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CHAPTER XII

1798-1800

ON August 16, 1798, Dr. Percy was able to announce his safe arrival at Dromore House from Dublin. During the two days' journey he observed that the labourers were at work in the fields as usual; the whole country wore an air of peace and plenty, and no traces of the late disturbances remained save three heads that were stuck upon the Market House at Lisburn.

His daughter Elizabeth offered to bear him company at Dromore, but he answered that he was able to live more retired and saving' without her, for as all the considerable families had sent away their females, he would not be expected to make the figure he must do, if his wife or daughter were with him.'

To compensate for their absence the Bishop had secured an agreeable literary companion by appointing the Rev. Henry Boyd1 to the living of Rathfriland.

He

Bishop Percy also looked forward to the society of the General and other officers from the camp at Lisburn, with whom he hoped to partake frequently of venison, supplied from a neighbouring park. declared that Mrs. Percy was quite out of luck' to be absent on these festive occasions, but he assured her that her health would always be drunk by his guests.

Like Bishop Heber, Dr. Percy found that the most pleasing prospects are marred by man, and just as all

1 The translator of Dante.

seemed to promise peace and quiet a sudden and renewed outbreak of rebellion swept over the land. The Committee of United Irishmen in Paris had assured the French Directory that if a strong French force appeared on the coast of Ireland the whole country would rise to shake off the hated British rule.

The French intended to land forces simultaneously at various points, and by distracting the attention of the Irish Government to facilitate a general rising. But the energetic measures taken for the arrest of the rebel leaders in the meanwhile put an end to the rebellion.

A small expedition put to sea on August 4 from La Rochelle, but only the vanguard, consisting of two frigates of forty-four guns, and one of thirty-eight, reached its destination. The main force was happily intercepted by Sir John Warren, the sound of whose guns was heard from the mountains of Mourne, a distance of 120 miles. The vanguard was eighteen days at sea, and after beating up three days against a north wind, by means of flying English colours it was brought to anchor on August 22 in the Bay of Killala, in county Mayo, instead of landing in Donegal, as was intended.

General Humbert, who had served under General Hoche in the expedition to Bantry Bay in December 1796, disembarked with a force of 1030 men and 70 officers. Urged on by the impatience of Napper Tandy he had sailed without orders, and found himself unsupported. He established his headquarters at the Castle of Killala, then occupied by the Bishop of the diocese and his family.

Dr. Stock had recently been appointed to the see of Killala, to which it was at one time contemplated to

send Dr. Percy. He was an excellent scholar, and noted for his courtesy and tact, and held that in the literary world, as elsewhere, 'soft words do much'; he wished that none else had ever, in the heat of debate, fallen from the lips of the learned. He was therefore eminently suited to fill a difficult position. On this memorable day two of his sons put off to sea in a fishing-boat to inspect what they believed to be an English man-of-war. One of them was immediately seized as an interpreter, and the other escaped, though he was not able to assure his family of his safety until he appeared some weeks later among their rescuers.

That the natives were in league with the enemy was shown by the fact that a rumour of the intended invasion had reached the castle a few days previously through a servant who was married to one of the townspeople.

The unusual appearance of the enemies' ships was noticed by an officer of yeomanry, who kept his corps under arms at the castle, together with twenty militiamen, thus forming a garrison of fifty men all told.

When a message came that the French had landed, and with a force of 300 men were within a mile of the town, this gallant little band was drawn up in front of the castle determined to fight. They were, however, beaten down by superior numbers and fled, while their two officers were taken prisoners. The French marched triumphantly into the courtyard demanding to see 'Monsieur l'Evêque,' who was pacing up and down his garden to arm his mind,' as an Irishman tells us, while the sounds of the volleys were singing in his His knowledge of the French tongue enabled him to understand General Humbert's polite apologies for the necessity of the invasion and his assurance of

ears.

its success. As a mark of confidence he offered the Bishop a place in the Directory of the Province of Connaught, which honour his Lordship acknowledged with a profound bow, but when pressed to take the oath, he replied with a smile that he had already taken too many to his own sovereign. He was asked if he considered it treason to act under a foreign Power for the common safety, and answered that he was no lawyer, but as the laws of England were reasonable they could not be incompatible with those of self-preservation.

Nineteen prisoners were secured in the drawing-room of the castle, but Colonel Charost, who with two officers was left in command of the garrison, while General Humbert proceeded to conquer the country, assured his reluctant host that the attics should be regarded as sacred to himself and his wife, with their household of eleven children and thirteen servants. This promise was faithfully kept, and for the twenty-three days that the enemy were in possession no Frenchman ever ascended beyond the first floor, except to announce the news of their victory at Castlebar, which did not convey much satisfaction to their entertainers. Though unmolested by the French, the attics were invaded by the panic-stricken inhabitants of Killala, who fled to the castle for safety, crowding every corner of the staircase, and forcing their way into every room. The bedridden recovered strength to climb to the top of the house, and the building resounded with the loquacity of the French below, and the shrieks and groans of the fugitives above, as they drew consolation from the whisky bottle. Some of the refugees attempted to celebrate a wake on the floor of the granary, and lit a fire with nothing under the burning turf but wooden boards. Colonel Charost called for the Bishop's butler and desired

him to secure the silver in his pantry, and when he found his soldiers inclined to plunder, declared 'that he was a chef de brigade, but would never be a chef de brigands.'

The Bishop's well-stocked larder and cellar and all his cattle and crops were consumed by the invaders before anything belonging to the poor inhabitants of the town was touched. Thirty tons of coals were required to keep the kitchen fire going for one month, and repeated conflagrations resulted from over-use of the grate. The stables furnished his guests with nine horses, and in three days the visit had cost the Bishop 6001. Nevertheless he testified to the intelligence, activity, temperance, and obedience of the invaders. Half of them had served in Italy under Napoleon, and the rest were seasoned and well-disciplined veterans from the army of the Rhine, to whom the invasion of Ireland must have appeared mere child's play. Bread and potatoes sufficed for their food, while water quenched their thirst, and they would sleep in the streets with no covering but their uniforms. When the Bishop objected to supplying the necessary cars and boats, the General overcame his scruples by marching him through the town with a corporal's guard, and threatening to transport him to France.

After the victory gained over the English at Castlebar, where the French killed and took prisoners 800 of our troops, and captured ten pieces of cannon, General Humbert returned in triumph to the Castle of Killala. With a Frenchman's love of effect he made his entry in a curricle drawn by two handsome horses, and seated on his left hand, as a captive of war, a corpulent British officer, in full uniform, whom he had surprised in bed. Hundreds of the country people now joined the enemy,