Year: 1868

lASb.


Mr.. President and Fellow-citizens, of the
Irish Republican CIub-There are many
things for which | am grateful, but for
nothing am l more thankful than the simple
fact that sprang from the loins Of a man
who was born upon Irish soil and nursed
by mother who grew to womanhood
where the lakes of Killarney mirror the
stars and the mountains. Every man
should love the land where his ancestors
were born. love Ireland, and | some
times feel that shall have lived almost in
vain if my feet do not one day press the
sell that has echoed to the tramp OF war
riors and given birth to statesmen--the
land whose orators have held the world
entranced, and whose poets have sung in
tones gentler than the murmur OF brooklets
and grander than the rush of torrents.


To address so many men who were either
born upon Irish soil or who sprang from
parents who were, is privilege shall
l)ng remember. The fact that the men |
see before me are no longer Democrats,
but Republicans, fills me with hope. Ifeel
that the day is dawning when lrishmen will
no longer be the tool Of party that has
misled and abused them. feel they are
determined to clasp true Democracy to
their breasts and crush beneath their feet
the false Democracy they bave so long been
associated with. cannot understand how
an lrishman can be aught else than Re-
publican in this land OF ours. 1t does
seem to me as ifthey ought to have no sym
pathy with any party whose cardinal prin-
ciple is oppression of the weak. How they,
fleeing from oppression, can come here and
join the ranks of the oppressor, surpasses
my understanding. When they remember
what their own land has been and what it
now is, and trace the causes that have
led to its destruction, they should
be the last people in the world to support
policy here that has ruined their own
country. There was a time in history
when ireland stood fair among the nations
of the earth, when her chiefs commanded
the respect of all, when her fields bloomed
with the glory of golden harvests and her
castles grew joyous with songs Of revelry
and mirth, time when Malichi adorned
himself with trophies won from the in
vaders of his kingdom time when Brian
Borhume bore his battle standard vic
torious over hundred fields, time when
wealth and learning walked hand in hand,
and valor and beauty were crowned to.
kClhCls NOutlhcb VIC VI 1lCldhu
tl-day with the glories of the olden times;
tie flag that floats above her cast es bears
the cross of ST. George in place of the
harp. A race foreign to the soil now rule
and control a peasantry, poor and starving,
bow submissively to men whose ancestors
went down before the battle cry of their
fathers on many field.


From this point we are only
able to give sketch of Captain
Sheridan's remarks. He drew powerful
sketch of the causes that had overthrown
Ireland; said the Southern Contederacy
well acting upon the same principles in
bringing about the war that had proved
tie destruction of Ireland. He paid a
beautiful tribute to the orators and poets
of Ireland. His laudations of the great
warriors ireland furnished to England
caused unbounded applause. The Captains
speech was interspered with pointed and
telling anecdotes, which caused intense
merriment. Everybody saw the point
without trouble. Captain Sheridan closed
his speech with an eloquent appeal to all
to labor hard for success in the coming
election.