Chapter M: J. Harson (1)

RHODE ISLAND ]

GEN. M. C. BUTLER
SOUTH CAROLINA
]

GEN. ST. CLAIR A. MULHOLLAND
PENNSYLVANIA
]

VICE-PRESIDENTS

_The President-General’s Reply._

President-General Moseley replied as follows:

Gentlemen,—Deeply appreciative as I am of the honor conferred upon
me by your tendering me the position of President-General of the
American-Irish Historical Society, I feel that the compliment is
greatly enhanced by my having been selected to fill the place so
recently made vacant by the death of one of our most illustrious
fellow-citizens, the late Rear-Admiral Richard W. Meade, of the
United States Navy.

Honored by all true patriots for the loyalty, courage, and
professional ability which so eminently distinguished him in his
country’s hour of trial, and throughout his whole career, no more
fitting representative of the Irish people, to whose history our
society is devoted, could have been chosen as its first
President-General, than Rear-Admiral Meade, who bore a name renowned
as well in the army as in the navy of our country.

While fully conscious of my being all too unworthy to occupy a
position which my predecessor so adequately filled, yet, as I am
most earnestly and heartily in sympathy with the objects of the
American-Irish Historical Society, and willing to share in its
labors and responsibilities, I cannot but accede to your wishes,
whatever misgivings I may have as to my ability to fulfill your
expectations.

My descent from Irish ancestry, of which I am justly proud, and also
from the English and Welsh, not only enables me to regard myself as
among typical Americans in respect of origin, as well as aspirations
and pride of country, but renders me fondly sympathetic with the
aims and purposes of this American-Irish Society.

The main purpose of the American-Irish Historical Society is to
elucidate the history of the Irish element in our people and the
extent of the contributions to our development and civilization
since the earliest colonial period,—a rich and greatly neglected
field for historical research.

The society intends to demonstrate the fact that this element has
not been given the credit which is its due by the writers of
American history, and to prove by authoritative records that from
the earliest days of the settlement of this country up to the
present day, it has done its part towards establishing and
maintaining this great Republic, and in developing its greatness in
every field of its achievements.

But it is not solely to chronicle the deeds of Irish ancestors, or
their descendants, and our contemporaries that we have organized an
historical society.

Ownership, or the right of possession, as well as pride of descent,
tend to make one a better citizen. We, therefore, desire that as our
young men grow up they may feel that they inherit the right of
ownership in our great country; that their ancestors have done their
part towards the up-building of the grandest nation upon earth—a
part not surpassed by any other element of our people, and therefore
that they should always exercise the right of citizenship as a
sacred trust transmitted to them for the glory and welfare of their
country.

Of all those who by immigration have helped to people our country,
the Irish have come imbued with the most intense feeling of loyalty
towards our institutions, and it may be safely asserted that, since
our independence of English rule was proclaimed, every true Irishman
has felt, on landing in America, that the American shore was not a
foreign shore for him. To perpetuate this feeling is the crowning
object for which the society is organized.

Again sincerely thanking the society, through the committee, for the honor conferred upon him, President-General Moseley assured them that he would discharge the duties of the office to the very best of his ability.

In answer to the subjoined call the third meeting was held Nov. 16, 1897.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL,
PAWTUCKET, R. I., Nov. 1, 1897.

DEAR SIR:—You are hereby notified that the third meeting of the
American-Irish Historical Society will be held at Young’s Hotel,
Boston, Mass., on Tuesday evening, Nov. 16, 1897.

There will be a business session of the society at 6.30 P.M.,
followed, at 7.30 o’clock, by a dinner and post-prandial exercises
of an interesting nature.

The after-dinner features will include:

(1) An address by the presiding officer.

(2) The reading of letters from distinguished members of the
society unable to be present.

(3) A paper by Mr. Dennis Harvey Sheahan, of Providence, R. I.
(ex-clerk of the Rhode Island House of Representatives), on “The
Need of an Organization such as the A. I. H. S., and its Scope.”

(4) A congratulatory letter from His Excellency Elisha Dyer,
Governor of Rhode Island.

(5) An address by Mr. John Mackinnon Robertson, of London, author
of _The Saxon and the Celt_.

(6) A communication to the society from Hon. Joseph T. Lawless,
Secretary of State, Virginia.

