Camden gazette. (Camden, S.C.) 1816-1818, November 15, 1817, Image 2
jfrfciti ahrestj and tliAt. I Vr.ouiJ he
permitted to return home immedi- |
arely. This letter I communicated j
tb Mr. Coote, who saui, that as (
government did not knew of my
arrest at the tifne Mr. Pelham v\ rote,
he could not let me go till he re
ceived an answer .from Dublin to
his letter, apprising the government
of my bein;* in custody . In a few
"tlays he received his orders, which
were to send a military officer to
attend me ; and captain Roche and
1 set out for Dublin. Thi Captain |
had a swurd, ami he had on his sabh
and gorget.. There is a high hill
between ?Bandon and Cork; we
^alighted from ourfcarriage j ic is a,
place of rendezvous ; some 20 or 1
30 carriages were assembled here; ,
? they had not seen me since my re
turn from England. Cape. Roche
first saw his danger ; his sword
could not defend him ; his snsh and
gorget could not protccc him. I
perceived the vvorkingsof his mind
a look of kindness from me to him
would save his life ; I superadded a
ivord of esteem. Captain Roche
was not molested. We arrive^ in
Cork that evening, where we halt
ed fon. the nieht. A man of the
city- got access to me. Cork is the
place of my nativity ; I have friends
there ; would that every man could
$ay the same where he is best known !
I discovered that it waj intended to
offer violence to captain Roche * I
prevented it. I took him in safety
to Dublin. On our way we called
at the camp at Arpfinnan^ where
the Wexford militia lay. All the
officers requested of captian Roche
to tell Lord Camden the services I
rendered them, and the thanks they
owed me. We arrived in Dublin*
and saw Lord Chichester, who li
terate me from arrest, and wrote
... to Mtv Cooke thax I was not to be 1
rtiolcfcted ag^in. I returned home,
and in the beginning of September j
I went to the a&Mze* of Cork, for j
the purpose of defending my ten- !
ants against the conspiracy before (
mention. I sent them all to their |
L homes, and prosecuted the witness- j
es, ?.vhro were both transported, for !
perjury to Botany Bay.
1 now hoped lo with my family
that peace which innocence has a) way* * j
Mfjbl 16 expect. 1 \v?i? cruelly deceived.
An uiitigmxl, tinawom-to paper was sent j
lor the grand jirry oji thelTth day of
theatstBe*, when two of the judges had
left the county ; and a bill of indictmcnt
was found against me !<>?? high treason.
On ibis paper I was arrested and ? 1 15 into
prison* where* in a dungeon nine feet
'*?quere, filthy beyond" description. I lay
rotting tor seven months,/ never havi^
fait tin; influence of the siw>, nor bven
breathed on ,by the a?r, during the whole
time ; at the end of which I was convey
ed from the dungeon to the court, to go
rhr&ugh a 41 trial," upon charges of every
Species of treason mid rebellion. Two
witnesses were brought up under a strong
military guard. They wire .sworn.?
What dit!*ihey'dtf|>o?e ? TIhU they knew
noting of lb ?? me ; What one of these p v
pers was written without the- Knowledge of
xht witnesses ; that wl?en it was read' to
bit*, be decl<tt*d it' to be false* and re
fused to awcur to it ; that he was offered
300/. k year to awrar to it, and threatened
to be Instantly s;? t if he persisted in his
ttefusal, and he did persist. 1 he other
t w' * M 9
witness swore* that what w*s callcd his
infot motion waa aU written down without
consulting him ; that when he refused tfc
si{*n it, he Was threatened to be h angel ;
and that, at length* he was prrsathd on to
l#it his imme to.it* on hia receiving a:> as
ttfrance thai it never was to appear, ami
that it waa'otaly a matter of form. I was
*C<|Wied instantly. * AH the people, all
%ht iftiliUuf, expressed their y>y ; the
trembled | Iks was seen stretchft\?
his impiormg arms Horn the bcnch to
it??i in the dock, amongst tobbeis and
Hammerers ; Ht Wat heard!* cry to me fi#
mercy to protect hem ;<and 1 did protect
him : noSa hair of hts Head w<t* touched.
