Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1867-05-24
The Condemned Fenians In frefand-Speec!l
of Colonel Burke.

The Condemned Fenians In freiand-Speecl
of Colonel Burke.
The English papers report the close Of the
trial of the Fenian leaders, Col. I. 7. Burke
and Patrick Doran, in Dublin, the finding
of the verdict Of guilty of high treason, and
the sentence Of the Chief Justice that they
be hanged and their bodies decapitated and
quartered on the Goth Of May. Colonel
Burke's speech to the court, just previous to
the sentence, in which he justified Irish rev.
olution for independence, and offered his life
for the cause, commanded universal atten-
ton, and was considered quite as eloquent as
the now historic address of Robert Emmett,
delivered in the same city under similar cir
cumstances.
Among the witnesses brought forward by
the English law officers against Colonel
Burke and Patrick Doran, was Col Massey,
an Irish American, who alleged that he had
served in the Confederate army. lie made
a full disclosure of the plans Of the Ameri
can Fenians Colonel Burke, (who repre-
scented himself as reporter Of the New York
Tribune) in his speech to the court said:
tits not my desire now, my lords, to give
utterance to one word against the verdict
which has been pronounced upon me, but
fully conscious my honor as man never
was impugned, can 60 into my grave with
NV name and character unsullied. | can
only say this that these parties, actuated
by a desire either for their own aggrandze-
ment, or to save their paltry, miserable
lives, have pandered to the appetite, if | may
SO speak, of justice, and my life shall be the
forfeit / am fully convinced and satisfied
of the righteousness Of my every act IN con-
nection with the late revolutionary move
ment in Ireland
[ have done nothing that would bring the
blush of shame to mantle my brow. My
conduct and career here and in America, if
you like, as soldier, are before you, and
even in this, my hour Of trial, | feel the con-
seriousness of having lived an honest man,
and I will die, believing that | have given
nv life to give freedom and liberty to the
land Of my birth. / have done only that
which every Irishman and every man whose
soul throbs with the feeling of liberty should
do. I.seek not the death of martyr, but
if it is the will Of the Almighty and Omnip-
otent God that my devotion for the land Of
my birth should be tested at the scafold, |
am willing there to die in defense of the
right of men to be free to give the right Of
an oppressed people to throw off the yoke of
thraldom.
I feel [ should not mention the name Of
Massey. I feel [ should not polute my lips
with the name of that traitor, whose ille-
gitimacy has been proved here-the man
whose name is not known, and who, deny
point blank, ever wore the star Of Colonel
in the Confederate army. | shall let him
rest. I shall pass him, wishing him, In
the words of the poet
tMay the grass wither from his feet the woods
DENY him shelter earth home ! the dust
A grave! the sun his light and heaven her God!"
Let Massey remember from this day forth
he carries with him serpent that will gnaw
his conscience, carrying about with him IN
his breast living hell, from which he can
never be separated.
am an Irishman by birth, an American
by adoption, by nature a lover Of freedom
and an enemy to that power that holds my
native land in the bonds of tyranny. 1t has
SO often been admitted that the oppressed
have right to throw off the yoke of oppres-
sion, even by English statesmen, that |
deem it unnecessary to advert to the fact IN
British court of Justice Ireland's chill
dren are not-never were-and never will
be-willing or submissive slaves, and so
long as Englands flag covers one inch OF
Irish soil, just 50 long will they believe it to
be divine right to devise means to hurl II
from power, and erect in it's stead the God
) like structure Of self-government.
| know that am here without q relative
without friend in fact-three thousand
miles away from my family. But know
5 that am not forgotten there. The great
and generous Irish heart of America to-day
} feels for-to-day sympathises with, and doe;
not forget the man who is willing to treat
the scatfold AYE, defantly-proudly con
: scious of no wrong-in defense of American
principles-in defence Of liberty.
! I have ties to bind me to life and society
| as strong as any man in this court. | hav'
5 family love as much as any man in Thu
! court But | can remember the blessing
received from an aged mothers lips as | lief
: her the last time. She spoke as the Spar
tan mother did !: eco my boy; return eithe
| with your shield or upon it, This recon
t. Giles me. This gives me heart. I submit
to my doom, and hope that God will for
. give me my past sins. hope, too, that in
' asmuch as He has for seven hundred year
S preserved Ireland, notwithstanding all tn
g tyranny to which she has been subjected, a
a separate and distinct nationality. He als'
r will assist her to retrieve her fallen fortunes
S to rise in her beauty and majesty-the sis
: ter of Columbia peer Of any nation IL
! the world.
r The latest accounts state that the sentence
t Of Colonel Burke has been committed to I'M
e prisonment for life at hard labor.
"TuEM's My SHOES. The Land "
Lore furnishes, among its much readabi
3 matter, many amusing anecdotes
A. H. l., ttIo Of Wilson (trpat the Mis-