for a reception room, at 6.30 p. m. A ladies’ room across the hall has
been prepared, and a gentlemen’s room a few doors down. Attendants of
the hotel under the direction of the Reception Committee will wait upon
the members and guests, and until seven a reception by the officers to
members and guests will be held under the direction of the Reception
Committee.
“Dinner will be served at seven promptly in the Grand Banquet Hall.
Seating lists have been provided and will be distributed at the
reception, so that each member and guest may know where he is to sit.
Applicants for tickets received today will be seated by the Reception
Committee to the best of its ability. Dinner tickets of members and
guests will be taken up by the hotel attendants at the entrance to the
Grand Banquet Hall.”
Before we adjourn, I want to ask Mr. Michael J. Corbett, one of our
members, to say a word.
MR. CORBETT: Gentlemen, I am glad to have been here today. I have
enjoyed all the papers that have been read, and have no doubt I shall
enjoy the banquet later in the evening.
Motion made and seconded that the meeting adjourn.
DR. QUINLAN: This closes the scientific meeting of the American-Irish
Historical Society, and I declare it adjourned.
ANNUAL BANQUET.
PRESIDENT-GENERAL QUINLAN: Ladies and Gentlemen and Honored Guests, in
the name of the American-Irish Historical Society, I bid you welcome to
our city and to the Twelfth Annual Banquet of our Society.
During the last year, some events have crowded into the history of the
Irish people in this country that give thrill and romance to the race.
One feature that is preëminent, and one that stands vividly before us as
if yesterday, was the pageant on the land and sea of the Hudson-Fulton
celebration. That grand occasion, ladies and gentlemen, brought forth in
this city and its environs a multitude of people who have come to honor
the men who have placed their names in American history and who have
perpetuated its grandeur. The conditions surrounding this great event
are only too well known to you, and it would be like bringing coals to
Newcastle were I to burden your memory by referring to that occasion.
Tonight we have assembled to commemorate an event in the history of this
Society. Some twelve years ago, in the city of Boston, a call was sent
out by the late Secretary-General of this organization to some men in
the outlying cities and suburban towns to assemble and organize a
society that would correct the wrong that had been done the
American-Irish or Irish-American, and make known what they had achieved.
The history of our country has oft been written by men of English blood,
and it was the purpose of that body that was assembled to correct
erroneous impressions and give color, feature and dignity to the men who
have made it possible for us to enjoy the beautiful flag of our Union.
(Applause.)
This Society is essentially American because its interests are coupled
with the defence of the flag, and we have everything in common with the
community of our great nation. It is Irish because its sons and
grandsons have made their weight felt in every walk of life, and are
commemorating the conditions that were given to them by their sires. It
is historic because it is our pleasure, our pride and our privilege to
record the achievements of Irishmen in every walk of life, and to make
them better known in the history of today and in the history to come,
and to give force and color and emphasis to what they have done for our
Republic. (Applause.)
As this is an historical body, it may be my privilege tonight to refer
occasionally to manuscript, in order that every word uttered by the
executive may bear the imprint of record. Sustained as I am on both
sides by the law and the Church, I could not otherwise but give
utterance to that which emanates from and has been conceived by people
who have toiled and wrought and developed a condition and a color that
has stood out for what is right.
With the inception of our country, Irishmen have been ever foremost to
proclaim their allegiance—from Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who
dedicated his life and fortune to the cause of Independence, to the
humblest wage-earner who contributes his quota, from the bleak shores of
Alaska to the Mexican Gulf. They have added lustre to Columbia’s
Coronet, and in the womb of the unborn future they will continue their
unswerving devotion to the cause of Freedom.
This is the youngest historical daughter of Erin in America. It has been
suckled at the breasts of the Mother Irish Societies here, many of whom
are older than the very country itself. It has grown and matured because
it was sustained by a spirit of justice, and it has lived and prospered
under the sheltering influence of the Stars and Stripes.
