The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1907-08-10
awake until morning.

Immediately after the bodies haQ
been thrown into the hole referred
to. Father Quick visited me in my
scaffold. and the desecration of my
brave comrades bodies in their uncons
secrated graves.
On the next night. was manacled
and fettered. and brought in train
to London. where, at Mllbank, be.
gan my "commuted" sentence of penal
servitude for life. What one circum-
stanced as | was then had to undergo
in an English Penal Prison can hardly
be described. or even imagined. by
those who have never had a similar
experience General Sherman once
said: War is hell" but he never was
a prisoner in the Old Bailey, in Mill-
have compared the devil sAhea dquar.
ters with something far worse than
war. sEssa
That / was regarded With exceptions
al hatred by the prison authorities was
evident from the first, and the causes
were not far to seek My life had been
spared not through any awakening
Of conscience. or regard for fair play
on the part Of the English authorities,
but because of the peremptory and
repeated demands cabed to London
by our Government. through Secretary
Seward. that a respite should be
granted me. The second cablegrann
reached Minister Adams while the
Cabinet was engaged in holding
meeting to decide upon my fate, and.
the message was al once forwarded to
that body. There were twelve press
ent, six of whom voted for carrying
out the sentence as ordered, While
six favored Il respite. Just then Mr..
and some of those who had voted for
my immediate execution reluctantly
assented to the American Governs
ment's demand. Others, however,
manifested great bitterness against
our Government and myself, because
of what they regarded as the humilia-
tion of yielding to the United States,
and having to foreso the satisfaction
of putting to death, with the other
three. the man who had not only been
actively engaged in the Rising" in
Ireland. but had been the head Of the
Irish Revolutionary organiza ton in
Northern England. and the prime mo-
yer in the Manchester Rescue, and
had, moreover, when summoned to
say ,why sentence of death should
not be passed on him. spoken so de-
family that the last sentence Of his
speech was made the burden Of a
song written by r. D. Sullivan. which
is now known as the Irish National
anthem. seldom care to speak Of
any services or sutferings of mine in
the cause of Irish liberty. but there are
times when one may be allowed to
briefly refer to such matters.
While still remembering. with in-
expressible indignation. the treatment
of my comrades and myself l do not
forget or hesitate to acknowledge that
a large number Of manly Englishmen.
including some of their ablest writer's.
strongly deprecated and even de-
nounced our condemnation to death.
accomplished as that result was
through perjured and purchased witt
nesses, carefully packed jury and an
arbitrarily selected Special Commis-
sion' whose members were substitute
ed for the ordinary judges. Even the
officer commanding the battalion
which guarded us in the Old Bailey,
when he accompanied the Governor Of
the Jail and the Queens Messenger
sent to notify me that had been re-
spited, congratulated me feelingly and