATHER O'COIGLY HANGED 15
IV. THE BETRAYER'S INTERVIEW WITH TALLEYRAND 24
V. LORD CLONCURRY SHADOWED 35
VI. THE MASK TORN OFF AT LAST 44
VII. DR. MACNEVIN'S MEMORIAL INTERCEPTED 52
VIII. GENERAL NAPPER TANDY 70
IX. ARREST OF JÄGERHORN IN LONDON--THE PLOT THICKENS--TURNER
SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD 91
X. EFFORTS TO EXCITE MUTINY IN THE ENGLISH FLEET 105
XI. THE BETRAYER OF LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD 116
XII. WILLIAM TODD JONES--EMMET'S REBELLION 156
XIII. THOMAS COLLINS--PHILLIPS THE SACERDOTAL SPY 163
XIV. LEONARD MCNALLY 174
XV. FATHER ARTHUR O'LEARY 211
XVI. ARTHUR O'LEARY IN LONDON 227
XVII. THE REGENCY--STRUGGLE BETWEEN WHIG AND TORY
CAMPS--O'LEARY AND THE PRINCE OF WALES 253
XVIII. BISHOP HUSSEY 280
XIX. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS DEEP IN TREASON--PLOT
AND COUNTER-PLOT 290
XX. THOMAS REYNOLDS: SPY, AND BRITISH CONSUL 301
XXI. ARMSTRONG AND THE SHEARESES--GENERAL LAWLESS 308
APPENDIX 335
INDEX 380
SECRET SERVICE UNDER PITT
CHAPTER I
A MYSTERIOUS VISITOR
It is now some years since Mr. Froude invested with new interest
the Romance of Rebellion. Perhaps the most curious of the episodes
disclosed by him is that where, after describing the plans and
organisation of the United Irishmen, he proceeds to notice a
sensational case of betrayal.[4]
An instance has now to be related [he writes] remarkable for the
ingenious perfidy with which it was attended, for the mystery which
still attaches to the principal performer, and for his connection
with the fortunes and fate of Lord Edward Fitzgerald.
Lord Edward's movements had for some time been observed with
anxiety, as much from general uneasiness as from regret that a
brother of the Duke of Leinster should be connecting himself with
conspiracy and treason. His proceedings in Paris in 1792 had cost
him his commission in the army. In the Irish Parliament he had
been undistinguished by talent, but conspicuous for the violence
of his language. His meeting with Hoche on the Swiss frontier was
a secret known only to a very few persons; Hoche himself had not
revealed it even to Tone; but Lord Edward was known to be intimate
with McNevin. He had been watched in London, and had been traced
to the lodgings of a suspected agent of the French Directory;
and among other papers which had been forwarded by spies to the
Government, there was one in French, containing an allusion to
some female friend of Lady Edward, through whom a correspondence
was maintained between Ireland and Paris. Lady Edward's house
at Hamburg was notoriously the resort of Irish refugees. Lord
Edward himself was frequently there, and the Government suspected,
though they were unable to prove, that he was seriously committed
with the United Irishmen. One night, early in October, 1797,[5] a
person came to the house of Lord Downshire in London, and desired
to see him immediately. Lord Downshire went into the hall and
found a man muffled in a cloak, with a hat slouched over his face,
who requested a private interview. The Duke (_sic_) took him into
his Library, and when he threw off his disguise recognised in his
visitor the son of a gentleman of good fortune in the North of
Ireland, with whom he was slightly acquainted. Lord Downshire's
'friend' (the title under which he was always subsequently
described) had been a member of the Ulster Revolutionary Committee.
From his acquaintance with the details of what had taken place it
may be inferred that he had accompanied the Northern delegacy to
Dublin and had been present at the discussion of the propriety
of an immediate insurrection. The cowardice or the prudence of
the Dublin faction had disgusted him. He considered now that the
conspiracy was likely to fail, or that, if it succeeded, it would
take a form which he disapproved; and he had come over to sell
his services and his information to Pitt. In telling his story
to Lord Downshire he painted his own conduct in colours least
discreditable to himself. Like many of his friends, he had at
first, he said, wished only for a reform in parliament and a change
in the constitution. He had since taken many desperate steps and
connected himself with desperate men. He had discovered that the
object of the Papists was the ruin and destruction of the country,
and the establishment of a tyranny worse than that which was
complained of by the reformers; that proscriptions, seizures of
property, murders, and assassinations were the certain consequences
to be apprehended from their machinations; that he had determined
to separate himself from the conspiracy.[6] He was in England to
make every discovery in his power, and if Lord Downshire had not
been in London he had meant to address himself to Portland or Pitt.
