now impossible, without incurring the imputation of cowardice; or, what was more intolerable, the suspicion of my associates. Actual hostility was preferable to either of these; and, making a virtue of necessity, I recalled the memory of those conspirators who had been successful, and fortified my resolution by anticipating the same fortune, though every thing around might have taught a rational man the extravagant folly of hoping to subvert a powerful government with a few hundred men, partially armed. These, it is true, we thought had only to raise the standard of rebellion, and thousands were ready to support it; but, in future, who will rely upon the promises of conspira

tors?

About six o'clock, Emmet, Malachy, one or two others, and myself, put on our green uniform, trimmed with gold lace, and selected our arms. The insurgents, who had all day been well plied with whiskey, began to prepare for commencing an attack upon the Castle; and, when all was ready, Emmet made an animated address to the conspirators. At eight o'clock precisely we sallied out of the depot; and, when we arrived in Thomas Street, the insurgents gave three deafening cheers.

The consternation excited by our presence defies description. Every avenue emptied its curious hundreds, and almost every window exhibited half a dozen inquisitive heads, while peaceable shopkeepers ran to their doors, and beheld with amazement a lawless band of armed insurgents, in the midst of a peaceable city, an hour at least before dark. The scene at

first might have appeared amusing to a careless spectator, from the singular and dubious character which the riot wore; but when the rocket ascended, and burst over the heads of the people, the aspect of things underwent an immediate and wonderful change. The impulse of the moment was self-preservation; and those who, a few minutes before, seemed to look on with vacant wonder, now assumed a face of horror, and fled with precipation. The wish to escape was simultaneous; and the eagerness with which the people retreated from before us

impeded their flight, as they crowded upon one another in the entrance of alleys, court-ways, and lanes; while the screams of women and children were frightful and heart-rending.

To the Castle!' cried our enthusiastic leader, drawing his sword, and his followers appeared to obey; but when we reached the Market-house our adherents had wonderfully diminished, there being not more than twenty insurgents with us.

Fire the rocket!' cried Malachy.

Hold awhile,' said Emmet, snatching the match from the man's hand who was about applying it. 'Let no lives be unnecessarily lost. Run back and see what detains the men.'

Malachy obeyed; and we remained near the Market-house, waiting the arrival of our party, until the soldiers approached.

Our cause is lost!' exclaimed Emmet, snatching the rockets from the man's hand who carried them, and, trampling them under his feet, he continued, "Let our friends at a distance escape-comrades, provide for your own safety."

A skirmish now ensued, and we succeeded in forcing our way into Francis Street, but had not proceeded far before we saw another party of soldiers advancing against us from the Coombe.

'This way, sir!' cried a voice I had heard before, and Denis Howlan seized my arms, and pulled me into a

street resembling Monmouth Street in London, being full of old clothes' shops. About a dozen doors down we turned into a shop, Denis asking, as we entered,Friend or foe?" 'Friend!' cried an old man, hurrying us into a back parlour, and then up stairs. The roof-the roof,' he whispered; and accordingly we made our exit through a dormant window. In the gutter, between the houses, we found three men, who had sought that place of safety; and, having also danger to apprehend, we took, like them, a recumbent posture.

Throughout the night our ears were assailed with noises like those of a town suddenly attacked -bells ringing, drums beating, and all the clamour of war-while an occasional shot announced that our danger was

not yet over. My companions sent up incessant prayers for the safety of their enthusiastic leader; and, as I loved the man, I heartily joined in their obtestations.

Towards morning the indications of alarm began to subside; but it was full twelve o'clock before our friend, the old clothes' man,made his appearance. We departed cautiously one by one; and, when I descended from my aerial abode, a suit of common clothes were handed to me; and, by directions of Denis, I made an exchange with the tailor, at the same time rewarding him for the shelter he had afforded.

It was now agreed that I should accompany Denis to his house in the country until the storm should blow over; and, as the sooner we left Dublin the better, we set off by different routes appointing Portobello as place of meeting.

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Not being so well acquainted as Denis with the city, I took the most direct way, by Kevin's Port; aud, going up Camden Street, I was startled at seeing a party of soldiers approaching me. Conscious guilt deprived me of all presence of mind; and, as the impulse of the moment was concealment, I turned into the door of a private house, which opportunely stood open, and rushed into the parlour. There was no one present but ladies; and, before I could attempt an apology, my eyes encountered those of Miss J. She screamed on seeing me in my concealed dress; but the loud knocking at the streetdoor allowed of no explanation. A fugitive rebel,' said I to the mistress of the house; can you shelter me?' For God's sake, Mrs. C, do,' said Eliza, her face the picture of apprehension. One of the young ladies now seized my hand, and hurried me, followed by Eliza, through the back yard, that led into a stable-lane. "To Elmgrove!' whispered Eliza. To the cottage of Howlan,' I replied, as the door was closed behind me.