(7) A paper on “The O’Briens of Machias, in the Revolution,” by
Mr. H. W. Chaplin, of Boston, Mass., who is a descendant of the
O’Briens.

Invitations to attend the dinner have been extended Rear-Admiral
Belknap, U. S. N.; Dr. John Sullivan, a descendant of Gen. John
Sullivan of the Revolution; and President Andrews, of Brown
University. President Andrews’s work on American history is well
known, and his patriotic address recently, before the Twentieth
Century Club, will not soon be forgotten.

It is earnestly desired that every member of the society who can
possibly be present at the coming meeting will attend and help make
the event the great success it so richly deserves.

Fraternally, and in behalf of the Executive Council of the Society,

THOMAS HAMILTON MURRAY,
Secretary-General.

The third general meeting of the American-Irish Historical Society was held at Young’s Hotel, Boston, on the evening of November 16, about seventy members being in attendance. Gen. James R. O’Beirne, Vice-President for New York, presided at the business session. Secretary-General Thomas Hamilton Murray made his official report, saying:

The society is steadily growing in membership, and is receiving an
excellent class of active workers. Many of these new accessions are
gentlemen of national reputation. Before the year closes it is
expected that between five and six hundred members will have been
enrolled. Since the founding of the organization last January, three
members have died. They were Postmaster Coveney, of Boston;
Rear-Admiral Meade, who was the first President-General of the
society; and Lawrence J. Smith, of Lowell, Mass.

Twenty-eight states, the District of Columbia, and two foreign
countries are now represented in the society’s membership. Since the
last gathering of the organization the council of the society has
held a number of meetings, and has materially furthered the
movement.

The organization has enlisted widespread attention, and requests for
genealogical information, historical data and facts relating to
early Irish settlers in this country have been received almost
daily. Several of the society’s members are of Revolutionary stock,
and some are descendants of officers who served under Washington.
Some of the members, too, trace their American ancestry back to a
period anterior to King Philip’s War.

Since the last meeting an excellent article descriptive of the
society and its purposes has been contributed to the _Granite State
Monthly_, of Concord, N. H., by the Treasurer-General, John C.
Linehan. A committee of Washington members of the society now has in
preparation a diploma of membership and a seal. This committee will
probably be ready to submit its designs at the next meeting. The
members at the national capital have extended the society a cordial
invitation to hold its coming meeting in that city, and have, in
fact, already begun preparations for the event, under the direction
of President-General Moseley. Gen. James R. O’Beirne, on behalf of
the New York members, has also tendered the organization an
invitation to meet in the near future in that city.

The last meeting of the society’s council was held in Pawtucket, R.
I., as the guests of the members in that place and Providence. The
meeting was very profitable to the cause. Several new members were
obtained for the organization; and the entertainers’ hospitality was
unbounded. The council has been invited to attend similar gatherings
in Worcester, Lawrence, and other cities. This indicates the
interest aroused. Massachusetts has at present the largest
representation in the society; then follow in order Maine, New
Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.

At the conclusion of Mr. Murray’s report a committee of three was appointed to take suitable action on the death of Lawrence J. Smith, of Lowell, Mass. The committee consists of Joseph Smith, Lowell; Thomas B. Lawler, Worcester; and Capt. P. S. Curry, Lynn.

William McConway, of Pittsburg, Pa., presented a check for $50 to the society.

It was voted to hold the next meeting of the society in New York City.

The business session then adjourned, and the company proceeded to dinner.

Hon. Thomas J. Gargan presided; and seated on his right and left were John Mackinnon Robertson, of London; Admiral Belknap, U. S. N.; Gen. J. R. O’Beirne, New York; Hon. P. A. Collins, Boston; Col. John C. Linehan, Concord, N. H.; Rev. Edward McSweeney, Bangor, Me.; James Jeffrey Roche, of Boston; Thomas B. Lawler, of Worcester; and Joseph Smith, of Lowell.

