Shelley's early life from original sources. With curious incidents, letters, and writings, now first published or collected

Front matter

LIBRARY

ANNEX

?1?

Preface

'X'HE present workj within the limits prescribed to itself, is founded almost entirely on original research among sources of information not previously known or examined. How it grew up the following narrative will explain.

Keats, in the well-known passage of the noble sonnet which records his astonishment " on first looking into Chapman^s Homer/^ compares his wonder to that of an astronomer who in searching the depths of space has suddenly discovered a new star : —

" Then felt I like some watcher of the skies, When a new planet swims into his ken."

Something of the same delight and the same surprise was awakened in my mind, when in making researches into a particular period of Shelley's life which had not received the attention that I conceived it merited, I came upon the extraordinary fact that he had published a volume of verse just on the eve of his expulsion from Oxford, which was unknown to his companion in that misfortune, which his friends, his family, and his biographers have been ignorant of, and which now, at the expiration of sixty years, is first identified with his name.

This poem, for the volume contained but one, it may be as well to state here is not to be confounded vi PREFACE.

■with the Posthumous Fragments of Margaret Nicholson, or the Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire, of which more or less satisfactory accounts have already been published. In the order of publication the poem referred to came third, but of the two preceding works I shall have something additional to say in the following pages.

The discovery I speak of is that of the fact of publication, for of the poem itself, notwithstanding all the exertions I have made, extending over a considerable period, and in every possible direction, I have not yet been successful in finding a copy.* To continue or rather to vary the illustration from Keats, I may say that I have discovered the surrounding light that indicates the presence of the star, but have not yet detected its nucleus; or rather, that I have demonstrated its existence without having seen it, and at a time too when I did not know even its name.

A distinguished mathematician has referred in eloquent language, and with justifiable pride, to what he calls "the great eflbrt of scientific genius which our time has witnessed — the discovery of Neptune." " Need I remind you," continues the same learned person, " that it was no astronomical observer — no practical skill — which gave to us that great discovery ?

* It is needless to say that this interesting vohime is not to be found in any of our public libraries. To the courteous librarians of the Bodleian at Oxford, and of University College at Cambridge, I have specially to return my thanks for the search they had kindly made for it. A printed circular sent by myself to almost every second-hand bookseller in the three kingdoms was equally unsuccessful. To advertisements in the public journals, and special inquiries instituted by Mr. Quaritch, Piccadilly ; Mr. Stibbs, Museum Street; Messrs. Longmans, Paternoster Eow, and othei's, no reply has ever been received.

PREFACE. vii

We owe it not to the telescope of the astronomer^ but to the pen of the mathematician. And surely it would be hard to find in the history of the human intellect anything more irresistibly attractive to the imagination — more poetic (if I may use the word) — than the thought that on the scribbled page^ in these grotesque symbols, lay a power which enabled the mathematician to look up from his table in the solitude of his own study — to point to the heavens with the unerring finger of science, and to say — I cannot see it, but it is there."*

Though the discovery of a poem even by such a poet as Shelley is a matter of trifling importance compared to that of a planet, yet there is a slight resemblance perhaps in the mode, as will be described in the following pages, by which the lesser fact was ascertained.

This curious story must doubtless be one of the most interesting portions of the present volume, but the other subjects discussed will be found to contain much new and valuable information connected both with the life and works of Shelley. The republication of the Irish pamphlets is alone a matter of considerable importance. They had become so scarce that no biographer of Shelley but one has stated that he had even seen them.f It seems paradoxical to say so, but it is quite true, that no portion of the

* Address delivered before the Moyal Irish Academy at the Stated Meeting, on Wednesday, Nov. ^oth, 1870. By John H. Jellett, B.D., President, p. 14. Dublin. 1870.

t The two English pamphlets published by Shelley in 181 7, under the name of T/ie Mermii of Marlow, which are nearly as difficult to be met with as those he printed in Dublin, are also given as a supplement to the present volume.

viii PREFAOE.

