360

R. EMMETT AND MISS CURRAN.

[CHAP. X. that he would deliver it safe. The man, in the discharge of his duty, gave the letter to the Attorney-general. Emmett found this out, and he immediately sent to Government to say he had imprudently written such a letter; that it had come to their hands: he had thus injured an innocent and guiltless female; and knowing how much the Government were afraid of his addressing the people at his execution, he begged of them to have the letter delivered, and that if they refused, he would not fail to address the people, and would do so with greater determination; but if they sent the letter, he would agree to appear in court, plead guilty, and go to execution without saying a word. That was certainly a fine trait in his character. The letter related to politics as well as to love; and in it he mentions there was only one thing in the whole of his conduct with which he had (and justly), to reproach himself that was his imprudence; and one great cause of his failure, he attributed to the mildness of the Government; which he termed their "insidious moderation." This was the severest censure on Lord Camden's administration, and the highest praise of Lord Hardwicke's. The one inflamed the people by its violence-the other disarmed them by its moderation. Mr. Grattan's remarks on the Emmetts, though in a jocular strain, are not devoid of interest.

Emmett and his father were both quacks-one in politics, the other in physic-the one was a statesman despising experience, and the other a physician despising practice. They did much mischief. Emmett's plan of reform was abominable, as well as impracticable: he set up his own crude notions as settled rules; and his plan was founded not upon practice, but upon his own imagination; it was full of wildness-there were to be 300 elections every year, all going on at the same time, and every man was to possess a right to vote. The whole country

CHAP. X.] T. A. EMMETT'S LETTER TO BURROWES. 361

was thus to be placed in a state of tumult and agitationall in conflagration-like 300 windmills in motion all at once this too in a country, one-third of whose population were so destitute that they were exempted from paying hearth-money tax, in consequence of their poverty. Emmett forgot that elections and representation are a work of art-he considered them as one of the operations of Nature.

When he went to America, he thought his political life was at an end, but it was only just beginning. Had Government intended to have rendered him harmless, they should have kept him at home, where he would have staid, a tarnished lawyer, with little business; but, sent to America, he found means to annoy England, and do there what he never could have done in his own country.

England should take care-she transports a great deal of hostile spirit to that quarter.

The following letter, with which I was favoured by Mr. Burrowes, possesses some interest, and bears upon the remark made by Mr. Grattan ; it is a good lesson to future governments not to render men such as Emmett, enemies to the country. The death of an individual removes a foe, but the proscription of a tribe, perpetuates their implacability. The Irish Government ineffectually tried both. Mr. Emmett's reception in America; the rank he rose to in his profession,* and the honours paid to him after his death, are too well known to be repeated.

THOMAS ADDIS EMMETT TO PETER BURROWES.

New York, 19th Nov. 1806.

MY DEAR BURROWES ;-I had the pleasure of receiving yours of July last in due time; and first, as to the matter of business to which it alludes. I have inquired after Mr.

's claim to property in Baltimore, and the result is pretty conclusively, that nothing can now be done, and probably never could, even if the party entitled had come out here to urge his claim. Mr. is at present at

* He was attorney-general of New York, and would have been elected to Congress, if he had chosen. His remains were honoured with the finest funeral next to Washington's and Franklin's.

362 T. A. EMMETT'S LETTER TO BURROWES. [CHAP. X.

Baltimore, and I have furnished him with all the informa-
tion I could get before his departure, and on his return
shall put into his hands another letter I have since received;
he, therefore, will, I suppose, write more particularly than
I have time to do. As to your late law arrangements, I
sincerely rejoice, my good friend, that promotion has fallen
upon your head,* and those of some others where I think
it well bestowed. However, there are in the list of promo-
tions, men of whom I never wish to think; because I can-
not think of them without the strongest emotions of aver-
sion and disgust-strong and warm as was my former
friendship. In the conclusion of your letter, you ask a
question which, if I did not know the occasional absence
of your thoughts,† would have caused me much specula-
tion,-" Do you ever mean to visit us?" says an influen-
tial officer of the government of Ireland to a proscribed
exile, whose return would be death by law; " or to send

over any of your children?" A man who was very anxious

to return would catch at this offer; but that is not my
case. I am settled here with the fairest prospects for my-
self and my children. My principles and my sufferings
were my first passport and introduction here, and they pro-
cured me the effective friendship of the leading characters
in this State, and in the Union at large. In proportion as
I cherish those principles, I am respected; and every day's
reflection and observation makes them dearer to me.
Ought I to go where they are treasonable and sufficient
ground for perpetual proscription ? Besides, my good
friend, 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

*He was appointed first counsel to the Commissioners of Revenue,
under Mr. Fox's administration in 1806; not a permanent situation,
but at that time a lucrative one.

