The O'Donoghue: Tale of Ireland Fifty Years Ago

“Very nearly, faix!” said Lanty, dropping his head, and sighing.

“And what do you expect to gain by that, Master Lanty? Is it by showing that you are of no use to them – that you’ve nothing more left in you – that you hope for a reward. Is it for the sake of your family and friends, or on account of your remarkable honesty, they’re so fond of you?” Then checking this sneering tone, he added, in a slow and solemn voice, “Are you a fool, man? – or don’t you see what you’re bringing yourseif to? What will be your claim when the trial of the young O’Donoghue is over? The crown lawyers will have you up in the witness-box till they’ve drained you dry. Devil a drop they’ll leave in you; and when they say ‘Go down,’ take my word for it, it’s down you’ll go in earnest; and all the world wouldn’t lift you up afterwards.”

Hemsworth permitted the words to sink into his heart for a few seconds in silence, and then went on —

“So long as you trusted me, you were safe. I’d never expose you in open court.”

“No, sir, nor the Attorney-general neither. He said that all they wanted was my information on oath.”

“And you gave it!” exclaimed Hemsworth, in a voice of ill-dissembled anxiety.

“Not all out, sir,” said Lanty, with a shrewd glance of malicious intelligence. “I asked them for a copy, to read it over before I signed it, and they gave me one” – here he produced a roll of paper from his breast pocket, and showed it to Hemsworth – “and I’m to give it back to-morrow, with my name to it.”

“They’ve played you off well, Lanty,” said Hemsworth, while, carelessly opening the paper, he affected not to pay it any attention. “The lawyers have got round you nicely; and, faith, I always thought you a clever fellow before. Your evidence, so long as it was your own, was worth five thousand pounds, and I wouldn’t give five for your chance of escape, now, that they know your secret.”

“What would you say if they didn’t know it?” said Lanty, with a look of impudent familiarity, he had never ventured on before. “What would you say, now, if the best of my evidence was to come out yet? – that I never told one word about the French clipper that landed the muskets in Glengariff-bay, and left two pipes of wine at your own house the same night?”

“Ah! you’d try that game, would you?” said Hemsworth, with a smile of deadly malice; “but I’ve thought of that part, my honest Lanty. I’ve already given information on that very matter. You don’t suppose that I afforded those fellows my protection for the sake of the bribe. No, faith! – but I made them pay for the very evidence that can any day convict them; – ay, them and you; you, a paid spy of France, a sworn United Irishman, who have administered the oaths to eighteen soldiers of the Roscommon militia, and are at this moment under a signed and witnessed contract, bound to furnish horses for a French cavalry force on their landing here in Ireland. Are these truths, Mr. Lanty, or are they mere matters of fancy?”

“I’m a crown witness,” said Lawler, sturdily, “and if I speak out all I know, they’re bound to protect me.”

“Who is to bind them?” said Hemsworth, jeeringly: “is it your friends, the United Irishmen, that you betrayed? – is it they are to watch over your precious life? – or do you think your claims are stronger with the other party, that you only swore to massacre? Where’s the sympathy and protection to come from? Tell me that, for I’m curious on the point.”

Lanty turned a fierce look upon him – his eyeballs glared, and his nether lip shook convulsively, while his hands were firmly clenched together. Hemsworth watched these evidences of growing anger, but without seeming to regard them, when the key grated roughly in the lock, the door opened, and the gaoler called out, with a savage attempt at laughter —

“Time’s up. I must turn you off, sir.”

“A short reprieve,” said Hemsworth, humouring the ruffian jest, and he pitched his purse into the fellow’s hand.

“To settle family matters, I suppose,” said the turnkey, with a grin, as he retired, and closed the door once more.

The interruption seemed to offer a favourable opportunity to Hemsworth of giving an amicable turn to the interview, for with a changed voice, and a look of well-assumed friendship, he said —

“I have misspent my moments here sadly, Lanty. I came to befriend you, and not to interchange words of angry meaning. If I had been in Dublin, I’m certain you would never have fallen into this perilous position. Let us see how best to escape from it. This information – I see it is all confined to young O’Donoghue’s business – is of no value whatever, until signed by you. It is just as if it were never spoken. So that, if you steadily determine not to sign it, you need give no reason whatever, but simply refuse when asked. Do this, and all’s safe.”