He stipulated only, as usual, that he should never be called on
to appear in a court of justice to prosecute any one who might be
taken up in consequence of his discoveries.
Lord Downshire agreed to his conditions; but, as it was then late,
he desired him to return and complete his story in the morning.
He said that his life was in danger even in London. He could not
venture a second time to Lord Downshire, or run the risk of being
observed by his servants. Downshire appointed the empty residence
of a friend in the neighbourhood. Thither he went the next day in
a hackney coach. The door was left unlocked, and he entered unseen
by anyone. Lord Downshire then took down from his lips a list of
the principal members of the Executive Committee by whom the whole
movement was at that time directed. He next related at considerable
length the proceedings of the United Irishmen during the two past
years, the division of opinion, the narrow chance by which a rising
had been escaped in Dublin in the spring, and his own subsequent
adventures. He had fled with others from Belfast in the general
dispersion of the leaders. Lady Edward Fitzgerald had given him
shelter at Hamburg, and had sent him on to Paris with a letter to
her brother-in-law, General Valence.[7] By General Valence he had
been introduced to Hoche and De la Croix. He had seen Talleyrand,
and had talked at length with him on the condition of Ireland. He
had been naturally intimate with the other Irish refugees. Napper
Tandy[8] was strolling about the streets in uniform and calling
himself a major. Hamilton Rowan[9] had been pressed to return,
but preferred safety in America, and professed himself _sick of
politics_. After this, 'the person'--as Lord Downshire called his
visitor, keeping even the Cabinet in ignorance of his name--came to
the immediate object of his visit to England.
He had discovered that all important negotiations between the
Revolutionary Committee in Dublin and their Paris agents passed
through Lady Edward's hands. The Paris letters were transmitted
first to her at Hamburg. By her they were forwarded to Lady Lucy
Fitzgerald[10] in London. From London Lady Lucy was able to send
them on unsuspected. Being himself implicitly trusted, both by Lady
Edward and by Lady Lucy, he believed he could give the Government
information which would enable them to detect and examine these
letters in their transit through the post.
Pitt was out of town. He returned, however, in a few days.
Downshire immediately saw him, and Pitt consented that 'the
person's' services should be accepted. There was some little delay.
'The person' took alarm, disappeared, and they supposed that they
had lost him. Three weeks later, however, he wrote to Downshire
from Hamburg, saying that he had returned to his old quarters,
for fear he might be falling into a trap. It was fortunate, he
added, that he had done so, for a letter was on the point of going
over from Barclay Teeling[11] to Arthur O'Connor,[12] and he gave
Downshire directions which would enable him to intercept, read, and
send it on.
Such an evidence of 'the person's' power and will to be useful made
Pitt extremely anxious to secure his permanent help. An arrangement
was concluded. He continued at Hamburg as Lady Edward's guest and
most trusted friend, saw everyone who came to her house, kept watch
over her letter-bag, was admitted to close and secret conversations
upon the prospect of French interference in Ireland with Reinhard,
the Minister of the Directory there, and he regularly kept Lord
Downshire informed of everything which would enable Pitt to watch
the conspiracy. One of his letters, dated November 19, 1797, is
preserved:--
'A. Lowry writes from Paris, August 11, in great despondency on
account of Hoche's death, and says that all hopes of invading
Ireland were given over.
'I then saw Reinhard, the French Minister, who begged me to stay
here, as the only mode in which I could serve my country and the
Republic. I instantly acquiesced, and told him I had arranged
matters with Lord Edward Fitzgerald in London for that purpose. I
showed him Lowry's[13] letter. He said that things were changed.
Buonaparte would not listen to the idea of peace, and had some plan
which I do not know. I told him the spirit of republicanism was
losing ground in Ireland, for the Catholics and Protestants could
not be brought to unite. I mentioned then what Fitzgerald told me
in London, viz., that after I left Ireland they had thoughts of
bringing matters to a crisis without the French. Arthur O'Connor
was to have had a command in the North, he himself in Leinster,
Robert Simms[14] at Belfast; that the Catholics got jealous
of this, and Richard McCormick,[15] of Dublin, went among the
societies of United Men and denounced the three as traitors to the
cause, and dangerous on account of their ambition. All letters to
or from Lady Lucy Fitzgerald ought to be inspected.
