to anticipate a Convention which it was alleged that the United Irish Society was about to convene at Athlone.

prosecuted! For so much has the bill in object: not the peace of the country, but reflection on great bodies, the gratification This act (33 Geo. III., c. 29) to prevent of spleen at the expense of the constituthe election or appointment of unlawful tion, by voting false doctrine into law, assemblies, under pretence of preparing or and the brightest passages of your history presenting public petitions or other ad- into unlawful assemblies. Gentlemen have dresses to his majesty or the Parliament, conceived this bill an expedient to quell recites, that the election or appointment insurgents: let them read the bill. It of assemblies, purporting to represent the is not a riot act; it does not go against people, or any description of the people, riots that are, but conventions that are under pretence of preparing or presenting not. The title of the bill, as first brought petitions, complaints, remonstrances, and in, was to prevent riots and tumults arisdeclarations, and other addresses to the ing from conventions; but as the bill had king, or to both or either Houses of Par-nothing to say to riots, and no riots apliament, for alteration of matters estab-peared to have arisen from conventions, lished by law, for redress of alleged such title was in decency dropped, and the grievances in church and state, may be object of the bill was now professed to be an made use of to serve the ends of factious act against conventions. Gentlemen said and seditious persons, to the violation of a national convention at Athlone was inthe public peace, and the great and mani- tended. He did believe that such a one fest encouragement of riot, tumult, and had been intended some time ago, but disorder ; and it enacts that all such that then it was not so; or if then inassemblies, committees, or other bodies of tended, that it would be trifling and conpersons elected, or otherwise constituted temptible. His objection to the bill was, or appointed are unlawful assemblies, and that it was a trick, making a supposed that all persons giving or publishing National Convention at Athlone, in 1793, notice of the election to be made of such a pretext for preventing delegation for persons or delegates, or attending, or vot-ever." ing, or acting therein by any means, are guilty of a high misdemeanour. The act concludes with a declaration, "that nothing in it shall impede the undoubted right of his majesty's subjects to petition the king or Parliament for redress of any public or private grievance."

All opposition was vain. The Government had fabricated an alarm purposely to get this act passed. Mr. Secretary Hobart's remarks on the occasion of this debate, expose clearly enough the whole policy of the Government:

Mr. Hobart declared, nothing gave him This measure gave rise to long and more pain than that the debate on this bill acrimonious debates. When it was in should have extended to such a length, or committee Mr. Grattan made a vigorous that it should, on the close of the session, speech against it: his chief objection to create anything like a disunion of sentiit was, that it was a false declaration of ment. He declared that nothing but the law, and deprived the subject of his con- very alarming state to which the country stitutional right of petitioning effectually had been reduced by a spirit of popular against grievances by rendering the pre-commotion excited by conventions, usurpvious measure of consultation and deli- ing the privileges of representation, and beration criminal. Especially he was assuming to control Parliament, could indignant that it by implication con- have induced him to consent to the introdemned all previous conventions of dele-duction of this bill; and even the noblegates which had ever been held, including his own Volunteer Convention. He said, "This bill is said to be an expedient to restore peace; why then is it a reflection? Why do the preamble and declaration pronounce every man who has been a delegate, all the Volunteers, the delegates at Dungannon, the delegates of the convention, the committee of the lawyers' corps, and the corps that appointed that committee; the committee of the Catholics, their late conventions, and all the Catholics who appointed that convention -that is, the whole Catholic bodyoffenders, men guilty of an unlawful assembly, and this moment liable to be

man who had brought it into the other House, before he had done so had considered it over and over again, and did not bring it forward until absolute necessity called for some effectual measure to stem the torrent of sedition, at a time when writs had been issued by the society called United Irishmen, for the purpose of assembling the convention at Athlone, and under a conviction that if Parliament should break up without adopting the bill, which in his idea never did, nor never was intended to meddle with the constitutional rights of the people, the constitution itself might be subverted before Parliament could be assembled

