THE BETRAYER'S INTERVIEW WITH TALLEYRAND
The letters of secret information in the well-known 'Castlereagh
Correspondence' being mostly without date are inserted regardless of
chronological sequence, and are often, from dearth of explanation,
wholly unintelligible. One of these secret reports follows a letter
of Portland's[65]--to be found later on--regarding the intercepted
memorial which Dr. McNevin had addressed to the French Government. The
particular references to Lord Downshire, to Hamburg, to Fitzgerald, and
to the North of Ireland, of which Turner was a native--not to speak of
his 'tone of injured innocence,' 'the dread of those from whom I come
as to the ascendency of the Papists'--all point to him as the writer.
His tone as usual is hostile to Lewins, a Roman Catholic envoy of
great honesty, whose reputation he is ever seeking to injure; and the
intrigue, it may be added, very nearly succeeded in getting Lewins
superseded. Mr. Froude, it will be remembered, when describing his
unmasked informer writes:
Lady Edward Fitzgerald had sent him on to Paris with a letter
to her brother-in-law, General Valence. By 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.
It was in February, 1798, that Mr. Froude's spy reappeared in
London.[66] He had interviews at the Home Office, where he received
some instructions, which are not stated. Camden urged Portland to
beg of him to give evidence publicly, and to offer reward to any
amount. But all to no effect. At last it was decided, as the next best
thing to do, 'that he should open a correspondence with the principal
conspirators, by which means you may be apprised of their intentions.'
This is exactly what he is now found doing. On April 17 he goes to
Paris, no doubt sent by the Home Office, to ascertain what arrangement
had been made by O'Coigly and O'Connor as regards the long-sought
French expedition to Ireland.
De la Croix will be chiefly remembered as the Minister for Foreign
Affairs with whom Tone had to do. But he had been personally offensive
to Lord Malmesbury, the English Minister, and M. Talleyrand was
appointed to succeed La Croix on July 15, 1797.[67]
The following letter is to be found in the 'Castlereagh Papers' (i.
231-6), and derives additional importance from its close connection
with Talleyrand:--
SECRET INTELLIGENCE.
April 17th [1798], arrived in Paris.
On the 19th waited on the Minister for Foreign Affairs; it being
Décadi, he was gone to the country. Left my name, and called next
day, at eleven; instantly admitted; _talked_ over the purport of my
visit, which I had brought in writing, as follows:--
'Citizen Minister,--Since I had the honor of seeing you in
September last, I understand attempts have been made to injure my
character here by some persons equally despicable as malicious
(I mean Lewines and his associates), from whom, though United
Irishmen, I pride myself in differing, both in sentiment and
conduct; nor should I condescend to answer their infamous
charges.[68]
'I, however, take great pleasure in acquainting you with what I
have been about, viz., trying to bring over to the side of the
United Irish what is called the Independent Interest, _alias_ the
Country Gentlemen, all of whom have commands either in the Yeomanry
or _Militia_,[69] and to whom the safety of the interior will
be entrusted, whilst the regular troops march against the enemy.
These gentlemen have always been much against the Government, but
feared, in a revolution, the loss of their property, especially
such as held their estates by grants of Oliver Cromwell. For some
time past a union has been formed among this body for the purpose
of forcing England into whatever measures they choose as soon as
an invasion takes place; all of my most particular friends are of
this association, and they have infused into the minds of the rest
the idea that English faith is not to be relied on. In consequence,
they are all now completely up to the formation of a Republic and a
separation from Britain, provided the French Directory will give,
under their seal, the terms and conditions Ireland has a right to
expect and demands. I took upon me to say France never meant to
treat Ireland has a conquered country; that, certainly, they would
expect a contribution towards defraying the great expense incurred
in supporting the cause of liberty; but what the sum would be, I
could not take upon me to mention. They insist upon having that
specified, and any other conditions for this purpose.
'Citizen Minister, I now apply to you; to none other have I hinted
my business, and the most profound secrecy will be requisite in
order to completely deceive the English Government. I shall mention
to you the channel of correspondence, &c., with the ciphers I'll
make use of, if it is requisite to write, but which I sha'n't do
without your permission, and giving you the letter to enclose to
Hamburg.[70]
'I have the honour to remain,' &c.
