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