The act passed: on the final division, the were at once given up, and the question teller in favour of the passage was Arthur began to be, not how much must be conWellesley. There is not, and never was, ceded, but how much might be withheld. any such law in England. From that day So striking a change did not escape the to this, it has effectually prevented the vigilance of the administration; they inpeople of Ireland from deliberating in an stantly recovered from the panic which orderly and authoritative manner, by had led them into such indiscreet, and, as means of accredited delegates, upon their it now appeared, unnecessary concessions own affairs. It was afterwards the rock at the opening of Parliament; they dexahead which confronted O'Connell in all terously seduced the Catholics into the his agitation. This law it was which strong ground of negotiation, so well prevented his calling together the pro- known to themselves, so little to their mised "Council of Three Hundred," and adversaries; they procrastinated, and they left him only the alternative of inorganic distinguished, they started doubts, they "Monster meetings"-which latter indeed pleaded difficulties; the measure of relief were also made criminal by a prudent was gradually curtailed, and, during the interpretation of law tedious and anxious progress of discusIn this same session of Parliament, sion, whilst the Catholic mind, their hopes and before the passage of the Catholic and fears, were unremittingly intent on Relief bill, there was passed a new the progress of their bill, which was obMilitia bill, introduced by Lord Hills-viously and designedly suspended, the acts borough, to establish the militia, as his already commemorated (Militia, Gunlordship said, as nearly as circum- powder, and Convention Acts) were driven stances would permit, on the same plan through both Houses with the utmost as that of England." The whole num- impetuosity, and with the most cordial ber of men he proposed to be 16,000, upon and unanimous concurrence of all parties, a rough estimate 500 for each county. received the royal assent." The new Militia law was one of the most efficient of that series of measures now secured by the Government to enable them at any time to crush down every popular movement which was not to their own taste.

66

In fact, the leading Catholics, whether prelates or landed proprietors, seemed to be, or affected to be, quite satisfied with the poor relief they had obtained: and we find henceforth less and less disposition on their part to join in, or to countenance,

Irishmen.* In truth, there was no body of men in the three kingdoms more naturally disposed to abhor "French principles" than the Catholic peers, gentry, and bishops, who thought their own interests safer under the British Government than in the liberty and equality of a republic on the French model. The ablest workers, it is true, on the General Committee, John Keogh, M'Neven, and Richard M'Cormick, joined the United Irish Society, which had not yet become revolutionary, republican, and separatist, but which was soon to be forced into that extreme position.

The General Committee of the Catholics the ultra-liberal views of the United had adjourned after dispatching their delegates to the king, and they had left a sub-committee sitting in Dublin, with power to act for them between their rising and their next meeting; but they made a material alteration in its constitution, by associating to the twelve members who then formed it, the whole of the country delegates, each of whom was henceforward to be, ipso facto, a member thereof. They then resolved, unanimously, that they would reassemble when duly summoned by the sub-committee, who were invested with powers for that purpose. "We will attend," cried a member from a remote county (O'Gorman, of Mayo), "if we are summoned to meet across the Atlantic."

'The sub-committee had entered into a series of negotiations with Mr. Secretary Hobart respecting the details of their Relief bill. But although the original demand in the address to the king was for general relief, including admission to both Houses of Parliament, it soon became evident to the minister that they would take much less. Wolfe Tone, in his indignant narrative of these proceedings, says:

In the first interview with the Irish minister, the two Houses of Parliament

The same session of Parliament of 1793 saw the passage of some measures which had been amongst the favourite objects of the opposition for years. It seemed,

* One of the most striking indications of the success which attended the policy of Government to

attach to them the leading Catholics, and especially the bishops, and so keep the Catholic body out of the United Irish ranks, appears in the tone of the pastoral letters of various prelates to their flocks, in which they warned them against "nefarious designs and lawless persons. From this moment, also, the laborious Mr. Plowden, in his useful Historical Review, never has a good word for the did not choose to submit quietly and patiently to the unfortunate Defenders, or any other Irishman who very uttermost extremities of tyranny.