I readily made my way to Portobello, where I met my friend Denis. 'I thought,' said he, as I came up, 'that you were nabbed, like Master Malachy.'

Malachy a prisoner!' said I. 'Ay, in troth,' answered Denis; 'he

was ketched this morning, I hear, in a disguised dress, and his brother Bryan was killed last night in Thomas Street; but come along, or we'll be nabbed too.'

A lane, or cross

The

One difficulty was no sooner surmounted than we had to encounter another. The roads near the metropolis were covered with patrols, and to pass these unobserved was no easy matter. Denis, who was familiar with hair-breadth escapes, appeared indifferent to his own situation, and seemed to feel only for mine. He reconnoitred the Philistines, as he called the soldiers and police, and avoided, with consummate skill, any contact with them. road, or hedge, served his purpose of concealment until the party had passed; and, when we had got clear of the suburbs, he led me through the most intricate paths and by-ways, over ditches, rocks, and rivers, until we gained the Wicklow mountains. Here another difficulty arose. people, alarmed for the safety of their friends, who had not yet returned from Dublin, were collected in groups, anxiously inquiring from all who passed the fortune of the preceding evening; while individuals endeavoured to obtain information respecting sons, brothers, and husbands, Fearful that the discord between my dress and accent might create suspicion, I communicated my appre hensions to Denis, who was not long in deciding what should be done. Turning from the main road, he conducted me across a heathy hill into a most sequestered glen, where every thing around assured us of personal safety; and here we resolved to stop until darkness enabled us to approach, unobserved, the cottage of my friend.

Wearied with apprehension, as well as with the exertions of the morning, I gladly threw myself upon a green bank, beneath a lofty beech; and Denis took his place at a short distance from me. The address, coolness, and philosophy, displayed by this untutored peasant, excited my wonder; and, on my inquiring whether our case was not desperate, he laughed in my face, and assured me that there was no danger whatever. "Even if it went to that,' he continued, 'we could join Captain Dwyer.'

Denis then went largely into the romantic history of this chief of a mountain banditti, and amused me with many curious anecdotes connected with himself. The lower order of the Irish have a certain naivetè and drollery in telling a story which impart an interest to their discourse that takes an immediate hold of your attention; and you know not whether to laugh most at the ludicrous incidents of the narrative, or the perpetual bulls of the narrator. Racked as my mind was by self-reproach and apprehensions, I could not resist the risible conversation of my companion; and, on the approach of night, I found myself more inclined to hope that, though then surrounded with danger, all might yet terminate happily.

When the night had fallen we arose from our simple couch, and proceeded, in a direct line, for the cottage of Denis. We had just gained the ascent of a lofty hill, when a shrill whistle, apparently not far distant, brought us to a full stop; and, in an instant, a dozen men started up, as if by some magical agency, from the heath around us. " Your name and business?' demanded a gloomy-looking figure who stood before us, wrapped up in a great cloak.

Our names and business?' repeated Denis: maybe we've neather; what would you have then?'

'Your life!' replied our interrogator, approaching us with a pistol in each hand. 'Hold!' exclaimed a man rushing between us, these are friends. You spalpeen, don't you know Denis Howlan?'

Faith, Captain Dwyer,' said my companion, with the utmost sang froid, it just is Denis Howlan himself, and this is a real friend of Giniral Emmet, though it is not himself that's in it, as he hasn't got on his own clothes.'

No matter for that,' replied Dwyer, hasten to the glen. The council are meeting, and I am here to prevent intruders-pass on-good night-Babes,* to your cover.'

In the glen, as the outlaw had informed us, we found several persons assembled; and, when my name was

announced, one of them advanced from a circle formed round him, and seized my hand;-it was the unfortunate enthusiast, Robert Emmet. His manner was most kind and affectionate; and he congratulated me, with every demonstration of sincerity, on my escape from the slaughter of the preceding evening. He lamented the fate of Malachy and Bryan, and seemed deeply affected at the discomfiture of his scheme.

