nagement. This committee was elected, from amongst the delegates at the National Meeting, in the fame fecret manner as thote delegates had been chofen at the County Meeting, the perfons elected being only known to the fecretary; and the committee, thus fecretly formed, did not difclofe itself in the tranfaction of business; all of which was conducted through the intervention of a perfon (already noticed) called "The Intermediate," who delivered their orders, and who was the fame perfon to whom the delegates had been directed to apply for information refpecting the place of affembly of the National Meeting. Except therefore to the intermediate, to the fecretary, and to each other, the perfons compofing the fecret committee remained wholly unknown. Every proceeding was involved in the fame myfterious fecrecy; and though this fyftem of blind obedience had the effect of difgufting and alarming fome of the delegates, who perceived themfelves to be inftruments in the hands of an unknown authority, for purposes, of which the extent was never fully difclofed to them; yet the committee, thus formed, continued to preferve its general influence; difburfing at its pleafure the money collected; giving all orders for the places of the National Meetings, fending miffionaries, diffeminating papers, receiving information, and conducting every part of the bufinefs without control. The National Meeting was generally, if not always, held in or near Glafgow; and from reports of what paffed at thofe meetings, it appears that they correfponded with the Society of United Britons, and fent delegates to England, and received delegates from thence. When the meeting broke up, each delegate received a note of the time appointed for the next meeting; which he was to deliver to the fecretary of his own County Meeting, when the new delegate was elected. Their communications with different parts, and particularly with England, were feldom carried on in writing: fome papers, however, have been difcovered, which clearly thow that the fociety had the most dangerous object in view; and that fome of its members were fanguine enough to profefs an opinion, "that if the flattering accounts which they received from London were real, the emancipation of the country was at no great distance, when they should rally round the standard of Liberty." This fyftem of Union, as well as that of the United Englifhmen, was evidently borrowed from Ireland; and there is reason to believe that it was introduced by delegates from that country. Signs were adopted for the purpofe of distinguishing the members, as was practifed in Ireland; but the Knowledge of the figns feems to have been only imperfectly diffufed; they never have been generally understood; or having been altered at different times in different places, without concert, were never uniform in all parts of the country. In their fanguine expectation of fuccefs, these confpirators formed wild and extravagant plans of feizing, in the fame night, all the leading people over the whole island.If thefe perfons fhould refift, they were to be put to death; if they fubmitted quietly, their lives and property were to be fpared, but they were to be kept in cuftody till a new conftitution fhould be formed: which was clearly meant to be conformable to French principles. An oath or teft was formally adminiftered, and printed papers were circulated under the title of "Refolutions and Conftitution of the Society of United Scotfmen," a copy of which is fet forth in the Appendix (No. 15). The measures of this confpiracy were difconcerted by the arreft of Mealmaker, of Dyer, and of Archibald Gray, the latter of whom, after his indictment, efcaped to the continent, and has become a member of a fociety at Hamburgh, which will hereafter be noticed, by the name of "The Philanthropic Society." In addition to this view of the proceedings of the focieties both in England and Scotland, at this period, it is material to remark, that whilft the rebellion was at its height in Ireland, there were found individuals in this country who fo ftrongly manifefted their defire to fupport the cause of the rebels, that they became the objects of criminal profecution. Among these a man of the name of Martin Dunnovan was indicted for diftributing at Gosport the address stated in the Appendix (No. 16) intituled, " An Irishman's Addrefs to his countrymen in England;" the contents of which perhaps might have warranted a profecution for a higher crime, and are fo ftriking a fpecimen of the intentions of the difaffected, that although the particular inftance relates only to the conduct of one individual, your Committee have thought it highly deferving of notice. This man was convicted at the laft fummer affizes at Winchester, and fentenced to two years imprisonment. In purfuance of the fame plan, the United Irishmen in this country have been inceffantly labouring to diffeminate No. 31. 7 Q their their principles, both by means of fecret combinations among fuch of them as have found their way into the naval fervice, and by extending their focieties both in the metropolis and in different parts of the kingdom. The extent to which thefe practices have prevailed, and (notwithstanding repeated inftances of detection and punishment) are still carried on in the fleet, has been too fully demonftrated by the evidence which has appeared in a variety of courts mar tial, the proceedings of which have been laid before your Committee, and which contain matter so serious and important that your Committee have thought it right to infert an abstract of them in the Appendix (Nos. