sitting at the time, and the military tribunals could have no claim on him, as he had never belonged to the English army, he was put on his trial before a court-martial.  This was absolutely an illegal proceeding, but his enemies were impatient for his blood, and would not brook the chances and the delays of the ordinary procedure of law.  On the 10th of November, 1798, his trial, if such it might be called, took place in one of the Dublin barracks.  He appeared before the Court “dressed,” says the Dublin Magazine for November, 1798, “in the French uniform:  a large cocked hat, with broad gold lace and the tri-coloured cockade; a blue uniform coat, with gold-embroidered collar and two large gold epaulets; blue pantaloons, with gold-laced garters at the knees; and short boots, bound at the tops with gold lace.”  In his bearing there was no trace of excitement.  “The firmness and cool serenity of his whole deportment,” writes his son, “gave to the awestruck assembly the measure of his soul,” The proceedings of the Court are detailed in the following report, which we copy from the “Life of Tone,” by his son, published at Washington, U.S., in 1826:—­

   The members of the Court having been sworn, the Judge Advocate called
   on the prisoner to plead guilty or not guilty to the charge of having
   acted traitorously and hostilely against the King.  Tone replied:—­

“I mean not to give the court any useless trouble, and wish to spare them the idle task of examining witnesses.  I admit all the facts alleged, and only request leave to read an address which I have prepared for this occasion.”

   Colonel Daly—­“I must warn the prisoner that, in acknowledging those
   facts, he admits, to his prejudice, that he has acted
   traitorously against his Majesty.  Is such his intention?”

Tone—­“Stripping this charge of the technicality of its terms, it means, I presume, by the word traitorously, that I have been found in arms against the soldiers of the King in my native country.  I admit this accusation in its most extended sense, and request again to explain to the court the reasons and motives of my conduct.”

   The court then observed they would hear his address, provided he kept
   himself within the bounds of moderation.

Tone rose, and began in these words—­“Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Court-Martial, I mean not to give you the trouble of bringing judicial proof to convict me legally of having acted in hostility to the government of his Britannic Majesty in Ireland.  I admit the fact.  From my earliest youth I have regarded the connection between Great Britain and Ireland as the curse of the Irish nation, and felt convinced that, whilst it lasted, this country could never be free nor happy.  My mind has been confirmed in this opinion by the experience of every succeeding year, and the conclusions which I