country, not in power nor in profit, but in the glory of the achievement.  Sell my country’s independence to France! and for what?  Was it a change of masters?  No, but for my ambition.  Oh, my country, was it personal ambition that could influence me?  Had it been the soul of my actions, could I not, by my education and fortune, by the rank and consideration of my family, have placed myself amongst the proudest of your oppressor.  My Country was my Idol.  To it I sacrificed every selfish, every endearing sentiment; and for it I now offer up myself, O God!  No, my lords; I acted as an Irishman, determined on delivering my country from the yoke of a foreign and unrelenting tyranny, and the more galling yoke of a domestic faction, which is its joint partner and perpetrator in the patricide, from the ignominy existing with an exterior of splendour and a conscious depravity.  It was the wish of my heart to extricate my country from this doubly rivetted despotism—­I wished to place her independence beyond the reach of any power on earth.  I wished to exalt her to that proud station in the world.  Connection with France was, indeed, intended, but only as far as mutual interest would sanction or require.  Were the French to assume any authority inconsistent with the purest independence, it would be signal for their destruction.  We sought their aid—­and we sought it as we had assurance we should obtain it—­as auxiliaries in war, and allies in peace.  Were the French to come as invaders or enemies, uninvited by the wishes of the people, I should oppose them to the utmost of my strength.  Yes! my countrymen, I should advise you to meet them upon the beach with a sword in one hand, and a torch in the other.  I would meet them with all the destructive fury of war.  I would animate my countrymen to immolate them in their boats, before they had contaminated the soil of my country.  If they succeeded in landing, and if forced to retire before superior discipline, I would dispute every inch of ground, burn every blade of grass, and the last entrenchment of liberty should be my grave.  What I could not do myself, if I should fall, I should leave as a last charge to my countrymen to accomplish; because I should feel conscious that life, any more than death, is unprofitable when a foreign nation holds my country in subjection.  But it was not as an enemy that the succours of France were to land.  I looked, indeed, for the assistance of France; but I wished to prove to France and to the world that Irishmen deserved to be assisted—­that they were indignant at slavery, and ready to assert the independence and liberty of their country; 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 valour; disciplined, gallant, pregnant with science and experience; that of a people who would perceive the good, and polish the rough points of our character.  They would come to us as strangers, and leave us