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CLARKE, Q.C. ^♦-♦-♦< ^^^^ a9zu^^^ PRINTED BY JOHN L O V E L L, g x. NICHOLAS STREET 1868. :^5 I \ f ) >■ -ss; (^ idiir Mmfmhm ►♦-♦-♦< Sir, From among tho thousands of !di»©w« ft-ienOs of the late Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee in Canada, I beg leave to dediaatc this «mple '' Sketch of Ms Life" to you, whose friendship he valued above all others, and well he might, for a more manly, sincere, disinterested friend he never had, and no other man ever could have in this world. As an Irishman, I feel that it is an honour paid to his memory, who was my friend, to acknowledge, even in this humble manner, your liberal and firm support, as a friend and constituent of our great Irish Cana- dian ^States3ian AND Orator, of whom we are so proud, tiirou^ good report and evil report, during liis brilliant political career in Canada, up to the time of his sad and sorrowful death. Ever faithfully your obdt. servt. Henry J. O'C. Clarke. Montreal, 1st December, 18G8. .' ^ I 1 >^ -'J ) Part I. " Ilis life was go'itlp, and tlio Plemonts So minglcnl in him, that nature nti^lit ^tand up And say to all the world, 37//.^ vasi a man.'" SHAKESI'EAKK. f FAR away t'rom that glorious, but unhappy Isle, where he dreamt away the bright fleeting hours of his childhooJ ; ftir away i'roni tho home of his clearest hopes, of his highest aspirations ; far away from the green church-yard where the white ashes of his revered parents lie clasped in the friendly embrace of the land of their birth ; in the new world, far over the sea, in the land of his adoption, high up on the sunny side of beautiful " Mount I^oyal,^^ which, sloping towards the far- famed St. Lawrence, laves its foot in the limpid waters of the inajestic rirer, overlooking the beautiful city of Montreal; where for years his voice was the most potent, his smile the most friendly, his influence in all thao was most noble, patriotic, and good, was most felt, sleeps the greatest pcet, orator, statesman, historian, the best, the trutst friend, coun- sellor, and guide of the Irish race in America. His grave is bedewed by a young nation's tears; his memory lives, and shall live in that young nation's heart ; his name and fame will cast lustre on the pnges nf her history, and his life labours will stand forth as an example worthy of emulation to future millions. Thomas D'Arcy McGec was not descended from a long line of noble ancestors; no human power or patent secured to him a noble name or hereditary estate; he was simply the son of an honest man, and a truly good woman, and the pat,ent which ennobled him was the gift of God him- self. He was born at Carlingford, Ireland, on the 13th of April, 1825 ; c his father wa.s at the time employed in the coast guard service, in which he continued to the time of his death, which took place about two years ago (1867) ; his father's name was James McGec. While stationed at Belfast he made the ■xcquaiutancc of and married Miss Dorcas Morgan ; they removed, in a short time after their union, to Carliiigford, where the subject of our sketch was born. Both on the father and mother's side, Mr. McGce was descended from families remarkable for their devo- tion to the cause of Ireland ; his mother's grandfather was one of the most active men of the rebellion of 1798, as was also his father's brother ; and, with the exception of his father, all the men of the families on both sides, were " United Irishmen," During the time of that dread- ful rebellion, the giandfather of Mr. McGce'.s mother was for a long time held a state prisoner ; and although he escaped with his life, all his pro- perty was swept away, and the family in consequence became in>pover- ished, but not to such a degree as to prevent the mother of IMr. McGee from receiving a very good education. She was a woman of unusual refinement, and of deep religious feeling; her great object was to instill into the minds of her children their duty to God, first, and next to instruct them in the rucimcnts of a sound English education. An Irisliwoman in heart and feeling, she impressed on her first born son that undying love for Ireland which clung to hiiu throughout his life. In 1833 Mr. James McGcc was ordered to Wexford, and there in that year ho lost his wife. Thomas D'Arcy was then only eight years of age, but so well had his good mother laboured to improve his mind, that at that tender age, although he had never spent a day at school, he was very^far advanced for a child of his years, not only in the rudiments of learning, but the substantial foundation of a moral and religious education had also been laid in his youthful mind, and those lessons learnt in his early childhood at his mother's knee, impressed on his memory by his good mother's example and precept, were never forgotten'in his after life. Amid the storms and whirlwinds of revolution and party strife, amid the trials, pleasures, victories, disappointments and dangers which marked his most eventful career, his mother's early lessons of piety deeply impressed on his child's lieart with her smiles and tears, were ever present to his mind, and influenced, in a marked degree, the conduct of his whole life. After his mother's death Thomas was put to school, and it is needless to say, was remarked for the ease and rapidity with which he mastered his lessons and outstripped his comrades in the various branches taught in the Wexford school. Mr. McGee never had i regular classical education ; his father could not afford him the opportunity from his very limited means ; and a man endowed with less talent than him would never, with the scanty \ • i * means of acquiring knowledge at his commanil, have risen above medio- crity ; but great minds burst the chains which would confine lesser ones, and freeing tliomselves, soar far above the slavery of circumstances, of birth, and opportunity, and in their flight upwards scatter lessons of wis- dom which tond to improve mankind and to illustrate the power of the Creator. Select the greatest names recorded cf the rulers, instructors, or benefactors of mankind, those names which I ong to no one nationality or creed, but which arc the common property of the human family ; the brightestlights of civilization, the great moralists, the good Samaritans of our race ; the great reformers of the world, the great discoverers ; those men who have almost annihilated time and space, and rendered the earth, the air^ and the waters, the slaves of man ; those philosophers who have, as it were, turned nature inside out in their researches after all that is useful, profitable, or instructive ; — and you wilHind that their Oxford or Cambridge was a hill side, a workshop, or r /' i - > • » :. ; 5 o- 't'i. ■'■'<(■>■ r\RT IT. - ON his arrival in Dublin, Mr. McGec was received with every mark of respect and friendship by the leading men of the Irish party ; Mr. Gray, however, not being at the moment