be carried. The conciliatory disposition of the Government abated sensibly in proportion as the French successes on the Continent seemed more doubtful. In fact, Dumouriez lost the Low Counties as quickly as he had won them: rather indeed he had given up his conquests to the Allies; having, as is well known, become a traitor to his country. The miserable wretch subsisted for many years on a pension from the English Government, and died in Buckinghamshire, in 1823. It was believed for a time in England that the French Revolution was going back, and that the danger was in a great measure past. They resolved therefore to rely on the trifling concessions they had already made to conciliate the opposition party and the upper classes of the Catholics, and to make relentless use of their new coercion acts in "stamping out" United Irishmen.

indeed, at the commencement of that But no general measure of reform could session as if the principle of Parliamentary Reform were to be admitted and fully carried out. The several great objects which had been urged by the opposition, ever since the last Parliament, with great perseverance and ability, were the Responsibility bill, the Place and the Pension bill. There were also other measures of great consequence, but of less general importance; such as the disqualifying of revenue officers from sitting in Parliament, and the repeal of the Police act. By the Responsibility bill, no money could be disposed of by the sole order from the king, as was before the case; for Irish officers were to sign all warrants; and every warrant and officer came before Parliament. The necessary consequence of such a bill was, that the hereditary revenue was given up, and, like the additional supply, voted annually. The great effect and consequence of such a measure any man who understood Government must see at a glance.

By the Pension bill all pensioners for years or during pleasure were excluded; and the sum, which then was near one hundred and twenty thousand pounds a year, was reduced to eighty thousand.

By the Place bill, all new places from the date of the bill were disqualified. Officers of revenue, whose duty required their absence from Dublin, were excluded; and the principle of excluding them all was carried.

Besides the acts already mentioned, the following popular acts were passed in the session of 1793, viz: (33 Geo. III., c. xxv.) "An Act to encourage the Improvement of Barren Land;" (xxxi.) “An Act for regulating the Trade of Ireland to and from the East Indies, under certain conditions and provisions for a time therein mentioned;" (33 Geo. III., c. xxxiv.) “ An Act for the support of the Honour and Dignity of His Majesty's Crown in Ireland, and for granting to His Majesty a Civil List Establishment, under certain Provisions and Regulations; (33 Geo. III., c. xli.) "An Act for securing the Freedom and Independence of the House of Commons, by excluding therefrom Persons holding any Offices under the Crown, to be hereafter created, or holding certain Offices therein enumerated, or Pensions for Term of Years, or during His Majesty's Pleasure;" (33 Geo. III., c. xlviii.)" An Act to Remove Doubts respecting the Functions of Juries in Cases of Libel;" (33 Geo. III., c. lii.) "An Act for the Advancement of Trade and Manufactures, by granting the Sums therein mentioned for the support of Commercial Credit."

The session was closed on the 16th of August, 1793.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

1793-1795.

Small results of Catholic Relief Bill.-Distinctions still kept up.-Excitement against the Catholics. -Trials of Defenders.-Packing Juries.-Progress of United Irishism.-Opposed by Catholic bishops.-Arrests of Bond and Butler.-Prosecution of A. Hamilton Rowan.-Last effort for Parliamentary Reform.-Defeated.-United Irish Meeting in Dublin dispersed by the Police.-Rev. Wm. Jackson and Wolfe Tone.-Rowan charged with Treason.-Rowan escapes.-Tone allowed to quit the country.-Vow of the Cave Hill.-Fitzwilliam's Administration.-Fitzwilliam deceived by Pitt.-Dismissal of Mr. Beresford.-Plan of Mr. Pitt.-Insurrection first.-"Union" afterwards. Fitzwilliam recalled.-Great Despondency. The "Orangemen."-Beginning of Coercion and Anarchy.