early life of Shelley is so little known and so much misrepresented as that which includes his first visit to Dublin in 18 xa. The cynical Mr. Hogg, in his incomplete Life of the poet, surpasses himself when referring to this event and the subsequent visit of 1 8 13. Of the former he knew nothing at the time, as Shelley was then totally estranged from his college friend by a well-founded mistrust in the sublime virtue of that stoical gentleman, which rendered it advisable that the unsuspicious philanthropist and the innocent Harriet should terminate, for a while at least, all communication with the immaculate Mr. Hogg. Nearly thirty years ago the writer of these lines was the first to allude with any precision to the interesting episode of Shelley's visit to Dublin in 1812.* Three years later, a more elaborate paper was published by the same writer on the general character of Shell'ey's poetical genius.f The portions of this essay referring to the literary and political labours of Shelley during his visit to Dublin in t8i3, have been incorporated by Mr. Middleton in his Shelley and his Writings, and are to be found verbatim in vol. i. of that work from p. 211 to p. 339. This account as originally given in the articles just

* In letters, under the signature of " An Admirer of Shelley," to the editor of The Dublin Evenmg Post, Nov. 24th and Deo* 6th, 1842. Seven years earlier, in The Dublin Weekly Satirist of October loth, 183 j, a juvenile poem "To the Memory of Percy Bysshe Shelley," was published by the same writer. The motto shows the extent of his Shelley enthusiasm at that period. It is from Prometheus Unbound.

" My soul is an enchanted boat, Which like a sleeping swan doth float

Upon the silver waves of thy sweet singing." t In The Nation, Dec. 20th and Dec. 27th, 1845.

PREFACE. ix

mentioned, notwithstanding its meagreness of detail, , is the only one hitherto published that can be relied on for accuracy and truth. Since then, however, the whole matter has been re-investigated by me with almost unhoped-for success. The earliest public allusions to Shelley that ever appeared have been found in occasional numbers of rare old Irish newspapers, and are now published for the first time in connexion with his biography. A copy of The Dublin Weekly Messenger of the 7th of March, 1813, the paper sent by Shelley to Godwin on the day following, has been recovered. It is in this paper, thus authenticated by himself, that I found the allusion to a poem published by Shelley which has so strangely escaped the knowledge of all his biographers The other local and contemporary allusions to Shelley are very valuable. These will be found in the letters of " An Englishman" and "A Dissenter" in Faulkner's Dublin Journal, a paper first established by Swift's publisher, but long since extinct. This was the organ of the Irish Government and the Protestant Ascendency party, and the only hostility experienced by the young philanthropist when in Dublin came from it. The letter of "An Englishman" is particularly interesting. It describes Shelley's appearance and manner at the celebrated meeting in Fishamble Street Theatre, at which he spoke. The writer calls him " a stripling," denounces him as a " degenerate Englishman," studiously avoids mentioning his name, but bears the most unequivocal testimony to the eloquence of the young speaker, and to the enthusiastic reception which he met with from the assembly. This letter is decisive as to the probabilities of Shelley's success as an orator had he devoted himself to a political career.

b

I PREFACTE.

The late Chief Baron Woulfe, after the lapse of many yearSj endeavoured to recall the manner of the youthful poet on this occasion when making his maiden speech, but the contemporary description here for the first time produced, written not in admiration but in anger, proves that the recollection of the learned judge on this subject was erroneous. The conduct of the audience towards Shelley at this memorable meeting, which has been so recklessly misrepresented by Mr. Hogg, and so carelessly adopted without inquiry by his followers, is here for the first time described with truth.

More valuable, however, than these public allusions, are some private memoranda still existing in the handwriting of Shelley himself on this and other important events in his life during these eventful years. These, with some remarks in the autograph of Harriet, then his happy and kind-hearted young bride, I have been permitted to see and transcribe. Prom these truthful and precious memorials I have extracted many passages which will put the whole motives and preparation of Shelley for his Irish Avatar in a clear and intelligible point of view. Some biographical particulars relative to the two remarkable men with whom Shelley became acquainted in 18 ii, 1812, and 18 13 are given. Independently they would merit and repay a separate inquiry, but their connexion with Shelley, one by the poem of 18 II, which was published for his benefit, and the other by the History of Ireland, projected and partly printed in 1812, will be at the present day, aX least in England, their chief source of interest.*

* I wish to modify a statement at p. 4 of the present volume, in which the first of the gentlemen above alluded to, is said to

PREFACE. jci

Of these two historical characters and of Shelley's political projects at the time, some curious particulars will be found in the present volume, partly derived from the State Papers in the Record Office. Those that relate to the seizure of the Irish pamphlets at Holyhead and the attempt to circulate the Declaration of Rights at Barnstaple are in themselves important and interesting documents. For the very curious letter of the Earl of Chichester, and the correspondence between Mr. — afterwards Sir — Francis Freeling and the Post Office agents at Holyhead, I have to return my very grateful thanks to the Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, M.P., President of the Board of Trade, who has obligingly placed them at my disposal. A separate correspondence, referring to the same seizure, between the officers of the Board of Customs at Holyhead and the Home Secretary^ the Right Hon, R. Ryder, is also preserved among the State Papers. It has hitherto escaped notice, and is here published for the first time. The simple but affecting letter of the kind and gentle Harriet, a copy of which is preserved among the State Papers, will be read with much interest.