Thus far the letter of Turner to Talleyrand--for Turner it assuredly
is. It does not follow that the Minister believed all he was told.
The quondam Bishop of Autun could read a soul. He was a diplomat,
however, and showed to his visitor that cautious courtesy which he had
learned when a bishop. He who said that speech is given to conceal
thoughts,[71] was not the man to be at once swayed by words. The
despatch now before us had been addressed to the Home Office, and must
be one of the papers Mr. Froude thought destroyed. The copy of his
letter to Talleyrand having been submitted to Portland, the spy thus
resumes:--
The Minister then said it was a matter extremely interesting, that
other things were on the _tapis_ at present, but desired I would
call again on the second uneven day from that, and he'd[72] enter
into particulars. I did so, and gave him the following letter. He
said he had laid my first before the Directory; that their opinions
coincided with his, but that they could not give anything under
their hands or seal, nor he either; that I had perfectly expressed
their intentions. I told him this was perfectly satisfactory to me,
but I feared it would not be so to them. 'Surely,' says he, 'they
have a confidence in you, and you shall have it from the Directory,
if you choose.' I said I hoped that would be sufficiently
satisfactory to my friends, and begged to know when I could see him
again--the 1st of the next decade, as they were still very busy on
other matters.
_Copy of the Letter to Talleyrand._
'Citizen Minister,--Wishing to give the Government every
satisfaction on the point of my mission, I now have the honour
of laying before you every particular. I am extremely glad to
find it appears to you interesting, which induces me to hope as
little delay will be given as possible. I think it incumbent on
me to state to you that the spirit of the North is completely
broken, and I fear shortly the rest of Ireland will be in the
same predicament.[73] A vast number of the persons concerned in
persecuting the United Irish are those from whom I come; for at
present they dread, and with good reason, the ascendency of this
body. As soon as you set these gentlemen's minds at ease in regard
to their property, the business of revolution will get leave to
go on, and the British Government will find themselves clogged in
their system of terror, without knowing why. The enclosed paper
contains the mode in which I am to act, &c., &c. I have the honour,
&c.'
Turner then adds:--[74]
Enclosure, containing the ciphers I sent to the Marquess of
Downshire, and the following postscript:--
'The intention of the ciphers was, if I thought it requisite to
write from Paris, to say who I had had communication with and as a
channel of conveying any intelligence you might allow me to send
during my stay. The letter to be addressed to Charles Ranken,[75]
Esq., at Mr. Elliot's, Pimlico, London, to be put in the common
post-office at Hamburg, and sealed with a particular seal I
have for the purpose. As soon as I receive the proper paper or
document, in order to save time, I am to get, if possible, into
England; if that can't be done with safety, I'm to go to either
Bremen or Hamburg, write thence to Ranken, who comes over before
him. I attest the business on oath, and he goes instantly for
Ireland. Ranken,[76] having been a banker at Belfast, a man of good
property, and looked on by Government as a friend, can pass and
repass as if to settle accounts at Hamburg.
'I beg leave once more to inform you that delay will be looked on,
I fear, as non-compliance; and, if there's any particular point on
which you wish for accurate information, I think I can undertake to
obtain it.'
The spy's letter then proceeds:--
He (Talleyrand) seemed to disapprove of my venturing to Ireland or
England; asked me if I knew anything of Fitzgerald.[77]
Waited on him the first of the following decade; he said nothing
was resolved on. I asked if the Irish were to wait for their coming
or not. He said by all means to wait, and not to risk or expose
themselves. 'May I assure them you'll come in the course of three
months?' 'No, we cannot fix a time; it may be more, or not so long.
I shall depend on you to obtain for me as accurate a statement,
with as much information as you can collect.' I desired to know on
what particular point, otherwise I should be at a loss; he said
he could not mention any particular. I then promised as much as I
could collect in general, with a particular and accurate one of
Ireland. I then asked if I might venture to assert that the French
Government would be content with being paid the expense of their
former expedition, and of that which will be sent; that they will
leave the Irish to choose a constitution for themselves as soon as
English influence is destroyed; guaranteeing to every individual
their property, without respect to old Catholic claims and to their
political conduct prior to the time of actual invasion. 'You may
venture to assure them that the property of no individual will be
seized upon, but the reverse. On the other points we cannot give an
answer.'--'When shall I see the Directory?'--'On the ninth of this
decade I shall speak to the President, and you may bring to me one
of your acquaintance that is known to him, who will introduce you;'
or that I might go alone, as my name was sufficiently known to him.
