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for the antique has dragged, often ruthlessly enough, into prominence. Sadly out of place they look sometimes, standing in forlorn dignity among commonplace modern surroundings and up-to-date people. But the bureau which for a full century has enshrined Dr. Garnett's diary has had a happier lot. His grandchildren, a nestful of young rebels who worshipped Lord Edward's memory, and were steeped in stories of '98, regarded with loving veneration what was known to them as Aunt Hannah's desk. There was no incongruity between it and its owner.

The quaint old bureau, all glorious without in the bravery of brass handles and key-holes, exquisite proportions and conscientious workmanship, redolent within of loving memories and faithful trust, belonged fittingly to the sweet wee gentlewoman, slender and pretty and silver-haired, who used it. She was Dr. Garnett's daughter. On her death the old bureau, with its treasured contents, descended to his granddaughter. She has decided, after some consideration, to send the diary to the head of the FitzGerald family, by whom it is to be preserved at Carton. Before parting with it she offered it for inspection to the writer, and it is with her permission that extracts have been made from it for this article.

Lord Edward FitzGerald was arrested on May 19, 1798, after a desperate resistance, in the course of which he was wounded. Before he was overpowered he inflicted mortal injuries on a man named Ryan, one of his eleven captors. He was, therefore, confined in Newgate, and, had he lived, a charge of murder would have been added to that of treason against him. Remorse for this man's death is often given as one of the contributory causes of his fever. It appears, however, from Dr. Garnett's statement, that he ignorant of the fatal results of the encounter. He really was ill before the arrest took place. His own wounds, though severe, were not at first believed to be serious, but he was tortured with anxieties, harassed by doubts and fears-not for himself, hardly even for his wife and children, but for the cause and country to which he had sacrificed everything. All this is very clearly shown in the diary, as well as the courtesy, the gentleness, the deep religious feeling, and the affectionate heart

1 'I perceived that he [Lord Edward] looked very bad and altered from what he appeared when I saw him before. Lord Edward told me he was very ill with a cold.'--Account of the Arrest of Lord E. F'itz Gerald, by Nicholas Murphy, in whose house the arrest took place.

of the man himself. He died on the 4th of June. Dr. Garnett was placed in charge of him on the 2nd.

The diary is written on the thick square paper known as Bath post, which was in use before such modern luxuries as envelopes had been dreamt of. The water-mark on each sheet includes the date 1797. The writing is small and delicate, and

, perfectly legible, like most of the writing of the time.

The MS. bears the stamp of age, but of a well-preserved age. Considering what that is, the paper is wonderfully little discoloured, and the ink is scarcely faded.

It gives a strange feeling of awe to read and handle this diary, written in such a place amid such pitiful conditions. The little touches, that are scarcely noticeable in print, are warm again, and palpitate with life when read as set down by the young surgeon fresh from the side of his dying patient in prison—and what a prison !

The management of Newgate was so scandalous then that an inquiry into it was ordered by the Irish House of Commons. From this source we learn that the gaoler had 'unlawfully kept in prison and loaded with irons persons not duly committed by the magistrates, till they had complied with the most exorbitant demands.'

Oliver Bond, one of the fifteen Leinster delegates betrayed by Reynolds, and arrested on March 15, was found dead in the passage outside the cell in which he had been awaiting release on conditions agreed to. It was reported among the prisoners that he was killed by the under-gaoler, Simpson, during an uproar so great that the other prisoners had barricaded themselves into their own cells. An inquest was held, at which a woman swore she saw Mr. Bond die--of apoplexy. Later, in anger, she accused Simpson of the murder, whereupon he kicked her in the back, from the effects of which she died.

The knowledge of such circumstances must have added further bitterness to the grief of Lord Edward's friends, although his rank and wounded condition procured him some consideration. But a strong side-light is thrown upon the state of Newgate by the following passage from Dr. Garnett's diary :-

One of the prisoners (!) ran into my room to say that they were preparing for an execution at the front of the prison, and in a few minuies after a second person ran in to make the same report,

Fully alive to the importance of his position, Dr. Garnett's first impression was that these people had come with

the view of taking my attention off Lord Edward, and thus affording an oppor. tunity for some persons on the watch to communicate with him; but the horror I have of being witness to an execution would alone have defeated such a design.

It was, however, no pretence. Later on, I heard the trampling of horses and a confused noise at the front of the prison. On looking out at one of the windows of Lord Edward's room, I saw yeomanry drawing up at the front of the prison ... and I was satisfied that an execution was about to take place.

The noise and the words of those without, which were heard distinctly enough to convey an idea of what was going forward, evidently agitated Lord Edward. The word 'croppy' was frequently repeated, and ‘D— n all the croppies'... and exclamations to that effect, were frequently uttered. I drew up the windows to exclude the noise as much as possible, and I retired to my own room, lest he should inquire what the tumult proceeded from. On looking out at the window, I saw that kind of expression on the countenances of the yeomen that were attending that showed they were listening to an address from the criminal, and I could hear a sergeant, leaning on his halberd, repeat after him that he died a bad soldier. Almost immediately a sudden crash, and the expression of the countenances of those who were in attendance convinced me that he was launched into eternity. While I was reflecting on the novelty of my situation, and had my thoughts awfully called to a consideration of what had taken place ... I was called by the man in attendance on Lord Edward with great hurry and eagerness. I found him in a state of excessive agitation.

