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
[154] The following memorandum, though of no political import, is
useful as an authentic record of facts:--
'1791, February 13. Samuel Turner and Jacob Turner his father, both
of Turner's Hill, co. Armagh, Esquires, to John McVeagh of Lurgan.
Conveyance of Premises in Lurgan.
'1794, October 8. Samuel Turner of Newry, and Jane Turner, late of
Lurgan, now of Newry, to Thompson and others. Premises in Lurgan.
The Teelings, with whom Turner claims to be intimate, came from
Lurgan.' See Webb's _Irish Biography_.
[155] See Conlan's sworn information, Appendix.
[156] James Hope to the late Mr. Hugh McCall, of Lisburn. See Webb's
_Irish Biography_ for an appreciative notice of Hope.
[157] Froude's _English in Ireland_, iii. 290.
[158] There were informers from the first, but not to the extent
suggested; nor can it be fairly said that they were men 'deepest in the
secret.' 'This and similar information,' writes Mr. Froude, 'came in to
them (the Government) from a hundred quarters' (p. 177). 'They had an
army of informers' (p. 174). The historian here writes of the year '96,
and rather overrates the extent of the treachery. Dr. Macnevin, writing
in 1807, says that the secrets of the United Irishmen were kept with
wonderful fidelity. Their society existed from 1791; it was not until
1798, when ropes were round their necks, that Reynolds and McGuckin
proved false; and the same remark applies to most of the others.
[159] As regards Pelham's correspondent in 1796, and Downshire's in
1797, does Mr. Froude mistake, for two distinct betrayers, the one
Informer? His striking scenes, his dramatic situations, his fine
painting and accessories, remind me of a stage where the movements of
a few men convey the idea of an advancing 'army.' That 'Downshire's
friend' had been previously known as an informer is proved by a letter
from the Viceroy Camden to Portland, dated December 9, 1797.
[160] _Lives and Times of the United Irishmen_, iv. 22.
[161] _Ante_, p. 11.
[162] Appendix No. 1 to Report of the Secret Committee of the House of
Commons, 1798.
[163] See _ante_, p. 2; Froude, iii. 279.
[164] The French minister at Hamburg.
[165] The noble editor of the _Castlereagh Papers_ says that this name
is an alias for Samuel Turner.
[166] Mr. Froude errs in stating (iii. 260) that Macnevin himself
carried the Memorial to Paris.
[167] All this is exactly what Downshire's visitor told him (see chap.
i.).
[168] His challenge to the commander-in-chief, Lord Carhampton, was
among the 'imprudences.'
[169] Instead of the words 'circumspect' and 'moderate,' 'prudence' and
'cowardice' are applied to Macnevin's party by Turner (_vide_ chap. i.).
[170] _Castlereagh Papers_, i. 286-8.
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