The Blennerhassett papers, embodying the private journal of Harman Blennerhassett, and the hitherto unpublished correspondence of Burr, Alston, Comfort Tyler, Devereaux, Dayton, Adair, Miro, Emmett, Theodosia Burr Alston, Mrs. Blennerhassett, and others, their contemporaries; developing the purposes and aims of those engaged in the attempted Wilkinson and Burr revolution; embracing also the first account of the "Spanish association of Kentucky," and a memoir of Blennerhassett

Front matter

Qass.

Book_

OP

Preface

In the year 1850, the author published a small volume, entitled " The Life of Blennerhassett," which has passed through several editions. While collecting the material for it, he learned of the existence of the Blennerhassett manuscripts, and made an ineffectual effort to secure them. They were then in the custody of B.'s invalid son, in the city of New York, who could not be prevailed upon to submit them to the author's inspection. The latter was, consequently, compelled to send the work to the press, with such limited information as could be gathered from contemporaneous history and the personal reminiscences of friends. On the death of this son, in 1854, the papers passed into the possession of Joseph Lewis Blennerhassett, the youngest surviving child of the family, from whom they were obtained in the spring of 1859.

Upon an examination, the author was gratified to find that his former publication, although written upon such unsatisfactory data, so far as it professed to relate the life of Blennerhassett, was in every material particular correct. But the additional fund of interesting and important information which was disclosed — particularly with reference to this most romantic episode of American history — seemed to impose the necessity of an entire revision of his work. In the performance of this duty, so much new material has been added from the private memoanda, journals and correspondence of Blennerhassett, tha*- he has thought it advisable to change it-s title. Hence he has adopted that of " The Blennerhassett Papers ;" and so qub PREFACE.

merous have been the changes, that it may now be regarded as a separate and independent publication.

In the selection and arrangement of the materials, he has endeavored, impartially, to place before the public every important fact connected with the subject. Having no object to conceal the faults or infirmities, nor inclination to apologize for the acts, of Blennerhassett, the author has been careful to suppress nothing to shield him from censure, nor has he invented excuses to extenuate his conduct. Wherever and whenever it has been necessary, for the interest of the work and the information of the reader, that the motives by which Blennerhassett was actuated should be disclosed, he has not hesitated to reveal them, even though it involved the invasion of private correspondence.

It is possible, nay, probable, that much is here presented which, could it have passed under the personal supervision of Mr. Blennerhassett, would have been materially modified, or entirely withheld ; particularly after time had smoothed the asperities of personal rancor, and obliterated the memory of private wrongs. But this is certainly not the province of the impartial biographer, whose paramount aim is the verity of history, and not the unwarranted aggrandizement of individual character.

These remarks apply more appropriately to the observations on men and measures, contained in the journal and private correspondence of Blennerhassett. The scathing criticisms, and, in many instances, unmerited censure, with which its pages are replete, can only be extenuated by the smarting sense of personal injustice to which he deemed himself subjected. It is to be borne in mind, however, that none of his notes were ever intended for the public eye ; that they were written exclusively for the entertainment of his wife and friends, at a time when party spirit ran high, and the jealous rivalries of leading politicians had discarded the amenities of social intercourse ; when

PREFACE. 7

Colonel Burr himself strove to give a partisan bias to the prosecution for treason, by charging Mr. Jeflferson with political malevolence and private revenge. Under such considerations, we are prepared, at least, to excuse the warmth of his invectives, however much we may dissent from his conclusions. Time has demonstrated, that whatever personal inconvenience and sacrifice of private interest the arrest of the Burr Expedition occasioned the parties immediately involved ; whatever motives may have influenced the action of the executive in the prosecution of its leader, it is certainly now clear, that it maintained the integrity of the Union, and re-established the confidence of the world in the power and perpetuity of the government.

The chapter devoted to the Spanish intrigues. in Kentucky, seemed necessary to a proper understanding of the causes which induced, and the parties who influenced and projected, this noted undertaking. If the remarks upon the conduct of General Wilkinson should seem severe, the author can only say that they have been prompted through no feeling of personal enmity, but in justice, merely, to those who were the victims of his duplicity and bold breach of faith.

