APPENDIX. CONFESSIONS OF BIRD AND NEWELL, To the Lord-Lieutenant, EARL CAMDEN. "MY LORD,-In as few words as can convey my meaning, I will explain the object of my application, which I am pretty sure will be deemed a very ill-timed one. In a letter which I caused to be delivered to Mr. Cooke, I candidly made known my reasons for quitting a situation which I could not think of without horror, the consequence of which was, that two persons escaped a fate to which they had been long since doomed by anticipation; that point gained, although a very important one, by no means satisfies me. Messrs. Nelson and Russel are yet prisoners, and your lordship's great knowledge of law precludes the necessity of my asserting that there is no kind of charge whatever which could by any means be supported against those gentlemen. Then, why, my lord, hold honest men in captivity, without even the shadow of a crime to adduce? Why irritate the public mind, already goaded nearly to desperation? Such conduct, my lord, is as base as it is impolitic; spurn such actions as you ought; give peremptory orders for the instant liberation of the persons before-mentioned, and you will acquire an honest popularity, infinitely more grateful to a feeling heart than the barren adulation of that venal throng, whose baneful advice at present guides your lordship's steps, and who, if suffered to proceed, will lead you to inevitable ruin; the gratitude of those individuals will induce them to place their freedom purely to your lordship's benevolence, as they are utterly ignorant of this application in their behalf; and further I assure your lordship that they ever shall remain so, if my request be now granted. "Your lordship's native goodness will, I hope, incline you to pardon the freedom of my style. The importance of the subject throws etiquette at a distance, and ceremony from me would be mere buffoonery. My mind is intent on weightier matters, and let me incur what censure I may, I am determined to restore those gentlemen to their freedom, or lose my own in the attempt. 66 I seriously entreat your lordship not to suppose I would deign to use empty menace to attain my purpose. No, 1 scorn so mean a subterfuge; and did you but know the adamantine foundation on which I build my hope of success, you would not, my lord, for a single moment, hesitate between right and wrong, justice and tyranny, but would instantly comply with my just request. "Should the enormous power, the lively craft of your wicked counsellors, prevail over the dictates of honour in your lordship's breast, then, my lord, am I irrevocably determined to place in lord Moira's hands such documents as shall strike your boldest orators dumb, and raise through the three kingdoms such a tornado of execration as shall penetrate the inmost recesses of the cabinets of London and of Dublin. "If your lordship can find no better way to unravel the mystery, apply to Kemmis, the crown solicitor; perhaps he will tremble, but he can inform you of what it is I speak, and which your honour and your interest demand should be eternally concealed, or honestly explored. "I now take my final leave of your lordship, in whose breast it remains to decide on as important an event, take it all in all, as ever presented itself to your consideration. I am, my lord, with the utmost respect, your excellency's most obedient humble servant, "J. BIRD." "P. S. If the gentlemen herein mentioned are not restored to liberty within three days from the delivery of this letter to your excellency, I shall conceive it a direct denial, and take my measures accordingly." Letter of the same to Mr. Nelson. "SIR,-In what language to address a gentleman whom I have so very deeply injured, I scarcely know; but with the purest truth I can assure you, sir, that though plunged in a dungeon, deprived of every comfort tyranny could wrest from you, separated, for aught you know eternally separated, from your wife, your, children, friends, and home, your pro perty devastated, your health and vigour drooping beneath such an accumulated load of misery and woe; still, sir, had you known my real state of mind, was infinitely less to be envied than yours. Happiness has to me been a stranger ever since the fatal day when poverty, and something worse, urged me to accept the wages of infamy. How those men may feel themselves, in whose hands I have been an instrument of ruin, I cannot say; but I strongly suspect, could the secrets of their hearts be exposed to your view, they would not be more the objects" of your scorn than your pity. "The first gleams of happiness, which for twelve months has visited my breast, have been since I have ceased to rank among the number of those sanguinary monsters, who are in fact destroying that very system they are striving to support. You, sir, will shortly be restored to that liberty which your life has been hitherto devoted to procure for others; and if you can then think of me without horror or disgust, it is as much as I can expect, more than I deserve. Great have been the pangs of remorse I have endured when reflecting on the situation of your amiable wife and unprotected offspring, nor did the state of poor Shanaghan's family distress me less; they, I fear, suffered more than yours in some points, but it will not bear reflection. "I shall only further take the liberty of remarking, that if my utmost exertions to serve the men I was hired to destroy, can entitle me to pardon from you and from them, I should once more feel myself restored to peace and happiness. I beg, sir, you will excuse the liberty I take, and believe me, if you can, when I assure you that no man more fervently wishes you every blessing Providence can bestow, than the person who for a time robbed you of all comfort on earth. "J. BIRD." Letter of Mr. Newell to Mr. Cooke, Under Secretary of State "SIR, AS I hope in a few days to present you with my history in print, I shall not trouble you much at present, as in it you will see my reasons for deserting, and for first becoming one of the battalion of testimony; on mature reflection I am confident you must say to yourself I have acted right. I shall not pretend to say I am beyond your power, but should you even arrest me, you will find my heart was never afraid to end the project I had once begun. You well know, not a friendship for government, but my affection for the Murdock family was my reason for becoming an informer; that attachment having ceased, the tie that bound me to you was no more, and I am again what I then was. Connected with Murdock I was a villain, but, unconnected with him, cease to be so. "An Englishman dared to act honestly, and shall a native of Ireland, whose sons are renowned for their honour and their courage, be outdone by that nation which we find in general produce only men of diabolical and vicious principles ? Though I cannot deny being a villain, I hope clearly to prove I had the honour of being made so by you, though you did not inculcate enough of your principles to make it lasting. I think you will now be tired of the business of information, and I assure you you will shortly have no occasion for it. Think how disgraceful must appear your connexions and support, when even spies and informers scorn and fly their association, and throw themselves on the forgiveness of their injured country, for being awhile connected with such miscreants. I hope you will now acquit me of the charge of want of feeling. I return you thanks for the numberless favours you have conferred on me, and assure you that I would not exchange one single hour of my present happiness for ten thousand times the sums you have already lavished on me. I have no occasion now for pistols, the propriety of my present behaviour is guard enough, the forgiveness of my country its reward, every honest man is my friend; and for the other part of the community their esteem is a disgrace. My bosom is, what it has not been this long time, the seat of contentment, and I thank my God for having saved me from impending ruin. "EDWARD JOHN NEWELL." THE END. London: Printed by W. CLOWES, Stamford-street. |