Our fathers sought this country as an asylum from the tyranny and
misrule of England, and they builded far better than they knew. For the
past two hundred years, they were deprived of every condition, social
and educational, that belonged to a country whose civilization at one
time had illumined the world. The pages of Irish history for the past
seven hundred years present little else than sorrow, privation and
oppression. During the past two hundred years, Irishmen have come to
Columbia’s open arms, and they have not been unworthy of her tender care
and affection. We stand here tonight entrenched behind the history of
our past, and Ireland’s sons and daughters have taken their place in the
household of America, and we will strive to be worthy of the position
assigned to us in her family.
I am pleased to announce that the past year has witnessed industrial and
educational changes in the Emerald Isle. One-half of the present
occupiers of the land have purchased the ground outright (Applause) and
the division of the untenanted pasture lands among the people has
stimulated thrift and neatness, as well as increased production, whilst
the Irish trade-mark has protected its home industries. Home Rule
agitation has strengthened the position of Mr. Redmond and vindicated
his Parliamentary activity. The prospects for Home Rule in Ireland,
whether from the tariff reform or from the Conservatives or Free Trade
Liberals, are now brighter than they have been since the year 1885.
(Applause.)
[Illustration:
HONORABLE THOMAS F. GILROY,
Far Rockaway, Queen’s County, New York.
Formerly Mayor of New York City.
]
It is not my thought, in this prefatory address, to invade the province
of subsequent speakers, but rather to introduce to you in a modest way
our position as an historical body in this great nation. The gentlemen
who will follow me will give you detailed accounts of our activity and
strength in this country, whereas it is my humble part to explain our
existence and ratify our importance as one of the races that make up
this glorious Republic. (Applause.)
We know no creed except the Sermon on the Mount; no race but the
community of honest purpose; no politics but those which serve for the
betterment of mankind. We want our record from the voyage of Brendan,
who antedated Columbus nine hundred and fifty years, to this country,
down to the invention of Brennan of the monorail, inscribed upon the
pages of history as products of Irish thought and ingenuity.
I will take a minute, if I may, to explain in a digressional way what I
have alluded to in my last sentence. Mr. Louis Brennan, inventor of the
Brennan torpedo and the Brennan monorail, of which he recently gave a
successful exhibition in London, was born in Castlebar, County Mayo,
Ireland. He was, from 1887 to 1896, superintendent of the Government
Brennan Torpedo Factory, of which he is at present the consulting
engineer. The first monorail for commercial purposes will soon be in
operation in the city of New York. Mr. Brennan estimates that it can
easily attain a speed of 140 miles an hour, and that danger is
practically negative.
Your Presidents-General, from Admiral Meade to Admiral McGowan, have
been men who have stood for the great ideals of this country. Their
labors in this Society have been crowned with success, and those of this
group of executives who have been removed by the hand of Death can look
from their exalted places tonight and feel proud of their meritorious
work. They have erected the edifice; it is only left for us to maintain
the structure. The work of this Society would be like a “Rope of Sand,”
as my friend Clarke would say, unless we perpetuate our traditions and
realize the anticipations of our forefathers.
This Society needs a Chapter in every State of the Union, where
semi-annual meetings should be held for the purpose of reading
historical papers, and at the same time to draw closer and closer
together our people. Bring your sons into our Society that they, too,
may enjoy the glorious association of our kinsfolk. (Applause.)
There is a tendency, however, among the young people (and this I say
with regret) to regard anything Irish as unstylish and, perhaps, a
trifle low. Now, such thoughts must be eliminated by their presence and
coöperation with us, and their participation in all our allied
interests.
My work among you has been a labor of love. The administration has been
ably seconded in all its efforts, and the Membership Committee, headed
by its indefatigable captain, has regenerated our Society by its
colossal work. In two years our forces have been increased to nearly one
thousand members (Applause) and the Society has benefited numerically
and intellectually, as well as financially.
It is a well-known fact, that, in the event of death, either by illness
or accident, of the Great Father of our Country, it was his express wish
that the command of the Continental Army should be given to General John
Sullivan. (Applause.)
