The Irish standard., 1900-09-01
THE STORY OF IRELAND
As Told BY Adlai Stevenson at Sunny.
side Park.

As Told BY Adlai Stevenson at Sunly.
side Park.
Among the several fine speeches de-
livered at the picnic of the United
Irish Societies Of Chicago ON LADY
Day. the address of Hon. Adlai Ste.
venson, is remarkable for it's beauty
and its truth, and for the speakers
accurate appreciation of his subject.
MIR. Stevenson spoke as follows:
Within late years it has been my
privilege to visit Ireland, and 1 can
truly say that no country in Europe
possessed for me a deeper interest
than the historic little island, about
whose name clusters so much of ro,
nance and enchantment. 1 saw Ire.
land in its beauty and in it's gloom;
in its glory and in it's desolation. l
stood upon the Giants Causeway-
one of the grandest masterpieces OF
the Almighty. visited the historic
parks and deserted legislative halls of
venerated Dublin; threaded the streets
and byways of the quaint old city of
Cork; listened to the bells of Shandon;
sailed over the beautiful lakes Of
Killarney. and gaZed upon the Old
castles of Muchross and of Barney,
whose Uncovered ruins tell of the far
away centuries.
What wonderful island! The
birthplace of wits, of warriors, of
statesmen. of poets and of orators. A
people of whom it has been truly said,
they have fought successfully the
battles of every country but their
own Upon occasions such as this
the lrlSllman--tO whatever spot in
this wide world he may have wander
ed-lives in the shadowy past. In
Imagination he is once more under the
ancestral roof: the vine-clad cottage is
again Il thing of reality. Again lie
wears the shamrock; again he hears
the songs of his native land. while
his heart is stirred by the memories
OF her wrongs and of her glory.
What Il splendid contribution Ire
land has made to the worlds galaxy
of great men. In the realm of poetry
Goldsmith and Tom Moore; of oratory
Sheridan, Emmett, Grattan. O'Connell
Burke and, in later years, Charles
| Stewart Parncll, whose thrilling words
| heard twenty years ago pleading the
cause of his oppressed countrymen.
The obligation of America to Ire
land from the men who have aided in
| fighting our battles and framing our
laws cannot be measured by words.
In the British possessions to the north
ward, in the old city Of Quebec, there
is one spot dear to the American heart
that where fell the brave Montgom-
cry, fighting the battles of his adopted
country. What schoolboy is not IA
miliar with the story of the gallant
Phil Sheridan and Winchester Twen-
ty Miles Away? Illinoisans will
never forget Shields, the hero of two
wars, the senator from three states.
The achievements of representatives
of this race along every pathway of
useful and honorable endeavor are a
part Of our common history.
With q history reaching into the far
past, every page Of which tells of the
struggle for liberty, it is not strange
that the sympathies of the Irishmen
are with the oppressed everywhere on
Gods foot-stool. Recalling the sacri-
fees, the wrongs of his own country
men at the hands Of the oppressor, it
would be passing strange if at this
hour his deepest sympathies were not
with the burghers of South Africa,
whose only crime is lfc-and-deatll
devotion to the same cause of liberty
and self-government which has for
centuries inspired the heroic deeds of
Ireland's noble sons. Irishmen, in
common with liberty-loving men every,
where, look with adherence upon the
attempt of great European power
to establish monarchy upon the ruins
of republics.