OiT^my t?- n? *v%fclptd. j \ not oven
take one day** np>>**. No, my belovtrd ,
bro Uer wasa pmon*r at Maidstone ; he
is:ouc year youngtr thin I am ; we w? t
reared and educated Whether ; never ?>n*
day or ni^ht opait for 18 >*?*? The
?.hoi^l.t^ol hurt \j ,n:sHJ evt. ry ether irji ?
from n>y m! ; I set oH t? > him that ?-'>
uight, audainv'eU in Loi.don-m lour dJ^s,
as <??uckly as I cwtd t'HVcl. 1 wro'e lo
ihc duke of Portland fo* \n.i to be
admitted io :ny bio'her , I icceived Ins
answer ai live o'cj^ck n-'X* morning, by
four kind's nu tsengcrs, wun a warrant tu
an est uic , ni.d fioui my bed I was tjken
io the house uf Mi, Syivesier, and that
evening 1 <>*as iakeu?oFT for Irelaud. W e
1 mded about ten tones bom D iUin at
nig I it ; i :?4- ved Mr. Sylvester and ihe bow
street constable inv companion, honi u
watery ^r*>e, and conducted them sale to
Dublin, where wc arrived at Unee o'clock
in the morning. 1 now for the first time
since 1 left London, lay down, and had not
been in my bed more than three hou? s,
when Mr. Sylvester awaked me, that an
I ?
! other liing's messenger had thai moment
arrived from the duke of Portland, to lake
I me back instantly to London, i his was
about 7 o'clock m the morning ; about 12,
1 Mr. SyUesier informed me, that Mr.
Ci<oke desired to sec meal the cuslle. Mark
I
the instability oMortune. behold O'Connor
brought by ax rou stable, to have the liberty
of being admitted in the pie?ence of Mr.
hdward Cooke ! 1 did see him the inter
view was not of long duration ; the con
versation was not of many words, but it is
important. 1 abked him the meaning of
j|hese proceedings ; what post-haste trea
son 1 had committed in the lour days that
| I travelled from Cork to Lotion, above
4?^ miles. Hear his answer: ? We do
j not u pretend to have any charge against
you ; but we know your power, and sus
jxct your inclination ; had my advice been
taken, you should not have been brought
to trial in Cork* My opinion was, that
you should have been kept in confinement
under the suspension of the Habeas Cor
pus Act ; n nd it now appears I wa* right,"
Well, that afternoon, about 2 o'clock, T
was obliged to set off back again towards
London, where *ve arrived on the fourth
morning, having )>een forced to perform
jnufltics of nearly 12<r*0, miles, and cross
the Irish sea three times in thirteen d*ya
nights ; during the whole of which
time I never was permitted to tuke oS' my
clothes, nor to h<y down for more than
i seven hours ! I was kept in cusrtotty at the
! house of Mr. Sylvester, till my brother's
acquhal at Maidstone,* when we were b<?th
- takvn to Dublin, w here we vrere lodged in
the snme room, on ihe 2d of June 1798.
fn July, a special commission was opeiud
in Dublirt for the trial of all those against
whom any charges had betfn exhibited ; \
arwongat ivhom. mrither my brother nor. I
were. Three hud been executed/ M**.
Byrne, a relation of the Marchioness of
Duckingham, was condemned, and wav to
be executed on 24;hof.July? On Sunday f
the 23d, some negociation was set on foot,
in away never yet* ascertained, between
the goveimnit and some of the state pri
soner? in Dob* 1:1, of wh'ch, it ap^>cat t>
that neither my blroih^r nor I hail any inti
mation till Tuesday, whtu Mr. Dobtys and
the Sheriff ot* Dublin entered our apart
Tfitnt, and sbowtd u* a if*Pcrv pun>ortrng
to he an acquiescence, on vhr putt of se
venty three of tlic prisoners to give iiw
(orimifioi- of any arms, ammunition, ami
plans of warfare ; and ?o emigrate on cc n
dition of a (>eiwal amnesty ; arid of paf
don for Mr. l!yrne, Vho *as to ?he that
day ; and for Mr. (Oliver Hond, who ^'as
Bt that moment on his trial, if he shr#*>ld
be condemned. JVSy brother and I declin
ed entering into any agreement. Mt.