That seven of the sixteen generals in that same army were Irishmen or
Irishmen’s sons. That Commission No. 1 in the Continental Navy was given
to Jack Barry of the City of Wexford. (Applause.) That the first naval
victory of the Revolution on the high seas was won by Maurice O’Brien of
Maine and his seven sons (Lexington of the Seas). (Applause.)
That four months before a shot was fired at Lexington, proclaiming the
War of Independence, a handful of patriots, mostly Irish boys, led by
John Sullivan of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, overpowered an English
garrison at Newcastle and captured guns and ammunition that were used
with deadly effect at Bunker Hill. (Applause.)
It was said this afternoon at our scientific gathering by one familiar
with the subject that the finest lot of books that ever came into
America at one time was presented to Yale College by Bishop Berkeley of
Cloyne, Ireland, and formed the nucleus of its great library. That
Thomas Dongan, Earl of Limerick, as Governor of New York, gave the
Colony its first great Charter in 1683; and that twelve of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence were Irishmen or men of Irish
extraction.
Wireless telegraphy owes its discovery to the son of a Dublin mother,
steam navigation to a son of Erin, and the great Erie Canal—it ought to
be the Erin Canal—to the descendant of a Celt. Through the bodies of
eight presidents of our Nation coursed Irish blood, and many of the
gifted dramatists and actors of our country have come from gentle Irish
stock; whilst editors and literateurs have been pleased to call their
inspiration purely Celtic. Fortified by such forces in the past, we are
here tonight to blow life into the mummified historians of our day, and
to awaken in them the honest motto of our Society, “That the World may
know.” (Applause.)
George II had reason to say: “Cursed be the laws that deprived me of
these subjects,” and how George III could re-echo these fateful words
after his unjust taxation upon the early colonists is to be marvelled
at; but the Irish were here then, as they are here now, ready to avenge
to the hills their treasured wrongs.
It is not my purpose on such an occasion as this to dim your eyes or
sadden your thoughts with unhappy reflections, but custom holds me to a
strict account; therefore a befitting allusion to our departed brothers
is not out of place, and such an omission would indeed be culpable.
Our ranks have been depleted during the past year by the Great Leveller.
Many of these we could ill afford to lose, but, by Divine Command, they
have gone where, with watchful eyes, they will continue to follow us in
spirit. Let us be worthy of the heritage they have given us, and when
we, too, part company from those we love, let it be said of us as it is
said of them, “They are absent but not forgotten.” (Applause.)
The band will now play the “Star Spangled Banner,” and I will propose a
toast to the President of our Nation, William H. Taft. (Toast drunk
standing.)
PRESIDENT-GENERAL QUINLAN: Ladies and gentlemen, you will kindly be
seated. We are only upon the threshold as yet, we shall soon invade the
building.
In my enthusiasm I forgot, in the opening part of my speech, to thank
the men who have elected me for the third time to the presidency of this
great Society.
I want the women here tonight to take this matter up with these
derelicts—I won’t say whether it is father, husband or son. You see
mothers are always before me, and I can’t get away from the mental
picture as well as the physical one. But the women can do much good.
Look what they have done tonight! If you could stand here and see this
beautiful picture, effulgent with everything lovely, it seems that the
flowers and shrubs of Paradise have been sent down here in order to give
color and radiance to this picture! And then the inspiration—Mr.
Crimmins says a feast in itself.
Now I want the good women to talk about the American-Irish Historical
Society, to boom it, so to speak, and I feel confident that much good
will be accomplished through their efforts.
I am going to ask the Secretary-General to read one or two
communications from absent members, and we will go through this
programme like Paderewski does with his touch on the piano.
SECRETARY-GENERAL LEE: Mr. President—
(Applause.)
Ladies and Gentlemen of the American-Irish Historical Society, I thank
you sincerely. At the direction of the President-General, I have three
communications to read. The first is from our fellow member, Mr. Victor
Herbert. It is a telegram to the President-General:
“NEW YORK, January 8, 1910.
“DR. FRANCIS J. QUINLAN,
“President-General American-Irish Historical Society,
“New York City.
