The Irish standard., 1909-04-10

humor. the pathetic tenderness. the
admirable truth Of Castle Rackrent'
and the Absentee and Belinda and
'ormond.' thought that I might at
tempt for my own country something
of the kind that their author has 80
fortunately achieved for Ireland. Their
author. an Irishwoman- born and bred.
Maria Edgeworth. Why need more
than mention other writer's, too, to
whom though perhaps mot great. CIV
ilization has owed great peals Of laugh
ter. the creators Of Handy Andy and
Harry Lorreauer' and Charles o'Mal-
ley? -. rs
Passing to orators and statesmen,
and Jurists, Burke in his noble defence
of the American Colonies at the time
OF the Revolution, Sheridan in his Inn
parchment Of Warren hastings. Graf
tan, Curran. o'Connell,. the Earl of
Dufferin. Parnell and Redmond. Earl
Cairns and Russell of Killowen.. ia
there in them only the spirit Of asp.'--
alton and gayety ?-none Of the ipafi-
ence and balance that makes individ-
ualism social power?
In music and in art, is Ireland alto
gether to seek? The Celt, indeed. has
produced no Beethoven, no Brahms;
but music Of the heart he has not
Who that has heard the melo-
dies that have a1led this hall tonight
their note Of fervent tenderness, of
melancholy, their murmur Of
memories in minor keys. their sudden
ecstasy--who that has heard them, will
yet avouch that grander strains awak.
en- sincerer laughter or prayers or
tears? Nay, after all, do bethink me
Of one musical composer Of Irish blood
who has in no negligible degree Affect
ed the mood Of his day--the author, of
Patience and :.Mikado.' and also the
Lost Chord; musician Of the yridicu-
lous and also of the sublime. The
greatest Of American sculptors, II may
some to hear, was also Irish
In part; he in whose fashionings of
marble and bronze the ,lineaments. of
Lincoln and Sherman defy the corrod-
Ing finger of time--Augustus Saint
Gaudens, born in, the Irish capital Of
Dublin. Of an Irish mother. His fath-
ar was Basque. No drop OF the efsep-
Ing Saxon in Saint Gaudene-whence,
then, the patience for. the. prolonged
dealings Of spirit. with matter which
his plastic art demanded? Was that
altogether Basque? ss ,f,. 49,.
ssAndeshaye the Irish utterly, lacked
t n steadins ' ana sanitN that fdel-
ltY to faqt, that are .the' scrip and staff
Y scienceas Hardly; for who is it
that the rhetorics tell us was Father
If Chemistry and Uncle to the Earl OF
Cork'-an 1rishman, Robert Boyle. And
what name stands in higher. rank
among the, scientists Of. later times
than that Of John Tyndall, sthe mighty
physicist, the dauntlass and unwear-
ed explorer Of the misty: bourne where
mind and matter meet. On
TN war, who conquered Napoleon?
An 1rishman. Who was, late, the
OF the English
Army? An Irishman. Lord wolseley.
Who. is the present commander? An
[rishman., Lord Roberts. Who were
The other generals Of note in that war
hat must always consider upright
.ous. the Boer war? Irishmen Kelly
Kenny and French. And to what iron
general was entrusted the task Of Sc
curing the fruits Of victory. Lord
an 1rishman. II, was Pyr-
'hus who said: Give. me an army Of
Roman soldiers and I will conquer the
world And in their heart of hearts
he English say: Give us Irish gem
erals and we can. conquer the world
What names. in ,statesmanship and
var have Irishmen made in the cent?
lent Of sEurope-the MacAfahons of
france. the O'Donnells Of Spain, the
raaffes Of Austria? All these have
shown that 'skilful and resolute appli-
.nce Of means to ends which Is needed
10th to make prosrees In material. civ
lization and to form powerful states !
Who wrote the first Declaration sof !
in the United STATES?
rishmen Of Mecklenburs, North Caro-
ina. Some say they were Scotch
IRISH. but what matter, they. were, Of
hat vetus ct major Scotia, ireland. A /
rear and a month before july .4th,, ..77s, /
he Irish farmers Of Mecklenburg, in
assembled, declared 4 that
all civil and military Commissions
'ranted by the British crown were an
l,alled ana vacated. ana colonial con
Ititutions suspended and, they adopt
ID resolves for the, Independent gov !.
'rnment of the colonies: and 40 IN
'tructed their. delegates to the Canti- i
Rental Congress-. Although their ;lsc
10 tiov, S,, }. not 49, 4 = a.