668 



BRITAIN. 



1798. 



State of 

 Ireland. 



Britain, the abolition of the African slave trade. In.resist- 

 "-~v~ ~ [ ing the unpopular assessed taxes, the minister was 

 GEORCEHI. assa jl e d by so many objections, that he was forced 

 to modify them by numerous alleviations, adapted to 

 particular cases. The consequence was, that they 

 fell three millions short of their expected produce ; 

 and Mr Pitt, in his second budget for the year, waa 

 obliged to supply the deficiency by fresh burthens 

 on the exports and imports * of the country. To 

 these, and other resources, waa added a scheme of 

 voluntary contributions, of which the eventual pro- 

 duct was a million and a half. As the country was 

 now confidently menaced by the French with inva- 

 sion, the army and navy were powerfully recruited, 

 while volunteer associations, which had already been 

 formed throughout the country, became more nume- 

 rous and assiduous in their application to duty. 

 These threats of invasion, as far as it related to Bri- 

 tain itself, was rather calculated to rouse the spirit 

 than the fears of a free and armed people ; but the 

 state of Ireland materially aggravated our danger. 

 Since the refusal of Roman Catholic emancipation, 

 and the recal of Earl Fitzwilliam from the viceroyal- 

 ty, the great mass of the society denominated the 

 United Irishmen, had been initiated in a secret con- 

 spiracy against the government, which before had 

 been far from general, but confined to the views 

 and designs of a few of its individuals. By the sys- 

 tem of severity which was pursued in attempting 

 to discover the machinations of this society by the 

 use of torture to elicit confessions of those implicat- 

 ed in it, and by the distinguishing persecution set on 

 foo^ by the Orange faction, the Catholics were at 

 once driven by their enemies, and deluded by facti- 

 ous demagogues, into rebellion. In 1797, the Uni- 

 ted Irishmen projected a general rising, which would 

 have taken place if the assistance promised by France 

 through their agent Dr MacNiven, had arrived. An 

 armament for their support was fitted out in France 

 during the same year, and another in the ports of 

 Holland, but the latter was the only one that ever 

 put to sea ; it was to be covered by the fleet of the 

 Texel, which Duncan defeated. 



In 1798, when a general rising had been concert- 



Yl W*l .... 11 J 



in Ireland, cd, their intentions were fortunately betrayed to go- 

 vernment ; fourteen of their delegates, and three 

 members of the Irish Directory, were arrested. A 

 fourth, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, died of the wounds 

 which he received in resisting the officers who seized 

 him. Such discoveries, without preventing the re- 

 bellion, made it partial and ineffective. Instead of a 

 general rising, which had been intended, the rebellion 

 broke out by an abortive attempt on the town of Naas 

 (on the 24th of May), where the insurgents were 

 instantly dispersed. At Kilcallen and Rathfarman, 

 the rebels were equally unsuccessful. On the 26th 

 of May, a large division of their force was defeated 

 at Tallaghhill, and they were repulsed in two at- 

 tacks upon the town of Curlow and Kildare. In 

 the county of Wexford, they were more successful ; 

 they carried the town of Inniscorthy, sword in hand, 

 and in the town of Wexford exercised some barba- 

 rous retaliations on their antagonists the Orangemen. 

 Here they released from confinement Bagnal Har- 

 vey, who was appointed commander in chief of their 

 disorderly army. Flushed by their successes, they 

 advanced upon the town of Ross, and by their reso- 



' Britai 



Civil war 





lution and weight of column, cleared the bridge- and 

 entered the streets of the town ; but numbers having 

 entered the houses and got intoxicated, they were 

 repulsed with immense loss. General Lake was, by 

 that time, advancing with large reinforcements of Tranqi 

 the regular army, and attacked their main body, con- j^ f^ 

 sisting of nearly 20,000 men, within a mile of Innis- j an( j ;,, 

 corthy, upon an eminence called Vinegar-hill. After activity 

 a severe engagement, the rebels fled with precipita- govern 

 tion, sustaining an immense loss, while that of the mem. 

 king's troops was comparatively trifling. Rebellion 

 was thus quelled in the south. In the north, it was 

 subdued with less difficulty, although it was very . 

 general throughout the counties of Down and An- 

 trim. The insurgents, under a leader of the uame 

 of Munroe, to the number of 7000, were defeated 

 at Ballynahinch, and tranquillity was completely re- 

 stored. 



Attempts, however, were made by the French to Oenera 

 re-animate the expiring flame of rebellion. About IIuml)/ - 

 900 men, under the command of General Humbert, 

 landed at Killala on the 22d of August. Proceeding 

 rapidly to Castlebar, they were joined in their march 

 by numbers of the peasantry, and repulsed a force 

 more than thrice their number, under General Lake, 

 whom they forced to retreat with the loss of six 

 pieces of cannon, and continued advancing towards 

 Tuam. This small band of Frenchmen, who in the 

 course of 17 days had penetrated a considerable way 

 into the kingdom, held for some time the undisputed 

 possession of Connaught ; but at last, a column of our which i 

 troops under Colonel Crawfurd forming the advanced p C o 'J^ r ' 

 guard of Marquis Cornwallis's army, came up with Craw f t 

 them as they were retreating to Balhnamuch, and af- 

 ter a short, but sharp contest, forced them to sur- 

 render as prisoners. A French squadron of one ship 

 of the line and eight frigates, with troops and am- 

 munition on board, destined for Ireland, was on the 

 llth of October taken or dispersed by the squadron Captur 

 of Sir John Borlase Warren. Among the prisoners " 

 taken on board one of the captured vessels, was 

 Theobald Wolfe Torie, one of the earliest founders 

 of the society of United Irishmen, who being tried 

 and condemned, avoided the ignominy of public exe- 

 cution by a voluntary death. 



While troops were assembling on the northern Expedi 

 shores of France, which assumed the ridiculous ap- ' 

 pellation of the army of England, a more serious and " iap ^ t , 

 secret expedition was fitted out for Egypt, which 

 sailed from Toulon under the command of Bonaparte, 

 on the SOth of May. The army, composing nearly 

 300 sail, having on board 40,000 of the chosen troops 

 of France, arrived on the 9th of June off Malta ; the 

 knights of this far-famed spot, which had once been 

 the bulwark of Christendom, capitulated after a 

 spiritless show of defence, and the French obtained 

 an immense military spoil with more than a thousand 

 pieces of cannon. 



Lord St Vincent, while he continued to watch the 

 Spaniards on the western coast of Europe, detached Nelson 

 Admiral Nelson with 13 ships of the line and a SO comes 

 gun ship in quest of the French, who, after twice ^"^ 

 crossing the Mediterranean, learnt that they Jiad been ^ at 

 seen on the coast of Egypt. Hither he steered his About 

 course, and coming in sight of the Pharos of Alex- 

 andria, beheld the fleet of Admiral Brueys, consist- 

 ing of 13 line of battle ships in the bay of Aboukir, 



. Wat 



