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O'Halloran, after the discomfiture of his forces,
rode in company with M`Cracken, Porter, and a
few others, at full speed to Donegore, on reaching
which he found that his old associates from Larne,
had just arrived. A vast concourse from other
parts of the country had flocked to this rendezvous;
and the number was every moment increasing; so
that before night came, it was supposed that the
encampment contained no fewer than ten thousand
men.

They were not all, however, equally zealous.
The news of the defeat at Antrim, filled some of
them with considerable dismay; and a great many
took advantage of the night to withdraw from such
a dangerous enterprise. When the morning came,
the diminution of their numbers, from these desertions,
was very perceptible; and seemed very generally
to shake that mutual confidence in each
other, which is so necessary to the success of warlike
operations. Hence doubt and perplexity began
to reign over the whole camp, a circumstance
which did not escape the penetration of M`Claverty.

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He conceived it to afford a favourable opportunity
of once more attempting to dissuade them from persevering
in their designs. He accordingly addressed
them, promising to negotiate for them, an absolute
pardon for all they had done, if they would
quietly lay down their arms and disperse.

He was listened to with the more attention, even
by those who were not intimidated by the preceding
day's misfortunes, (and who still formed a sufficiently
numerous body to enforce the adherence
of the rest, if they should think proper to do so,)
by intelligence which had been just received of the
massacre of the Protestants at Wexford, and the
other atrocities committed by the insurgents of the
Catholic persuasion in the South.

The nine-tenths of their number being Presbyterians,
were easily excited on this subject, and
without much difficulty made to believe that they
had entered into a rebellion which was likely to be
converted into a war of religious vengeance, like
the former Irish rebellions, against the atrocities
of which they had, from their infancy, been taught
to feel the most inveterate abhorrence.

M`Claverty was well aware of this circumstance,
and did not neglect to avail himself of it. After
enlarging on the extreme improbability of final
success attending their exertions—“And for what
is it, my friends,” said he, “that you are making
these exertions, at the awful risk of your lives and
of every thing else dear to you? Your views, no
doubt, are confined to the acquirement of some
civil or political right, of which you suppose yourselves
deprived, whereas, you may rely on it, that
by far the greater portion of your confederacy, at
present in arms throughout the kingdom, have very
different views. Their's is a religious warfare.
They regard civil grievances as of comparatively
little importance, to those religious restrictions

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which they conceive an heretical government has
imposed upon them. Wishing for your aid, they
have, until they got you, as they supposed, too far
involved to retreat with safety, kept the real object
of their sedition out of view. But they have now
thrown off the cloak. They have put themselves
under the absolute direction of their priests, who
alone govern in their counsels, and command in
their battles; and whose chief desire is the extirpation
of that religion you profess, and the infliction
of a malignant, but as they teach their fanatical
followers, a holy revenge on its professors.
In selecting their victims, you perceive that already
they do not inquire, are they royalists, but are they
Protestants? Lay your hands upon your hearts,
and ask if your conscience will justify you in fighting
with such confederates, in such a cause? Pause,
I beseech you, and reflect that the moment the
power and influence of Britain is expelled this
country, Protestantism is also expelled. You would
have neither equal numbers, nor equal ferocity
with your Catholic confederates; you would, consequently,
be utterly unable to prevent the establishment
of Catholic supremacy and intolerance
in the Island. Oh! my friends, withdraw from this
unnatural confederacy ere it be too late. Perhaps
there are some among you who think that it is already
too late; who will tell you that you have
even now gone too far to retrace your steps; that
you have offended the constituted authorities past
forgiveness; and that you have no alternative but
to persevere. Do not listen to such deceitful language.
You have not yet done any thing, as a
body, but what I am persuaded, the government
will freely pardon, on condition of your returning
peaceably to your allegiance. Now is your time
successfully to negotiate for pardon. You are still
in force, with arms in your hands, but after your

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defeat, and that defeat is easily foreseen, from
the force which is now coming against you, you
may in vain implore from the clemency, what
you can now in some measure demand from the
policy of the government. General Nugent whose
victorious army will be here in a few hours, is my
friend. With him, if you permit me, I will negotiate
for you, and I pledge my honour, that in doing
so I shall consult your interests as faithfully as
if I were of your party.”

