ment. Disappointed and discouraged at the cool reception he everywhere experienced, he returned to Dublin, almost immediately after the 23rd of July, where he remained concealed in the house of Mr. Mulet, a gun-maker in Parliament-street, till the 9th of September, when he was apprehended, and on the following day committed to prison."

The story of this ill-judging gentleman is briefly told-his trial came on at Carrickfergus, on the 20th of October, and the evidence produced against him was conclusive. The fact of endeavouring to excite insurrection was decisively proved. He does not appear to have made any defence, but previously to the passing of sentence addressed the court with the impassioned eloquence of enthusiasm, pleading conscience in extenuation of all he had done, but adducing no arguments to prove that it was right. He was executed at Downpatrick, on Friday, the 21st of October.

Emmet's proceedings, when he returned to Ireland, are only required to be noticed, the secret history of his conspiracy being amply detailed in the judicial proceedings which brought him deservedly to the

scaffold.

"On his arrival in Ireland, he at first went into a state of the most perfect obscurity, at the house of a Mrs. Palmer, at Harold's Cross, where he assumed the name of Hewitt. The nature of his mission did not admit of his remaining in this retreat longer than was necessary to mature his plans and form his connections. On the 24th of March, in company with Mr. Dowdall, who had been formerly secretary to the Whig Club, he contracted for a house near Rathfarnham, in a place called Butterfield-lane; but their continuance in this situation had excited some suspicion, nor was the place found in all respects commodious for their purposes. About the end of April, a house and premises of some extent, formerly a malt-house, and which had been long unoccupied, were taken in Marshall's-alley, Thomasstreet, sufficiently obscure to escape detection, and yet near enough to the heart of the city to effect the most desperate purposes. In this place Emmet lodged for nearly two months, with no better accommodation than a paillasse, and surrounded by from fourteen to twenty associates. A depôt of arms was here formed on a large scale; muskets and other weapons were procured from time to time to a considerable amount, and a large manufacture of pikes was secretly carried on.* The conspirators occasionally pressed not only horses but men into their service, and forced the latter to work at different employ

* "One of these depôts was set apart for the manufacture of gunpowder and the construction of weapons. Some idea of the industry with which Emmet accumulated these implements of deadly vengeance, and his sanguine reliance upon thousands responding to the tocsin of insurrection, may be formed from the catalogue of the contents of his magazine:-' It comprised forty-five pounds of cannon powder, in bundles; eleven boxes of fine powder; one hundred bottles filled with powder, enveloped with musket-balls and covered with canvas; two hundred and forty-six hand-grenades, formed of ink-bottles filled with powder and encircled with buckshot; sixty-two thousand rounds of musket-ball cartridge; three bushels of musketballs! a quantity of tow, mixed with tar and gunpowder, and other combustible

ments necessary for the object in view, while confined in the depôt. At the same time stores of arms and gunpowder were deposited at the residences of others of their accomplices, in convenient stations of the city. The whole of the conspiracy had, however, been nearly overthrown and developed by an explosion which took place in Patrickstreet.* By the ability of the conspirators, or the security of their adversaries, the accident was overlooked, or at least represented as unconnected with any treasonable design. At length the preparations were complete, or the funds of the conspirators exhausted, and the 23rd of July was appointed for a general insurrection.† Though the persons immediately connected with Emmet, Dowdall, and Quigley, the principals in the plot, did not exceed from eighty to one hundred persons, they were so far misled as to the state of the public mind, that they expected the spirit of rebellion would pervade the kingdom. The stopping of the mail-coaches was to be the signal of revolt in the country. The immediate object of the insurgents in the metropolis was the castle, and the vicinity of the depôt in Thomas-street was calculated to favour the intended enterprise against this seat of the government. Various rumours had been afloat for a few days previous that a rising,' as it was termed, was intended; but the reports were so contradictory that the government was unable to take any measures of precaution, farther than the doubling of patroles in certain stations. Towards dusk on the 23rd of July, Emmet prepared for the anticipated action, by superintending the distribution of arms and ammunition (of which he had a large supply) amongst the multitude that

matter, for throwing against wood-work, which, when ignited, would cause an instantaneous conflagration; sky-rockets and other signals, &c.; false beams filled with combustibles; with not less than twenty thousand pikes!'"-Memoir of Robert Emmet.

