Camden's aggressiveness was matched by the determination of his opponents. The United Irishmen threw over their policy of 'peaceful persuasion,' and inspired by Wolfe Tone, became a rebellious organization. Tone went to America, and from there to France. The result was the abortive expedition under Hoche and Grouchy.
The United Irishmen
Camden was not idle. He quickly discovered that there are always plenty of traitors in Ireland, and he bought them up by the score. The news of Lord Edward Fitzgerald's adherence to the rebel cause was disconcerting, but Fitzgerald had friends, and these the viceroy purchased. A similar policy was adopted in the case of every one of the rebel leaders, and every hero had his bodyguard of traitors. The Government had merely to wait for the right moment to strike a decisive blow. Castle money was never more plentiful than in the two years preceding the egregious rebellion of '98. Many patriots who screamed for independence lost their voices at the first sight of viceregal gold; the old bucks, penniless as the result of their early follies, found in the profession of traitor an easy escape from the demon Work; briefless barristers, and even successful ones, were drawn into the Castle circle until the viceroy could say with reason that he had bought practically every man of position or influence in the country.
Despite this, however, Camden felt alarmed at the progress the rebel cause was making. It was no longer a purely Catholic movement, and the knowledge that wealthy Protestant merchants were joining the United Irishmen convinced the Viceroy that, although he could arrest the leaders whenever he wished, yet there would be an army of rebels left which might prove difficult to overcome. Lady Camden urged him to resign, and save the lives of their children and themselves. She and her family existed in a state of siege; there was little entertaining, for no man trusted his neighbour, and in every street beggar the Government saw an embryo assassin. Camden, with the disturbing conscience of the self-confessed coward, was compelled to act the bully. He would not go in the guise of a frightened and defeated viceroy. Then someone suggested that as the country was under arms it would be better if the viceroy happened to be a soldier. Camden seized upon this pretext, and wrote to London offering to resign in favour of Lord Cornwallis, who, as one who had been Governor-General of India and Commander-in-Chief of the troops, was the most experienced man for the post. Cornwallis was not inclined to come to Ireland, though as a soldier he intimated to the Government that he was bound to obey any orders given him in that capacity. Camden, therefore, remained on, and the long-expected rebellion broke out. But the viceroy was not unprepared, and before the day arrived for the great blow to be struck by a united and concerted action of the rebels every one of the leaders was in gaol and scores of traitors were holding out their hands for payment. News of the successes in the field of the leaderless rebels created a panic, and Camden increased it by despatching his wife and children to England. The Orangemen demonstrated feebly, but they formed a small minority, and, although they had been very prominent since the rejection of the Catholic Bill in 1795, they were of no importance or use in the crisis. Camden implored Pitt to send more troops, or Ireland would be lost for ever. The English statesman replied that there were eighty thousand men in the country already, and gave him Sir Ralph Abercromby to command them.
Marquis Camden
Abercromby resigned in disgust, and General Lake was sent to replace him, and to this officer fell the task of dealing with the straggling bodies of rebels who were maintaining a 'sort of rebellion.' Shortly after the arrest of the rebel leaders Camden had made way for Lord Cornwallis, and returned home. The ex-viceroy was consulted by Portland, who had disapproved of his policy, and Camden declared that the only solution of the problem was the union of the two Parliaments. While Ireland had a Parliament of its own—however unrepresentative—it would crave for its natural corollary, a native Government. But even a Camden could learn by experience, and in 1829 he voted in favour of Catholic Emancipation.
The Marquis Cornwallis
It was admitted in London that the rebellion of '98 was at an end, so far as its effectiveness was concerned, before Camden resigned, and the appointment of Lord Cornwallis was inspired by Pitt's dread that the shortly-to-be-introduced Act of Union would lead to further trouble. Cornwallis was a soldier and a statesman. He was sixty years of age, and had led a very full life in India, America, and England. One of the few far-seeing persons who had declaimed against the unjust taxation which lost the States of America, he nevertheless obeyed the call of duty, and fought in the War of Independence. His surrender at Yorktown marked the beginning of the independence of the American Colonies. His greatest and most prosperous years were spent in India, and it was as the successful Indian administrator and soldier that he was despatched to Ireland to prepare the country for Pitt's proposals. He found that there was plenty of work left over from the Camden era, and his first six months consisted of hangings and murders. With a courage worthy of a better cause the peasantry were fighting the Imperial troops, but there could be only one end to such an unequal contest, and the soldiery enjoyed themselves after their kind. The Dublin executive was busily employed reaping the first-fruits of Camden's bribery; Lord Edward Fitzgerald was captured, the last of the '98 leaders.