Waterbury Democrat., 1902-03-05
AROUND THE BANQUET TABLE.
Eloquent Addresses Patriotic Songs and Appropriate Stories Told
 at the l24h Annive rsay of Robert Emmet

right to be free, and that it was no longer the paltry pittance of colonial home rule that Irishmen sought, but absolute, unqualified national inde- pendence With a passing glance at the existing conditions confronting England, he closed in the following strain: with her armies chasing in hopeless despair the tattered rem nants of the Boer forces, baked in bewildering fashion by one of the Stoutest struggles for home and free dom that this world has ever wit messed, England sees once again the phoenix of Irish insurrection rising from the ashes that have smouldered, but have never yet gone out in the ruins of defeat Like the ghost of Banquo that walked ever in the dreams of Macbeth. the wrath of Irish insurrectien haunts forever the plans and policies of England. Ire land is to-day honeycombed with the spirit of rebellion, q seething furnace of insurrection that awaits only the opportunity to burst into a flame that shall consume the empire of Great Britain. There are in Ireland to-day and among the sons of IriShmen ev anywhere spirits as brave and loyal as Robert Emmet, as lofty and uncon- quered as Wolf Tone, as proud and relentless as Lord Edward Fitzger- aid, as dashing and daring and i'm petuous as Patrick Sarsfield; and when the day and the hour shall arr rive, England will have q fearful reckoning to pay. When that day and that hour come, Irishmen will stand man to man and shoulder to shoulder, inspired by the heroic eX- ample of Robert Emmet's inyincible patriotism, in the strife that shall tear from the maw of the British lion the crushed and bleeding form of their country's nationhood. And as Rob- ert Emmet, proud and unconquered in his brave young manhood taunred England with her hopeless inability 10 crush out the spirit that animated him, so men of Irish blood conjuring up the wrongs of their country, will cry aloud ill their vengeance,
 ssProne and bleeding lies our country;
 sorrow clouds her crownless brow; Let the lines of queenless beauty
 dimed i'll ghastly colors now,
 All the light of glories olden gleam-
 ing through our dark disgrace,
 See the maddening wrongs and insult
 heaped upon our honored race
 Roofess homesteads, broken altars,
 slaughtered chief, dishonored maid, Children of an outraged mother, whet
 ye we'll the trusty blade;-
 Never chieftain of old Erin to the in-
 vader bent the knee;
 By the black years of our bondage it shall ne'er be done by me"
 The next number on the program was one of the gems of the evening, a song by Dr John D. Freney. He sang sweetly and beautifully .'The Cruskeen Lawn" and 'Kathleen Mavourneen. ' But those present were not satisfied with two selections and so great was the applause that the genial doctor had to respond to a second encore Leo J. Curley acted as accompanist.
 Toastmaster Madigan then intro duced Stephen w. Wilby, whose sub ject was "Irishmen of Letters" This address was full of interest and the speaker commanded the earnest atten- tion of the audience throughout his brilliant discourse. Answering the question, How have the Irish people kept the national spirit? the speaker said that it was because the Irish literature would not let it die He continued: ''No truer lines have been penned than Let me make the songs of nation and I care not who makes its laws Previous to the gallant struggle of '9S, the hearts of the Irish people had been famed and their pa- triotism awakened with oratory and song. Though Ireland was crushed and defeated at that time, the Irish spirit still survived. After a period of silence, as it were, Daniel O'Connelrs voice sounded like q clarion over Eu- rope and Europe hardened. He and his brilliant followers wrested a bril- liant victory from England, the Cath ollie emancipation act About the same time the Young Ireland party was formed. Tn 1S42 newspaper. the National was founded Tn a short while newspapers devoted to the Irish cause were published in various cities Then arose literary revolution, the like of which was never before seen"