Around the tables were noted: the Revs. William P. McQuaid, Boston; John Harty, Pawtucket, R. I.; J. H. Lyons, Boston; Dr. W. D. Collins, Haverhill, Mass.; Dennis H. Sheahan, Providence, R. I.; Stephen J. Casey, Providence; Osborne Howes, Boston; Humphrey O’Sullivan, Lowell, Mass.; J. F. Brennan, Peterboro, N. H.; Representative John Jolly, Alderman Thomas O’Brien, and Hugh J. Lee, Pawtucket, R. I.; Daniel Donovan, Timothy Donovan, and P. S. Curry, Lynn, Mass.; Hon. Joseph H. O’Neil, Dr. William H. Grainger, Dr. P. J. Timmins, M. A. Toland, Edward A. McLaughlin, M. J. Jordan, Dr. P. F. Gavin, Charles E. S. MacCorry, Joseph P. Flatley, Jeremiah W. Fogarty, all of Boston; Edmund Reardon, Capt. J. F. Murray, and Edward M. Manning, of Cambridge, Mass.; James Cunningham and Frank W. Cunningham, of Portland, Me.; and many others.

After dinner a short but stirring speech was made by the presiding officer, Hon. Thomas J. Gargan, who said in part:

It cannot be otherwise than interesting to analyze the materials
entering into the warp and woof of our democratic fabric. We are a
nation receiving emigrants from almost every country on the face of
the globe. We are endeavoring to amalgamate people of different
races, languages, and religions into a homogeneous mass, eliminating
all that is vicious, and so refining what is good, hoping to evolve
the best type of manhood and womanhood to be found in the coming
century.

Doubtless the descendants of each race making contributions to our
population will perform their share of the work in tracing their
early settlements and their efforts in up-building the Republic. Our
share of the work is to examine the data and preserve the records of
the Irish and their descendants, and their contributions to the
settlement of the original Colonies, the founding of the nation, the
upholding of the Union, and the maintenance of democratic
institutions.

Proud of our ancestry, yet loving the United States and loyal to our
citizenship, we desire a fair share of credit for what they have
accomplished. We respect the Germans, the French, the Italians, and
the genuine Scotchman; but for that masquerading misnomer, the
Scotch-Irishman, who claims no ancestry and no country as his own,
we have only contempt; and he will go down to posterity as he
deserves, “unwept, unhonored, and unsung.”

A distinguished man has said “the Irish have fought successfully the
battles of all countries but their own.” They have also contributed
their full share to the civilization and progress of all
English-speaking people. That they possess brilliant qualities is
not denied; but it is charged that they lack steadiness of purpose.
I think a careful and critical study of the history of this country
will refute this assertion.

To assert that they have imperfections is but to say they are human.
For much of their humanity, I say God bless them. I wish there was a
little more humanity in the world in our day.

We of this society are only asking that they may be spoken of and
written of impartially, truthfully. “Nothing extenuate, nor set down
aught in malice.” We will accept our share of just criticism. The
malice and insolence of ignorance have unfortunately held the
platform too long. It is our duty to endeavor to refute errors with
clear statements of cold facts. For such purposes this society was
organized; and it is very gratifying to be able to announce that in
ten months since its organization we have already a list of nearly
five hundred members coming from almost every state in the Union,
representing some of the most distinguished men and families of the
Republic. I congratulate you, fellow-members, on this signal
success.

Mr. Gargan then introduced Mr. John Mackinnon Robertson, of London, author of many striking books and pamphlets, but most widely and favorably known to members of the Society and Irish-Americans generally by his masterly work, _The Saxon and the Celt_. Mr. Robertson is a tall, handsome man of forty, with dark hair, moustache and beard, and a well-modulated voice, which without effort reached the furthest part of the room. He gesticulates very seldom, and uses none of the tricks of the practiced orator; but he held his audience in rapt attention throughout his whole discourse, evoking applause and laughter at frequent intervals. He is a firm believer in the ultimate and not far distant triumph of Home Rule; and his advice to the American friends of the cause had the merit of novelty at least.

MR. ROBERTSON’S ADDRESS.

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.

TO THE AMERICAN-IRISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

GENTLEMEN:—The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of New York, an
association of Irishmen and Irish-Americans coeval with the founding
of this government, sends to you its heartiest fraternal greeting
through your representative, Mr. Lawler. We fully appreciate the
great value of the work you have undertaken—a work that involves the
preservation of the record and achievements of men of Irish blood in
the building and preservation of the American Republic.

The record of our race on this continent is glorious with patriotism
and self-sacrifice; it is a record of honest toil, of love of
freedom and religion, of devotion to God and country.

In preserving an authentic account of these achievements, the
American-Irish Historical Society is performing a work of justice to
the Irish race and an invaluable service to American history.

With every wish for your success, we remain fraternally yours,

MORGAN J. O’BRIEN,
President, Friendly Sons St. Patrick, by John J. Rooney.

