The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-10-24

POLLS AND ST. PAUL
shine, the sunshine coaxes the verdure,
| and all nature soon ,sparkles with glory
and light. color and beauty. life and
radiance. Could [ pour my feeble &C.
cents over the waters, 1 would upon my
countrYmen Call by all that is grand
|and true and noble in Irish blood. in
Irish nature, in Irish history to unite
with every force Of mind and OF body,
Of heart and of soul, in the struggle for
| legislative independence. What must
be the result OF discord? Ruin! fatal,
inevitable, fagitious and irretrievable.
If you combine not you must forever
bear the oppressor's yoke. Do you not
know that the attainment Of your free.
dom, the preservation Of your religion
and all your privileges depend upon
your union in the face Of your powerful
ANTAGONISTS? Do You not plainly see
that your success depends upon YOUR
union among yourselves, and that if.
instead of being united, you split and
separate, you are ruined nation? /
tell you again and again that unless
you act together permitting no local,
personal or factional considerations to
divide you, you will be forever enslaved
and plundered. Unite and an Irish
Parliament, sitting on College Green,
will soon voice the majesty OF the Irish
people and the power of their matchiess
Island. and OF that majesty and that
power be the very bulwark and cltadel
to keep them forever unsullied, uncir-
cumscribed. unpurchasable and uncor-
ruptlble. "
So much, Sir, tor union in the ireland
across the water, let us come to the
greater Ireland Of America. [ am an
America citizen, and my American Cit
izenshlp prize and cherish more than
any earthly good. If my American citi-
Zenship bade me forget Ireland and her
people, forget them I would, with every
force of my character, try. If my
American citizenship bade me not look
over the ocean that divides me from
the land, at once the cradle and the
tomb of my fathers, would regretfully
indeed, but dutitully turn nv gaze to-
ward the setting sun. But, sir, my
American citizenship commands no
such ching and could demand no such
sacrifice from me. American citizen
ship has its very life and being, because
of Irish valor. Irish endurance. Irish
eloquence and Irish love Of liberty. It
was Burke and Barre in the English,
and Grattan, in tie Irish House OF
Commons, who thundered forth in
terms almost superhuman, against the
violation Of the spirit of the great
charter by King Georges ministers and
made trembling senates learn that the
first principle Of government OF the poo
pie, by the people, for the people. the
very cornerstone OF liberty is the maxim;
No taxation without representation,
Speak to ms of American citizenship,
and at once recall the march Of the
gallant and fearless young Irish Ameri~
can, Richard Montgomery, through
Arlic ices and SHOWS to the froWning
walls of Quebec. He had conquered
all Canada. and as its very citadel was
within grasp, fell on the cold December
night, victim Of valOr whose mem-
orY will never die. Speak to me of a
free America and think instlnc lively
of knox and Stark and Sullivan and
Jasper on the field; of Thomas Fitzsim-
mons and Charles Carroll of Carrolton,
on the floor Of congress, of Barry and
Macdonough, the pioneers of Americas.
naval glory, and cannot but remem-
ber the peerless victor of New Orleans
where Irish valor, Irish energy, Irish
fearlessness and Irish clearness of per-
ceptlon, scattered the veteran hosts Of
Britain. fresh from victory over Nap0-
leonic armies of Europe. Nor can /
forget the recent civil war in which on
both sides, Irish Americans, bore so.
distinguished part. I ask, l seek no
exclusive honor for Irish Americans in
that prolonged and bloody contest.
They were heart to heart and hand to
hand ia It's blood -deluged fields, and it's
dark and deadly tempests of iron and
flame with Americans of every other
origin. With them they shared victory
and defeat, hardship and sickness, the
agony Of wounds. the slow consuming
waste of fever. But il for Irish Ameri-
cans / clalm no special distinction l
cannot forget that many Of them, Of
youth and Of promise, fell in the bloom
OF life, in the blush Of their advancing
noon and that IN them were beauty and
genius and talent and scholarship.
worth, goodness. honor. ability and
manliness taken from the world for
ever. and that in their persons men who
had been before now authors and art
ista. OraCOrS and lo0ialatOrs merchants