The Irish standard., 1896-09-05

achievement and preservation Of human
liberty. All history with an unfaltering
| voice attests thts truth, and Davis in his
poetry never ceased to incu,cate it. .;ss
The great champion of that novel meth
cd of winning freedom yclept agitation \.
OConnell was received with an 0iltbirst
of enthusiasm upon his coming out of pris-
| on in August, Al. Yet from that day the
| cause sank Physical force was made a
| bogy to ffighten women and children;
| priests were unspar.ng OF their denuncia-
lions Of Trash yoling men" from the affairs
and Saxon law was stuffed down the .peo-
pies THREATS. Davis struggled hard to
stem the turning tide, but after a brief ILL
ness, died at his mothers house, Bagget
street, Dublin. on the 18th of September,
1s45, In his poem, "My Grave" he ex-
pressed most ardent desire to be buried
IN Irish soil, and that one wish of his has
been gratifed.
He was happy in dying before he saw his
countrynen decimated by famine and scat
tered by emigration
He was Inferred at Mt, Jerome, Dublin;
and a beautiful statue, by Hogan, was
erected over him.
| Let him rest in Irish ground, i
| At his feet the Irish hound,
| And the harp Of battle broken by his side.
| And let his armed hand
Embrace the half-drawn brand,
| o God! had he burt unsheathed 1t ere he
died." 80
r. d. Williams was one Of the purest
patriots and sweetest singers of that song
| full period Of the Nation newspapers when
! the famine horrors Of disastrous AZ had all
| ready declmated the Irish people and the
| life Blood Of Ireland was being drained by
the emigration of all her children, who
possessed the means to- quit the country,
| and when the London Times was making
its triumphant boast that Catholic Celt
| would soon be as rare In Ireland as red
| Indian on the shores of Manhattan
| Neither the exact date nor the exact
| place of Williams birth can be pointed out
| with certainty, it being disputed whether
the Sth October, 1922, or the 9Th October
| 1923, was the date, and whether that event
took place in Iipperary or in Dublin. It
seems to be more probable that he was
| born in Dublin, and that he was about s
years old when he went to Grenarstown
| T.pperary. There. Under the shadow of the
DEVILS Bit mountain, amid some of the
| most romantic scenery in Tipperary the
| ardent imagination of the future poet was
| fed by the legends ard folk lore Of the
peasantry, and the perusal of whatever
chronicles OF Irish history fell into his
| hands.
In due time he became a student of the
Jesuits' College, Tullabnrg, and afterwards
| Of Carlow College. Father Russell, S. j.,
| brother OF the great leader of the English
bar and proven friend Of Ireland, tells
| us of an old custom that existed in Carlow
that certain compositions of the pupils
should, if considered worthy, be written
! into 'book Of honor for preservation.
and that many of Williams early poems
were deemed worthy Of that distinction.
| When Charles Gavan Duffy Thomas
Osborne Davis and "John Blake Dillon"
after their memorable conference in the
Phoenix Park, started the Nation news
| paper on the 18th October, 1912, and pub
lished their ringing appeal calling upon
| Irishmen for literary aid to forward the
enterprise, the call was heard by Williams,
| and was answered from Carlow.
The Munster War song was his first con-
tribution. Through the work of tyro; this
| spirited production showed none of the i'm
PROJECTIONS Of a beginner, and Will bear
favorable comparison with Byron's ''De-
struction of Sennachegib." 1t purports to-
be war chant song by All Irish bard in
A. D. 1890.
Some time after this Williams became a
student Of medicine, that noble profession
! which has given so many great names to
the roster Of Ire:and's illustrious men, and
while attending Vincent's hospital, being
| struck by the devotion of the Sister Of
Charity to the sick and dying poor, he
wrote .'The Sister Of Charity which /
believe surpasses Gerald Griffin's" poem
on the same subject.
What cultured Irishman Or Irislwoman
does not know his beautiful poem, the
dying Girl" inspired IN the p1ilanthropie
breast Of the poet by the sight Of beauti-
full girl dying before him Of consumption,
that fell disease which has brought SO
MANY flowers OF beauty and intellect to
premature graves. Some Of Williams love
songs are beautiful as are: also his re-
lfgious poems. Ben Heder is a gem, and
for loving appreciation Of nature will COM
pare with the best work OF Wordsworth
His humorous poems. ''The Misadventures
OF Medical Student" and "The Stony
batter Man. are side-splitting In the
laughter they provoke.
Most of the brilliant young men who
constituted the strength and brain of the
'48 movement were sent to prison. Will
Jams was charged with treason felony be-
cause. In conjunction with r. ]. O'Doherty,
he edited the Irish Tribune. The act tin-
der which he was indicted had been con-
cocted some time before to gag and re-
move ]. Mitchell, and having succeeded In
that 1efarious scheme, the truly conscien-
tious English government began to extend
the operation OF this lnconst itut:onal acu
so as to cover the case Of every Irishman
who had the courage to speak Or write for
his country. Mr.. Samuel Ferguson, a dis
tingulshed poet himself, and author Of
.'The Forging Of the Anchor defended
| Williams and III the course Of a glowing
ehlogy on hts client, pronounced him in his
Judgment .after Moore, the first living
poet Of ireland. He was finally acquitted,
and after practicing for short time in
Dublin, he enigrated to America ID 1851 (
He was for some time professor of
bellsslettres at Spring Hill College, Mobile
Alabama. He married Miss Connolly, o.
New Orleans, and subsequently resided
and practiced in that city. He continued
to write poetry, but his health soon broke
down, and he wrote that beautiful poem,
Longing, when he felt the end was near.
II wish was home in Ireland,
For the summer will soon be there,
u j.