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22). It appears, that oaths have been tendered by the mutineers to the crew, "to be United Irishmen, equal to their brethren in Ireland, and to have nothing to do with the King or his Government." That they have acted in the profeffed expectation of affiftance from France, with the exprefs view of co-operating, for the expulfion of the Proteftants from Ireland, and the erection of a Roman Catho lic government; and it has been part of their plan to murder their officers, feize on the fhip, and carry her to France or Ireland. On another occafion, the oath has been as follows: "I fwear to be true to the Free and United Irish, who are now fighting our caufe against tyrants and oppreffors, and to defend their rights to the laft drop of my blood, and to keep all fecret; and I do agree to carry the fhip into Breft the next time the fhip looks out a-head at fea, and to kill every officer and man that shall hinder us, except the mafter; and to hoift a green enfign with a harp in it, and afterwards to kill and deftroy the Proteftants." The mutineers on board one of his Majefty's fhips appear to have been engaged in the plan of carrying the ship to France, in expectation that they would there be promoted in proportion to their crimes; that one of their ringleaders was to be appointed captain, and that they were then to proceed with the French against Ireland; and this deep-laid villany was disguised and aggravated by a degree of hypocrify and impofture scarcely to be paralleled: the particulars are ftated in the Appendix (No. 20). The mutineers in another fhip were proved to be connected with Correfponding Societies at Nottingham. The oath which they attempted to adminifter was, "to carry the fhip into an enemy's port, either French, Dutch, or Irish;" and they meant, in the event of being brought into action with an enemy's fhip, to shoot their own officers on the quarter-deck. While these proceedings of the United Irishmen in the fleet exhibit fo dreadful a picture of their fanguinary defigns, and of the fimilarity of their views and principles to those which have produced fo much calamity and bloodshed in Ireland, their conduct on shore has not been lefs deferving of the most serious attention. Your Committee have no hesitation in ftating, on the cleareft proof, ftrongly confirmed by recent circumftances, that among the various bodies enlisted, in any part of Great Britain, for the purposes of sedition and treason, the focieties which have been formed by the United Irishmen in this country are in all respects the most formidable, particularly at the present, moment; whether confidered with a view to their combination, their actual numbers, or the atrocious nature of the defigns of which they are preparing, in a very short time, to attempt the execution in direct co-operation with France. The danger to be apprehended from these focieties is much. increased, from the conftant communication which, they maintain with the focieties in Ireland; their mutual confi-. dence in each other; and the alarming circumftance of their being at this moment subject to the fame fecret direction and the fame chiefs. These focieties have been inftituted not only in London but in different parts of the country, and have formed themselves into fubdivifions. In the Appendix (Nos. 23 and 24) are inferted printed forms of certificates of election to the Society, which were feized among the papers of a perfon long engaged in this confpiracy. One of these forms has been framed for a "London Society." The other appears to relate to a fociety called an "External Society."The impreffion of the feal on the former of them is the fame with that of the feal found in the cuftody of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, when he was apprehended. The reference in thefe certificates to the conftitution and the teft confirm the unquestionable information which your Committee have received, that these focieties form a part of the dreadful fyftem which was unhappily established in Ireland. The conftitution of the United Irifhmen, fuch as it was acted upon in Ireland, appears to regulate their proceedings; and copies of this conftitution have been found in the poffeffion of perfons principally concerned in promoting thefe meetings. The views which they entertain at this moment, and the 703 fanguine fanguine hopes with which they look to their accomplishment, are apparent in an inflammatory and treafonable paper recently found at one of thofe meetings, of which Government had received intelligence, and the perfons prefent at which were confequently apprehended. This paper is inferted in the Appendix (No. 25). Other papers, feized at the fame meeting, ftrongly confirm the account which your Committee have received, that a mode has lately been adopted by these focieties (fimilar to that practifed both in Ireland and Scotland), of keeping the accounts of the fociety, by fubftituting different numbers for the names of the members. Your Committee think it also not immaterial to infert in the Appendix (No. 26) copy of a printed card, which has been found in the poffeffion of different perfons, and particularly, among other feditious papers, in that of a perfon recently apprehended, who, there is reafon to believe, has been very lately chofen to act as general secretary to the different focieties of United Irifhmen now in London. The perfon named in this card, and the transaction. to which it relates, are fuch as to require no comment. Your Committee have received different accounts of the numbers of this fociety; but, though their force is probably exaggerated by themfelves, for evident reafons, there is fufficient ground for believing that their numbers have been long confiderable. Many Irish, ordinarily refident here, chiefly among the lowest claffes of the community, have been gradually induced to become members of this society. But the most active part confifts of those Irish rebels who have fled to this country, rendered defperate by their crimes, not daring to return to Ireland, and either unable to make their way to the countries subject to France, or not receiving fufficient encouragement to attempt it, they remain here, waiting for the opportunity of executing those violent and defperate projects to which they have become familiar. And they appear to be under the direction of fome perfons of a higher clafs, who fometimes furnish pecuniary aid and form the Committee; by means of which a conftant correfpondence is carried on, through Hamburgh, with France. Among thefe plans, there is good reafon to believe, that early in 1798 it was seriously in agitation among the confpirators in Ireland, to convey, in fmall veffels, from Ireland to England, a great number of United Irifhmen; and to land them on different parts of the coaft, with inftructions to divide themselves into fmall bodies, and to endeavour to make |