The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-04-23

lady whose benevolence and charity
make her the angel of her people. 1t
was to please her that Mr.. Hill built a
seminary for Archbishop Ireland, at the
cost of half a million dollars, and time
and again she has been the intermediary
through whom Mr.. Hills wealth has
been used to avert disaster from friend,
to save a family in distress, to lay the
foundation of fortune for an acquaint-
ance
Foremost among men in st. Paul and
Minnesota is Christopher O'Brien. He
was mayor of this city years ago, and he
is now the most famous lawyer of the
state. O'Brien is Mayoman, an Irish
man who never hankered after great
fortune, but an Irishman who has ever
kept the fame of his race aloft for
honor, integrity and genius. And in
this state he has brought up numerous
family of boys and girls, who are,
verify believe, as passionately fond Of
Ireland, and as proud of it as if they had
imbibed their nationality on their
fathers native heath, and in the shadow
Of the ivied ruins of long past but
happier and moro glorious Ireland.
Here, too, is Dan Lawler, another
famous lawyer, who was also mayor of
st. Paul. Lawler's Is name to conjure
with in Wisconsin and Minnesota. His
father, John Lawler, was such another
man as James ]. Hill, a man of inde-
fatigable perseverance and industry. 1t
was he that built the railroad that
opened up Wisconsin, and had he lived
long enough he would have rivaled any
of the great railroad kings. He died
young, but he left behind him large
family of which the sons are worthy of
their sire. l wish that time and space
were at my disposal to tell Of more of
my countrymen who have won fame and
fortune in the West. But st. Paul is
more Irish than rebel Cork. That is,
there is a larger Irish population here
than in the city by the Lee, and in that
population there is not one whose love
for Ireland, and whose implacable hat
red against her wrongdoers, does not
equal If not surpass in intensity that of
the people of the grand old rebel city of
Munster.
was a guest of the Irish-American
club in this city the night when Glad
stones famous letter about the Parnell
leadership appeared. I never can forget
%1,o y
gray headed men shed tears, and young
men grow pale and fierce, for all felt
that direful calamity had befallen the
i! motherland.
language, urged that Irish-America
should stand by Parnell though all the
dogs of England tried to howl him
down. But he stood alone in that ad-
vice. Since that fatal time the Irish of
st. Paul have hung their heads in shame.
not for the act Of that period, but for
the factions that havo rent and torn
the motherland ever since. ireland can
never know how proud and happy were
her exiled children in the days of the
unity and strength of the people at
home, and Ireland can never do anything
to thrill and enthuse and delight her
banished sons till faction be crushed
and till all those that love Ireland and
wish her a place among the nations he
once more united and true as were the
men Of those dark and evil days whose
centennial we are celebrating now.
This is the message which l am bid
den to send to Ireland by the OBriens
and the LAWYERS and the Hills and the
Ryans and the O'Kellys, Of st. Paul.
That is the message delivered to me in
Butte few days ago by Marcus Daily
and Joseph Caplie and James Lynch, and
other towering spirits, who have built
up and made the great state Of Montana,
the state consecrated to the memory
of Thomas Francis Meagher, the state
Of which he was governor when the
waters of the Missouri enticed him to
his untimely end. This is the message
SO out Of every 100 Irish Americans
would send to the old land did an op-
portunity afford. Mr.. T. M. Harrington
and Mr.. T. P. O'Connor are by far the
most popular on this side Of the Atlantic
of all the Irish leaders. Mr. Harrlng-
TONS splendid efforts to effect recon-
ciliation are known and appreciated
| from New York to Seattle, and Mr..
| O'Connor's efforts in the same direction
! are fully recognized. When the news
| flashed under the Atlantic and across
this continent that there was to be cor
dial and joint action among the Irish
members over the local government bill
| there was not an Irishman from Maine
| to Texas or from Florida to the Klon-
| dyke that did not feel happier than for
years. He felt something of the Joy Of
| the tempest-tossed mariner that sights
| a lighthouse. He felt that the harbor
was near, and that the mad folly and
| bitterness Of the past seven years would
| soon be forgotten in the Joy springing
from seeing once more united and
| harmonious Irish party
Father Tom Burke was riding one day
| in Dublin on top Of an omnibus, and