Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-04-09

as she termed it, she received little
assistance from the Irish at home or
abroad. The Irish commons refused
to vote the aid that was demanded.
and the Irish orators, Burke, Barry and
Sheridan were loud in their denun-
Citations of the mother government.
In the army that came over from
France To aid our fathers were many
Irishmen. soldiers and officers. The
troops furnished by some Of the col
onies consisted largely of lriShmen,
and fully one-third of the active chiefs
of the army were OF Irish birth or
descent. Among the most noted names
in civil life in that period We're Chas.
Carroll. of Carrollton. his brother
Archbishop Carroll, Patrick Henry
and Chas Thompson, all Irishmen,
whose voices were never silent. Nine
signersof the declaration of independ-
ence were Irishmen. One of the greatest
men that eventful period produced
was Commodore Barry, the father Of
the American navy. y man who rose
from a mere cabin boy to that proud
position by honest labor. The first
ship to carry an American flag was
owned by the O'brien Brothers. And
the first prizes taken into an American
port, were captured by them.
At the time when the credit Of the
colonies had sunk lowest, when dis
aSter met our armies in the field and
hunger awaited them in the camp, a
number of the patriotic citizens Of
PHILADELPHIA resolved to found bank,
and prominent in the list of subscribers
are the names of twenty freshmen,
whose united subscriptions amounted
to more than 100000. In the second
war with England the Irish well SuS-
tanned the reputation they had gained
in the first, and on every battlefield
their blood was freely shed in defence
of their country. The last great bat
tie of that war-and in fact the one
great land battle, was the memorable
one of New Orleans, where Andrew
Jackson, the child of Irish parents,
defeated the trusted veterans of many
wars, and fixed his place forever III
the history of his country. While our
army in this war was suffering de-
feat after defeat the navy was win
ming glory on every hand. Prominent
among the names OF our naval COM
manderS are those Of Commodore
McDonough, the hero Of Champaign,
and Commodore Stewart, whose grand
son. Charles Stewart Parnell has inner
tied all his hatred for English institu-
tons.
The Irish have always been a martial
race. On every battle field of Europe
they have won renOwn. They have
fought under every flag and have been
successful under all except their own.
Tennevson has made the charge of the
Light Brigade historic, but that event
grows pale beside the tale of Fonten0y.
With all their deeds of glory Irish
soldiers have no prouder record than
they have made on our own battle
fields. In the revolution, in the war of
1912, the war with Mexico, and lastly
in that great struggle whose yaWning
graves are vet SO fresh in memory,
they everywhere have nobly played
their part. From the day when the
first shot was fired at old Fort Sumpter
to the day when Lee laid down his
arms at AppOmattoX there was no
battlefield that was not drenched with
Irish blood. lrishmen Sprang nobly to
the rescue of the government, and
beneath the sobbing pines of Georgia,
among the swamps of Mississippi, in
the tangled forests of the Wilderness
their ashes rest. <
In civil life too lrishmen have won
no second place. In the long intervals
of peace when the country was making
gigantic strides along the way of prog
reSs Irish brain and muscle was doing
its full share in developing every re-
source and fostering ever industry
In the professions, i'll literature, in pol
tiles, Irishmen have been pre- eminently
successful. The names of ChaS. O'Con-
nor, Thos. Adds Emmett, Richard
O'Gorman, Senator Herman, Chief
Justice fancy, f. G.. Ryan, and a host
of others have won reputation as broad
as the union. In politics lriShmen
have been at home, and many of the
most prominent figures i'll our political
arena have been lriShmcn. All our
large cities furnish numerous examples
of successful business men among de
Scendants Of the Irish race. And if
YOU turn to the country you will find
no more successful farmer than the
IriShman.
Many great evils have beset our race
-, i ~ nt.,c,f {
these is the crowding together in the
large cities. Too many of our country
men are forced by their circumstances
to settle in the city where they land,
and there living in foul tenements or
dingv flats, among evil associates, too
often they unlearn the lessons Of their
youth, and are tossed at last as shape
less wrecks upon the shoals Of pow
crty and crime.
We should in this country seek to lie
beside hewers of wood and
drawers of water for other nation
alities. Labor is always honorable and
should never I've despised, but we
should always strive to better our con-
ditiOn. Let us not ALWAYS be the tools
of others but think and act for our
selves, and men will praise us and re-
ward us for our independence. The
future of the Irish race in America is
surely bright one, if they will only
be true to themselves. Nature has
fitted them for no inferior
place.
And what of that old land across
the sea? What is there concealed be-
hind the future vail for her? Each
of the human wave is on
ward. it may be slow, but it is irresiSt-
ible. The monarchs voice is Just as
powerleSs to resist its force to-day as
when King Canute sat on his throne
beside the sea, and forbade the waves
to approach ii. but they needed not.
The people strong in their convictions
and united in their purpose, wisely
needing the cOunsels of their match
less leader may well revive the hope
50 beautifully worded by their fayorite
poet:
D." The nations have fallen and thou art still young
Thy Sru Is but rising when others are set.
And though slavery's cloud Ger Thy morning is
gathering,
The full noon of Freedom will beam round thee
yet"
The O'NpjU labor arbitration hill