† An instance of Mr. Burrowes's absence of mind is well known.— Being on circuit, a brother barrister entered his room while at breakfast, and found Burrowes standing at the fire, as he thought, boiling his egg, but in mistake, he had put his watch in the saucepan, and was holding the egg in his hand.

CHAP. X.] LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD.

363

country. Nothing in their future prospects gives me greater pain than the fear that my eldest boy will be obliged, when he comes of age, to go to Ireland, to dispose of some settled property, which, if I were worth a few thousand dollars more, I should wish rather in the hands of my greatest enemy than his. There is not now in Ireland an individual that bears the name of Emmett-I do not wish that there ever should, while it is connected with England -and yet it will, perhaps, be remembered in its history.* With the very sincerest and warmest esteem, believe me ever yours, T. A. EMMETT.

The next was Lord Edward Fitzgerald, of noble descent, strong Irish feelings, ancient Irish family-and one that had given many martyrs in the cause of their country. He was a man of gallant bearing, high honour, great spirit, and unquestionable courage. His deportment was graceful and pleasing; his voice was sweet, and its tones harmonious; his person was light and agile; his manner was gentle and attractive, and he was sure to engage, if not to captivate, by his ingenuous ardour, and his winning address. He had travelled in his youth, and had seen somewhat of the world, both in Europe and America; but he did not know the arts and the baseness of men, though he hated their excesses. He was a most

* Mr. Burrowes seems to have forgotten that the Banishment Act punished with transportation any person who corresponded with the Irish exiles. His transgression, however, was purely innocent, and is at once a proof that many of our laws are of little avail, and that men are governed much more by the feelings of the mind, than by the enactments of the statute.

They were said to be in those days Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores.— In the time of Henry VIII., Gerald, ninth Earl of Kildare, who had been Lord Deputy in Ireland, was called over to London to answer certain charges that were maliciously preferred against him. He was committed to the Tower to await the decision of the King, but died through grief and disappointment. His son, Lord Thomas, resisted the Deputy, Lord Grey; he was taken prisoner, and sent to England along with his five uncles, three of whom had never taken up arms; however, they were all put on their trial, and all executed. A few years afterwards, Lord Gerald, his son Thomas, and two more of the family were attainted by act of parliament.

364

LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD.

[CHAP. X. attached and dutiful son, a kind master, and an affectionate and tender husband. Born in 1763, he served in the British army in America, in 1781, under Lord Cornwallis, Lord Moira, (then Rawdon) and General (afterwards Sir John) Doyle. On the retreat of some of the British troops he shewed skill and judgment; he displayed much gallantry on the occasion, and was wounded in the service. In 1783 he returned to Ireland, and was elected Member of Parliament for the borough of Athy. At the period of the French Revolution, being unfortunately in Paris, he attended a public dinner, assumed the name of citizen Fitzgerald, and, along with several Englishmen, drank some Jacobinical toasts, which gave great offence to the British authorities, and he was, in consequence, deprived of his commission in the army. This insult, as well as injury, preyed deeply upon his mind, and he never forgot or forgave it. He returned to Ireland-vexed and indignant, and impregnated with French doctrines, and with the political sentiments of the day he suffered himself to be influenced a good deal by resentment; and having married a French lady, was somewhat affected, and perhaps injured by her principles and foreign connexions. His name would, probably, have had weight in any civil commotion, and he might have formed a standard around which a good deal of the spirit and enthusiasm of the Irish would be likely to have rallied. He would have commanded a regiment well, and possibly, in time, an army. He had a quick eye, great presence of mind, rapid decision, firmness of purpose, great boldnessno sense whatever either of danger or of fear; * He was on the eve of being appointed Major.

† He married, in the latter end of 1792, Pamela, a pretty, interesting little woman, daughter of Egalité, Duke of Orleans and Madame de Genlis, by whom he had a son and two daughters.