same love of liberty and the same courage with which the rest of your countrynien are animated:-We now turn to that portion of our countrymen whose prejudices we had rather overcome by a frank declatheir ration of our intentions, than conquer persons in the field; and in making this declaration do not wish to dwell on events, which, however theymaybring ten-fold odium on their authors, must still tend to keep alive in the minds, both of the instruments and victims of them, a spirit of animosity which it is our wish to destroy. We will therefore enter into no detail of the atrocities and oppression which Ireland has laboured under during its connexion with England, but we justify our determination to separate from that country on the broad historical state. ment, that during six hundred years she has been unable to conciliate the affections of the people of Ireland; that during the time, five rebellions were entered into to shake off the yoke; that she has been obliged to resort to a system of unprecedented toiture in her defence; that she has broken every tie of voluntary connexion by taking even the name of independence from Ireland, through the intervention of a parliament notoriously bribed, and not representing the will of the people; that in her vindication of this measure she has herself given the justification of the views of the United Irishmen, by declaring in the words of her ministers-That Ireland never had, and never could enjoy, under the then circumstances, the benefits of British connexion; that it necessarily must happen when one country is connected with another, that the interests of the lesser will be borne down by those of the greater. That England had supported and encouraged the English colonists in their oppression towards the natives of Ireland: that Ireland had been left in a state of ignorance, rudeness, and barbarism, worse in its effects, and more degrading in its nature, than that in which it was found six centuries before +."-Now to what cause are these things to be attributed? Did the curse of the Almighty keep alive a spirit of cbstinacy in the minds of the Irish people for six hundred years? Did the doctrines of the French revolution produce five rebellions? Could the misrepre. sentations of ambitious and designing men drive from the mind of a whole people the recollection of defeat, and raise the infant from the cradle, with the same feelings Lord Castlereagh's Speech. 4 Considerations on the State of Affairs in Ireland, by Lord Auckland. with which his father sunk into the grave? deny that there are some men, who, not the question which is now to receive a solemn, and we trust a final decision; if we have been deceived, reflection would point out that conduct should be resorted to, which was the best calculated to produce conviction on our minds. What would that conduct be? It would be to shew us, that the difference of strength between the two countries is such, as to render it unnecessary for you to bring out all your force; to shew to us that you have something in reserve wherewith to crush hereafter, not only a greater exertion on the part of the people, but a greater exertion, rendered still greater by foreign assistance; it would be to shew to us, that what we have vainly supposed to be a prosperity growing beyond your grasp, is only a partial exuberance, requiring but the pressure of your hand to reduce it into form. But for your own sake, do not resort to a system which, while it increased the acrimony of our minds, would leave us under the melancholy delusion that we had been forced to yield, not to the sound and temperate exertions of superior strength, but to the frantic struggles of weakness, concealing itself under desperation. Consider also, that the distinction of rebel and enemy is of a very fluctuating na ture; that during the course of your own experience, you have already been obliged. to lay it aside; that should you be forced to abandon it towards Ireland, you cannot hope to do so as tranquilly as you have done towards America; for in the exasperated state to which you have raised the minds of the Irish people: a people whom you profess to have left in a state of barbarism and ignorance, with what confidence can you say to that people, "while the advantage. of cruelty lay upon our side, we slaughtered you without mercy, but the measure of our own blood is beginning to preponderate; it is no longer our interest that this bloody system should continue, shew us then that forbearance which we never taught you by precept or example; lay aside your resentment: give quarter to us; and let us mutually forget, that we never gave quarter to you."-Cease then, we intreat you, useJessly to violate humanity, by resorting to a system inefficacious as an instrument of terror; inefficacious as a mode of defence; inefficacious as a mode of conviction; ruinous to the future relations of the two countries in case of our success; and destructive of those instruments of defence which you will then find it doubly necessary to have preserved unimpaired. But if your determination be otherwise, hear ours. We will not imitate you in cruelty; we will put no man to death in cold blood; the prisoners which fall into our hands shall be treated with the respect due to the unfortunate but if the life of a single Irish soldier is taken after the battle is over, the orders thenceforth to be issued to the Irish army are; neither to give or take quarter.