Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-12-22
THE MANxmEN,s FESTIVAL.
The Mona,s ReIIef soeIetr.

tive Manx language, by Mr.. John Kelley, of
WarrsnsviIle, and after bountifuI repast, at
which the utmost good feeling prevailed, the
President briefly stated the financial oondi-
tiOn of the Society to be as follows:
Paid for contingent expenses during the
68 81
To the Soldiers Aid Society Of Cleveland S5 90
Amount Of funds on hand, exclusive Of
proceeds OF present 90
The first toast of the occasion, >" Marin
Ueg veein WAS responded to by W. s. Ker-
ruish, Esq, who said that,
GThs chief of the multitude Of isles, satel-
Etes to Great Britain and Ireland" from its
peculiarities of laws, language and institu-
tions could not fail to be deeply Interesting
not to her sons alone and scattered in dis
tant lands-but to the scholar and antigua
risn also. Though in the very heart of the
British Empire, il never was united, in point
of law to either ireland, Scotland, or Eng
land. A separate realm to this day, unrep-
resented in the English Parliament with
native Congress Of its own with such laws
as Lord Coke says are not to be found in any
other place; peOpIed by an aboriginal Celtic
race upon whose language and institutions
the Druid, the Norseman and the Saxon have
odou huCCbbslully mhuo hu lmpE6bslOQg Out
not q change; having seeded from Papacy
full century before the time Of Henry
VIII, preserving with the unchangeable-
ness of the Medes and Persians its TynWald
government, older, by far, than the throne
Of the Caesars; with the Bible in every
household, and churches and institutions Of
learning in every parish, she now, as ever
she has done, occupies one Of the foremost
places in the progress of mankind.
The speaker said he was advised that the
impressions made upon him Sy his first visit to
the Island the past summer would be more ae-
ceptabls to the meeting than anything else
he could say. He thereupon proceeded to
speak of their embsrkation snd passage down
"a the river Of the ten thousand mssts, ,"-of
/ the terrible vengeance taken by Neptune up
on the Asnx steamsr-losd of English visit
ors who were in quest of pleasure, but GER
tainly did not find 1t, at least in the Channel,
of the blockade-runner, we'll content with
his narrow escape from Uncle Sans cruisers,
returning to his island home, searching with
keen eye the haEy atmosphere for the famil-
lar mountains and naming them one by one
Snaefell, Baroole, CrOnk Eery-yu-laa,f + and
host of others, as they dimly rose from the
sea and defined themselves against the sky
of their debarkation in the Bay Of Douglas
and safe arrival home. He then proceeded
70 BlNo uohCIlPIlOu VI . bUuE Tue
Island, naming points Of interest and of his
torical sssOcistiOn,-the old Abbey of Rushen
at Bsllasalla, ivy-mantled and orumbling to
ruins, the final resting place of so many Of
the kings Of Man, Of Derby-haVen and Port
St. Mary in the near distance, and Castle
ton, the ancient capital Of the Island, near
by, OvertopPed by tho lofty towers of Castle
Rushen, which has braved the storms Of ,
thousand years-of his ascent to the summit
of the mountain ridge from whence was yis-
ible the distant coast of England, Wales,
Scotland and Ireland-0f the old Black Fort
where Julian Peveril had the stolen inter-
views with Alice Bridgenorth-of st. Johns
and Holm Peel with its haunted castle and
donjOnkeep, around which the sea fowl
screams and the waves dash everlastlngly.
He described the ride thence, with the noun
tains on one side and the sea on the other, to
the ancient village Of Kirk Michael, with its
Runic pillars, forever memorable as the place
where the pious Bishop Wilson, after fifty
eight years Of episcopal labor, entered upon
his rest-of the beautiful scenery and fields
of emerald green along the way to the
" Bridge" and the 4" Great Street" And
here he would be pleased to mention names
of friends unknown before and which would
be green in his memory forever, but he was
afraid of these reporters, for the word drop
ped inadvertently here to-day might traY-
erse earth and ocean and be re-echoed in
Ballsugh two weeks hence. So, leaving, with
regret, the place of deep potations, warm
hearts and beautiful women lest we delay you
too long, let Us hurry on to Ramsey, the me-
trOpOlis of the north, and thence up through
Maughold and Lonan to Laxey, not forget
ting TO call at the ancient church and get one
health-giVing draEght from the miraculous
well on the bold promontory that sentinels
the North Eastern Sea. After some further
description of things and places seen by him
and expressing himself highly delighted with
the apparent thrift, prosperity and inteIli-
gence of Manx men and women at home as
we'll as abroad, and his many regrets at being
so soon compelled to leave the land of his
ancestors at the request of the audience, and
very much 20 their amusement, be read seve-
raj pieces Of humorous character in the
original Gaelic.
AMERICA The home Of all nations, and the
nursery of civil and religious liberty.
The Rev. Mr.. Crooks responded in sub
stance as follows:
He had come as aspectstor-not expecting,
and certainly not prepared to make speech
was most happy 10 be present on this ami
ruptly call their thoughts from their Father
land, the loved scenes Of which had just been
so graphically described by Mr.. Ksrruish, to
this the land Of their adoption.
Extending, as this country does, North
and South from the Lakes to the Gulf, and
Fast and West from ocean to ocean, oOmpris-
ing every variety of climate, soil and pro-
duction, it is eminsntly fitted to be the home
of the emigrant from every nation and,
with no disposition to fatter, he would say,
that the children Of no cline are more well
come here than those of the Island whose
significant motto of manly, self reliance, is,
=" Throw me which way yon will, stand
Sir"
jestic rivers, lofty mountains, extensive
prairiss, rich mines, thriving towns and pop
ulOus cities. This is your home-go, see,
possess and enjoy them.
Providence reserved and intended this
hemisphere for the nursery and home Of civil
and religious liberty. The Pilgrim Fathers
came to these, then inbOspitable shores, in |
quest Of freedom to worship Gid" and |
kneeling upon the icy and rock bound beach,
dedicated this broad land to the God Of Lib |
erty. Here are no inquisitOriaI councils no |
enquiry of torture for religious belief; no |
faith either prescribed or prescribed but |
mind and heart are left free as the unclaimed /
winds. Here was enunciated the immortal /
declaration Of the equality and the inaliena-
6ility of the natural rights of all men-in.
eluding the right to life, liberty and the pur-
suit Of hsppiness-the Magma Charta of per-
sonsl, civil and religious liberty. And, here
the highway to intelligence, wealth, honor
and greatness, is accessible alike to all.
Hence our lawyers, physicians, ministers,
professors, authors, senators, governors,
generals and presidents, are from the vari-
GUS ranks Of industry. In early life, our
present Chief Magistrate struggled against
the embarrassments Of poverty.
But this spacious temple of liberty has
been deseorated by the presence of those who
traffic in human flesh and blood and hearts,