Background
Irish Nationalists towards the close of 1853 considered it to be a certainty of England becoming involved in a war with Russia. This conviction would soon lead to the establishment of a new revolutionary society, which came to be known as the “Emmet Monument Association.” The Association was named after Robert Emmet, who was an Irish nationalist rebel leader, who led an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1803 and was captured, tried and executed. Emmet in closing his speech from the dock said:
| “ | 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 rest in obscurity and peace, and my tomb remain uninscribed, and my memory in oblivion, 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. | ” |
The Association spread quickly and soon numbered within its ranks the greater portion of the organized Irish Nationalists throughout the chief cities of the Union.The leaders would enter into confidential relations with the representatives of Russia at Washington and New York.
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