are called coloured clothes, who had served as a guide to the Kerry militia, was observed among a number of these by a mixed body of Armagh and Downshire militia. These immediately, regarding him as a rebel because he wanted uniform, levelled their guns at him, swearing that they would fire at him among the Kerrymen, if the latter would not dispatch him; and this they were obliged to do to save themselves.

How far the following fact may be regarded as marking a defect of discipline, I leave to the reader's judgment. The narrator of Killala, after the mention of the return of Arthur Stock, a son of the bishop, to his father's dwelling with general Trench's army, says: "Charost expressed

as much joy at seeing Arthur safe, as if he had "himself been one of the family. Yet the poor "commandant had no reason to be pleased with "the treatment he had received immediately after "the action. He had returned to the castle for "his sabre, and advanced with it to the gate in "order to deliver it up to some English officer, "when it was seized and forced from his hand

by a common soldier of Frazer's. He came "in, got another sword, which he surrendered "to an officer, and turned to re-enter the hall. "At this moment, a second Highlander burst through the gate, in spite of the sentinel

placed there by the general, and fired at the "commandant with an aim that was near prov

ing fatal, for the ball passed under his arm, piercing a very thick door entirely through, "and lodging in the jamb. Had we lost the "worthy man by such an accident, his death "would have spoiled the whole relish of our pre"sent enjoyment. He complained, and received "an apology for the soldier's behaviour from his "officer. Leave was immediately granted to “the three French officers to keep their swords, "their effects, and even their bed-chamber in "the house."*

The latter part of the story is honourable to our officers, and the sequel is honourable to the Irish administration and the British government. The Irish administration was pleased to forward the French officers immediately "to London, giving them what money they wanted for their' "draft on the commissary of prisoners, Niou. "From London the bishop had a letter from the "committee for taking care of French prisoners,

46

desiring to be informed in what manner he "and his family had been treated by the French "officers; and on the bishop's report, an order "was obtained that citizens Charost, Boudet, "and Ponson, should be set at liberty, and sent "home without exchange. Niou, the French "commissary, refused on the part of his govern"ment to accept of this mark of respect from

Narrative, &c. p. 157, 158.

our ministry, saying, that the directory could "not avail themselves of so polite an offer, "because their officers at Killala had only done "their duty, and no more than what any French"man would have done in the same situation. "It will depend," says the judicious narrator, "on the particular temper of the critic, whether "he shall call this answer magnanimous, or a "childish gasconade."* Whether gasconade or not, it was a recommendation of humanity and politeness to his countrymen; and to emulate the French in this respect would be honourable to any soldiery or any people.

Very different in character, as has been hinted already, from the French officers, were the chiefs of the rebels, whose trials by court-martial commenced at Killala on the 24th of September. The first persons tried were Bellew and Richard Bourke, formerly mentioned, who were found guilty that evening. "Contemptible for drunk"enness and vulgar manners, they fell without "exciting a sentiment of compassion. Roger "M'Guire," says the narrator, "our late am"bassador to Castlebar, occasioned some delay. "It was urged in his favour, particularly by dean "Thompson, that in their late journey he had "often heard him speak to the people in favour "of pacific measures and of lenity to the pro

*Narrative, &c. p. 157-161.

"testants. On the other hand, general Trench "and his officers could not readily forget the "insolent behaviour of this young fellow at "Castlebar, under which assumed carriage he "strove to conceal his apprehension of danger, "when he was so grievously, and indeed so in

considerately threatened by Mr. Dennis Browne "and others, on his entering the town." Inconsiderate indeed must have been this threatening, adapted plainly, though doubtless not intended, to cause the massacre of the protestants of Killala, including the bishop and his family. This man, however, whose embassy had contributed to save the lives of so many protestants, was not put to death. He was, after' a long imprisonment, "transmitted to Castlebar, where at last he re"received sentence to be transported to Botany

"bay.

Numbers of other chiefs and inferior insurgents were tried and executed here and elsewhere. Among these, particular notice and particular compassion are due to two men, who, Irishmen by birth, had been in the military service of France before the invasion, had come into Ireland in the French fleet, and had, as well as the best of the French officers, used the most active exertions to save the lives and properties of loyalists. These were Bartholomew Teeling

and Matthew Tone, whose generous humanity made evident in their trials, and steady fortitude under sentence and execution, command our pity, and for their personal qualities our esteem. They were tried in Dublin barrack, and executed -the former on the 24th of September, the latter a few days after.

The famous Theobald Wolfe Tone, captured in a French vessel, in an expedition to the coast of Ireland still more abortive than that of Humbert, survived not long his brother Matthew. The little army of Humbert had been intended only to be a vanguard of a much more formidable force, which was in a short time to follow. Providentially for the safety of the British empire, the French administrators were as tardy in seconding the operations of Humbert, as they had been in seconding those of the southern rebels of Ireland. The want of money is assigned as the cause of delay in the equipment of the second fleet, and in the interim, before its appearance on the Irish coast, a brig from France arrived at the little isle of Rutland, near the north-west coast of Donegal, on the 16th of September, and landed its crew; among whom was James Napper Tandy, formerly mentioned in this work, now bearing the title of general of brigade in the French service. Informed of the surrender of Humbert's troops, and unable to excite an insurrection by their manifestoes in that quarter,