By the time that the affair was sifted Lord Edward was probably not in a position to disprove any calumny. But the evidence of Cox-further declared to be "angry with the leaders of the United Irishmen "—will be scarcely accepted as weighing heavily in the balances against the witness borne both by Lord Edward's own character and by those who knew him best as to the spirit in which he carried on the struggle.

The second instance of a corresponding charge is to be found in a letter written at the end of this same year by Lord Camden to Mr. Pelham. McNally, the informer, is there quoted as declaring that the moderate party had carried their point, and that the intended proscription had been abandoned; adding that O'Connor, Lord Edward, and McNevin had been the advocates of assassination, the rest of moderate measures.

That it was ever Lord Edward's custom to favour the bolder policy, whatever might be the particular question at issue, is clear. It will also be seen that when, in the course of this year, a scheme was in contemplation having for its object the capture of the Castle and the barracks, he had argued in favour of its adoption. In the same way, at a later date, he supported the daring project of attacking the House of Lords at the moment when the peers were to be assembled in it, on the occasion of the trial of Lord Kingston. On the hypothesis, therefore, that the scheme alluded to by the informer was of a similar

nature to these, and one by which a blow would have been directed at the heads of the Government, it is likely enough to have commended itself to him; nor is it probable that he would have experienced more scruple in making himself master of the persons of the Government officials than was felt by the authorities themselves with regard to the wholesale arrests of the insurrectionary Directory. Assassination, however, is a wholly different matter; and those acquainted with Lord Edward FitzGerald's life and character will appraise the testimony which places him amongst its advocates at its just worth. With this notice of the accusation brought against him and the evidence by which it is supported, the subject may be dismissed.

Amongst the preparations for a rising now being actively carried on, negotiation with France, with a view to securing her co-operation, was naturally an item of the last importance. As early as the spring of 1797 a Dublin solicitor named Lewines had been accordingly sent to Paris as the accredited agent of the United Irish party. In May a further move took place. The Republic had despatched an emissary of its own, with orders to visit Ireland, with the object of obtaining information on the spot as to the true condition. of the country. Owing, however, to the difficulty of obtaining the necessary passports, it was found impossible for the envoy to carry out his instructions, or to proceed further than London. Under these circumstances Lord Edward was deputed to meet him there,

as the authority best qualified to supply the desired information as to the military organisation and resources of the Society of which he was by this time one of the recognised and accredited chiefs.

The information he had to impart, coloured by his sanguine spirit, must have been encouraging enough, so far as numbers were concerned. So extensive were the military preparations that it was computed that in Ulster alone no less than one hundred thousand men were enrolled and regimented. Such was the eagerness of these northern recruits to precipitate an appeal to arms that it was only by the authority of the leaders of the whole Society that they were prevailed upon to delay taking action till the arrival of the expected succours from France, which it was hoped would supply the experience and skill in which the Irish were, in spite of their ardour, lamentably lacking. In all parts of the country, too, as Lord Moira bore witness, the people, rendered desperate by their sufferings, were swelling the ranks of the Union. Had it been possible, at this time, when the enthusiasm of the people was at fever height and England embarrassed by foreign foes and mutinies at home-had it been possible to strike then, the history of the rebellion might have been a different one. But it was not to be; and in the summer an opportunity was allowed to slip which was not likely again to present itself.

A plan of insurrection had been prepared, mainly by the Ulster leaders, to which several hundred of the troops quartered in Dublin were ready to lend

their co-operation; while a deputation from the militias of Clare, Kilkenny, and Kildare had made, in the name of their respective regiments, the offer already mentioned, to seize the barracks and the Castle. It was a bold scheme, and, carried out, might have wholly changed the face of affairs; but, in spite of Lord Edward's advocacy, the Dublin Executive decided against its adoption, and the enterprise was relinquished, to the bitter regret of those who had seen in it Ireland's best chance of success. "It seems to me,' said Tone, writing at Paris, " to have been such an occasion missed as we can hardly ever see return."

He might well say so. It never did return. Meantime, the year 1797 drew towards its close, and no blow had been struck. But before the beginning of 1798 Lord Edward had made a new and disastrous acquaintance.

CHAPTER XV

Irish Informers-"Battalion of Testimony "-Leonard McNally
-Thomas Reynolds-Meeting between Reynolds and Lord
Edward-Reynolds and Neilson-Curran's Invective.

IT

T was an evil day for Lord Edward--an evil day for his party as well-when, some time in the November of 1797, he met, on the steps of the Four Courts, a gentleman named Thomas Reynolds, a United Irishman little known at the time, but who quickly rose to an unenviable notoriety, and will long live in the memory of his countrymen as the betrayer of his party and his chief.

The figure of the informer is one which, like a shabby and sordid Mephistopheles, is never long absent from the scene of Irish politics. His trade was sedulously fostered and encouraged by the English system of Government, and to it may be traced much of the alleged sympathy with crime and genuine reluctance to lend a hand in bringing the criminal to justice which has been so often used as a reproach against the Irish people. "The police are paid to catch you, and well paid," a priest is said to have told a member of his flock who, weary of the life of a