tice to my character.On the 23d, Hugh Porter was tried and convicted at Carrickfergus, on the clearest evidence of summoning the people of Carmoney to assemble on the 23d of July; of going to Broughshone camp, as he called it; of returning on the 27th, and again threatening the neighbours if they would not aid in the insurrection.

On the 27th, Howley, who had hired the depot for the rebel arms and ammunition, and who shot Harlow, the keeper of the Tower, was tried and convicted.- -On the 1st of October, John M'Intosh was tried. It appeared, that he was a carpenter by trade, had rented the house in Patrick Street, where the explosion of gunpowder took place on the Saturday previous to the insurrection. On that occasion he would not accept of the assistance of his neighbours, but locked up the place, telling a man living next door to him, that the explosion was in consequence of an experiment tried by silk dyers. A peace officer went to the house the following evening, and ascertained the explosion to have been that of gunpowder; a parcel of which he found in an unfinished state, and some saltpetre. He also found in a chest about fifty fresh cast musquet balls, a volume of Volney's Ruins of Empires; and in the house were about two hundred pike handles, shorter than those with which he had afterwards become more familiar; but, in an adjoining house he found a parcel of bayonets with the 8ockets filled with wood, and as if they had been sawed from off the handles which were in the first house. It appeared that, after the explosion in Patrick Street, the prisoner went immediately to the depôt in Mass Lane, where he continued until the 23d July, actively preparing for the insurrection which broke out on that evening. When he insurrection took place, he was actively engaged in it: he was one of those who fired at the trooper who was killed; he was also among those assassins who stopped Lord Kilwarden's carriage; and he stood by while hat nobleman and his nephew were piked to death. It did not appear, however, that he inflicted any of the wounds, which were all given with pikes, he having been armed with pistols and a blunderbuss. After the defeat of the insurrection he fled, and as he was passing through Arklow, in the county of Wicklow, he was arrested by a magisrate, to whom he said that his name was Magrath, that he was a mill-wright by trade, was going to Waterford, had been working n the county of Wicklow, and had not been Dublin for three weeks previous to the VOL. IV.

23d July. Some persons were adduced to his character, but he was found guilty. Thomas Keenan was tried on the 3d. It was proved that he was an associate of M'Intosh, and was arrested with him; that he had been in the rebel depot in Mass Lane, during the week preceding the insurrection, as a carpenter, making pike-handles. He was found guilty.- -On the 5th Dennis Lambert Redmond was tried. It appeared from the evidence against him that he was one of those who planned the insurrection of the night of the 23d, after which he fled to Newry, where he was apprehended; that a paper was found in his possession evidently intended for publication, in which he exhorted his countrymen to be "as gentle as lambs, but as vigilant as lions, to avoid all these casualties which had occurred to defeat their cause during the rebellion of 1798, arising from drunkenness, infidelity to each other, and a base dereliction of the principle on which they ought to be steady and united." Some evidence was produred to his character, but he was found guilty. He afterwards confessed that he held an official station under the provisional government. On the 10th Thomas Russell was tried at Carrickfergus. It appeared on evidence that during the day of the 23d of July, he was at Loughin Island, endeavouring to excite the people to rebellion, telling them that the French would assist them, that arms and money were prepared for them, and that there would that night be a general insurrection all over Ireland; that he called himself a general in the rebel army, and had a general's uniform which he showed to the people at Annadorn; that on their refusing to rise, he threatened them, and told them he would go to some other counties where the rising would be general. When he was taken a proclamation was found upon him, intended to have been made public.-The examination of the witnesses lasted a considerable time, and the prisoner was finally found guilty. On being asked if he had any thing to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him, he addressed the Court in a speech of about twenty minutes, in which he took a view of the principal transactions of his life for the last thirteen years; and on a retrospective view of which he said he looked back with triumph and satisfaction; he endeavoured to vindicate his conduct from the criminality attached to it by asserting that in all he had done he acted from the conviction of his conscience; and axiously reque ted ૨ ૧ ૧

that the Court would make him not only the first, but the only life which should be taken on the present occasion.

