Secret Service Under Pitt. Fitzpatrick William John
with France, the extent of the revolutionary armament, and the measures taken for the seduction of the army and militia. The papers were sent to Dublin and were laid before a secret committee.' See also correspondence
70
The spy sought to deceive the French Government in this report. The Cromwellian Settlers never thought of joining the United Irishmen. One of Turner's objects seems to have been to get a written undertaking from Talleyrand that the estates of these Settlers should be left intact, and money sent to promote an alleged treasonable conspiracy of Cromwellian Settlers against England, but which, in point of fact, did not exist. The Ulster Presbyterians were, no doubt, rebels; but these men were the descendants, not of the Cromwellian adventurers, but of King James's Planters.
71
This phrase is assigned to Talleyrand by Harel in the
72
The contractions 'he'd' and 'sha'n't' are entirely consistent with Turner's 'you'll' in the letter to Downshire, transcribed by me from the Pelham MSS. See p. 50,
73
This alternate blowing of hot and cold worked its end. A long letter from the Home Office furnishing secret items to Dublin Castle goes on to say (
74
The Cabinet, Mr. Froude says, was kept in utter ignorance of his name, and in the most secret despatches of the Home Office he is known only as 'Lord Downshire's friend.' These precautions will remind us of the cipher of the Louvais despatches, which has hitherto baffled all efforts to identify the Man in the Iron Mask.
75
The narrative of Edward J. Newell – the spy who turned against his employers – states (London, 1798, p. 59) that he was asked to give information 'against Charles Rankin and others for high treason.'
76
Our spy often refers to Rankin and others of Belfast: 'He [the betrayer] had fled with others from Belfast at the general dispersion of the leaders,' writes Mr. Froude, iii. 280.
77
Whatever he knew of Lord Edward Fitzgerald is told in the first letter. See pp. 5, 6,
78
This was Henri Grégoire, the celebrated Bishop of Blois – a most influential member of the National Convention, and afterwards of the Council of Five Hundred. The
79
Stone, see p. 33
80
Duckett, an Irish rebel agent, falsely suspected by Tone of being a spy, will figure in chapter x.
81
See p. 110
82
Possibly John Jeffrey, brother of Francis. He was a Scotchman, and usually resided in America (
83
See Froude, iii. 283, or
84
Compare letter from 'Castlereagh to Wickham,' p. 44
85
86
The precise and careful wording is that of a lawyer, which Turner was.
87
Mr. J. P. Prendergast, in his
88
I find in the contents of the long-sealed chest at Dublin Castle, 'The Examination of Samuel Rogers, of Cornhill, Banker,' regarding his relations with Stone, dated May 10, 1794. With it is preserved an autograph statement by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, technically called his examination, embracing ten folios, dated May 9, 1794, and explaining his intercourse with Stone.
89
90
91
Froude, iii. 287.
92
This announcement had its origin in one of the secret letters of McNally (MSS. Dublin Castle). Lawless was to sail for London 'to-morrow night,' he wrote, 'and ought to be watched every hour'; but nothing is said of the answer to France, of which Pelham declares he was the bearer. McNally lived in Dublin, was a United Irishman, and confidential lawyer of the body, but had been bought over. The strange story of his life is told in a succeeding chapter. This man was now asked to find out all he could about Lawless.
93
Lord Castlereagh, in a letter addressed to Colonel Lord William Bentinck, dated, Dublin Castle, June 24, 1798, and given to me by Mr. Huband Smith, states that, according to the information received, 'Mr. Stewart had accepted the post of Adjutant-General for Armagh in the rebel army. Bentinck, writing to General Nugent three days later, says that Stewart, when his prisoner, 'confessed to me privately that he was a United Irishman.' This tends to show how generally accurate was the information communicated through Downshire.
94
Trenor, Agar, and Curran. Trenor was the secretary of Lawless. Cloncurry's Memoirs state (p. 68) that the hardships to which Trenor was exposed brought on illness and caused his death.
95
It appears from a letter of Wickham's (
96
The
97
The imprisonment of Hamilton, the nephew of Russell, is noticed in the letter from Hamburg.
98
Wickham to Castlereagh, Whitehall, June 8, 1798.
99
McNally's secret letters, scores of which I have read in MS., make frequent mention of Braughall as a man with whom he was intimate; and it is likely that the news of Lawless's intended journey to England came from Braughall innocently. McNally, while incriminating others, uniformly seeks to exculpate Braughall, whose counsel he was (MS. letter of May 25, 1798). On June 13, 1798, he expresses his opinion that 'Braughall is an enemy to force'; and a characteristic hint drops: 'If Braughall could be made a friend – and I do believe he is not disinclined to be one, for I know he always reprobates tumult – his influence is great, and his exertions would go far to restore peace.' Braughall had been secretary