The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-03-18

tana, in which position he gave as
good an account of himself as he did
in the battle charge by his martial
prowess. A brilliant public career
seemed assured to him and friends
hailed in him a great leader of one of
the political parties of the country.
Providence, however, had decreed 9TH
crwisc. He was snatchcd suddenly
away from the stage Of human en-
deavor by accidental drowning. Com
ing down the Missouri river in boat.
on his way to see friends in the East,
one dark July night in 1867. he slipped
off the deck and Il trcucherous current
carried away captive his inanimate
form. The thrilling accents of the
great orator were hushel forever The
advice of the wise strategist was to
be missed from the council of war.
and the tocSin of war would call him
forth at the head OF his brave troops
no more forever. The swiftly gliding
waves of that mighty western river
sing an eternal dirge over the remains
of one of the most brilliant patriots OF
the Young Ireland party. 1t is pleas
ant to think that the people of Mon.
tana lovingly remember his genius and
his sword, for soon noble monument
will be erected in the capital city Of
that state to pcrpetuate to future ages
the chivalrous services Of this patriot
son of Ireland.
Thomas Darcy MCGEE, the bosom
friend of Meagher and partner of his
in his plans of insurrection in Ireland,
| having escaped arrest over there
earned for himself Il name on this side
Of the Atlantic which Americans
and Irish-Canndians vie with one
another in eXtolling. In this country
he was editor of several Irish news
papers in Buffalo, New York and Bos-
! ton. The old readers of the Boston
Pilot remember his many beautiful
poems. The wanderer into the fields
Of Irish history is fanliliarized with
his gigantic work in that department,
and Oldtime Irish Canadians, flushed
with pride, are anxious to remind you
Of his brinlliat speeches delivered in
the Canadian Parliament, attracting
thousands who hung with rapture OH
his brilliant periods. MCGEE was a
genuine poet, scholar and statesman
Of him 1t might be truly said that he
adorned whatever sphere Of life he
chose to labor in. Sad to say he was
not allowed to fill out the natural span
Of his earthly existence, for he fell
foully murdered by an assassin's hand
at Ottawa in April, 1867. He was
mOurned throughout the whole Eng
disappearing world, and to show the
respect he gained, even from his ene-
mics, let me recite for you the fol-
lowing lines dedicated to his memory
and read at meeting Of scotchmen
shortly after his death:
"Ah, would that he were here this
night,
Whose tongue was like fairy lutte;
But vain the wish-McGee! thy might
Lies cold in death-thy voice is
mute.
He is gone-the noblest of us all
Above all care of worldly fame,
And who SO proud as he to call
Our Canada his home"
Richard O'GOrman became q Judge
of the supreme court of New York city,
a strange position it would seem for
an Irish rebel to occupy; but it is al
most universally true that those So
called Irish insurrectionists make first
class American citizens. Poor Richard
Dalton Williams became professor
in Il college at Mobile, Alabama, and
died in Louisiana of consumption in
1862. His burial place was unmarked
until 40 Irish regiment of the New
Hampshire volunteers, in one Of the
campaigns of the Civil War, raised
over his remains monument Of Car
rara marble. No more pure-souled,
seraphic poet and patriot ever breathed
the air or slept his last sleep beneath
the soil Of Dixie than this gentle
shamrock of the Nation"
We have then amongst us patriotic
dust, sacred to Ireland, sacred to
America. From their coffined clay
those Irish-American patriots preach
to us the ever-enduring lesson of patri-
otto devotion to both countries. In
every national struggle which the flu
ture may bring the kindly spirits Of
our illustrious dead will hover over us
and spur us on to emulate, if that were
possible, their singular achievements
in behalf Of true human liberty. New
er shall cowardice, false reasoning or
Misrepresentation make us blush for
ideals over which they shed such an H.
Illuminating glow; and on this st. Pat
ricll's night, when each departed hero
Of our race-knight, saint and soldier
becomes incarnate, us it were, in our
minds vision; when we revel in the
glorified deeds of our countrymen,
both here and across the ocean, let us
not forget to give kindly thought and
offer m honest prayer for the souls Of
those young Ireland patriots" that
rest beneath the clover sod in this