Character of the rebellion.

This piece of Irish history has been, and will ever be, the subject of the fiercest controversy. It is only by remembering that on one side the accumulated wrath of a half-savage and badly governed country was making itself terribly visible for an object which cannot be condemned, yet by means which were utterly odious; and that on the other side the instinct of self-defence, the stern necessity of upholding their rule at all hazards, fear of the ever-threatening horrors of a triumphant and savage foe, and revenge for the personal miseries already inflicted upon them, were driving men to cruel though perhaps necessary actions, that this period can be read in at all a judicial and un partisan spirit.

With regard to the savage cruelty of the Irish, it can only be said, as affording some excuse for their conduct, that they had suffered much, that they had much to complain of. With regard to the real danger and lengthened organization of the conspiracy there is abundant proof, and was then abundant proof in the hands of the Irish Government, for as usual all the secret committees were full of traitors. With regard to the conduct of the Government -which, whatever may be said of it, did not drive the people to rebellion, for they had long settled upon that-it may be fairly asked what other means than severity could possibly have been used. Lord Camden deserves the greatest credit for his moderation, and for the care with which, through two years and upwards, he avoided bringing on an open outbreak. The only real question appears to be whether severity used much earlier might not have altogether frustrated the rebellion. The reason why this severity was not used is to be found in the conduct of the Whigs in England, and in the views of Pitt and the Liberal part of his Government, who sat apart from the scene and could not be brought completely to comprehend the danger.

Defensive

measures of
the Government.

To the Irish Government the state of the country was well known. It was known that Wolfe Tone had gone abroad, nominally to America, but with the intention of visiting France, with the full approbation of the United Committee at Belfast. It was known that in 1795 the plans of an insurrection had been almost perfected, and that to meet that insurrection there were in Ireland scarcely any English troops, about 10,000 invalids and fencibles, and a militia half of whom were among the conspirators. It was also known that assassinations and the swearing-in of conspirators were of constant occurrence. It is not

1796]

PREPARATIONS for REBELLION

1211

surprising that in the year 1796 it was found necessary to pass an Indemnity Act to cover acts for the preservation of peace which broke the letter of the law done by the army and magistrates, or that a Bill should have been passed against assassination, or that an Insurrection Act, which allowed suspected districts to be declared beyond the law, and to be placed in military occupation and deprived of arms, should have been carried. The danger became still more threatening when it was known that Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the brother of Lord Leitrim, and Arthur O'Connor, the friend of all the Whigs in England, had gone abroad, had seen General Hoche in Switzerland, and arranged with him for a French invasion. At this time a trustworthy informant told the Government that there were 200,000 men ready officered, that there were pikes and muskets for 150,000, and that the militia were almost to a man members of the United Irish Society. It was then that it became absolutely necessary for security to raise a trustworthy force. This force, principally consisting of Protestants, who volunteered immediately to the number of 37,000, was the yeomanry. It did not, however, consist entirely of Protestants; and Camden, in spite of the pressure laid upon him by Parliament and by all who surrounded him, refused to recognize the Orange Lodges, which would at once have given him the power he wanted. As it was, the establishment of the yeomanry certainly saved Ireland, and yet it is here probably that the great error of the Government showed itself. English soldiers, if possible, alone should have been used. The traditional hatred between the religions was too fierce to allow the subjugation of the Catholics to be left in the hands of the Protestant yeomen.

Arrest of the

The invasion which Hoche had planned, in accordance with the wishes of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Wolfe Tone, was a very formidable one; nor, had it succeeded in landing, could it probably have been otherwise than successful. Fortunately the energy of the Government had just then struck a most damaging blow at the insurrectionary movement. Among the other illegal actions of the army of the North, which had been revolutionary under the command of Luttrell, Lord Carhampton, had been the sudden apprehension of the whole revolutionary committee in Belfast. Neilson, Ore, Russell, and the two Sims, had been lodged in Dublin Castle. It was to allow of such arrests as these that almost at the same time the Habeas Corpus was suspended; for the Government was in the awkward position of

committee.

knowing the treasonable practices which were going on, and of knowing the authors of them, but of yet being unable to produce proofs, as the information had been received under the seal of secrecy. The importance of this apprehension was much increased by the very complete organization of the United Society. A series of little societies, none of which exceeded eighteen, were linked together, and formed a complete hierarchy through baronial committees, district committees, provincial directories, up to a grand executive directory of five, elected secretly, and known to none but the provincial secretaries, who examined the votes. The military organization was almost as complete. The sudden destruction of the executive committee, whom nobody knew, in fact cut the head of the organization entirely away; till what had happened had been discovered, and a fresh committee elected, there was no power to issue any orders. It is probably to this that is to be traced, not only the apathy, but the apparent goodwill of the people of the South at the time of the French invasion.

French expedi

tion to Bantry

Bay.