Hon. P. A. Collins and Gen. J. R. O’Beirne dissented, courteously but firmly, from the proposition that justice is to be won from England by patience and a campaign of education. Recalling Parnell’s first visit to Boston, General Collins told with impressiveness how Wendell Phillips attended the great meeting, in order, as he said, “to look upon the man who had made John Bull listen.” We must make John Bull listen, was the theme of General Collins’s eloquent address. Though he had come unprepared to speak, he was in excellent form and showed no diminution of his old-time vigor and clearness of expression.

General O’Beirne, whose erect, soldierly figure and noble countenance “showed him no carpet-knight so trim, but in close fight a warrior grim,” spoke with burning words of the cause that is defeated but not lost, and never can be lost while Irishmen preserve their racial character. History for seven hundred years has shown their undying fortitude, and he predicted that it would record the same through all the years to come, whether Freedom come soon or late.

Admiral Belknap, U. S. N., Rev. Edward McSweeney, of Bangor, Me., and other gentlemen made brief impromptu remarks, and the meeting adjourned after passing a vote of thanks to Mr. Robertson for his entertaining discourse.

_New Members Admitted._

The following new members were admitted: His Excellency Elisha Dyer, Governor of Rhode Island; Hon. Joseph T. Lawless, Secretary of State, Virginia; Hon. Elisha W. Bucklin, ex-State Auditor, Pawtucket, R. I.; Hon. Wauhope Lynn, New York City; Recorder Goff, New York City; Hon. W. F. Reddy, Richmond, Va.; Col. James Armstrong, Charleston, S. C.; Col. C. C. Sanders, Gainesville, Ga.; Mr. Edward Fitzpatrick, staff of the _Courier-Journal_, Louisville, Ky.; Hon. John F. Finerty, editor the _Citizen_, Chicago, Ill.; Mr. M. J. Dowling, secretary National Republican League, Renville, Minn.; Mr. Michael Walsh, LL.D., Ph.D., editor _Sunday Democrat_, New York City; Mr. James D. Power, Washington, D. C.; Capt. John Flannery, Savannah, Ga.; Hon. Matthew O’Doherty, Louisville, Ky.; Mr. Edward L. Hearn, South Framingham, Mass.; Capt. John J. Coffey, Neponset, Mass.; Mr. Stephen J. Casey, Providence, R. I.; Mr. John B. Kehoe, Portland, Me.; Mr. Anthony J. Philpott, Boston, Mass.; Mr. William Lyman, New York City; Dr. Daniel I. O’Keefe, Jamaica Plain, Mass.; Dr. Thomas J. Dillon, Roxbury, Mass.; Dr. James E. Keating, Portland, Me.; the Rev. J. Phelan, Rock Valley, Ia.; Capt. Thomas J. Hogan, Portland, Me.; Mr. Thomas J. Lane, East Boston, Mass.; Mr. John Ahern, Concord, N. H.; Dr. Edward J. McDonough, Portland, Me.; Mr. Hugh J. Lee, Pawtucket, R. I.

Mr. Thomas B. Lawler, of Worcester, presented the following New York gentlemen as candidates for the society, and they were all admitted:

Hon. Joseph F. Daly, Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien, Hon. Frederick Smyth, Hon. E. F. O’Dwyer, Hon. Thomas S. Brennan, Col. William L. Brown, Dr. Charles J. Perry, Dr. Constantine Macguire, Maj. John Byrne, F. C. Travers, M. A. O’Byrne, John Crane, J. M. Fitzpatrick, D. P. Murphy, Jr., Robert E. Danvers, Stephen J. Geoghegan, James P. Campbell, Daniel O’Day, John J. Rooney, Laurence Winters, William Cranitch, James G. Johnson, William F. Clare, Edward J. McGuire, Daniel F. Colahan, Edward D. Farrell, William M. Penney.

On Feb. 1, 1898, the following invitation was issued to the members:

DEAR SIR:—You are hereby notified that the annual meeting of the
American-Irish Historical Society will be held at the Hotel San
Remo, New York City, Thursday evening, Feb. 17, 1898.

The San Remo is owned by a member of our society (Mr. Michael
Brennan) and is located at Central Park West, Seventy-fourth and
Seventy-fifth Streets. It is easy of access and excellently adapted
to a gathering such as we have in view.