Between that and the 9th I spoke to Abbé Grégoire[78] to accompany
me; but he declined it, as did Stone;[79] upon which I wrote, on
the 8th, to the Minister, to say that these two had refused, and
that they thought he himself ought to do it, or give me a note of
introduction to the President; but that, if it was disagreeable, I
would not press the matter further, as I looked on his word as that
of the Directory, and that I would call next day at the Directory,
when, if I could get an audience, so much the better; if not, I
thought it imprudent to wait longer.
Next day I called at the Directory and sent in my name. I there
met Duckett,[80] who told me it would be impossible to see any of
them that day; for a letter, which he had just brought them, which
came from Leonard Bourdon,[81] would give them, he believed, work
enough, as he understood it contained some very interesting matter.
I was to have seen some of them that day likewise; an answer came
to us both that they were too much occupied. I then went to the
Minister, and sent in my name, as did, at the same time, Colonel La
Harpe and the Swiss Deputies. We were all sent off, as he was very
busy. I left a note with his Secretary, saying I would set out next
day, which I did, the 20 Floreal, alias Wednesday, the 9th May;
arrived at Cuxhaven the Wednesday following; sailed the next day,
landed at Lowestoff on Tuesday morning, got to town [London] that
night, accompanied by one Jeffrey,[82] who passes himself off for a
Scotchman, was coming to Yarmouth as an American, was in Paris last
September, speaks French as a Frenchman, looks extremely like one,
and lodges at the New Hummums, Covent Garden.
It is quite clear that the above letter was written by the same
nameless spy who poses in Froude's book as 'Lord Downshire's friend.'
'_One_ of his letters, dated November 19, 1797, is preserved,' writes
Mr. Froude; but, no doubt, a few others are preserved too, and may
be found in the correspondence of Lord Castlereagh. How they escaped
destruction is a marvel. Wickham, on January 11, 1799, writes,
regarding 'United Irishmen' at Hamburg: 'The enclosed very curious
papers the Duke of Portland desires may be laid before the Lord
Lieutenant, _and afterwards destroyed_.'
So careful was the spy of his reputation that he vouchsafes not a
signature. Internal evidence, however, shows that he was the man who
made his disclosure to Downshire, and was by him put in correspondence
with Portland.
From the letter just quoted it appears that, after his efforts to pick
news from Talleyrand and fish in Irish channels at Paris, he returned,
_viâ_ Cuxhaven, to London, where he arrived on Tuesday night, May 15,
1798. This date is worthy of note. The spy feared to show himself in
London and felt that his life was unsafe. What brings him back to
London on May 15, 1798? His favourite post was Cuxhaven or Hamburg.
O'Coigly, Binns, and Leary, though arrested in March _en route_ to
France, were not put on their trial until Monday, May 21, 1798. This
case is reported at extraordinary length in Howell's 'State Trials'
and would fill a volume. Scott, afterwards Lord Eldon, prosecuted.
The mass of secret information which the Crown contrived to acquire
strikes very forcibly. Letters written in cipher by O'Coigly to Lord
Edward Fitzgerald and others are translated and expounded by Scott.
All the parties concerned in the conspiracy had false names. Mrs.
Mathiessen[83] is called 'Marks;' 'a man going to William's,' means
'going to France,' etc. It was largely on evidence of this sort that
O'Coigly was convicted and hanged.[84]
The betrayer tells Talleyrand that 'the spirit of the North was
completely broken.' In point of fact, however, it was in the North that
the real martial spirit of the United Irishmen blazed, and there the
best battles were afterwards fought under the leadership of Orr and
Monroe. Turner was anxious to make the French turn their thoughts of
invasion to other points on the Irish coast, and he so far succeeded
that in August, 1798, Humbert's expedition, embracing not 1,000
men, landed at Killala, among the starved and unarmed peasantry of
Connaught. He calculated on meeting enthusiastic support; but, as Mr.
Lecky says, it soon became apparent how fatally he had been deceived.
