observations, pronounced sentence of death upon the prisoners; and, at the prayer of the attorney-general, directed that it should be executed upon them on the succeeding day.

The following is a copy of Mr. John Sheares's farewell letter to his family. It is addressed to his sister, to whom he had been most tenderly attached. It may not have much literary merit; "but nature is there, which is the greatest beauty."

Kilmainham Prison.-Wednesday night,

"The troublesome scene of life is

nearly closed; and the hand that now traces these lines, in a short time will be no longer capable of communicating to a beloved family the sentiments of his heart.

"It is now eleven o'clock, and I have only time to address my beloved Julia in a short, eternal farewell. Thou sacred Power!-whatever be thy name and nature, who has created us the frail and imperfect creatures that we are, hear the ardent prayer of one now on the eve of a

most awful change. If thy Divine Providence can be affected by mortal supplication, hear and grant, I most humbly beseech thee, the last wishes of a heart that has ever adored thy greatness and thy goodness. Let peace and happiness once more visit the bosom of my beloved family. Let a mild grief succeed the miseries they have endured; and, when an affectionate tear is generously shed over the dust of him who caused their misfortunes, let all their ensuing days glide on in union and domestic harmony. Enlighten my beloved brother to him and his invaluable wife grant the undisturbed enjoyment of their mutual love; and, as they advance, let their attachment increase. Let my Julia, my feeling, my too feeling Julia, experience that consolation which she has often imparted to others: let her soul repose at length in the consummation of all the wishes of her excellent heart: let her taste that happiness her virtues have so well merited. For my other sisters provide those comforts their situation requires.

To my mother,-O, Eternal Power! what gift shall I wish for this matchless parent? -Restore her to that peace which I have unfortunately torn from her: let her forget me in the ceaseless affections of my sisters, and in their prosperity: let her taste that happiness which is best suited to her affectionate heart; and, when at length she is called home, let her find, in everlasting bliss, the due reward of a life of suffering virtue.

"Adieu, my dear Julia! My light is just out. The approach of darkness is like that of death, since both alike require me to say farewell! farewell, for ever! O, my dear family, farewell!-Farewell, for ever! "J. S."

In the cemetery of the church of St. Michan's in Dublin there are vaults for the reception of the dead, of which the atmosphere has the peculiar quality of protracting for many years the process of animal decay. It is not unusual to see there the coffins crumbling away from around what

they were intended for ever to conceal, and thus giving up once more to human view their contents, still pertinaciously resisting the influence of time. In this place the unfortunate brothers were deposited; and in this state of undesigned disinterment their remains may be seen to this day, the heads dissevered from the trunks, and "the hand that once traced those lines" not yet mouldered into dust.

CHAPTER III.

Trials of M'Cann, Byrne, and Oliver Bond-Reynolds the informer-Lord Edward Fitzgerald-his attainder— Mr. Curran's conduct upon the state trials-Lord Kilwarden's friendship-Lines addressed by Mr. Curran to Lady Charlotte Rawdon-Theobald Wolfe Tone-his trial and death.

THE trial of the Sheares's was followed by that of John M'Cann on the 17th of July, of William Michael Byrne on the 20th, and of Oliver Bond on the 23d of the same month. These were among the persons who had been at the head of the United Irishmen in the metropolis, and whom the government, upon information communicated by one of their associates, had arrested in the preceding March. Mr. Curran acted as leading counsel for them all; but his speeches in the two former cases having been entirely suppressed*, the present ac

* M'Cann and Byrne were convicted and executed.