Washington sentinel., 1899-02-18

the life Of Robert Emmet, VINO was
charged with conspiring to deliver Ire
land to France. shall have told 1t IN
vain If l do not make you feel that the
principle for which he died is Just as
sacred now as it was then-Just as
applicable to the Philippines as IT ever
was to Ireland. It IS easy to state prln
cipIes and to enthuse over them, but II
is not so easy TO apply them 1t IS nv
opinion that these martyrs woulo not
care for the plautlits OF men VINO were
unwilling to pay them the tribute oi
putting their princi pies into practlce'
Lest we deceive ourselves, therefore,
and think that we honor Emmet, while
in reality we are turning against tne
very thing for which he gave his NE let
us take those immortal words OF tue
Irish patriot and put them IN the mouth
of Agulualdo. I will not change the
speech OF Emmett in the least, Will
only substitute in single place IN tue
speech the word American" Tor the
word French" Suppose Aguinaldo
were on trial before a Spanish tribunal
on the charge Of having conspired TO
turn the sovereignty of the Philippines
over to the United States oil America
And suppose that, in denying tnis
charge, he had used these Identical
words Of Emmett. Would We applaud
themP That is the test of our loyalty to
the pure principle Of liberty today Let
US hear, then, what this modern Emmett
would say:
'Were the Americans to c,me as
invaders or enemies, uninvited by the
wishes of the people, | should oppose
them to the utmost OF my sti enstn. feS,
my countrymen. l would advise you to
meet them on the beach with sword
ia one hand and torch in the other. /
would meet them with all the destruc'
tive fury Of war. ] would animate my
countrymen to immediate them in their
boats before they had conts ami Dated the
SOIL of my country. If they succeeded
in landing, and if forced to retire before
superior discipline, / would dispute
every inch OF ground, burn every blade
of grass, and the last entrenchment OF
liberty should be my grave What 1
could not do myself, If | should fall,
a =
trymen to accomplish; because | should
feel that life more than death is unpTOft-
able when a foreign nation holds nv
country in subiection."
Let him who cannot cheer that senti-
ment waste no tears at Emmet's grave.
Let him rather take the axe and strike
this faIrest Of Irish patriots to the earth;
Tor so in spirit every man does who
questions for a moment the right OF any
people to rule themselves. Only last
week Gen. Shafter said to sort OF
Y.M.C.A club in the city of Washington
MY plan would be to disarm the natives
in the Philippine islands, even II we
killed halt Of them in doing So" A
member of the Senate has expressed the
belief that the Filipinos will never con-
sent to become a dependent colony. In
this same week newspaper in our own
city threw off the mask of hypocrisy and
frankly argued in its editorial columns
that the principle that just government
could only be derived from the consent
Of the governed was an old iogy notion
The ghost of Emmett rises in cOndemna'
tion of this age. Let us not sully the
reputation ot these martyrs by our un'
meaning praises. Let us take our right
tuI places by the side OF those whose
hands are stained with the blood Of
martYred patriots and frankly remain
there until we repent of our apostasv
and return to our old love, until we can
claim once more the honor Of believing
in liberty, not for ourselves only, but for
all mankind.