“Couldn’t they transport me?” said Lanty, in a feeble voice, but whose very accent betrayed the implicit trust he reposed in Hemsworth’s answer.

“They’ll threaten that, and worse, too; but never flinch; they’ve nothing against you save, your own evidence. When the time comes – mark me, I say, when the time comes – your evidence is worth five thousand pounds; but, now, all it will do is convict young O’Donoghue, and warn all the others not to go forward. I don’t suppose you want that; the young fellow never did you any harm.”

“Never,” said Lanty, dropping his head with shame, for even in such a presence his conscience smote him.

“Very well – there’s no use in bringing him to trouble. Keep your own counsel, and all will be well.”

“I’m just thinking of a plan I’ve a notion in my head will do well,” said Lanty, musingly. “I’m to see Father Kearney, the priest of Luke’s Chapel, to-morrow morning – he’s coming over to confess me. Well, when the Attorney-general and the others come for me to write my name, I’ll just say that I daren’t do it. I’ll not tell why nor wherefore – sorra word more, but this, ‘I dar’n’t do it.’ They’ll think at once it’s the priest set me against it. I know well what they’ll say. That Father Kearney put me under a vow, and so they may. They’ll scarcely get him to say much about it, and I’ll take care they won’t make me.”

“That thought was worthy of you, Lanty,” said Hemsworth, laughing, “but take care that you don’t swerve from your determination. Remember that there is no accusation against you – not a word nor a syllable of testimony. Of course they’ll threaten you with the worst consequences. You’ll be told of prosecutions for perjury, and all that. Never mind – wait patiently your time. When the hour arrives, I’ll make your bargain for you, and it will not be merely the evidence against an individual, but the disclosure of a great plot of rebellion, they must pay you for. Cockayne got four thousand pounds and a free pardon. Your services will rank far higher.”

“If they won’t bring me up in open court,” said Lanty, timidly, “I’ll do whatever they please.”

“For that very reason you must adhere to my advice. There, now, I perceive the fellow is about to lock up for the night, and I must leave this. You may want some money from time to time. I’ll take means of sending whatever you stand in need of. For the present, ten pounds will, I suppose, be sufficient.”

Lanty took the money with a mixture of humility and sullenness. He felt it as a bribe rather than a gift, and he measured the services expected of him by the consideration they were costing. The turnkey’s presence did not admit of further colloquy, and they parted in mutual suspicion and distrust, each speculating how far self-interest might be worked upon as the guiding principle to sway the other’s actions.

“I’m scarcely sure of him yet,” said Hemsworth, as he slowly returned to his hotel. “They’ll stop at nothing to terrify him into signing the informations, and if the prosecution goes on, and the young O’Donoghue is convicted, the plot is blown up. The others will escape, and all my long-projected disclosures to the Government become useless. Besides, I fail where failure is of more consequence. It was to little moment that I prevented a marriage between Travers and the girl, if I cannot make her my own; but yet, that alliance should have been thwarted on every ground of policy. It would have been to plant the Travers here on the very spot I destine for myself. No, no. I must take care that they never see Ireland more. Indeed this breaking off the marriage will prove a strong obstacle to their returning.” Thus did he review his plans, sometimes congratulating himself on the success of the past, sometimes fearing for the future, but always relying with confidence on the skill of his own negociations – an ingenuity that never yet had failed him in his difficulties.

The next day was the time appointed for Lanty’s final examination, and on which he was to affix his name to the informations, and Hems-worth loitered in one of the offices of the Castle, where the gossip of the morning was discussed, in no common anxiety to hear how his “protege” had acquitted himself. As the clerks and underlings conversed among themselves on the dress or equipage of the officials who at intervals drove off towards the Park, Hemsworth, who affected to be engaged in reading a morning paper, overheard one remark to another —

“There’s the devil to pay at the Council. That fellow they have in Newgate against Coyle and M’Nevin, and the rest of them, it seems, now refuses to confirm his informations. They have good reason to believe all he said was true, but they can’t go on without him.”

