and gold, at the head of about one hundred and twenty men, and proceeded in the direction of Dublin castle, which it was his intention, if possible, to capture, and at the same time to seize the viceroy and members of the privy council. Many of his men were under the influence of liquor. Emmet in vain endeavoured to maintain order among them; acts of pillage and riotous assault were committed, and Lord Kilwarden was the first to fall a victim. When Emmet beheld these outrages he was filled with disgust and despair, and, accompanied by a few minor leaders, abandoned his project and his followers. Colonel Browne and two or three soldiers were killed in the melee. Emmet fled to Butterfield Lane, Rathfarnham, and from thence to the Wicklow mountains, where he forbade Dwyer to attempt any renewed effort, which could only lead, he said, to the effusion of blood. His friends urged him to adopt measures for immediate escape, but he resolutely resisted the advice, having determined to make an effort to see a young lady to whom he had been betrothed—Sarah Curran, daughter of the distinguished Irish orator. Emmet repaired to Haroldscross with this object, but speedily fell into the hands of Major Sirr. Some person unknown received £1000 for pointing out his retreat. Emmet's trial promptly followed. His speech in reply to "what had he to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him?" is a masterpiece of impassioned oratory, and for some years subsequently used to be recited occasionally on the stage. On September 20th, 1803, Emmet was executed in Thomas Street on a temporary scaffold of boards placed lengthwise across some barrels, beneath which, as an eye-witness, Mrs. Macready, said, she saw dogs lapping up his blood. The fate of Emmet excited a deep and lasting sympathy, not in Ireland only, but in England, America, and on the continent. His ardour, intrepidity, wondrous eloquence, and tragic death, have long been a prolific source of inspiration to the national poets of Ireland; and the pen of Southey has been employed on the same theme. Dr. Madden in Ireland, and the countess de Haussenville in France, have done much to embalm the memory of Emmet.—W. J. F.
EMMET, Thomas Addis, younger brother of Christopher T., was born in Cork, April 24, 1764. He entered Trinity college, Dublin, in 1778; but, like his countrymen Goldsmith and Sheridan, his academic career was not marked by any peculiar brilliancy. If, however, he possessed less imaginative power than Temple and Robert Emmet, he surpassed them in calmness and solidity of judgment. Being designed for the medical profession, Thomas Addis Emmet was sent to Edinburgh in 1783 to prosecute his studies; and there he became acquainted with Mitchell, the natural historian Rogers, and Sir James Mackintosh, whose opinion of Emmet's talents is recorded in the Life of Mackintosh by his son. Emmet laboured arduously at his studies; and his medical books, now in the possession of Dr. Madden, are so studded with minute marginal notes, that the MS. contents of each work is sufficient to fill a small volume. His amiability of disposition endeared him so closely to his fellow-students, that he was elected president of five medical, scientific, and literary societies. In 1788 Temple Emmet died—an event which completely changed the destiny of his brother. Mackintosh advised him to devote his attention to legal studies, and Emmet readily embraced the advice. He accordingly went to London, read two years in the Temple, returned to Dublin, and was called to the Irish bar in 1790. Immediately after he married Miss Patten, an accomplished lady, whose brother is still living, and to whom we are indebted for some of these details. The earliest notice of T. A. Emmet as a barrister occurs in June, 1792, in the singular case of Napper Tandy against the viceroy, the lord chancellor, the Right Hon. John Foster, and Arthur Wolfe, afterwards Lord Kilwarden. The United Irishmen's oath at this time pledged the person who took it to use all his influence and abilities in the attainment of a representation of the Irish nation in parliament, and to promote, with that view, "a brotherhood of affection, an identity of interests, and a union of power among Irishmen of all religious persuasions." To administer this oath was an indictable offence: several persons were prosecuted; and Emmet, on a motion in arrest of judgment, after exhausting his learning and ingenuity, astonished his hearers with—"And now, my lords, here in the presence of this legal court, this crowded auditory—in the presence of the Being that witnesses and directs this judicial tribunal—even here, my lords, I, Thomas Addis Emmet, declare I take the oath!" and to the amazement of bar, bench, and