Mr. Robertson expressed the satisfaction with which he found himself at
a union of an Irish society whose purpose was the systematic and
dispassionate study of a department of the history of the race. The new
movement was the more hopeful, seeing that it proceeded on democratic
lines. It was said that war could not be carried on by a committee. If
the military gentlemen present would forgive him, he would confess that
he wished it could not be done in any other way, either (laughter); but
he was sure that historical research could very well be so carried on.
In so far as the Nationalist movement had of late years lost headway, it
could fairly be said that it was because of an imperfect application of
the spirit of democracy in its ranks. A great man was at once one of the
greatest boons that could befall any cause, and one of the greatest
dangers, because where the great man was all in all, the powers of the
lesser men were undeveloped, and their faculty of coöperation was in a
measure destroyed. The Nationalist movement had been shattered somewhat
as the party of Cromwell was shattered at his death; but it would find
the cure which, in the old case, had not been forthcoming (applause).
Every development of democratic methods would make for reconstruction.
Above all, the present movement was full of promise, because it was
essentially scientific in its aim.
Dennis Harvey Sheahan, of Providence, R. I., read the following paper on
“The Need of an Organization such as the American-Irish Historical
Society, and its Scope”:
The history of a country is dear to the heart of the lover of that
country. By the aid of historical study we learn of the origin,
growth, and development of a race of people; their customs,
religions, laws, governments; their accomplishments and what they
have contributed to the economy of the world. The historian points
out the past to the present and future. He puts aside the veil that
has gathered about the dim past, opens up to the gaze of the bright
present the panorama of human achievement, and blazes the way for
his successor in the rosy future.
What the clergyman learns from the theological disputations of the
past, the poring monk has gathered together; what the physician now
acquires with comparative ease is furnished him by the knowledge
garnered from the experience of his brethren from the time when man
learned that pain and aches affected his being; what the lawyer
gains from precedents is a guiding light which sheds its rays upon
problems of jurisprudence that the legal lore of the past
generations has taken from the leaves of experience; what formulæ
the scientist is able to demonstrate he owes to the observations of
men who, through the ages, have chronicled the phenomena of nature;
the statesman is able to meet the crises of the present by being
informed as to other crises in governmental affairs.
The citizen of a republic who neglects to learn the fundamental
principles upon which rest the laws of the land, who does not know
how the country was developed and maintained, is as a blind man, and
is not able to bring to the exercise of his suffrage the amount of
intelligence that the country has a right to require from him.
This obligation comes to us in a twofold capacity. We, as citizens
of this great Republic, should study the history of our country from
a patriotic standpoint, while as Irishmen, or descendants of that
race, it should be not only a duty but a pleasure to learn of the
deeds of Irishmen in America.
Therefore, an organization such as the American-Irish Historical
Society, if it had no other _raison d’être_, would accomplish a
patriotic purpose if it served only as an incentive to the study of
the deeds of Irishmen in America.
It has become almost a maxim in historical matters that the history
of events cannot be accepted as facts until the generation which
lived at the time said events occurred has passed away.
The passions, influences, and conditions which generate, shape, and
control events lend a coloring to their recital which, deep-lined or
faint as painted by the writer at the time, are toned down or made
stronger by the historian of a future generation who, unmindful of
passions, influences, or conditions, and with an eye single to the
preservation of history by means of the truth, makes past
occurrences stand out in their true light.
Deeds that have received but a passing mention from writers whose
minds were biased are rescued from an unmerited insignificance and
placed high in the Temple of Fame, while highly extolled acts, given
an undue prominence by a partisan writer, are consigned to a merited
oblivion by the historian of a later but more impartial epoch.
It is not often true of history that the stone which was rejected by
the builder becomes the corner stone of the edifice.