prepared to give up to him the editorial chair of " The Freeman,^^ he was sent ^o London, as the special correspondent of that journal. There he had every opportunity of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the Tfish members of parliament, and with their views on Irish matters. It was at a time when the Irish people were living in a perpetual round of the greatest excitement : Repeal was their watchword; and O'Connell their idol, the National heart was throbbing with hope, and the last shilling was willingly ofl'ered by Ireland's sons and daughters, to defray the expenses of the Irish cause ; O'Connell was becoming daily bolder in his demands for Repeal, the government was becoming thoroughly alarmed at the attitude the Irish question was as- suming. Mr. McGee was not an idler, he wrote masterly letters to " The Freeman,^' but not satisfied with that, he soon became a correspondent of the" Dublin Nation," and, in fact, in the latter journal he took a greater interest than in the former, so much so that at the end of little over one year, he was recalled to Dublin by Mr. Gniy, and an explanation which was demanded of him by that gentleman, led to his cutting his connexion with " 7'Ae Freeman." To those who have not taken the trouble to un- derstand how matters stood at that time, let us just say, " The Freeman " was the exponent of the views of the Repeal or Old National party, with O'Connell as their leader; " The Nation " was also a great admirer of O'Connell, but it did not agree with him on several points of his policy ; he was old. wise, and rendered cautious by experif.nce in the great battles of political life, he wished to keep the sword in its scabbard, conveniently at hand and ia view, to show what could be done in case of necessity or in the event of legal means not proving successful to obtain the great national object of his political life. O'Connell would never appeal to arms save as a last chance for National life, after all other means had been tried and failed. The younger blood in which the " Nation " was printed would at once draw the sword and appeal to the God of Battles. " The 14 Freeman " was an old philosopher, " The Nation " was a hot-headed young enthusiast. On his ceasing his connexion with " The Freeman,'' Mr. McGee be- came one of the four editors of the " Nation :" Charles Gavin Duffy, as senior, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, John Mitchell, (at present editor of the '^ Irish Citizen " of New York, and as bitterly opposed to Great Britain as ever he was in his early youth) and Thomas D. Reilly, who was after- wards editor of " the Democratic Revieio " of New York, and now dead. The columns of the Nation were also enriched with the brilliant and soul-stirring notes of Thomas Davis — whilst the glorious fancies of such men as Thos. Francis Meagher, Richard O'Gorman, Terence B. McManus, and many others of equal or nearly equal powers of mind — made its columns a collection of the most brilliant gems of thought, the most lofty views on Nationality, the most crushing denunciations of wrong, the bold- est and most independent demande for National equality, in Religion, in Government, in everything that would tend to make a Nation great and prosperous. Looking back to those days, and holding the " Nation" before the eyes of the great world, we have no hesitation in saying that, never in the history of journalism, has The Nation of that day been equalled in brilliancy of thought and independence of utterance. And while condemning the rashness of the leaders of The Young Ireland party, we cannot but admire the array of celebrated men of which it was composed, Charles Gavin Duffy, who was pronounced by the " Uhivers de Paris," to be " One of the greatest, if not the greatest of living Editors," William Smith O'Brien, of noble blood, the glowing and unselfish patriot who was fighting Ireland's battles on the floor of the British House of Commons, side by side with O'Connell, both Catholic in their views, the former a Catholic Protestant, demanding for his countrymen (Catholic) their rights as British freemen, the latter a Protestant Catholic, ever protesting, with all the great powers of his great mind, against the reign of bigotry and oppression which held, and alas ! still holds, to a great extent, his countrymen, of all creeds or sects save one, fettered, soul and body, in abject slavery. O'Brien appealed to the excitable passions of the Irish people. ButO'Connell's appeals were directed to the heart of the great English Nation — that heart which is not surpassed in its deep admiration of justice and fair play, by that of any other nation on the face of the earth. As an Irishman, with Irish sym- pathies, and an Irishman's prejudices, we proudly admit that an appeal , was never yet made to the great English Nation , advanced and sup- ported by just and legal means, by moral force, by force of reason, by argument a i 3gl by an appeal strong for justice 15 a ^- weak, that it was not hsard, listened to, and granted, not grudgingly, but generously, and with that genuine pleasure which sinks deep into the hearts of the recipients of such proofs of English justice ; from the day when the sturdy Barons wrenched *' Magna Cliaria" from a king who was at *^heir mercy, to the present, the English people never abused their power ; they always proved true to the Golden Rule. It was not the British Government that repealed the Penal Laws, the English people ordered it, and the Government had to obey. The English people demanded emancipation for their Irish fellow subjects, and the Govern- ment had to obey, though some of its members dared not live to face the terrible consequences of releasing Ireland from her chains. Oh ! great men, oh ! little mortals, how short a distance do you see into the future. Ireland was emancipated in 1829. Where are the dreadful con,<:3equences which your foolish fears foreshadowed ? Where are the dreadful results which you foretold? The oonsequencto are that all true Irishmen, Catholic and Protestant, became bound by tics nf aflFection to the Empire ; and the results, dreadful to England's enemies only, are that the mos-t loyal people in Ireland to-day, are the children of those former enemies of your own making, who were freed from the chains with which ignorance and bigotry had bound them by the voice of the great English Nation. Could the people of Ireland but control their personal hatred of each other, and combine together in demanding their rights, and let the world see that the demand was made by a nation, and not by a mere sect or party, just so surely as the Emancipation Bill was carried by English votes in 1829, all the other just and reasonable demands of Ireland would be cheerfully given if demanded by a United National Voice, but, alas ! Irelapd's worst enemies are her own sons, her heart bleeds at the sight of her children's unnatural conduct towards each other. O'Connell was entrapped, not by English spies, but by Irish spies in the employ of the Irish officials in the Castle at Dublin. He was dogged in every step of his daily life, his words were weighed with the greatest nicety, indictments were laid against him. The government would never have dared to pro- secute O'Connell had the Irish themselves been true to him and to each other, but the folly of his youthful rivals for power, weakened the national party, and the officials at the Castle gained strength as his influence with the masses was weakened by hot headed youths, possessed with talents of the very highest order, but filled with republican ideas, their folly very materially strengthened the hands of the Crown, and O'Connell was tried, convicted and cast into prison. Then, indeed, could the Young Ireland party cry out to the Irish Nation with great force and justice. Look now where your moral force leads you, your legal demands for legal redre.