The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-03-29

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the demand Of the Irish people beat
down stony walls Of prejudice and ig-
norance and found judgment ia the
great heart OF the English leader. In
June, 1886, a prime minister of Eng
land proudly led his party to defeat in
Is parliamentary vote on the question
OF local self government for Ireland.
The speaker then referred to some
of the personal characteristics Of Mr..
Gladstone. He described how his start
ling appeal for the political prisoners
who lay in the dungeons Of Naples at
the commencement Of Mr.. Gladstone's
career attracted the attention Of the
civilized world and did much to cause
amelioration in the treatment of the po-
litlcal prisoners Of Christend0m. he
spoke of his physical and moral c0ur-
age, and OF his religious and righteous
heart. Stress was laid upon the fact
that Mr. Gladstone was iii the best sense
of the term CHRISTIAN statesman. He
referred to the rebuke which Mr.. Glad
stone administered to Robert G. Inger-
soil, IN the pages of the North American
Review The speaker prayed that 1t
might be vouchsafed Mr.. Gladstone to
live to behold the success Of the cause
to which the evening of his career was
dedicated. He said, however, that the
ultimate success of Horae Rule was as
sured. he described the history during
this century Of the great political re-
forms which had been carried to a sue
cessful issue by the Liberal party of
England. Stress was laid upon the re.
form bill of 1882, and the repeal of the
Corn Laws of later date. The Liberal
party is the party of the progress and
has never been defeated in any great
measure chat it has once espoused. The
current of political progress has set in
the direction of Home Rule and the
dood cannot be damned by Tory bru-
tally and Tory fear. The fate of dem
ocracy in the United Kingdom is linked
with Home Rule. The masses when
they have been right have never been
beaten by the classes, and though Mr..
Gladstone IN the providence Of God may
be called to his long reward before
Home Rule is an accomplished fact, the
speaker believed that the time was not
far distant, when the dream OF the poet.
and the prayer OF the martyr would be
realized and the old flag of green and
gold, battered with the storms, wet with
the blood and tears of seven hundred
years would wave once more from the
battlemsnts of the old Parliament House
on College Green. For the first time in
Irish history we have been conqaered
by All Englishman. We have surren-
dered to him because he came to us with
justice in bis heart and on his lips the
burning words of the Indictment which
at the bar Of the House OF Commons he
pronounced against his own govern.
ment and his own people.
Reason and Justice demand Home
Rule. Gold and cautious policy pro
claims shat it must b granted. The
world of to- day is bound together BY
railways and electric cables. The moral
force of Christianity is stronger than
al Empires armies. For more than
seven hundred years Ireland made her
fight alone. To day her children ener.
g,ze all the governments and march be
heath all the flags. England is sur
rounded by armed foes. The British
Lion must take good heed Of the Rus
sian Bear. More than ten millions of
American citizens of Irish blood bear
scantY love s"r English prosperity
Should the tune ever come in the vicis-
STUDIES Of nations for the power Of
Britain to measure swords with any
other people can we doubt where the
sympathy and material aid Of the Irish
race would be cast? IT. is we'll enough to
say That We are willing to forgive. We
cannot forgive until the wrong of cen.
turtles has been partially wiped out by
justice and even then we cannot in a
moment forget. For my part am ii ee
TO say that have but little love in my
heart for British rule. The Irish blood
in my veins would rise in hoU rebellion
against any expression Of respect or
honor for the governmental policy of
the England of the past. Whenever
look rpon the Red Cross OF ST. George
I am bound to remember the centuries
Of awful hate and wrong, the hangings,
the drawings and the quarterings, the
spoliation Of the TEMPLES of God, the
hunting of the Soggarth Aroon like the
wolf of the field, the thatched cottages
in flames, the deaths in the ditch--the
packed jury, the perjured witnesses and
the scaffold-the broken treaties and
the plundered homes--the prison pen,