A member of the Society of Friends who desires to familiarize
himself with the history of his sect in New England would find but
little of the truth in the writings which have come from such
intellectual dyspeptics as Cotton Mather and his disciples. But in
the unwritten history of Quaker persecutions that have become
legendary, by the purity of their lives, by their nobility of
character and their Christianizing influences, the pioneers of that
faith stand out in bold relief in the religious history of Puritan
New England, with its dark background of scourging, mutilation,
banishments, and hangings.
By analogy, how can the Irish-American race expect that the history
of Irishmen in New England can be presented in just proportion to
the true merits of the case?
In fact, who has heard much of Irishmen in New England until the
present generation? As in New England, so throughout the Colonies.
The Virginia Cavalier was not less hostile to the Irish than the
Massachusetts Puritan.
Should the American-Irish Historical Society go out of existence
to-night, it would have already accomplished a grand mission in
this: that it has brought forth from obscure records the deeds of
Irishmen in America, and has laid the foundation for the erection of
an historical monument to Irishmen that, with its base laid in
colonial times, and still being constructed, challenges the respect
and admiration of all lovers of American history.
The work of this society has been thus far practically confined to
research of New England records. This research has been fruitful of
good results.
Among other things we learn of the Irish as brickmakers of Rehoboth
and settlers in Salem and Lynn in early colonial times.
Again, we learn that the Irish in the Granite State had become so
numerous in colonial times that the General Court of Massachusetts
passed a law prohibiting the “wild Irishmen of New Hampshire” from
coming across the state line, lest they should drive out the people
of the older colony. As long as that state shall last the glory and
the fame of the Sullivans and their contemporaries of the Irish race
will remain illustrious.
The history of Irishmen in Maine will be dwelt upon in the address
of one of the gentlemen who is to follow on the program.
This research has extracted from the records of Rhode Island the
influence of the Irish schoolmaster, McSparren, in moulding the
intellectual development of that colony; it has called attention to
the work of Bishop Berkely in the promotion of education there, and
what is to me, personally, exceedingly pleasant information, that
Brown University, my beloved Alma Mater, in its infancy was succored
by the contributions of worthy people residing in Ireland.
The work of presenting to the world the achievements of Irishmen in
America, in its just proportion to the achievements of men of other
races in the colonization, struggle for independence, and the
creation of a republic, the development of that republic from a
theory into a concrete nation, and the perpetuation of that nation,
is a duty not only to the men whose deeds are to be chronicled, but
also a debt which we owe to ourselves, which we should cheerfully
assume.
The labor involved in this from its very nature is such as can only
be performed by an organization such as the American-Irish
Historical Society.
The true status of the Irish in America, notwithstanding the fact
that their brain and brawn have been interwoven in the woof and web
of our nation’s fabric, has never been fully appreciated, by reason
of the prejudices which have been associated with anything that bore
an Irish name. This prejudice, in no small part, arose from
misconception and misunderstanding of the Irish nature, temperament,
and characteristics. There is a brand of bigotry that is sometimes
designated as inborn. In the case of a bigot whose bigotry is
congenital, it is well to follow the scriptural injunction to reason
not with a fool lest he grow wise. But in the case of those persons
who, by reason of misconception or want of acquaintance with
Irishmen, cannot properly estimate our race, yet whose minds are
broad enough to cherish the worth of a man when demonstrated, and
whose patriotism counts every man a friend who has contributed to
the glory of his country, an impartial history of the deeds of
Irishmen in America would effectively serve to displace any
prejudice.
What lover of the human race, animated by that noble sentiment of
Terence, “I am a man, and I think nothing human foreign to me,” can
fail to appreciate the sturdy virtues of the Irish people in
America, their patient industry, their obedience to constituted
authority, their domestic constancy, their desire to provide homes
for their families and education for their children?
