of the Irish people for reform in Parliament — demands that embraced Church disestablishment, Catholic emancipation, a national system of education, freedom of commerce, and a reform of the criminal code. In the course of his observations, he remarked: "I have no doubt that if they [the United Irishmen] could flatter themselves that the object next their hearts would be accomplished peaceably, by a reform, they would prefer it infinitely to a revolution and republic." The gradual improvement of the condition of the people, in spite of evils complained of, being urged, he declared it was "post hoc sed non ex hoc." A study of these examinations will show the nature of the early claims of the United Irishmen, and on the other hand, how convinced Castlereagh and the Government were that the concession of reform was incompatible with "constitutional government." The Government, it is said, published a garbled report of these examinations; the State prisoners replied by advertisement in some of the papers. Upon the plea that this was a breach of faith, and in consequence of the objections of Rufus King, the American Minister in London, to the deportation of rebels to the United States, the Government altered its intentions (according to Emmet's account, broke faith), and on the 26th March 1799, after a year's imprisonment, Emmet, O'Connor, Neilson, and seventeen companions were embarked in the Aston Smith transport, landed at Gooroch on the 30th March, and imprisoned in Fort George, Inverness-shire. The governor, Stuart, was a humane man, and did all in his power to alleviate their confinement and mitigate the harsh orders of the Irish executive. About the close of 1800 Mrs. Emmet was permitted to join her husband, with her three boys, Robert, Thomas, and John. Their youngest child, Jane Erin, was born in Fort George. After three years' confinement, all the prisoners were liberated, and they landed in Holland, 4th July 1802. From this date, until October 1804, Emmet resided successively at Hamburg, Brussels, Paris, and on other parts of the Continent. He considered himself absolved from any promise of abstaining from action against the Government. In the end of September 1803 he received in Paris the news of his brother Robert's execution, and in the following December he had an interview with Bonaparte, and presented a memorial relative to an Irish expedition. Under the command of General MacSheehy, the United Irishmen in France formed themselves into a battalion, and prepared to take part in the invasion promised by the First Consul in a communication to Mr. Emmet, dated 13th December 1803. Their hopes for a time ran high, as active preparations for invasion went forward; but they were doomed to disappointment. In April 1804 Bonaparte's plans were changed, and on the 4th October Emmet embarked with all his family at Bordeaux for the United States. During his residence in France all who were nearest and dearest to him in Ireland had been swept away by death — father, mother, brother, and sister. His intention after landing was to settle in one of the western States, but friends who knew his abilities opened the way for his appearance at the New York Bar, and there his success and advancement were more rapid than he had dared to hope. From the first he accepted the States as his adopted country, he seldom referred to the past, and he was happy in his family and in the society of many of his old friends who had settled in New York. His first case was one in which he was employed by some members of the Society of Friends to secure the liberty of slaves who had escaped into New York. Dr. Madden quotes the following: "His effort is said to have been overwhelming. The novelty of his manner, the enthusiasm which he exhibited, his broad Irish accent, his pathos and violence of gesture, created a variety of sensations in the audience. His republican friends said that his fortune was made, and they were right." From the first he attached himself to the Republican party. His profession soon brought him in from $10,000 to $15,000 a year. That his opinions regarding Irish affairs remained unchanged, maybe gathered from an extract from a letter to a friend who in after years urged him to revisit Ireland: "I am too proud, when vanquished, to assist by my presence in gracing the triumph of the victor; and with what feelings should I tread on Irish ground? As if I were walking over graves — and those the graves of my nearest relations and dearest friends. No; I can never wish to be in Ireland, except in such a way as none of my old friends connected with the Government could wish to see me placed in. As to my children, I hope they will love liberty too much ever to fix a voluntary residence in an enslaved country." On Wednesday, the 14th November 1827 he was seized with an apoplectic fit in the United States Circuit Court of New York, and on being conveyed home, expired in the course of the night. The different courts were adjourned, and he was interred with every mark of public respect in St. Mark's Church, Broadway, New York, where