«s 16 arc treated with worse thun contempt, your chosen counsellor and guide, your champion of peace, is thrust into prison, and you must be a Nation of slaves and cowards if you tamely submit any longer to such treat- ment ; from the time when O'Connell was imprisoned in '44 the Young Irelanders with tongue and pen lashed the Irish people into a state of frenzy; the priests stood between the leaders and th-^ people, but the National pride was up, the National spirit rose to boiling point at last, and before cooling time was allowed to the Nation, Young Ireland had changed its name to " THE IRISH CONFEDERA- TION," and with William Smith O'Brien as its chief, and Thomas D'Arcy McGee, as secretary, it sprung into existence in February, '47, at the very moment when the outraged feelings of the nation made its millions dangerous. The new "National party was hailed with acclama- tion by the hot-headed youth of the country, and the youthful confeder- ation was applauded on to revolution by Great Britain's enemies in all parts of the world, more particularly in the United States of America, where the cry of " '44 or fight" was easily changed for that of " Ireland and the Irish." The men who composed the leaders of the ^' Irish Confederation'^ are known in our day, and many of them are recognized as men of most undoubted talent, men who have rendered their names famous by their learning and political ability, by their powers in th6 senate and their heroism on the battle field, men such as are fit to lead or guide the destinies of nations, and consolidate the thrones of Empires. One of the Irish rebels of '48, after being several times tried and condemned for sedition and so called disloyalty in Ireland, Charles G. DuflFy, left his country in disgust, and with his great abilities, if not entirely, at least in a very great degree, contributed to the establishment and consolidation of the power of Great Britain in far away Australia, and he is now living in his own native land, the honored pensioner of a grateful nation,resting after his successful labours in Britain's cause. Thomas Francis Meagher, on the bloodiest of bloody fields, whei'e tens of thousands fell during the great civil war in the United Statas. proved himself worthy of the name which he received in '48 as an Irish rebel, " Meagher of the Sword," Amid^the carnage and the roar of battles he sustained the reputation of his country, and rendered the name of the " Irish Brigade" immortal. Need we remind the reader of O'Gorman, of Mitchell, or mention that of Davis and the others? No, history will do justice to the reputation of the young Irishmen who formed " 2he Irish Confederation." Their honest true hearted leader, William Smith O'Brien, once sentenced to be hanged like a murderer, then branded as on outlaw and sent to herd with all the villains and cut-throats that were the inhabitants of a penal :l ■' ' 17 ' -■ ' - , colony in New South Wales, now sleeps in the silent grave, and the voice of Loi/al Ireland, of generous England, demands that a monument shall perpetuate his memory and his virtues to future ages, as a man who lived and suffered for his country — that country which " lie loved, not toiseli/ hut too zcell," — and Thomas D'Arcy McGee, the secretary, one of the most prominent, the youngest in years of them all, he who left his native ¥ land with a reward offered for his head in '48, lied for British principles \ f in his adopted country, by the hand of a vile assassin, and the British army assisted at his funeral, and the greatest among the most prosperous of Britain^s Colonial Empire, mourns his death as a national misfortune. The latter years of his life, nay, the last words he ever uttered, were directed to the advancement of British principles, and to calm the passions of parties. The youthful " Hotspur " of '48 was the peacemaker of '68 ; ^' we xcill conquer you vnth Jcindness " was the only threat he would offer to the enemies of the Canadian Confederation. Several causes led to the revolution of '48, in Ireland. O'Connell's imprisonment, ill-judged, if notili^-'al, was one of the causes; he the chief, the leader o*' the Irish ptv 'e, had had for years, a double battle to fight — he had to fight for Lit; country's rights, by legal and legitimate means, by appeals to the Government and people of England, and by petitions to the Throne. His bloodleso battles were fought on the floor of the House of Commons, and through the press of the country ; his armies were composed of the tens of thousands who met in legal meet- ings in every part of the Empire, to demand their legal rights in a legal manner; his only arms were the laws of Great Britain, and his own povrer- ful and ccnvinclug eloquence to appeal to those laws. And now, long after he iii'S passed away, his language is quoted b„' the liberal sons of England, demanding for their fellow subjects in Ireland, those rights for which O'Connell laboured during his whole life. The other battle which he had to fight was against the Young Ireland jmrty, to curb their passions, to keep them in check, and prevent an appeal to illegal means on their part. Oh, glorious O'Connell, type of patriotism and unselfish devotion to your country's cause, how you" soul must have been rent by the rashness and* thoughtless folly of those inexperienced and hot lieaded enthusiasts, who, in their boyish frenzy, were destroying the result of your life's labours, and in their madness rushing on to their own and their country's 7 ~" destruction ; in vain did you warn them of their folly, in vain did your eloquent tongue keep ringing in their ears " an illegal act on your part is a victory for your aiemies ;" in vain did you try with all the power of your mind and soul to save thefll and your country from the terrible con- sequences of their madness ; in vain all your efforts — the youths who had B clustered around your knee and received from your eloquent lips their first lessons in eloquence and politics, the sons of