He has to regret the haste with which the necessities of the case have compelled him to prepare the work for the press. It has been completed in exactly one year from the time the papers were submitted to his inspecti®n, and at such intervals of leisure, only, as he could appropriate from the duties of an arduous profession. He can not, therefore, flatter himself that it is free from occasional errors, or that it will successfully escape the criticism of cultivated and correct taste. But however numerous may be its faults, he can only hope that they may in some measure elude detection through the interest which the umbjeet itself creates.

Chapter I

Lineage of Blennerhassett ; Placed at Westminster to school; Graduates at Trinity College ; The Irish Bar ; Preferences, by the Irish gentry, for the legal profession ; Studies at the King's Inns ; Called to the degree of Barrister ; Determines to travel ; Sets out for the Continent; France; Witnesses the adoption of the new Constitution; Returns; Irish Revolutionists, John and Henry Sheares; Discontent of Ireland ; Monopoly of England ; English tyranny; Effect of American Revolution on Ireland; On Europe; Repeal of Statute Sixth of George First; Blennerhassett determines on removal; Starts for Kinsale ; Proceeds to England ; Miss Agnew ; Marriage and Migration 1^

Chapter II

Ships for New York ; Letter to Lord Kinsale ; Ohio and Mississippi Valleys; Sets out for the West; Arrives at Pittsburg; Takes passage for Marietta ; Population of the vjllage ; Resolves to locate ; Selecting a site for a residence ; The Island ; Moves to a block-house, and commences improvements ; Simplicity not consulted in the construction of the mansion ; Description ; Domesticity. . . . 2&

Chapter III

Personal appearance of Blennerhassett; Anecdote of; Experiment; Proficiency in music ; simplicity of character ; Anecdote of; Afraid of earthquakes and thunder-storms ; Mrs. Blennerhassett 50^

Chapter IV

Character of the early settlers of Western Virginia ; Variety ; Social distinctions abolished ; Amusements; Feats of strength ; Chivalry; Patriotism; Washington's compliment; Early settlers of Belpr^; New England origin ; Puritanical practices ; Bravery ; Patriotism ; Education ; Comparison of the two types of character 60

Chapter V

Difficulties attending the early colonization of the Mississippi Valley; Navigation of the river cause of discontent; Tardiness of Congress in asserting the rights of the people; Murmurings of discontent; Want of unanimity of the people on the subject of redress of grievances; Disunion advocated; Intrigues of the Spanish Crown; General James Wilkinson ; Endeavors to secure the free navigation of the Mississippi ; Arrested by order of the Governor of Louisiana; Released; Entertainment; Permission to trade; Suspicious intimacy; Gardoqui and Miro without concert of plan ; Gardoqui appoints Pierre d'Arg^s to execute scheme; D' Argus' movements; Plans of Spanish agents threaten collision ; Dispatch of Miro to Valdfes; Wilkinson sails from New Orleans to Philadelphia; Proceeds to Richmond ; Addresses a letter to Gardoqui ; Colonel George Morgan; Efforts at Colonization; Wilkinson returns across the mountains ; His splendid equipage creates suspicion ; Enters into large contracts for tobacco; Communicates with Miro by special messengers ; Advises him of the disaffection of the Kentucky people, and the probable success of their plans; Wilkinson suspicioned by Miro as working for pecuniarj' advancement; Dispatch of Miro; Major Dunn sent by Wilkinson as supercargo; Is introduced by letter to Miro; Wilkinson communicates further intelligence of the disposition of the Kentuckians ; Major Dunn corroborates his statements; Dispatch from McGillivray, the half-breed chief; Miro elated ; Wilkinson still ignorant of Gardoqui's plans; Diplomacy; Wilkinson on a wrong scent; Wilkinson sowing the seeds of dissension in Kentucky; Constant agitations; Wilkinson's success animates others ; A new cause of excitement ; The new Constitution of the United States; Convention of Virginia called to meet at Richmond; A District Convention called to meet at Danville to frame a Constitution for the new State ; Wilkinson chosen as a member ; Sudden termination of its deliberations ; Letter on the subject from Wilkinson to Miro; South-Western feeling; Wilkinson still suspected; General Morgan's movements; Wilkinson's distrust of Morgan; Sordid desires; British intrigue; Conually deputed by Dorchester; Visits Kentucky ; Propositions; Interview with Wilkinson; Counterplotting; Spain consents to the navigation of the Mississippi on terms; Effect of the measure; Wilkinson discouraged; Apprehensions for his own safety excited ; Desires to become a Spanish subject; Is dissuaded by Miro; Miro's hopes dampened ; Proposes to pension Wilkinson to guard the interest of Spain, and Sebastian to guard Wilkinson ; Kentucky admitted ; Wilkinson commissioned as Lieutenant-Colonel; Reason therefor; Discontent still prevailing; Genet's intrigue ; Jacobin Clubs ; Address of the Society at Philadelphia ; General George Rogers Clark commissioned a Major-Gencral in the French Revolutionary Legions; Washington embarrassed; Demands the recall of Genet; General Wayne ordered to repair to Massac ;