liyme w.ih ordered for instaete excculnui.
wliiph instantly took plar.r ; Mr. Bond
was to die on Fii ?* v. We heard no1 more
? f well remcnib-r, I never dtui forget,
the meeting at M a ids* one between Rmjp*r
and Arthur ( iT.miuor, Tlity had hot
seen eatfh other for very many months in
the interval they had both been imprisoned
and iheir liven put in jtaj^irdy. - Undei
what ctocumstanees 4'?d. t htry inert ! ! Riv
r \rt r Was a state piraoner in custody of u 1
. Kind's Me^sen^r, Arthur wu? in the
dock about to be tried- for llifch Treason!"*
I stood in the dock on the ri^ht hand of
Arthur O'Connor, the Ccurt had not yet
taken tlieir seats. I heat J u noise on my
right ami saw a di^niBvd and cnmmandi??
looking man ?nier the bar. ?? It is my j
brother ''tain Arthur in a voir* almost anf*
ft eated hy feeling. Reiser advanced to the
dock* Arthur fcraspvd htni hy the hand ;
they were not fx t imUed to interchange a
word ; the Mr tears rolled doWn their nwn
ly rhevks. th^v pressed tn< h oth+rf hands
aiuiparu'ii. l/m. 1
L cT i.c p3t>*er 14! evening Lie ;
w r?tn ihe Mine Mr. Uobbs, accftnipaiii-.il
by Mr. S amue I %*e lactone ol the prison
sr> from another of the prisons, came 10
'Jialwhrrr my '.>mther ? irf 1 lay. All rW.~
pilsners were called together ; Mr.
L)ov;oi produced a letter he bad just re
ceived from Mr. CookeycMting, u that if
n?y mother aad I wuu Id enter into a trea
ty with the government, by which we
sfi"o?iTd engage To give tvery liTfbt ntation
in our power to aH matters retaring~t<j The
rebellion, and particularly our relations
witii y j reign atsitea, there should be a gen
eral amnesty ; Mr. Band should be par*
doned, ancji wc should l>e permitted to eui
igfate lo any tuui- ;y, not at w*r with Eng
land ; but it we persisted in our refusal,
military commissions should be issued in
the north, for the trial of t'?e prisoners
there, the courts should /roceed m JJ^bll
and the yeomanry should remain on ac
:ire duty" YVc both refused* We said,'
\f M.tv arc any chariot a :ru in* t us, pro
ceed upon them. W hy proceed against
otln rs, became we will not enter into any
negocigjtiont ? We went to our own rooms,
whuher Mr. Dobiis presen'iy came. He
i ^presented to us the dreadful scenes of
?laughter and devastation thai would fol
low close upemour declaration. It appear?
that my brother was influenced by these
considerations ; and, to save an unarmed
People, he consented to sat riKce himself;
but 1 hsard these proposal* and threats
with a very different rar. My answer was
that I net at defiance all their machitiuHotm
?that I was ready to meet any charge !/.
could be brought against fne ; but that 1
Never would enter into any agreement with
the castle of Dub in during mv life.
Nothing was left unatu nipted to iixlirr.e
me by every fair promise,* bf to taUrn*h?.e
me by the most alarming throis, to sign
this agreement, sill writ u uu~va.il: // g, At
length Mr. Marsden came, as if netreily
and an a/riend% to let mc know what, by
chunct\ he had heard at ttic castle. That
it. was determined to tcize tny estate, if 1
did not comply. My answer wa*, that i
was prepared agaui>t every thing, that I
, -V*iis ah.solnte ncvcr to comply. ? -
Inconsequence of which, orders were
di* pitched To Ihe ofTicct" commanding at
Band on, to send detachments oi ho isl
and foot ?o take jmssession of n?y house,
which they did, to the amount of between 2
and 300 men ; they expelled f^Kr itj m:j
infant ch ildren , and my servants $ the cfli
cers broke open mv cellars, and dritlk*fcit
my wine ; they ordered the men to kill my
sheep and oxen, on which the whole pfcrty
subsisted ; they eonVerted'my iron gat*a
into shoes for their horstfa ; tlrey made!
filing of windows, doors and fran'Vs Af the
house and offices ; bfirned all my farming
utensils, destroyed my gardens and the
wall trees, the hot-house, and aU tb*
plants ; turned all their horses out into
young plantations, which were ail mined *?
