The R. H. John Fane, Earl of Westmorland. Lord Liew of Speland 1790.

CHAPTER XXIX.

COMPACT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND PRISONERS OF STATE.

A NEGOTIATION with the Irish government to effect a compromise between it and the state prisoners we have already stated had been commenced*—and the capital convictions of Byrne and Bond induced the leaders, then in custody, to bring the agreement to a close, in the hope of saving from the extreme penalty of the law two persons held in high consideration by the disaffected. Many versions of this political arrangement have been given to the world-and the account of its rise, progress, and completion, as detailed by Neilson afterwards, gives a plain and succinct account of what occurred. He states, "that the first proposal to enter into terms with government, was made to him by his attorney, Crawford, the middle of July.' That the proposal was taken into consideration, and on the 22nd of July, Mr. Dobbs, a member of the Irish parliament, took on himself the office of mediator between the government and the prisoners, and entered into a negotiation with Neilson on their part. On the following day, the 23rd of July, Mr. Dobbs communicated with Lord Castlereagh, and his lordship said, before any thing was determined on, 'the result of Bond's trial must be first known.'

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"On the 27th of July, a government official, Mr. Alexander, communicated with Bond, and undertook, at his desire, to ascertain at the castle how the proposal would be received; and at his suggestion, Neilson drew up a paper stipulating that the lives of Byrne and Bond should be saved-and on that day, Mr. Dobbs and the sheriffs went round the prisons and got the names of several of the prisoners to it. The day following Byrne was executed, pending the negotiation. The reason given for Byrne's execution was, that all the prisoners had not signed the agreement. Arthur O'Connor states, that he was applied to on the 24th, by Mr. Dobbs and one of the sheriffs, who brought the agreement to him signed by seventy of the state prisoners. A second time, however, the agreement was taken round the prisons, and it then received the signatures of all the state prisoners, with the exception of Dowdall and Roger O'Connor.

In endeavouring to accommodate matters with the government, we have already stated that Neilson was actuated by feelings of ardent friendship. His apology for originating this compromise is a curious

This account of the compact of the state prisoners with the Irish government is taken from the original draft of that document in the handwriting of Emmet, Sweetman, and M'Nevin, drawn up by them in France, on their liberation from Fort George.

exposé of the character of the man, and the singular position in which he stood himself, when overtures were made to the executive.

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"It is necessary to state how he himself (Neilson) stood at the commencement of the negotiations. He had been served with a copy of the indictment; he had been brought up from his cell in irons, to have counsel assigned; he refused to name any, lest he might, in any degree, give his concurrence to the transactions of a court, which, he said, he looked upon as a sanguinary tribunal for conviction and death, and not for trial: stating further, that to him it appeared that justice had slid off her base, which had been taken possession of by brutal force.' He was afterwards brought up and arraigned; next day his cell was searched, and the outline of the defence he intended to make was found concealed under a flag, and carried off in triumph to the castle. It went on the ground of justification, expressed in the strongest manner he could find language for, and proposed to plead guilty to every count in the indictment, provided they would expunge the obnoxious appellations. His trial was immediately put off, sine die, and a few days after he was again brought up, when, at the pressing request of his friends, particularly of Mr. Curran, he acquiesced in the nomination of counsel and agent, who had immediate access to him in consequence; and one and all assured him, that, so far as they could learn, there was not evidence to be adduced against him that could in any way affect his life. This he states, in order to satisfy every person, that his own case had no concern whatever in the transaction.

"Those who know him best will readily give him credit, when he says, that the failure of the insurrection, and the daily execution of his virtuous friends in town and country, martyrs to the same cause, had, so far from creating a terror of death, actually made life a burthen to him. He further declares, that so far as he knows, there was not a prisoner who took part in this measure, but was actuated chiefly, if not solely, by considerations of a nature far from selfish or personal; by far the greater part of them were, and had long been, imprisoned merely on suspicion; nor was there any idea whatever of bringing them to trial at that or at any other time."

It is only necessary to connect the portions of Neilson's account, suppressing extraneous details. The agent of communication first selected was Lord Charlemont; but with every wish to interfere, and terminate by judicious concessions on one side, and submissions on the other, the feverish excitement which left the kingdom unsettled and insecure, bad health rendered that nobleman unequal to the task, and he devolved it upon the nominee of his borough-the benevolent and

eccentric Mr. Dobbs. Neilson's narrative thus continues :

“Mr. Dobbs did not see Lord Castlereagh until next morning, the 23rd, at half-past ten o'clock. At this time, Bond's trial had commenced, and he (Mr. Dobbs) was told that the result of the trial must be known in the first instance. Bond was condemned on the following morning a necessary consequence of accusation before a tribunal when the law of treason was so extended as to embrace the population

of the land, and whose juries were sanguinary Orangemen. He was conducted to Newgate, the same prison in which I was. I testified to the turnkey an anxious wish to see my old and intimate friend previous to his death.