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I soon learned that my friend, with some others, had escaped to these hills on Saturday night, in time to prevent a contemplated rising of the insurgents; and had met, this evening, the leaders in the conspiracy, to consult on plans of future operation. Most of them recommended vigorous measures; and strenuously advised an immediate attack on Wicklow, Arklow, &c. stating that all the kingdom was ripe for revolt. The time had passed for Emmet to credit such sweeping assertions; and, though he did not contradict his friends, he unhesitatingly condemned the having any further recourse to hostilities. For,' said he, defeated in our first grand attempt, all further endeavours must be futile. Our enemies are armed; our friends are dispirited; and our only hope is now in patience. The justice of our cause must one day triumph; and let us not indiscreetly protract the period by any premature endeavours to accelerate it. No doubt I could, in forty-eight hours, wrap the whole kingdom in the flames of rebellion; but, as I have no ambition beyond the good of my country, I best study her interest, and the interest of freedom, by declining to elevate my name upon the ruin of thousands, and afford our tyrants an apology to draw another chain around unhappy Ireland. revolts, the first blow decides the contest: we have aimed one; and, missing the mark, let us retire unobserved, and leave the enemy ignorant of the hand which was raised for their destruction. Impenetrable secrecy surrounds all our measures: the loss we have sustained is inconsiderable; and, unacquainted with their own danger, and the extent of our re

In

sources, the tyrants of Ireland will relapse into false security, and afford us, perhaps, sooner than we imagine, another opportunity to attack the hydra of oppression. Let me, therefore, my friends, advise you to act with that prudence which becomes men engaged in the grandest of all causes the liberation of their country. Be cautious, be silent; and do not afford our enemies any ground for either tyranny or suspicion; but, above all, never forget that you are United Irishmen-sworn to promote the liberty of your country by all the means in your power.

I have now relieved my bosom from a load of apprehension; and, in preventing the revolt of last night from assuming the form of rebellion, I am conscious of having saved the lives of thousands of my fellow-countrymen. When the libeller of my name and intentions shall charge the blood of yesterday to my memory, I hope there will not be wanting some one to recollect that, if a little has been shed through my means, I have prevented the effusion of one hundred times as much, on which I might have floated to a disreputable notoriety.

'Over my future destiny Fate has thrown a veil which mortal eyes cannot penetrate. Should I succeed in evading the pursuit of my enemies, you may expect to see me once more armed in the cause of Ireland; but, should I fall on the scaffold, let not the coward or the knave intimidate you from again and again appealing to Heaven in behalf of your rights and liberties by alluding to my recent failure. Oh! I beseech you, as friends and fellow-patriots, to believe me, and, in the name of our common country, I charge you to transmit it to your children, that, had I only one thousand pounds more, and another thousand men, I had overthrown the temple of despotism, and given liberty to Ireland. My plan was an admirable one: but there was failure in every part; and from these defects let future patriots learn to prevent similar consequences. Our attempt will not be unproductive of good; the government will learn from it that they will never be secure while there is an Emmet in existence; and the conspirator will see that tens of

thousands may know his secret without even one being found capable of betraying it. Gentlemen, you will now look to your own safety; and, as for me, I shall do the best I can to quit the country, in the hope of again meeting you under happier auspices.'

He spoke in a subdued and feeling tone; and, as he bade them all farewell, he appeared deeply affected. After some hesitation his advice was acquiesced in; and the assembly began to separate, two and three at a time. Emmet, having named a place to meet his Dublin friends on the morrow evening, consented to become my companion for the night; but, before we repaired to the cottage of our friend Denis, we thought it but right to pay a visit to Castle order to afford my uncle such consolation as the nature of his bitter misfortunes admitted of. Denis, therefore, with much reluctance, consented to return without us, and make preparation for our reception, while a shrill whistle, from a person in attendance, brought Dwyer and his men to escort us over the hills.

in

As we approached the residence of my uncle, I found myself unable to resist the gloomy impressions which began to assail me. Allied by consanguinity to its late inmates, I could not but feel for the sorrows of the poor old man, and weep over the fate of my cousins. Malachy had his full share of my sympathy; for I looked upon his life as now forfeited to the violated laws; while Bryan, less talented, but more harmless, largely participated in my regret, though my acquaintance with him was very limited; for I seldom met him, even during my stay at the castle. To see my uncle, and condole with him, was now a work of duty; otherwise I should gladly have dispensed with the interview; even as it was I had nearly shrunk from the task.

When we arrived at the bridge before the castle, Dwyer sent one of his men to reconnoitre; and, on his return, we learned that my uncle was absent in Dublin, where he had gone on hearing the melancholy fate of his

sons.

It was, therefore, thought unnecessary to enter Knockfane, which was now filled with the lamentations of its inmates; and we made our way for the homely cottage of Denis,