The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-24
MEAGHER'S SWORD SPEECH.
His Famous Utterance in the Defense of
the Use of Physical Force.

the Use of Physical Force.
How r F. Meagher came to deliver
the following Grafton, which is known
to fame as the sword speech" may be
interesting to readers of the Standard,
in view of the picnic for the Meagher
monument fund yesterday:
OConnell having succeeded in win
ming "Catholic emancipation by means
of constitutional agitation, imagined
that the same method would prove ad-
eguate to accomplish the repeal of the
Union He utterly disapproved of any
recourse to physical force, and when
the peace resolutions" as they We're
termed. We're introduced in "Conciia-
ton hall in Dublin, it was found that
among them was one which under any
| circumstances declared an appeal to
| force as unjustifiable and immoral.
This resolution, if adopted. would con-
| denim by implication the patriots of all
! countries and ages who had resorted to
| the sword to redress their wrongs.
| When the resolutions We're read Mea-
| CHER sprang to his feet and delivered
| this-what has been declared to be one
| of the most magnificent bursts of ex
.tempOre eloQuence that ever fell from
an orators lips. Its effect was electri-
cal. MeaGher became the orator of
Young Ireland" and he, William
Smyth OBrien. Mitchell. Martin and
all the youthful wing quilted Con
ella ton hall" forever.
Following is part of the grafton:
| II dissented from them. for ! felt that
| by asserting to them I should have
| pledged myself to the unqualified repu-
diation of physical force in all coun-
| tries, at all times and under every cir
Cumstance. This ! could not do: for,
my lord, ! do not abhor the use of arms
| in the VindiCation of national rights.
| There are times when arms will alone
call for drop of blood and many thou
| sand drops of blood
| "Opinion,I admit, will operate against
| opinion: but as the honorable member
for Kilkenny has observed, force must
! be used against force. The soldier is
proof against an argument. but he Is
| not proof against a bullet. The man
| that will listen to reason. let him be
| reasoned with. But it is the weaponed
| arm of the patriot that can alone pre-
vail against battalioned despotsm.
| Then, my lord, | do not condemn
| the use of arms as immoral: nor do I
| conceive it profane to say that the King
of Heaven. the Lord of Hosts. the God
Of Battles, bestows His benediction up
on those who unsheathe the sword in
| the hour of nations peril
| From that evening in which in the
| valley of Bethulia. He nerved the arm
Of the Jewish girl to smite the drunken
|
day, on which He has blessed the in
surgent chiValry of the Belgian priest.
| His almighty hand hath ever been
| stretched forth from His Throne of
Light to CCnsecrate the flag of freedom
| to bless the patriots sword. Be it in
the defence or be it in the assertion of
! a peoples liberty, I hail the sword as a
sacred weapon, and if, my lord. it has
| sometimes taken the shape of the ser
| pent and Redeemed the shroud Of the
oppressor with too deep dye. like the
anointed rod of the high priest, it has
at other times. and as often. blossomed
into celestial flowers to deck the free
| mans brow.
"Abhor the sword, StigmatiZe the
sword. No. my lord. for at its blow a
grand nation started from the waters
of the Atlantic: and by its redeeming
magic and in the quiverne of it's Grim
| son light the crippled colony sprang
into the attitude of a proud republic
prosperous. limitless and invipcibe,
"AhhOr the sword Stigmatize the
sword. No. my lord for it swept the
Dutch marauder out of the fine old
towns Of Belgium-scourged them back
| to their own phlesmatic Swamps-and
knocked their flag and sceptre. their
laws and bayonets into the sluggish
waters Of Scheldt.
My lord, I learned that ii was the
! right of a nation to govern herself NOT
in this hall. but upon the rsmparts Of
| Antwerp. This, the first article Of a
| nations creed. I learned uDOn those
| ramparts. where freedom was Justly
estimated and the possession of the
precious gift was purchased by the
| effusinn Of generous blood
My lord. I honor the Belgians. | ad-
| mire the Belgians. love the Begians
for their enthusiasm, their courage
their success: and I, for one. will not
! stigmat tie. for I do not abhOr the
| means by which they oht aimed p citi-
zen king. a chamber of deputies"
The timber on 10000 acres of hardwoods
| AT Algoma. w. Va. is about to be cut at
the rate of 5000 feet per day. 1t is csti-
mated that five years will be Spen. in mn
| ishing the tract
| The cheapest animal to raise is the
! sheep. and with the growing appetite for
| tender lamb and mutton in this country,
| ii IS one of the most profitable.
In nearly every street in japanese cities
! is a public oven, where, for a small fee.
| housewives may have the dinners and
0