Tranquillity, for a time, restored 68

Chapter VI

Clouds gathering; Burr visits the West; Object; Visits the Island; Interview with Wilkinson; Blennerhassett on a visit to Emmett; Duped by Harte; Letter to James Brown, Esq. ; Despondent; Proposes to change his residence; Letter to Devereux ; Burr's first communication to Blennerhassett; Answer to Burr; Burr to Blennerhassett; Burr's third letter; Burr's fourth and fifth letters; Arrival at the Island; Interview; Projects; Wirt's description; Burr continues recruiting ; Tempting inducements held out 106

Chapter VII

Preparations; Burr visits Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Kentucky; Terms of enlistment; "Querist;" Lexington, Kentucky; Mrs. Alston joined by her husband at the Island, in company with Blennerhassett; visit Lexington; Reception; Ruse; Col. Alston; Letter of Blennerhassett to Jos. S. Lewis & Co.; Apprehensions of the public mind; Retroaspect; Rumors of the Expedition; Graham appointed a secret agent to investigate its object; Instructions to Wilkinson; Marches toward Natchitoches ; Orders the fortification of New Orleans ; Refused forces by the Executive of Mississippi Teri'itory ; Sends Burling to Mexico to apprise the Viceroy; Meeting at New Orleans; Preparations for resistance; Mutiny in Wood county, Va.; Mrs. Blennerhassett alarmed ; Dispatches a messenger to Blennerhassett; He returns from Lexington ; Dr. Bennett ; Letter to Colonel Phelps ; Reply ; Interview ; Letter from Devereux ; Burr's arrest in Kentucky ; Advises Blennerhassett; Discharge; Gi-ahara visits Marietta; Interview with Blennerhassett; Visits the Governor of Ohio at Chillicothe; Act of the Ohio Legislature; Militia of the State called out; Anecdotes; Comfort Tyler; Tyler to Blennerhassett; Hon. Charles Fenton Mercer ; Interview ; Reflections ; Arrival of Tyler at the Island ; Blennerhassett disheartened ; Persuaded by his wife to proceed ; Boats guarded by the militia ; Young recruits attempt a rescue 13/

Chapter VIII

Burr dispatches communication in cipher to Wilkinson ; Revelations ; Evidences of Wilkinson's complicity ; Wilkinson's treachery ; Communicates with the President; Proclamation of the President;

Blennerhassett alarmed; Preparations; Mrs. Blennerhassett ; Escape of the Expedition from the Island; Col. Phelps with his forces; Ineffectual attempt to arrest Blennerhassett at Point Pleasant; Instructions sent to Tennessee; Graham leaves Frankfort for Nashville; The movements of Burr; Kentucky militia ordered out; Burrs flotilla; Burr leaves the Cumberland ; Lands at Fort Massac; Is visited bj- the Commander, Captain Bissel ; Supplies Burr with a messenger to convey a letter to the Lead Mines in Missouri; His wife presents Burr with provisions; Burr and his party proceed to Chickasaw Bluffs; Has an interview with the Comniander, Lieutenant Jacob Jackson; Fails in his designs; Communication of the President to Wilkinson; Burr supplies himself with lead, tomahawks, etc., and proceeds to Palmyra, and thence to Bayou Pierre; Blennerhassett's Journal of the voyage down the river 167"