To my friend Dr. R. R. Madden, M.R.I.A., I have have " succeeded Leigh Hunt as editor of The Statesman," after that paper was given up for The Examiner, by Hunt and his brother. He was probably only a contributor. Who the editor of The Statesman may have been in 1808—9 is uncertain. In the latter year the proprietor was Daniel Lovell. An autograph letter of his, which I have recently seen, shows that in March, 1809, he had been long enough connected with the journal to authorize in some way his making a claim on a distinguished nobleman, a member of the Ministry, for the sum of 1300Z., " agreeable to the account delivered," Ss he says, " for balance due to the Statesman Paper." This claim throws some light on a passage in the letter of Leigh Hunt, which will be found at p. 74 of the present volume.

M^ xii PREFACE.

to return my best thanks for the copy of The Dublin Weekly Messenger of March 'jih, i8ia, which first drew my attention to the singular fact in Shelley's literary life, of which so much is said in the following pages. I have since procured a second and a more perfect copy of the same number. It would be difiBcult to find a third. All the old newspapers once preserved in the Irish Stamp Office, previous to the abolition of stamp duty, were removed some years ago to London, as I am informed by the Solicitor of the Irish Stamp Office, by direction of the Government. What has become of them I am unable to discover. Nothing is known about them, as I have learned on inquiry, at the British Museum.

To another of my kind friends in Dublin, John David O'Hanlon, Esq., Barrister- at- Law, Under Treasurer to the Honourable Society of King's Inns, I am indebted for Shelley's second pamphlet. Proposals for an Association, &c., and I take this opportunity of tendering him my best thanks. The first pamphlet. An Address to the Irish People, has been in my own possession for forty years.

These introductory remarks have exceeded the ordinary limits of a preface, so that I am unable in this place to return my thanks individually to other friends who have kindly borne with my troublesome inquiries during this investigation, or who, like Philip H. Howard, Esq., of Corby Castle, and W. J. FitzPatrick, Esq., of Kilmacud Manor, have presented me with original documents of considerable value. Collectively, however, I wish to do so, trusting that I have not omitted, as opportunity arose, to draw attention to each particular act of courtesy with which I have been favoured.

PREFACE. xiii

In conclusion I may say with perfect truth that no published or unpublished source of information to which I could gain access has been neglected in my preparation for this volume, which though containing only a portion of the matter collected and dealing with a brief period of the poet's history, I think I may venture to offer to the public as an honest contribution to those authentic materials out of which sooner or later a thoroughly trustworthy Life may be written of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

POSTSCRIPT.

At the moment that this, the concluding sheet of the present volume, is going to press, an elaborate article on Shelley has appeared in the current number of Blackwood's Magazine. It is a careful resume of the supposed facts of Shelley's life, as given in former biographies, and will probably be the last in which much reliance will be placed upon them. On the most momentous circumstances of the poet's personal history, I am glad to find that the opinions expressed in the following pages are confirmed by the just and well-founded conclusions contained in this able paper. It must be said, however, that on less important matters the writer, in following the usual authorities, falls into the usual mistakes. Two of these may be noticed. A point is made of Shelley's supposed brief stay in Dublin. But Shelley left Dublin at the time he had from the first arranged to leave it, and the duration of his visit is erroneously abridged by about three weeks. The allusion to O'Connell is also unfounded. He had no recollection of Shelley, and appears never to have xiv PREFACE.