your adoption who had been trained to their country's service and their country's cause by your fost- ering care, the champions chosen by you to fight Ireland's battles after you should have passed away from the scene of your patriotic labours, those ungrateful sons whom you had cherished in your heart of hearts, treated your lessons of wisdom with contempt, and your great heart was broken, their every folly was a dagger, and in their madness they stabbed you to death ; your lofty soul bore up under the insult of incarceration within the polluted walls of a prison, you patiently bore the companionship of criminals, for your country 's caure demanded the sacrifice. Bat the ingra- titude of your own chosen disciples weighed heavier on your heart and head than the weight of fourscore years ; the cup was a bitter one, alas ! too bitter ; their hands held it to your lips, and your soul, in horror at the unfi- lial act, burst the case of clay which enclosed it, and sought in the bosom of its God peace and rest. O'Connell's death left the unfortunate people of Ireland without a leader. The ship was drifting helplf ly about ; the masterhand, which for years had held the wheel, was ooid in death, and unfortunately that hand was replaced by inexperience and youthful folly. The people's mind was for some time past being, by slow, but none the less certain, degrees, trained to look on revolution as a national necessity. Duffy, McGke, Mitchell and Reilly, daily wrote articles in the " Nation,'^ which made the Irish blood boil ; books, too, i^^Duj^ys library of Ireland") were written by the master spirits who were leading them on to revolution, to stir up the nation's heart with the glories and victories of the past. Davis roused up the nation to madness with his songs and poetry. " Who fears to speak of '98 " became a household word, and the effect was magical. McGee delivered his celebrated lectures : " The Golden link of the Croion,^' and the national heart beat fast at his glowing language and bold utterance of revolutionary ideas. Meagher and all the prominent members of " The Confederation " travelled over the island far and wide, holding public meetings and addressing the people on subjects calculated to produce the desired object. The people of Ireland, no longer restraiticd by the wise counsels of the venerable champion of Repeal, but maddened by the eloquence of the hot-brained writers, orators and poets who composed " The Confederation,'^ were rapidly led on to that climax of folly, a revolution against the government. A revolution in all countries is a difficulty, in Ireland it is an impossibility, for, even supposing that the government is not prepared to meet the out- burst, The Church in Ireland can always control the millions ; the best British fortification in Ireland ^< l~«y -s ' 1-; ' 19 is the — by some parties greatly, wrongfully abused — College of MAY- NOOTH ; every blaek coated soldier sent forth from its doors to instruct the people is better than a British regiment to the government. Irishmen, as a general rule, are not afraid to risk and lose their lives in any mad enterprise, so long as the sacred name of nationality seems to sanction it ; but when the soldier of " Maynooth " stands forward, as he always does, and tells them with the authority of the Church, " that they are on the road not to victory and liberty, but to destruction and death ;" and when he adds to this a picture of the imrra recejytionvilnch. will await those who, going against the commands of the church, may lose their lives in the forbidden contest, there are few indeed who will not submit to the counsels of the good faithful priest, when the sight of bayonets would but madden them. The leaders of the so-called rebellion of " '48," were not prepared for the outbreak at the time it occurred. Their plans, if they had any fixed, were not matured ; they were impelled to the rash act by the misery and distress of their unfortunate country. Yes, the great immediate cause of the outbreak was want of BREAD. Poor Ireland, what pen can attempt to describe her sufiferings at that time ? language cannot convey even a faint idea of the state of despair to which that unfortunate country was reduced. The angel of death flapped his broad black pinions over the land, accompanied by his two terrrible coadjutors, gaunt famine and reeking pestilence — all the elements seemed to have combined to render her situation miserable. Tens of thousands of once strong men were struck down by famine and died, aye, died of starvation ! in sight of the rich fields of their country ; their dead bodies were, in many instances, devour- ed by the starving survivors, or left exposed and putrefying in the glare of day — strong men no longer, the sons of Ireland, with starting eyes and famished frame, called on their leaders to save them or give them a chance to die Uke men ; starving Irish mothers clasping their starving little ones to their pinched up breasts, cried for aid to the leaders of Ireland. And pestilence was not idle, that certain companion of the starving, the dreadful typus fever had reduced Ireland to the condition of a loathsome charncl house — Ireland in "48," was no longer a nation of stalwart men and women ; Ireland in "'48" was a nation of shadowy skeletons, tottering onward to the grave ; Ireland in "48" lay bleeding, she was in the very throes of dissolution ; the grip of death was fastening on her throat, and she shrieked in her despair for aid. The winds bore her piercing shrieks on their wings, far over the waves, to the new world, and her faithful chil- dren, with heart and hand, promptly responded to her appeal— nor must it ever be forgotten that the American people came generously M forward to her assistance. — Ilcr cry pierced to the hearts the members of '* The Confederation^^ — to arms! was now their cry, they could eee no other way of releasing their country, and of assisting their starving fellow countrymen, and reckles? of the consequences to themselves or to others, they rushed madly on, and the starving Irish nation would have staggered them. But the faithful soldier of *' MaynootJi," the faithful Irish priest was on duty there, combatting against their raadnes, fighting against despair and death. Oh ! noble soldier of the cross, noblest and bravest of Ireland's heroes, no reward but that which God alone will bestow, can recompense thy devotion to the true cause of Ireland, of humanity, the cause of God — thy greatest battles were fought where God and Ilis angels alone could witness the struggle, and angels alone could sing thy praise. The French Revolution in 1848 gave the Irish hope. " The Con- federation" looked to France for some assistance; meanwhile, the loaders had gone to far to retreat. Mitchell had been tried, convicted, and sentenced for sedition, and was already on his way to Bermuda. The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended with indecent