Chapter 1 X

Morgan Neville, and William Robinson, Junior; Embark from Pittsburg in a flatboat; Espied by the Wood county militia, and arrested: Escorted to the Island to await the return of Colonel Phelps; Difficulties with the militia; Trial of the young men; Conduct of the militia on the Island; Mrs. Blennerhassett's return from Marietta; Her fortitude on the occasion; Embarrassed situation; Accepts the offer of the young men to convey her to her husband; Colonel Phelps's return to the Island; Young men embarrassed at the announcement fif his arrival; Character and description of Colonel Phelps ; Rebukes the militia for their riotous conduct ; His politeness to the young men; Proffers his services in accelerating Mrs. Blennerhassett's arrangement to go to lier husband; Apologizes for the misbehavior of his men; Mrs. Blennerhassett prepares to depart; Leaves the Island in company with the young men; Passes the mouth of the Cumberland; Disappointed in not finding her husband; Arrives at Bayou Pierre, and is restored to Blennerhassett; Painful situation of Burr and Blennerhassett; Burr sinks the arms for the Expedition, iu tlu> Mississippi 198

Proclamation of Cowles Mead in Mississippi ; Burr visited at his boats by George Poindexter, Attorney-General; Letter from Cowles Mead; Surrender ; Examination before Rodney ; Jury called ; Refuse to find a Bill of Indictment; Censure the arrest; Burr resolves to escape; Letter to Mrs. Blennerhassett ; Makes flight ; Burr's forces arrested ; Other seizures at New Orleans ; Habeas corpus granted by Workman ; Wilkinson refuses to surrender his prisoners; Workman resigns;.

Burling returns from Mexico Wilkinson and Admiral Drake; Trial and discharge of Bellman, Swartwout, Ogden and Alexander; Letter of Blennerhassett to Graham ; Blennerhassett arreated, and released on bail 190

CHAPTER XI.

•Burr's arrival in the village of Wakefield, Alabama; Inquires for Colonel Hinson's; His conduct excites suspicion; He is pursued by Nicholas Perkins and Brightwell, the Sheriff; Is found at Hinson's; His agreeableness ; Suspicions of the Sheriff; Mrs. Hinson's inquisitiveness ; His departure from Hinson's ; Delinquency of Brightwell ; Perkins sets out for Fort Stoddard, to procure assistance of Lieutenant Edmund P. Gaines; They start in pursuit; Burr is arreste<l ; His imprisonment at the Fort; Kindness to George S. Gaines; Amusements at the Fort; Burr's traveling companion, Major Ashley, arrested, and escapes; Difficulties in procuring a guard to con- Tey Burr to Richmond; Burr leaves the Fort under guard; Sympathy of the ladies ; Guard; Perkins fears the influence of Burr ; Particulars of the journey; Burr attempts to escape at Chester; Is unsuccessful ; Arrives at Richmond, Virginia ; Letter of Alston to Governor Pinkney, of South Carolina 214

CHAPTER XII.

"Blennerhassett leaves Natchez for the Island ; Letter of Blennerhapsett to Mrs. Blennerhassett ; Same to same ; Travel's history ; Letter from Mrs. Blennerhassett to Mr. Blennerhassett; Blennerhassett to Mrs, Blennerhassett ; Another ; Letter from D. Woodbridge to Blennerhassett; From Mrs. to Mr. Blennerhassett; Burr to Blennerhassett; Alston to Blennerhassett; From Mrs. Theodosia Burr Alston; From Burr to Blennerhassett; Arrest of Blennerhassett at Lexington; Advises Mrs. Blennerhassett by letter ; Narrative of the events by himself; Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett; Account of the arrest from the " Western World;" Letter from Henry Clay; Letter from Mrs. Blennerhassett; Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett, from the Penitentiary; Account of the journey and incidents at Richmond ; Burr to Blennerhassett ; Same to same ; Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett; Burr to Blennerhassett ; Mrs. Blennerhassett to Mr. Blennerhassett; Same to same; Burr to Blennerhassett; Same to same ; Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett ; Same to same; Devereux to Blennerhassett ; Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett; Trial of Burr commenced; Counsel engaged; Verdict of acquittal; Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett. . .... 281

CHAPTER XIII.

Blennerhassett's Private Journal 30J

CHAPTER XIV.

