This, after some deliberation, was assented to. My father entered; he looked first on me, then sternly on Castlereagh, and with a firm and determined composure inquired the cause of my arrest. "High treason!" replied his lordship. -Our interview was short; my father was not permitted to remain. It may well be conceived at this moment what were his emotions :-he bade me adieu with a proud, but a tender feeling; and whilst my hand, locked in his, felt the fond pressure of paternal love, his eye darted a look of defiance, and his soul swelled indignant with conscious superiority over the apostate patriot and insidious friend.

My father pursued his intended route, too sorrowful to return to his family, and too proud to betray the feelings which agitated his heart. It may appear somewhat strange that a man who bore the liveliest attachment to his domestic circle, and who was to me not only the affectionate parent, but also the companion and friend, should in a moment like the present, the most painful perhaps he had yet encountered, proceed on his business with so much apparent composure. But he was a man of no ordinary cast to the liveliest sensibility were associated the firmest characteristics of mind; his intellectual powers were strong, and the gifts of

nature had been improved by an education of the most liberal stamp. Affluent in circumstances, and connected by the most respectable links to society, he was possessed of much popularity, and retained the confidence and esteem of his countrymen through a long and an honourable life. But his pride was innate, and subsequent persecution and misfortune could never bend it.

My horse was led home by a faithful domestic, but to that home I never returned; nor was a numerous, and till then a happy family ever again congregated within its walls. Persecution and misfortune followed in rapid succession. This was the first blow which had been struck against our peace, and it was aimed with a deadly hand. The melancholy appearance of the old servant, who clung with his arms round the neck of my horse, whilst his head reclined sorrowfully on the crest-the gloom and the mystery with which the occurrence seemed altogether enveloped, excited alarming conjectures in the minds of the family, which the honest domestic had not the courage to explain. But the mystery was soon unfolded.

Lord Castlereagh had only performed half his duty; he had made good his "caption", but he wanted evidence to convict his prisoner, or

to give a plausible pretext for the extraordinary measures he had exercised towards me. He entered my father's house accompanied by a military guard, and placing a sentinel at the door of each apartment, he presented a pistol to the breast of my brother John, a fine spirited youth of fourteen, whom he compelled to accompany him in his search, opening successively every locker, from which he carried off such papers as he thought proper to select, together with my pistols. My brother conducted himself on this occasion with a firmness and composure which could hardly have been expected from a lad of his years. One of my sisters evinced the most heroic courage: she was my junior, and with the gentlest possessed the noblest soul; she has been the solace of her family in all subsequent afflictions, and seemed to have been given as a blessing by Heaven, to counterpoise the ills they were doomed to suffer. But the feelings of my mother were totally overpowered by the scene. She had just been informed of my arrest, and now saw our peaceful home in possession of a military force. Maternal affection created imaginary dangers, and in the most energetic language she prayed Lord Castlereagh to permit her to visit my prison, and to grant even a momentary interview with her

son.

This he had the good sense and firmness to decline, and in communicating the matter to me in the course of our evening's conversation, I expressed my approval of his decision. But my mother felt otherwise: the afflicted state of her mind precluded that reflection which should have rendered her sensible of the propriety of Lord Castlereagh's refusal. Agitated and disappointed, her gentle but lofty spirit was roused, and burying maternal grief in the indignant feeling of her soul, "I was wrong", she exclaimed, "to appeal to a heart that never felt the tie of parental affection-your Lordship is not a father." She pronounced this with a tone and an emphasis so feeling and so powerful, that even the mind of Castlereagh was not insensible to its force, and he immediately retired with his guard.

CHAPTER III.

Popular excitement-Hostile intentions towards Lord Castlereagh-Suppressed-State Prisoners conducted to the capital-Lodged in prison.

THE intelligence of my arrest was quickly communicated. The novelty of the scene, the high rank and station of the principal actor, and the hurried bustle of the soldiery, all tended to excite considerable agitation in the minds of the populace, whose numbers every moment increased, and our hitherto peaceful town bore all the appearance of an approaching storm.

General Nugent, who at that time held the principal command in the northern district, entered the apartment where I was confined, accompanied by the officers of his staff. He considered it, perhaps, essential to the public safety, to see that a prisoner of state should be guarded with all due care, in a moment of popular excitement; but whatever motive might have operated on his mind, I am not to suppose that