Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1898-07-23
WOLFE TONE.
John billions Eloquent Tribute to the
Memory Of One Of Ireland's
Protestant Heroes.

Gently in honor of Wolfe Tone, one o
the cherished heroes of 'o8, with the
view to the erection of memorial
commemorative Of his brave deed:
and patriotism. 1t was held in the
Rotunda, Dublin, Ireland.
Mr.. Dillon made the speech of the
evening. After abiding to Tones
,unique place in the tragic history Of
ireland, and the stirring times in
which his lot was cast, he continued:
"In those days great men, states
men and soldiers, sprang from the
ranks of the people and became
illustrious and powerful far beyond
those who had been the rulers of man.
kind. And in those great times this
Young Protestant Irishman, banished
like so many great Irishmen before
and since, denied the right to serve
the land that gave him birth and the
land of his love, denied career in
Ireland, was sent to America, and he
went thence to France; and those Of
us who have studied, as every young
Irishmen is studying today, the his
tory of those great years, will remem-
Der with pride how Wolfe Tone in
Paris met the mighty men of the Con-
vention, Carnot and Hoche, and even
the great Napoleon himself.
"This young Irish exile, young in
years but great in genius and expert
-ence, met these mighty men, whose
names have come down the stream Of
history with such high resounding
fame, he met them as an equal; and
we are told in the journals and books
of those times that he made on the
mind of Hoche-who in genius, had
he not been cut off in his early youth,
was the equal perhaps of Napoleon
himself-that Tone made upon the
mind of Hoche deep and lasting
impression, so that they became as it
were brothers, so greatly did they
trust and respect and love each other.
-Carnot, the organizer of victory, one
of the greatest administrators of the
u
Revolution, who in his own depart
ment was perhaps about as much
responsible for the victories of France
as the great Napoleon, had the most
profound opinion Of the genius and
the wisdom of Tone.
''We have it on irrevocable author
ity that had Hoche lived and had
-Carnot had his way, not being at the
critical moment driven from power,
that the whole strength of France
would have been placed at the dis
posal of this young and friendless
Irish exile, who by the dint of genius
alone had obtained an ascendancy
over the minds of those mighty men.
remember reading, as am sure
you have all read, the account of the
interviews between Tone and Napo-
leon, two great men. They met;
Napoleon listened to the councils of
Wolfe Tone, and was deeply impressed
by them, but in an evil hour, as he
himself in later years in his exile in
ST. Helena came to see, he was drawn
away by dreams of Eastern conquests,
and turned his eyes from Ireland to
Egypt and the East, and years after
wards, on rejecting in the bitterness
of exile and defeat in St. Helena, he
admitted that had he listened to the
wise counself Of the young Irish exile
his fate and the destines of Europe
might have been changed. And this
man, whose memory we are assem-
bled to celebrate tonight, this young
Irishman who has illustrated the
renown of his race, and whose men,
DRY is treasure that every Irishman
should feel proud of--this man was
cut off in the early flower of his
manhood. He was but thirty-fve
years of age on this day 100 years
ago-on June 20, IS9S--and in the
following November he persisted mis-
erably in a Jail in this city"
Mr.. Michael Cusack-Oh, no, not
miserably. Cloud cries of "Order.w
Mr.. Dillon--There is no need to
dispute about a term. He persisted
honorabiy, but when l used the word
'miserably" / meant to characterize