was murdered, it was Coigley!" The arrest of Lord Edward
FitzGerald occurred soon after. The room in which he was arrested and
the bed on which he lay is still shown, for the brave young noble had
won for himself the heart's love of every true Irishman. The story of
his life would occupy more space than can be given to it. To abridge it
would be to destroy more than half of its real interest. A severe wound
which he received in the struggle with his captors, combined with the
effects of excitement and a cruel imprisonment, caused his death. He was
a chevalier _sans peur et sans reproche_. Even his enemies, and the
enemies of his country, could find no word to say against him. With him
died the best hopes of the United Irishmen, and with his expiring breath
they lost their best prospect of success.[581]

Lord Edward died on the 4th of June. The 23rd of May had been fixed for
the rising; but informations were in the hands of the Government.
Captain Armstrong had betrayed the Sheares, two brothers who had devoted
themselves to the cause of their country with more affection than
prudence. The base traitor had wound himself into their confidence, had
dined with them, and was on the most intimate social relations with
their family. On the 12th of July he swore their lives away; and two
days after they were executed, holding each other's hands as they passed
into eternity.

The rising did take place, but it was only partial. The leaders were
gone, dead, or imprisoned; and nothing but the wild desperation, which
suggested that it was better to die fighting than to die inch by inch,
under inhuman torture, could have induced the people to rise at all. The
ferocity with which the insurrection was put down, may be estimated by
the cruelties enacted before it commenced. Lord Cornwallis, in his
Government report to the Duke of Portland, declared that "murder was the
favourite pastime" of the militia. He declared that the principal
persons in the country and the members of Parliament were averse to all
conciliation, and "too much heated to see the effects which their
violence must produce." To General Ross he writes: "The violence of our
friends, and their folly in endeavouring to make it a religious war,
added to the ferocity of our troops, who delight in murder, must
powerfully counteract all plans of conciliation; and the conversation,
even at my table, where you will suppose I do all I can to prevent it,
always turns on hanging,