After winning one battle, and losing another, Humbert surrendered to
Cornwallis.
'May I assure them that you'll come in three months?' Talleyrand is
asked. The object of this and other questions, which, to a casual
reader, seem hardly consistent with Turner's treachery to his friends,
is now pretty plain. Great doubt prevailed as to whether an invasion
of Ireland was really to be attempted. The First Consul blew hot and
cold upon it. If the spy, as an envoy of the United Irishmen, could
only extort from Talleyrand an explicit reply in writing avowing the
intention to invade, and telling the exact time on which the descent on
Ireland was to be made, England would thus be well prepared, and her
fleet able to destroy the French armament as she had already destroyed
that of De Winter. Why Bonaparte, at first so anxious for invasion,
should have changed his mind, is explained, in the recently published
Memoirs of Gouverneur Morris, as due to the conflicting reports of
Irish envoys. At St. Helena he told Las Cases that his mistake in '98
was to have gone to Egypt and not to Ireland.[85]
Mr. Froude states that the betrayer had discovered one of the objects
of the Papists to be the seizure of property, and had determined
to separate himself from the conspiracy. Attention is requested to
that part of the foregoing letter[86] where the writer refers to
the Cromwellian holders of estates in Ireland, and asks that every
individual be guaranteed his property without respect to old Catholic
claims and to their political conduct prior to the time of actual
invasion. Samuel Turner represented some of the Cromwellian Settlers,
and 'his most particular friends,' as he calls them, were amongst those
who held grants of land in succession to the old Papist proprietary.
The descendants of these men viewed invasion with alarm, lest their
lands should go, just as the property of the Papists had already
gone.[87]
Talleyrand's caution in talking with Turner contrasts with the freedom
with which he opened his mind on the same subject to his _confrères_.
A very important book was published in 1890 at Paris by M. Pallain,
'Talleyrand sous le Directoire.' It depicts his diplomatic life, and
gives the pith of his despatches. From Turner and Duckett he probably
derived some impressions regarding Great Britain and Ireland. He
augurs well from the Irish rebellion, which has been 'cemented,' adds
Talleyrand, 'by the blood of celebrated victims.' The first victim was
the Rev. William Jackson, in 1794. Talleyrand urges the invasion of
Ireland and the establishment of an Irish Republic 'for the instruction
or chastisement of England.' 'Nelson's fleet,' he says, 'is manned
almost exclusively by Irishmen,' and that their patriotism 'will teach
them to see in the English their oppressors and enemies.' Talleyrand's
sketch of 'Irish Landed Proprietors' is full and curious.
Another man who, besides Talleyrand and Grégoire, dealt cautiously with
Turner was Stone, as Turner in his secret letter to the Home Office
admits. Stone had been tried in England for high treason and sent into
exile.[88] At Hamburg and at Paris he belonged to the set mentioned
by Mr. Froude's cloaked spy[89] as including Lady Edward Fitzgerald
(Pamela), Lady Lucy Fitzgerald, Mrs. Matthiessen, and General Count
Valence. Madame de Genlis in her 'Memoirs' mentions Stone conjointly
with her daughter Madame de Valence and her 'niece' Pamela.[90]
FOOTNOTES:
[65] See _Castlereagh Papers_, i. 251. See also chapter vii. of the
present volume.
[66] Froude, iii. 301.
[67] See _M. de Talleyrand_, par M. de Villemarest, ch. viii.; _Hist.
du Directoire_, par M. de Barante, liv. iv.
[68] Of infidelity to the rebel cause.
[69] Mr. Froude, speaking of 'the second arrest of two of the leading
committees of Belfast,' says (iii. 237) that 'Lake seized papers
which revealed the correspondence with France, the extent of the
revolutionary armament, and the measures taken for the seduction of the
army and militia. The papers were sent to Dublin and were laid before a
secret committee.' See also correspondence _in re_ McNevin's Memorial,
ch. vii. _infra_.
[70] The spy sought to deceive the French Government in this report.
The Cromwellian Settlers never thought of joining the United Irishmen.
