The Irish standard., 1898-05-14
consequences will be best narrated il
MacNevens memoir.


finement in Newgate and Kilmainhanl,
Emmet and his comrades were, despite
the promise Of their release, removed
to Fort George. The change was to some
extent a welcome one; for instead of the
Irish jailer they were committed to the
care Of brave Scottish officer, Lieuten-
ant Governor Stuart "a soldier and
gentleman" who treated his prisoners
as became their character. But for
time it involved a painful separation.
In 1871 Emmet had married Miss Jane
Patten, daughter of Rev. John Patten,
of Clonmel. Never had a brave man a
braver wife. The story of her devotion is
part of the noble history of the time.
On his arrest, in 1898, she obtained per-
mission to visit him at Newgate. She
availed of the opportunity to conceal
herself in his cell. where she lived for
several days before being discovered.
When discovered she refused to leave
the prison. "Her mind was made up to
stay with her husband" she declared.
Now, however, though under the treaty
her husband should have had greater
privileges than before, she was marked
out for the vindictiveness of the gov
ernment. She was refused the privilege
Of accompanying her husband to Fort
George on the ground that she had i'm
bibed his principles. But nothing can de-
feat the true love Of noble-hearted
woman; and she at last prevailed over
the callousness of Castlereagh and the
perfidy of Portland and Pitt She was ad-
PRINTED to live at Fort George and
lived there while her husband was
prisoner. There their youngest child a
daughter named Jane Erin Emmet-was
born. MacNevin has described how the
! prisoners whiled away the weary days
waiting for the fulfillment of the gov
ernment promises. Emmet applied him
self to the study of mathematics, es-
| pecially of algebra, which he had not
| known before but now thoroughly mas
! tered. Shakespeare was his favorite read
| ing.
At length the prisoners were released
| and they landed in Holland on July 4,
1902. Robert Emmet visited his brother
I in Hamburg, and stayed there until No
vember, when he returned to Ireland
There appears to have been a true af
fection between them; and the last night
spent by Robert on earth was devoted
mainly to the composition of letter
explaining and justifying himself to the
elder brother for his attempt 1t never
reached the hands of Thomas being
T! contiscated by Castlereagh; and the first
! time Thomas read it was in the public
/ press. September, 1903, brought the news
| of the failure and of his brothers DEATH
Emmett was now alone save for the un-
purchasable love of wife and children.
Father, mother, brother and sister had
died in a brief space of time. There
was no one of the name left in Ireland.
Yet he would make one more effort to
save the land where their ashes slept.
He moved on to Paris in November,
and sought and obtained an interview
with Napoleon, with the object of enlist
ing his help in the another project for
the redemption of Ireland. He presented
the first consul with a memoir on the
subject. A month later Napoleon replied,
assuring him of his intention to assist
the independence Of Ireland. No procla-
nation would be made until the French
expedition touched the Irish Shore He
encouraged Emmet's hopes, but, accord
ing to O'Connor, Napoleon assured him
that he disapproved the plan altogether
Trafalgar and the growing hostility OF
Austria may have partly accounted fol
Napoleon's change of mind. But he evi
IDENTIFY undervalued the policy of an at
tack on Ireland in the conflict with
England. He did not even know the pop
ulation of the country until informed
by O'Connor. Les Irlandais Unis may
have also been too devoted to the prin
ciples of popular liberty to be agreeable
to first consul blossoming into
dictator and Caesar Emmett waitet
another year and then abandoned hope
He quilted Europe in the autumn o
1904 with the conviction that Bonapart
was one of the worst enemies that Ire
, land ever had.
Space will not permit to follow hi
career in exile. He found fortune, h
kept the happiness that loving "wean
{ and wife" bring a faithful man. HI
never returned to Ireland again.
One insult to the cause he successful
ly avenged. Rufus King, whose intcrvcn
} ton as American minister in London
to prevent the liberation of the prisoner
| on the shores of America facilitate
Portland in prolonging their lmprison
ment, became candidate for the gov
5 ernorship of New York. Emmett expose
! and defeated him. Honored he lived
t proving the ability that could find n
2 field in the service Of his country, bll
t was paid for with "horur and gOlde
S store by the stranger. On Novcmbe
: d. 1927, he was seized with an apoDl2C
. tic fit in the circuit court OF New Yor
| while preparing the notes of an import
; ant case. He was carried home TO dit