Cockayne. He had managed however to take a dose of arsenic before coming into court, and dropped dead in the dock.

But now happened an event which gave the Catholics hopes of complete emancipation. Towards the end of 1794 people's minds became greatly excited in Ireland when it became known that Pitt had determined to adopt a policy of conciliation, to drop coercion, and to remove all the remaining restrictions against Catholics. With this object Lord Westmoreland was recalled, and the Earl of Fitzwilliam, a just, liberal, and enlightened

man, having large estates in Ireland, came A.D. 1795 over as lord lieutenant on the 4th of January, with full authority and with. the firm determination, which he did not conceal, to completely emancipate the Catholics; and they gave him an enthusiastic reception, for his intentions had become known. The proposed measure would, as Pitt believed, attach the body of the Catholics to the empire, a thing of vital importance; for the French were at this time everywhere victorious on the Continent, and there were fears of an invasion.

Fitzwilliam at once applied himself to the work entrusted to him. He removed Edward Cooke from the post of under-secretary, on a pension of £1200 a year; and also John Beresford, the commissioner of customs, whose relations held most of the lucrative offices of his department, and who retired on full pay. Both of these had been identified with the system Lord Fitzwilliam came to break up. In the joy of the good news, parliament, on the motion of Grattan, voted £200,000 for the expenses of the navy in the war now going on with France, and 20,000 men for the army. The whole country was in a state of excitement; innumerable

petitions poured in from Catholics and Protestants alike; and it is interesting to note that one of the strongest addresses in favour of the intended, measure came from the purely Protestant corporation of Derry, the descendants of the very men who had so valiantly defended the city a century before against the army of the Catholic King James.

As the first direct move, Grattan, having previously arranged the matter with the viceroy, brought in a bill, on the 12th of February, for the admission of Catholics to parliament; and there was almost perfect agreement on the question in the whole house. But an unexpected obstacle arose which disconcerted all the plans for reform, and dashed the hopes of the country. A small mischievous clique at the Castle, led by Fitzgibbon, Beresford, and Cooke, took determined steps to defeat the bill. Beresford went to England and had an interview with the king, to whom he made bitter complaints, while Fitzgibbon submitted an elaborate statement to show that his majesty could not consent to Emancipation without breaking the coronation oath. Between them they seem to have persuaded the king that the Protestant religion was in danger. On the other hand, it would appear that Pitt and the rest of the English Cabinet permitted themselves to be intimidated by Beresford and Cooke.

While all this was going on in England, Fitzwilliam was allowed to proceed openly with the measure in Dublin; and when the whole country was in a flutter of expectation, and after the large supplies mentioned above had been voted, the English minister turned right round; the king refused his consent, without which no measure could pass; orders were sent to stop the bill; and the whole matter came to an end. Emancipation

was abandoned, Beresford was restored, and the old policy of hostility to Catholics was reA.D. 1795 sumed. Earl Fitzwilliam was recalled and left Ireland on the 25th March. He was escorted by sorrowing crowds to the water side, and his coach was drawn along by some of the leading citizens, while the shops were closed and the city put on the appearance of mourning: mourning and gloom with good reason, for by that fatal blow the joyous loyalty of the whole country was suddenly changed to sullen distrust, discontent, and disloyalty. And as if to show in the clearest way that the government approved of what had been done, Fitzgibbon, one of the chief agents in bringing about the withdrawal of the bill, was immediately afterwards made earl of Clare. That cruel disappointment spread sorrow and indignation all over the country, not only among the Catholics, but also among the Protestants of the two parties—the moderates led by Grattan and the more advanced represented by the United Irishmen; and from whatever causes it may have arisen, it was in a great measure answerable for the tremendous evils that followed. The king's objections are commonly put forward as the reason of the sudden change of policy. But some suppose that the whole scheme was planned by Pitt in order to obtain large supplies from the Irish parliament: at any rate it is certain he made no attempt to bring round the king by argument.

Later on in this same year, under Fitzwilliam's successor, Lord Camden, a measure was passed of great importance to the Catholics of Ireland. Catholic young men who wished to become priests had long been in the habit of going to France for their education, as they had no opportunity of getting educated at home.

The

government were well aware of this; and as they feared that the young priests, after so long a residence in France, might come back imbued with

A.D. 1795 republican or revolutionary ideas, they founded the college of Maynooth for the education of the Catholic clergy, and endowed it with an annual grant of £8000.

Ornament on leather case of Book of Armagh. From Petrie's "Round Towers."

CHAPTER LXV.

A.D. 1795-1797.-George III.

LOOM and silence had marked the departure of Lord Fitzwilliam. The arrival of his successor Lord Camden, on the 31st March 1795, was signalised by a furious riot in the streets of Dublin; several houses belonging

to unpopular members of the government were attacked; the military had to be called out; and two of the mob were killed. The people all over the country became exasperated and desperate, and hoping for foreign aid, their leaders came to the fatal determination to attempt revolution and the establishment of a republic. The United Irishmen banded themselves as a secret, oath-bound, and of course illegal, society; and their republican principles were spreading fast among the Catholics; but the government were kept well informed of their proceedings, through Leonard Mac Nally and others within their body.

The great majority of the leaders of the United Irishmen were Protestants, who were all for Catholic Emancipation. But in many parts of Ulster there was, all along, bitter strife between the lower classes of Catholics and Protestants; strife and mutual hatred which had