Secret Service Under PittFitz-Patrick, William J. (William John)
History
Secret Service Under Pitt
Fitz-Patrick, William J. (William John)
Ireland -- History -- 1760-1820; Pitt, William, 1759-1806; Secret service -- Ireland
The Northern leader who was disgusted with the prudence of the Papist
conspirators in Dublin must have been Turner. In the 'Castlereagh
Papers' is a letter of Reinhard, the French Minister, stating, on
the authority of Turner, 'that it was of dilatoriness and indecision
several members of the Committee were accused; that the Northern
province, feeling its oppression and its strength, was impatient to
break forth.'[718]
Reinhard adds, what will surprise many regarding Lord Edward: 'Macnevin
and Lord Fitzgerald are of the moderate party. Furness [Turner] is for
a speedy explosion, and it is some imprudences into which his ardent
character hurried him that obliged him to leave the country, whereas
the conduct of Macnevin has been circumspect.'[719]
Among the men whom Hughes swears he met in June 1797, with the Northern
delegates in Dublin, were _Turner_, Teeling, MacCann, John Byrne [Union
Lodge, Dundalk], Dr. Macnevin, Colonel Plunket,[720] and Andrew Comyn
of Galway. These men--Turner excepted--were all Roman Catholics; so
were John Keogh, Braughall, MacCormick, and other influential Dublin
leaders--whose names do not appear. Tone was abroad. Downshire's
visitor speaks of the men he met in Dublin as 'Papists' whose prudence
and cowardice disgusted him, and he came to the conclusion that the two
parties could not amalgamate.
Mr. Froude, again describing Downshire's visitor, writes: 'He had seen
Talleyrand and talked with him at length on the condition of Ireland.'
The 'Castlereagh Papers' contain a remarkable letter, headed 'Secret
Intelligence,' and describing very fully an interview with Talleyrand
in reference to an invasion of Ireland. On the third page of his letter
the spy writes: 'Enclosure containing the cyphers _I sent to the
Marquis of Downshire_.'[721]
To this letter I must again return.
Mr. Froude states that Downshire's visitor had discovered one of the
objects of the Papists to be a seizure of property, and had determined
to separate himself from the conspiracy.
Turner belonged to a family of Cromwellian settlers. This we learn from
Prendergast's 'Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland,' p. 417. The letter
(quoted above), printed in the Castlereagh Papers, and acknowledging
to have spied for Lord Downshire, mentions that the writer's 'most
particular friends' were men 'who feared in a Revolution the loss of
their property, especially such as held their estates by grants of
Oliver Cromwell.'[722]
Mr. Froude says that when the mysterious visitor threw back his
disguise Downshire recognised in him the son of a gentleman of good
fortune in the North of Ireland. Lord Downshire is part proprietor
of Newry, where Turner lived, and Hill Street, Newry, is named after
the Downshires, just as Turner's Hill, Newry, is called after the
Turners.[723]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account