acquired the appearance, language, and manner of a Frenchman. There had been, however, a suspicion that he was in the expedition, and as a matter of course, there was immediate inquiry. It so happened that the French officers were invited to breakfast with the earl of Cavan, who was commander of the district. A gentleman who happened to be of the party recognised Mr Tone, and apprised lord Cavan of the real character of his guest. Of course, duty prescribed a single course; Mr Tone was arrested and sent to Dublin to stand his trial. Another account, on the very questionable authority of Parisian rumour, is given by Mr Tone's son, which may be fairly omitted. We cannot reasonably find fault with the writer for the bitterness of his comments, for he was a son; or for their absurdity, as they were, according to his education and ideas of fitness, quite reasonable. It was according to the principles of the Tones, the Tom Paines, the Jacobins, and the United Irishmen, quite fit and just, that an illustrious advocate of the rights of man, whose patriotism had prompted him to scatter sedition and treason at home-to plot the overthrow of the institutions, laws, and aristocracy of his countryto levy war against the government to delude the people to slaughter -to prompt and guide the enemies of all governments to his native shores; it was fit, according to the principles of Mr Tone, his family and friends, that he should be allowed to conceal these noble and heroic deserts under the garb of a foreign enemy. We admit, indeed, that in peaceable times, humanity would gladly wink on the escape of a man so amiable in his social character as Mr Tone. There is a very natural and not misplaced commiseration for an educated and talented gentleman; but Ireland was no place, and it was no time to leave it to be supposed, that deeds so flagrant as those of Mr Tone should be connived at by a magistrate under so flimsy a pretext, and in so unwarrantable an expedition. There seems to be in the human mind some lurking hostility to laws and institutions, which is shown by a very peculiar inconsistency of language and sentiment, that would seem most strange if it were not nearly conventional. The most depraved and most guilt-stained ruffian, who is convicted for the violation of every right and principle of humanity, seems not only to be the object of an involuntary popular commiseration, but is honoured and respected in comparison with the person who detects and drags him to justice. The sentiment can to a certain extent be justified ; but if clearly analyzed, it would in the main appear to be a popular fallacy-a maxim invented for the continuance and protection of vice. But if we admit Mr Tone to have been in some degree a fair object of compassion, it must be affirmed that Sir George Hill would have been sadly wanting to his duty, as a magistrate, a gentleman, and even as a patriot, to allow him to pass.

A belief in the rectitude of his own intentions had, as we have already explained, grown up in Mr Tone's mind. His talents; the continued trials through which he had passed; his high courage; his pride; the emergency of his situation; all had communicated a sense of elevation and a dignity to his mind. As is usual with all men, he had taught himself to justify and exalt his ends and their motives, to talk and think of high-sounding actions, and to let the evil accompani

ments and consequences lurk tacitly in the train of contingencies. He only occasionally turned inward to the latent thirst of vengeance so often expressed; the deluge of gentle and noble blood, and the woe and desolation which he was to bring into thousands of peaceful homes, he did not allow himself to dwell upon; the plunders and confiscations, the real reward of his fiery venture, he satisfied himself with a side glance of, which told him they would be matters of course; the butchery of thousands of the hapless peasantry in many a disgraceful field, he looked on as a necessary sacrifice to the phantom of liberty he worshipped; it did not occur to him to look very narrowly on the very success for which he but faintly hoped. On the whole he came now, sobered by adversity, and self-exalted by error, a brave and devoted man, the hero of a false and evil creed.

This view of his character is essential to explain the last scenes of his life. Whatever were the intrinsic merits of his life and deeds, he stood before his judges in the character of a brave and self-approving

man.

He was, of course, quite aware that his life was the forfeit of his offences. It has been asserted that he entertained some hope of immunity on account of the commission he bore in the French army. This is hard to believe; and is denied by his son who very truly observes, that the speech he made on his trial does not permit this notion. But on his arrival in Dublin, a court-martial was summoned to try him. Against this he strongly protested, on what seems to us a very fair and strong plea; he bore no commission in the British army, and had a right to be tried by the civil jurisdiction of the country. It however appears, that at first he rather looked on this selection of a tribunal as advantageous, as offering the hope of a military execution.