There will be a business session of the society at 7 P.M., at which
the annual election of officers will take place. At 8 o’clock the
society and guests will proceed to dinner.

Gen. James R. O’Beirne, Vice-President of our society for New York
State, will preside.

The delegation from the New England states will include the Hon.
John C. Linehan, State Insurance Commissioner of New Hampshire; the
Hon. Thomas J. Gargan, Boston, ex-President of the Charitable Irish
Society (founded 1737); James Jeffrey Roche, LL.D., editor of the
Boston _Pilot_, and other prominent gentlemen.

At the business session an amendment to Article XII of the
Constitution will be offered. This article at present provides that
the executive council of the society shall consist of _ten_ members
(in addition to the general officers). The proposed amendment, if
passed, would change the language to read “not less than ten, nor
more than twenty.”

During the post-prandial exercises Mr. Joseph Smith, secretary of
the Police Commission, Lowell, Mass., will read a paper on “American
History as it is Falsified.”

Fraternally,
EDWARD A. MOSELEY,
President-General.

THOMAS HAMILTON MURRAY,
Secretary-General.

The annual meeting of the American-Irish Historical Society was held on Thursday evening, 17th inst., at the Hotel San Remo, New York City. A large and representative gathering was present. Six states,—New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey,—sent delegations. Fifteen states were represented by letters expressing congratulations and good wishes.

President-General Moseley, of Washington, D. C., was unable to be present owing to a press of duties as secretary of the Interstate Commerce Commission, but his annual address was read to the society by Gen. James R. O’Beirne, Vice-President for New York. It was an eloquent production.

The society made its headquarters for the occasion at the San Remo, a magnificent house, owned by a member of the organization, Mr. Michael Brennan. It is situated at Central Park West and Seventy-Fifth Street, and is one of the finest hotels in the world. The banquet hall where the annual dinner of the society took place is located on the tenth floor and was lighted by over a thousand incandescent electric lamps. The scene was one of great brilliancy.

T. E. A. WEADOCK
MICHIGAN
]

IGNATIUS DONNELLY
MINNESOTA
]

JAMES E. LOWERY
COLORADO
]

JAMES CUNNINGHAM
MAINE
]

VICE-PRESIDENTS

Among the early arrivals were: Hon. John C. Linehan, Concord, N. H.; Hon. Thomas J. Gargan, Boston, Mass.; Mr. James Jeffrey Roche, editor of _The Pilot_; Mr. T. B. Fitzpatrick, of Brown, Durrell & Co., Boston; Mr. Joseph P. Flatley, Boston; Mr. Joseph F. Swords, Hartford, Conn.; Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, grandnephew of the Irish patriot, Robert Emmet; Mr. Thomas B. Lawler, Worcester, Mass.; Hon. John D. Crimmins, New York; Mr. Frank C. Travers, New York; Capt. E. O’Meagher Condon, Washington, D. C.; Mr. Stephen J. Geoghegan, New York; Thomas Dunn English, Newark; and many others.

The business meeting and annual election took place at 7.30 P.M., and was held in the grand ballroom of the San Remo, which was comfortably filled.

General O’Beirne called the assemblage to order. Secretary-General Murray read the records of the previous meeting held by the society in Boston, and the same were approved.

It was announced that since that meeting three members of the society had died. They were: Hon. Owen A. Galvin, Boston; Hon. Charles B. Gafney, Rochester, N. H.; and Hon. John Cochran, New York City.

Committees were appointed to take suitable action on the deceased members.

The committee on audit, appointed to examine the books of the Treasurer-General, consisted of Judge Wauhope Lynn, New York; Mr. T. B. Lawler, Worcester, Mass.; and Mr. Michael Brennan, New York. The committee reported the books as displaying excellent system and arrangement, and the accounts of receipts and expenditures as being in an eminently satisfactory condition. The report was unanimously approved and adopted.

The society then proceeded to the election of new members, and some thirty were admitted from New York, Virginia, Texas, and other states. Among these new members is the Rev. Dr. McComb, a Presbyterian minister of New York City.

The proposed amendment to Article XII of the Constitution was adopted. It provided for an increase of ten in the make-up of the council of the society. The new members elected to the council under this provision comprise: Hon. Morgan J. O’Brien, a Justice of the New York Supreme Court; Hon. John D. Crimmins; Mr. Joseph F. Swords, Hartford, Conn.; Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, New York; Mr. Stephen J. Geoghegan, Mr. Francis Higgins, Hon. James S. Coleman, and F. C. Travers, New York City.