He describes the terrible condition of his patient, and had just succeeded, after half an hour of anxious care, in restoring him to comparative ease of mind and body when the noise at the front of the prison now increased, and the words Cut him down ! cut him down !' were distinctly heard. Soon after I heard the words • Don't touch him, d-n you ! don't touch him !' and a shot was fired. All this evidently agitated Lord Edward, and he immediately cried out, ‘God look down upon those who suffer! God preserve me, and have mercy on me, and those who suffer with me!'?

His earnestness, and the religious tone of his mind, are shown by the utterances just quoted, as well as by the following passages :

He said that he was happy in the persuasion that he was dying for his country. He felt the most firm persuasion of eternal salvation through the merits of our Saviour. . . . While I sat by his bedside . . . he requested that I would read a portion of the Bible to him. I asked what part he chose. He answered, the account of our Saviour's death from the Gospel of St. John, and

· He was an officer, named Clinch, who joined the rebels.

2 The finding of the coroner's jury gives as one of the causes of his death fever brought on by great anxiety of mind.'

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he listened with the utmost attention. . . . He said that he was prepared for death, if the translation to a state of eternal happiness could be called death; that he confided in the mercy of God and the purity of his own intentions; that he had been zealous for the freedom of his country.

The closeness of the imprisonment and the restraint to which Dr. Garnett as well as Lord Edward was subjected is shown by the following:

Half-past seven [the morning before his death).-His pulse flutters exces. sively, and his breathing grows very short; he has expressed a desire for some tea when I get my breakfast; the doors are not yet unlocked.

It is well known that when, after a gallant struggle against tremendous odds, Lord Edward was overpowered and arrested, he expressed regret for the wounds he had inflicted, and insisted that his disabled assailants should be attended to before himself. The 'Annual Register' declares contemptuously that in doing so he 'affected the politeness of a courtier.' But a dying man in prison has done with affectations. Lord Edward was more than a courtier. He had all the chivalrous courage, love of adventure, and faithfulness to high ideals of a Geraint or a Galahad, and he possessed the gentle courtesy, the considerate self-forgetfulness that were often lacking in the heroes of mediæval days.

These and other characteristics are epitomised in the glimpse of his last hours afforded us by Dr. Garnett's diary :

On his introduction by Captain Stone to Lord Edward's bedside, * His countenance showed a great degree of wildness, mixed with that kind of expression that accompanies pain,' yet 'he thanked Captain Stone for his attention to him, and expressed some sorrow at parting with him.'

Later: • Is not your name Garnett, sir ?' I answered that it was. He added: 'I hope, sir, I do not take you from more important occupations.' I answered that my most important occupation was the attendance on the sick, and that I trusted his lordship would have no reason to complain of any want of care or vigilance. I mentioned that I had brought some books with me, and that I should be ready to read to him whenever he was disposed to be amused in that way. He thanked me and said he would trouble me sometimes, when I thought it would not be hurtful to him.

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With regard to the state of Ireland then, and Lord Edward FitzGerald's action in associating himself with the national movement, Lord Holland, a Cabinet Minister of the day, writes: • More than twenty years have now passed away. Many of my political opinions are softened; but my approbation of Lord Edward FitzGerald's actions remains unaltered and unshaken. His country was bleeding under one of the hardest tyrannies that our times have witnessed.' VOL, V.--NO, 28, N.S.

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He was very

Again :I went into Lord Edward's room about a quarter before seven. restless, but expressed a desire to get some sleep. I begged that he would compose himself, and I told him I would sit by him. He thanked me, and seemed pleased at the offer.

The favourite of London and Dublin society; the idolised leader of a great national movement; the lover, husband, the happy father, the tenderly attached son and brother-grateful on his lonely deathbed—for what? The proffered companionship of a young man who, however kindly—and he shows unusual tact and sympathy —was an utter stranger. Lord Camden, the Viceroy, with the relentless cruelty so often allied with weakness, had until now refused the agonised entreaties of his relatives to be allowed to see him.

Fits of delirium now constantly recurred. Of one of these Dr. Garnett writes :

By degrees he became so violent that the man in attendance and I could not without difficulty confine him by force to the bed; he roared most impetuously, and exerted a wonderful degree of strength, even with his wounded arm. He called me a tyrant for not permitting him to die. I said everything I could think of to dissuade him from agitating himself. . His language now became most violent as well as his actions. . . . The entire of this paroxysm of mental agitation lasted for an hour and a half. His loud vociferations assembled the people at the outside of the prison; and such of the prisoners as were at liberty to walk about assembled on the stairs leading to his room.

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Among these was Mr. Dowling, who urged me to give him access to him for a moment, adding that he was persuaded he could pacify him. To this I consented. ... One consideration prompted me not to refuse him admission. ... The agitation Lord Edward was under, and the violence with which he was exerting his wounded limbs, could not fail to prove immediately or soon fatal to him. Such an event might be ascribed to some unwarrantable violence offered to him, as it is unquestionable that there are too many persons ever ready to invent, and thousands ready to give credit to, the most execrable calumnies. The best method of guarding against such a report I conceived to consist in admitting the most particular of his friends that was within reach to be witness to his real state. He saw him and spoke to him in my presence.

... nor had Mr. Dowling any more influence than those who were already with him.

In this passage Dr. Garnett evidently refers to the wild rumours already mentioned ; and it is probably in this connection that particular mention is made of the fruit from Carton.

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The Surgeon-General, Dr. Lindsay, and Mr. Leake arrived when this state of agitation began to subside from its greatest height, but while it was still considerable. Dr. Lindsay brought some fruit, which he told Lord Edward bad been brought from Carton.

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