Robert Emmet

“My lords, you are impatient for the sacrifice—the blood which you seek is not congealed by the artificial terrors which surround your victim; it circulates warmly and unruffled, through the channels which God created for noble purposes.”

“I wished to procure for my country the guarantee which Washington procured for America.”

“I am going to my cold and silent grave: my lamp of life is nearly extinguished.”

“If the spirits of the illustrious dead participate in the concerns and cares of those who are dear to them in this transitory life—oh, ever dear and venerated shade of my departed father, look down with scrutiny upon the conduct of your suffering son.”

“Let there be no inscription upon my tomb; let no man write my epitaph.”

“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.”

“When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then and not till then, let my epitaph be written.”

“I have but one request to ask at my departure from this world—it is the charity of its silence.”