“What’s the meaning of that? He was willing enough yesterday.”

“They say a priest from Luke’s Chapel was with him this morning, and forbid him, under any number of curses and anathemas in case of disobedience, to reveal a syllable against the ‘United party.’”

“They can compel him, however. Don’t you remember Cockayne did the very same thing about Jackson’s business, and they brought him over to Lord Clonmel’s house, and made him sign there?”

“That they did, but they’ll not try the same game twice. Curran brought it out in the cross-examination, and made it appear that the witness was terrified by the crown by a threat of consequences to himself as an accomplice, and the point went very far with the jury in Jackson’s favour.”

Hemsworth did not wait to hear more. The great fact that Lanty was firm, was all that he cared for, and, after a few casual remarks on the morning news, he strolled forth, with all the lazy indifference of an idle man.

CHAPTER XXXIX. THE BROTHERS

Among the unexplained phenomena of the period is one very remarkable and, doubtless, pregnant circumstance – the species of lull or calm in the movements of the United Irish party, which was conspicuous throughout the entire of the summer and autumn of 1796. The spring opened on them with hopes high, and expectations confident. Tone’s letters from Paris breathed encouragement; the embarrassments of England promised favourably for their cause; and many who wavered before, were found now willing to embrace the enterprize. To this state of ardent feeling succeeded an interval of doubt and uneasiness; conflicting statements were circulated, and mens’ minds were shaken, without any apparent cause. A vague fear of betrayal and treachery gained ground; yet no one was able to trace this dread to any definite source. The result, however, was evident in the greater caution of all concerned in the scheme – a reserve, which seemed to threaten a total abandonment of the undertaking; such, at least, it appeared to those who, like Mark O’Donoghue, having few or no opportunities of intercourse with the leaders, were disposed to take their impressions from the surface of events. As for him, his correspondence had ceased with Lanty’s treachery. He neither knew the real names nor addresses of those to whom he had formerly written, and had not a single acquaintance to whom he could look for advice and assistance.

All Sir Archy’s endeavours to win his confidence had failed, not from any distrust either in his judgment or his good faith, but because Mark regarded his secret as a sacred depository, in which the honour of others was concerned; and however disposed to seek advice for himself, he would not compromise their safety for the sake of his own advantage. Unable to extort a confidence by entreaty, and well aware how little efficiency there lay in menace, Sir Archy abandoned the attempt, and satisfied himself by placing in Mark’s hands Hemsworth’s letter, significantly hinting his own doubts of the writer’s integrity.

Mark sat himself down in the garden, to study the epistle; and however artfully conceived, the experience his own career opened, displayed the dishonesty of the writer at every line.

“I am the obstacle to his plans – my presence here is somehow a thwarting influence against him,” said he, as he folded up the paper. “I must remain at every hazard; nor is there much, so long as I bound my wanderings by these great mountains – he will be a bolder than Hemsworth who captures me here.”

Guided by this one determination, and trusting that time might clear up some of the mysteries that surrounded him, Mark waited, as men wait for an event that shall call upon their faculties or their courage for some unusual effort. The same reverses of fortune that had taught him distrust, had also inculcated the lesson of patience; but it was the patience of the Indian warrior, who will lie crouching in concealment for days long, till the moment of his vengeance has arrived. And thus, while to others he seemed an altered character, less swayed by rash impulses, and less carried away by anger, the curbed up passions became only more concentrated by repression. He mixed little with the others, rarely appearing save at meal times, and then, seldom taking any part in the conversation around. He did not absent himself from home, as before, for whole days or weeks long, but spent his time mostly in his own chamber, where he read and wrote for hours – strange and unusual habits for one who had never sought or found amusement save in the fatigues of the hunting-field. His manner, too, was no longer the same. Calmer and more self-possessed than before, he neither seemed to feel momentary bursts of high spirits or depression. The tone of his mind was indeed sad, but it was the sadness that indicated strength and constancy to endure, fully as much as it betrayed the pain of suffering. The altered features of his character impressed themselves on every thing he did; and there was an air of quiet gentleness in his demeanour, quite foreign to his former rough and abrupt manner. Upon none did these things make so great an impression as on Kate: her woman’s tact enabled her to see them differently, and more correctly than the rest. She saw that a mighty change had come over him: that no mere check of disappointment, no baffled ambition, could have done this: neither could she attribute it to any feeling towards herself, for he was never more coolly distant than now. She guessed, then, rightly, that it was the first step towards freedom, of a mind enthralled by its own strong passions. It was the struggling energy to be free, of a bold and daring spirit, that learned at length to feel the lowering influences of ill-directed ambition. How ardently she wished that some career were open to him, now – some great path in life: she did not fear its dangers or its trials – his nature suggested any thing save fear! How sad to think, that energy like his should be suffered to wane, and flicker, and die out, for want of the occasion to display its blaze. She could not avoid communicating these thoughts to Sir Archy, who for some time past had watched the growing change in the youth’s manner. The old man listened attentively as she spoke, and his glistening eye and heightened colour showed how her girlish enthusiasm moved him; and while some reminiscence of the past seemed to float before him, his voice trembled as he said —