Letter from Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett ; Same to same; Letter from Luther Martin to Blennerhassett; Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett; Blennerhassett to Colonel Burr; Blennerhassett to Mrs. Blennerhassett; Same to same; Same to same; Returns to Natchez ; Pecuniary distress ; Purchases a cotton plantation ; Finds a home; Mrs. Blennerhassett's management; Devereux to Blennerhassett; A small remittance ; Joseph S. Lewis to Blennerhassett; Thomas Addis Emmett to Blennerhassett; Joseph S.Lewis to same ; From the same ; From the same ; Blennerhassett to Governor Alston ; Effect of the embargo ; Island Mansion destroyed by fire ; Letter from Joseph S. Lewis ; From the same ; From the same ; From the same ; From the house of Joseph S. Lewis & Co. ; From Joseph S. Lewis ; From the same ; From Joseph S. Lewis & Co. ; Burr in Europe; Suspected in England; Visits Edinburg; Returns to London, and is imprisoned ; Set at large, and ordered to quit the kingdom ; His subsequent movements ; Returns to New York ; Letter from to Blennerhassett; Blennerhassett to Burr; Letter from Mr. Emmett 508

CHAPTER XV.

Origin of the Burr Expedition ; History of events preceding ; Gayoso's intrigues; Power dispatched lo Wilkinson; Plan for dismembering Kentucky; Wilkinson's complicity; Power's second mission; Instructions; Wilkinson's reply; Spanish-American settlers; United States tardy in taking possession of Spanish forts under the treaty of 1783; Spain is jealous of her American possessions; Memoir of the First Consul of France; Advises that Wilkinson be enlisted in the service of France; Wilkinson the author ol" the Burr Expedition; Burr's project not a new one ; Miranda's Expedition; Extent of Burr's intrigues; Misrepresentations; Wilkinson's complicity and treachery ; Jefferson accused 554

CHAPTER XVI.

Blennerhassett unsuccessful; Disposes of his Mississippi estate, and removes to New York; Removes to Canada in hopes of obtaining a. Judgeship; Unsuccessful; " The Deserted Isle;" Sails for Ireland; Disappointed in recovering estates ; Letter fi-om Mrs. Blennerhaaeett; Distress of Mrs Blennerhassett; Letter to Blennerhassett:

Colonel Archibald Henderson to Mrs. Blennerhassett ; Same to the same ; Blennerhassett seeks office in England ; Letter to the Marquis of Anglesey; Lettei- from Mrs. Blennerhassett; Letter to Nev.de Courcy ; To Lord Courtney; From Mrs. Blennerhassett; From the same; To General Devereux; To J. Kingdom; To Devereux ; To the Marquis of Wellesley ; His history ; Marries Mrs. Patterson, of Baltimore, formerly Miss Eaton ; The Tabinet Ball ; Reverses of fortune ; Letter from the poet Campbell ; Blennerhassett returns to Canada, to remove permanently to England ; Mrs. Blennerhassett's health declining; Letter to Lord Anglesey ; Answer; To Harman Blennerhassett ; Premonition of death ; Removes to Guernsey ; Death ; Reflections; Mrs. Blennerhassett visits the United States; Presents her memorial to Congress ; Claim reported favorably upon ; Death of Mrs. Blennerhassett 682'

Appendix

I. Beobet Cobbespondemce 657

n. The Battle or Muskinguu, ob Defeat or the Bubbitbs. . . 661

Introduction

More than fifty years since, the inhabitants of the West were gratified by the intelligence that an individual of rank and fortune had renounced allegiance to his father-land, to take up his abode among them. In those primitive days, every addition to the little band of early pioneers was deemed of some importance ; but the accession of one whose manners and customs difiered so widely from their own, who could build and adorn a palace in the western wilds, was considered an event of wonderful magnitude.

With satisfaction they beheld the first germs of civilization springing from beneath the plastic hand of taste, and bursting into full maturity through the genial influence of wealth. This western Eden, while it captivated their eyes with its beauty, amazed their minds with the resources of its possessor. They witnessed the accomplishment of his ends in the subjugation of nature to his will ; saw " the desert bloom and blossom as the rose ; " stood as anxious spectators when the whirlwind of popular prejudice prostrated the hopes of his household ; and wept for the desolation which succeeded.

