176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
“ Happening to be in Dublin in October 1829, I solicited a friend of Mr. Rowan to introduce
me to him. He was the last
remnant of that band of patriots, who had trod every selfish feeling under foot for the sake of
their common country, I had from childhood deemed him an impersonation of all that is noble,
and longed to hear from his own lips, after the sufferings he had endured, whether, in the
eighty-fifth year of his age,’ the ardent principles of his youth still held undiminished sway in
his heart. His appearance affected me much ; instead of the tall, broad, manly form I had
read of, he was sadly shrunken ; the fiery eye was dim with years, and almost blind. But his
identity was not difficult to trace-the aompressed lip, the expanded nostril, and the bold outline-
expressed that lofty moral resolution which had always distinguished his career. When
my friend presented me to him, he remarked-‘ You see an old man, who should, long ere now,
have‘been in his grave ; my strength is fast failing me, and, as my early and dearest friends
are all in the other world, I long to follow them. But I .ought not to regret having lived till
now, since I have seen the stains wiped from my country’s brow by the passing of the Relief
Bill.’a When I adverted to the prominent part he had acted in the troubles of 1793, his dim
eye flashed with young life, and he rejoined ‘ Yes, Ireland had then many a clear head and
brave heart.’ On alluding to his unexpected meeting with his friends in Philadelphia, pulses
which had long slumbered seemed again to beat, and he replied, ‘ That was an hour of excessive
interest, and one of the happiest of my chequered life.’ In the course of my interview, I
took the liberty of asking him ‘whether, after his long exile, and numerous bereavements ;
and, more than all, the dark cloud of obloquy in which his enemies had striven to envelope his
name, he still justified his public conduct to himself?’ He replied, with a solemnity and
energy that startled both his friend and me, ‘ So thoroughly does my conscience approve of all
I have done, that had I my life to commence again, I would be governed by the same principles ;
and, therefore, should my country’s interests be compromised, these principles would call me forth
in her defence, even though the obstacles were more numerous and appalling than in the times
in which I suffered.’ I parted with him for ever,
with the same sentiment of profound veneration that I would have felt had I left the threshold
of a Fabricius, a Cincinnatus, or a Cato.”
I considered him the object of the greatest interest in that city.
I remember little else of our conversation.
In 1833, the year previous to his decease, Mr. Moffat had the honour of a
short letter from Mr. Rowan, in which he breathed a firm and consistent attachment
to his original political principles.
The HONOURABLSIEM ON BUTLER-brother of the late, and uncle of the
Earl of Kilkenny-was the third son of the-tenth Viscount Lord Mountgarret.’
Along with Theobald Wolfe Tone, Mr. Butler was a zealous leader of the United
Irishmen. Young, sanguine, and descended of an ancient and honourable family
which claimed kindred with some of the highest and most influential branches
of the Irish aristocracy, he at once became popular among those who sought a
redress of grievances. He presided at the first meeting of the Dublin “ Society
of United Irishmen,” and took an active interest in propagating the principles
and extending the influence of these associations.
That he contemplated other measures than such as might lead to a reform
of the legislature cannot justly be imputed to him, as no direct communications
with the Republicans of France were entered into until 1795. On the
meeting of the Irish Parliament, early in March 1793, the Honourable Simon
The writer waa probably misinformed as to his aga
The ancestore of Nr. Rowan, aa well as himself, were Pmbyterians.
The title of Earl of Kilkenny waa conferred on this branch of the noble family of Butler, 20th
December 1793.
