ple; and such great armies, formidable in number, in discipline, and in bravery. How is it possible that you could be so mad as to think that any rabble insurrection could disturb a government not undefined, nor its members unknown? An amiable and virtuous viceroy, the faithful representative of his sovereign's goodness, is open to access, and visible to those he governs; every member of his administration is the same; none are ashamed or afraid to show their honest fronts to the mid-day sun.

Owen Kirwan, I most earnestly exhort you to use the time allotted to you in this world, in sincere and penitent endeavours to reconcile your soul to that God, before whose awful judgment-seat it is to appear so soon; think only of your salvation as a contrite christian should, and do not leave this world with a lie in your mouth, and go before your maker, swaggering in vain and boastful guilt. Believe me, unhappy man, that to disclose all you know, and thus make to your injured country and offended God all the atonement in your power, will prove an inexpressible consolation to you in your last moments, and infuse into your soul that sweet consciousness of right, which can alone qualify the bitter draught you are about to take, and justify a hope of future pardon and happiness.

Sentence of death was then passed on the prisoner, and he was accordingly executed the next day.

6

THE TRIAL

OF ROBERT EMMET, ESQ. FOR HIGH TREASON.

SPECIAL COMMISSION.

WEDNESDAY, September, 14, 1803.

THIS day Mr. Emmet was put to the bar, and arraigned on the following

to wit,

INDICTMENT.

County of the City of Dublin, THE jurors for our lord the S king, upon their oath, present that Robert Emmet, late of Thomas-street, in the city of Dublin, Esq. being a subject of our said lord the now king, not having the fear of God in his heart, nor weighing the duty of his allegiance, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil, as a false traitor against our said lord the now king, his supreme, true, lawful, and undoubted lord, the cordial love and true and due obedience which every true and dutiful subject of our said sovereign lord the king towards him our said lord the king should bear wholly withdrawing, and contriving and intending the peace and tranquillity of this kingdom to disquiet, molest, and disturb, and the government and constitution of this realm to change, subvert, and alter, and our said lord the king from the royal

state, title, honour, power, imperial crown and government of this kingdom to depose and deprive, and our said lord the present king to death and final destruction to bring and put, he the said Robert Emmet, on the 23d day of July, in the 43d year of the reign of our said lord the king, at Thomasstreet, in the city of Dublin aforesaid, with force and arms, falsely, wickedly, and traitorously did compass, imagine, and intend our said lord the king then and there his supreme, true and lawful lord of and from the royal state, crown, title, power and government of this realm to depose and wholly deprive, and our said lord the king to kill and put to death.

To this indictment were added two counts, and fifteen

overt acts.

To this indictment Mr. Emmet pleaded not guilty-and, on being asked if he was ready for his trial, he requested it should be postponed till the following Monday.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1803.

Mr. Emmet was again put to the bar, and the panel haying been called over, he peremptorily challenged 20, and showed cause why another should not be sworn, namely, that he was not a freeholder: after a few had been set aside by the crown, the following jury was sworn:

John Geale,

Wm. G. Galway,

Cha. Hart,

Benj. Holmes,

John Lloyd,

Walter Lock,

"

John Dickson,

Robert Turbit,

Dan. Kinahan,

Bever Beauhanan,

Wm. Davis,

Tho. Palmer.

The Attorney-General then addressed the court and jury in substance as follows:

It is my duty, said he, to state as concisely as I can, the nature of the charge which has been preferred against the prisoner at the bar; and also the nature of the evidence which

will be produced to substantiate that charge. It will require upon your part the most deliberate consideration, because it is not only the highest crime of which at all times the subject can be guilty, but it receives, if possible, additional aggravation, when we consider the state of Europe, and the lamentable consequences which revolution has already brought upon it.

Perhaps at former periods some allowance might be made for the heated imaginations of enthusiasts; perhaps an extravagant love of liberty might for a moment supersede a rational understanding, and men might be induced, from want of sufficient experience or capacity, to look for that liberty in revolution. But sad experience has taught us that modern revolution is not the road to liberty. It throws the mass of the people into agitation, only to bring the worst and most profligate to the surface. It originates in anarchy, proceeds in bloodshed, and ends in cruel and unrelenting despotism. Therefore, gentlemen, the crime of which the prisoner stands charged demands the most serious and deep investigation, because it is in its nature a crime of the blackest dye, and which, under all existing circumstances, does not admit of a momentary extenuation.

Here Mr. Attorney described the law of treason, as defined by the statute 25 Edw. III. He said that the indictment was grounded upon three clauses; the first relates to compassing and imagining the death of the king-the second in adhering to his enemies-and the third to compassing to levy war against him.

Gentlemen, said he, upon former occasions, persons were brought to the bar of this court, implicated in the rebellion, in various though inferior degrees; but if I am rightly instructed, we have now brought to the bar of justice, not a person who has been seduced by others, but a gentleman to whom the rebellion may be traced, as the origin, the life, and the soul of it. If I mistake not, it will appear that some time before christmas last the prisoner, who had visited foreign VOL. II.

“

countries, and who, for several months before, had made a continental tour, embracing France, returned to this coun try, full of those mischievous designs which have been now so fully exposed. He came from that country, in which he might have learned the necessary effects of revolution; and therefore if he be guilty of the treason, he embarked in it with his eyes open, and with a previous knowledge of all its inevitable consequences. But notwithstanding, I am instructed that he persevered in fomenting a rebellion, which, I will be bold to say, is unexampled in any country, ancient or modern; a rebellion which does not complain of any existing grievances, which does not flow from any immediate oppression, and which is not pretended to have been provoked by our mild and gracious king, or by the administration employed by him to execute his authority. No, gentlemen, it is a rebellion which avows itself to cause, not to remove, any evil which the people feel, but to recall the memory of grievances, which, if they ever existed, must have long since passed away. The provocations of 600 years have been ransacked, the sufferings of our ancestors have been exaggerated, our state in former ages, and at various remote times, misrepresented, in expectation of extracting from the whole, something like a provocation to justify a revolution, which at the present hour and moment could have no rational foundation. We live under a constitution which we love; free, affluent, and happy, rebellion can find no incentive in our present condition. We feel the happy effects of beneficial laws; of a just administration of them there is no colour of complaint. But this rebellion is to rise from the ashes of our ancestors, and we are called upon to relinquish our own happiness to vindicate their wrongs; they are represented to have been slaves, and therefore we are called upon not to live contented as freemen. But as there is no motive for rebellion now, neither can it be conciliated hereafter. The manifesto of treason wages eternal war against the British constitution-the resentment of its enemies are implacable