After a few days' delay, the court-martial met on 10th November, 1798. The trial was shortened by the full and free admission of "all the facts alleged." Mr Tone offered no defence, nor did he by a word impugn the jurisdiction of the court; he only begged to be allowed to read a paper in vindication of his motives and conduct. This the court allowed, under the impression that it was the prisoner's object to offer such extenuations as might lead to a mitigation of the sentence. No such thing was in the intention of Mr Tone. He only felt that the eyes of France were upon him, and aimed to vindicate his honour by an open avowal and assertion of the principles of his life and actions. The court stopped him twice, from a humane consideration that his defence was a strong aggravation of his offence, and more likely to injure than to serve him. But Mr Tone assured them that such was not the object of his address. He was quite conscious of the real position in which he stood, and knew well that a pardon in his case, would be an abandonment of the principles of the constitution. But in fact, as he proceeded, his language became such that it was not quite consistent with the dignity of the tribunal before which he stood, to listen to it; he was checked with great forbearance and courtesy; and concluded with a few sentences. The court was sensibly affected by the courage and calm resignation of the prisoner's manner and address. After a short silence, he inquired if there was not usually an interval between the sentence and execu

tion. The question was not answered, as the court had first to transmit the report of their proceedings to the lord-lieutenant; but asked him if he had anything more to say. On this he expressed his desire to die as a soldier. He added, "I request that indulgence, rather in consideration of the uniform which I bear-the uniform of a chef de Brigade in the French army-than from any personal regard to myself." To attest this claim, he gave in his commission. He was told by the judge-advocate that it would be a proof against him, which he admitted; but observed that he had admitted the facts, and now admitted those papers as added proofs.

Two days after, he was sentenced to be hanged in forty-eight hours.

The justice of the sentence was nowhere complained of; but the court was considered as irregular. Mr Tone was not in the military service of the crown, nor was Dublin at the time under military law. The court of King's Bench was sitting, and the whole proceeding appeared to be an infringement of its jurisdiction. We may just observe, that the case was anomalous, and such, as for some very obvious reasons required to be met by a special mode of proceeding. A rebel taken prisoner in battle is subject, in the first instance, to martial law, as could easily be proved. Open war is the case of last extremity, and a military court the tribunal of last resort. Mr Tone was amenable to such a court, not as charged with treason, but as taken in the ranks of an invading army. There was no trial, or ground for trial, in the common sense of the words: it was one of those flagrant military cases, in which, by a wise policy, the forms of trial are preserved, though there is nothing to be tried. The equity of criminal justice was not in question; the question simply was one which affected the privileges of the King's Bench; and to talk of any wrong to the prisoner, is merely nonsense. The proper question, therefore, would be, whether in such a case as here described, the jurisdiction of the King's Bench could properly be pleaded against the king; that is, supposing such a plea to be put in, in that court, in proper time and form. But Mr Tone not only pleaded before the military court, but pleaded guilty: there was, in fact, no suit and no party. The proceeding in the King's Bench which followed, was at the least nugatory. It did not proceed from any jealousy about the purity of justice-in strict justice Mr Tone might have been hanged when he was taken-but was simply an ebullition of a very opposite feeling, combined, we most fully believe, with an uncalculating humanity.

The policy of government was perfectly understood on all sides. It was not actuated by any sentiment towards Mr Tone. But it was not a time-while the yet sparkling embers of a bloody rebellion, of which Mr Tone and his associates were the instigators, lay scattered through town and country-to make the King's Bench the rostrum of seditious and inflammatory harangues. There were still United Irishmen unhanged and untransported, enough to raise another very sanguinary rebellion. It was fit, under the dreadful existing circumstances, that the protecting interposition of the executive should, if required, follow the crime which directly struck at its existence, even if necessary to the sanctuary of the law.

The friends of Mr Tone knew very well that he could not be acquitted. But it was thought that the sentence might be deferred until the French government could have time to interfere. With this view Mr Curran made a humane effort to interpose the authority of the court of King's Bench.

