The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1848-07-13
NUMBER d.
THE POWER OF ELOQUENCE.

N'"t'NiiNN1 iOh ~ any Nttu SulIloo llle
power and wild-fashn9 beauty of the following
IL Is " perfect storm, in which the clements of aw-
lulness and loneliness blend wonderfully; thunder
ana biackness and lurd fire, and the crystal smiles
of sunlight! Its thrill
"Might stir fever in the blood IF oco
AND make an infants sinews strong as steeI.r
SPEECH OF THOMAS f. MEAGHER AT rttr
GREAT MEETING IN DUBLIN. 'i'
Citizens of Dublin, since we last assembled
in this hall an event has occurred which 40
cides our fate. We are no longer masters IF
our lives. They belong to the country-to
libcrty-to vengeance. Upon the walls of
Newgate fettered hand has inscribed this
destiny. We shall be the martyrs or the ru-
lers Of revolution. Gone, two thrce--ayc.
hundreds, shall follow me-" exclaimed tho
glorious citizen who was sentenced to exile
and Immortality upon themorning of the goth
OF May. Such was his prophecy, and his
children will live to say it has been fulfilled.
Let no man mistrust these words. Whilst I
speak them | am fully sensible of the obliga-
ton they impose. 1t is an obligation from
which there is no exemption but through in
fanny. Claiming your trust, however, | we'll
know the feelings that prevail amongst You
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Doubt, as the
truth Of those whose advice restrained your
daring. Depression, inspired by the loss of
the ablest and bodest man among us. Shame,
excited by the case, the insolence, the impu-
nifty with which he was hurried in chains
from the island to whose service he had sacri-
feed all that he had on earth-all that made
life dear and honorable, and glorious to him
his home, his genius and bis liberty. in
those feelings Of depression and shame deop-
IIr oh al
some of you, at least, may regard the mem
self exempt. If they are to blame, so am l.
Between the hearts Of the people and the
bayonets took my stand, with the members
Of the Council, and warned back the precipi-
tate devotion which scof1ed at prudence as a
crime. l am here TO answer for that act. If
you believe it to have been the act of das-
tard treat me with no delcacy, treat nc
with no respect-vindicate your courage in
the impeachment of the coward. The neces-
ssties and perils Of the cause forbid the in
terchange of courtesics. Civlities are out Of
place in the wild tumult Of the tempest. And
do not fear that the forfeiture Of your conf
dence will induce in me the remuneration Of
the cause. In the ranks-by the side of the
poorest mechanic shall proudly act under
any executive you may decree. Summon the
intellect and heroism of the democracy, from
the workshop, the field, the garret-bind the
brow of labor with the crown of sovereionty-
place the sccptre in the rough and blistered
hand-and, to the death, I shall be the sub
ject and the soldier of the pleben king The
address Of the Council to the people of Ire
land-the addresses signed by William Smith
OBrien--bears witness to your determination.
1t states that thousands of the Confcdcratcs
had pledged themselves that John Mitchell
should not leave these shores but through
their blood. We were bound to make this
aforementioned in justice to you-bound
in honor to the country
Whatever odium may spring from that
scene of victorious defiance, in which the gov
crnmcnt played its part without stammcr or
check, none falls on you. You would have
fought had we not seized your hands, and
bound them. Let no foul tongue, then, spit
its sarcasms upon the people. They were
ready for the sacrifice and had the word been
given, the stars would burn this night above
a thousand crimsoned graves. The guilt is
ours-let the sarcasms fall upon cur heads
We told you in the clubs four days previous
to the trial the reasons that compelled us to-
oppose the project Of a rescuc.-The concen-
tration Of 10000 troops upon the city-tho
incomplete organization of the people the
insulliciency of food in case of a sustained re-
sistanoe-the uncertainty as to how far the
country districts were prepared to support us
these were the chief reasons that forced us
into an antagonism with your generosity, your
devotion, your intrepidity. Night after night
we visited the clubs to know your sentiments,
your determination-an to the course VIC
instructed you to adopt you gave, at length,
| YpI,, to,otc I Il Of ,,t,l- -
would be candid to conceal the fact, that the
day subsequent to the arrest of John Mitchell,
gave expression to sentiments having ten
dency quite opposite to the advice | have
mentioned. At meeting of the Grattan
Club, said that the Confederation ought to
come to the resolution to resist, by force the
transportation of John Mitchell, and if tho
worst befel us, The ship that carried him away
should sail upon sea of blood. l said this,
and / shall not shrink from the rcproach of
having acted otherwise. Upon consideration,
became convinced they were sentiments,
which, if acted upon, would associate my
name with the ruin of the cause. felt it
my duty, therefore, to retract them-Not TO
disown, but to condemn them-not TO shrink
from the responsibility which the avowal of
them might entail, but to avert the disaster
which the enforcement of them would assure.
You have now heard all had to say upon
that point; and with a conscience happy in
the thought that it has concealed nothing,
shall eXultngly look forward to an event the
shadow of which already cncircies us, for the
vindication of my conduct, and the attestatlon
of my truth. Call me cowGd-call me rene
cade. I will accept these titles, as the pen
allies which a fidelity to my convictions has
imnosod. It will be so for short time only.
TO the end see the patti have been Or
dained to walk, and upon the grave which
closes in that path. l can read no towards
opitaph.
Bitterly, indeed, mi ht the wife and child
rem of our illustrious friend lament the loss
hey have sustained if his example failed to