teen, who were to be further detained; and although more than a month has elapfed, fince this fifth interpretation of the agreement, and that many of the non-excepted have demanded to be fuffered to emigrate, they are still prevented from leaving the prison; and whilst I am writing this letter, it will not furprize me if you fhould fend a fixth interpretation of the agreement, as contradictory to the whole, as those you have sent are to each other. But to what end fhall I wafte time in reciting any more of your conduct? The man who has fhewn a total contempt for truth and good faith in one hundred inftances, would betray the fame in one thousand. Then fetting afide every idea of the exiftence of the agreement, in which equivalents and terms are set forth; fetting afide all those profeffions of liberal conftruction and good faith; leaving you to reconcile your plea of neceffity with non-performance of compact, for which stipulated equiva lents have been religioufly paid, I call on you to reconcile thofe manifold contradictions and prevarications, which have appeared in your various interpretations of the agreement with justice and honor, which can be but one.

You would have been happy, no doubt, that I had implicated Lord Cornwallis and the Parliament, with you in this accufation, but in this you shall find yourself widely mistaken; for much as you have defamed and deceived me, and vilely as you have attempted to furnish grounds for calumny against the oppofition of England, your conduct to Lord Cornwallis and the Parliament are not lefs flagrant. Detected of fueh manifeft breaches of truth, in

the

the outlet of your minifterial career, the flagrance. of your perfidy, forms the strongest evidence that you are the fole author of thofe difgraceful tranfactions, which I have detailed; whilft the unim peached character for incorruptible integrity, which Lord Cornwallis has uniformly fupported, in fome of the most trying fituations, carries as forcible evidence that he has not debased himself thus fuddenly, to fo low and fo vile a degree; as to the Parlia, ment, you, and you only could have furnished the statements upon which their proceedings were founded; and that you did not lay the written agreement before them, is manifeft, from the debate on our advertisement, when fome of the members declared, on the fecond day, that their having feen General Nugent's publication of our agreement, wherein it was flated, that we had ftipulated" not by naming or defcribing, to implicate any person whatever," induced them to alter the opinions they had expreffed, on the preceding day, when they had not been informed of thofe conditions.

Wholly acquitting Lord Cornwallis, and not interfering in any wife with the Parliament of Ireland, without faying one word of the future, I have accused you in the face of the world, as a minister who has uttered the moft grofs falfhoods of mes that you have entered into engagements, for the performance of which you have pledged the faith of Lord Cornwallis's adminiftration, and that you have been guilty of the moft direct violations of your agreement, attended with all thofe fhifts, fubterfuges, contradictions, and prevarications, to which

the

the honeft man can never be driven, and from which the cunning, pitiful, unprincipled courtier can never be free. I have impeached you of keeping back from the Parliament that written agreement, to which you had pledged the Executive government, and of furnishing the officers of the Crown with materials for a law in violation of the letter and fpirit of those very conditions to which you had bound it. I have impeached you for having proftituted the name of a man, whofe honor was unqueftioned before you had profaned it, by fetting it to a menace the most infernal, whether it be confidered for its injuftice, in attempting to filence men (whose honor you had attacked,) by placing the dagger to their throats to prevent them from juftifying their characters by that publication, for which I had exprefsly conditioned; or whether it be confidered for its ftyle of more than Robefpierian butchery, in threatening to take the lives of eightynine for the crime of one, and that no other than the crime of expofing your perfidy, and of vindicating their honor. Then let me be that criminal -mark me for your victim; for if to declare to the world that you have most foully belied me, and that these falihoods have been made the grounds for calumny against the most honorable men, be the forfeit of life-I have no defire to live. If it has come to this, that to contradict the falfhoods of a minifter be a capital offence, if every Tyro in office, is to be erected into a Bey or a Bafhaw, in these times of blood, life is not worth the keeping. If I cannot live with honor, nay, if I cannot live but loaded with infamy, and to be made the stalking

beaft

beaft for the affaffination of the fair fame of my best benefactors; it is time for me to die. You knew I demanded a trial-you knew I demanded not to be required to fign any agreement, and yet. you have told the world that I have most bumbly implored pardon. You knew I afferted my principles and vindicated the cause I efpoused in the worst of times, you knew you had required of me to retract this affertion and vindication, and that I refufed to do either; yet you have told the world, " that I bave confeffed myself conscious of the most flagrant and enormous guilt, and expreffed my contrition." You knew that of ninety state-prisoners, fix only have been examined, that these fix háve not in the moft diftant degree confeffed conscious guilt, or contrition, or bumbly implored pardon, and that the eighty-four have never been asked a queftion; yet you have told the Parliament that every one of the ninety have made the like confeffions of guilt, contrition, and have alike bumbly implored pardon. You knew that the written compact contained a ftipulation that the country to which we were to emigrate was to be mutually agreed on "was between us and the government," yet you have told the Parliament that we had conditioned to be ἐσ tranfported to fuch foreign country as to the King fhall seem meet." You knew that I had expressly declared that my brother would not enter into any conditions with the government; yet you have first attempted to terrify him into your measures, by fending the very Mute you had fent me, and when this was treated with the contempt it deserved, you took advantage of our feparation to try to make him believe

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believe that I had promifed he fhould enter into conditions. You knew that I had exprefsly conditi oned for the right of publishing every part of the information I might give, conformably to my agreement, and alfo of refuting calumnies; you knew that this right had been recognized by your colleague Mr. Cooke, fome time after we made our agreement; yet you have not only violated this important condition, but you have added to the fufferings of a prifon, and held out your murderous menace. You knew that you had conditioned that we fhould emigrate after we had performed our part of the compact, and now that our's has been faithfully difcharged you have fet up a plea of neceffity, which is equally valid for detaining us for life as for an hour, and equally reconcileable with your contradictory interpretations and fhameful prevarications.

These are a fmall part of the catalogue of breaches of faith, honor and truth, of which I accuse you. As to what concerns the written agreement, compare it with the law which you were pledged fhould be in perfect conformity with its fpirit and letter, and for which you were bound to furnish the matter for the Parliament to go by; yet I will fubmit to be branded for the moft infamous liar, if this law is not a moft grofs violation of the agreement, which the Chancellor declared, "the government that could violate, neither could ftand, nor deferved to ftand." But though there had not been one of thofe exprefs ftipulations, or thofe difhonourable infractions, fhould I have forfeited every right of humanity? Should I have borne with every falfhood and every calumny, malice and perfidy have poured out against

me?