Since the celebrated expedition of Aaron Burr, the earlier fortunes of Blennerhassett have been the subject of singular curiosity. Many have been the surmises as to the causes which led this scion of Euro- 2 ■

18 INTRODUCTION.

pean aristocracy to renounce the hereditary honors consequent upon family, for the sechided life of an unpretending repuhlican. Some attribute it to an early alliance with a lady whose fortune and rank were unequal to those of his own ; others, to a want of success as a member of the Irish bar; while the uncharitable are anxious to throw around the subject conjectures of the darkest character.

The mystery which surrounds him and his " island home" has served, for more than fifty years, to entertain the passing traveler, as he glides by the spot where once stood the American Alhambra. The marvelous stories of Spain, of Moslem enchantment and Moorish gold, are scarcely less credible than the tales at such times repeated to the attentive ear of the listener.

Memory reverts with fond deliglit to the earlier days of our youthful pastimes, when, strolling through the embowered coppices of the isle, or seated beneath the vine-clad cotton tree, the stern realities of life were forgotten, in the tragic narratives of by-gone years. Around the name of Blennerhassett, and every thing connected with it, was waved the enchanting wand of romance ; and tales of beauty, of splendor, and of crime, while they fascinated us with their witchery, startled us with his deep and dark designs.

Who Blennerhassett truly was, and what his origin and destiny, it is our object to disclose; — to strip the subject of that mysteriousness which ignorance, wilful prejudice, or a love of the marvelous has thrown around it, and reveal to the inquiring reader the acts and character of the man.

THE

BLENNERHASSETT PAPERS

CHAPTER I

Little of incident is anywhere related of the early life of Blennerhassett. He was the youngest son of a distinguished family, which could trace its lineage from the time of King John. His grandfather, Robert, having emigrated from Cumberland in the reign of Elizabeth, became the head of three highly respectable branches of Irish gentry.

The first son was the proprietor of Ballyseedy; the second of Conway Castle, Killorglin, both in the county of Kerry ; and the third established himself at Riddlestown, in the county of Limerick.

The subject of this memoir was of the Castle Conway, or Killorglin line. He was born in Hampshire, on the 8th of October, in the year 1764 or 1765, while his parents were on a temporary visit to England. A younger son, and by the laws of primogeniture, destined to a profession, he was placed by his father at an early age, in the celebrated school of Westminster. He was afterward entered at Trinity College, Dublin, where it is said he graduated with honor to himself and credit to his professors.

At that time the Irish bar — a body formidable to the then existing government — comprised many sons of the noblemen and commoners of Ireland. The legal science was not then a mere trade, but a jprofession, requiring both learning and time to master its abstruse truths.

Eloquence was looked upon as a qualification for the Senate, and almost every peer and commoner had a relative among its members.

This inordinate preference for the legal profession is said to have arisen from numerous causei. Chief among these was the ambition of their gentry, and their family pride. The first anxiety of a parent was to secure for his son a calling befitting, in every particular, the dignity of the ancient name. In this respect the bar has at all times proved the highway to fortune and political preferment. But the consideration of wealth, or, perhaps, a seat in the Privy Council, were not the only inducements to such a selection. Although they were not to be regarded with indifference, yet there has also been an adventitious dignity conferred upon the profession, by the political circumstances of the country, and the individual Lnflueuce of many of its illustrious names. Until 1792, no Catholic could be admitted to the privileges of a barrister, and the dignities of the profession were confined to a favored few. The highest families were anxious to secure positions, which stamped an aristocratic character upon the importance of the calling ; and to be a counsellor in those days was to be no ordi-

IN FRANCB. 21

nary personage; the title was an indisputable passport to aristocratic society and intellectual association.

Blennerhassett having, therefore, selected the law as the surest road to preferment and wealth, was placed at the King's Inns, as an entered apprentice; and at Michaelmas term, 1790, at the age of twenty-five, was generally admitted into the "Honorable Society," and called to the degree of Barrister therein.