'She, Mrs. Matthieson, of this place, and Pamela[16] carry on a
correspondence. Lewins, Teeling, Tennant, Lowry, Orr, and Colonel
Tandy are at Paris. Tone expects to stay the winter there, which
does not look like invasion. Oliver Bond is treasurer. He pays
Lewins and McNevin in London. Now for myself. In order to carry
into effect the scheme which you and Mr. Pitt had planned, it was
requisite for me to see my countrymen. I called on Maitland,[17]
where I found A. J. Stuart,[18] of Acton, both of them heartily
_sick of politics_. Edward Fitzgerald had been inquiring of them
for me. I went to Harley Street, where Fitz told me of the conduct
of the Catholics to him and his friends. He said he would prevail
on O'Connor, or some such, to go to Paris. If not, he would go
himself in order to have Lewins removed. Mrs. Matthieson[19] has
just heard from Lady Lucy that O'Connor is to come. I supped last
night with Valence, who mentioned his having introduced Lord Edward
and O'Connor to the Minister here in the summer, before the French
attempted to invade Ireland. They both went to Switzerland, whence
O'Connor passed into France, had an interview with Hoche, and
everything was planned.[20]
'I feared lest Government might not choose to ratify our contract,
and, being in their power, would give me my choice either to come
forward as an evidence or suffer martyrdom myself. Having no taste
for an exit of this sort, I set out and arrived here safe, and now
beg you'll let me know if anything was wrong in my statements, or
if I have given offence. If you approve my present mode of life,
and encourage me so to do, with all deference I think Mr. Pitt may
let me have a cool five hundred,[21] which shall last me for six
months to come. To get the information here has cost me three times
the sum, and to keep up the acquaintance and connections I have
here, so as to get information, I cannot live on less.'[22]
The betrayer, before his interview with Downshire closed, supplied him
with a list of the Executive Committee of United Irishmen. This list,
duly given by Mr. Froude, includes--
Jackson and his son; Oliver Bond; John Chambers; James Dickson;
Casey, a red-faced Dublin priest; Thomas Addis Emmet; Dr. McNevin,
a physician who had great weight with the papists;[23] Braughall,
John Keogh and R. McCormick, who belonged to the committee, though
they did not attend; Samuel Turner; Lord Edward Fitzgerald;
Arthur O'Connor; Alexander Stewart; two Orrs, one an attorney and
a dangerous person, the other of Derry, described as a clever,
sensible, strong-minded man; B. Teeling; Tenants, of Belfast;
Agnew, of Larne; Lawless, Lord Cloncurry's son; Hamill, of Dominick
Street[24]; Inishry,[25] a priest, a canting, designing man, who
swore in Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Lawless.[26]
Lord Downshire, who negotiated in this affair, had weight with Pitt.
The husband of an English peeress, and the son of Lord North's
Secretary of State, he was a familiar figure at Court. He had sat for
two English constituencies; and in the Irish Parliament as senator,
borough proprietor, governor of his county, and one of the Privy
Council, he wielded potent sway. His later history and fall belong to
chapter ix.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] _The English in Ireland_ (Nov. 1797), iii. 278.
[5] It was October 8, 1797.
[6] But it will appear that he continued to the end to play the part of
a flaming patriot.
[7] Cyrus Marie Valence, Count de Timbrune, born 1757, died 1822.
His exploits as a general officer are largely commemorated in the
memoirs of his friend, Dumouriez. After having been severely wounded,
he resided for some time in London; but was expelled by order of Pitt
on June 6, 1793. He then took up his residence in a retired outlet
of Hamburg, which our spy soon penetrated; and he at last wormed
himself into the confidence of Valence. The General afterwards resumed
active military service, and fought with distinction in Spain and
Russia.--Vide _Discours du Comte de Ségur à l'occasion des Obsèques de
M. Valence_; _Souvenirs de Madame Genlis, &c._; Alison's _Hist. Europe,
1789-1815_, x. 189.
