With the explanation thus furnished of the tardiness. displayed by the authorities in taking action, certain documents, however, conflict, and a letter from Lord Camden to the Duke of Portland, written in February, 1798, should be taken into account. In this communication the arrest of the rebel leaders, in the absence of evidence sufficient to justify a trial, is proposed; the suggestion, characteristic as it was of Irish administration of justice, being emphatically and unconditionally negatived by the Duke. Whatever may have been the cause of the previous delay, there can be no doubt that to Reynolds belongs the distinction of having made so definite a betrayal of the secrets confided to him, as holding a trusted position in the Union, as to place it in the power of the Government to strike with certainty and safety at the heads of the organisation. It was in November, 1797, that the meeting with Lord Edward had taken place, resulting in his advancement to a post of importance in the society of which he was already a member. On the 25th of the following February, chancing to have as travellingcompanion on some journey a Mr. Cope-a gentleman "in whose friendship and honour I had the most implicit confidence" (the words read like satire)-he was induced to disclose to him in part the extent of the conspiracy, with an account of the proceedings at the meeting already mentioned, held some six days previously, of which he had been furnished with a report by Lord Edward himself. Nor was this all; for he supplied further information with regard to a second projected meeting, to include the whole provincial Directory of Leinster, to take place in Dublin on March 12th, at the house of Oliver Bond. From this time the Government saw its way clearly. All was arranged with the authorities, and on the occasion of the proposed meeting the blow was to be struck. The day before the eventful March 12th was a Sunday, and on that morning Mr. Reynolds, whose proceedings at this juncture can be traced in curious detail, hospitably entertained at breakfast a member of the Society, "no particular conversation " taking place during the meal, owing to the presence of his wife. During a walk, however, taken by Reynolds and his guest before they separated, the latter enjoined upon the informer a punctual attendance at the meeting on the following day-an injunction to which Mr. Reynolds doubtless promised obedience; although he relates that later in the day, "not wishing to be at the meeting, as I knew it was to be arrested, I wrote a note to Bond, stating that Mrs. Reynolds was taken very ill," and consequently excusing himself from attendance. His Sunday's work was still incomplete. Having no doubt attended divine service in the interval, the ex-member of the Catholic Committee paid a visit to Lord Edward, then, with his wife, staying at Leinster House; with the object-in which he was successful -of inducing his young chief, for whom he appears to have entertained a genuine though incongruous regard, to absent himself from the meeting on the morrow. A printed paper produced by Reynolds and containing directions as to the course to be pursued by the Lawyers' Corps in case of riot or alarm seemed to Lord Edward to point to the possession of information of some kind on the part of the Government, and may have lent weight to his guest's representations. He wished, he observed, that he could get over to France, with which country communication was at that moment interrupted; since, once on the spot, he would be able, by means of his intimacy with Talleyrand, to hasten the French invasion. The most feasible plan, he added, would be to fill a few fast-sailing frigates with officers and Irishmen and such persons as were capable of drilling the forces, besides arms and ammunition, and to put off the general expedition for the present. Such was the substance of the conversation, subsequently reported by Reynolds to Government, after which the informer took his leave. Lord Edward, he added, wished him to stay to dinner, but he declined. He may well have considered his day's duty at an end, and, having gained the approval of his conscience, have retired to his well-earned rest. In one sense his work had been thoroughly performed. The measures taken by the Government next morning, in consequence of his disclosures, were attended with all but complete success. No less than fifteen members of the Committee were arrested at the place of meeting itself, while four others, absent from Bond's house when the raid was made, were taken into custody almost simultaneously. All papers were likewise seized. CHAPTER XVII 1798 Excitement in Dublin-Pamela-Lord Edward's Family- HAT March Monday must have been a day TH of excitement in Dublin. The Government and the Castle had their own cause of exultation, and the populace its own opinions upon that cause. When Lord Clare, hastily sent for on the arrest of the conspirators to attend the meeting of the Council, was hurrying to obey the summons, the mob greeted him with abuse, returned by him with interest, "cursing and swearing like a madman." Then, falling in with Lord Westmeath, the two entered a shop, procured pistols, and, thus armed, the Chancellor proceeded on foot to the Council. Many there will have been, throughout the length and breadth of Dublin, who, as the intelligence spread of the wholesale arrests which had taken place at |