haste. William Smith O'Brien was lieeing from the Constables, and his starving followers rushed to SticJcs ! for they were the only arms they had to protect him against the Constables, or to make war against the rrmies of the greatest power in Europe. An army was watching their every movement — not an army of Britain's brave soldiers, no, it was only an army of informers and spies — most of them recruited from that unfortu- nate country, which has been fittingly called '' the paradise of informers." Mr. McGee was one of fire chosen (at a mectin<, and other craftily chosen places of safety of a similar kind. O'Brien, Meagher, McManuy, and O'Donohue were tried for treason, found j];uilty, and sentenced to bo hanged, drawn and ([uartered, which dreadful sentence was, afterwards, as might easily be expected, commuted to penal servitude in Australia ; in fact Britain could scarcely refrain from laughter at the ridiculous termination of the great revolution of '48. And wo could feel disposed to look back on the whole matter as a subject of ridicule, were it not for the dreadful results to poor Ireland. Great Britain withheld her assistance, in a very great measure, from the starving people of the coun- try, on account of the madness of " The Confederation;'^ and whilst Britain smiled at the termination of the farce, the face of Ireland was seared with burning tears, over the graves of a million of her children who died of starvation and pestilence. Every ship leaving the shores of Ireland carried away hundreds of the population to find graves beneath the Atlantic wave, or homes in the United States, or Canada. Yes, tho madness of the Young Irelanders in '48, together with famine and pes- tilence, gave to the United States and Canada over a million of popula- tion, and heaven's portals, we trust, were opened to receive as true and faithful martyrs as any of those that the persecutions under the emperors of pagan Rome ever gave to the early Christian Church. Mr. McGee was still in Glasgow when the bubble burst, but at once hastened back to Ireland on receipt of the news. lie came to Donegal, and, on his arriv d there, found his own name figuring in the " Hue and Crify^ with a large reward offered for his apprehension. After many dan- gers and risks he finally escaped, through the assistance of the late Arch- bishop Maginn, in a merchant vessel, bound for Philadelphia, disguised as a priest. lie afterwards wrote a life of the good Bishop in gratitude for his friendly aid in the hour of peril. Mr. McGee left behind him at that time his youthful wife — (he had married Miss Mary Caffrey in 1847), and, with a heart almost broken, he was obliged to leave her whom he had sworn to protect, at a time when she most needed his care — but she urged his departure, and blessed the ship that bore him away from her to a place of safety. Once move away for the land of free- dom. No longer tlie enthusiastic boy of seventeen, with his bright dreams and his rose-coloured pictures of the future, who left Ireland a few short years ago— now he stands on the ship's deck, straining his eyes to catcli the last fleeting glance of that land, where his youthful dreams of inde- pendence have been s a resident in Montreal, and who then, as now, was looked upon with pride by the Irish race on the continent of America. Endowed by nature with most lively devotion to the welfare of her native land and of her fellow countrymen, Mrs. Sadlier has devoted her splendid education and talents to the improvement of the Irish people ; her writings speak to the warm hearts of the Irish people, and number over thirty volumes — none of which has failed to make its mark, teeming as they do, with lessons of morality and patriotism, with forcible illustrs Lions of the dan- gers to be encountered in a strange land by the daughters and sons of Ireland, and pointing out in beautifully simple and comprehensive lan- guage the necessity of a strict devotion to the teachings of the Catholic Church, if her countrywomen and men ain, to sustain their well won national reputation for female virtue and manly honesty. Mrs. Sadlier has done more in her day and generation for the Irish race than any other authoress of our time in America. She is deservedly looked upon as a bright example of what " a true woman " can do for the cause of virtue and national honour. As a devoted wife, a self sacrificing and loving mother^ or truly amiable and sympathetic friend, Mrs. Sadlier is looked upon as one of the brightest ornaments which adorn the family circle, or exert an elevating influence in society. Beautiful in her simple, unostentatious labours for the welfare of her countrymen and women, she is beloved by all who know her personally, and hundreds of thousands who know her through her works, esteem and value her as a friend and guide. Among those who knew her best, and admired her most sincerely as a true friend to the cause of Ireland and the Irish, was Thomas D'Arcy McGee. He met her first in Montreal, and the strong likeness in their literary studies and pursuits, which they soon discovered in each other, drew them together, and a friendship was formed between them which is seldom equalled for depth of sincerity ; that friendship was one of Mr. McGee's greatest pldasures in this life ; in the long illness which confined him to his bed for months during the last year of his life, he looked forward for Mrs. Sadlier's letters as a boy looks forward to a holiday ; her praise or condemnation had more weight with him in his literary pursuits than all the world besides. He had such faith in the soundness of her judgment and good taste in literary matters, that he felt certain, if he succeeded in pleasing her, he need not fear criticisms from others. This friendship on his part lasted till death, and on hers it still exists for his memory. Among the tearful faces which surrounded his form in death and bedewed it with tears, the face and form of Mrs. Sadlier might be seen night and day, with unwearied devotion, weeping, praying over the remains of her murdered friend, till the stern door of 82 the tomb shut them in from her gaze forever. Mrs. Sadlier's advice and that of her excellent husband^ Mr. James Sadlier (of the firm of D. A J. Sadlier & Co., Catholic Book Publishers of New York), had great weight with Mr. McGee in inducing him to make Canada his home. Added to this, he was advised, nay, almost commanded, by one of the devoted Irish priests in Canada, to come and assist or lead in directing the energies of the Irish people in Canada. His spite against the British Government, at that time, almost grown chronic, was shown by the vene- rable priest to be unworthy of him, and, as far at least as Canada was concerned, to be unjust and undeserved. " Look around you," cried the venerable Father, " and tell me, is there a more perfectly free country +han this on earth ? Our people enjoy all the rights and privileges that mun can demand ; but they want a leader, come on, then, and lead them." In his visits to Canada West, Mr. McGce had the good fortune to renew an acquaintance which he had formed during the convention in Buifalo with that most excellent man, the Very llev. Father Gordon, V.G. of Hamilton, so well known all over Canada for his devotion to the cause of religion and to the prosperity of his special charge, the Irish emigrant, that he has made his name and labours so intimately blended with the history of the early settlement of Upper Canada, now the ^^ Province of Ontario, ^^ that leaving them out of that record would be representing a most interesting drama, leaving out the principal cha- racter. Father Gordon's labours for the welfare of the early settlers are almost incredible; his iron constitution must have had special strength accorded it by his Master, to enable him to perform the good work with which he was entrusted, amid the hardship, sickness, dangers, exposure, and even hunger, which he had to encounter in his care of his Master's flock scattered over hundreds of miles of a primeval forest. How con- soling to that grand old priest's heart must be the retrospect of the past compared with the present condition of the scene of his former labours, when the monarch of the forest reluctantly staggered under the blows of the settler's axe, till, conquered; he bowed i.is emerald crowned head with a crash that made the wilderness ring again and again, with the echoes which proclaimed the advance of civilization. Whilst others enjoy the present, he can dream over the past, and looking back through a long vista of years, he can start again in imagination with the fall of the first tree, and trace, step by step, the progress of the early settlement. First the little cleared patch with the "first crop " fighting its way amid the stumps, — then the first log cabin, — he can still remember what joy and pardonable pride filled the settler's heart and danced in his manly eye. -s ^ the joy a of Int. lid knd ye, 88 when he could enter, with his faithful wife and cherished little ones, on the posaossion of " his own honsr.,'^ which ho had conquered from the wilderness. He can remember the offering of his first mass under the shadow of the stately forest trees, which, arching over head and inter- lacing their green arms, formed a far more beautiful ceiling than the hands of man ever wrought; through which the brilliant rays of the glorious sun glanced down on the devout and humble little congregation kneeling on nature's carpet around the rude altar; as if Nature's God himself were smiling on the labors of" t?ie meek and humble of heart" in their forest home. He can remember the first birth in the little settle- ment, and the joy occasioned by the advent of the first little Irish Cana- dian to the manor born, what simple rejoicings welcomed the little stranger, the first to receive the waters of baptism in the little colony. He can again feel the pang of grief that shot through his faithful heart as, amid the tears and sobs of sorrowing friends and relations, he consigned to the grave, with the solemn ceremony of the church, the first worn out settler who was called away from their midst. Closing his eyes, he can see in his imagination, the hunible log hut replaced by the comfort- able farm-house, the little clearing, with its struggling crop, expanding into those splendid farms which no«v cover whole counties, and gladdeu the hearts of thousands with their teeming harvests of golden grain. Ho can see the rude altar of the wilderness replaced in a hundred places by stately churches, which rear upwards to the sky the standard of the cross under which tens of thousands of faithful Irish Catholics worsliip the God of their fathers. He can see the little hamlet transformed to the neat village, then to the prosperous town, till in his joy he looks around him on the wealthy cities which gladden his eyes in every direc- tion, and he can with confidence feel that, under God, the country owes to his humble labors a large share of its present prosperity. And the Irish people, what should they feel for and towards the patriarchal priest who came in years long gone by with their grandfathers from Ireland, and devoted his life to their welfare ? The self-sacrificing, self-denying servant of God, who clung to three generations of Irishmen in Canada, who welcomed thousands of them in their infancy into the bosom of the Church — watched over them through life, comforting them in sorrow, rejoicing with them in their joys, tending them in sickness — amid fevers and epidemic, always by their beds, and when their last hour came, thousands of dying Irishmen and women, as they closed their eyes on this world, the last object their fading sight rested upon, was the friendly face of the devoted Irish priest who left them never in this world till he saw them depart smilingly confident of mercy and happiness in the. 84 next. What should Irishmen think of their priest ? Whit do they thinlc of him? Let the hidtory of Ireland, the history of Canada, the history of the United States, the history of the World answer. Then why should we wonder that Irishmen love their priests. Why should we wonder that whole armies of I'ristling bayonets cannot control or keep them in check when they feel the patriot's passion strong within them, and yet that the priest's voice soothes them till they weep in repentance of their errors. Is it necessary to remind the reader that it was not in his character of Archbishop of the great Diocese of New York, that Thomas D'Arcy McGee, the great Irishman, bowed his head ; it was at the feet of the Irish Catholic priest, John Hughes, he knelt in submission. And the Fither Gordons of the Irish Catholic Church, are they beloved by their people? Oh I yes^ above his own life, the worthy priest is dear to an Irishman, and wherever a true Irish soul speaks to its God, it prays that if, among Heaven's great and glorious array of crowns, there is any one brighter and more glorious than the others to be found, may that one be reserved for the pure spirit of " Father Gordon,'^ when it takes its place among the truest and most faithful servants of God beatified in IIeav»>- , for his labours on earth are sanctified by that holy love for, and dp.otion to, the service of " My Father %cho is in Heaven," which canr ot fail to illuminate the pages of " The look of life." On the 13th of August, 1857, Thomas D'Arcy McGee left the United States for Canada, and, with his family, established himself in the beauti- ful city of Montreal. His paper. The American Celt and Adopted Citi- zen, he sold to the Messrs. Sadlier of New York, and it still continues to be published by them, under the name of the Aew York Tablet, Mrs. James Sadlier being its principal editor, and it is undoubtedly the very best Irish and Catholic newspaper in the United States. On his arrival in Canada, Mr. McGee, assisted by the generous