The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-08-28
MONUMENT At CROSSE ISLE.

in the st. Lawrence river, thirty miles
from Quebec. to mark the resting
place Of several thousand Irish emf
grants who fled from British oppres-
sion in their own country in 1s47 anu
sought refuge in Canada, but wore
destined to die Of typhus fever on
Crosse Isle before they ever reached
their destination. To the credit 0!
the Ancient Order Of Hibernians, the
memory of these victims of alien mis-
government has been rescued from
oblivion by the erection Of a magnih-
cent monument in the form Of Celtic
Cross, which was unveiled and dedl-
Gated on Sunday, Aug. Is, with all
the pomp and ceremony that the occa-
sion demanded.
His Grace Mgr. Begin, Archbishop OF
Quebec, Mgr. Sbaretti, the papal dele-
gate, and Chief Justice Sir Charles
Fitzpatrick were among the distin-
guished persons present to testify to
the significance of the event. Hon.
Charles Murphy, secretary of state :or
Canada, and the Archbishop of Que
bee delivered elaborate addresses, and
National President Cummings, OF the
A. o. H., made the appropriate ad-
dress which appeared in the last issue
OF the Irish Standard. Holy Mass
was celebrated and at its conclusion
Rev. Father Mcguire preached a long
I sermon. in which he reviewed the his
tory of the Irish exodus Of 1S47.
In his mastery address on the FAM
inc in Ireland which caused the emf
grafton of the dead on Crosse Isle,
the Hon. Charles Murphy, representing
the Canadian government, quote
from Archbishop Hughes. Michael
Davitt A. M. Sullivan and T. P. OCoI-
nor to show that the responsibility
for the sad condition Of Ireland at
that period rested on the British gov
eminent. He also quoted from John
Francis Maguire's Irish in America"
as to the deaths and burials at Crosse
Isle. According to that author, 10000
exiles were consigned to the grave Pit
upon the barren isle in the st. Law
renee and some thought $4,000 was
nearer the actual number. Mr.. MUIR
ply referred to the AZ priests who fell
victims to contagious disease while
ministering to the sick and dying, and
suggested that the A. o. H. take charge
of another movement to erect a monu
ment to them and to the Protestant
clergy who died on the island in 1847
and 1S4S.
1t Is a difficult task for an Irishman
to write calmly of the famine of 1847
in a country of such. fertility as Ire
land, which was shipping its products
to England while the people them
selves were starving. Had the Irish
been governing themselves, such a
catastrophe would have never hap
I'lltu. ne ldIhAllS, w lltu UC6du III
1s45, could have been averted If Eng
land had done her duty to her sub
iects. Instead OF providing for the
afflicted people by an appropriation
sufficiently large to meet the emery
ency. the government proved it's in
competency and threw the ports open
for the shipment Of foodsturfs from
Ireland in order that the landlords
should receive their rents. The Irish
harvcsts Of the three famine years
We're abundant, and had they been kept
the country nobody would have
died OF hunger.
When the famine was over it was
found that Ireland had lost two mil
lions and half of her people. The
census for 1871 gave Ireland a populu-
ton of S,175,125. At the usual rare
of increase there must have been S.
100000 when the famine commenced.
In 1851. there would be. at the same
rate Of increase, population of 9,018,-
799 but when the census of 1851 Was
taken there were only .385-that
is. deficit of two millions and half.
OF this number about a million and a
half died directly of hunger or Of
fever resulting from insufficient nour-
ishment. The other million had emil
grated to foreign lands. and among
that million were the poor creatures
who are buried at Crosse Isle, and to
whose memory the monument was
dedicated the other Sunday. Those
who pass up and down the st. Law
renee for centuries to come can be-
hold the Celtic Cross erected to con-
spicuously mark the last resting place
Of the victims of an artificial famine,
for which the British government, AMI
not Almighty God or the Irish people.
is directly responsible. The A. o. Il.
Is entitled to the gratitude Of the Irish
race for the erection of the monument
at Crosse Isle.