REMARKS ON HIS MAJESTY'S SPEECH to Parliament, at the Commencement of the Session, on the 22d of November, 1803. EXTRACTED FROM THE MONITEUR,

Note the 1st. [This note refers to the mention made of the Islands of St. Lucia, Tobago, St. Pierre, and Miquelon.]-The Islands of St. Lucia, Tobago, St. Pierre, and Miquelon, belong to the Belligerent Power which is mistress of the sea. The emphatic eulogies of his Britannic Majesty on the great zeal and promptitude of his officers, and the forces which acted under their command, are truly ludicrous. There were at St Lucia one hundred and fifty men; at Tobago eighty; and at St. Pierre and Miquelon corporal and nine men.-Note the 2d. [This note alludes to the King's notice of the state of Ireland, respecting the late traitorous and atrocious conspiracy, and his Majesty's hope that his deluded subjects in that part of the United Kingdom are now convinced of their error.]—We cannot conceive' why his. Britannic Majesty should not mention the affairs of Hanover, and pass over in silence the importance which his ministers had formally promised in the House of Commons to assign to the mediation of Russia; but why should he fail to shew the same prudent reserve relative to Ireland, that unfortunate object of the interest and the solicitude of all Europe? Was it necessary to insult unhappy Hibernia, which for so many ages has witnessed, in the midst of it, the incessant renewal of the massacres of St. Bartholomew ? Here, ambitious men, covered with the Roman purple, butchered the Protestants; there, ambitious men, covered with the English purple, butchered the Roman Catholics! The code by which Ireland is at present governed, is more cruel, more atrocious than that of Marat. Every Irishman might ask his Britannic Majesty, where are the deluded? They are rather to be found in a government which supports its despotic authority by means of scaffolds, than among a people who claim liberty of conscience, the privilege of possessing property, and the rights which are attached to the dignity of human nature.-Note the 3d. [This note is intended as an answer to that part of the King's Speech, in which he trusts that his deluded subjects in Ireland having compared

For the Speech, see page 752, and for Mr. Cobbett's remarks, see page 760, of this vol.

the advantages they derive from the protec tion of a free constitution, with the condition of those countries which are under the dominion of the French government, they will cordially and zealously concur in resisting any attempt that may be made against the security and independence of his United Kingdom. -This is really surprising. Let his Britannic Majesty discover, if he can, in the four last years, in the course of which the revolution has been terminated, a single fact to support his arguments! Let him mention, through the immense extent of our territory, one country where the liberty of conscience has been restrained, where scaffolds have been erected, where conspiracies have been fabricated, for the purpose of destroying men of talents, overwhelming in blood the degrading apprehensions, and the just remorse, by which a violent and tyrannical government is always tormented! Your tyranny over Ireland resembles that of Carthage over the neighbouring states. It is severe and implacable. Note the 4th. [Here, on the heavy pressure which his Majesty laments must be unavoidably experienced by his people under the present circumstances, the French government says,] -The war has already cost the English nation 500 millions of livres. On the supposition that it may last five or six years longer, England will have paid three or four milliards of additional expense for the rock of Malta, which cost the Knights of St. John 200 millions during the two last centuries. Note the 5th. [This note refers to the magnanimous declaration of his Majesty, if the occasion should arise, to share the exertions and the dangers of his people, in the defence of their constitution, their religion, their laws, and their independence.]— Is it the King of England, the head of a nation which rules the seas and sways all India, that holds this language? What! six months have scarcely expired since your Prince, blinded by the shadows of a base ambition, and alarmed at the views of the ports of France and Holland, filled with fleets and armies, meditating the invasion of England, comes into the midst of you, and, in his terror, discovers to Europe and to France the fluctuations of his councils; and we already hear him talk of marching at the head of his people, to defend their religion, their laws, and their independence. What has reduced you to this extremity? Could you have held a different language if you had been defeated at Thebia, at Thrasymene, or at Cannæ ? As yet the contest has scarce. ly begun; you have experienced no reverses; on the contrary, you have hitherto succeeded

in every thing; and, notwithstanding, your cities are alarmed, and your councils require to be animated by the declarations of a Monarch, who professes his determination to die at the head of his people! Are the persons who suggest this inconsiderate language to him unacquainted, that Harold the perjurer also placed himself at the head of his people? Does it never occur to them that the illusions of high birth, the attributes of sovereign power and the purple robe, are, in the moment of danger, but weak defences against the casualties of battle? On that tremendous day all men are equal. It is experience, it is the superiority of tactics, and the coolness of the general, that establish the difference between the victors and the vanquished. A Monarch, of sixty-three years old, who puts himself, for the first time, at the head of his troops, would, on the day of battle, embarrass his own people, and increase the chances of success on the part of the enemy. The King of England talks of the honour of his crown, the maintenance of the constitution, their religion, their laws, and their independence." Was not the enjoyment of all those inestimable advantages secured by the treaty of Amiens? One would suppose, on reading this speech, that it was not the English ambassador who had the impudence to fix a period of only thirty-six hours to decide the question of war; and that, on the contrary, it was the French ambassador who demanded, at London, that, in thirty-six hours, the religion of England should be changed, the constitution abolished, and the kingdom dishonoured. Could not your religion, your constitution, and your honour, be preserved without Lord Whitworth's ultimatum? What connexion has the rock of Malta and the island of Lampedosa with your religion, your laws, and your independence? It is not for human foresight to penetrate the designs of Providence, and to discover the measures it may sanction in its profound wisdom for the punishment of perjury, and the chastisement of those who create division, excite war, and, under the vain pretexts or secret suggestions of paltry ambition, sport with human life; but we can venture to prophecy the event of this important contest; that you shall not retain Malta, that you shall not obtain Lampedosa, and that you will sign a treaty less advantageous to you than that of Amiens.-Note the 6th. [This note is caused by the expression of his Majesty's firm conviction that, should the enemy, contrary to all just expectation, attempt to exe

