it-they escaped with comparatively trifling loss, and made their way to Wexford.

This was the last considerable action of the Wexford rebellion in face of the overwhelming odds against them the rebels lost heart and there was very little more fighting. Wexford was evacuated and was at once occupied by general Lake. Many of the leaders were now arrested, tried by court-martial, and hanged, among them Bagenal Harvey, Mr. Grogan of Johnstown, Matthew Keogh, and Father John Murphy, though Lake had been made aware that several of them had successfully exerted themselves to prevent outrage. The rebellion here was practically at an end; and the whole country was now at the mercy of the yeomanry and the militia, who, without any attempt being made to stop them by their leaders, perpetrated dreadful atrocities on the peasantry. They made hardly any distinction, killing every one they met: guilty and innocent, rebel and loyalist, men and women, all alike were consigned to the same fate; while on the other side, straggling bands of rebels traversed the country free of all restraint, and committed many outrages in retaliation for those of the yeomanry. Within about two years, while the disturbances continued, sixty-five Catholic chapels and one Protestant church were burned or destroyed in Leinster, besides countless dwelling-houses.

By some misunderstanding the outbreak of the rebellion in the north was delayed. The Antrim insurgents under Henry Joy M'Cracken attacked and took the town of Antrim on the 7th June; but the military returning with reinforcements, recovered the town after a stubborn fight. M'Cracken was taken and hanged on the 17th of the same month. In Down the rebels, under Henry Munro, captured Saintfield, and encamped

in Lord Moira's demesne near Ballynahinch; but on the 14th of June they were attacked by generals Nugent and Barber, and defeated after a very obstinate fight— commonly known as the battle of Ballynahinch. Munro escaped, but was soon after captured, convicted in court-martial, and hanged at his own door.

Lord Cornwallis, a humane and distinguished man, was appointed lord lieutenant on the 21st of June, with supreme military command. He endeavoured to restore quiet; and his first step was an attempt to stop the dreadful cruelties now committed by the soldiers and militia all over the country: but in spite of everything he could do these outrages continued for several months. Had he been in command from the beginning, instead of the harsh and injudicious general Lake, it is probable that the rebellion would have been suppressed with not a tithe of the bloodshed on either side.

After the rebellion had been crushed, a small French force of about a thousand men under general Humbert landed at Killala in Mayo on the 22nd of August 1798, and took possession of the town. Two Irishmen accompanied Humbert, Bartholomew Teeling and Matthew Tone, brother of Theobald Wolfe Tone. But as there was no sign of a popular rising, this little force, having first defeated the militia, and after some further skirmishing against vastly superior numbers, surrendered to Lord Cornwallis, and were sent back to France, all except Tone and Teeling, who were tried and hanged. This partial expedition was followed by another under admiral Bompart:-One 74 gun ship named the "Hoche," with eight frigates and 3000 men under general Hardi, among whom was Theobald Wolfe Tone, sailed from Brest on the 20th of September. The "Hoche" and three others arrived off Lough Swilly,

where they were encountered by a British squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren. There was a terrible fight of six hours, during which the "Hoche" sustained the chief force of the attack till she became a helpless

John Philpot Curran. From an Engraving by S. Freeman : and that from
original portrait.

wreck and had to surrender. Tone fought with desperation courting but escaping death. After the surrender, he was recognised and sent in irons to Dublin, where he was tried by courtmartial and condemned to be hanged.

He earnestly begged to be shot, not hanged, on the plea that he was a French officer; but his petition was rejected. On the morning fixed for the execution he cut his throat with a penknife. Meantime Curran in a masterly speech, succeeded on legal grounds in staying the execution for further argument; but Tone died from his self-inflicted wound on the 19th of November, 1798. In the numerous trials during and after the rebellion, Curran was always engaged on the side of the prisoners; and though he did not often succeed in having them released, his brilliant and fearless speeches were wonderful efforts of genius.

CHAPTER LXVII.

THE UNION.

A.D. 1799-1803.-George III.

THE opinion of the English prime minister William Pitt, the course of events for the last few years in Ireland had rendered the time opportune for his long cherished project of a Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland :-that the Irish parliament should be abolished,

and that there should be only one parliament for both countries. It was on all hands admitted that this could not be accomplished unless the Irish parliament willed it; and now that the rebellion was all over, he began to make carefully planned arrangements to secure a majority in favour of the Union: for he well

knew that there would be determined opposition in Ireland. On the 22nd January, the marquis of

A.D. 1799 Cornwallis being lord lieutenant and Lord Castlereagh chief secretary, the project of Union was, by Pitt's direction, indirectly referred to in the Irish parliament, in the speech from the throne; but the opposition at once took the matter up, and they were joined by many who had hitherto been supporters of the government, among others John Foster the speaker, Sir John Parnell chancellor of the exchequer, Prime sergeant Fitzgerald, and Sir Jonah Barrington: all fearing the loss of their parliament. They moved "that the undoubted birthright of the people of Ireland, a resident and independent legislature, should be maintained"; and after an excited debate of twenty-two hours, the votes were equally divided, which was considered a defeat for the government. Subsequently the opposition succeeded in having the clause referring to the Union altogether struck out of the speech: which meant that they refused even to consider the question. Parnell and Fitzgerald were soon afterwards dismissed from their offices. It is to be observed that in these divisions nearly all those who voted for Union were office-holders or pensioners of the government; while the great majority of those who voted against it were persons who had been freely elected.

In February the scheme was brought forward in the English parliament by Pitt, and approved. In Ireland. elaborate preparations were made to carry it in the next session. Persons holding offices who showed themselves adverse to the measure were dismissed, or brought round by threats of dismissal. The Irish government, as we have seen, had been all along corrupt; but now— still under outside orders-it went far beyond anything