[493] Cloncurry did not see Ireland again until his liberation from the Tower. The object of his mission to England was mere surmise. Pelham assumes that he carried a despatch to the French Republic (Froude, iii. 287); but Cloncurry, ignorant of the above letters, tells his law adviser: 'No papers on politics were found on me, for I never had such' (_Memoirs_, p. 138). Previously, he casually mentions that his father 'insisted upon my going to London to keep my terms at the Temple, which I accordingly did _in November_, 1797,' the very date of McNally's letter. (_Memoirs of Lord Cloncurry_, p. 57.) [494] Endorsed, 'M. secret. November.' [495] _Personal Recollections of Lord Cloncurry_, p. 219. [496] Not one of McNally's letters is dated beyond the day of the week; but many have a correct date endorsed. Some conjectural dates, supplied in late years by an official pencil, are often wrong. [497] In 1807-8 he appears as a defendant in several judgments 'marked' by the King's Bench. To Benjamin Bradley, 38_l._ 4_s._ 9_d._; to Thomas Shaw, 56_l._; to the administrators of Hatch, and others; and the search, if continued, would show the same results in after years. Curran frequently accommodated him, as well as William Godwin and others. [498] _Wellington Correspondence (Ireland)_, p. 192. [499] _Wellington Correspondence (Ireland)_, pp. 99-100. [500] Ireland, 1810, August to December, No. 648, State Paper Office. [501] _History of Ireland since the Union_, by Francis Plowden, iii. 896. [502] The late Michael Staunton to W. J. F. [503] Ireland, 1811, January to June, No. 652. Peter Finnerty, who, in 1798, had been pilloried as editor of the _Press_, was now (1811) in Lincoln Gaol for a libel on Lord Castlereagh. [504] Mr. Lecky thinks that, so early as 1795, McNally reported to the Government a secret conference of Curran and Grattan. _Hist._ vii. 145. [505] _Life of Curran_, i. 147. [506] These papers are exclusively quoted in the _Correspondence of Daniel O'Connell_ (edited by W. J. F.), ii. 420. [507] For details, see _Ireland before the Union_, p. 8. (Dublin: Duffy.) [508] _The Correspondent_, November 4, 1817. [509] Letter of Mrs. John Philpot Curran, dated 'The Priory, Rathfarnham, September 14, 1872.' [510] John Egan, a member of the Irish Parliament, lost a judicial office he held by voting against the Union, and died in poverty. A staunch patriot to the end, he belonged to the set which numbered Curran and McNally. Curran's first acquaintance with him was in an affair of honour. Egan, a large man, complained of the great advantage which Curran's diminutive figure gave him. 'I scorn to take any advantage of you, whatever,' replied Curran. 'Let my size be chalked out on your side, and I am quite content that every shot which hits outside that mark should go for nothing.' [511] It is a question whether 'Mac,' in society, drank as much as he may have pretended to do. See _ante_, p. 185.