auditory, he absolutely kissed the book! The prisoners received a lenient sentence, and no steps were taken against the newly-sworn United Irishman. It was on rare occasions only that Emmet acted as counsel for the seditious leaders of 1797 and 1798; but as chamber lawyer to their committees he was constantly busy. Wolfe Tone, in a letter written at this period, referring to Emmet, says—"He is a man of great and comprehensive mind, of the warmest and sincerest affection for his friends, and of a 'firm and steady adherence to his principles, to which he has sacrificed much, as I know, and would, I am sure, if necessary sacrifice his life." But time has since proved that Emmet belonged to the more moderate section of the Society of United Irishmen. His labours were devoted to the furtherance of parliamentary reform and catholic emancipation, rather than to treason and separation. Emmet wrote much in the Press—the organ of the United Irishmen—and Moore has especially indicated the articles signed "Montanus" as possessing some pith and power. On March 12, 1798, the members composing the United Irish directory were arrested at Oliver Bond's. Emmet and M'Nevin do not seem to have been amongst them, for on the same evening they underwent capture at their own houses, were brought to the castle, examined, and committed to Newgate. "Against Emmet," writes Dr. Madden, "there was no specific charge—no overt act of treason brought against him." It was considered prudent, however, to detain the chamber lawyer of the United Irishmen; and for more than a year afterwards he was confined in a cell twelve feet square, to which his wife, unknown to the authorities, contrived to obtain access. Attempts were made to expel her, but all to no effect—she who had been accustomed to all the comforts of a happy home shared, for upwards of twelve months, the dungeon of her husband. Emmet having been examined before the secret committee, was removed April 9, 1799, to Fort-George prison in Scotland. Here he underwent incarceration for three years, after the expiration of which period several of the political prisoners were liberated; but no order for the enlargement of Emmet arrived. Mr. Stewart, the governor, had become warmly attached to Emmet, and expressed much regret in consequence. He turned to Emmet, saying—"You shall go to-morrow: I will take all responsibility, and stand between you and the government." Emmet accordingly embarked with the other state prisoners, and landed at Holland on July 4, 1802. In the recently-published Cornwallis Correspondence, Emmet is accused of "ingratitude," and it would seem with some show of reason; for General Byrne, a United Irish refugee in the French service, mentions, in a letter addressed to Mr. W. J. Fitzpatrick, that Emmet was in Paris during the autumn of 1803 negotiating with Napoleon on the subject of a projected invasion of Ireland. It was on this occasion that Emmet pronounced Napoleon to be "the worst foe that England ever had." With a view to the palliation of Emmet's act, however, it may be added that a letter exists dated December 14, 1801, addressed by Emmet to his friend the lord-advocate of Scotland, in which he proves that the English government broke an express compact with him. In 1804 we find Emmet a resident of America. He arrived in the new world with a broken fortune, impaired health, and the incumbrances of a young and uneducated family. For some time he doubted whether he would adopt the profession of law or medicine; but he finally selected the former. He rose rapidly. Mr. Haines, an American lawyer of eminence, in a contemporary memoir of Emmet, writes—"He possesses an imagination boundless as the world of light in its grandeur and beauty. Its flights are bold—its pictures soft, magnificent, or awful, as the subject may require." Mr. Haines also eulogizes Emmet's readiness at retort, and tells us that he confined himself to study and business for more than twelve hours a day. His success aroused the envy of a portion of the local bar; they refused to hold briefs with him; but Emmet confronted and crushed the jealous confederacy. The expatriated Irishman at length became attorney-general of New York—an elevation earned not by servility, but by sterling talent and stern independence. But this dignity was not worn long. On November 14, 1827, while discharging the duties of counsel in court, he fell in an apoplectic fit and died. The court was instantly adjourned: a meeting of the bar was held. His funeral was attended by the entire bar, students at law, and a crowd of influential citizens. A cenotaph, thirty-three feet high, has been erected to Emmet's memory in Broadway. It is inscribed on three sides in three different languages, and bears
