an unsparing hand. It is impossible to form any correct estimate of the number sacrificed to the fury of the soldiery. During the pursuit of Humbert, as the rebels preserved not even the semblance of order, but straggled where they pleased, it was not unusual to find them sleeping in dozens in the fields, some from fatigue, and more from drunkenness. No questions were asked-the coup de sabre, when on march―the arm of the next tree, if halting, ended all inquiry. At Ballinamuck, cœ victis was pronounced-no quarter was given-and to use Musgrave's words, "dreadful havoc" was made among the unfortunate wretches who were excluded from mercy and cut down by the hundred.*

It is not surprising that, although the surrender of Humbert's army might have been looked to as a certain event, still, until it actually occurred, the Mayo insurgents might have indulged in hopes that were beyond the chances of probability, and desperately continued in armsbut when the fate of the French army was ascertained, it would be supposed that the wretched rabble would have hastily disbanded. Such was not the caset-for, on the 12th of September, they made an attempt to recover Castlebar, and were repulsed by the small garrison of Fraser fencibles and loyalists-and although all the other towns were liberated from the presence of the rebels, they held Ballina and Killalla for fifteen days after Humbert's surrender.

It was a most fortunate circumstance that the rebel garrisons in both places were commanded by French officers, or there is little doubt that atrocities, similar to those committed in Wexford, might have eternally disgraced the Western peasantry. Charost, and his subordinate officers, were unwearied in affording protection to the persons

dreadful duty to devolve upon any regiment; but, somehow or other, men's minds had grown as hard as the nether millstone. I know it from my own feelings. I would go some miles out of my way to avoid an execution now, yet I well remember the indifference with which I looked upon such a spectacle in 1798."—MS. Journal of a Field Officer.

* "The rebel auxiliaries who had accompanied the French to this fatal field being excluded from quarter, fled in all directions, and were pursued with slaughter. The number of their killed is reported to have been 500, which seems much less to exceed the truth than returns of slain in the south-eastern parts of Ireland. Notwithstanding its diminution by desertions in its march, the force of the rebels accompanying the French army is said to have consisted of 1,500 men at the time of this surrender. The loss of the king's troops was three privates killed, twelve wounded, three missing, and one officer wounded, Lieutenant Stephens, of the carabineers. The troops of General Humbert were found, when prisoners, to consist of 748 privates, and 96 officers-a loss of 288 being sustained since their first landing at Killalla."-Gordon.

+ "The intelligence did not seem by any means to produce, on the minds of the rebels, the effect that might naturally have been expected-their gradual dispersion and return to their own homes. On the contrary, the resort to the camp in the bishop's meadows grew greater every day; the talk of vengeance on the Protestants was louder and more frequent; the rebels were drilled regularly; ammunition was demanded, and every preparation made for an obstinate defence against the arms of their sovereign. Careless of the future, or trusting to the delay which must be occasioned by the distance of the king's army, they thought of nothing but living merrily as long as they might, upon the property that lay at their mercy-and they did use their power of doing mischief most terribly."- Bishop Stock's Narrative.

and properties of the loyalists; and, in their humane and generous efforts, they were admirably assisted by the younger Barrett, who, it is gratifying to state, escaped the penalties of treason, to which, had he been unfortunately subjected, he would have had the sincere commiseration of the numerous Protestants whom he saved.*

"After remaining in a state of dreadful suspense for some months, he effected his escape to Sligo, where, in the disguise of a sailor, he entered on board a vessel, and sailed for America.

"There were many good traits in this young man's character which would entitle him to a better fate. He was brave and generous, humane and grateful; and his person and manners bespoke something much beyond his education and expectations in life; and it is only to be regretted that his loyalty was not sufficiently strong to enable him to resist the influence which was exerted to seduce him to join the enemies of his country.

CHAPTER XXIV.

SUPPRESSION OF THE WESTERN INSURRECTION-MILITARY EXECUTIONS--CONTRAST BETWEEN THE WEXFORD AND MAYO Rebels.

