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generals of the county of Down; as already stated, give a plausibility to such saying. But this must be all done away by the recollection that Mr. Magin's testimony, which gave rise to both questions, and constitutes the whole of Mr. Cleland's book of chronicles, is overturned by the single fact, that he (Magin) was not in or near Killinchy, on the day assigned for the delivery of the commission in question; and that of Mr. Hughes, by the knowledge that there could not be more than one adjutant general in any county at the same time,

Some additional light is thrown on this part of the subject by another fact. Though Mr. Magin's information gives an account of thirty nine meetings which he attended, in less than fourteen months, it does not mention or allude to any meeting of any kind, at Killinehy, during that period. Yet I consider myself authorised to affirm that a meeting of colonels was holden there, on the first Wednesday of May 1798, being the day of a fair. Now, if such meeting was really holden there, why did not Mr. Magin report it to Mr. Cleland as he did the others? If he did report it, why does not the report appear in Mr. Cleland's "exact communication of the information given him?”

To these it may be answered, that the report,

so far as related to dr. Dickson's commission,

was

was exposed, as a fable, to Mr. Pollock, in the month of June; that, in all probability, this exposure was communicated immediately to Mr. Cleland, as all Mr. Magin's former informations had been; and that, as Mr. Cleland's papers were not presented to the committee of the house of commons until the 17th July, he, as a faithful recorder of truth for the public good, took advantage of the intermediate time to expunge the whole Killinchy chapter from his invaluable record knowing that the smallest intermixture of fable weakens the credit, and defeats the end, of the most veritable history.

There is yet another circumstance, in the preceding extract, which seems rather unaccountable. A few days after the 31st May an adjutant-general resigned, and on the 5th. June a successor was chosen. Now, that all justice may be done to Mr. Magin, I shall suppose these few days to have been only two, or even part of two. In this case, the resignation must have taken place on Saturday, June 2d. This leaves only two days for summoning the colonels of the county; for their assembling from all quarters, and holding the meeting at which they appointed June 5th for their new election. The county of Down is of very considerable extent, and we must suppose the summons nearly of the same exsent, as, on the spur of the moment, twenty-three colonels attended-a number une

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qualled in any one of the thirty-eight previous meetings, at which Mr. Magin was present. Hence, we must conclude that the expresses, announcing the resignation, used all possible expedition; and that the colonels must have been equally expeditious in hurrying to their place of meeting; else they could not have had time for the business said to have been there transacted.

But, supposing all this effected, how could these colonels presume to elect an adjutant general? The instruction of the provincial meeting, February 27th, 1798, runs thus:

The colonels in each county are to make out a list of the names of persons to act as adjutant generals, to be sealed up and returned through the medium of the provincial, or any other authentic channel:" and Messrs. Emmet and M'Nevin have sworn that this was the usual mode of procedure. Their words are: "The colonels of each county returned the names of three persons to the executive, one of whom was appointed, by the executive, adjutant-general of the county."

This instruction and practice contrasted with Mr. Magin's statement present a perplexing dilemma. Should we admit that Mr. Magin had inadvertently made such a blunder in respect to the electors of an adjutant-general, as Mr.

Hughes

Hughes had done about the number of such generals in each, county; and that the Down colonels had gone through the routine prescribed, it must be evident that this could not possibly have been effected in the time mentioned. On the other hand, if Mr. Magin's statement be correct, these same colonels were guilty, not only of departing from instructions, but violating the constitution of the united body, and thereby liable to such pains and penalties as their executive might think proper to inflict. Which of these may have been the case I dare not presume to determine; though I am inclined to favor the latter, for different reasons. First; the former goes to charge Mr. Magin with a direct falsehood, or the exact communicator of his information with want of exactness; while the latter leaves the credit of both untouched. Secondly; some of these twenty-three colonels, in such a county as Down, must have read a little modern history. In such reading they could not overlook glaring instances of constitutions violated; powers beyond, above, and contrary to law exercised; military turned loose under military magistrates; and terror, torture, desolation and death, spread far and wide; while the devisers, abettors, and perpetrators, of the whole, were secured against every pain and pénalty, except the lashes of their own conscience, and the execration of the world, by bills of indemnity issuing from a tenderhearted

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hearted indulgent legislature. Admit, then, that some might be damped. by fear of pains and penalties, may we not suppose that one of these half-read historians, after reciting some examples of such violations, and such indemnity, might have addressed his brother-colonels in some such words as these: "Ye know that all I have told you is true. Why, then should we be afraid? This is no time to boggle at shadows. This dd resignation threatens the destruction of our system, and the demolition of our hopes, if not immediately counteracted by the election of a successor, through whom our communication with the executive may be kept up, The urgency of the case admits of no delay. Let us, therefore, meet on Tuesday, and proceed to the election. It will be only a small deviation from an instruction in a matter of mere form: and if, under old governments, plunder, torture, sacrilege, and murder-not to speak of transmission to tenders, arbitrary confinement, and perpetual exile-have been screened by bills of indemnity, surely our new government, having considered our zeal, the purity of our motives, and the merit of our services, will not withhold from us a bill of indemnity, when our measures shall be crowned with success."

In the preceding review of Mr. Magin's information, as exactly communicated by the rev. John Cleland, I trust it will be admitted that I

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