[404] As in the case of Lord Mountgarret subtlety was employed in the hope of moderating the tone of Sir Charles Ffrench. He had much influence with the Irish Catholics; and in 1798 a peerage was conferred on his aged mother, who, in her simplicity, said to a cousin, 'I don't know what I have done that they should make a Lord of me.' In point of lineage few had higher claims. [405] A Protestant Cathedral in Dublin used by the Catholics until the Reformation. [406] Himself. [407] Italics in original. [408] Endorsed by Cooke, 'U. I., Jan. 29, '93.' [409] [Collins] to Cooke, February 28, 1793. [410] Letter of January 4, 1793. [411] The zealous subserviency of Collins, as in the case of Reynolds and Magan, originated in pecuniary straits. A letter of January 24, 1792, to Giffard, speaks of the accommodation he had received at his hands; and addressing Mr. Cooke (June 26, 1793), he dilates on his 'embarrassments.' [412] _Beresford Correspondence_, ii. 26 (unpublished). [413] _Autobiography of Archibald Hamilton Rowan_, p. 183. [414] Rowan, until the willing hands were found, remained in Mr. Sweetman's house, now known as Rosedale, Raheny. [415] Mr. Froude says that the proclamation named '£2,000 for Rowan's apprehension' (_Hist._ iii. 119). The proclamation, dated May 2, 1794, offers '£1,000 to any person or persons who shall apprehend the said Hamilton Rowan, wherever he may be found, or to so discover him that he may be apprehended or committed to prison.' [416] _Autobiography of Hamilton Rowan_, p. 220. [417] In December 1796 Tone accompanied the French fleet to Bantry Bay. Mr. Froude and other historians think that it was Grouchy who failed to attempt a landing. 'Then, as twenty years later, on another occasion, no less critical,' he writes, meaning Waterloo, 'Grouchy was the good genius of the British Empire' (iii. 205). In point of fact, Grouchy was not at Bantry. M. Guillon, in _France et Irlande_, written with full access to the papers of the French Admiralty, makes it clear that Bouvet, and not Grouchy, was the man who ought to have been named. [418] Several persons named Collins, and described as silk mercers, appear in the Dublin Directory between the years 1770 and 1800. Thomas Collins vanishes in 1793; and 'Samuel Collins, silk and worsted manufacturer, 35 Pill Lane,' is also found for the last time in the Directory for 1793. They seem to have been brothers. A bill of Samuel, duly receipted, for goods supplied to Dr. McNevin, a leading rebel, is enclosed by Thomas in one of his secret missives to Cooke. [419] Other entries follow: 'Thomas Collins' bill, from London, 54_l._ 3_s._ 4_d._' is entered on September 22, 1798. These payments continue to be made until 1799, when they become very frequent. [420] _Autobiography of Hamilton Rowan_, p. 318. [421] Camden to Portland, July 29, 1795.