THE limited and grudging measure for relief of the Catholics had by no means had the effect of destroying the odious distinctions which had so long divided Irishmen of different religious persuasions. The law indeed was changed, but the insolent and exclusive spirit which had inspired the Penal Code, the very marked and offensive disabilities which still left the Catholic people in a condition of legal inferiority, gave the "Ascendency" ample opportunity to make them feel daily and hourly that they were still a proscribed and oppressed race. Great difficulties at first prevailed in raising the different regiments of militia; for

although Catholics were rendered capable English connection along with it. Great of serving in them, no Catholic officers numbers of them about this time joined were appointed; this marked reprobation the United Irish Society, which was not of all gentlemen of that communion so yet indeed a revolutionary or republican directly in the teeth of the act diffused a body in form, although its principal general diffidence amidst the lower orders, leaders were revolutionists in principle, and it was found necessary to appoint and already foresaw the necessity which several Catholic officers before the militia shortly after drove them into armed incorps could be completed. surrection. The Catholic bishops, it must be admitted (if it be any credit to them), most vehemently opposed the United Irishmen, and omitted no occasion of protesting their "loyalty," and pouring execration upon "French principles." the humble address to the King from nine Catholic bishops, we find these strong expressions, which prove a spirit of the most determined submissiveness under oppression :

In

Catholics were not yet eligible as mayors or sheriffs, but there was now no legal exclusion of them from the guilds of merchants. Accordingly, thirty highly respectable Catholic merchants of Dublin applied for admission into their guild, but were rejected on the mere ground of their religion. In every part of the kingdom continual efforts were made to traduce and vilify the whole Catholic body, in order to defeat and annul the measures which the legislature had passed in their favour. Never, perhaps, in all the history of the country, had the virulent malignity of the bigots been so busy in charging upon Catholics all manner of evil principles and practices. Their indignant denials of these imputations were utterly unheeded. Every town corporation followed the example of that of Dub-religious and moral principle. lin, and excluded Catholics even from the poor privilege of belonging to the guild of their trades. The growth and progress of Defenderism, particularly in the county of Meath, afforded fuel to the enemies of the Catholic body, which they studied to implicate in the outrages which were sometimes committed. Painful industry was employed to work up the imaginations of the inhabitants into the expectation of a general massacre of all the Protestants throughout that county. No arts were left untried to criminate the Catholic body; every exceptional word or action of an individual, however contemptible, was charged on the whole; and the object was now, not so much to suppress the Defenders, as to fasten their enormities on the Catholic body.

"Whilst we lament the necessity that inflicts the calamities of war upon any, even the most depraved, of our fellowcreatures, we incessantly supplicate the Almighty Disposer of events that, blessing your Majesty's arms with success, He may crown you with the glory of stopping the progress of that atheistical faction which aims at the subversion of every

On several trials which took place at the assizes for Meath County in prosecuting men charged with being Defenders, the juries were composed exclusively of Protestants. Catholics, it is true, were legally competent to sit on juries, but in every case of prosecution by the crown, the Protestant sheriff took care to show them that they were not regarded as "good and lawful men." Irritated and humiliated by such continued oppression, it is not wonderful if many of the Catholics began to despair of being ever allowed to live in peace and honour in their native land without such a revolution as would destroy both the "Ascendency" and the

"We look towards that unhappy nation which is the object of hostility, and acknowledge with humble thanksgiving the goodness of Divine Providence, which, under the best of constitutions, has bestowed on the land we live in freedom exempt from anarchy, protection guarded against oppression, and a prince calculated by his wisdom and virtue to preserve that happy condition of society."

It is a part of the history of our country that these four archbishops and five bishops did actually bear this high testimony to the freedom and happiness of Ireland, at a time when every accused Catholic was tried before a packed jury of his ememies-when no Catholic could be a magistrate or sheriff, and therefore nc Catholic had the least chance of justice in any court-when the unfortunate flocks of these prelates were having their stacks of grain sold to pay tithes to clergymen they never saw, and church rates to support churches which they never entered.