THE long-expected arrival of the royalists was at last announced by the sound of their cannon, as they threw a few shots into Ballina and drove out the rebel garrison. The rebels hurried off in dreadful confusion

join their confederates encamped about Killalla-and that succour was at hand, the almost-despairing loyalists were informed. "A troop of fugitives from Ballina in full race-women and children tumbling over one another to get into the castle, or into any house in the town where they might hope for a momentary shelter-continued for a painful length of time to give notice of the approach of an army."*

Early on the 23rd, the royal forces, despatched to crush the dying embers of the Western insurrection, were seen advancing, and the rebels immediately quitted their camp and took a position to receive them.

The place chosen on which to resist the threatened attack, was the high ground outside the town, on the Ballina road; and on either side the rebels lined the low stone walls of the numerous inclosures, which afforded excellent breast works, from behind which they could fire ou the king's troops as they were advancing. Learning that General Trench had divided his brigade at Crosmalina, and detached the Kerry regiment by the Foxford road to cut off the rebel retreat by that line, the insurgents pushed a corps of observation in that direction, and then awaited the coming assault. The affair that ensued was not an action but an execution.

"The two divisions of the royal army were supposed to make up about 1,200 men, and they had five pieces of cannon. The number of the rebels could not be ascertained. Many ran away before the engagement, while a very considerable number flocked into the town in the very heat of it, passing under the castle windows in view of the French officers on horseback, and running upon death with as little appearance of reflection or concern, as if they were hastening to a show. About four hundred of these misguided men fell in the battle and immediately after it."+

Nothing could be more contemptible than the effort made at resistance. "We kept our eyes," says Bishop Stock, "on the rebels, who seemed to be posted with so much advantage behind the stone walls that lined the road. They levelled their pieces, fired very deliberately from each side on the advancing enemy; yet, strange to tell! were

*Bishop Stk's Narrative.

+ Ibid.

able only to kill one man, a corporal, and wound & common soldier Their shot in general went over the heads of their opponents."

The slaughter that ensued was terrible. The rebels were cut down on every side where they attempted to escape; for, when driven from their post outside the town by a flanking fire of the soldiery, they fled in all directions, and were furiously pursued by the Roxburgh cavalry, who slaughtered many in the streets, and were either intercepted at the other end of the town by the Kerry militia, or, directing their flight to the shore, "the fugitives were swept away by scores, a cannon being placed on the opposide side of the bay, which did great execution."

In almost every instance these besotted men appeared to become only sensible of danger, when it was too late to be avoided. Some rushed for shelter into the houses-and when they succeeded in gaining an entrance, brought on the unfortunate inhabitants the indiscriminating violence of the soldiery. The innocent suffered with the guilty-and notwithstanding "the exertions of the general and his officers, the town exhibited almost all the marks of a place taken by storm. Some houses were perforated like a riddle; most of them had their doors and windows destroyed, the trembling inhabitants scarcely escaping with life, by lying prostrate on the floor; nor was it till the close of next day that their ears were relieved from the horrid sound of muskets discharged every minute at flying and powerless rebels. The plague of war so often visits the world, that we are apt to listen to any description of it with the indifference of satiety; it is the actual inspection only that shews the monster in its proper and full deformity."

In this scene of bloodshed and confusion, even loyalty was not a security. A gentleman was killed in his own hall, by a shot directed

* Bishop Stock.

† One melancholy instance of the innocent suffering with the guilty preceded the final defeat of the western insurgents. The plan adopted for the recovery of Killalla was a combined attack by Lord Portarlington and General Trench-in which the former, should assail the town by the southern road, and the latter, by the northern one, leading to Ballina. In accordance with these arrangements, Lord Portarlington marched early on the 21st of September, with the Queen's County militia, a troop of the twenty-fourth light dragoons, and the Tireragh corps, with two pieces of cannon. He bivouacked that night at Arkill Lodge. Some rebels appeared on the high grounds, but a round of the guns at once dispersed them. The following night Lord Portarlington halted at a place called Scurmore, and there a strong rebel body, commanded by Henry O'Keown and the younger Barrett, made a feeble attack upon the royalists, but they were easily repulsed, after sustaining a severe loss for their temerity.

