The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-10-07

Soulu VOuCll. NeSlllleIll dltcT regiment
had joined. why" he said, "the gov
ernment feared to call up the militia in
IS, '6o, and 81. The Pigeon House
was i'll my hands H. the most of the
24th regiment t'4Ss&. sworn in"
The Dalkey cIe.sox I'VE been
curs,' put in Mr.. 80 @,A. had
made things all right thel> o..
why said the chief, eve. <c1/
the policemen and prison warders ;,
had warm friends. One day l went to
Belfast to see the men there, and
whole company Of policemen came in to
congratulate Inc, and ever so many
minor military officers Sergeants-
majors, and others, also called When
the news of my escape from Richmond
prison spread a friend noticed big
Dublin policeman kicking up his heels
and shouting for joy. More than half
OF the members throughout the country
were thoroughly drilled, and hundreds
and hundreds OF Our men joined the
Volunteers in England simply to learn
the Use OF arms"
The veteran spoke with all the car
nestness Of absolute conviction, and it
was quite inspiring to watch the man
who had played the leading part in
founding, forming, and directing so
marvellous an organization-an organi-
cation which gathered within it's ranks
the very salt Of the Irish race i'm the
two continents, and which, when all is
said and done. was not only marvellous
testimony to the capacity of its leader,
but an inrefutable proof OF the uncon-
querable vitality OF Irish Nationalist
sentiment, and of the uralterable deter
mination of our people to win their
freedom by any means.
AS most Irish Nationalists know,
James Stephens was ION the hills" in
IS4S. What memories circle round such
man! Thoughts come to the mind OF
the devoted young men who ran the
outlaws bold career" when Ireland S
faint desperate hope vanished into SEEM
ing hopeless gloom in 1848. For weeks
they travelled as forlorn fugitives from
place to place
And because they loved ireland and
scorned to sell it,
A prey for the bloodhound, mark for
the bullet,
Unrested by night and unsheltered by
day,
With the heatl, for their barracks, re-
vengc for their pay"
Mr.. Stephens did not tell us how he
first sang Doheny's beautiful lyric on
the wild West Cork mountains while
the fugitives were con the rum after
Ba1lingarry:
For thee I've trod the mountain sides
And slept within the brake,
More lonely than the swan that glides
Der Lua's fairy lake;
The rich have spurned me from their
door
Because I'd set thee free;
But still loved thee more and more,
A cusha gal machree."
James Stephens has writ his name on
the page of Irish History in characters
which will endure so long as the story
oil our land is told. Even those who
most bitterly opposed his policy and
methods freely admit that he was an
organizer of the very first rank-a born
"conspirator," if you will, but all de-
pends on the connection in which that
word conspiracy" is used. The man
who conspires against English rule in
ireland ever deserves we'll of his race
and nation; and for many long, anxious
years the name of James Stephens was
one OF terror to British officialdom,
whether at Whitehall or Dublin Castle,
and OF hope and pride to millions of the
children OF the Gael all over the earth.
He built UP mighty organization by
strenuous toll, and by the exercise OF
qualities peculiarly his own among the
lrishmen OF two generations. That he
and his men failed to accomplish their
design is a matter OF history. Blame
for that failure has been placed on many
shoulders. But no one-not even the
most malignant detractor of the chief
rganizer-ever dared to assert that the
man whose genius made the Fcnian
movement formidable for several years
was not all the time inspired by love
for his country, passionate desire to
win her freedom and hatred OF every
thing British which he imbibed in far
back '48 from the point OF John Mitch
ellis pen of fire. A remarkable and
notable man is James Stephens OF
those strenuous characters that make,
their mark somehow as inevitably as the
torrent rushes down the mountain side.
In his own way he accomplished more
than any Irishman since the days OF the
greatest of all Irclands revolutionary
leaders, Theobald Wolfe Tone.
Spanish is now taught in the public
schools of Chicago. The next thing
to hear is that Tagalo is taught in the
f1urcoriec of 1a,rp;pcr ~, +1,o NN;-J,, C;t,,