In addition to the foregoing, the annual election resulted as follows: President-General, Edward A. Moseley, Washington, D. C.; Secretary-General, Thomas Hamilton Murray, Pawtucket, R. I.; Treasurer-General, Hon. John C. Linehan, Concord, N. H.; Librarian and Archivist, Thomas B. Lawler, Worcester, Mass. These are all reëlections.

After the transactions of some routine matters the business meeting adjourned.

A short time later the line was formed and marched to the banquet hall, which was handsomely decorated. In the rear of the presiding officer’s chair was a glory of flags in which the star-spangled banner and the Irish tricolor predominated. American and Irish flags of small size were also distributed adown the tables, mingled with flowers and potted plants. Overhead the effulgence of a thousand electric lights served to add further brilliancy to the scene.

In a bower composed of huge palms and smaller plants was stationed an orchestra which discoursed sweet music during the repast. The company around the board represented, without exaggeration, several million dollars. Catholics and Protestants were there, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. It was a remarkable gathering in many ways, and was indicative of the strength and representative character already attained by the society.

General O’Beirne presided, and seated on his right and left were Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, Hon. Thomas Dunn English, Hon. John D. Crimmins, Hon. Thomas J. Gargan, James Jeffrey Roche, Joseph Smith, Judge Wauhope Lynn, Hon. John C. Linehan, F. C. Travers, V. P. Travers, John Crane, and T. B. Lawler.

Also present were noted: Commissioner Coleman, New York; Capt. E. T. McCrystal, of the Sixty-Ninth Regiment, New York; Dr. T. F. Harrington and Dr. George Leahey, Lowell, Mass.; Commissioner McSweeney, New York; W. F. Foley, Houston, Texas; John J. Rooney; and about one hundred others.

The menu card was especially designed for the occasion and elicited much favorable comment. During the evening a copy of the first Yearbook of the society was presented to each member present.

A feature of the evening was the rendition by the orchestra of “Ben Bolt,” out of compliment to the author, Dr. Thomas Dunn English, who was present. He is now about eighty years of age, and tears glistened in the old man’s eyes at this thoughtful tribute. The post-prandial exercises were opened by General O’Beirne who, after a stirring address on the objects of the society, read the annual address of the President-General, which was frequently applauded. He then successively introduced the speakers of the evening, who were Dr. Emmet, Dr. English, Mr. Gargan, Colonel Linehan, Captain Condon, Judge Lynn, and a number of others.

A great feature of this part of the program was an able paper by Mr. Joseph Smith, on “American History as it is Falsified.” He said:

SOME WAYS IN WHICH HISTORY IS FALSIFIED.

When the American-Irish Historical Society was organized a year ago
in Boston, it declared its purpose to be the investigation into, and
the recording of, the influence of the Irish element in the
up-building of the American nation. We said then that the work and
contributions of the Irish race on this soil had received scant
recognition from the writers of American history; and we announced
that whether that omission sprang from carelessness, ignorance,
indifference, or design was not so important as the imperative
necessity of remedying such a state of affairs in the interest of
historical accuracy and racial fair play. For the past year our
society has been in its formative stages; in the coming years I have
ample faith that numbers, funds, earnestness, and enthusiasm will
enable us to do our work effectively.

American history is being rewritten; the legendary and sentimental
method of writing it is growing in disfavor; a scientific age
demands the truth, and under its insistence new data are coming to
light and old myths are passing away. It is beginning to dawn on
American minds that this republic is the child of Europe and not of
England; that old man of buckram—the Anglo-Saxon—is having a hard
time with that new man of straw—the Scotch-Irishman; and when
science gets the latter on the dissecting table there won’t be much
left of him but rags and papier-maché.

To-night I will try to direct your attention to “Some Ways in which
American History is Falsified”; and by falsification I do not mean
so much the deliberate perversion of facts as I do the false effects
produced by evasion, distortion, wrong point of view, and the
physical and mental limitations and defects of writers, which in
their results are quite as mischievous as those produced by
perversion and design.

I will for my purposes group my object lessons under four heads,
illustrating each with a writer passing current as an historian.