-Countrymen, if a cruel necessity forces us to retaliate, we will bury our resentment in the field of battle; if we were to fall, we will fall where we fight for our country. Fully impressed with this determination, of the necessity of adhering to which past experience has but too fatally convinced us; fully impressed with the justice of our cause, which we now put to issue, we make our last and solemn appeal to the sword and to Heaven; and as the cause of Ireland deserves to prosper, may God give it victory. CITIZENS OF DUBLIN, A band of patriots mindful of their oaths, and faithful to their engagements as United Irishmen, have determined to give freedom to their country, and a period to the long career of English oppression.-In this endeavour they are now successfully engaged, and their efforts are seconded by complete and universal co-operation from the country, every part of which, from the extremity of the north to that of the south, pours forth its warriors in support of our hallowed cause. Citizens of Dublin, we require your aid; necessary secrecy has prevented to many of you notice of our plan, but the erection of our national standard, the secret, though long degraded Green, will be found sufficient call to arms, and rally round it, every man in whose breast exists a spark of patriotism, or sense of duty; avail yourselves of your local advantages; in a city, each street becomes a defile, and each house a battery; impede the march of your oppressors, charge them with the arms of the brave, the pike; and from your windows and roofs, hurl stones, bricks, bottles, and all other convenient implements, on the heads of the satellites of your tyrant, the mercenary, the sanguinary soldiery of England.-Orangemen, add not to the catalogue of your follies and crimes; already have you been duped to the ruin of your country, in the legislative union with its ******; attempt not an opposition which will carry with it your inevitable destruction; return from the paths of delusion, return to the arms of your countrymen, who will receive and hail your repentance.-Countrymen of all descriptions, let us act with union and concert; all sects, Catholic, Protestant, Presbyterian, are equally and indiscriminately embraced in the benevolence of our objects; repress, prevent, and discourage excesses, pillage and intoxication; let each man do his duty, and remember that during public agitation, inaction becomes a crime; be no other competition known than that of doing good; remember against whom you fight, your oppressors for six hundred years; remember their massacres, their tortures, remember your murdered friends, your burned houses, your violated females; keep in mind your country, to whom we are now giving her high rank among nations; and in the honest terror of feeling, let us all exclaim, that as in the hour of her trial we serve this country, so may God serve us in that which will be last of all! Conformably to the above Proclamation, the Provisional Government of Ireland decree as follorus: 1. From the date and promulgation hereof, tythes are for ever abolished, and church lands are the property of the nation 2. From the same date, all transfers of landed property are prohibited, each person holding what he now possesses, on paying his rent until the national government is established, the national will declared, and the courts of justice organized.-3. From the same date, all transfers of bonds, debentures, and all public securities, are in like manner and form forbidden, and declared void, for the same time, and for the same reasons.-4. The Irish generals commanding districts shall seize such of the partisans of England as may serve for hostages, and shall apprise the English commander opposed to them, that a strict retaliation shall take place, if any outrages contrary to the laws of war shall be committed by the troops under his command, or by the partisans of England in the district which he occupies.-5. That the Irish generals are to trear (except where retaliation makes it necessary) the English troops who may fall into their hands, or such Irish as serve in the regular forces of England, and who shall have acted conformably to the laws of war, as prisoners of war; but all Irish militia, yeoman, or volunteer corps, or bodies of Irish, or individuals, who, fourteen days from the promulgation and date hereof, shall be found in arms, shall be considered as rebels, committed for trial, and their properties confiscated.-6. The generals are to assemble court-martials, who are to be sworn to administer justice: who are not to condemn without sufficient evidence, and before whom all military offenders are to be sent instantly for trial.