[8] The strange career of Tandy--who was made a general by
Bonaparte--is traced in chapter viii. _infra._
[9] Some notice of Hamilton Rowan's adventurous courses will be found
in chapter xv. _infra._
[10] Lady Lucy Fitzgerald, sister of Lord Edward, married in 1802
Admiral Sir Thos. Foley, K.C.B., died 1851.
[11] Bartholomew Teeling was his correct name. In 1798 he was hanged in
Dublin.
[12] Arthur O'Connor, nephew and heir of Lord Longueville, sat in
Parliament for Philipstown, and spoke so ably on Indian affairs that
Pitt is said to have offered him office. In November 1796 he joined the
United Irishmen, and from that date his life is one of much activity
and vicissitude. Excitement and worry failed to shorten it. He became a
general in the French service, and died, aged eighty-eight, April 25,
'52.
[13] Alexander Lowry was the treasurer for Down. Tone describes Lowry
and Tennant as 'a couple of fine lads, whom I like extremely.'--_Life_,
ii. 433. Aug. 1797. Their youth and ingenuousness would make them easy
prey.
[14] Robert Simms had been appointed to the chief command of the United
Irishmen of Antrim; but he is said to have wanted nerve. James Hope, in
a narrative he gave Dr. Madden, said that Hughes, the Belfast informer,
once proposed to him to get rid of Simms by assassination. Hope pulled
a pistol from his breast and told Hughes that if ever he repeated that
proposal he would shoot him.
[15] Richard McCormick, originally secretary of the Catholic Committee,
and afterwards an active 'United Irishman,' and styled by Tone, in his
_Diary_, 'Magog.'
[16] The wife of Lord Edward Fitzgerald. Moore's _Life of Lord Edward
Fitzgerald_ says that she was the daughter of Mde. de Genlis by
Philippe Egalité, Duke of Orleans; but a letter appears in Moore's
_Memoirs_ from King Louis Philippe denying it, and Mde. de Genlis calls
her a child by adoption. Pamela was a person of surpassing beauty; her
portrait arrests attention in the gallery of Versailles. R. B. Sheridan
proposed for her, but she rejected him in favour of Lord Edward. Died
1831; her remains were followed to Père la Chaise by Talleyrand.
[17] The allusion may be to Captain Maitland--afterwards General Sir
Thomas Maitland, Governor of Ceylon, a son of Lord Lauderdale. He was
in Parliament from 1774 to 1779, and from 1790 to 1796, when he sat for
the last time in the House--a circumstance which may, perhaps, explain
the remark that he was sick of politics. Died 1824. In 1800 he was
Colonel Maitland, and in the confidence of Lord Cornwallis.
[18] Who Stuart was, see p. 36 _infra_; also Lord Cloncurry's
_Memoirs_, p. 63.
[19] Madame de Genlis states in her memoirs that her niece, Henriette
de Sercey, married M. Matthiessen, a rich banker of Hamburg. The
General Count Valence married a daughter of Madame de Genlis, and
resided near Hamburg on a farm where the latter wrote several of her
works.
[20] The expedition of Hoche to Bantry Bay in December, 1796.
[21] 'I just made a couple of betts with him, and took up a _cool_
hundred.'--_The Provoked Husband_, by Vanbrugh and Cibber, ii. i. 311,
ed. 1730. See also Smollett's _Don Quixote_, bk. iii. c. viii.
[22] Froude, iii. 277 _et seq._
[23] Alexander Knox, in his _History of Down_, errs in saying (p. 26)
that 'Dr. McNevin was an influential member of the Established Church.'
[24] All these men, unless Hamill and Inishry, are to be found in
books which treat of 1798. The first is noticed in the _Dublin Penny
Journal_, March 1, 1834 (p. 274). In 1797 Mr. Hamill was indicted
for defenderism and acquitted, 'and the witnesses for the Crown
were so flagrantly perjured that the judge, I have heard, ordered
a prosecution' (Speech of Henry Grattan in Parliament, May 13,
1805--_Hansard_, ii. 925).
[25] As regards 'Inishry,' no such cognomen is to be found in the
pedigrees of MacFirbis or O'Clery, or any name to which it might
be traced. The name that the spy gave was probably Hennessy--which
Downshire, in writing from dictation, may have mistaken for 'Inishry.'
[26] Long before the publication of Mr. Froude's book, Arthur O'Connor,
in a letter to Dr. Madden, states that 'Lord Edward took no oath on
joining the United Irishmen.'--Vide their _Lives and Times_, ii. 393.