WHYTE'S THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR SATURDAY & SUNDAY 25 & 26 July 2020

31 History THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR · 25 & 26 JULY 2020 32 1798 (November). Letters and secret documents written or translated by TheobaldWolfe Tone. (8) (i) 1798 Contemporaneous copy in another hand of a letter from Tone to General Jean Hardy, Derry gaol 12 Brumaire 6 [sic], one page, quarto. The date should read 13 Brumaire year 7, i.e. 3 November 1798 in the French republican calendar; most records show Tone was made prisoner in Buncrana on 3 November, and brought to Derry the same day under a strong escort. Tone writes as adjutant general ‘Smith’ (his pseudonym), to the commander in chief of the French expeditionary army, Général Jean Hardy, who received it. It was even republished in Hardy’s Correspondence intime (1901), but has hardly been referenced by historians. Hardy himself acknowledged receipt of this letter in a reply dated 4 November (Tone, Writings III, p. 364-5.). Though the authorities had Tone’s letter delivered, they ensured it was copied and perused for its contents. Tone informs Hardy how astonished he was to have been put in irons, and that he had written to Lord Cavan ‘respectfully’ but ‘firmly’ protesting at this ‘meditated indignity’ against the honour of the French army. He also insisted he should be treated as a prisoner of war with all due regard to his rank. Général Hardy de Perini (ed.), Correspondence intime du Général Jean Hardy de 1797 à 1802 (Paris, 1901). (ii) 1798 Contemporaneous copy in another hand of Tone’s letter from Derry Prison to ‘My lord’ [i.e Major-general the Earl of Cavan] 18 [sic] brumaire an 6, 3rd Nov 98 N[ew] S[tyle]. The date should read 12 brumaire An 7. Pp2, quarto. Lord Cavan, Richard FordWilliam Lambart was military commander of the Londonderry district, and had interrogated Tone at Buncrana. Tone eloquently, but rather defiantly, writes to Cavan that the orders to have him put in irons had been ‘issued in ignorance’ of his rank in the French army, recaps his various commissions since ‘1 Messidor 4’ [19 June 1796], and claims the rights and privileges of a prisoner of war. Presuming his Lordship had discretionary powers, he did not doubt he would ‘give immediate orders that the honour of the French nation and the French army be respected in his person.’ (iii) 1798 Contemporaneous copy in same hand as previous, Cavan’s reply to Tone: ‘Answer, Buncrana, 3 November 1798, one page, quarto on same sheet as (ii) above. Cavan unsurprisingly replied, no less eloquently, that he looked upon Tone, who had also ‘proved’ himself to be, a ‘traitor and rebel’ to his sovereign and native country, and as such would he be treated. He would enforce the orders he had given that morning, and as a man lamented the fate that awaited his addressee. He would grant Tone every indulgence that would not be ‘inconsistent’ with his public duty. From Derry, Cavan wrote to Cooke in Dublin Castle on 7 November, that Tone had written him ‘a rather impudent letter for a man in his situation’. Cavan had sent a copy to Castlereagh’s secretary, Alexander Knox, who would probably show it to him. He hoped Cooke would be ‘amused with Tone and that he will amuse Dublin by his execution’. It thus seems clear why copies would also have circulated privately. Both Tone’s letter to Cavan, and the latter’s response were published in the printed Proceedings of Tone’s trial; see also Tone Writings III, 359-61; 368. (iv) 1798 Letter in Tone’s hand to Hardy, marked ‘Copy’, 16 Brumaire Year 6 [6 November 1798, Armagh]. pp1, foolscap. This letter and its content had never been identified to date, in Irish or French records; it is unclear if Hardy received the original. Tone was known to retain copies of letters and documents, and it seems likely this one had been found among his belongings after his arrest. While not adding anything substantial to the historical record, it confirms that Tone had received Hardy’s letter of 14 Brumaire (4 November, reprinted in Writings III, 364-5) replying to his own of 3 November. Tone states they had just arrived in Armagh, and he expected to be in Dublin in 2 or 3 days. While the route from Derry seems logical looking at contemporary maps, to date no record of Tone passing through Armagh has been found. He writes that his situation had not changed, somewhat naively expecting that when [Lord Lieutenant]