The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-09-18
A VERY REMARKABLE
ASSEMBLY OF SAGEs
There Never Wasin Any Age
or Country a Body Of Men
Who Could Stand a Com
parison With First Ameri-
can Congress for Eloquence
and Virtue, for True Digni-
ty, Elevation and Grandeur
Of Soul, Says Maxey.


of Soul, Says Maxey.
The historian Maxey, treating of the
First Continental Congress, thus COM
ments on the personnel of it and what
people will do when left to them
selves, to their unbiased good sense,
and to their true interests:
"The interposition of Divine Provl-
dencc was eminently conspicuous n
the first general congress. What men.
what patriots, what independent heroic
spirits Chosen by the unbiased voice
of the people; chosen, as all public
servants ought to be. without favor
and without fear, what an august as
sembly of sages! Rome, in the height
of her glory, fades before it.
There never was in any age or ma
tion; a body of men, who, for general
information, for the judicious use OF
Llc ICSulLS VI C1Vll anu pOllI1Sol
tory, for eloquence and virtue, for the
true dignity, elevation. and grandeur
of soul, could stand comparison with
the first American congress! See what
the people will do when left to them
selves, to the unbiased good sense, and
to their true interests! The ferocious
Gaul would have dropped his sword
at the hall door, and have fed thun-
der struck, as from an assembly OF
gods! 15A
whom do behold?-a Hancock,
ayJefferson, an Adams, a Henry, d
Lee, Rutledge! Glory to your i'm
mortal spirits! On you depend the
destinies of your country; the fate OF
three millions of men, and. Of the count
less millions Of their posterity! Shall
these be slaves, or will you make d
noble stand for liberty against power
whose triunphs are already co-exten .
sive with the earth; whose legio'.s
trample on thrones and sceptres:
whose thunders below on every ocean?
How tremendous the occasion! How
vast the responsibility! The president
and all the members of this august as
sembly take their seats. Every coun-
tenance tells the mighty struggle
within. Every tongue is silent. It is
pause in nature; that solemn, awful
stiffness which precedes the earth
quake and tornado! :.
AT length Demosthenes arises-ne
only is adequate to the great occa-
sion-the Virginian Demosthenes, the
mighty Henry! What dignity! What
majesty! Every eye fastens upon him
Firm, erect undaunted, he rolls on the
mighty torrent of his eloquence. What
q picture does he d.aw of the horrors
of servitude. and the charms. of free
dom! At once he gives the. full rein
to all his gigantic powers, and pours
his own heroic spirit into the minds
Of his auditors; they become; as one
man; actuated by one soul,-and The
universal shout is Liberty or Death!'
This single speech, of this illustrious
man, gave an impulse which probably
decided the fate Of America"
There are times when tyrannica.
government or misgovernment is q
blessing in disguise. The cruel rapa.
l nj nF Rr{t tn i,, 1,
erican .Colonists was the direct ant
only cause of the Revolution, and thus
freedom found q permanent and glori
GUS abiding-place on the EARTH anl
the oppressed of all lands were provid.
ed home. The first protest against
the extortions levied upon the Colon.
lists by. the Parliament Of England &
assume6nation or united' proportion:
was the, Continental Congress of 1774
For years the Colonists had been sur
fering under various forms of exac
tions and repressions which mad.
them wholly dependent upon Grea
Britain. Z
AS she had done with ireland, g.
England determined to do with th'
American colonies-make them tn.
providers OF raw material for Britt il
looms, British rolling mills and Brit.
ish shipyards. British landlords wer
to- have new money maker in tn,
American colonist. Yhe colonists wer.
prohibited from building ships. from
trading with any coxntry but Eng.
lland, from shipping goods fin any 9th.
J er than British bottoms. from MANN