*Two of his contederates were in the house when the explosion took place, one of whom, in endeavouring to throw open a window in order to escape suffocation, severed the artery of his arm-and thus disabled, the poor fellow bled to death. His companion was taken prisoner.

"The sensitive mind of Emmet was not only harrowed up by the terrible fate of his fellows, but apprehending that the explosion would lead to untimely disclosures, he, for the third time since embarking in the enterprise, changed the place of his concealment, by removing from the house occupied by him in Butterfield-lane to one of his depôts situate in Mass-lane. Here he strove to make, as far as possible, amends for the recent loss by increased exertion. So restless was he, that he sought no farther repose than that he derived from occasionally reclining upon a mattrass placed in the midst of the workmen, from which he could by night and day observe the progress of and direct and animate their labours."

+"To add still further to the perplexities of this unenvied position, Emmet was disquieted by the conflicting views which it gave birth to among his associates. Some advocated an immediate resort to arms; others, disheartened by the aspect of affairs, doubted the policy of this; and almost all of them had his individual opinion as to the most practicable mode of commencing operations. Seven days from the explosion were occupied in these deliberations, which ultimately terminated in the adoption of a proposal for attempting by surprise to gain possession of the arsenals in the vicinity of the city, and of the castle itself. Especial importance was attached to obtaining possession of the latter, as it was felt that to have command over the seat they might speedily secure the power of government."-Ibid.

had congregated before the head-quarters of the projected rebellion. But we must not omit to mention that previous to the evening the ill-success of the enterprise had been omened forth, by the retreat of the Kildare men, who, after marching into the capital, were fortunately persuaded by their leaders to disband and return home. What ensued has been thus graphically described by one of Emmet's coadjutors:

"About six o'clock, Emmet, Malachy, one or two others, and myself, put on our green uniform, trimmed with gold lace, and selected our arms. The insurgents, who had all day been well plied with whiskey, began to prepare for commencing an attack upon the castle; and when all was ready, Emmet made an animated address to the conspirators. At eight o'clock precisely we sallied out of the depôt, and when we arrived in Thomas-street the insurgents gave three deafening cheers.

"The consternation excited by our presence defies description. Every avenue emptied its curious hundreds, and almost every window exhibited half-a-dozen inquisitive heads, while peaceable shopkeepers ran to their doors, and beheld with amazement a lawless band of armed insurgents, in the midst of a peaceable city, an hour at least before dark. The scene at first might have appeared amusing to a careless spectator, from the singular and dubious character which the riot wore; but when the rocket ascended and burst over the heads of the people, the aspect of things underwent an immediate and wonderful change. The impulse of the moment was self-preservation-and those who, a few minutes before, seemed to look on with vacant wonder, now assumed a face of horror, and fled with precipitation. The wish to escape was simultaneous; and the eagerness with which the people retreated from before us impeded their flight, as they crowded upon one another in the entrance of alleys, court-ways, and lanes; while the screams of women and children were frightful and heart-rending.

"To the castle!' cried our enthusiastic leader, drawing his sword, and his followers appeared to obey-but when we reached the markethouse, our adherents had wonderfully diminished, there not being more than twenty insurgents with us.

"Fire the rocket!' cried Malachy.

"Hold awhile,' said Emmet, snatching the match from the man's hand who was about applying it. 'Let no lives be unnecessarily lost. Run back and see what detains the men.'

"Malachy obeyed; and we remained near the market-house, waiting their arrival, until the soldiers approached."

"The conspirators assembled previously in the depôt did not exceed the number of fifty, but pikes and other weapons were liberally dispersed among the mob, and the number of the insurgents soon swelled to the amount, it is said, of about five hundred. The night was dark, and the scene is described as tremendous; groups of pikemen, and other insurgents, were dispersed in various parts of the vicinity of the