Secret Service Under Pitt

SECRET SERVICE UNDER PITT

               _Two vols. Crn. 8vo. with Portrait, 36s._

                THE PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE AND MEMOIRS

                                  OF

                        DANIEL O'CONNELL, M.P.

                     BY WM. J. FITZPATRICK, F.S.A.

                          KNT. ST. GREG. GT.

'In these volumes there is nothing tedious, and they are well put
together.'--STANDARD.

'Mr. Fitzpatrick, who has done more than any living writer for Irish
biography, has in this, his latest and most important work earned the
gratitude of all students of Irish politics.'--DAILY TELEGRAPH.

'This work stands high above the extravagant and indiscriminating
eulogies of O'Connell, accompanied by ignorant and malignant
denunciations of all opposed to him, hitherto given to the world by
patriotic biographers.'--TIMES.

'Inspired by love and admiration, pursued with laborious and
indefatigable industry, and guided by honesty and good judgment. It
gives a higher and, we believe, a truer view of O'Connell's character
than has been given to the world before.'--VANITY FAIR.

'Fresh light is thrown upon a most interesting period of Irish history
by this publication, in which Daniel O'Connell reveals his innermost
thoughts upon great public questions, as well as on themes of sacred
and private import. Courts and Cabinets--the intrigues of public men
and the subtleties of political organisations--are alike laid open to
the public gaze.'--DAILY CHRONICLE.

'To Mr. Fitzpatrick is due the gratitude of all students of history,
of truth, and of human character for the patience and pertinacity with
which he has collected these letters, and the knowledge, discretion,
and tact of his arrangement. He has let O'Connell tell his own story,
and the connecting thread is slight and scientific, such as only minute
knowledge of his period could make it. The reader is hardly conscious
of its presence, yet it suffices to weld a huge mass of miscellaneous
correspondence into an authentic biography and lifelike portrait of the
man who, of all others, made the greatest mark on his country and his
generation.'--ATHENÆUM.

'Mr. Fitzpatrick, while presenting to us a collection of moderate
extent, has not only woven them into a web of fair average continuity,
but has, as a sculptor would, presented to us his hero "in the round,"
so that we may consider each of his qualities in each varied light,
and judge of their combination into a whole, whether it is mean or
noble, consistent or inconsistent, natural or forced.... Few indeed,
as I think, of those who give a careful perusal to these pages, will
withhold their assent from the double assertion that O'Connell was a
great man, and that he was a good man. Upon this issue the volumes
now before us will enable us to try him: and in trying him to try
ourselves. For who can any longer doubt that some debt is still
due to him; that he was, to say the least, both over-censured and
undervalued?'--Mr. GLADSTONE, in _The Nineteenth Century_.

                 London: JOHN MURRAY, Albemarle Street.




                       SECRET SERVICE UNDER PITT


                                  BY

                       W. J. FITZPATRICK, F.S.A.

      AUTHOR OF 'LIFE, TIMES, AND CORRESPONDENCE OF BISHOP DOYLE'
                       'LIFE OF LORD CLONCURRY'
           'CORRESPONDENCE AND MEMOIRS OF DANIEL O'CONNELL'
                    'IRELAND BEFORE THE UNION' ETC.

                                LONDON
                       LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
                   AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16ᵗʰ STREET
                                 1892

                         _All rights reserved_

                              PRINTED BY
                SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
                                LONDON




PREFACE


These rough notes--begun long ago and continued at slow intervals--were
put aside during the onerous task of editing for Mr. Murray the
O'Connell Correspondence. The recent publication of Mr. Lecky's final
volumes, awakening by their grasp a fixed interest in pre-Union times,
and confirming much that by circumstantial evidence I had sought to
establish, affords a reason, perhaps, that my later researches in
the same field ought not to be wholly lost. Mr. Lecky's kindness in
frequently quoting me[1] merits grateful acknowledgment, not less than
his recognition of some things that I brought to light as explanatory
of points to which the State Papers afford no clue. This and other
circumstances encourage me in offering more.

My sole purpose at the outset was to expose a well-cloaked case of
long-continued betrayal by one of whom Mr. Froude confesses that all
efforts to identify had failed;[2] but afterwards it seemed desirable
to disclose to the reader a wider knowledge of an exciting time.[3] In
various instances a veil will be found lifted, or a visor unlocked,
revealing features which may prove a surprise.