of Dublin on 23rd May.
Among his effects were found a green uniform, the seal of the Irish
Union, the line of route for the Kildare rebels in their advance,
together with a plan for the seizure of the chief officials. The triumph
of the Castle was completed by the capture of Neilson and the Sheares.
Their papers showed that no quarter was to be given. Irish historians
(among them Plowden) maintained that Pitt and Camden all along knew of
the plot and allowed the conspirators to drive on their mine in order at
the right moment to blow them up. There is no evidence to this effect,
except during the few days preceding the blow. Camden's efforts were
uniformly directed towards disarmament and coercion, so much so that he
is reproached for his cruelty by the very men who accuse him of playing
with the conspiracy. It is clear that he sought to prevent a rising,
which was expected to coincide with a French invasion. In fact the only
prudent course was to repress and disarm at all possible points.

The severity of the crisis appears in the letters which Beresford,
Cooke, and Lees, officials at Dublin Castle, wrote to Auckland. In
answer to Lord Moira's reckless charge in the Irish Parliament, that
they were pushing on the country to rebel, Beresford on 10th April asks
Auckland how can they, who are daily exposed to murder, push on a nation
to deeds of violence which must fall on them? On 1st May he writes: "We
think the Toulon squadron will join the expedition against Ireland....
Pikes are making in numbers, and the idea of a rising prevails. Kildare
and Wicklow are armed, organized, and rebellious. Dublin and the county
are very bad. The rebels expect the French within a month. Such is their
last Gazette." On 7th May Lees writes to Auckland: "Lord Camden must
steel his heart. Otherwise we are in great jeopardy." On 9th May
Beresford states that it would be a good plan to seize a number of
malcontents, threaten them with flogging and induce them to turn
informers. He adds: "At present the quiet which prevails in some parts
is deceptive. Where the country is organized, quiet appears. Where the
organization is going on there is disturbance. In Kildare there are
complete regiments, with large quantities of arms in their possession."
On 10th May Lees writes that Galway is arming for revolt, and, nine days
later, after the arrest of Fitzgerald, he states that they expect a
rising in Dublin on the morrow. On 21st May after the arrest