One of Turner's objects seems to have been to get a written undertaking
from Talleyrand that the estates of these Settlers should be left
intact, and money sent to promote an alleged treasonable conspiracy of
Cromwellian Settlers against England, but which, in point of fact, did
not exist. The Ulster Presbyterians were, no doubt, rebels; but these
men were the descendants, not of the Cromwellian adventurers, but of
King James's Planters.
[71] This phrase is assigned to Talleyrand by Harel in the _Nain
Jaune_; but the thought had been previously expressed by another
bishop, _i.e._ Jeremy Taylor.
[72] The contractions 'he'd' and 'sha'n't' are entirely consistent with
Turner's 'you'll' in the letter to Downshire, transcribed by me from
the Pelham MSS. See p. 50, _infra_; also Turner's acknowledged letter
to Cooke, p. 97.
[73] This alternate blowing of hot and cold worked its end. A long
letter from the Home Office furnishing secret items to Dublin
Castle goes on to say (_Castlereagh_, ii. 361): 'Lewins had often
complained that the conduct of the French Government had been hitherto
so indecisive with respect to Ireland that all their projects had
naturally failed.' However, it was admitted by Talleyrand that 'Ireland
was the only vulnerable part of the British Empire.'
[74] The Cabinet, Mr. Froude says, was kept in utter ignorance of his
name, and in the most secret despatches of the Home Office he is known
only as 'Lord Downshire's friend.' These precautions will remind us of
the cipher of the Louvais despatches, which has hitherto baffled all
efforts to identify the Man in the Iron Mask.
[75] The narrative of Edward J. Newell--the spy who turned against
his employers--states (London, 1798, p. 59) that he was asked to give
information 'against Charles Rankin and others for high treason.'
[76] Our spy often refers to Rankin and others of Belfast: 'He [the
betrayer] had fled with others from Belfast at the general dispersion
of the leaders,' writes Mr. Froude, iii. 280.
[77] Whatever he knew of Lord Edward Fitzgerald is told in the first
letter. See pp. 5, 6, _ante_.
[78] This was Henri Grégoire, the celebrated Bishop of Blois--a most
influential member of the National Convention, and afterwards of the
Council of Five Hundred. The _aplomb_ of our spy in hailing such men
as friends will be appreciated. Grégoire was a cautious man, who
voted against the divorce of Napoleon and Joséphine, and opposed the
Emperor's marriage with Marie-Thérèse. During the 'Reign of Terror,'
when urged to follow the Archbishop of Paris and abjure his priestly
duties, he refused. B. 1750, d. 1831.
[79] Stone, see p. 33 _infra_.
[80] Duckett, an Irish rebel agent, falsely suspected by Tone of being
a spy, will figure in chapter x.
[81] See p. 110 _infra_.
[82] Possibly John Jeffrey, brother of Francis. He was a Scotchman, and
usually resided in America (_Life of Jeffrey_, by Lord Cockburn, i.
50). How completely a Republican spirit possessed him is shown by his
brother's letters to him in 1797, beginning 'My dear Citizen' (ii. 30
_et seq._). The subsequent Lord Jeffrey was also a democrat, and his
movements may have been shadowed, as those of Coleridge notoriously
were.
[83] See Froude, iii. 283, or _ante_.
[84] Compare letter from 'Castlereagh to Wickham,' p. 44 _ante_.
[85] _Mémoires de Sainte-Hélène._
[86] The precise and careful wording is that of a lawyer, which Turner
was.
[87] Mr. J. P. Prendergast, in his _Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland_,
prints, from original MSS., a 'list of adventurers for land in Ireland'
(p. 417). Among them we find: 'Samuel Turner of London, merchant
taylor, £200.' 'Richard Turner, senior and junior, taylors, £200.'
These persons are also found subscribing the same sum, he adds, as
'adventurers, for the sea-service' (p. 417). The hereditary feelings
and predilections of a Cromwellian Settler can be traced in the letter
to Talleyrand.
[88] I find in the contents of the long-sealed chest at Dublin Castle,
'The Examination of Samuel Rogers, of Cornhill, Banker,' regarding
his relations with Stone, dated May 10, 1794. With it is preserved
an autograph statement by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, technically
called his examination, embracing ten folios, dated May 9, 1794, and
explaining his intercourse with Stone.
[89] _Vide_ p. 5, _ante_.
[90] _Memoirs of Madame de Genlis_, iv. 130-36.