1 "opinion is for the present too hardy, though liament as a barrier against that mischief, "which every honest man that will open his eyes must see, in every instance, overbears "the interest of Ireland. I have not said one "word that looks like a wish for separation, though I give it to you and your friends as my most decided opinion, that such an event "would be a regeneration to this country. The association was extended in Dublin and the northern counties with industry and success, The latter was greatly promoted by the displeasure occasioned by the French war-a mini, sterial measure adopted apparently without reason, and so highly condemned by many in the pation as to add prodigiously to the number of malecontents in both the British kingdoms.The rapacious insolence of the soldiery also, which had been very unwisely overlooked, or not sufficiently restrained, in the first years of this war, was certainly not well calculated for the promotion of affectionate sentiments toward administration, in the lower classes of the people in general throughout the kingdom.-In the marches of troops, on change of quarters, the Appendix to the report, &c. No. 2. horses of the farmers and peasants, pressed for the carriage of baggage, were brought to unreasonable distances, and severely abused, unless money was given by their owners to procure better treatment. Sometimes the carts were lost, and various other inconveniences occurred.Where they halted in their march, the soldiers dispersed themselves over the neighbourhood, seizing horses of which they had no need, merely to force the owners to release them by the payment of money.-The accommodation of soldiers billetted was also severely felt by some who were exposed to it from their situation; and money was extorted on this ground also. After some time, the grievance of pressing was redressed in great measure, perhaps partly by more attention to discipline, but certainly by the allowance of better hire for the transportation of baggage, by which the necessity, and consequently the pretence, of compulsive employment, was in a considerable degree removed. Yet the inconvenience has continued to be occasionally, sometimes severely felt, by the connivance of officers to the detriment of agriculture; of the numerous instances of which, one happened in my neighbourhood in April, 1802, in the march of the Kerry militia from Enniscorthy, when the country was harassed in an extent of many miles whereas at Grange, where a part of this militia was quartered, eight miles from Ennis corthy, horses were provided without any disagreeable circumstances, by the exertions of the Rev. William Eastwood, a magistrate, and the prudent conduct of Lieutenant Mahoni.* Discontents rose high on account also of the militia bill, which enacted compulsory levies of soldiers for the internal defence of the kingdom. On a return of the names of the males in each district of the military age, lots were drawn, and those on whom the chance fell, were obliged to enlist as soldiers for four years, to find substitutes, or to pay fines. Some individuals, unable to pay, sustained the seizure and sale of their goods; and some for intemperate expressions of discontent were committed to gaol. To make the burthen bear more equally, subscriptions were generally proposed and adopted to raise money for the enlisting of soldiers; and these subscriptions were for the time a heavy tax on peasants and citizens; but it was only temporary-for when this new species of army was once embodied, small bounties were found suffi * When a man would solieit employment, at the rate of two shillings a day for himself and his horse, in the drawing of lime from the distance of ten miles, which is the case in my neighbourhood, and yet would avoid, by every possible evasion, the drawing of military baggage, in which his earnings would be at least three times as great, we cannot suppose this preference to be without a cause. This cause arises from the inattention of officers, and the defective discipline of soldiers. cient to entice recruits for the filling of augmen tations, or vacancies. Not relying wholly on its force at home, the chiefs of the society made application to the French government; and in April, 1796, an invasion of Ireland was promised by the latter for the subversion of the British power in Ireland, and the political disruption of this island from Britain. The offer was accepted, on condition that the invading arniy should act as auxiliaries under the direction and pay of the society, which, on becoming possessed of the dominion, should be bound to re-imburse the whole expences of the armament.* The vigilance of government penetrated the design of internal hostility and external alliance; and as the existing laws were totally inadequate to stop the progress of the conspiracy, new powers were conceded by the legislature to the executive administration. In October, 1796, parliament suspended the law of Habeas Corpus, and thereby gave authority to imprison obnoxious persons without cause assigned, or definite period of trial. In the spring of the same year also, a temporary law, termed the Insurrection Act, had passed, levelled immediately against an irregular confederacy of men, who, under the name of defenders, infested the counties of Ros Appendix to the report, &c. Nos. 6 and 31. common, Leitrim, Longford, Meath, and Kildare, despoiling in the night the peaceable inhabitants of their arms, and latterly also of their money and valuable effects. By this act the lord lieutenant in council was authorized to proclaim, on the requisition of seven of its magistrates, assembled at a sessions of the peace, any county or district thereof, as in a state of disturbance, and thereby to invest the magistrates with an extraordinary power of seizing, imprisoning, and sending aboard his majesty's fleet, such persons as should be found at unlawful assemblies, or otherwise acting so as to threaten the public tranquillity. The operation of these temporary laws was forcibly felt in the latter part of this, and in the course of the following year. Considerable numbers of gentlemen, or persons in respectable situations of life, were arrested on private informations of their engagement in the conspiracy, and lodged in prison, many for a great length of time without opportunity of trial. Many districts in the northern counties were proclaimed, and numbers of the lower classes of men sent on board of the king's navy. These acts of severity, apparently inconsistent with the spirit of the constitution, were not without cause. A contest, or trial of strength, seems to have arisen between the existing government and the association, which of the |