National Republican., 1883-05-31
Whether on the gallows high,
Or In the battles van,
The fittest place for man to die
is where he dies for man

Or in the battles van,
The httest place for man to die
Is where he dies for man~
Hence on the consecrated grave of Thomas Devin
Reilly we to-day, with loving hands, strew fair
his now glorlhed spirit
on other graves-the earthly resting places of
| Irish American soldiers, who ON many a Grim.
| soned field helped maintain the unity and in
| tegrity of the republic, we also fondly scatter
these fragrant offerings to valor and patriotism.
For we love and honor the names and the memo
ries of the gallant men who fought with Corcoran,
Meagher, and other heroes Of the war in the i'm;
| in the front ranks where the iron hail fell thick
est and they proudly bore the brilliant flag OF
| the sunburst and shamrock side by side with the
victorious banner of the stars and stripes
And now, my friends, having beaulified the
graves of our honored and heroic dead who repose
In Mount olivet cemetery, let us invoke their
blessed spirits to look down from their heavenly
abode and, catching up our earnest supplicaton,
bear IT to the throne of divine justice-tha He who
| holds In His Almighty hand the destinies of ma
| tons may be pleased to perpetuate for all time
the union Of these states and soon give TO Ireland
the blessed boon Of national independence.
Mr.. John McFaul then read dirge for
Thomas Devin Reilly, written by Mr.. Joseph
Brennan.
PRESBYTERIAN CEMETERY.
The committee then proceeded to the Pres
byterian burying ground, on Thirty-fourth
street, between Q and Il, where they were
that place, Mr.. Peter Mcintyre chairman,
who welcomed them and others assembled
| there in an appropriate address, upon the
| conclusion of which he introduced Mr.. Francis
McNerhany as the orator of the occasion, and
all being gathered around the tombs of the
widow and son Of Theobold Wolfe Tone, Mr..
| McNerhany prefaced his remarks by reading
the following notice from the National Intel
lgencer of March 20, 1S49: "At her residence,
in Georgetown, District of Columbia, ON Sun.
day, eighteenth instant, in the eighty-first
year Of her age, Matilda, relict of the late
Thomas Wilson, esq, Of Scotland. This es-
timable lady, born in Ireland ON the Geven-
| teenth of June, 1868, was first married to the
| illustrious patriot, Theobold Wolfe Tone,
well known in Irish history as the friend
and companion Of the martyred En-
met and as such her memory should
be dear to every friend of liberty.
Mrs. Tone resided in France at
the time of her husbands death. The
estimation in which she was held, and her
own moral and literary worth, had gained
her many powerful friends. The most ele.
CANT enconium ever pronounced on woman
was that which Lucien Bonaparte bestowed
upon her in recommending her case and that
of her children, to the attention of the
French chambers, the effect of which was
manifested by the unanimous grant Of an
annual pension. She preserved, in her
eighty first year. the energy of intellect that
made her the companion of her husband,
| and the warmth of her heart, that even her
cruel sorrows could not chill. The ma
tives and friends of Ireland, the
country for which Wolfe Tone died, and
which possessed her heart to the last, are par
ticularly requested to attend her funeral
from her late residence, on First street. in
Georgetown, on Wednesday, March 2l, at a
o'clock p. m"
After reading the above Mr.. McNerhany
continued: 1T is the grave of this noble
woman we have assembled here this day to
cover with the fresh flowers of spring. as also
| that of her son, William Theobold Wolfe
Tone, who, after having received his military
education under the great Napoleon, came to
this country and was at once given com.
mission in one of the cavalry regiments
Of the army, which position he filled with
great honor and credit until the failure of his
health forced him to resign it. While in the
service he wrote u treatise on cavalry tactics,
which was for long time in use as a text
book in the service. He died here in George
town on the eleventh day of October, 1928, in
| the thirty-eighth year of his eventful life
and his remains were placed in the tomb
around which we are now reverently gath
cred. In placing these beautiful tokens of
| remembrance upon their last resting place
we are honoring the memory of one If the
counsel of whom had been listened to and
adopted Ireland would now be free, and tho
many years of her slavery and political
degradation would have been avoided. Let
us, as Catholics, award just merit to this
representative of that noble class of protest
aHts among whom have been found the bravest,
bodest, and truest lovers of Erin, for the cause
of Ireland knows no creeds or sect"
Mr.. John Keogh then read tho speech de-
liverod by Gen. Tone to the court martial
which pronounced upon him the sentence of
death, this being followed by poem read by
Mr.. John McFaul, entitled 1.-THE Memory of
the Dead of '9S" The graves, which were
tastefully decorated with the stars and stripes,
blended with the green, were then literally
covered with flowers, among them a hand
some floral tribute from the venerable Mrs.
Call, of Kalorama heights, who was a
very dear friend of Mrs. Wilson,
and was present at her deathbed. The
ceremonies were concluded with the singing
by the assembage Of "God Save Ireland"
The committee of arrangements consisted
of Mr.. James Bellew, chairman, and Messrs.
James Linskey John Connell, Peter McIn-
trye, w. ii. Murphy, James Butler, Edw.
McCarten, p. Kennedy, Arthur Rooney, and
John Gleason.
The ladies whose donations of flowers are
especially thanked are Mrs. James Plant Mrs.
Capt William Hughes, Mrs. Edw. McCarten,
Mrs. Micheal Cavanaugh, Miss Ella Handi-
baugh, Messrs Murphy, Gleason, Butler,
| Kennedy, Plant, and others.