, 1890-10-16
JOHN BOYLE 0'REILLY.
A Monument to Be Erected
in Boston.
AN APPEAL TO SPOKANE FALLS.
The Poet and Patriot Was an Ar
dent Admirer of This
Great State.
Written for the Sunday REVIEW by p.
niE,rr,I

IL VIZ ioii vi ioDD ANCM IiEiath
dedicated to the Pilgrims monu-
ment which had taken n generation
to build. IL was erected at Ply
mouth beside that historic rock
where more than two centuries be-
fore the illustrlous exiles quilted
their storm-tossed crafts and stood
upon the destined land. The dedi-
cation ceremony was worthy of Now
England and of America. The
chief magistrate Of the republic and
her most famed and brilliant SONS
FASTENED thither to pay homage to
the illustrious dead. The South
was represented by her silver
tongued orator, and the poet John
Boyle O'Reilly was chosen to com
memorate the auspicious event In
verse, worthy of the Pilgrims and oi
the great nation of which they were
the veritable founders.
No greater tribute was ever paid
to the genius of an alien born man
than the selection of O'Reilly to
write for such an event the
pancgyric of the pilgrims. A Celt
in race, and Catholic in creed, he
was asked to sing the praises of the
Saxon Puritan.
To say that he succeeded beyond
the fondest expectations of his ad-
mirers would be but scant praise
for the magnificent ode to the Pill
grims which graced the occasion.
He built to them monument more
lasting than bronze and granite, and
crystalliZed their teaching and the
lesson of our lives in verse that IL as
imperishable as the odes of Horace
or the divine comedy of Dante.
Ofthat superb assembly of Ameri-
cans gathered from far and near to
render homage to the founders of
the greatest nation the world has
ever known, the central figure must
ever be John Boyle O'Reilly.
And 1t Is just that 1t should be so,
for glancing down along the pages
of history no nobler type of poet,
patriot, scholar sage and citizen can
be found. He was an ideal hero
whose life was romance, aud whose
career will long be theme for
moralist and poet.
He won no battle held no Office,
built no railroads, and engineered
no projects; yet I'm that assembly of
statesmen, soldiers, finnnciers, of
men famous in art, In science and
in law, he had no peer and could
have none. He stood there in the
prime of noble manhood and the
flower of intellectual power; II very
king Among men, revcrcnced 10y
millions the world over, and ad-
mired for his wonderful gifts by
those who did not know him we'll
enough for reverence.
lie had achieved that proud posi-
tion 10y twenty years of heroic dcvo-
ton To duty, us much as by his un-
doubted genius and wondrous ply
steal and mental gifts. Fame and
fortunes choicest favors were his In
abundance. The idol of his family,
the pride Of his friends, the chosen
bard of the freest and greatest people
in the universe; and yet, while look
ing on this picture, let Ills not forget
that of twenty years before.
a lonely skin and u lone occupant
far out on the open sea where the
billows of the Southern ocean rolled
and mouned. The occupant of that
skiti, an outcast, robed in fclOns
garb, aud gazing wistfully ut II speck
in the distance, where sailed away
the craft whereon lie expected to
find life and freedom. On shore was
captivity and chains, on the treach-
erous ocean, death, and for mo-
ment the strong man, doomed to
disappointment, drank the cup OF
sorrow to its dregs. He gazed on
the sun sinking To rest In its throne
of golden clouds, and thought of the
morrow; then the light caIne back
into his eyes; II smile played upon
his lips aud he was again II child of
hope. That outcast felon was John
Boyle O'Reilly. For, sad to say,
this superb character lived and died
an outcust and "A felon in eyes of
English law. ! do not attempt to
picture him during the three years
that his soaring spirit was compelled
to associate with the human wild
beasts that iniest English convict
prisons.
prefer to recall him, when saved
NJ last, we find him wandering
through the Southern ocean the
boon companions of hardy Amcri-
can whalcrs; the partner in their
joys, their dangers, trials and
triumphs; composing those songs of
southern seas which breathe the
very essence of his own most noble
and generous name. Or / long TO
recall him as boy, when the sweet
smelling flowers were tinctured with
the roseate hues of romantic youth;
when every ivied ruin and castle
spoke to him of twenty generations
of men crucifled In the cause OF lib
erty. | love TO picture him Mt the
feet of that cultured mother whom
he so tenderly and passlonately
loved, and from whom he imblbed
those sublime lessons which survived
the bullets and frowns of fortune
and made him one OF the most ideal
men that ever walked Gods earth.
Boston Is about to build II monu-
ment In one of her public parks to
this illustrious man. From Europe
and Australia already come prom
ises Of cooperation, but 1t Is the
right and duty of America, rs 1t
should be her pride, to raise this
monument to the dead poet.
When he landed on her shores,
friendless and pcnniless, she
stretched out her arms to him, and
opened the avenues that led to
fame and fortune. He enriched her
literature, glorified her institutions,
and was the friend, the exponent
or the champion of every grand and
noble Cause that the Americans
have at heart.
The fame of O'Reilly Is itnpersh-