The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-31
"Who Fears TO Speak of Ninety
eight?


II the plans for the celebration next year
Of the centennial of the Irish rebellion Of
'9S are carried out on the scale now con-
templated, the event will be one OF the
most dramatic occurrences In history.
First OF all. the commemoration Of an un-
successful national revolt 10, 30 far as we
can recall, without precedent In the annals
Of any people. While the laurels Of vic.
tory are eternal, the flowers laid on the
tomb Of defeat perish In the instant. In
the case of this old Irish struggle for
national Independence, however. all his
torical precedents are reversed, and tho
Celtic martyrs to liberty Of the last century
will be crowned by their descendants with
the canonization of national Immortality.
But the feature OF the commemoration
which will distinguish It from all other
celebrations of the kind is the international
character that II is intended It shall as
sumo. In this phase Of 1t not only our
country, but the British dependency to the
north Of us and nearly all the republics on
the south are to participate. Delegations
from each Of them will visit Ireland In the
summer Of '9s, n the patriotic pilgrims
from the United States alone will, 1t Is
thought, be nearly fifty thousand men. Aus.
tralia, India, and Africa all promise repre-
sentation, while France, which gave ma
terial aid to the rebellion and made an at
tempt to land a large army on the island,
will in point of numbers be second only to
the United States.
The fact Is not generally known that
THEoBALD WOLFE TONE, the central figure
Of the Irish rebellion of '9s, was at one
time q resident Of Princeton, where DR..
LEvELAN Is now passing into inglorious
oblivion. TONE was we'll known to JAMES
MONROE, and In 1895 he was the bearer Of
a letter of Introduction from that noble
American n friend Of liberty to NJ. CAR
NOT Of the Executive Directory Of France.
The meeting between TONE and CARNoT
resulted later on In the sailing for Ireland
Of a French fleet Of forty.three ships, with
an army Of 1898 men, with 45, 900 stand
of arms, field and siege artillery, and T.
600. 600 rounds Of ammunition. The chan
mel was crossed without sighting a British
ship. but a terrific storm made a landing
impossible, and ireland was saved to Eng
land. Two years later, a second French ex-
petition left France for Ireland. and the
landing Of a small force was effected, but
1t was too late to be of use, for the rebellion
had been crushed. Still later, a third In
vadlng French feet was compelled to sur
render to a superior British force.
The American revolution first and the
revolution in France second were the great
political and moral forces that inspired
TONE and the Irish patriots one hundred
years ago. The "disease Of liberty was
catching" as JEFFERSON wrote to LAPAY.
ETrE, and 1t was communicated from France
to Ireland. Indeed, Ireland caught q little
OF 1t before that, when GRArTAN proclaimed
her a nation in 1882. TONE, like WASH.
INGToN. was Of English descent. but he
loved Ireland as fervently as WASHINGTON
loved America, and he died In her cause.
II not the father Of Ireland as an independ.
ent nation, TONE Is the soul of the asplra-
tion that would make and may yet mako
her one, for the proud prediction is of record
that the spirit of Irish nationality will out
last the British empire.