Page:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu/217

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considered it could rely upon 267,296 armed men: Ulster furnishing 110,990; Munster, 100,634; Leinster, 55,672. None appear to have been enrolled for the County of Wexford, where the most vigorous stand was subsequently made. As the plot thickened, it was intimated to Lord Edward that the Government would connive at his leaving the country; but he spurned the suggestion, declaring: "It is now out of the question; I am too deeply pledged to these men to be able to withdraw with honour." In March 1798 he was residing at Leinster House with Lady Edward FitzGerald, and on the 12th (the day of the seizures at Bond's in Lower Bridge-street) an attempt was made to arrest him there. Frescati was also searched in vain. His papers at both places were examined. From this time until the 19th of May he was a wanderer, secreted with friends in different parts of Dublin: first at a friend's in Harold's-cross; then at Dr. Kennedy's in Aungier-street, where he was constantly visited by his associate Surgeon Lawless, and once by Reynolds the informer, whose perfidy was not yet known to the United Irish leaders. He was afterwards removed in disguise to the house of a Mrs. Dillon, close by the Portobello Hotel. Whilst there he visited Lady FitzGerald, then residing in Denzille-street with her children, a faithful maid, and Tony. A servant afterwards related that "on going into her lady's room late in the evening, she saw his lordship and Lady Edward sitting together by the fire. The youngest child had been brought down out of its bed for him to see, and both he and Lady Edward were, as she thought, in tears." Tony often bitterly lamented that "his unfortunate face" prevented him from visiting his master. For three weeks Lord Edward was concealed at Mrs. Dillon's. We are told that he attached himself much to a little child that used to accompany him in his night walks along the canal. From Mrs. Dillon's he was removed to the house of Mr. Murphy, a feather merchant, 153 Thomas-street, where he held frequent consultations with the leaders on the intended insurrection, and again visited Denzille-street disguised as a woman. Their daughter Emily was born during Lady Edward's residence in Denzille-street. The leaders of the United Irishmen now concluded that French aid could not be depended on, and it was arranged that Lord Edward should take the field at the head of their forces on the 23rd May. The increased vigilance of the authorities now necessitated more frequent changes of residence—to Mr. Cormack's, 22 Thomas-street, Mr. Moore's, 119 Thomas-street, Mr. Gannon's, 22 Corn-market. A reward of £1,000 was placed upon his head, and he had more than one narrow escape from capture. On the 17th of May he returned to Murphy's — by day hiding in a valley on the roof of an outhouse — by night holding consultations with his friends. In the afternoon of the next day he was in bed with a cold, when the house was suddenly surrounded, and Majors Swan and Sirr, accompanied by a body of soldiers, rushed up stairs and into his room. In the struggle that ensued Lord Edward wounded more than one of his antagonists; but in the end, disabled by a shot from Major Sirr's pistol, he was made prisoner, and was conveyed under a strong guard to the Castle, and afterwards to Newgate. He expressed regret when told by a surgeon that his wound was probably not mortal. [It is now known that Lord Edward was betrayed by Francis Higgins, or the "Sham Squire."] The Surgeon-General, Stewart, had been called in, and while dressing his wound he whispered to Lord Edward his readiness to convey any message he desired to Lady Edward. "No, no," he rejoined, "thank you; nothing, nothing; only break it to her tenderly." He lingered on for sixteen days in Newgate, until two o'clock on the morning of the 4th June 1798, when he passed away, aged 34. Until within a few hours of his death aU communication with his relatives and friends was denied. Then (through the influence of Lord Clare) Lady Louisa Connolly and his brother. Lord Henry FitzGerald, were admitted to his bedside. He kissed and embraced both of them, spoke of his wife and children, raved about public affairs, and remarked, "I knew it must come to this; we must all go." His remains were privately interred in a vault of St. Werburgh's Church. Attainted by Act of Parliament, his estate was forfeited and sold, but was secured by his step-father for the benefit of his children. The attainder was reversed in 1819. Lady Edward FitzGerald's after life, passed upon the Continent, was not happy. Her means were derived from an allowance by her reputed half-brother, Louis Philippe. She died in Paris, 8th November 1831, aged 55, and was buried at Montmartre. Lord Edward's only son, Edward Fox, died in 1863, leaving a daughter. His daughters Pamela and Lucy, who married respectively General Sir Guy Campbell, and Captain G. F. Lyon, had died a few years previously. Dr. Madden, in concluding his sketch of Lord Edward, says: "The loss of Lord Edward to the cause of the United Irishmen was