stationary camp at Vinegar Hill, and an attack on that post being apprehended, one hundred and thirty gunsmen were sent thither from Wexford, under the command of Captain Murphy. These men had not experienced any of the persecutions practised previous to the insurrection, and were consequently untainted with the rancorous spirit of revenge which they produced in other quarters. In short, they were remarkable for regularity of conduct, and they prevented a continuation of the cruel acts that had been hitherto perpetrated there; for being shocked on the morning of the 10th of June, which was the next after their arrival, by seeing a man put to death, the Wexford men would not witness such another scene, and they declared they would not permit another instance of the kind while they remained; and their humane example shamed the most refractory, whom they awed into order, so that not another person suffered on Vinegar Hill thenceforward until the 20th: therefore this important truth completely contradicts the greatly exaggerated accounts of daily victims, and the aggravated statements erroneously propagated of wicked atrocities committed there; and however lamentable it is that many persons were sacrificed to popular fury, yet it is somewhat consoling to be undeceived that half the numbers stated could not have suffered. I do not by any means intend to exculpate the atrocities committed on Vinegar Hill, as a sad catalogue of sufferers could be enumerated; but such misrepresentation has taken place, that I should consider myself deficient in the task I have undertaken, did I not take every opportunity of declaring facts as they occurred, however I lament the existence of the dreadful effects of popular fury. Any deviation from truth in stating such egregious enormities can take place only with a view to keep alive

those prejudices, which it is so much the interest of every true lover of his country to suppress; and to learn the real state of occurrences will be the best possible means of inducing contending parties to forgive and forget the past, and to cherish harmony in future. I must observe respecting those lists, denominated authentic, of persons said to be put to death in particular places, that it is necessary to be intimately and perfectly acquainted with the country and its inhabitants, to be able to discover that several individuals are multiplied in the account of their deaths, as the same person is mentioned particularly and generally, in one place by one, and in quite a different situation by another; and thus are narrators imposed on, not being so circumstanced as to be able to select truth from falsehood; for it by no means comes within the province of learning to sift and unravel the many confused stories of several persons, each varying the account of the same deed; which though in fact but one occurrence, yet might be mistaken for separate transactions, as no feature of coincidence is so discernible in the several relations of the same thing, as to exhibit the real and uniform picture. I have undertaken this narrative, with many facts of which I am unfortunately but too well acquainted, from no other idea but a wish to reconcile my countrymen, and not to let misrepresentation or falsehood pass to posterity; which must otherwise, perhaps, be as much imposed on, as those who have hitherto written on the subject, when it would be utterly impossible to obviate misrepresentation; and I write as much for the information of those who have been already led astray as for the public at large; and shall be happy to elucidate any particular that may not appear sufficiently explained, to convince them that I advance nothing for which I have not undeniable

authority, independent of my personal and local knowledge of the principal events; and if they feel the candor they profess, I trust they will do me credit for wishing to set them right, when they appeal to the public for information and correction of any errors that might possibly have crept into their works.

On the 10th of June an attack was made by some gun-boats on Fethard; where, after destroying all the boats, mostly belonging to poor fishermen, the crews set fire to and burned many houses. This occurrence, with several ships, seemingly of war, being seen off the coast, renewed the former opinion that a landing and attack were intended in the southern part of the county. Small camps of observation were therefore instituted at Carne and Rastoonstown, to be attended by all the married men of the neighborhood, they being supposed to prove more watchful for the protection of their wives and families, by obviating sudden emergency; while all the bachelors fit for actual service were ordered to attend at Lacken Hill. In Wexford, attempts were made to manufacture gunpowder to supply the scarcity of that article, which, however, did not succeed, for though it would explode, yet it was with little or no force. The weather continued remarkably fine and serene, a circumstance very favorable to the insurgents' mode of warfare, as they had scarcely any covering but a few booths or tents, not sufficient to contain even their officers; so that the camps were not much encumbered with equipage, and only requiring the choice of a field, and should one not prove ample enough for their numbers, the adjoining enclosures were occupied in sufficient extent to contain them in the open air.

Sir Thomas Esmonde, Bart., and Mr. Laurence

Doyle, officers in the Castletown yeomen cavalry, could not escape the general suspicion entertained against Catholics, and although they were known to have performed their duty at the battle of Arklow, yet this did not protect them from a most contumelious and public arrest on the 12th of June, at Arklow, whence they were conducted under a guard to Dublin, where they continued some days in confinement, and were then liberated without the shadow of a charge being brought against them. The impolicy of this and the like transactions in such critical times, is so flagrant, that it is astonishing to think they should be permitted to be practised; thus exasperating the feelings of any religious description, without more cogent reason than suspicion, was the occasion of many loyal Catholics not joining the army, as they were apprehensive that death might be the consequence of their being suspected.

As the insurgents had not a sufficiency of gunpowder to undertake any new attack, they remained inactive in their several encampments for some days; but in order to obtain a supply of that article, it was resolved to make an attack on Borris, the seat of Mr. Kavanagh, in the county of Carlow, where, it was supposed, lay a great quantity of arms and ammunition. A detachment accordingly proceeded from the camp on Vinegar Hill to that on Lacken Hill, where receiving reinforcement, the united party moved forward to the attack of Borris, where they arrived after a night's march, early on the morning of the 12th. The cavalry stationed there fled on the approach of the insurgents, but a party of the Donegal militia, who had taken up their quarters in the house, defended it with great bravery, keeping up a constant fire from the upper windows, and losing but one man in the course of the contest. The cannon the insur

gents had brought with them was too small to have any effect on the castle, as the only ball, discharged by one of them, rebounded from the wall, and an attack by musketry was of course considered ineffectual. As no hopes then remained of taking the mansion by assault or battery, considering the strength and thickness of the walls, and that the lower windows were also lately built up with strong masonwork, the assailants set the outer offices on fire, in hopes of forcing the garrison to dislodge themselves for their protection; but this manoeuvre proving ineffectual, and the insurgents having expended all their ammunition in useless efforts, and having burned some houses in the village, returned to the several encampments from which they had been detached in the county of Wexford.

The encampment on Gorey Hill had by this time removed to Limerick Hill, and the army, which was now daily reinforced, made frequent sallies from their several stations and committed the most violent excesses, putting to death every man who came in their way, whether by accident or otherwise, nor were the insurgents backward in retaliation; so that the situation of such as were placed between the contending parties was truly pitiable; being uncertain for an instant of the safety of their lives or properties, and equally subject to military and popular violence and devastation. Several strong reports had now prevailed throughout the county of Wexford, that the most desperate atrocities had been committed by the soldiery in their different quarters, and this roused the already irritated passions of the people to revenge, so as to be productive of many lamentable acts of outrage, ever attendant on civil commotion, and keeping alive those melancholy discords which never occur in modern times, between