seen him. He probably left the meeting at Fishamble Street Theatre after the delivery of his own speech, and before the young poet had addressed the assembly. I had twice the opportunity of speaking to O'Connell on the subject of Shelley, once in the autumn of 1844, at Darrynane Abbey, after "the unjust captivity," as he calls it in an autograph paper presented to myself. This visit to Darrynane I paid with two distinguished friends — one the present Prime Minister of Victoria, and the other a leading member of the Irish bar, a gentleman equally loved and admired for his many virtues and his various gifts. On a later occasion O'Connell himself introduced the name of Shelley. It was in the study of his town house in Merrion Square, Dublin. He alluded to an article ou Shelley which had just appeared in The Nation of Dec, 20th, 1 845. It attracted his notice, probably from some allusions to himself. He paid it the undeserved compliment of attributing it to the powerful pen of Mr. John Mitchell, and was surprised to find it was written by me. On both the occasions I refer to he only spoke of Shelley, to use his own words, as "the man who wrote Queen Mab." The writer in Blackwood says, " Perhaps that astute demagogue was not sorry to have the name of the son of an English Member of Parliament in the list of his supporters at that early period.^' At the meeting in question there were several Protestant gentlemen, one a noble lord, of higher social position than Shelley ; but whatever his rank, I believe that O'Connell would have repudiated his political support until he had withdrawn the atrocious calumnies 'on the religion of the people of Ireland, which Shelley had so innocently put forward in both of his Irish pamphlets.

PREFACE. IT

Another matter, of interest perhaps to some of my readers, may here be mentioned.

The exact locality of Mrs. Fenning's school, where Shelley first saw Harriet Westbrook, having been disputed, I have made some inquiries in this neighbourhood, and find the conclusions I had ab'eady arrived at, given at p. 114 of the present volume, quite correct. The school stood on the north side of Clapham Common, near the " Old Town," directly facing Trinity Church, a position from which it probably derived its name, the mansion having been called " Church House." The site is now occupied by a range of about six houses, known as " Nelson Terrace." Old inhabitants of Clapham recollect " Church House" very distinctly. It was approached by an elaborate antique gateway and neat grass lawn. For some of these particulars I am indebted to the kindness of a lady, the granddaughter of Mrs. Fenning, residing in Kent, to whom I beg to return my best thanks.

2, Cavekdish Teeeace, Clapham Common, London, S. W.

Chapter I

Introductory remarks— Glance at Shelley's first visit to Dublin— Sensation produced by him — Earliest public notice of Shelley — Allusion to a poem pablished by him hitherto unknown — Silence of Leigh Hunt and Mr. Hogg aa to this Poem — Not referred to for sixty years — Singular statement as to its success — Mr. Pinnerty — Shelley's intention to reprint his Irish pamphlets in Loudon — Letter to Mr. Hookham — Biographical value of the Irish pamphlets— Godwin's dread of political Associations — The poet wiser than the philosopher — Retrospective view of Shelley's earliest writings — Zastrozzi — Contradictory statements as to it — John Joseph Stockdale — Original Poetry ly Victor and Vazire — Stockdale's Budget — Description of Shelley in it— The Stockdales — Victor and Cazire advertised in The Times — Cause of its suppression — Conjectural explanation of the name Victor — Shelley at Oxford — Mr. Hogg's first acquaintance with Shelley — Grave suspicions as to his Life of the poet — Hogg and Medwin compared — Mistakes of both on Lord Grenville's election as Chancellor of the University— Letter alleged to have been published by Shelley on the candidateship of Lord Grenville— Shelley not then a student of University College — Endeavour lo explain the statement — ^A letter answering Medwin's description given pp. i — 25

Chapter II

Shelley interested in Oxford affairs before his entrance at the University — His Latin lines In Horologium only a translation — Original where found — Mr. Hogg's description of Shelley's rooms at Oxford too elaborate — Altogether a fancy picture — Keasogs for doubting the sudden intimacy between him and Shelley — Posthumous Fragments of Margaret Nicholson — When published — Mr. Hogg's account of the matter — Reprint of the volume— Continuation of Mr. Hogg's narrative — xviii CONTENTS.