The following is the account of the proceeding in the King's Bench: "Mr Curran, assisted by Mr Burrowes, began by the endeavour to raise a subscription for the purpose of forming a bar. In this he failed. He determined to proceed alone. On the next day-the day appointed for the execution-he moved for a Habeas Corpus, to be directed to the provost-marshal of the barracks," &c. Such a motion could not be refused. The chief justice, lord Kilwarden, answered—“ Have a writ instantly prepared." Mr Curran answered-"My client may die while the writ is preparing." On which lord Kilwarden said"Mr Sheriff, proceed to the barracks, and acquaint the provost-marshal that a writ is preparing to suspend Mr Tone's execution, and see that he be not executed." The sheriff went, leaving the court in a state of excitement, and returned to state the refusal of the provostmarshal; and Mr Tone's father, who had been sent to serve the habeas corpus, came back to say that general Craig refused to obey it. Lord Kilwarden said-" Mr Sheriff, take the body of Tone into custody take the provost marshal and Major Sandys into custody, and show the order of court to general Craig."

But there had been another actor in this tragic drama, on whose movements they had not calculated, and this was Mr Tone himself. On the night before, he had executed his predetermined purpose of suicide, by cutting his throat with a penknife. This was the account next brought into court by the sheriff. The wound had been closed by a surgeon, who pronounced that four days must elapse before the result could be pronounced upon.

It was on the morning of the 19th that decided symptoms of approaching death appeared. The surgeon whispered, that if he attempted to move or speak, he must expire instantly. Mr Tone took the inadvertent hint. He made a slight movement and spoke-"I c can yet find words to thank you, Sir; it is the most welcome news you could give me. What should I wish to live for?" and expired.

This memoir has been little else than a comment. Such, indeed, was its design. To accomplish this design more fully, we must remind the reader of what it was. The history of that period has been almost uniformly written by persons of strong political opinions, and simply as a method of attack. It has also been mainly used by one, and that the popular party; and is consequently one-sided in a very peculiar degree. While the opposite party in that day, was driven to very strong and decisive resources, for the maintenance of order, their opponents had recourse to language of extreme violence, such, indeed, as may be abundantly exemplified from the pages of the Tones. This was aggravated by the casual circumstance of such men as Mr Grattan having lent their oratorical talents to the popular side. The consequence was, that the reproaches of mere party animosity, as well as the whole torrent of misrepresentations, always the missiles of popular faction, have floated down the stream of tradition, until it has

become nearly too late to contradict them; and candour seems forced to admit, that when so much is charged, and so little denied, much must be true.

We have thought it, therefore, of much importance, to lay before the reader some very plain facts on authority which could not well be denied. They have been selected to show that there was first a revolutionary spirit, propagated by educated men for many years, and quite independent of any faults of government; that this was maturing rapidly into a revolutionary movement; that actual fraternization with France was the immediate means proposed; that a plan was adopted of inveigling the Roman catholics into a participation with these objects; that this effect was partially successful among the middle classes, and eminently so among the lower.-On the other side, that the English government was at the time in justifiable alarm, and menaced by Jacobinical societies at home, and war from abroad; that Ireland has been known to be the weak side, when the enemies of England might be expected to strike; that, consequently, under the circumstances stated in the foregoing sentence, a very energetic policy was called for. The government adopted two courses-one was to conciliate (we are not here concerned in the wisdom of conciliation) the church of Rome-the other to take direct measures of defence. That these defensive measures disappointed the Jacobinical accomplices of Mr Tone is admitted-it is for this reason alone natural to infer that they irritated them, and all who entered into their views, or believed their promises.

Such was the state of things, out of which a fierce insurrection arose. It demanded the whole vigour of the executive to put it down; it was quelled by proportioned means. The event was felt as a grievance by Mr Tone's party; and, of course, the means could not escape. In the following memoirs we shall relate the main events.

John Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare.

BORN A. D. 1749.-DIED A. D. 1802.

THE father of the eminent man whose name stands at the head of this memoir, was a barrister of first-rate eminence, who is mentioned as having realized a property of £6000 a-year.

His son, John Fitzgibbon, was born in 1749. He was early destined for the bar, and received a suitable education. At an early age he entered college in the Dublin university. There he was contemporary with Grattan, and many other well-known men. His rival in the competition for academic honours, was Mr Grattan. We are informed that Mr Grattan had the advantage in the beginning; as, however; the course became more extensive, by the usual addition of more difficult books, Mr Fitzgibbon took the lead. Without the keen and electric vivacity, which distinguished his able competitor, he was endowed with a severer reason, and a more solid and sober judgment.

He was quickly called to the bar; and, while his father's weight may have operated to introduce him to the notice of the profession,