cted had in view "the separation of the country from her
connexion with Great Britain, and a fraternal alliance with the French
Republic." Clare advocated stringent measures to prevent an outbreak;
but he was neither cruel nor immoderate, and was inclined to mercy in
dealing with individuals. He attempted to save Lord Edward Fitzgerald
(q.v.) from his fate by giving a friendly warning to his friends, and
promising to facilitate his escape from the country; and Lord Edward's
aunt, Lady Louisa Conolly, who was conducted to his death-bed in prison
by the chancellor in person, declared that "nothing could exceed Lord
Clare's kindness." His moderation and humanity after the rebellion was
extolled by Cornwallis. He threw his great influence on the side of
clemency, and it was through his intervention that Oliver Bond, when
sentenced to death, was reprieved; and that an arrangement was made by
which Arthur O'Connor, Thomas Emmet and other state prisoners were
allowed to leave the country.

In October 1798 Lord Clare, who since 1793 had been convinced of the
necessity for a legislative union if the connexion between Great Britain
and Ireland was to be maintained, and who was equally determined that
the union must be unaccompanied by Catholic emancipation, crossed to
England and successfully pressed his views on Pitt. In 1799 he induced
the Irish House of Lords to throw out a bill for providing a permanent
endowment of Maynooth. On the 10th of February 1800 Clare in the House
of Lords moved the resolution approving the union in a long and powerful
speech, in which he reviewed the history of Ireland since the
Revolution, attributing the evils of recent years to the independent
constitution of 1782, and speaking of Grattan in language of deep
personal hatred. He was not aware of the assurance which Cornwallis had
been authorized to convey to the Catholics that the union was to pave
the way for emancipation, and when he heard of it after the passing of
the act he bitterly complained that Pitt and Castlereagh had deceived
him. After the union Clare became more violent than ever in his
opposition to any policy of concession in Ireland. He died on the 28th
of January 1802; his funeral in Dublin was the occasion of a riot
organized "by a gang of about fourteen persons under orders of a
leader." His wife, in compliance with his death-bed request, destroyed
all his papers. His two sons, John (1792-1851) and Richard Hobart
(1793-1864), su