The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-03-11

ROBERT EMMETT.
and other women died for the cause of
human liberty. died for the cause of
Ireland; but the circumstances of his
death, the conditions which surround
ed it We're such as to forever separate
him from the rest of the glorious army
of martyrs and placed him alone and
apart upon the high pedestal, separate
from all the other martyrs OF his time.
No need to rccite the details of his his
tory to this great and intelligent audi
ence. 1t has been written in inetface-
able and indelible letters upon every
Irish heart in this audience. We
know the history Of Robert Emmett.
the story of his brief and beautiful
life. Born to wealth, educated in the
great Trinity college of Dublin, an in
innate bosom friend Of our great song
ster, Thomas Moore, the famed llus-
band of the daughter of the
great Irish advocate and states:
man, John philpot Curral. at the,
age of twenty-five. all in life was
bright and clear before him, career
of noble and lucrative profession,
the love of beautiful and honorable
woman, the respect of his countrymen
and of all mankind, peace and luxury
opened their broad avenues before the
gaze of Robert Emmett He turned
his back upon them all, and in the
service Of the most oppressed and per-
secuted of the nations, in the service
of nation a majority of whom were
alien to him in religion and in politi-
cal sentiment, in their service on the
altar Of freedom, coolly and deliber-
ately he chose the part Of honor and
Of danger, and joyously as the BRIDE
groom goes to the altar went on the
scaffold in the cause of prosecuted
people.
It may seem easy, my friends, for
men to die upon the field of battle, in
the bright glare of fame, with the
eyes of nations upon them, with the
sound of martial music ringing in their
ears amid the applause and amid the
acclaim of nation. That was not the
death that Robert Emmett sought and
grandly took. Is there anyone in this
audience who does not know, in all it's
hideous details, the meaning Of the
sentence that was pronounced upon
Robert Emmett, to be hanged, drawn
and quartered? Ten years ago 1
heard the question put to John Boyle
O'Reilly, upon whom similar SEN
tence had been pronounced, and al
though seven years of awful labor in
the prison quarries of Australia had
passed in his lifetime since then, al
though quarter of century of hon
orable and honest and intelligent en-
deavor in this great land of ours, John
Boyle O'Reilly, even then in tha
prime of a magnificent manhood, as he
recalled the sentiments of his soul
when the same sentence was pro-
nounced upon him, banched with the
pallor of death.
The sentence was carried out in all
its hideous and awful details. Twenty
five years Of age, in the very prime of
intellectual, physical and moral power,
Robert Emmett, with smile upon his
face, walked to an awful death in the
cause of Irish liberty, for you, my
friends, and for me, and for every
member Of the human race His body
was buried in darkness and oblouuy,
the quick-lime Of the British govern.
ment was thrown upon his mangled
and discovered limbs; SANDER by that
government followed him even after
the breath had left his body, published
libel upon libel against his memory,
his fame and his reputation. Expedi-
ent after eXpedient was resorted to to
wipe out from the grateful hearts of
the Irish people all love for Robert
Emmett. What is the result? Today,
my friends, wherever the English
tongue is spoken, wherever the free
civilization of man has trod, on the
plain, in the great cities Of South AZ
RIGA, in the republics of South Amer
lea, on the sheep farms, in the great
centers Of population of Australia, on
the farms Of Canada, wherever that
flag waves tonight, waves over eighty
millions Of free, intelligent and en-
lightened American citizens, the name
Of Robert Emmett is heard with &C.