Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1898-07-30
TRIBUTE TO AN IRISH SOLDIER
Speech OF George Washington's Stepson
Delivered in Washington City
In the Year 1889.

'John Byrne, the Irish soldier Of
the Revolution. George Washing
ton P. Gusts, the grandson OF Lady
Washington, and the adopted son of
the "Father of His Country" in a
speech delivered at Washington on
the 9th of August, 1899, when speak
ing of the Irish soldiers in the Revo-
luton, told the following anecdote =
"The recollections of Americas days
of trial must the more and more en-.
dear to her the memory of the Irish
mems services in the times that tried
mems souls Perhaps l may tire you
with "a thrice-told tale,' yet, if the
Americans were as much instructed
in the history of their own times as.
they are in the records of antiquity,
they would find as brilliant instances
of courage and patriotism to admire
in the lives and actions of the heroes
of the Revolution as those who -four
ished in the days of Rome and
Greece. Do the mellowed recollec-
tons of antiquity contain finer in
stance of courage and fidelity under
the severest pressure of misfortune
than is found in the story of poor
John Byrne, the Irish soldier of the
Revolution? Years have passed away
since an aged and broken man came
to my door and saluted me with, God
bless you; / am one of Washington's:
old soldiers, and l have come to see
you am proud to tell you that I
often received call from the honored
remnants of the Revolution. They
say that they can not pass my domicile
without calling upon one they are
pleased to term member of the old
family. And so hear me God more
welcome to my house and my heart
are these gray and withered relics of
the heroic time than would be the
presence of an emperor. Byrne was
one of the finest types of that order
of beings now almost extinct, that
ever met my notice. Never can 1
forget the touching scene that ensued
when | had ordered cup to cheer
the old mans heart; the sublime ex-
preston of his features, when having
drunk to my health he reverently
turned his eyes toward higher and
better worlds, and exclaimed: Here's
to the memory of General Washing
ton, who is in heaven Twas head
such as Guido might have painted,
over which seventy winters had she'd.
their SHOWS, while tears of veneration,.
at the remembrance of a loved COM
mander, coursed each other down the
channels which time and hard service
had worn full many and deep. The
suferings which Byrne endured were
even a refinement upon the hellish
usages of the prison ship. For this
preference he was entirely indebted
to his brogue, which betrayed his be-
ing native of the Emerald Isle; and
then, as he emphatically observed,
they added their tortures as civility
due to my native country. Oh ye
who jest at scars that never felt a
wound picture to youself being,
captive and desolate, knawed by fam
inc, breathing the air of pestilencc,
only with the dying and the
dead. But see, there appears the
commander, like an angel of mercy,
having healing under his wings, hav-
ing pardon, protection, food, raiment,
gold. But mark we the price of all
these benefits. Twas like the devil
the Son of Man of old.
'All these will l give you, but you
must abandon the cause of American
liberty said the English Admiral to
Byrne, when the latter had crawled
upon the deck and confronted the ar
bitter of his fate. And what was the
suffering hero's reply1 Hear it,
Americans; treasure it in your hearts,
aye, and write in your books that
future ages may read it and admire
the cry of brave Byrne in the prison
ship at Charleston and amid the ranks
Of death at Eutau - 'Hurrah for
America! Turn over the pages of
The past, dive into the depths of CEN
'uries, and you can find no more