Stole every thing moveabhr ; *r?*l commit
ted every species ol devastat ion, for eight
or nine weeks that ihty renr.iined there,
for which I never received one penny as
remuneration, from that day to this. Af
ter this visitation, it was again retired of
me to *igM the fia/irr . My answer was al
ways the same. Mill [ k^pt a prisoner ; <
and when those whr. had entered into the
agreement were sent to Scotland, I was
forced, by Justice Atkinson, and a company
of KuckingJiamshire militia, at the |*>?nt
ol the bayonet into a coarb, conveyed on <
board a tender, ? id' conducted to Purl
George, in which military Ranison I
. Ice ft) t for a ryrnr mml ten where, by
iht Cement treatment I received, I lost the
use of my lrmh% and was reduced to the
very vtr r\rr. of lift? ; af the end of which
r lime I w*s brought td London, and let f^o
on the 24th ok' January 1801, upjn a dread
fill t ecognteanct; to some immense amount,
not to return to TreUtml% and to reside in
Mich part of England, u% the king of Enj?- (
> land should from time to time appoint, (and
Middles^ was named) diving the then
war, I . took a house at Soulhgate, in I
? Middlesex, where I resided for half a yeat f i
' but having no land, to occupy my time.
( found one to suit me at KJfttree* Ai I
,*wa? a attangev, ami as the rent amounted
to S0<M. a year, I applied to my old friend
and companion, 8ir Franc* Ifcirdett, who
immediate!)* became my 9tc<irityt There
I live for' one year* then the treat? of
Aniicna taking pine*, 1 was desirous of re
turning to my own country, ami applied to
Sir Richard F-orcl, the magistrate, l*fore
whom 1 acknowledged the recogniaanec,
to j?e\ it up* After many fruit
less tfi'orts lie ar length informed me, that
it was determined ittrvcr to give i* up, as
loug VM'I retained the jfmcr of 'Hiring In
/*? A t'.A of tr'-iuij 1 Tl-UtUr |#
pail with Connor- viHcjhaa to tx shut-ou1
feu:a. m>^o*mirv. 1 ^ai a ^..?s7>ort* \9 '
IVelynri, ar.d, on ihe \ >t of Mjy, >8t>3, I
rlA a l+xiHT* fvrr^<rr% nf ths ;..'ace qf rny
fu riimt days. Whereupon, 1 i?<h up mf.
rccoRniz.nct: immediate!) . I purchase*?*
for tony thousand pounds, froi* J.trd
ll'ellrslr y, the castle and estate n| Durt?
j?a?i, within a few miles of Dublin, where
1 hire resided w?tn my fa roily ever sinc?? ?
coming occasionally to visit Su* Francis
Burxiett, and a few other friends in Eng
land. where, though I hdvx- I have
ne* ? beeo known, 'directly or indirectly!
to interfere with any concern* ftf the conn-'
try ; I never attended a public meeting ?f
a pub.ic dinner; though 1 have *wn*
I; ieiula, I seUloui 4?auciate WltAipp{gf oN
but S+r Francis Hurdett and
>iy fortune is ample; and neither I. not
am one < ?f my familr rver ate cine inoiih 1
no! Uroduc d.J'rotn our oiru e.*'i f.trt,
We Pt vrr received any of the people s
monev in the ih.tpe of pensions and plates :
nur w is any nnnS meal or comforts evef
dmumsbed bjr one of us. $vn civ, 'thru, I
must be a u:\jiC .?:W('Vu/ t ri:ii?r .' \w ftne,
many, vtry many of the people of Ireland
loved me ; li e militia li as a tiat bed to nic.
