I have to thank the Right Hon. the O'Conor Don, D.L.; Sir William H. Cope, Bart.; Mrs. John Philpot Curran; Daniel O'Connell, Esq., D.L.; D. Coffey, Esq.; Jeremiah Leyne, Esq.; the late Lord Donoughmore, and the late Mr. Justice Hayes for the communication of manuscripts from the archives of their respective houses. The Rev. Samuel Haughton, F.T.C.D., kindly copied for me some memoranda made in 1798 by the Rev. John Barrett, Vice-Provost T.C.D., regarding students of alleged rebel leanings. Sir Charles Russell, when member for Dundalk, obligingly made inquiries concerning Samuel Turner; Mr. Lecky transcribed for me a curious paper concerning Aherne, the rebel envoy in France, and has been otherwise kind. My indebtedness to Sir Bernard Burke, Keeper of the Records, Dublin Castle, dates from the year 1855. The late Brother Luke Cullen, a Carmelite monk, left at his death a vast quantity of papers throwing light on the period of the Rebellion. No writer but myself has ever had the use of these papers, and I beg to thank the Superior of the Order to which Mr. Cullen belonged for having, some years ago, placed them in my hands. The array of notes and authorities on every page is not the best way to please an artistic eye; but in a book of this sort they are indispensable and would be certainly expected from the oldest living contributor to 'Notes and Queries.' While there are many persons who enjoy a fox hunt, there are others would vote it a bore; and readers of this mind had better, perhaps, pass over the various stages of my chase after Samuel Turner, and come to something that may suit them better. 49 FITZWILLIAM SQUARE, DUBLIN: _New Year's Day, 1892_. FOOTNOTES: [1] Vide _England in the Eighteenth Century_, vii. 211; viii. 42-44, 45, 191, 240, etc. [2] See Froude's _English in Ireland_, vol. iii. sec. vi. [3] I have been further encouraged by the very favourable judgment of an acute critic, the late Mr. Hepworth Dixon, regarding a book of mine, written on the same lines as the present. See _Athenæum_, No. 1649, pp. 744 _et seq._ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A MYSTERIOUS VISITOR 1 II. ARRESTS MULTIPLY 8 III. FATHER O'COIGLY HANGED 15 IV. THE BETRAYER'S INTERVIEW WITH TALLEYRAND 24 V. LORD CLONCURRY SHADOWED 35 VI. THE MASK TORN OFF AT LAST 44 VII. DR. MACNEVIN'S MEMORIAL INTERCEPTED 52 VIII. GENERAL NAPPER TANDY 70 IX. ARREST OF JÄGERHORN IN LONDON--THE PLOT THICKENS--TURNER SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD 91 X. EFFORTS TO EXCITE MUTINY IN THE ENGLISH FLEET 105