-7. No man is to suffer death by their sentence, except for mutiny; the VOL. IV. sentences of such others as are judged worthy of death, shall not be put in execution until the Provisional Government declares its will; nor are court-martials on any pretext to sentence, nor is any officer to suffer the punishment of flogging, or any species of torture to be inflicted.-S. The generals are to enforce the strictest discipline, and to send offenders immediately before court-martials; and are enjoined to chace away from the Irish armies all such as shall disgrace themselves by being drunk in presence of the enemy.-9. The generals are to apprise their respective armies, that all military stores, arnis, or ammunition, belonging to the Engof the caplish government, be the property tors, and the value is to be divided equally, without respect of rank, between them, except that the widows, orphans, parents, or other heirs of such as gloriously fall in the attack, shall be entitled to a double share. 10. As the English nation has made war on Ireland, all English property, in ships of otherwise, is subject to the same rule, and all transfer of them is forbidden, and declared void, in like manner as is expressed in No. 2 and 3.-11. The generals of the different districts are hereby empowered to confer rank up to colonels inclusive, on such as they conceive to merit it from the nation, but are not to make more colonels than one for every 1500 men, nor less than one for every 1000 men.-12. The generals shall seize on all sums of public money in the custom-houses in their districts, or in the hands of the different collectors, countytreasurers, or other revenue officers, whom they shall render' responsible for the sums in their hands. The generals shall pass receipts for the amount and account to the provisional government for the expenditure.13. When the people clect their officers up to the colonels, the general is bound to confirm it. No officer can be broke but by sentence of a court-martial.-14. The generals shall correspond with the provisional government, to whom they shall give defails of all their operations; they are, to correspond with the neighbouring generals, to whom they are to transmit all necessary intelligence, and to co-operate with them. 15. The generals commanding in each county shall, as soon as it is cleared of the enemy, assemble the county committee, who shall be elected conformably to the constitution of United Irishmen, All the requisitions necessary for the army shall be made in writing by the generals to the committee, who are hereby empowered and enjoined to pass their receipts for each *PP P 1 article to the owners, to the end that they may receive their full value from the nation.-16. The county committee is charged with the civil direction of the county, the care of the national property, and the preservation of order and justice in the county; for which purpose the county committee are to appoint a high-sheriff, and one or more sub-sheriffs to execute their orders; a sufficient number of justices of the peace for the county, a high and a sufficient number of petty constables in each barony, who are respectively charged with the duties now performed by these magistrates.-17. The county of Cork, on account of its extent, is to be divided conformably to the boundaries for raising the militia, into the counties of North and South Cork, for each of which a county constable, high sheriff, and all the magistrates above directed are to be appointed.-18. The county committee are hereby empowered and enjoined to issue warrants to apprehend such persons as it shall appear, on sufficient evidence, have perpetrated murder, torture, or other breaches of the acknowledged laws of war and morality on the people, to the end that they may be tried for those offences, so soon as the competent courts of justice are established by the nation.-19. The county committee shall cause the sheriff or his officers to seize on all the personal and real property of such persons, to put seals on their effects, to appoint proper persons to preserve all such property until the national courts of justice shall have decided on the fate of the proprietors.20. The county committee shall act in like manner, with all state and church lands, parochial estates, and all public lands and edi fices.-21. The county committee shall, in the interim, receive all the rents and debts of such persons and estates, and shall give receipts for the same; shall transmit to the provisional government an exact account of their value, extent and amount, and receive the directions of the provisional government thereon.-22. They shall appoint some proper house in the counties where the sheriff is permanently to reside, and where the county committee shall assemble; they shall cause all the records and papers of the county to be there transferred, arranged, and kept, and the orders of government are there to be transmitted and received.-23. The county committee is hereby empowered to pay out of these effects, or by assessment, reasonable salaries for themselves, the sheriff, justices and other magistrates whom they shall appoint 24. They shall keep a written journal of all their proceedings, signed each day by the members of the committee, or a sufficient number of them, for the inspection of government.