subscriptions of the Irish people of Montreal, established a paper, The Nc'io Era, and commenced anew the battle of life. He was looked upon with a great deal of distrust by the Plnglish, Scotch, and many of the loyal Catholic and Protestant Irish inhabitants; and it is no wonder he was, for up to that time he had always been known and spoken of as a restless rebel against the British Government, ,and as one who was not to bo trusted. The press of Canada, to use a common expression, *' pitched in *o him" without stint, but he soon silen- ced most of his tormentors: defended his former course where bethought himself right, and candidly acknowledged his errors where bis experience tbold him he had been wrong. He soon made his mark on the public ouiad of Canada, and won friends for himself among those who, but a five 85 .'JtBfcl use jlen- ght Ince Iblic mve :i' ■tr short montlia before, looked upon him with suspicion, if not with nctnnl distrust. Onco fairly started in his new sphere of life, Mr. McGee deter- mined to raise up in Canada, and permanently establish his countrymen and co-rcligi' nists in that position in society which he had always claim- ed that they were not only entitled to, but that tlicy were fitted to hold. He bitterly condemned the long standing assertion of those who dared to assert that Irishmen — Irish Catholics — were not worthy of being trusted, that they were not fit to hold a prominent place in the councils of nations, or to take rank among the earnest upliolder of governments, that they were not a law and order abiding class of i lO community. Ho raised the standard of equality as that under which ho should lead his Irish fellow subjects on to victory ; and wo venture to assert that never, in the history of any country, was a determination more successfully, more thoroughly or more brilliantly carried into effect. Mr. McGeo's career in Canada was one continued series of victories, such as were never before achieved by any public man in British North America. His articles in the columns of the New Era were, generally speaking, calm and vigorous, and conservative in their general leaning — so much so, indeed, that the cry of rebel, traitor, outlaw, with which he was at first greeted, soon lost its point and meaning when it was feebly attempted to be prolonged by his ultra conservative or lip-loyal opponents. The Irish people, en masses began to trust in him and to rally round him as their chosen leader. In the fall of 1857, the first great opportunity was offered by an approaching general election, to test the influence of the Irishmen of Canada under hia leadership. They met in solemn conclave to determine on a combined mode of action, and fix on a suitable man to put forward as their special candidate, to reriresent their interests in the coming contest, and to be, if possiMe, elected as their representative in Parliament. The oldest and most respectable Irishmen in Montreal, generally, took a deep interest in the proceedings. A large number, nevertheless, held aloof from Mr. McGee ; they still held fast to th ir former friends of other nationalities, in whom from long experience they had confidence. I^Ir. George K. Car- tier, now, most deservedly. Sir George E. Cartier, Bart., was then, as he is now, a general favourite with the Irish, and no man in Canada better de- served their unlimited confidence. Through a long political career, he had always been, and still continues to be, a fast friend to the Irishmen of Canada, and the Irish people are not only pleased, they are proud of the honors conferred on their steadfast, generous, honest friend — the great souled leader of the people of Lower Canada — ** the Chevalier Bayard " of the Province of Quebec — " sanspeur et sans reproche " — by Her Most Gra- cious Majesty ; and we may add never was honor conferred on a iiiore 86 !n worthy subject. Sir Ocorgo E. Cartier, ever true to his country and his party, never false to his promises, is the most trusted statesman in THE DOMINION OF CANADA at tho present day, for his word to the people is hi« bond, and twenty years' trial and experience of his honesty towards, and justice to, all parties, without distinction of nationality or creed, lias made him the centre round which all the most lionest public men in tho Province of Quebec assemble — let us bo perfectly understood — the honors, tho well-merited honors paid to Sir George Etienne Cartier, Bart., by Her Majesty, Lower Canada accepts as a graceful national compliment, for to thus honor him is to do honor to Lower Canada, to whose service he has devoted his valuable life. If the French Canadian people to-day enjoy all those extraordinary privileges which they do enjoy — to their illustrious countryman are they indebted for their enviable position as a people in the DOMINION OF CANADA. He has preserved and secured to them tho enjoyment of the language; the laws, and the Church of their French forefathers. Had Ireland possessed a few as faithful sons as Canada has in Sir George, in Castle- rcagli's time, there would have been no parchment union, her rights would have been preserved, and a century of dissatisfaction, of hardship and suffering avoided. Long, long may the life of Canada's Cartier be spared to his country, for the day she loses him will be the darkest in her history. After a good deal of discussion at the meetings of St. Patrick's Society, it was almost unanimously determined that Mr. McGee should be the Irish candidate. Then came the question, what party should they form an alli- ance with. On this question there was only one opinion — the Conservative party was their choice. Who can, in the face of that fact, pretend that the Irish people were not, arc not, under an impartial system of govern- ment, a conservative people, and not, as their enemies try to make it appear to their disadvantage, a stumbling-block in the way of all peaceful and good government. But, unfortunately for Canada and for them- selves, the Conservative party refused to accept the alliance, in fact, denied the right of the Irishmen of Montreal to put forward any man as their special candidate, and above all did they condemn, in no measured terms, the attempt, as they called it, to put forward McGee, the ex-rebel of '48, as a candidate for the honor of representing the Metropolitan city of Canada in the Parliament of '58. The refusal of the Conservative party to accept McGee's nomination was, at the time, looked upon as a death- blow to his success. Not so, however ; the Irish felt that they wei\, insulted in the refusal of the man of their choice, and they determined to elect their man in spite of parties. Never in Canada, since it first secured a responsible government, up to that time, did the country witness such a contest. The « ^ 87 id ir J more McOco was vilified by his opponents, the more did his friends deter- mine to secure his return, and, as a dernier resort^ an alliance was foruicd