This section is from "The American Cyclopaedia", by George Ripley And Charles A. Dana. Also available from Amazon: The New American Cyclopędia. 16 volumes complete..
Emmet. I. Robert, an Irish revolutionist, born in Dublin in 1780, hanged in the same city, Sept. 20, 1803. He gained high honors at Trinity college, from which he was ultimately expelled for avowing himself a republican. He joined the association of United Irishmen, whose object was to separate Ireland from Great Britain and to establish an independent republic, and he was implicated in the rebellion of 1798. After the failure of this attempt he escaped to France, returned secretly to Dublin in 1802, reorganized the malcontents, established various depots of powder and firearms in different parts of the city, and fixed upon July 23, 1803, as the time to seize the castle and arsenals of Dublin. On the evening of that day he directed the distribution of pikes among the assembled conspirators, to whom he delivered an animated harangue. The insurgent band, marching with cheers into the principal street, and swelling into an immense and furious mob, assassinated Chief Justice Kilwarden, who was passing by in his carriage; but they hesitated to follow their enthusiastic leader to the castle, and dispersed at the first volley from a small party of soldiers. Emmet escaped to the Wicklow mountains.
After the failure of the first blow he checked the other movements which had been projected, husbanding his resources in the hope of soon renewing the revolt. He might have evaded the pursuit of the government, but an attachment for Miss Cur-ran, the daughter of the celebrated barrister, induced him to return to Dublin to bid her farewell before leaving the country. He was tracked, apprehended, tried, and convicted of high treason. He defended his own cause, delivering an address to the judge and jury of remarkable eloquence and pathos, met his fate with courage, and won general admiration for the purity and loftiness of his motives. His fate and that of Miss Curran are subjects of two of the finest of Moore's Irish melodies. II. Thomas Addis, a politician and lawyer, brother of the preceding, born in Cork, April 24, 17G4, died in New York, Nov. 14, 1827. He graduated at Trinity college, Dublin, studied medicine at the university of Edinburgh, visited the most celebrated schools of the continent, then selected the legal profession, studied two years at the Temple in London, and was admitted to the bar of Dublin in 1791. He soon became a leader of the association of United Irishmen, and was one of a general committee to superintend all similar associations, having rebellion for their ultimate object.
He was arrested with many of his associates in 1798, and was finally conveyed a prisoner to Fort George in Scotland, where he was confined for more than two years. After the treaty of Amiens he was liberated and permitted to withdraw to France, the severest penalties being pronounced against him if he should return to Ireland. His wife obtained permission to join him on condition that she should never again set foot on British soil. From Brussels, where he passed the winter of 1802-'3, he saw his brother Robert embark in the enterprise which led him to the scaffold. He came to America in 1804, rose to eminence in his profession in New York, and was attorney general of that state in 1812. While in prison in Scotland he wrote sketches of Irish history, illustrative especially of the political events in which he had taken part, which were printed in New York in 1807, under the title "Pieces of Irish History." His biography was written by 0. G. Haynes (London, 1829), and a monument was erected to him in St. Paul's churchyard, New York. III. John Patten, an American physician, son of the preceding, born in Dublin, April 8, 1797, died in New York, Aug. 13, 1842. He came with his father and other Irish exiles to the United States, was educated for three years in the military school at West Point, resided one year in Italy, and studied medicine after his return.
His delicate health obliging him to seek a milder climate, he removed to Charleston in 1822, and began practice. He was in 1824 elected professor of chemistry and natural history in the university of Virginia, and during several years was a contributor to Silliman's "Journal."
 
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