The Irish standard., 1907-03-30

UNITED STATES.
BORN IN WEXFORD, IRELAND.
1745
DIED IN PHILADELPHIA
SEPTEMBER 13, 1903.
Adjutant General Stewart presented
the statue to- the city. He said in part:
Here, under the shadow of Inde-
pendence Hall, the cradle Of liberty. is
the fitting place to rear this tribute to
one or that galaxy of great men who
made way for liberty, and who sAmd-
led the steps of the infant Republic
| that today sits enthroned among the
nations of the earth, all of whom nav
tribute to her might. Acknowledges her
greatness and salute her flag. .t
Within sight of this spot the. first
Continental Congress met, and here
was given to. the world the Sublime
Declaration Of Independence, that from
tho day it was first publicly pro-
claimed by being read in public bv
Colonel John Nixon, the son of an
lrishmnn. to this day has been recoe-
nized as the grandest document ever
conceived by brain or written by pen
of man.
In support of that Declaration a
young 1rishman, thrty-one years of
age, John Barry, to use his own Ian
guaee, abandoned the finest ship and
| the first employ in America and Of
fered his service, and If need be his
life. Generations of men have come
and gone since he lived, and though
his bones are dust and his sword is
rust he still has a place in the affec-
tions and love of his countrvnen. and
| TINS great city where he lived and died
counts him among those of cherished
memory and cheerfully and gladly ac-
! cords his statue a. place within the
hollest and most sacred plot of earth
within her gates Here it will have the
companionship Of the statue of the
immortal Washington, with whose
great work he was identified, and with
whom he was a co-laborer In the
cause Of liberty"
Mayor Weaver, on behalf Of the city.
accepted the statue, saying, in part.
that as Washington was first in war.
first in peace and first in the hearts of
his countrymen," Commodore Barry
was captain of the first Continental
Congress warship. took the first prize
| in the naval warfare of the country
and fought the last battle Of the Revo-
luton" He dwelt upon the peculiar
appropriateness of erecting the statue
| in Independence Square, saying that
'it was in this city that the Continen-
tai Congress voted to build two war
ships, and with a singular coincidence
| that vote was on the very day in the
fall of 1775 when Captain John Barry,
of the merchantmen Black Prince, ar
rived in Philadelphia returning from
a voyage to Bristol, and 1t was re-
markable that the vessel was the prop
erty of that John Nixon who read the
lDeclaration Of Independence to the
people Of Philadelphia in 1ndepend-
ence Square on July 8, 177e:''
The mayor then detailed the engage
ments from which Barry emerged sue.
cessful. and, continuing. said:
at was here in this city that Barry
afterwards made his home and where
his services were sometimes sought
and always given in the cause of his
country. l say therefore, in consider
alton of his services to his country in
the darkest days Of her history, that
it is fitting that a memorial to his
name and his deeds should be erected
here on this spot, sacred in the cause
of liberty"
Rear Admiral George W. Melville,
U. s. NJ. delivered the grafton Of the