Edward A. Moseley, Washington, D. C., the retiring president-general of
the Society, wrote as follows:
_To the Members of the American-Irish Historical Society_:
BROTHERS:—I regret very much that it will be impossible for me to
attend the annual meeting of our Society on the 19th instant. I have
been under medical treatment during the past ten days, and I am
still far from well, and am advised by my physician that it would be
very unwise for me to leave the city for some time to come.
It would be an exceeding pleasure to me to be with you, and to meet
so many of the distinguished gentlemen of our Society who will be
present, and who will, no doubt, illuminate with their wit and
eloquence the banquet hall at Sherry’s on the evening of the 19th. I
shall be with you in spirit, but as I cannot be there in person,
would you kindly make a few suggestions for me at the meeting.
I have received the copy of Volume I of the _Journal_. It is a
handsome volume, and a publication creditable to its editors and our
Society. My only regret is that we cannot afford to publish such
works extensively, and place one in the household of every American
who boasts of his supposed Anglo-Saxon ancestry, and especially in
the hands of our dear brethren, the “Scotch-Irish” advocates, who
take so much pains to distinguish themselves from the mere Irish
element.
In these days, when the brotherhood of man does not count for so
much as in the early days of the republic, and when some are
dividing themselves into classes and races and assuming superiority
for the so-called “Anglo-Saxon race” over all the other races of men
created by Almighty God, it seems to me that, as we do not claim to
be of the “Anglo-Saxon race,” we should not submit to the
implication contained in the term that all other peoples, including
the Irish, are inferiors in race.
It is, therefore, high time for us to reassert and emphasize our
protest against the claim that the American people belong to the
“Anglo-Saxon race,” or that any of the Caucasian peoples are in any
degree inferior in race to any other. Where differences exist it is
a question of environment. After two or three generations, no one
can perceive any radical distinctions between Americans descended
from ancestors who were Englishmen, Irishmen, Scotchmen, Welshmen,
Dutchmen, Germans, Scandinavians or of any other European
nationality.
As there never was an “Anglo-Saxon” race—that being a term which
designated two German tribes—we repudiate any suggestion that
American civilization or progress is materially indebted to any
supposed Anglo-Saxon element in our composition. On the contrary, we
assert that all European nationalities have contributed to our
advancement and magnificent citizenship.
The purpose of our Society is not to attribute all our splendid
traits and achievements alone to the Irish element in our
composition. Unlike our Anglomaniac brethren, who contend that
everything great and good must be Anglo-Saxon, we merely claim
credit for a just share in the upbuilding of the nation.
I would like the learned gentlemen of our Society to enlighten the
average American, from time to time, in his local newspaper or on
the rostrum, in respect to this Anglo-Saxon fetish. This has already
been done for the American student by many distinguished
ethnologists. It is easy to give object lessons on this line by the
color of the hair and the eyes, and the shape of the skull, features
which demonstrate beyond question that men of the supposed
Anglo-Saxon type are the rare exceptions in our make-up, and are
often very far from being at the top of the scale in any respect;
while on the other hand, men of the received Celtic type compose the
overwhelming majority in this country and in the British Isles—even
in England itself, and in every part of England. They are in the
vast majority all over the world wherever the English tongue
prevails.
Many of the gentlemen of our Society can write just such admirable
papers as Mr. Bocock contributed to the _Cosmopolitan_ magazine of
this month (who confined himself, however, to instances of Irishmen
who achieved great fame). No one has done more in this direction
than our respected vice-president for the District of Columbia, Mr.
J. D. O’Connell, whose pen has ever been at the service of his
countrymen, particularly in this respect.
Whenever an Irishmen attains to fame or distinction in war,
literature, art, law, or statesmanship in the British Empire, he is
immediately claimed to be an Englishman, and, consequently, as
displaying “Anglo-Saxon” pluck and “Anglo-Saxon” intellect.
The truth is, that among all those who have achieved great
prominence in the English-speaking world, the Anglo-Saxon type is
conspicuous by its absence. Nine times in ten, when a man boasts of
“Anglo-Saxon” pluck, enterprise, ability, and progress, he himself
is not of that type of man, and nine-tenths of the incidents he
cites were brought about through the pluck, enterprise, ability and
progress which came from mixed blood.
I can only liken this misrepresentation of the truth of history to
the rattling of peas in a bladder, shaken by one of Shakespeare’s
clowns. Puncture the bladder, my friends, whenever and wherever it
is shaken. Tell the clown who calls himself an “Anglo-Saxon” that he
is an ass! and prove to him by the color of his hair, the color of
his eyes, and the shape of his skull that he is a Celt, a Milesian,
a Latin, or anything but an “Anglo-Saxon,” and that if it was ever
true that the English people were Anglo-Saxon, and that the
Anglo-Saxons were ever, at any time, the greatest people on
earth—superior to all other races—that time has so long since passed
away that no one now remembers it, and no true history chronicles
when and where they flourished.
* * * * *
But I have already trespassed too far on this line. Permit me to
wish you all, if not too late, a very happy and prosperous New Year,
and also to say to you that, as I have been twice honored by
election to the presidency of the Society—and that is, I think,
sufficient honor for any member—I beg to invoke the national rule
against a third term. Therefore, if any friend of mine should be so
indiscreet as to nominate me for that office, I request and urge you
to ask him to immediately withdraw the nomination.
Fraternally yours,
EDWARD A. MOSELEY,
_President-General_.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 17, 1899.