“Alas! my sweet child, the world offers few opportunities like those you speak of, and our political condition rejects them totally. The country that would be safe, must give little encouragement to the darings of youthful energy. His rewards are higher here, who seeks out some path well trod and beaten, and tries by industry and superior skill to pass by those who follow it also. The talents men prize are those available for some purpose of every-day life. Gifts that make mankind wiser and happier, these, bring fame and honour; while the meteor brilliancy of mere heroism can attract but passing wonder and astonishment.”

“You mistake Mark, my dear uncle – you undervalue the change that is worked in his character. He is not deficient in ability, if he but suffer himself to rely upon it, rather than on the casual accidents of fortune. If Herbert were but here – ”

“Herbert comes home to-night. I had thought to keep my secret for a surprise, but you have wrested it from me.”

“Herbert coming home! Oh, how happy you have made me! The brothers once more together, how much each may benefit the other. Nay, uncle, you must not smile thus. Superior as Herbert is in the advantages that training and study impart, Mark has gifts of determination and resolve, as certain to win success. But, here he comes – may I not tell him of Herbert’s coming?”

Sir Archy smiled and nodded, and the happy girl was the next moment at Mark’s side, relating with delight her pleasant news.

Mark listened with pleasure to the intelligence. Any little jealousy he once felt for acquirements and attainments above his own, had long since given way to a better and more brotherly feeling; and he ardently desired to meet and converse with him again.

“And yet, Kate, how altered may he be from what we knew him, who is to say the changes time may not have wrought in him?”

“Such are not always for the worse, Mark,” said Kate, timidly, for she felt how the allusion might be taken.

A slight tinge of red coloured Mark’s cheek, and his eye was lighted with a look of pleasure. He felt the flattery in all its force, but did not dare to trust himself with a reply.

“I wonder,” said he, after a lengthened pause – “I wonder how Herbert may feel on seeing, once more, our wild glen. Will these giant rocks and bold ravines appeal to his heart with the same sympathies as ever; or will the habits of the life he has left, cling to him still, and make him think this grandeur only desolation?”

“You did not feel so, surely, Mark?” said Kate, as she turned upon him a look of affectionate interest.

“Me? – I think so? No! This valley was to me a place of rest – a long sought-for haven. I came not here from the gay and brilliant world, rich in fascinations and pleasures. I had not lived among the great and learned, to hear the humble estimate they have of our poor land. I came back here like the mariner whose bark puts back shattered by the storm, and baffled by the winds, unable to stem the tide that leads to fortune. Yes, shipwrecked in every thing.” “Herbert, Herbert,” cried Kate.

At the same moment a chaise, advancing at full gallop, turned from the road into the avenue towards the house. The boy caught sight of the figures in the garden, flung open the door, and springing out, rushed towards them.

“My dear, dear Kate,” was his first exclamation, as he kissed her affectionately; his next, in a tone of unqualified surprise, was – “What a fine fellow you have grown, Mark!” and the two brothers were locked in each other’s arms.

