The Irish standard., 1892-10-15

of Irish birth. During the seven years
of that war which secured our independ-
ence, the forces raised by the United
States consisted Of 288,000 men, of which
$4,000 were Continental soldiers and
$4,000 militia. OF this army there were
two Irishmen to every native.
At the close of the war Mr.. Galloway,
who had been speaker Of the Pennsyl-
vania Assembly, was examined before
committee Of the House of Comm" MS,
and asked what the Continental Army
was composed of. Here is his answer:
The names and places of their nation
ality being taken down, can answer 0he
question with precision: Scarcely one
fourth of the army were natives of Amer
ica; about one-half were Irish, aud the
other fourth principally Scotch and Eng
lisn.' Now 1t needs no guess to determine
what the religious belief of most Of those
Irish revolutionary soldiers was; and
when We take into consideration the large
number Of Catholic soldiers who came
with and fought under Lafayette, Roch-
ambeau, Pulaski, Kosciusko, DeKalb and
others already named, we are fully justi-
fed in believing that one-half of the
soldiers in the Revolutionary Army OF
the United States we're Catholics"
Lord Mountjoy, in the House of Com
mons, told the Ministry: You have lost
America through Ireland" and General
Custie, who was on Washington's staff,
wrote in his personal recollections of the
Revolution: "Prior to the coming of the
French, Ireland furnished one hundred
soldiers for the one of any other foreign
nation" 'Houored then be the services
of the Sons of Eriu in the war of lnde-
pendence!' excaims Mr.. Lathrop. "Let
the shamrock be entwlned with the laurel
of the Revolution. May the pen OF his
tory engrave upon the tablet of Americas
remembrance eternal gratitude to Irish
men,
During the Civil War fully 100000 men
of General Grants army were Catholics
Who can recall the names of General
Sherman, General Sheridan, General
Rosecrans, General Shields, General
Meagher, the dashing commander Of the
famous irish Brigade, the brave General
Mulllgan, the hero of Lexington, and say
that the Catholic Church is the enemy
of our great Republic? Should not the
mere mention of these great Catholic
names bring the blush of shame to his
cheek?
We might recall many more distin-
guished names from the rafks OF the
Union Army. Such as General Ewing:
General Newton, Chief of Engineers,
General Henry Hunt, General Stone,
General Mcmahon, General Garesche
and a host Of others who have made them.
selves famous in the defense of their
country. But We mnst not forget our
Sisters of Charity, who were found upon
every battle field, soothing the sorrows
dressing the wounds of our fallen braves;
like ministerlng angels receiving their
last breath, and sending words of conso-
lation to bereft widow. And. whist
performing this heroic work of charity
they never asked man to what religion
be belonged It was enough for him to
have fallen on the field Of duty, to enlist
the tender mercy Of these angels in
human form. Even at this distant day
the mere mention of the name of Sister
of Charity is enough to draw tears OF
gratitude and love from a. veteran OF the
Grand Army. What greater proof dc
you want Of the loyalty and devotednese
of Catholics to the cause Of the Republic:
The Church has been an ardent advo.
cate and defender of our great Republic
and as long as our government remains
true to it's principles of non-interventlon
in spirituals, and allows her to go on IN
trammeled IN the discharge of her dl-
vine mission, there can never be any con-
hict between her and the Republic.
Therefore, far from having anything to
fear from the spread of Catholicity in the
land the Republic has everything tc
hope. Catholics have been, as history
shows, foremost in the establishment OF
the Union; with their ife's blood they
have ever defended it, as they are ready
to do to-day. So that we may say with
truth that Catholicism is the bulwark OF
the American Republio-that Church
which gave the world Columbus. To the
love of virtue, the nobility of mind that
the Church has preserved for the world
this Republic owes it's establishment and
permanence.
The Holy Grail.
The Queen of Italy, being present at the
Columbus celebration at Genoa, has just
been to see the Holy Grail in the Cathedral
of that city. It is said to be the vesse