-25. The county committee shall correspond with government on all the subjects with which they are charged, and transmit to the general of the district such information as they may conceive useful to the public.-26. The county committee shall take care that the state prisoners, however great their offences, shall be treated with humanity, and allow them a sufficient support, to the end that all the world may know. that the Irish nation is not actuated by the spirit of revenge, but of justice.-27. The provisional government wishing to commit, as soon as possible, the sovereign authority to the people, direct that each county and city shall elect, agreeably to the constitution of the United Irishmen, representatives to meet in Dublin, to whom, the moment they assemble, the provisional government will resign its functions; and without presuming to dictate to the people, they beg to suggest, that for the impor tant purpose to which these electors are call. ed, integrity of character should be the first object.-28. The number of representatives being arbitrary, the provisional government have adopted that of the late House of Commons, three hundred, and according to the best return of the population of the cities and counties, the following numbers are to be returned from each: Antrim 13, Armagh 9. Belfast town 1, Carlow3, Cavan 7, Clare 8, Cork county North 14, Cork county South 14, Cork city 6, Donegal 10, Down 16, Drogheda 1, Dublin county 4, Dublin city 14, Fermanagh 5, Galway 10,Kerry 9, Kildare4, Kilkenny 7, King's county 6, Leitrim 5, Limerick county 10, Limerick city 3, Londonderry 9, Longford 4, Louth 4, Mayo 12, Meath 9, Monaghan 9, Queen's county 6, Roscommon 8, Sligo 6, Tipperary 13, Tyrone 14, Waterford county 6, Waterford city 2, Westmeath 5, Wexford 9, Wicklow 5.-29. In the cities the same sort of regulations as in the counties shall be adopted; the city committee shall appoint one or more sheriff's as they think proper, and shall take possession of all the public and corporation properties in their jurisdiction in like manner as is directed for counties.-30. The provi sional government strictly exhort and enjoin all magistrates, officers, civil and military, and the whole of the nation, to cause the laws of morality to be enforced and respect. ed, and to execute, as far as in them lies, justice with mercy, by which alone liberty can be established, and the blessings of divine Providence secured. TRIALS FOR HIGH TREASON IN On the 24th of August, 1903, the special commission, consisting of Judges Downes, Finucane, Daly, Norbury, and George, was opened at Dublin, for the trial of persons charged with high treason.— Judge Downes delivered an excellent charge, of which, in compliance with the unanimous request of both grand juries, the court will permit a publication. In discriminating between special commissions and the ordinary ones of oyer and terminer, his lordship observed, that with respect to the line of duty which grand juries were to pursue, there existed no difference; and, as he recognized most of the gentlemen whom he then addressed, as composing former grand juries on the usual commissions, he would think it superfluous to offer any observations to them, in the way of instructions, did not charges of offences of a most uncommon and atrocious nature, where the public peace was violently disturbed, and the laws trampled upon, as in the late insurrection, stained with so many flagitious and unprecedented crimes, call upon him to mark transactions of that description with the utmost and most indignant reprobation. Yet, in the midst of all the commotion which massacre and rebellion might justly have excited, perhaps the moderation of the government of the country, in waiting till the public mind should be composed, and the dispositions of our loyal fellow citizens tranquillized, before they would proceed to the necessary judicial measures, would, in itself, constitute a perfect eulogium on the constitution, which those deluded and unhappy beings would alter for anarchy, bloodshed, and insubordination, on the model struck out by the French, who falsely denominate their government a republic. There lay on the bench documents which gave him room to suppose, that the grand juries must necessarily transmit indictments grounded on charges of high treason, against numbers of persons apprehended in the commission of crimes which bear that construction. This, however, was a species of offence unknown in this country until the period of the last rebellion, when that rapid progress we were making to the attainment of the most complete success in arts, in manufactures, in commerce, in short, the wide extending system of national prosperity, beyond any other nation in Europe, was arrested by the wicked interposition of those infatuated innovators, who, in suggesting fancied schemes of political reformation, had nothing less in view than the utter and total abolition of every vestage of law, go. vernment, tranquillity, and good order. Af- |