The Irish standard., 1898-03-26
ELECTED vOCIFER0Us CHEERS.
A Great Gathering Listened to His
Matchless Oratory.
COMPLIMENTS TO JOHN BULL.
Treatment of Uncle Sam During
the Late Rebellion,

The Washington Post gives the fcl-
lowing report of John Il. Finerty's ad-
dress at the Columbia Theater on Sun-
day evening, March 6:
"Mr. Finerty has an alert and happy
wit, that cast genial light on the pam
Drama of woe, that, accorded with a lu-
cid verbal charm which fixes and ell
thralls his auditor. His allusion is
charged with pathos, graceful flights
terse as the Voltaira epigram, happy
gift of the Celt. Mr. Finerty quoted
the defense for Ireland, by Wendell
Phillips, that delant passage which
runs: When Ireland's former ignor-
anee is mentioned it is England, not
Ireland, that should blush for it.
Z" There isn't a country. save, perhaps
England, that doesn't honor the civic
aul military spirit Of Ireland" pursued
the speaker. And to prove that The
marital instinct of the Celt was msde
uselcss-paraly"l hy the ron heel of
Great Britain-Mr. Finerty called the
attention of his audience to the throttle
placed on the liberty Of the Emerald Isle.
I'VE are here to celebrate the memory
of one who will forever be dear 70 Ire
land. Though no monument is reared
over the dust of Robert Emmett, a mon
ument to his memory is craven on the
heart Of every true lrishman.
"Mr. Finerty's brief resume of the life
ct Emmet from the moment he espoused
the cause of his country was brought
to an eloquent climax by description
of the execution of the patriot in front
Of st. GATHERINGS church. The memory
OF Anne Devlin, the housekeeper of En-
met, and his sweetheart, Sarah Curran,
who went to far away Sicily to die. were
among the eloquent tributes of the
speaker. Daniel O'Connell, his services
In a civic sense, in tls: cause of Ire
land, and the final moment;, of wavering
and uncertainty that darkened the last
days Of his life, was also interviewer in
the course of the address.
sion can be shown in the population of
the Ireland Of fifty years ago as compar-
ed with today. Fifty years ago 5000 900
souls peopled the green :ields OF Ire
land. The statistics of today show that
English oppression has devastated our
country to such a tragic extent that there
are but 100000 people left in tie is
land.
"Mr. Finerty dwelt rather Significant
ly on the Spanish question, though his
observations were temperate and at
times humorous, especially his fling at
the Anglo-Saxons, 'who,' he said, we
are told by Britisher himself mean
Sir Walter Scott--were often recognized
by the collars they wore like dogs, with
the names of their masters attached:
these bondmen who are reproduced in
1vanhoe. The text from Washington
beware of entangeling foreign alliances,
should be the cue for the American con-
gress But we cannot afford to give up
old friends to accept old enemies as al
lies, was one of Mr.. Flnerty's parting
shots at England.
AS am speaking to a representative
1rish-American audience said the
speaker, I may be permitted to observe
that the overtures being made by Eng
land for an alliance with America are
suspicious and open to patriotic objec-
tion. If were convinced that any al
lance whatever were for the benefit of
the United States would not permit my
prejudices as an Irishman-however per-
sonally offensive such an alliance might
be to me-to stand in the way Of my
duty to my adopted country. But am
warned-as America should be warned
by the immovable facts of history, that
Great Britain is not our friend. In 1775
she tried to strangle us in the cradle,
and she let loose her savage Indian al
lies to dishonor women and murder
children in the Wyoming Valley CT Penn
sylvania and elsewhere. She imprisoned
our soldiers in rotten, unhealthy hulks
where they died like flies. She carried
fire and sword into the peaceful homes
OF our revolutionary population. In fact,
she committed all the horrible acts of a
despot and an assassin. In 1925 she
outraged and insulted us by her ar
rogant claim of right of search and i'm
pr1sonment on the high SEAS She car
ried this to such an extent that she
forced American sailors to fire on the
flag of France, Americans ancient friend
and ally. She even impressed two lands
men who were nephews Of George Wash
1nptnn-I refer to IofYorcnn,e Lott