The government now began a system of active operations against the United Irishmen. Two of their chiefs, Simon Butler and Oliver Bond, the first a barrister, the second a Dublin merchant, had already, in 1792, been summoned to the bar of the House of Lords, charged with having acted as chairman and secretary of one of the meetings in Taylor's Hall, at which an address to the people was adopted,

to quote authorities for the right of having and of using arms, but we will cry aloud, even amidst the storm raised by the witchcraft of a proclamation, that to your formation was owing the peace and protection of this island, to your relaxation has been owing its relapse into impotence and insignificance, to your renovation must be owing its future freedom and its present tranquility; you are therefore summoned to arms, in order to preserve your country in that guarded quiet, which may secure it from external hostility, and to maintain that internal regimen throughout the land, which, superseding a notorious police, or a supected militia, may preserve the blessings of peace by a vigilant preparation for war.'

very strongly denouncing the corrupt bility attached to your character, and the composition of Parliament. This was permanent obligations of your constituconstrued as an offence against the pri- tion. We will not at this day condescend vilege of Parliament; and Butler and Bond were condemned to be imprisoned for six months, and to pay each a fine of £500. The next leader marked for vengeance was the famous Archibald Hamilton Rowan, the friend of Tone, and one of the boldest of the early chiefs of the Society. It was determined to prosecute him on a charge of sedition, on account of an address "to the Volunteers," adopted at a meeting where he acted as secretary. The address had been adopted and published two years before; yet the government had hesitated all this while to bring him to trial. In fact, arrangements had first to be perfected to ensure the packing of the jury. This was done by making John Giffard, one of the most unscrupulous and indefatigable partisans of the "Ascendency," one of the sheriffs of Dublin; he knew precisely on what jurors the Castle could depend. It was on occasion of this trial that the system of jury-packing was thoroughly organised and reduced to an .art; it has since that time formed the chief instrument of British government in Ireland.

The prosecuted address was written by Drennan, and its first paragraph will show the nature of the "sedition:

"Citizen-soldiers, you first took up arms to protect your country from foreign enemies and from domestic disturbance; for the same purposes it now becomes necessary that you should resume them. A proclamation has been issued in England for embodying the militia, and a proclamation has been issued by the Lord-Lieutenant and Council in Ireland for repressing all seditious associations; in consequence of both these proclamations, it is reasonable to apprehend danger from abroad and danger at home. From whence but from apprehended danger are these menacing preparations for war drawn through the streets of this capital, or whence, if not to create that internal commotion which was not found, to shake that credit which was not affected, to blast that volunteer honour which was hitherto inviolate, are those terrible suggestions, and rumours, and whispers that meet us at every corner, and agitate at least our old men, our women, and children? Whatever be the motive, or from whatever quarter it arises, alarm has arisen, and you, Volunteers of Ireland, are there fore summoned to arms at the instance of Government as well as by the responsi

The address went on to recommend a civil and military convention, which was not against the law at that time, though in the next year the "Convention Act" was passed to prevent all such assemblies.

Upon this the Attorney-General filed an ex-officio information. The trial came on the 29th January, 1794, though the information had been filed as far back as the 8th of the preceding June. Upon calling over the jury one of them was objected against, as holding a place under the crown, but the Attorney-General insisted upon the illegality of the objection, and observed, that it went against all that was honourable and respectable in the land. It was, therefore, overruled by the court. After a trial of about ten hours, the jury found Rowan guilty. This was very unexpected by Mr. Rowan's party. A motion was afterwards made in court to set aside the verdict, and grant a new trial grounded on several affidavits. The motion was argued for six days, and was at last discharged. The grounds upon which the defendant's counsel rested their case were, 1. Upon the declaration of a juror against Mr. Rowan, viz., that the country would never be quiet till he was hanged or banished. 2. Upon the partiality of Mr. Giffard, the sheriff, who had so arrayed the panel as to have him tried by an unfair jury. 3. Upon the incredibility of one Lister, the chief and only witness against him; and 4. The misdirection of the court. The sentence of the court upon Mr. Rowan was to pay to His Majesty a fine of £500 and be imprisoned two years, to be computed from the 29th of January, 1794, and until the fine were paid, and to find security for his good behaviour for seven years, himself in £2000, and two sureties in £1000