1. _Mental Invalidism._ The disease of certain literary doctrinaires
whose natural defects have been aggravated by education and fixed by
training. Prof. John W. Burgess, of Columbia University, is a fine
type of this arrogant school of dogmatism.

2. _Legend and Sentiment._ The exploitation of legends, inherited
ideas, race and family myths, made current and passing into
literature by the efforts of those whose faith in folklore as
historical data is profound, and to whom facts and documentary
evidence are unimportant. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, an amateur
historian, is the high priest of this cult; he is the custodian and
incense swinger of the deified Puritan, the marvel and fountain of
the graces of the modern age.

3. _Imagination._ The school of writers who add to the gayety of
nations, who make history from their own inner consciousness, and
who record it as they imagine it ought to be, not as it is. Under
this head comes that humorless horde of scribblers, the Scotch-Irish
littérateurs, and the intellectual giant of Tennessee, Judge Temple,
author of _Covenanter, Cavalier, Puritan_.

4. _Carelessness and Credulity._ Writers who accept any evidence
stated with solemnity and the air of authority, but who subject it
to no tests to ascertain its verity and genuineness. Under this head
I take exceptions to the statements made by Prof. John Fiske in a
recent work, a writer hitherto regarded as safe and reliable.

I will now devote a few minutes to a work entitled _Political
Science and Constitutional Law_, written by Prof. John W. Burgess,
of Columbia University, and designed to be a text-book for that and
other educational institutions.

Mr. Burgess is a rampant type of what a coldly critical and
remorselessly correct writer, John M. Robertson, of London, calls a
Celtophobe—a Celt hater. The learned Professor asserts dogmatically
that the Celt never has, never can, and never will amount to
anything nationally or politically; and that all law, order, and
scientific government have sprung from and are due to what he calls
the Teutonic races. Professor Burgess is a product of German
training and education, and his views have received the cordial
endorsement of such a calm and dispassionate authority as the London
_Times_. The careful writer in stating his theory will fortify it
with facts and figures and marshal his authorities before proceeding
to erect a fabric on it; but Professor Burgess isn’t that kind of a
man. He states his theory with an air of profound conviction and
authority and goes ahead. His theory, like a good many other fabrics
“made in Germany,” looks well, is calculated to deceive the unwary
and unthinking, but under very ordinary scrutiny proves to be very
commonplace, shoddy.

Let me show you a few of the gems from his treasury:

“Only the Teutonic races have produced national states.... The
National State is thus the most modern and most complete solution of
the whole problem of political organization which the world has as
yet produced; and the fact that it is the creation of the Teutonic
political genius stamps the Teutonic races as the political nations
_par excellence_, and authorizes them in the economy of the world to
assume the leadership in the establishment and administration of
states.”

This brilliant outburst winds up a series of equally impressive
statements. Just what the Professor means by National States and
political nations I do not know, nor am I sure he knows himself. At
any rate, he appears to lay down a doctrine very delightful to these
governments which bully nations and steal territories, if not quite
so agreeable to those bullied and plundered.

Now listen to his views on the unfortunate Celt; they have the old
familiar ring of anti-Irish hysteria, for which familiarity has bred
Irish contempt.

“Personal attachment in small bodies to a chosen Chief is the
peculiar political trait of the Celtic nations.... The effect of
such a political character has always been the organization of the
Celtic nations into numberless petty military States, in each of
which individual rights have been ignored; between all of which
civil war has been the permanent status; and against which foreign
force has been continually successful.... Violence and Corruption
have always marked the politics of Celtic nations.”

Let us stop for a moment to analyze this tremendous blast from
Columbia University, remembering that Germany and England are
Professor Burgess’s ideal Teutonic nations.

From the time of the Roman retrocession from England until the
landing of William the Norman at Hastings, that unfortunate land was
in the hands of one of the dullest, most unimaginative,
worst-governed, and worst-governing races history mentions—the
Saxons—for six hundred years; it had become a congeries of warring,
military chieftainship, in which civilization was almost
obliterated, learning had disappeared, religion was at its lowest
ebb, life and property had no safety, the people were enslaved, and
the coast harried by foreign and victorious foes. The advent of a
strong conqueror—a mixed Celt and Norseman—changed all this,
hammered England into a strong military kingdom, connected her with
the civilization that has made the world what it is—the Latin—and
did in six years what the pure Teutonic race had signally failed to
do in as many centuries.