The period during which the French expedition, thirty-eight ships Failure of the of all sorts, was lying in Bantry Bay was one of extreme danger. The strange inactivity of the English navy would have allowed the French to complete their plans at perfect leisure. Fortunately Hoche himself had been separated from the expedition on its passage, and Grouchy, the second in command, shrank from the responsibility of leading without his superior's commands. A hurricane swept the bay, preventing landing, and the ships returned uselessly to Brest. But the apathy of the people was of very short duration. The evident possibility of assistance from France raised their temper. The disturbances in the North were speedily renewed; murder followed murder; Orange retributions followed in their turn, and at last, in March 1797, General Lake was ordered to disarm the conspirators of Ulster. He issued a proclamation ordering all persons to bring in their arms and surrender them, threatening to use force if they were refused. Well informed by his spies, Lake captured 50,000 muskets, 72 cannon, and 70,000 pikes, often, it must be confessed, with cruel severity on the part of the yeomanry, who were his agents. Frequently, but it is believed only when certain information had already been obtained of the existence of arms, flogging and picketing (that is, putting their feet upon sharp stakes) wrung from the wretched peasants the knowledge of their place of concealment. Such conduct, though cruel,

General Lake's success in Ulster.

1797] REPRESSIVE EFFORTS OF THE GOVERNMENT 1213

had it been exercised throughout Ireland would probably have prevented the worst of the insurrection.

Increased

the Government.

But the Government was hampered in Ireland by a very small, but very eloquent and noisy, opposition in Parliament, and in England by the whole of the Whig opposition in difficulties of and out of Parliament, constantly crying out against any severity, or any use of other than the civil power; and by the Cabinet itself, which continued half-hearted, disliked severity, looking forward ultimately to a complete change of system, and desired, even by great concessions, to put off an outbreak till that change could be effected. But it was in fact impossible. The very existence of these champions for their cause, the secession from Parliament of Grattan and his friends, who declared that their voices were now useless, the supposition that the English Cabinet would not tolerate any extreme measures, the certainty that France was still thinking of assisting them, the opportunity for that assistance afforded by the mutiny at the Nore, in which traces of Irish influence are not wanting, drove the leaders to more and more extreme steps. Still more was their confidence raised by the ill-judged conduct of Sir Ralph Abercromby, who was appointed to succeed Carhampton as commander-in-chief. He was the friend of Lord Moira. An ardent Whig, and full of English Liberal views, and used to regular English soldiery, he was disgusted both at the stringent measures and disorderly conduct of the yeomanry he was called upon to command, and shocked its feelings by declaring that their state of disorganization was such as to make them a terror to none but themselves. He even declined to carry on in the South that work which Lake had done in the North, and to disarm Munster. Again General Lake was called to undertake the unpleasant duty. It was no doubt carried out there, in the midst of an almost purely Roman Catholic population, with even more severity, more religious intolerance, and more cruelty, than in the North. It must be observed, however, that at the worst these cruelties could have lasted but a month, for after Lake had held his command about that time the insurrection broke out. When it did break out the Government was partially prepared for it, for treachery at last put the whole secret of the conspiracy into their hands. A certain Mr. Reynolds, a man of small property, had joined the United Irishmen, but frightened at the extent of their schemes, gave information that the Leinster delegates would meet in March at the house of Oliver Bond, one of their chief

associates. The whole committee was there seized, together with letters and papers of the utmost importance. Many arrests of leaders followed, but Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the chief military leader of the conspiracy, contrived to escape.

Actual outbreak of the insurrection.

May 23, 1798.

The 23rd of May had been appointed for a general rising. Two days before that date Fitzgerald was arrested, after a desperate resistance. With a dagger he killed one of his assailants, Captain Ryan, and severely wounded Captain Swan; nor was he secured till Major Sirr, the town mayor, shot him through the shoulder. He lingered a few days and then died. Two other leaders, of the name of Sheares, were also arrested, and papers of a most bloodthirsty nature found about them. In spite of the loss of their leaders, the insurrection broke out on the appointed day. It was to have opened with the capture of Dublin. This attempt completely failed; but on all the roads round the city the mail coaches were destroyed, so as to isolate the capital; and at Naas, Kilcullen, Rathfarnham, and Prosperous, and in other places in the county of Kildare, the military were attacked. At Prosperous the barracks were burnt, and nearly all the soldiers killed. In most other directions a brief moment of success, marked by actions of wild savagery, was all that was accomplished. From Kildare the insurrection turned upon Carlow. But there timely arrangements were made, and 600 of the rebels perished, while not a single soldier was hurt. The success of the soldiery was marked by even worse cruelty than that of the rebels; twenty-eight suspected yeomen were shot in cold blood in the neighbourhood of Dunlaven; and after the defeat at Carlow, Gordon says: "Executions commenced, as elsewhere in this calamitous period, and about 200 in a short time were hanged or shot according to martial law; among the rest Sir Edward Crosby, a loyal gentleman, who unfortunately professed Liberal opinions." But it was where least expected that the rebellion was most formidable. In Kildare the rebels never gained much head; but in Wexford, which was regarded as free from disaffection, a regular war arose. The rebels here mastered the town of Wexford, where they found a gentleman of property, Mr. Bagenal Harvey, to whom they gave the command. But their real leader was a priest named Murphy. They succeeded in overrunning the country, but were at last checked by General Johnson before the town of New Ross. He pursued them to Enniscorthy, and on the 21st of June General Lake succeeded in utterly routing the rebels, and taking their camp on Vinegar Hill. This was practically a