The Irish standard., 1901-08-24
The Fight for National Liberty will be
Continued in Ireland While
One Celt is Left.
Strong Protest Against Aiding Emigrants
to Leave the Emerald Isle
for this Country.

III hINlhVO GNU SNShiht, VI
Aug. Is. at Sunnysde Park, Chicago
10000 men and women Of the Irish
race assembled to give Michael Davitt
an enthusiastic ovation. The great
gathering was held under the auspices
of the United Irish Societies of Chi
cago and Cook county. Hon John r..
Finerty called the meetings to order.
At the afternoon meeting T.. IL. Kec
nan acted as chairman. and Rev. Fa-
thcr Reynolds presided over the night
gathering. The thousands present
We're quiet and orderly. "At no time
during the celebration says the Chi
cago Chronicle, "was there even the
slightest suggestion Of n division
among the Irishmcn of the city, and
nothing that happened during the day
limited at the fact that there was Il
rival celebration in another part Of
the city. The committee on arrange
mcnts had provided a handsome badge
for the occasion and the desire of the
NatiollaliSts for unity was demonstrate
cd in the colors of the ribbon, from
wlicl, there was suspended a medal
lion having on it portrait of Mr..
Davitt. These colOrs were green,
white and orange, and it was the first
time in the history of the Nationalist
movement in this city that the orange
was given Il place Of honor"
Dnvitt spoke one hour and was fire.
qucntly interrupted by applause. In
the course of his address he said:
Ii is Il long stretch from Dalkey to
Chicago, my friends, from little vii
lagc of n thousand people founded
some 5000 years ago, to this plcnolnc-
nal city and center of throbbing life
and bOundlcss wealth and two million
of Il population, which Is not much
older than myself. But why Is Dalkey
small and poor, and Chicago great and
rich? Because America has liberty
the subject of my address today be-
fore this great gathering of Irish
American citizens who want the land
of their birth to be as free as the land
of their adoption.
The view is held by those who look
at the life of nations as they do Mt a
ledger account, or ut the state of the
money market, that the length Of our
continued fight for independence is the
weak rather than the strong point III
the case of Ireland against English
rule. They argue that our failure to
assert our power of ruling our own
country, after SO long contest, is q
rational condemnation Of n continued
pursuit of so hopeless struggle
| While an objection so orthodox in It's
TOryism as this answers itself, it has
however. to be considered at a time
when the ruling influence of the civil
lied world Is money, and not moral
| principle or nationality, and when
| everything from earth to heaven seems
to be judged and valued from the point
of view of a profitable investment
My reply is that Christianity itself, If
tested by the standard of success, has
failed disastrously. and that every
church should, therefore, surrender its
mission to the evils and passions of
human society; that is according to
the objections raised against the seem
ingly fruitlcss pursuit of Irish indc-
pendencc.
Christianity has fought longer
against MammOnism than Ireland has
against English rule. How much of
the civilized world of today is gov
erned, or even truly Influenced, by
Christianity? Not a single land on
earth! Why. the stock exchanges have
a far wider power in the affairs OF
Christian countries, in the forming of
opinion, the making Of governments,
and the framing of laws than all the
churches of all the faiths in Christen-
dom combined. There was one little
Bible-reading nation in South Africa,
a God-fearing people, guilty of no
crime against civilization, and we see
war Of ruthless savagery waged by
Christian power against these peo-
pie for greed and gold, with the whole