The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-08

and safety of their wives. mothers,
daughters and sWeethearts
Emmett knew these things. He
had heard the stories OF men who for
no crime but love of country. had
been arrested, tried, condemned and
hanged, their bodies cut down and
divided into quarters-and this by a.
civilized nation in a supposedly civil
lied age. Every trade and every
industry in Ireland had been stilled
by the tyranny of England. The peo-
pie had been denied the right to wor-
ship God as they saw tit; they had
been denied the right to meet in
peaceab1e assemblange; they had
been denied the right to use their
own LANGUAGE. The small power Of
home rule which they formerly pos
sessed had been ruthlessly taken from
them.
tEm1net was so impressed by the
condition of his people that when
the English government following the
uprising of '98, tried to take census
of the political views of the students
at Trinity college in Dublin, he refus-
ed to answer the questions put to him
and left the college.
ssFilled with the intent of his pur-
pose he later went to France where
Napoleon gave him ready ear. Wolf
Tone had audience with Napoleon pre-
viously and there is authority for the
Emmett he would send a fleet to Ire
land in August, 1903.
tEmmet's plans for the uprising
were well laid and but for a premature
explosion of powder at one of the rem
devious and the discovery Of arms at
another, the uprising would not have
taken place until August as had been
planned. AS it was, the revolt took
place a month before.
Emmett and his supporters purposed
to seize the citadel in Dublin, the very
center of English rule in the capital
city of Ireland. With possession of
the artillery barracks and Dublin cas-
tie and the commander-in-chief a pris-
oner, they might well hold out until
Napoleon came with his feet That
his arrangements misearrfed was due
TO no fault of Enmet. nor was his at
tempt headstrong. boyish or abortive.
He said after he had been taken:
# am going to do my last act and I
may as well do it on the seaffold as on
the field The glorious sentiment he
uttered from the dock with an e1o-s
quenee far beyond his years, shows a
force Of intellect which rebounds to
the credit of the Irish people His
words: When my country takes her
place among the nations of the earth
then and not until then let my epitaph
be written still live in the hearts of
his countrymen No monument marks
his resting place but he lives enshrined
forever in their memory and the mem
Dry Of their descendants wherever they
may be.
When England began flirting with
this country over a treaty to mark the
100 years of peace we knew she had
purpose in view. OF what that pur-
pose was we have evidence in the sit
uation in Europe.
Z Can we wipe out the memory of
seven and a half centuries Of perse-z
cution :? When Sir Edward Carson
and his followers tell the English gov
eminent they will not have home rule,
efforts are made toward a compro-
mise. There is no hanging, but eabi-
net ministers agree to a conference
and it is decided to cut out four of
five counties in Ireland from. the home
rule plan.
Let us hope for home rule and al
SO that we shall not be filing public
platforms two or three years hence
denouneing England for again break
ing its word. Let home rule come
but there are those who will never
be satisfied until the last link in the
chain is broken, Ireland is free and
the epitaph of Emmett is written
Hon. James L. McGovern, collector
of the port, was chairman of the
meeting. Before introducing Judge
Collins, Mr.. McGovern said in part:
MY friends, we meet once again
to pay tribute to the memory of Rob
ert Emmett. The Emmett club of
Bridgeport has been long active in
this community. In fact it has been
In existence for nearly 55 years. In
1857 there We're times fraug1lt with
bers of the Emmett club in this city
were most active in her interest Al
though most of the guiding spirits in