1 surrender* d or the solemn fault of u pro
clamation, which fu ? I h , towftids pie, wes
broken ; 1 protected captain Koch^; 1 uc
I ended the judge ; 1 saved Mr. Sylvester,
ami The Bow?street ctmstable. T here is n.o
kind of place* that has not been my pri
son ; my own bouse, camps, guaid- houses
taverns and holds castles wherries, pack
et-boats, mesnengers* houses, court-houses,
bridewells, siateprisons (as they are call
ed) tenders, garrisons, paiuces ; and as a
prisoner, have 1 travelled about from my
own house in the fcouth, to Carriekfer$tfrr,
in the north of Irtlrnd ; from the westefn
| extremity of Wales to Maidstone, nearly
i the * extern e*trlmity of England ; from
1 Dublin to Fc rt St. George in Scotland,
within 40 miles of Jno. 0?Grot*s house, to
Ivoru on, In mail-coaches, backney-co.,ch.
es, post carriages, aftdcurte ; on foot and
on horseback ; and :*tl because (for l.knoW
of no other cause) that, ten yraisJielhte
the hcencb Revolution, 1 saw the absolute
1 necessity ii{**-Iit/ormin-tfrrt^rrmmovnrq/' Jr.'"
1 land, which was acknowledged afterwards
I by tl* factions of England aivd Ireland ; act I
bccuuse l would hot consent to a Legisla
tive 'Union, which I regarded as equally
ruinous to both parts of the kingdom*
On the whole, then, let tUa * people of
England) noru that thsy are in /lajaewnn
their ?cber a cnst&y decide l>et\veblf tny
Ibcusers and me, SM^nthor the laws were
infrmgey by Mtr., who have gone through
every ordeal; who always courted Investi
gation and enquiry ; who ?ir years never
ceased to demand trial ; or by t hem v ho
sought the ptoteclioVof a Bill of fndeiftni.
ty? pass*H 4?y an d'i^embty of Which they
tbemsehrs made ^ pn?t. ?
o L L l\ CtE o FOll f/f ?
Ca^DKN (lAZETIfi
Fkom Trr Portsmouth Okagi**!
THE PREV/ilKtt.
a The rich man hqi,ft done wrong, and yel
h r ~~lfwr aT{rne t h xvltjui ^ ; the / tuor tttmn ii*
i?rovgfu\ a net hr mint intrpat afnef* ,v /
Is then- a country or action on cafthm
which there canbu fotmd ^ua. and dfstribii'
tivc justice ? Is there a situation to bo ijti
aglnod, wl^i e thd rich and lioorwillffcoefro'
equal attention? Wi^jhaiKient or itiodertrsto
cy tell us of apUfcc where the litoif arc pat*
L urd by tmnotiecd) and j>ooit have >Many
Ifrtenii* ? Ha# H *V*&CTOten known- tine*'
God spake light from darknc?s> wort AT
from chaov that the ri$hfe>of thenon md'
Kouii have been oquaily regarded? Cm
f we not find one solitary kftance far tbo
honor of minion B&turc, inhere wo oan state
that the rich and' tho 'poor have beets'
considered as belonfcmft to the ntfmcracc of
being* ? So not one ! u Ah the proud hate*
In. utility, so doth the rich abhor tH*
-poor." ,ThO foibtea and c*en the rices of
% rich man, if not approved arc toiily
pa 1 >i*?d ; the n im* trifling irieguherilfc* of
a poor man vto severely censured. 4
r 1 have frequently, in tho village *hetV
I live, J>a?t 4y the doora of ftio and tile
, poor, the one frred ajmpttn*iei}f eferyday,
? the other, by the aweat of hi# OTW,oljfarf
ed a wretched soppott. 1 ceroid on this sub
I ject a tale of woe unfold * whose slightest
word wtittWI harrmv the afcul." Shall I
forbear ? Myiovabf mi), urgtsmc to desia
my love of Jrari/*!* forces me to procced.
? VifUwiJimt tny friends, yonder cot. "I rs*
. j-iHOinrc^in the n >o<l, at a disiancc. from
my otier dwelling, and one would havr,
'tlio't free from the ointrucuvr tread, or the
^ras^in^ power of t'?c To -.viiomi