His statements examined— T/te Oxford University and City Herald —John Munday— Particulars connected with \nm— Margaret Nicholson published three weeks after Mr. Hogg first met Shelley— Advertisement of it— Analysis of the poems— Omission in Mr. Kossetti's edition of the Posthumous Fragments PP- ^6 40

Chapter III

St. Irvyne published by Stookdale — Its comniereial failure — Debt incurred by its publication—^ Refutation of Deism— Contradictory accounts of this book by Mr. Hogg— Probably the work offered to Stockdale to pay off the debt on St. /rej/M- Shelley's letter to Godwin describing his literary employments at Oxford — Absurd statements of Medwin and Hogg as to newspapers— Shelley a diligent reader of newspapers all his life— His project of having one of his own — " Classical reading and poetical writing" Shelley's occupation at Oxford— Attempt to explain this statement— TAe Oxford University and City Herald — Its politics and character— Poems published in it during Shelley's residence at Oxford — Ode to the Death of Summer — Its Shelleyan tone— Translations from the Greek Anthologia signed " S." in The Oxford Herald— Epigram from Vincent Bourne — Epigrams from the Greek Anthologia resumed — Do not appear in the paper after Shelley's expulsion pp. 41 — 6»

Chapter IV

The Shelley Letters, edited by Mr. Robert Browning — Letter of Shelley to the Editor of The Statesman — Letter of Shelley to the Editor of The Examiner — The letter when first published — Place assigned to it in Mr. Hogg's book — His absurd comments upon it — Letter printed — Passages in it identical with those in the letter to the Editor of The Statesman — Singular oversight in Mr. Browning not to perceive this identity — Some of the letters forged — Detection of the imposture — Suppression of the volume — Reasons for believing the letter to The Statesman genuine — Leigh Hunt's account of the letter addressed to himself confused and full of errors — Who was the editor of The Statesman ? — No copy of the paper in the British Museum—Founded by John and Leigh Hunt. Its prosecution by the Government — Five years' incarceration of Mr. Lovell — Mr. Lovell not the person addressed as editor of The Statesman by Shelley — Mr. Peter Finnerty — Elaborate account of him from an article in The Examiner by Leigh Bunt— The Walcheren expedition — Sir Home Popham andMr. Finnerty — Sir Richard Strachan — Epigrams C3 — 94

CONTENTS.

Chapter V

Sir Francis Burdett and Peter Finnerly — Subscription to sustain Mr. Finnerty in prison commenced— Universal sympathy with him — Local committee formed at Oxford — Article on Mr. Finnerty in The Oxford Herald — Subscription opened there — Subscription of " Mr. P. B. Shelley" to the fund— Shelley's letters to The Statesman and The Examiner evidently suggested by articles in the The Oxford Herald — Shelley's missing poem of 1811, advertised conspicuously in The Oxford Herald, March 9th, 181 1 — Strong probability that the poem was a satire — Quotation from The Curse of Kehama — Mr. Hogg's absurd statement relative to that poem — Mr. Hogg described in The Atlantic Monthly — The Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things, probably referred to under another name by Shelley in a letter to Godwin — Alleged extraordinary success of the poem — A profit of lool. realized by it, and presented to Mr. Finnerty — Account of Shelley's life at Oxford resumed pp. 95 — 106

Chapter VI

The Necessity of Atheism— An advertisement of its intended publication discovered, and now first extracted from The Oxford Herald — The MS. offered to Mr. Stockdale — Stookdale's opinion of Mr. Hogg — Remonstrance of Mr. Hogg, and his allusion to Peter Finnerty in Stocledale's Budget — Poems by Janetta Philipps — Shelley's interest in that volume — Probably published at his expense — List of subscribers — Names of Shelley, Miss Shelley, Miss Hellen Shelley, and Miss Harriet Westbrook amongst them — Acquaintance of Shelley with Harriet Westbrook probably formed in consequence of her subscription to this volume — Expulsion of Shelley and Mr. Hogg from Oxford — Shelley's residence with Mr. Hogg in Poland Street — Advertisements of the Poetical Essay in the London papers during this period — Mr. Hogg's charge of "underhand ways" in Shelley — Circumstances to which he may have alluded — Harriet Westbrook at Clapham — Extracts from unpublished letters by her — Terms of endearment used by Shelley towards Harriet — Dedication of Queen Mah — Promised revelations as to the real facts of the separation — Shelley's married life with Harriet at Edinburgh — Visit of Mr. Hogg —Removal of the Shelleys and Mr. Hogg to York — Miss Westbrook sent for by Harriet — "A guardian angel" — Abrupt separation of the Shelleys from Mr. Hogg at York — A "Fragment of a Novel" too true — "Charlotte" and "Albert" real personages — Residence of the Shelleys at Keswick — Total cessation of all intercourse between

CONTENTS.

