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Robert Emmet, 29 September 1803 —from the Speech on the the eve of his execution The Speech from the Dock Extracts from Robert Emmet's speech on the eve of his execution. I appeal to the immaculate God -- I swear by the throne of heaven, before  which I must shortly appear -- by the blood of the murdered patriots who have  gone before me that my conduct has been through all this peril and all my  purposes governed only by the convictions which I have uttered, and by no  other view than that of their cure, and the emancipation of my country from  the super inhuman oppression under which she has so long and too patiently  travailed; and that I confidently and assuredly hope that, wild and  chimerical as it may appear, there is still union and strength in Ireland  to accomplish this noble enterprise. I am charged with being an emissary of France An emissary of France? And  for what end? It is alleged that I wished to sell the independence of my  country? And for what end? Was this the object of my ambition? And is this  the mode by which a tribunal of justice reconciles contradictions? No, I am  no emissary; and my ambition was to hold a place among the deliverers of my  country -- not in power, nor in profit, but in the glory of the achievement!... Connection with France was indeed intended, but only as far as mutual  interest would sanction or require. Were they to assume any authority  inconsistent with the purest independence. it would be the signal for their  destruction: we sought aid, and we sought it, as we had assurances we  should obtain it � as auxiliaries in war and allies in peace... I wished to procure for my country the guarantee which Washington procured  for America. To procure an aid, which, by its example, would be as important as its valor, disciplined. gallant, pregnant with science and  experience; which would perceive the good and polish the rough points of  our character. They would come to us as strangers and leave us as friends,  after sharing in our perils and elevating our destiny. These were my  objects -- not to receive new taskmasters hilt to expel old tyrants: these  were my views. and these only became Irishmen. It was for these ends I sought aid from France; because France, even as an enemy could not be more  implacable than the enemy already in the bosom of my country There are men engaged in this conspiracy, who are not only superior to me  but even to your own conceptions of yourself, my lord; men, before the splendor of whose genius and virtues, I should bow with respectful deference, and who would think themselves dishonored to be called your  friend -- who would not disgrace themselves by shaking your bloodstained hand? I do not fear to approach the omnipotent Judge, to answer for the conduct  of my whole life; and am I to be appalled and falsified by a mere remnant of mortality here? By you, too, who, if it were possible to collect all the  innocent blood that you have shed in your unhallowed ministry, in one great  reservoir Your Lordship might swim in it. Let no man dare, when I am dead. to charge me with dishonor; let no man  attaint my memory by believing that I could have engaged in any cause but  that of my country's liberty and independence, or that I could have become  the pliant minion of power in the oppression or the miseries of my  countrymen. The proclamation of the provisional government speaks for our views; no inference can he tortured from it to countenance barbarity or debasement at home, or subjection, humiliation, or treachery from abroad; I would not have submitted to a foreign oppressor for the same reason that I would resist the foreign and domestic oppressor: in the dignity of freedom  I would have fought upon the threshold of my country, and its enemy should  enter only by passing over my lifeless corpse. Am I, who lived but for my country, and who have subjected myself to the dangers of the jealous and  watchful oppressor, and the bondage of the grave, only to give my  countrymen their rights, and my country her independence, and am I to be loaded with calumny and not suffered to resent or repel it -- no, God forbid! I have but a few words more to say. I am going to my cold and silent grave: my lamp of life is nearly extinguished: my race is run: the grave opens to receive me, and I sink into its bosom! I have but one request to ask at my  departure from this world -- it is the charity of its silence! Let no man  write my epitaph: for as no man who knows my motives dare now vindicate  them. Let not prejudice or ignorance asperse them. Let them and me repose  in obscurity and peace, and my tomb remain uninscribed, until other times,  and other men, can do justice to my character; when my country takes her  place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written. I have done. See Also: Robert Emmet Bold Robert Emmet (Republican Song) Oration delivered by Seán O Brádaigh on the Bi�Centenary of Robert Emmet's execution Page updated 20 Jul 2008 Ireland's OWN Logo by Eamann Website Design and Celtic Background by Míchealín Daugherty Copyright © 2008 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.