Having now successfully accomplished a severe course of study in which, in a few years, he had passed through the first literary, scientific and legal institutions of Great Britain ; and, by the death of his eldest brother, having but recently succeeded to the family estates, rendering exertion in his profession unnecessary as a means of subsistence, he determined before entering upon its duties, to indulge himself for a time in the recreation of foreigti travel.

Accordingly, in company with one of his companions, he set out for a tour upon the continent. France, both then as now, was the center of interest for all the world. For the philosopher, statesman, or man of pleasure, she has long possessed, and still presents, superior attractions over any of her sister Kingdoms. At the period of Blennerhassett's visit, she had been rocked by the whirlwind of revolution ; and the established despotism of her military monarchs had been crumbled into atoms. The massive structure of the Bastile, every stone of which echoed the groans of four centuries of oppression, had been torn from its summit to its foundation, by the infuriated advocates of popular freedom. On the anniversary of its destruction, Louis Sixteenth, with thirty thousand delegates from the confederated National Guards of the kingdom, in the presence of five hundred thousand of their countrymen, had taken the oath of fidelity to the nation, to the Constitution, and, all save the monarch himself, to the king. But France was still trembling from the convulsions of her people. Her recuperative energies were starting afresh, on a new system of government, which lacked all the great elements of success. To one who had been familiar with the daily complainings of an oppressed nation, who, although himself but upon the verge of manhood, had already been strongly suspected of a secret league with the revolutionary spirits of Ireland, thoroughly read in the political \\'Titings of Voltaire, and a disciple of Rosseau, a more interesting and opportune period could not have presented itself.

He was still an unwilling witness to the murmurs of the people. Confidence in the permanency of the government had not been secured by the afi:ections of its subjects, and society had received a shock from which it had seemed impossible to recover.

Having remained long enough to witness the adoption of this new measure, Blennerhassett returned to his own country, in time to escape the storm, which prostrated the hopes of its friends, and destroyed the life of the unfortunate Louis. There were quite a number of the young men of Ireland in France at the time of the emeute. Many of them entered into the spirit of the Revolution with great zest, and endeavored to enlist the sympathies of the insurgents in their cause against the oppression of England.

DISAFFECTED IRELAND. 23

Among the more noted of these for their subsequent misfortunes, were John and Henry Sheares. They were natives of Cork, well educated, both lawyers, and of respectable parentage. They were present at the taking of the Bastile, and John was seen, on his return to Ireland, to flourish with exultation a handkerchiet stained with the blood of Louis XVI. They subsequently became involved in the outbreak in 1798, for which they were prosecuted for treason. Although they were ably defended by Curran, they were, nevertheless, convicted, and suifered the extreme penalty of the law. Much dissatisfaction was afterwards expressed on account of the character of the evidence upon which they were found guilty. There was but one witness, and he a government decoy, who had himself counseled more treason than either had ever conceived.

But the same spirit of discontent which prevailed in France had extended to Ireland. For centuries had she groaned under the oppression of England. Her submission to the sceptres of Henry and of Richard had been construed into the right of conquest; and they sought to crush the native spirit of her people, by fomenting discord and exercising tyranny. Ireland had been blessed with a genial soil. Nature had lavished her brightest gifts upon her. The native character of her population was not inferior to that of other nations. But of what avail were fertile fields, or gigantic intellects, when national disorganization and political faction perverted the gifts of Providence to selfish purposes, or destroyed their usefulness in the general wreck of distracted governments and divided subjects ? Her manufacturing interest and commercial enterprise struggled long against the monopoly of England ; but the superior power of her ruler enabled her to check their prosperity, by the iieavy hand of arbitrary restraint. A deplorable want of union of sentiment, and firmness of purpose, at all times prevented a successful separation from her powerful oppressor ; and every attempt to claim her independence proved vain and abortive.

England, fearful of her growing strength, sought to subdue her spirit, by onerous exactions, and denying her the privilege of a free legislature. N'ot only against Ireland had she exercised lier arbitrary will, but also against the colonies of her planting in Xorth America^ Vain in the conceit of her imperial power, she dared to exact obedience from peoples separated by the wide Atlantic, and command the same submission with which the oppressed subjects of Ireland had yielded. While her experimental philosophy had taught her that to retain her authority she must exercise tyranny, she had not reflected that there was a point in the system of her oppression, where submission ceased to be a virtue.