cute their presumptuous threat of invading our coasts, the consequence will be to them discomfiture, confusion, and disgrace.]Discomfiture, confusion, and disgrace! If the King of England is so confident of success, why does he not order his fleets and cruizers to allow us a free passage for a few days? We should soon see whether the result to the French would be discomfiture, confusion, and disgrace. All these rhodomontades are at once unworthy of a great people, and of any man in his sober senses. Had the King of England obtained as many victories as Alexander, Hannibal, or Cæsar, such language would not be the less absurd. The destinies of war, and the fate of battle, depend on a very trifling circumstance! so frequently does fortune prove blind and inconstant! But surely none but a person wholly deprived of his reason could affirm that the French army, which hitherto have not passed for cowards, should reap on the soil of Great-Britain nothing but discomfiture, confusion, and disgrace.-As to the presumptuous threat of which the King of England accuses his enemies, it would certainly puzzle his ministers to quote them. When did the First Consul, who has the sole direction of all the military dispositions, say that it was his intention to send an army into England? He has hitherto said only there shall be an encampment at the Texel, Ostend, St. Omer, Brest, Bayonne; and the army has been encamped accordingly. Cannot then, during war, troops be assembled in camps, without executing presumptuous threats? You admit that the French may penetrate into the heart of England. On this supposition, you offer to your people the defence of your head and hand, and you assure them, in a prophetic tone, that the consequence will be to the French army discomfiture, confusion, and disgrace: granted. But what would you gain by it? The advantage which you say you will derive from it will be "the glory of surmounting present difficulties," it was much easier not to occasion such difficulties; "of repelling immediate danger," it was much safer not to expose yourselves to that danger; "of fixing the safety and independence of the kingdom on the basis of acknowledged strength," but the treaty of Amiens had fixed the safety and independence of the kingdom of Great-Britain; "the result of its own tried energy and resources," what! whoever doubted that your people, who rule both hemispheres, are rich, brave, and full of energy-These expressions, "its own * Qqq 2

tried energy and resources," should indeed be heard over all Europe., Thus it appears, that you fight merely to shew that you can fight. You load your people with taxes, to shew that you are rich. You inflict calamities on the existing generation, to prove that energy which no person was desirous of disputing with you. Europe will decide whether such sentiments are the result of greatness, of weakness of mind, of wisdom, or folly. But were we to admit, from the inconstancy of fortune, and the vicissitudes of war, that the French army might reap in the heart of Great Britain discomfiture and disgrace; admit in your turn, that an army of veterans, every soldier of which has braved death in so many battles, and conducted by men whom Europe holds in some degree of estimation, may, by its bravery or its evolutions, carry into the midst of you disgrace, confusion, and discomfiture. What would be the advantage to France? Not that of surmounting present difficulties; she experiences none: not of repelling inmediate danger; in the present contest there is no immediate danger for her: not that of fixing the safety and independence of the state on the basis of acknowledged strength, the result of its own tried energy and resources; her safety, her independence, her force, her own resources, and her energy, are as evident as that the sun shines; they require no trial to prove their existence. The consequence would be, that she would wrest from you that trident acquired by fifty years of success, the valour of your ancestors, and preserved by the duplicity of your cabinet; to avenge the unfortunate country of Ireland, to restore it to the rank of nations, and to shed on that land, moistened with blood and with tears, the light of happier and more tranquil days. It would be * * * * * *.-This speech will be read with attention by all Europe, which will be struck by one extraordinary expression in it. What! the ministers of Great-Britain are silly enough to cause their Master to declare, on a solemn occasion, that on the fate of one battle depends the existence of that Colossus which crushes both worlds. If on the event of one battle the preservation of a single one of the newly-conquered departments of France depended, we are well convinced that she would have made peace, that she would not have resisted your unjust pretensions, and that she would have ceded Malta. Such conduct would have been consistent with those duties imposed on all those, whether chiefs or ministers, whose determinations influence the fate of nations.