Shelley and Mr. Hogg for more than a year — Letter of the Duke of Norfolk to Shelley — Untrue statement as to its contents by Mr. Hogg— Substance of the letter— Extracts from the Private Diary of the Duke of Norfolk alluding to Shelley, now first published— Explanations of same— Visit of Shelley, Harriet Shelley, and Miss Westbrook to the Duke of Norfolk at Greystoke— Extracts from the Private Journal of Mrs. Boward, of Corby CaMle, now first published, describing the party— Mr. James Brougham and Mr. Calvert —Unpublished letter of Shelley alluding to Mr. Calvert— De Quincey on Shelley's residence at Keswick — Shelley's intercourse with Southey at Keswick — Southey's lines on Robert Emniett — Shelley's " differences " with Southey — Southey's two sets of opinions and feelings pp. 107 — 129

Chapter VII

Preparations for the Irish campaign — Letter to Godwin — The Addreta to t!te Irish People described — Duration of Shelley's intended residence in Dublin prearranged — The programme not departed from — Miss Eliza Hitchener— Letter to her — Intention of Shelley to publish his Poems in Dublin — Shelley writes Verses on Robert Emmett — Departure of the Shelleys from Keswick — Shelley's parting observations on Southey, from an unpublished letter written at "Whitehaven. — Mrs. Calvert — The Isle of Man visited en rotjte for Dublin — Arrival of the Shelleys in Dublin — Date hitherto given erroneous — Stormy passage — Coincidence between it and Southey's in 1801 — Sackville Street, Dublin, described — Unpublished letter of Shelley describing his hopes — Apostrophe To Ireland — The Mexican Revolution, &c., in this letter — Amount of his income — Letter of introduction to Curran from Godwin — Seeming indifference of the Government to Shelley's proceedings — The Slate Papers of 1812 — Slowness of Curran in seeking out Shelley — The Address to the Irish People advertised and published — The first sheet sent to Miss Hitchener — Copies also sent to Mr. Westbrook and Godwin — Heavy postage on the pamphlets, which were charged as letters — Godwin the greatest sufferer — Curran still slow in making advances to Shelley — Lord CloncuiTy'a opinion of Curran's accepting office pp. 130 — 154

Chapter VIII

An unpublished letter of Godwin to Curran — Lord Sidmouth and the Masque of Anarchy — Curious paper in the Record Office addressed to Lord Sidmouth, relative to Godwin's Juvenile Library, published

CONTENTS. xxi

under the name of Baldwin — Minute analysis of the various works, most of which are mentioned by Godwin in his letter to Curran — Shelley's letter to Hamilton Kowan — Bowan's friendship for Mary ■Wollstonecraft — Elizabeth Dixon, of Ballyshannon, the mother of Mary Wollstonecraft — Unpublished letter of Shelley, describing his mode of circulating his pamphlets — He and Harriet throw them from the balcony of No. 7, Lower Saokville Street — Daniel Hill, the Irish servant of Shelley — He gives out that his master is only fifteen years of age — Postscript by Harriet — Article in The North British Sevieio, by the late Dr. Anster — Recollections of Chief Baron Woulfe, as to Shelley's mode of addressing a meeting, erroneous — Shelley's " Plan for Proselytising the Young Men of Trinity College" — The balcony of No. 7, Lower Sackville Street — Roger O'Connor — Other unpublished letters of Shelley . . pp. 155 — 177

An Address to the People op Ibeland, by Peeot Btsshe Shelley

Chapter IX

Peter Finnerty alluded to in the foregoing Address— The Limerick Evening Post — Papers in the Record Office relative to the proceedings of the Catholics — Mr. Finnerty mentioned — Statement in the House of Commons relative to Mr. Finnerty's speech — Letter of Mr. Wellesley Pole— The meeting in Fishamble Street Theatre — Originally a music hall — The Bull and Head Society and Dean Swift — Handel's visit to Dublin — The Messiah — Decay of Fishamble Street, and demolition of the theatre —Private reports of the meeting furnished to Government preserved in the Record Office — Shelley briefly alluded to — Mr., subsequently Sir Thomas, Wyse described — Remarks on this description — Shelley's speech, as reported in The Freeman's Journal — Report in The Dublin Evening Post — Report in The Patriot — Shelley's own account of his reception at the meeting, from an unpublished letter — Mr. Hogg's reckless misdescription of the scene — His statements proved to be untrue — The resolution to which Shelley spoke — Extract from the speech of Mr. Wyse pp. 225—248