Prior to the historic event known as the Reformation, Germany had as
much peace as her neighbors—which wasn’t much—and all she had she
owed to her intercourse with the Latin South, to her touch with the
civilization and religion of Rome. After that event Germany was torn
into factions, military chiefs sprang up, petty military states were
made, violence and corruption were the rule, civilization
retrogressed, the people were degraded and the land devastated.
Germany was without unity; her mercenaries were for sale to the
highest bidder; she was terrible only to her children, the prey of
foreign forces, with civil war a permanent status. The advent of
Napoleon was a blessing; he hammered a lot of petty principalities
out of existence and formed two or three monarchies out of the
bewildering many. The fall of Napoleon saw Germany a confederation,
much after the fashion of pre-Reformation days, with Austria on top.
Again came wars and dissensions, and finally the strong conqueror
who united Germany against a common foe and made her what she is
to-day. Germany, I take it, is the highest political expression of
the Teutonic race, according to the dictum of Professor Burgess.
What is it?

A military despotism of the most mediæval type, governed by an
autocrat of doubtful sanity, whose person is more sacred apparently
than that of the Deity; a land whence the people fly to seek safety,
peace, liberty; a government that is a constant threat to the peace
and civilization of the earth and that embodies all the reactionary
principles a free people hate.

One does not expect the German professor, his disciple, or the mole
in the earth to see what is going on in the sunlight.

If we turn to Ireland we see nothing but violence, corruption, and
plunder in the methods of the Teutonic race ruling there; and we
observe improvement in Irish affairs only with the decrease of
English influences and the increase of Irishmen in Irish affairs.

It is a favorite axiom of the Teutonic writer of the Burgess type,
wherever English and German rule is a failure, that the people ruled
are unfit for government. Did it ever occur to them that the shoe is
on the other foot—they are unfit to govern?

The unfitness of the English to govern Ireland is historic; it was
exhibited in America, as some may recall; it is notorious in India
and round the earth. The best-governed possessions of England are
the lands where Englishmen are least in evidence. Germany in Africa
is producing the usual harvest of Teutonic “genius”—depopulation and
devastation.

But Mr. Burgess has a theory, and he does not propose to hamper it
with facts. He asserts that the government—the political
organization—of Spain, Italy, and Portugal are the results of
Teutonic genius. This will probably be news to the world; but if the
debility, decay, and general rottenness of those kingdoms are the
result of Teutonic genius, the sooner they try the genius of the
negro and the Chinaman the better for them. He covers whatever
political good may exist in Greece, Bulgaria, and Roumania by
attributing it to the impecunious German princes now adorning the
rickety thrones in those lands. The idea is original, but not
impressive. Why not attribute the political condition of Scandinavia
to the presence on its throne for ninety years of Bernadotte, the
French (Celtic) military adventurer, and his wife, the daughter of
the Irish merchant Cleary, and their children? The logic is as good,
or as bad, in one case as the other.

But why go on with this tissue of professional rubbish?

Nations are made what they are by climate, environment, peace, war,
and economic and industrial conditions. Groups of men learn as does
the individual, in the school of experience. Nations have no genius
for anything; the botch work we call government to-day at its best
is hardly a manifestation of genius. Nations may have temperaments,
the product of experience, but only the individual has character.

Professor Burgess is merely a mental invalid, an hysterical
Celtophobe. He either forgets the existence of Rome and Greece, or
he fails to understand the value of civilization and human
experience; he is a kind of literary phonograph, repeating the
slanders and absurdities which a school of race egotists have raised
to a cult. He is a decidedly unsafe man to educate a coming
generation of Americans, for the writer of solemn and dogmatic
nonsense is unfit to train the American youth. Certainly no
self-respecting man of Irish-Celtic blood should permit his children
to attend a university where they are taught that the perpetrators
of ages of outrage and wrong are divinely selected beings, chosen
“to assume leadership in the establishment and administration of
States.”

If we desire that sort of rubbish taught, it is just as easy to
secure professors at Bloomingdale as it is at Columbia.

The legendary and sentimental makers of history seem to thrive best
in New England; and a fine type of the cult is the so-called
“scholar in politics,” Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts
and Nahant. There is in China a religion whose principal tenet is
the worship of ancestors, the placation of ancestral manes. This
religion is called Tavism; and possibly the purest type of Tavist,
outside of China, is the junior senator from Massachusetts.