The expulsion of Emmet from the college occurred in the month of February, 1798.  On the 12th of the following month his brother, Thomas Addis Emmet, was arrested.  The manner in which this noble-hearted gentleman took the oath of the United Irish Society, in the year of 1795, is so remarkable that we cannot omit mention of it here.  His services as a lawyer having been engaged in the defence of some persons who stood charged with having sworn in members to the United Irish organization—­the crime for which William Orr was subsequently tried and executed—­he, in the course of the proceedings, took up the oath and read it with remarkable deliberation and solemnity.  Then, taking into his hand the prayer book that lay on the table for the swearing of witnesses, and looking to the bench and around the court, he said aloud—­

“My Lords—­Here, in the presence of this legal court, this crowded auditory—­in the presence of the Being that sees and witnesses, and directs this judicial tribunal—­here, my lords, I, myself, in the presence of God, declare I take this oath.”

The terms of the oath at this time were, in fact, perfectly constitutional, having reference simply to attainment of a due representation of the Irish nation in parliament—­still, the oath was that of a society declared to be illegal, and the administration of it had been made a capital offence.  The boldness of the advocate in thus administering it to himself in open court appeared to paralyse the minds of the judges.  They took no notice of the act, and what was even more remarkable, the prisoners, who were convicted, received a lenient sentence.

But to return to Robert Emmet—­the events of 1798, as might be supposed, had a powerful effect on the feelings of the enthusiastic young patriot, and he was not free of active participation with the leaders of the movement in Dublin.  He was, of course, an object of suspicion to the government, and it appears marvellous that they did not immediately take him into their safe keeping under the provisions of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act.  Ere long, however, he found that prudence would counsel his concealment, or his disappearance from the country, and he took his departure for the Continent, where he met with a whole host of the Irish refugees; and, in 1802, was joined by his brother and others of the political prisoners who had been released from the confinement to which—­in violation of a distinct agreement between them and the government—­they had been subjected in Fort George, in Scotland.  Their sufferings had not broken their spirit.  There was hope still, they thought, for Ireland; great opportunities were about to dawn upon that often defeated, but still unconquerable nation, and they applied themselves to the task of preparing the Irish people to take advantage of them.