ly engaged in Tipperary. On the same day and hour Mr. Meagher
was arrested in Waterford and I in Cashel. An attempt was made to
rescue both of us, and by us both the effort was checked. I knew nothing
of what had occurred. I had been acting since the formation of the
League on my own judgment and responsibility. Independent of the fact
that the harvest was yet remote, and that we were tacitly pledged to
await its coming, my experience for the previous month satisfied me that
the people were far from being prepared; and I could not allow any
personal considerations to influence the country at such a crisis. Mr.
Meagher was governed by similar motives. It might have been better had
we acted otherwise, but with our then convictions, the least risk on our
own account would have been selfish and criminal; and rather than be
guilty of it we yielded to our fate. At the time each of us thought the
charge against him was at least felony. It turned out otherwise, and
though the magistrates who arrested and committed us refused to
entertain the question whether or not the offence was bailable, and
though we were both paraded through the country under an escort of
several hundred men, the Government directed we should be admitted to
bail. Mr. Meagher proceeded from Dublin to Limerick, where the
indictment against him was found; and on the same day I was liberated
from Nenagh Jail. Previous to my arrest, I had arranged to hold a
meeting on the summit of Slievenamon mountain. It was fixed for the day
after that on which I was liberated at Nenagh, which is at least fifty
miles from the place of meeting. I was not liberated until late in the
evening; but I resolved to be present at the meeting, and immediately
proceeded on my journey. I travelled all night, partly on horseback and
partly on foot, arriving at Cashel early in the morning. I there
learned that Mr. Meagher and some friends of his from Limerick had also
arrived with the same object as myself. We rode together to the
mountain, followed by several thousands, a distance of twenty miles.
Fifty thousand men at least clambered that steep mountain side, under a
scorching July sun. Four times as many would have been there to meet us,
but it had been widely rumoured none of us would be there; and in fact
most of those who came believed we were both in our prison-cells.
Besides this, efforts were made by men high in the confidence of the
leaders and the country to prevent the meeting a