A FORM of PRAYER, to be used in all Churches and Chapels throughout England, Ireland, Wales, and the Town of Berwickupon Tweed, upon Wednesday the Nineteenth of October, 1803, being the Day ap pointed by Proclamation for a General Fast and Humiliation before Almighty God, to be observed in the most Devout and Solemn Manner, by sending up our Prayers and Supplications to the Divine Majesty: for obtaining Pardon of our Sins, and for averting those beavy Judgements which our manifold Provocations bave most justly deserved; and imploring his Blessing and Assistance on the Arms of his Majesty by Sea and Land, and for restoring and per petuating Peace, Safety, and Prosperity to himself and to his Kingdom.

By his Majesty's Special Command.

THE ORDER FOR MORNING PRAYER. The Service shall be the same with the usual office for Holydays, except where it is in this office otherwise appointed.

Let him that ministereth read with a loud voice these sentences of Scripture; and after them the exhortation, dearly beloved brethren, &c.

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him: neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us.

In my trouble I will call upon the Lord, and complain unto my God. So shall he hear my voice out of his holy temple; my complaint shall come before him.

Instead of the Venite, this Hymn shall be used.-Unto thee, O Lord, will I lift my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee: O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.

Wherefore shall the heathen say, where is now their God?

The Lord is King, be the earth never so unquiet; the Lord is great in Sion, and high above all people.

I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the Heavens.

The waves of the sea are mighty, and rage horribly; but the Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier.

In the multitude of sorrows that I had in my heart, thy comforts have refreshed my soul.

The Lord is my refuge, and my God is the strength of my confidence.

Thou, O Lord God, art full of compas

sion and mercy, long suffering, plenteous in goodness and truth.

Teach me thy way, O Lord, and I will walk in thy truth. O knit my heart unto thee, that I may fear thy name.

Behold, O God our defender, and look upon the face of thine anointed.

Blessed is the man, whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are thy ways.

Lo! thine enemies make a murmuring, and they that hate thee have lift up their heads.

Make their faces ashamed, O Lord, that they may seek thy name.

The Lord shall give strength unto his people, the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name; O deliver us, and be merciful unto our sins for thy name's sake.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost:

As it was in the beginning, is now, and Amen. ever shall be, world without end. Proper Psalms, li. lxxiii. and exxv.-First Lesson, Isaiah xxxvii.-After the First Lesson, shall follow Te Deum laudamus, in English.-Second Lesson, St. Luke xxi. 7-19.-Then Benedictus, the Creed, &c. to the end of the Lord's Prayer.

Then the Priest, standing up, shall say, Priest. O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us, Answ. And grant us thy salvation. Priest. O Lord, save the King! Answ. Who putteth bis trust in thee. Priest. Send him help from thy holy place,

Answ. And evermore mightily defend

hurt him.

:

Then shall follow the Second and Third Collects at Morning Prayer, and the Litany, and then the following Prayer.-O Lord, our Heavenly Father, we acknowledge, with penitent hearts, that we have been blessed, ' beyond other nations, in the knowledge and undisturbed profession of thy truth, and in the long possession of abundant temporal prosperity and we confess, that, like the Israelites of old, we have too often turned our backs on thee, and sought our peace and security in our own inventions. Restore us, O Lord, to a dutiful sense of thee in this time of our visitation. Grant us grace to put away all ungodliness and sinful lusts, and so to hold fast the profession of our faith in purity of heart and mind, that thy judgments may be withdrawn from us, and we may become distinguished objects of thy mercy, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our mediator and advocate. Amen.

Then the people shall say this that followeth, after the minister.-Turn thou us, O good Lord, and so shall we be turned. Be favourable, O Lord, be favourable to thy people, who turn to thee in weeping, fasting, and praying. For thou art a merciful God, full of compassion, long-suffering, and of great pity. Thou sparest when we de serve punishment, and in thy wrath thinkest upon mercy. Spare thy people, good Lord, spare them, and let not thine heritage be brought to confusion. Hear us, O Lord, for thy mercy is great, and after the multitude of thy mercies look upon us, through the merits and mediation of thy blessed Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Instead of the Prayer in time of war and tumults, let the two following be used. O Almighty God, maker of the universe, and sovereign disposer of the affairs of men, at whose command nations and empires rise and fall, flourish and decay; we thine unworthy servants most humbly implore thy gracious aid and protection. We flee unto thee for succour, in this time of peril and necessity, when, in defence of our liberty, our laws, and our religion, we are exposed to the dangers and calamities of war, and threatened with invasion by a fierce and haughty foe, who would swallow us up quick, so wrathfully is he displeased at us: for that we alone among the nations are found to withstand his violent and unjust ambition. Vouchsafe, we beseech thee, thine especial blessing and protection to our most gracious Sovereign Lord, King George.