"This wish found its way to Sheriff Pasley, who, actuated by motives of humanity, ventured to take me to the place where Byrne and Bond were confined. I then met the other sheriff and Mr. Alexander, from the castle, who, being a relation of Bond's, and probably having known of the communication through Mr. Dobbs, had called to see him. I asked Bond if he had heard any thing upon the subject, but neither he nor Byrne knew any thing of it. I stated the plan and its object in a few words; every person present approved of it. Bond and Byrne gave it their approbation, as tending to stop the general effusion of blood, but insisted that their own particular cases should not be considered as of any importance in the general question.”

Some state difficulties occurred-a few of the prisoners had declined to sign the agreement-and the government, acting with a sternness of purpose, scarcely excusable under the circumstances, sent Byrne to the scaffold. But the arrangement was finally completed-and a short document annexed was signed by the leaders of the United Irishmen :"That the undersigned state prisoners in the three prisons of Newgate, Kilmainham, and Bridewell, engage to give every information in their power of the whole of the internal transactions of the United Irishmen; and that each of them shall give detailed information of every thing that has passed between the United Irishmen and foreign states; but that the prisoners are not, by naming or describing, to implicate any person whatever, and that they are ready to emigrate to such country as shall be agreed upon between them and government, and give security not to return to this country without the permission of government, and not to pass into any enemy's country: if, on so doing, they are to be freed from prosecution, and also Mr. Bond be permitted to take the benefit of this proposal. The state prisoners also hope that it may be extended to such persons in custody, or not in custody, as may choose to benefit by it.

"Dublin, 29th July, 1798."

A treaty, on more than one occasion, embarrassed with difficulties which rendered its completion an uncertainty, at last was fortunately concluded. Delegates were required from the prisons of the metropolis, and four were nominated by the détenu to represent them, and Messrs. Emmet, M'Nevin, and O'Connor had a final and satisfactory interview with Lords Clare, Castlereagh, and Mr. Cooke.*

*28th.-Mr. Dobbs received a letter from Mr. Cooke, stating that, in consequence of his interview with the prisoners, he was persuaded it was not their intention to give the full and candid information as required by the paper; and that Mr. Bond's execution could not be postponed, unless the gentlemen would give government unequivocal proof of the sincerity of their intentions. Whereupon it was agreed that three persons should wait on Lord Castlereagh to remove the difficulties and explain, when Thomas A. Emmet and W. J. M'Nevin were despatched from Kilmainham and O'Connor from Bridewell.

An examination before the secret committee of the House of Lords resulted and some interesting disclosures were made. One extract, taken from Ridgeway's Reports, when Thomas Addis Emmet was under examination, is highly characteristic of the motives of at least a section of the conspirators :

"Lord Dillon.Mr. Emmet, you have stated the views of the executive to be very liberal and very enlightened, and I believe yours were so; but let me ask you, whether it was not intended to cut off, in the beginning of the contest, the leaders of the opposition party by a summary mode, such as assassination? My reason for asking you is, John Sheares's proclamation, the most terrible paper that ever appeared in any country: it says, that many of your tyrants have bled, and others must bleed,' &c.

"Emmet.-My lords, as to Mr. Sheares's proclamation, he was not of the executive when I was.

"Lord Chancellor.-He was of the new executive.

"Emmet.-I do not know he was of any executive, except from what your lordship says; but I believe he was joined with some others in framing a particular plan of insurrection for Dublin and its neighbourhood; neither do I know what value he annexed to those words in his proclamation: but I can answer, that while I was of the executive, there was no such design, but the contrary, for we conceived when you lost your lives we lost a hostage. Our intention was to seize you all, and keep you as hostages for the conduct of England; and after the revolution was over, if you could not live under the new government, to send you out of the country. I will add one thing more, which, though it is not an answer to your question, you may have a curiosity to hear. In such a struggle, it was natural to expect confiscations; our intention was, that every wife who had not insti gated her husband to resistance, should be provided for out of the property, notwithstanding confiscations; and every child who was too young to be his own master, or form his own opinion, was to have a child's portion. Your lordships will now judge how far we intended

to be cruel.

"Lord Chancellor.-Pray, Mr. Emmett, what caused the late insurrection?

"Emmet.-The free quarters, the house burnings, the tortures, and the military executions, in the counties of Kildare, Carlow, and Wicklow.

"Lord Chancellor.-Don't you think the arrests of the 12th of

March caused it?

"Emmet.-No, but I believe if it had not been for these arrests it would not have taken place; for the people, irritated by what they suffered, had been long pressing the executive to consent to an insur

"29th.-The above-named had an interview at the castle with Lord Castlereagh, the Lord Chancellor, and Mr. Cooke, which was satisfactory. They brought home an order for the admission of our friends.

"30th.-Admitted to the jail at large, our solitary confinement having lasted twenty weeks."-Sweetman's Diary.