ADAMS - THE HISTORY SALE Tuesday 19th April 2016 : You can Download a PDF Version from the Bottom Menu Down Arrow Icon

185 / 310

185
The History Sale 19th April 2016
A manuscript ‘Copy of P.H. Pearse statement written in Kilmainham Prison 2nd May 1916’, in an unidentified hand, apparently that of a British soldier or official at Kilmainham. 2 pp (single
foolscap sheet written both sides), on official paper with embossed crest.
Pearse’s statement is a summary of his reply to his Court Martial at Richmond Barracks, when asked by the Presiding Officer if he had anything to say in his defence. It outlines his reasons
for surrender, to prevent further slaughter of the civilian population of Dublin and to save the lives of his followers. ‘I fully understand now, as then, that my own life is forfeit to British law,
and I will die very cheerfully if I can think that the British Government .. will accept my single life in forfeiture and .. give a general amnesty to the brave men and boys who have fought at my
bidding.’
‘When I was a child of ten’, he continues, ‘I went down on my bare knees by my bedside one night and promised God that I should devote my life to an effort to free my country. I have kept
that promise.’
He repudiates the prosecutor’s claim that he sought to aid England’s enemy. ‘Germany is no more to me than England is .. I assume that I am speaking to Englishmen, who value their own
freedom and who profess to be fighting for the freedom of Belgium and Serbia. Believe that we too love freedom .. If you strike us down now we shall rise again and renew the fight. You
cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom then our children will win it by a better deed.’
There are other copies of this statement, including one in the Pearse Museum, and there appears to be no doubt of its authenticity.
€ 2,000 - 3,000