The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-03-07
livered the Grafton on Emmet Last Evening

1 pIe on every hand were witnessed | acts of oppression which embittered 1 kim against the tyrannies practiced l upon his native land by the British government. Hs had seen an inde-
 pendent nation dragged down to the
 position of province, and had seen Ireland as a nation actually extin-
 guished.
 But if Ireland had lost her liber- | ties,'' he continued, E'f1e had witnessed | that they had not been taken from her easily. He had been thrilled by the
 heroic deeds of the Irish men and wo- men of his time, and the bold and
 daunt1ess men of '9S, the United Irish
 men had given a good account of
 Catholic Irishmen were found battling
 side by side in the common cause.''
 The speaker graphically described
 known to Irishmen. the stand of Mike
 Dwyer, the Roman Catholic, and
 Sandy McAl1ister, the Presbyterian
 how they resisted an English company
 that one of his arms had been shot
 away. presented himself at the door
 of a cabin to draw the smoke of the
 British muskets, and as the 1eaden pe1-
 lets peppered his body. Dwyer was a1-
 lowed an opportunity to escape to the
 Wicklow hills.
 The speaker, cited this instance as
 indicating that a Protestant patriot
 was good as gold when his country
 called. Dwyer, the undaunted leader of the Wicklow boys, subsequently, es- caped. and later died in Australia. In
 those days one Irishman was as good
 as 10 of the Red Coats and this is one
 fbe fb the TSI My the raee Is agd @
 a beautiful tribute to the patriotism of the Irish women of those days. Re
 counting again the story of Anne Dev-
 lin. who rather than betray the hiding place of Robert Ehnmet submitted to
 the most atrocious indignities at the hands of the English soldiers.
 The speaker then told of the move ment which Emmet headed in the win
 ter of 1902 when he was but B years of age. His plan was to capture the Dublin castle and hold it as rebel fortress. How this movement failed and the disastrous consequences which followed were picturesquetly described by the speaker. The attack was a disaster to the Irish force Lord Kill warden and his nephew were the only cnes killed and. an hour after Dublin happened. Young Emmet, sick at heart, hurried to his retreat in the Wicklow hills, to prevent the country rising. He had plenty of time to es- cape but he would not leave without a last word with his sweetheart, Sarah Curran, the daughter of the great law yer, John Ph1lpot Curran.- who had risked his professional reputation in defence of the men of '98. But the meeting between Ernnnet and Sarah Curra n was destined never to take place 1 for while he was still awaiting an op- | portunity to see her he was captured 1 and confined The day before his trial his, beloved mother died. oWhen Me ! Nally visited him in the jail, he asked | how his mother was. McNal1y tried i to avoid a direct answer. and said, | mother?''' and Emmet replied, 'fOh. 1 what would I not give to see fler!" Then. Robert. you will see her this day" Emmet did not reply at once. | He was struggling to restrain his grief and then he said, +'It is better so. I hope that my mother and will meet in heaven
 s'What then must have been the con- dition of the patriots mind when on the 18th day of September, he was led defeated, de ted his mo mother dead, the gir1 he loved denied the right to see him, and now his own life to pay the for free, by midnight the verdict was ob- tained and the following afternoon he was led through the city to Thomas street. A scaffold was erected within men of Ireland beat their breasts in grief and while the men powerless to 1elp,, bowed their heads in sympathy hanged, the head was cut from the cody and the executioner held it aloft and proclaimed, Behold the head of a .raitor.'
 'Oh, my friends, what a deed was that! What a fearful crime was there Did heaven look meekly on and see this tender boy-for boy he foully murdered? Oh, Judges of England, where were your hearts? Where were your sympathies? Where your chivalry when you sent lim to his death? Among his dying words were these, "All crave of the world is the charity of it's silence ct no man write mine epitaph."
 The speaker then referring to the part Irishmen took not only in the revolutionary war butt also tn the civil conflict said. Irish men were lever created to be serfs. Almighty Sod never made men of their courage md hardihood and daring. to be slaves Nen of their temperament. mentality, character and fidelity were lot destined to be subjects of in -erior race. Irish blood, brains and ,rawn differ from all other nationali- ies. It is those that make Irish char lcter and that is different from all ,ther-for it is generous and home owing it is iuaginatiYe and courage