Mr. Moore-William Lawless. I knew him long and well; and can recount some circumstances of him and his adventures, which, not being generally known, may at least serve to amuse the reader of these unpretending pages. Lawless, the particular and personal friend of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, was a well-educated and accomplished surgeon in Dublin, where his merits were extensively and thoroughly appreciated, and where he was considered a very expert operator, and a man of great self-possession, unqualified courage, and various talents. Escaping to France from the dangers which encompassed him in Ireland, he attached himself to the consular, and finally to the imperial army; and died some years since, at his residence not far from Paris, holding the rank of a general officer.

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There is, in Mr. Moore's work, a passage relative to him, not sufficiently explicit. Pages 75-6, Mr. Moore says, They (the members of the Leinster Executive) now applied themselves with a degree of zeal, or rather headlong rashness, of which the trial of the unfortunate J. and H. Sheares discloses a striking example. And such a footing had they at this time obtained in most of the regiments, that we find Lawless, early in May, holding a conference on the subject of the rising, with a meeting of the delegates from almost all the militia in Ireland." This, it is probable, Mr. Moore has gathered from Armstrong's evidence on the trial, where he swears thus: "John Sheares then appointed him (witness) to meet him

next day, to introduce him to the gentleman he mentioned to him. Witness went accordingly on Thursday, May 17th, and met both brothers at the same house; but does not recollect anything of moment passing, until the gentleman arrived, when he was introduced to a Mr. Lawless, a relation of Lord Cloncurry's, who told him he had been at a meeting some time before, composed of deputies from almost all the militia regiments, &c.-Mr. Lawless, among other things, remarked that the trees in Lehaunstown Camp would be extremely convenient for hanging people who did not join them."

I have now to state, that on the arrangement of what is called the Peace of Amiens, I proceeded as soon as I could to join William Lawless in Paris, having private business with him. He spoke much, as may be supposed, of the Insurrection, and the general condition of Ireland; introducing occasionally sketches of his adventures since his flight. Armstrong's name being mentioned, Lawless observed that he was a great villain, to which I assented; adding, that the observation was superfluous; and that, on the 14th of July, 1798, when John and Henry Sheares died on the scaffold, I should have preferred their feelings to the stings of Armstrong's upbraiding conscience. Lawless said he meant "something emphatic by the word villain, because Armstrong invented circumstances to inflame the minds of the court and jury. I was, and am, and will die an Irish rebel: I went every length which a

reasoning man could go, to overturn the AngloIrish government, the members of which I execrated collectively and individually; I was known to entertain these sentiments; and, by the laws of the land, I most justly deserved the death designed for me; and had Armstrong said all this, he would have told only the truth; but he loaded his testimony with fiction. I will now tell you what really occurred in Baggot Street, on the day sworn to. I was sitting with Sheares in his front parlour, when a double knock was made at the street door; and I, who could see over the blind without rising from my seat, perceived a man at the door, having a great coat, and to his under-coat, a military collar. I exclaimed to Sheares that I was alarmed; but S. said I had no cause, for that the man, though a royalist officer, was a true brother; and that I should be introduced. My reply was, that I could not, and would not, trust him; and rising, I passed into the back room, locked the door, remained until the stranger and Sheares were engaged in talk, let myself out at the street door, and never saw more of Armstrong than I have related." This simple narrative, though it may leave the insurgent chieftain where it found him, is a tremendous blow to the credibility of the witness; and should be published to the world as a lesson on the subject of evidence in general, and as exhibiting an instance of deliberate and diabolical wickedness and falsification on the part of the witness, perhaps

without a parallel in the records of human turpitude.

I do not recollect if Lawless told me that he had met the delegates from the militia regiments; but if he did, it was not like him to do that, or anything, incautiously; for he was of a tranquil, meditative disposition, and possessed more sang froid than almost any person I have ever known.

To this quality of his mind, he owed his various escapes in moments of imminent danger. He had settled on a plan with a friend commanding the ship engaged to convey him from Dublin; and went forth alone at night, to get on board, dressed as a porter, and carrying a knot, as it is called, on his shoulder. At the end of Westmoreland Street, he found himself close to a patrol of cavalry; but, instead of flying, or stopping, he tumbled in among the horses, as if half tipsy, was abused by the troopers, as a drunken vagabond, and desired to go along home. The day after, about noon, and when on board ship in the river, and the vessel about weighing anchor, she was hailed by a boat full of police officers and soldiers, who quickly mounted the ship's side, drew up on the deck, read the proclamation for taking William Lawless, &c., and a very minute description of his person, and remarkable countenance; adding the amount of the large reward offered for his head. He was, at the moment of their coming alongside, below: but, instantly smearing his hands, arms, and face with

tar, he ran on deck, and affected to be occupied in scrubbing the bottom of a boat lying on the booms. The party in pursuit left no corner of the vessel unsearched, and at last went away.

After parting from Lawless in Paris, for Toulouse, where I lived till nearly the breaking out of hosti. lities in 1803, he was appointed by Buonaparte major of a regiment; and went through many scenes of danger. At Flushing, he was shot with a musketball through both cheeks, taken prisoner, and, with other French officers, paraded before the British on guard over them. A subaltern of the latter passed along the line of prisoners; and stopping opposite to Lawless, said in a low tone," Lawless, I know you!" He had been his schoolfellow, or, at least, a former acquaintance in Ireland. L. stood firmly up, and wisely made no reply. The subaltern ordered his wounds to be dressed, and returned him as an officer entitled to parole. He afterwards had his leg shattered by a cannot-shot at the battle of Leipsic, and retired from the army on half pay, with the rank of chef de brigade, or general. His countenance was, as I have said, remarkable: he was a spare man, and bore a most striking resemblance to Louis XVI. when youthful and first on the throne: much as the king's head appears on the French coins about 1780. With a profile of so peculiar a description, his escapes from detection are the more extraordi

nary.