“Am prevented from being present tonight on account of attack of
tonsilitis, confining me to residence. Wish fellow members and guests
a right good time.
“VICTOR HERBERT.”
(Applause.)
The next two are letters from ex-United States Senator William E.
Chandler, who is Vice-President of the Society for New Hampshire:
“CONCORD, N. H., January 6, 1910.
“_My Dear Mr. Lee_:
“It gives me pleasure to be allowed to apply to be a member of the
American-Irish Historical Society.
“Should I be elected, please give me the necessary notice. I find I
shall not be able to attend the meeting of Saturday; but if I can be
of service to you in Concord or Washington it will give me pleasure to
do so.
“Very truly,
“WM. E. CHANDLER.”
“WASHINGTON, D. C., January 6, 1910.
“_My Dear Mr. Lee_:
“I recommend for membership John W. Kelley of Portsmouth, N. H. I
reckon, however, he is now a member.
“Hastily yours,
“WM. E. CHANDLER.”
I move you, Mr. President, Mr. Kelley’s election as a member of this
organization.
PRESIDENT-GENERAL QUINLAN: You have heard the motion that Mr. John W.
Kelley be elected a member of the American-Irish Historical Society.
Those in favor say “aye,” those opposed “nay.” Mr. Kelley is unanimously
elected.
PRESIDENT-GENERAL QUINLAN: It is necessary that you give your undivided
attention to the next speaker. He is the financial agent, or, rather
trust president of our corporate body. Mr. Dooley has been associated
with the American-Irish Historical Society for many years. You all know
Judge Lee, because he is in touch with you constantly upon the various
matters that concern our Society, whether historical or social; but Mr.
Dooley has so little occasion to remind you of your obligations, as the
wave of financial return sweeps into him without any reminder from his
office. He is quiet, modest and dignified, like a great many of our New
Englanders.
Now, within the borders of that section of New England—notice New
“England,”—it is now nearly New “Ireland,”—Mr. Dooley represents one of
the largest moneyed organizations in the City of Providence. And he is
so proud of his Irish blood that sometimes I am fearful lest he be
overtaken with a patriotic seizure; his enthusiasm seems to know no
bounds. We will now hear him in his own plain, honest words. I have the
pleasure of presenting to you the Treasurer-General of our Society, Hon.
Michael F. Dooley.
(Band plays “Oh, Mr. Dooley” amid hearty applause.)
TREASURER-GENERAL DOOLEY: This is not the first time I have been greeted
with that song, and, while the voices here tonight have been exceedingly
delightful to listen to, I can’t help thinking of a criticism that was
once passed by the _New York Sun_ upon the “Boston Ideals,” who had been
singing English opera, and had done it splendidly. They came to New York
determined to enter the field of Italian opera, and the morning
following their first night the _Sun_, in its criticism, started in by
saying: “Ideals rush in where artists fear to tread.” I congratulate you
upon the song; you sang it so well.
I regret very much that an imperfect memory makes it necessary for me to
read this paper to you, but its brevity, I hope, will make good what it
otherwise lacks.
AN UNSOLVED PHASE OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
The hoary and honored dictum that “History is a conspiracy against
truth” is like the cry of David in his desolation calling all men liars.
There is food for meditation in the two utterances, and candor compels
the admission that the world believes there is more than a modicum of
justification for them both.
And this reminds me that a meeting of the American Historical Society
was held at New York a few days ago at which Professor Albert Bushnell
Hart of Harvard, an authority of high repute, and a man of great
critical judgment and learning, delivered an address on “Imagination in
History.” He told his hearers among many other things well worth
remembering, that “even historical scholars are not without their
failings, their prejudices and their falsehoods.”
Now, while the discovery is not new, the announcement of it has never
found more forceful expression or been backed by a more expert
opinion—and it is of more than passing interest to our Society whose
cardinal principle is “to make better known the Irish Chapter in
American History.” It emphasizes the usefulness and necessity of this
and kindred organizations to make straight the crooked ways, to save
from obscurity the names and deeds of those who achieved, and if they do
not live, to have live in our country’s annals the Irishmen and the sons
of Irishmen worthy of the honor.