What patriotic American can fail to be moved by emotions of
gratitude when he learns among other facts that the Irish in Ireland
assisted with food and provisions the struggling settlers of Boston
in a time of dire distress; that Irishmen of Philadelphia
contributed large sums of money to the famished Revolutionary heroes
at Valley Forge; that George Washington considered himself honored
in being elected a member of an Irish society; that nine of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence were men of Irish blood;
that on the field of war, and in the council chamber of the nation,
as well as in the administration of national, state, and municipal
affairs, from the time of our earliest history to the present time,
men of that race have given their lives and property to the nation’s
cause? The work of this society thus far in this direction gives
promise of either destroying the prejudices that have hitherto
existed against the Irish people, or removing the venom from the
fangs of bigotry.
To my mind the most urgent need of a society of this nature is the
means it affords of preserving Irish history in America. It would be
a great misfortune if the history of the Irish people in America, at
present fragmentary at best, yet gathered together under favorable
conditions and after the most careful and painstaking labor, could
not find some secure lodgment.
What more suitable abiding place than the cabinet of the
American-Irish Historical Society, from whence it could find its way
into the private and public libraries, not only of our own country,
but of the civilized world?
This society in the short time it has been in existence has
accomplished so much in its chosen field as already to have
demonstrated quite clearly its scope. From the publications issued
by its members, notably the work of our Secretary-General in
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, General Linehan in New Hampshire,
Senator Walsh in Georgia, Hon. Joseph T. Lawless in Virginia, and
others, our society has already contributed a fund of rich
historical value to the history of this country. It would suffice to
cite this labor to show the scope.
The thought has occurred to me that it might be well, however, to
suggest a specialization of this work and to provide avenues for its
dissemination. The society should pursue the line of procedure
already mapped out by extending its membership to every state in the
country. Membership should be selected from men of scholarly
attainments devoted to historical research. This membership should
be so catholic as to include men of all religious denominations and
nationalities.
Apropos of this I beg leave to call attention to the great work done
and being done by German scholars in the study of Celtic, to
illustrate the probable value of assistance that might be rendered
to us by men of other nationalities. The society should coöperate
with the movements in the other states, looking to the establishment
of record commissions, and in states where such movements have not
been set on foot, to labor to create such movements. In addition to
this the products of the research of the society should be edited,
and when preserved in book form copies of these should be
distributed to other historical societies and placed in public and
private libraries. Volumes could be printed from time to time, a
number of which could be placed on the market for sale, thereby
defraying the expenses of publishing the same.
With such an inviting field of labor spread out before us, this
society not only supplies a long-felt want, but also a means of
inspiration. Each member can contribute to the common fund of
historical data, and the sum total of these contributions will go to
make up a work of great value.
The need of such an organization as the American-Irish Historical
Society being demonstrated, and its scope clearly defined, all that
remains to be done to perpetuate its success is to continue in the
work already so auspiciously undertaken.
The following letter was read from President Andrews of Brown
University:
PRESIDENT’S ROOM, BROWN UNIVERSITY,
PROVIDENCE, R. I., Nov. 10, 1897.
MY DEAR MR. MURRAY:—Your American-Irish Historical Society meeting
is sure to be a most interesting one, and but for the condition of
my health and the numerous engagements for this month to which I am
already pledged, I should certainly attend. As it is, I can only
send you this testimonial of my interest in your organization and in
the important phase of our American history which it is designed to
investigate and expound.
The society can, and no doubt will, perform a most valuable work.
The researches concerning the men whom I call the Irish Pilgrim
fathers—the earliest representatives of the Irish race in New
England—which you, yourself, sir, have so well begun, ought to be
carried to the utmost attainable completion.
In early southern history Irishmen were a factor of the utmost
importance. The Irish settlers and settlements in North Carolina and
early Kentucky furnish an attractive subject for historical study,
which, I believe, has never yet been adequately dealt with.
The American-Irish Historical Society will certainly prompt some of
the numerous and brilliant youth of Irish descent, now coming forth
from American colleges in such numbers, to turn their studies in the
direction named.
Yours with sincere esteem,
E. BENJ. ANDREWS.
The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, who were in session in New York on the
previous evening, sent the following:
NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 1897.