The majority of the insurgents listened to this
reasoning with seeming approbation, but there were
a few who acted very differently. They were
either Catholics, or Protestants who had already so
openly signalized themselves in the rebellion that
they were hopeless of pardon. These began to
raise the cry of cowardice and treachery, against all
who appeard wavering, which soon produced much
dissention throughout the camp; and the approaching
army was considerably advanced, without any
resolution being formed either for battle or negotiation.

At length the royal standard was seen floating
in the air, and all the glittering pomp of war perceived,
at the distance of a few miles, to be approaching
the hill. Contention ceased for some
minutes, while every eye contemplated this imposing
spectacle in profound and awe-struck silence.
M`Claverty sprung again to his feet. All eyes
were directed to him.

“O, my neighbours, my friends!” he exclaimed,
“Negotiate now or perish! Another hour may
place pardon beyond your reach.”

“We will, we will negotiate,” was the spontaneous
cry which now burst from almost every
mouth.

O'Halloran, M`Cracken, Porter, M`Cauley and
Darragh, (the two latter of whom were Catholics,

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and the whole five either already proscribed or
without expectation of pardon,) at first endeavoured
to check the expression of this resolution, and
to inspire the multitude with more firm and courageous
sentiments. But they soon found themselves
obliged to yield to the torrent.

O'Halloran, indeed, now began to perceive that
the cause had become desperate. No French aid
had arrived to afford its adherents a rallying point,
while the bigotry and cruelty of its friends in the
South, cooled and disgusted those in the North,
and tended more to its abandonment and ruin than
the whole power of the government. He, therefore,
who was still recognized as their commander,
made but a faint opposition to the cry for negotiation.

M`Cracken and Porter soon also withdrew their
opposition; perhaps as much from having fallen
into a similar train of reflection, as from the apparent
impossibility of resisting the general decision.

They were employed in drawing up proposals
to be presented to general Nugent as the conditions
of their surrender, when an officer from the royal
army appeared advancing on horseback towards
the hill, bearing a white flag. O'Halloran, M`Claverty,
and one Watt, an influential man among
them, who had been very strenuous in recommending
negotiation, were appointed a committee to receive
the messenger, and report his business to the
people. They advanced some distance down the
hill to meet him, carrying with them the propositions
they had prepared.

M`Claverty soon recognised the flag-bearer to be
an intimate friend, a captain Hutton, whom he
knew to be a man of honour and humanity.

“What!” said Hutton, as he approached M`Claverty,
“I understood you were the prisoner of

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these people. I now perceive you to be one of their
confidential agents.”

“Fate has, indeed, made me their prisoner,”
said M`Claverty. “But humanity has at present
induced me to become their agent, and they have
had sufficient confidence in my honour to entrust
me with the office.”

“I am glad of it,” returned the other, “for it
augurs favourably for the termination of the business
with which I am entrusted. I have been sent
to summon these people to deliver up their arms,
and throw themselves on his majesty's mercy.”

“Surely,” said O'Halloran, “your commander
does not expect an unconditional surrender from
men with arms in their hands, strong in numbers,
strong in position, and if urged to extremity, strong
also in courage and determination. To prevent the
effusion of human blood, we will disperse if the
requisite terms are granted us. If they are refused,
however, we can fight, and a few hours may give
us the power of dictating instead of begging terms.”

“I look on myself,” said M`Claverty, “as a
mediator in this case. To the government I am
attached from principle, and to those whose prisoner
I am, and who, confiding in my pledged word,
have deputed me to assist in the management of
this affair, I am bound by honour. To them I am
also bound by gratitude for the respectful treatment
I have received since I fell into their hands.
In giving my advice, therefore, both parties may
be assured that I do it with a view to their mutual
advantage. I can conceive of no detriment that
the government would sustain by granting an absolute
pardon to these people for the delusions and
errors into which they have fallen, on condition of
their returning quietly to their duty; and to accept
of such a pardon, I believe, they are already
convinced is to consult their true interest.”