In the days before the Christian era and for long after, it was not an
infrequent practice for the Roman people to deify their great men and
erect temples in their honor, worship at their shrines, and pay
reverence to their memory. Among those to whom such honors were paid
were deities of Greek origin, who had been adopted by the Romans, either
under their own names or under others that equally as well served; but
they were always Romans, their origin being obscured or totally ignored.
This custom has not been unknown among the moderns, and should a general
apotheosis occur in our country, it is but fair that among the shrines
in the temple some few be reserved, if they deserve it, for that people
who contributed at least 5,000,000 souls, living, creative and creating
to the growth and greatness of the land.
It is needless to enter upon the social, political and religious
conditions which brought to these shores in mid-colonial times, a
considerable number of Irish, whose identity became merged in the great
mass of the people. I speak of it only to note the fact that there was
such an immigration, and that the influence of this stranger people upon
the habits and character of the colonists must have been felt in some
degree, however insignificant, in the communities in which they and the
Irish dwelt together. For, in the lapse of time by intermarriage and the
daily routine of life, whether as master and servant, landholder and
tenant, or husband and wife, there could not fail to come a slow,
perhaps, but sure blending of qualities and characteristics that
influenced the evolution and development of the American man as we find
him in certain parts of the South at the time of the Revolution. This
intermixture of races can be readily understood as not difficult of
accomplishment when it is recalled that they both spoke the same tongue,
and were generally in large part of the same religion if not of the same
church.
At the outbreak of the Revolution many of those belonging to this
emigrant class, or their sons, had risen to prominence and already made
themselves felt in the trade and commerce of their communities, or had
become land owners of importance.
With rare exceptions they ardently sympathized with their fellow
colonists in their aspirations for liberty, and a very large number of
them enlisted in the American army.
The war gave further impetus to Irish immigration for reasons easily
divined, and so marked were their numbers in Washington’s forces that at
the close of the conflict, in an investigation by the English Parliament
into the causes and conduct of the war, it was said by some of the
witnesses that the Irish in no small degree contributed to the loss of
the colonies by the mother country. When I put it in this form I modify
materially the testimony of some of the witnesses who flatly declared
that it was the Irish who won the Revolution.
This to me has always appeared to be an exaggerated statement,
particularly when I read the roster of the Sons of the Revolution—for
either nearly all the Irish were killed in action or died soon after—or
possibly there has been some legerdemain in the nomenclature of the
survivors. But that there were some Irish in the Revolutionary forces
who fought well and died, history has recorded, and American historians
have admitted it, but have not chronicled the fact with any wealth of
detail or enthusiasm.
As the eighteenth century ended, the Irish began coming hitherward in
greater force than had marked the preceding years, and continued coming
in increasing volume during the succeeding fifty years, until about
1847, when their numbers grew enormously. From that time on, until 1890,
immigration statistics show that about 4,000,000 Irish came to America,
which is one of the greatest race movements, if not the greatest in the
history of the world.
Up to the beginning of this great exodus from Ireland, with the
exception of that period during which the Alien and Sedition laws were
passed and repealed, the Irish had grown into the fibre and woof of the
nation with slight friction and with little open objection, but when
every port of our eastern shore became a haven for ship after ship
bringing emigrants from Ireland, the country paused and wondered. But
they came and continued to come until wonder turned to anxiety, which
was but a step from hostile alarm, and this eventually took shape in the
formation of patriotic societies all over the thickly settled parts of
the country, for the purpose of having laws passed restricting
immigration and the granting of political rights. This situation was
further complicated by the great mass of the invaders being unlettered
and untrained in the common avocations of life, whether as tillers of
the soil, mechanics, or clerks.
As we look back to the events of that period, it is not surprising that
the people already here viewed with aversion and fear the presence of
this vast army of aliens.
[Illustration:
HONORABLE THOMAS F. WALSH.
Of Denver and Washington.
Vice-President of the Society for Colorado.
Copyright, 1909.
By J. Knowles Bishop.
]