Extract of a letter found upon Oliver Bond, signed H. W. [Hug Wilson,] dated Cork, 6th, 1798. "I have been so cooped up since I came here, that had I known the situation of the place, my mind should never have been so abominably closeted, for any emolument that I may derive before a change in the present government takes place. "You can but faintly imagine how things are going on here: give the people but a little time, and rest assured the progress science is making will' astonish the world. The enemies of the human race are much alarmed, and the revolt of the Dublin -county militia has increased their fears. Mr. Finlay says, they are all assassins, and he is almost afraid to trust himself with them. I hear they are to be dispersed among the Highlanders through the country. Numbers of preachers of the true Gospel are better than few, and those dispersed grains may not fall upon rocky ground. "When the news came this morning of the Spanish fleet being out, the aristocrats seemed happy, saying, their doom was at hand, Jervis being after them. "With best regards to Mrs. Bond, and all friends, I am sincerely yours, H. W." The seizure of these papers betrayed so much of the plot to government, and the loss of some of their best leaders, threw the society into such consternation, that although the vacancies thus made in the directory and other committees were instantly filled up, (but by men of very inferior abilities) an immediate rising was judged necessary to prevent the total overthrow of the system. To prevent as much as possible the fatal effects of the despondency into which the members were thrown, a hand-bill, dated St. Patrick's day, March 17, was in the mean time circulated, of which we shall give the following extract: "For us, the keen but momentary anxiety, occasioned by "the situation of our invaluable friends, subsided, on learning "all the circumstances of the case, into a calm tranquility, a "consoling conviction of mind, that they are as safe as inno 66 66 cence can make them now; and to these sentiments were quickly added a redoubled energy, a tenfold activity of ex"ertion, which has already produced the happiest effects. The "organization of the capital is perfect! No vacancies existing, arrangements have been made, and are still making, to se"cure for our oppressed brethren, whose trials approach, the "benefit of legal defence; and the sentinels whom you have appointed to watch over your interests stand firm at their "posts, vigilant of events, and prompt to give you notice and "advice, which, on every occasion at all requiring it, rely on "receiving. This recital, Irishmen, is meant to guard those of " you who are remote from the scene of the late events, against "the consequences of misrepresentation and mistake. The 66 most unfounded rumours have been set afloat, fabricated for "the double purpose of delusion and intimidation. Your ene"mies talk of treachery, in the vain and fallacious hope of "creating it; but you, who scorn equally to be their dupes or "their slaves, will meet their forgeries with dignified contempt, "incapable of being either goaded into untimely violence, or "sunk into pusilanimous despondency. Be firm, Irishmen— "but be cool and cautious; be patient yet a-while; trust to no "unauthorised communications; and above all, we warn you'again and again we warn you-against doing the work of "your tyrants, by premature, by partial, or divided exertion. "If Ireland shall be forced to throw away the scabbard, let it "be at her own time, not at theirs." Meantime the military committee had digested a plan of insurrection which was to take place on the twenty-third of May. It was intended to seize Dublin, the camp at Laughlinstown, and the station of artillery at Chapelizod, on that night; in which the United in the counties of Dublin, Wicklow, and Kildare were to act; and the rebellion being thus commenced in the metropolis and its vicinity, the north and south were to rise immediately on the detention of the mail coaches. Government, however, were exceedingly active in precautionary steps:--On the twenty-eighth of February, Arthur O'Connor, James Quigley, John Binns, and two others, were arrested at Margate, while preparing to depart for France in order to hasten the intended invasion. Great quantities of pikes were every night discovered and seized by the activity of the magistrates in the metropolis. The lord lieutenant, on the thirtieth of March, issued a proclamation, commanding his majesty's military officers to employ the forces with the utmost vigour and decision. The inhabitants of Dublin were required to give in lists of all strangers who resided in their houses, many of the disaffected having fled thither from all parts of the kingdom, to secrete themselves from the arm of justice. On the tenth and eleventh of May, justice Swan, town-major Sirr, and Captain Ryan, seized five hundred pike handles and five pieces of cannon; and on the twelfth, Swan seized a large quantity of arms in a house on the custom-house quay. On the thirteenth and fourteenth, four pieces of cannon and a swivel were taken; and on the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth, immense quantities of arms of various descriptions, but chiefly pikes. Lord Edward Fitzgerald having absconded since the twelfth of March, and government having received undoubted intelligence that he was principal leader of the conspiracy, very just apprehensions were entertained, that wherever he might be, he was labouring with assiduity to forward the views of the conspiracy. Lord Edward had served during part of the American war in his majesty's forces, and was distinguished by his daring and intrepid courage, honour, humanity, candour, soldier-like deportment, and above all, by his superior knowledge of military affairs. At the conclusion of the war he retired on the half-pay list, but again entering into the service, he was promoted to the majority of the fifty-fourth regiment. On the return of his regiment to England, his lordship proceeded to Paris, in the beginning of the year seventeen hundred and ninety-two, where he imbibed principles of a highly republican cast, the too open and candid avowal of which induced the ministry to dismiss him from the service; as a man unworthy of the trust reposed in him. During his residence in France, his lordship married a lady of the royal blood of the Capets, daughter of the last duke of Orleans, who contributed to inspire him with revolutionary ideas. As lord Edward was eminently qualified for the excitement and direction of rebellious commotions, government on the eleventh of May had issued a proclamation, offering one thousand pounds for his apprehen |