Delaware State journal and statesman., 1861-09-10
Stirring Speech of Thomas Francis
Meagher.


sold, aud everything passed of in the mo-
II pleasant manner. Captain now Col. AIeagh,
e delivered the principal oration, extracts roi
which we print below:
ask no lrishman to do that which myscl
am not prepared to do. (Cheers,) My heart
: my arm, my life, is pledged to the nationn
cause, and TO the last il will be my hghes
Pride, hs ! conceive it to be my holiesi duty
and obligation, to share its fortunes. Applause.
care not to what party the Chief Magistrate
OF the Republic has belonged Hear, hear.
care not upon what plank or platform he may
have been elected The platform disappears
heiore the Constitution, under the Injunction
OF the oath he took, on the steps of the Capt.
lol the day oi,his inauguration Loud cheers.
The party disappears in the presence of the ma
ton applause and us the Chief Magistrate
duly elected, and duly sworn, is bound to pro-
tect and administer the national property for
the benefit of the nation, so should every citi-
zen concur with him in loyal and patriotic ac-
tion, discardng the mean persuasions and
maXlms of the local politicians hear, hear
hear and subsising the national interests
the national efficiency, the national honor, fol
tile sclishness, the huckstering, or the vengeance
OF party. Enthusiastic cheering.l To me
at all events, the potency OF the National Gov
ernment, the honor and the glory of the ma
the Regency of Albany, the Tammany Wig
VAIN, Mozart Hall, OF the Pewter Mug. Cheer.
ing nu' Ian. i.5hter. Nor shall outcres ON be-
nall OF the liberty OF the press, or the liberty
and immunities of the citizen, restrain me in
the active allegiance owe the nation and its
executive, now that tile rights and authority
of both are jeOpardizcd. Hear, henr hear. I
The integrity Of the national domain, the po-
teney of the National Government the reputa-
ton OF the national arms, the inYiOlnbility of
that tranquil system OF election without which
no popular government can have legitimacy
consistency, and force-thcse considerations
are far dearer to me, and claim them to be
OF far more vital consequences than the liberty
to promugatc sedition or the liberty to con-
spire. Great applause. Such liberties must
succumb to the demands of the crisis, the pub
lie safety, the discipline and efficiency of the
army, and the attitude of the revolt Hear,
hear Within the range of the laws, the po-
lice, the courts, the proprieties and interests
of the community, let them have full swing in
the days OF peace. Such days have their pc
culiar sanctities-nore than this, they have
their recognized and favored abuses OF popu-
lar institutions and prerogatives; and ;he
iiercst or fouest sheet that is scribbled in the
coal-hole or the garret, as well ms the most
lalhless citizen among us, may be permitted,
the one to scatter broadcast and the other to
drop in creyces and corners, the seeds of dis
affection against the Government, without the
Commonwealth incurring detriment. Hear,
hear, But in time of war-above all, in time
OF civil war-the supremacy OF the Govern
ment should be the sole object Toud cheers
and to this end martial law should be the
higher law, and the only one in undisputed
force. Applause Who speaks about his
rights us II passenger-about his bag OF money,
| his chest of books and clothes, the photo
graphs of his wife and children, his live stock
or bales OF merchandise, when the steamship
has met with Il collision, threatens to go down
must be cleared of every embarrassment and
dead weight, and all hands are summoned to
the rescue2 You know il well, ! assert it
without fear of contradiction from any quar-
tcri and those who have had most latitude
and impunity, were they frank and generous
would be the first to own it. The National
Government las suffered more from the pa
tience, the leniency, the magnanimi;y il has
practsed toward its enemies, and those who
are in sympathy and league with them, than it
has done from the courage the science, the
fierce energy of those who have taken the field
against it, and VIGOROUSLY shaken the banner
OF revolt and repudiation in its face Cries J
OF "hear, hear The masked conspirators
of the North are Infinitely more criminal and
mischievous than the bold and armed recusnnts
Of the South renewed shouts of ahear,
hear" and Democrat as am enthusiastic
cheers l--spnrning the Republicanism of the
Chicago Convention as a spurious creed-hav-
ing no sympathics whatever with the men in
power, other than those which should subsist
between the citizen and his Government
hear hear, hear would promptly and cor
daily approve Of the severest measures the
President might adopt to pNralyle the trcach-
cry which in this and other cities under vn-
rious liberal and beneiicent pretcnccs has
been, and is still at work, to undermine and
overthrow the legitimate magistracy OF the
nation. Enthusiastic checrs.l
Do not speak in the name Of the lrishmen
Of New York-and they are counted by tens of
th0usands-when | speak these sentiments,
and declare in favor of these vigorous but i'm
peratiye proceedings Applause. Were
met with Il negative, | should remind my
countrymen that the English arislocraey-
three groans which is the dominant class
in England-to which the navy, the church,
the army almost exclusively belong, and which
is, in fact, the political opinion, the Parliament
the sceptre, and the sword of England That's
so Il should remind my countrymcn that this
nristocracy is arrayed against the Government
at Washington-[h hear hear and that as it
was dead against the Revolution, out of which
arose the liberties and nationality of the United
States, so il is now in hot favor of the revou-
against that nationality directs IL fratricidal
blow. IShouts and cheering. A revolution
that has the ilattery and patronage of an aris
tocracy to which for generations Ireland has
aseribed her social wretchedness and political
| disorders, and which has scollcd at and scan
dai1ed her before the world, can surely never
| have the heart and arm of any Irishman who
has learned the history Of the Stars and Stripes
Il hear, hear, hear valued the blessings and
protection they insured, and who, in the trus-
tration OF the scheme of this incorrigblc aris-
tocrncy, its chastisement and downfall, lorsees
Il healthier and stronger life for England md
the liberty OF Ireland. Loud cheering Be
it with lrishmen, ut all events, the lesson, the
! incentive, the animation, the rallying battle
cry in this tcmpestuous time. Every blow
that, with the shout of "l'agam beaach"-
Enthusiastic cheering clear the way for the
Stars and Stripes, and plants that flag wher-
ever it has proscriptve right TO float, deals
TO this English aristocracy deadly mortiticA-
tion and discouragement-[ hear, hear de
| priying ii of new allies and resources loud
cheering l--ind thus so far avcngcs and fiber
ates the island of which it has been the per-
secntion, the Gripping ietttr, the recurring
famine, the peryadng blight the social cancer
and the rank source of the poverty and SLAM
dcrs, in spite of which her children make their
footing good, and assert themselves abroad
Loud npplausc.l Which being so, let us, who
hail from Ireland Loud cheers we, who
have taken an oath of loyalty, not to New
York. hear, hear not to Alabama not TO
Massachusetts; not to Florida not to Kansas
not to any one isolated tate, but TO all the
| States immense cheering that built up
the powerful and resplendent Union which the
sword and counsels OF Washington evoked
which the philosophy of Jefferson approved
which the hcadsrong honesty and heroism Of
Andrew Jackson preserved which the great
arguments OF Webster rendered still more solid,
and which the loving patriotism OF Henry
Clay, whose prccepts and example still ami
mate the sons Of old Kentucky, [cheering for
kcntucky,l commended to the heart of every
true American-let us, at all events, who hail
from Ireland stand to the last bv the Stars