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“Gentlemen,” said Hutton, “my powers do not
extend to the granting of a pardon. I have been
merely sent to demand an unconditional surrender;
but whatever proposals you may please to make, I
shall convey them to our commander, and return
in one hour with his answer.”

“Here are our proposals,” replied O'Halloran,
producing the written documents to the messenger.
“Submit them to your general; and tell him, that
rather than submit to terms less favourable than
these, we are resolved, in God's name, to try the
issue of a battle.”

The officer received the papers, and was about
departing, when M`Claverty called on him to stay
a moment.

“Convey my earnest request to general Nugent,”
said he, “that he will sooth the feelings of
the people as much as possible. They now see
their delusion, and are desirous of reconciliation
with the established authorities, not so much from
fear, as from conviction of their error. The accounts
from Wexford have made great impressions
on them; and, I believe, that they sincerely
repent having joined such a confederacy. Tell
him also, that I, and their other prisoners, have
been treated well; and that, notwithstanding their
irregularity and total want of discipline, they have
hitherto committed no excess repugnant to humanity.”

“I shall with pleasure deliver your message,”
replied Hutton. “Good morning, gentlemen. I
sincerely hope this affair will terminate without
more bloodshed.” He then spurred his horse, and
hastened towards the royal army.

Nugent having perused the proposals, called
his officers together to deliberate concerning
them. They were to the following effect: “That
general Nugent and the principal officers under

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his command, shall guarantee to the army of the
United Irishmen, now encamped on Donegore hill,
a full and free indemnity for all past transactions,
in which indemnity, all the United officers as well as
private men, and all the prisoners for matters of
state, now in the jails of Carrickfergus and Downpatrick,
or at the camp of Blarrismoor, or in the
towns of Belfast, Lisburn, Antrim and Ballymena,
shall be included; on which conditions the said
army of the United Irishmen, shall immediately,
without committing any further act of hostility,
disband, and the individuals composing it, return
to their respective homes.”

“Gentlemen,” said Nugent, “you will perceive
that some of these demands are absolutely beyond
our power to grant. We have no controul over
any prisoners but those we have ourselves taken
and have now in custody; neither can we fly in the
face of the civil authority, by guaranteeing a
pardon to several individuals now known to be in
the rebel camp, who are already in a state of proscription
for their crimes and treasons. It is my
opinion, therefore, that we cannot, in duty, listen
to these terms; but on account of the favourable
report given by Mr. M`Claverty, of the present
dispositions of these blind-led people, as well as
from humane considerations, I will, should it meet
with your approbation, make another effort to induce
a submission without blood-shed.”

It was then agreed that Hutton should return
to the insurgent camp with the following note.

“General Nugent, and the officers under his
command, find some of the terms required by the
insurgents on Donegore hill, beyond their power to
grant. They cannot interfere with the intentions
of government respecting any prisoners, but such
as they have themselves taken, and have in their
immediate custody. These they are willing to

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discharge. There are several individuals in the insurgent
army, already pointed out by the government
as persons whose offences render them unworthy
of pardon. Over the fate of these persons
they have no controul; neither do they think it
their duty to include, in any promise of pardon,
those mischievous men, whose delusive doctrines
have seduced their fellow-subjects into the criminal
and unfortunate measures they have adopted.
From the general pardon, therefore, which they
agree to guarantee to all others now assembled on
Donegore hill, who shall, within one hour after
they receive this notification, deliver up their arms
and return peaceably to their homes and employments,
they exclude the following persons, and
description of persons, viz. Henry O'Halloran, the
Rev. James Porter, Henry M`Cracken, Thomas
Story, Thomas Archer, and all who may have been
guilty of assassination, or of wantonly burning the
houses, or otherwise destroying the properties of
the loyal inhabitants of the country.”

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