The sentiment which thus burst from him in the first moment of surprise, was the very counterpart of Mark’s own feeling on beholding Herbert. Time had worked favourably for both. On the elder brother, the stamp of manhood more firmly impressed, had given an elevation to the expression of his features, and a character of composure to his air; while with Herbert, his career of study alternating with a life passed among cultivated and polished circles, had converted the unformed stripling into a youth of graceful and elegant demeanour. The change was even greater in him than in his brother. In the one case it was, as it were, but the growth and development of original traits of character; in the other, new and very different features were distinguishable. His thoughts, his expressions, his very accent was changed; yet through this his old nature beamed forth, bright, joyous, and affectionate as ever. It was the same spirit, although its flights were bolder and more daring – the same mind, but its workings more powerful and more free. The one had placed his ambition so high, he scarcely dared to hope; the other had already tasted some of the enjoyments of success – life had even already shed around him some of its fascinations, and quickened the ardour of his temper. A winner in the race of intellect, he experienced that thrilling ecstasy which acknowledged superiority confers; he knew what it was to feel the mastery over others, and, even now, the flame of ambition was lighted in his heart, and its warm glow tingled in his veins and throbbed in every pulse. In vain should they who knew him once, seek for the timid, bashful boy, that scarcely dared to make an effort from very dread of failure. His flashing eye and haughty brow told of victory; still around his handsome mouth the laughing smile of happy youth showed that no ungenerous feeling, no unworthy pride, had yet mingled with his nature.

“They tell me you have swept the University of its prizes, Herbert – is not this so?” said Mark, as he leaned his arm affectionately on his shoulder.

“You would think but poorly of my triumphs, Mark,” replied Herbert, with a smile. “The lists I fight in, peril not life or limb.”

“Still, there is honour in the game,” said Mark. “Wherever there is success on one side, and failure on the other – wherever there is hope to win, and dread to lose – there, the ambition is never unworthy.”

“But what of you, Mark? Tell me of yourself. Have you left a buck in the glen, or is there a stray grouse on the mountain? What have you been doing since we met?”

Mark coloured and looked confused, when Kate, coming to the rescue, replied —

“How can you ask such a question, Herbert? What variety does life afford in this quiet valley? Is it not the very test of our happiness, that we can take no note of time? But here comes my uncle.”

Herbert turned at the words, and rushed to meet the old man.

“Have you won baith, Herbert,” cried he – “baith premiums? Then I must gie you twa hands, my dear boy,” said he, pressing him in a fond embrace. “Were the competitors able ones? Was the victory a hard one? Tell me all, every thing about it.”

And the youth, with bent down head and rapid utterance, related, in a low voice, the event of his examination.

“Go on, go on,” said Sir Archy M’Nab, aloud – “tell me what followed.”

And Herbert resumed in the same tone as before.

“Ha!” cried Sir Archy, in an accent of irrepressible delight, “so they said your Latin smacked of Scotland. They scented Aberdeen in it. Well, boy, we beat them – they canna deny that. The prize is ours – the better that it was hardly fought for.”

And thus they continued for some time to talk, as they walked side by side through the garden; the old man’s firm step and joyous look telling of the pride that filled his heart, while Herbert poured forth in happy confidence the long-treasured thoughts that crowded his brain; nor did they cease their converse, till Kerry came to summon the youth to his father’s room.

“He’s awake now,” said Kerry, gazing with undisguised rapture on the tall and handsome youth; “and it’s a proud man he ought to be this day, that has the pair like ye.”

The young men smiled at the flattery, and arm in arm took then-way towards the house.

CHAPTER XL. THE LULL BEFORE THE STORM

Once again assembled beneath that old roof, the various members of the family seemed more than ever disposed to make present happiness atone for any troubles of the past. Never was the old O’Donoghue so contented; – never did Sir Archy feel a lighter heart. Herbert’s spirits were buoyant and high as present success and hope could make them; and Kate, whatever doubts might secretly have weighed upon her mind, did her utmost to contribute to the general joy; – while Mark, over whose temperament a calmer and less variable habit of thought prevailed, seemed at least more reconciled to his fortunes.

The influences of tranquillity that prevailed over the land appeared to have breathed their soothing sway over that humble dwelling, where life rolled on like an unruflled stream, each day happy with that monotony of enjoyment, so delicious to all whose minds have ever been tortured by the conflicting cares of the world.