[321] It is also due to Lord Edward's memory to remind the reader that Higgins was a man of leprosied reputation. Nearly thirty years ago, I gave some account of him in _Ireland before the Union_. Meanwhile, the reader might see what an English historian, Mr. Plowden, says of him, _vide_ chap. xiv. 'Father Arthur O'Leary,' _et seq._ p. 213. I printed in the _Sham Squire_ the original informations against Higgins for the basest fraud, the true bills found against him by the Grand Jury in 1766, and the records of his committals to Newgate. [322] _Memoirs of the Whig Party._ [323] Higgins to Under-Secretary Cooke, May 18, 1798. [324] _Idem._ [325] Afterwards known to Turner at Hamburg, p. 14 _ante_. [326] _The Express_, May 26, 1798. [327] Mr. Froude says that 'Lord Edward was naturally a powerful man' (iii. 343). This impression is not accurate. Jasper Joly, LL.D., son of Lord Edward's godson, tells me that 'he was a small, wiry man.' [328] Francis Higgins to Under Secretary Cooke, May 18, 1798. [329] John Wesley visited Moira House in 1775, and has described the splendour of its rooms, one of which was inlaid throughout with 'mother-of-pearl.' The spiritualised philosopher adds, 'and must this pass away like a dream?' But he did not live to see, as Magan did, Moira House the _refugium_ of hunger, rags, and dirt--a 'Mendicity Institution.' [330] Lecky, viii. 44. [331] _Ibid._ vii. 211. [332] _Life of Reynolds_, by his Son. [333] Francis Higgins to Cooke, Stephen's Green, June 8, 1798. Quoted by Lecky. For curious facts about Higgins, see chapter xiv.: 'Father O'Leary.' [334] Higgins to Cooke, June 13, 1801. [335] The writer will be excused if he seems to linger on this theme; but from childhood 'Magan' has been to him a familiar household word. His grandfather, John Brett, lived next door to Magan's house at Usher's Island. Voices, long since hushed, often described their strange, silent neighbour, of whom it might be said, 'still waters run deep.' Brett, though not a rebel, had popular sympathies, and several patriots, including James Tandy, visited at his house. One day Major Sirr created a great scare at Brett's by instituting a search for pikes and papers. The hysterics of the young ladies and the protests of their brothers served only to stimulate his ardour. No nook was left unexplored, no stone unturned. The intruders even uprooted the flower-beds in the garden, hoping to make a discovery, but all in vain; and Sirr, with drooping plumage, at last withdrew.--See James Tandy's arrest, Appendix, _infra_. [336] _United Irishmen_, ii. 234. [337] _Historical Review_, ii. 256. [338] O'Kelly held, from a close personal knowledge of the man, that he would be incapable of treachery. [339] _Correspondence of the Duke of Wellington (Ireland)_, pp. 485-6.