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landed at Portsmouth — my racoon dead, my bear washed overboard, and my opos- sum lost in the cable tier — and I returned to Cambridge." About 1780 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in the Portu- guese army, but on reaching Lisbon found that the Marquis of Pombal, through whose influence the English officers had been appointed, had fallen, and the whole party returned. In 1781 while residing with his mother in France, he married. Three years afterwards he returned to Ireland, settled in a small cottage near Naas, and afterwards purchased the estate of EathcofFy in the County of Kildare. He was active in the Volunteer movement, was a member of the Whig club, and in 1792 joined the United Irishmen, who then sought merely a reform in Parliament. In October of the same year the Hon. Simon Butler was imprisoned for compli- city in the movement. After his release, Eowan was the bearer of a hostile message from him to the Lord-Chancellor, for lan- guage used in passing sentence. Mr. Butler then accompanied him to Edinburgh to challenge the Lord- Advocate for ex- pressions regarding some of Kowan's politi- cal writings. Both judges refused to fight on account of their official position. On 1 6th December 1792, Eowan and Napper Tandy were present at a meeting of the Volunteers, in uniform and with side arms, held in Dublin to protest against a government proclamation tending to their dissolution. For distributing at this meet- ing an address headed "Citizen soldiers, to arms ! " informations were filed against Eowan, and he was brought to trial in January 1794, at the old Four Courts, near Christ Church. Curran was his ad- vocate, and in the course of his defence delivered the memorable speech in which he made reference to " the irresistible ge- nius of up'versal emancipation." Eowan was sentenced to be fined ^500, imprisoned for two years, and to find security for his good behaviour. In Newgate he was per- mitted to receive addresses from the United Irishmen; his meals were supplied from his own house, and his wife and children and friends were allowed to visit him at pleasure. Two months after his incarcer- ation, the Eev. William Jackson and his friend Cockayne went to see him. [See Jackson, Eev. William.] On hearing of Jackson's arrest in April, he knew that there was sufficient evidence in the hands of Government to hang him, and immediately decided on attempting to escape. On the ist of May he bribed one of his jailers with £100 to permit him to visit his wife in Dominick-street. 458
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Mrs. Eowan had disguises and all pre- parations made. He descended into the back-yard by a rope, mounted a horse, and rode to a friend's house at Eogerstown, near Lusk, where he lay in concealment for three days, until arrangements were made with two brothers named Sheridan to convey him to France. Shortly before they sailed, one of these men pulled out of his pocket a printed notice offering £1,000 reward for Eowan's apprehension, and asked : " Is it Mr. Hamilton Eowan we are to take to France?" "Yes," replied his friend Mr. Sweetman, who furnished the boat for the voyage, " and here he is." " Never mind it," rejoined the elder Sheri- dan ; " by we'll land him safe." They
sailed on the 4th of May, and after various adventures, landed at Eoscoff, near Mor- laix. The Sheridans when returning were taken by a French privateer, but were liberated through Eowan'sintervention, ob- tained government employment in France, and were ultimately enabled to return to Ireland. Eowan remained more than a year in France, where he became acquainted with Mai-y Wollstonecraft and other nota- bilities. In June 1795 he removed to the United States, and there passed five years, living on J300 a year sent him by his wife out of his Irish estates. His correspon- dence with her shows that the horrors of the French Ee volution had considerably modified his political views ; yet he met Tone during his short residence in Ame- rica, and entered into his plans. To keep himself occupied, he tried more than one business. He bore the strongest testi- mony against slavery, and refused to have anything to do with it. Writing to his wife, he says : " I will go to the woods, but I will not kill Indians or keep slaves." The union of Great Britain and Ireland had his heartiest concurrence. He believed the Irish Parliament so hopelessly corrupt that any change must be for the better. In July 1800 he sailed for Hamburg, and on the passage had to throw over- board a trunk containing valuable corre- spondence, with Franklin and others, lest the discovery of such papers might cause delay from English cruisers. At Ham- burg he met his wife and children, and spent three years there and at Altona. In July 1802 he petitioned the British government for permission to return home, stating himself to be " impressed with the most unfeigned attachment to your Majesty's government," and " conscious of the excellence of the British constitution, in which your petitioner sees with heart- felt satisfaction his native country partici- pating under the late happy Union."