"In this affair we have one calamity to lament, which left the strongest sensations of grief in every loyal heart. Not far from the scene of action lies the village of Carrowcarden, where a few Protestant families lived, who, from their peaceable demeanour and good conduct, possessed the regard even of the rebels; so that, partly by giving them entertainment and money as long as they were able, and partly by hiding themselves in the bogs and corn-fields, they had hitherto avoided the captivity which their brethren suffered.

"On this day, a rebel party commanded by John M'Donnough, otherwise Pitcher, on their march to attack the king's troops, were ordered to enter the village, and force every man who was able to carry arms to join their party. They there

at a rebel he was endeavouring to exclude; and the preserver and protector of the Protestants-Colonel Charost-had nearly lost his life through the rashness of an excited soldier. He had returned to the castle for his sabre, and advanced with it to the gate, in order to deliver it up to some English officer, when it was seized and forced from his hand by one of the Fraser fencibles. He came in, got another sword, which he surrendered to an officer, and turned to reenter the hall. At this moment, a second Highlander burst through the gate, in spite of the sentinel placed there by the general, and fired at the commandant with an aim that was nearly proving fatal, for the ball passed under his arm, piercing a very thick door entirely through, and lodging in the jamb. "Had we lost this worthy man," says the bishop, "by such an accident, his death would have spoiled the whole relish of our present enjoyment. He complained, and received an apology for the soldier's behaviour from his officer. Leave was immediately granted to the three French officers to keep their swords, their effects, and even their bed-chambers in the house."*

Heavily now did the vengeance of the executive visit the misdeeds of the disaffected. Moore, Blake, McDonnell, all gentlemen of old family and some fortune, had already paid their treason with their lives, after the surrender of the French at Ballinamuck; and the total dispersion of the rebellious rabble at Killalla was followed by fresh executions and severities-the leader and the peasant alike, finding ample cause to curse the hour when Humbert debarked upon their coast. On the peasantry, although they might evade the extreme

met with some of these poor Protestants, some of them reaping their corn, others concealed in their houses, all of whom they forced along with them at the peril of their lives, even without arms to defend themselves, and placed them in the front of the line.

"When the rebel army gave way, these unfortunate men fled among the crowd towards their own homes; but, having been overtaken by the cavalry, they fell in the indiscriminate slaughter of the rebels. It was in vain that they endeavoured to explain the cause of their being there, or to justify their conduct; as the troops, elate with victory, and inflamed with revenge, took no time to examine the circumstances of their situation.

"The loyalists had, soon after. the gratification of seeing Captain Pitcher taken prisoner, and having been convicted of that and other crimes, his life was forfeited to the vengeance of the law. This, however, was but a poor atonement to the community for the loss of many loyal, well-behaved, and industrious men, and no consolation to the unfortunate widows and helpless orphans whom they left behind, to deplore a loss which never could be retrieved."-Musgrave.

* "I had the great satisfaction of being the first officer to enter the bishop's palace, where we were received with equal joy by the French commandant and his brother-officers-Colonel Charost doing me the honour of presenting me his sword. He was a brave, honest, and most worthy man, and he assured me that he was truly delighted at our arrival, as he had latterly been in perpetual danger of assassination by the rebels; and indeed there was every reason for alarm. Mr. Fortescue, afterwards Lord Claremount, had been shot in the head by a slug fired by a rebel from the garden, a few moments before I entered the house. We passed ten days agreeably with the bishop's family and our prisoners. The table department was unexceptionable as the house was amply stored with luxuries and wines, plundered from the houses of the principal gentry, with beef and provisions laid in by requisition for he use of the French."