witii the so-called Reform party, and then the candidates were Dorion, Ilolton and McGec, ** lioiigc' or liberal, against Cartier, Rose and Starncs, *^Blue" or conservative. It would fill columns to relate the incidents of the election that followed ; criminations and recriminations were the order of the day, McGee's name and antecedents were handled most unsparingly; he was called a rebel, a renegade, and a traitor to the Britisli Crown ; his writings during his career in the rebellion of '48, and his subsequent residence in the United States, were raked up against him, and he was de- clared a dangerous man to bo let loose on a peaceful community, and totally unworthy to represent men pretending to bo loyal to the govern- ment of the country in the Parliament of Canada. The " Orangemen" in Upper and Lower Canada were furiously opposed to McGee's election — and nothing more strongly proves to the world that McGee was an honest, impartial, faithful public man, than the fact that, for years before his death, the Orangemen of Canada were his staunchest friends — although to the last he condemned their Society, as ho did all other scrrct societicK — and no other p*^ pie in Canada more deeply regretted his death, for he had won their love and respect by his straightforward, manly conduct. McGee dealt back with fearful force the blows of his opponents : " It is true," said he, " I was a rebel in '48 iu Ireland. I rebelled against tho misgovernment of my country by Russell and his school. I rebelled, because I saw my countrymen star\ ing before my eyes, whilst my country had her trade and commerce stolen from her. I rebelled against the Church P]stablishmcnt in Ireland, and there is not a liberal man in this community who would not have done as I did, if he were placed in my position and followed the dictates of humanity. But," he added, " I never rebelled in Canada as you did, Mr. Cartier, in '37 and '88; yet at the game time, I do not deny th:it, as a Canadian, you had good reason for so doing ; your country was being made the playground of the fledgling nobles of England — your countrymen were long tran)plod under foot by a few hundred imported officials ; the life-blood was being drained from the heart of your mother-land, and you and others of her frceborn sons, rushed with all the impetuosity of youth, of glorious youth, and threw your bodies between the danger and your mother's heart ; you did it manfully ; you did in Canada as my brave comrades and myself'did in Ireland. You risked your life in support of what you con- sidered the rights of your country and race, and I honor you for it, for men iiust feel that they are on the side of justice when they risk their lives on the issue, and the position you now occupy in Canada proves that li' 88 llll you were right in demanding responsible government for Canada, although, like myself in Ireland, you were wrong in your mode of action. But I did not, nor did any of my friends, Mr. Rose, as you did, sign the Annrxation Manifesto in '49, because it pleased Her Most Gracious Majesty, by the advice of Her Loyal Canadian Parliament, to consent to indemoify the poor "habitants" of Lower Canada for the losses sustained by ♦hem through the brutal and unseemly conduct of the Volunteers and the Army in 1837 and '38. So that I think you, at least, should not ' throw stones at your neighbour's windows when your own house is built of glass.' " Thus, throughout the whole time of the canvass, did McGee meet his opponents at every point; and his mode of meeting their arguments on the political questions which were tl^on agitating the country, plainly showed his perfect knowledge of its history, political and social. McGee's answer to the charge, or rather insult, that he was " an adventurer,'^ will never be forgotten by those who were so fortunate as to hear him. ' The result of the election proved that the Conservatives had made a great mistake. To the astonishment of his opponents and to the joy of his supporters, and particularly of the Irish people, McGee was elected one of the three members for the City of Montreal. Could the sacrifices which the Irish made on that occasion to secure the coveted result, be understood, it would surprise even now those who wondered at it then. Money was necessary. McGee had none to spend ; but his supporters, poor and rich, contributed liberally, and their exertions never flngged from the moment of his nomination till the return placed him at the head of the poll. And thus, in a few short months, he found himself Member of Parliamert for the wealthiest and most populous city in British America. The Irish were justly proud of the victory, and of their representative, and well they might be so ; for once, in parliament, McGee, by his eloquence, soon became the observed of the whole country. His first speech in the House secured the applause and admiration of all parties; indeed, so brilliant was his success, that the greatest statesman in Upper Canada (Ontario), the Hon. John A. Macdonald, now better known as Sir John A. Macdonald — the faithful and consistent friend of Sir George E. Cartier, Bart., in fact his political twin brother — crossed the floor of the house and shook hands with him, at the same time warmly congratu- lating him on his brilliant debut. For some time after his return to Parliament, McGee contented himself with hanging to his leaders in the Opposition ; but he never felt quite at home in the company of the Rouge party; true, he, to a great extent, felt himself indebted to 1 1^ /•/■ I Messrs. Holton and Dorion for his election; but still, he could not but feel that he was out of his natural element. Oncu in a while, he would electrify the house and the country with a sudden and unexpected outburst of eloquence. Aj^ain, he would raise a lauj^h at the expense of this or that meUiber — for his wit was brilliant, his sarcasm most cut- ting. He w as a master of satire ; and any unfortunate member who fell under his lash once, took good care for the future not to play with edge tools. It must be confessed that, for some time after McGec's election, his friends were disappointed in him ; they expected great things at his hands, and were but poorly satisfied with his outbursts of fun and merriment at the expense of others and without any advantage to the cause of the country. The great fight at that time was to oust the Curtier-Macdonald Administration ; the Rouge party, led on by Dorion and Holton in Lower Canada, and the Clear-Grits and others in Upper Canada, led by John Sandfield Macdonald, had fixed their hearts on getting into power. Their battle cry was ^^ Retrenchment,^^ "Reform;" whilst they charged the Cartier-Macdonald government with all kinds of extra- vagance and corruption. Is it to be wondered at, that McGee, whose mind was tilled with dreams of a future nationality, could not take a very leading part in that kind of "parish politics,^'' which was keeping the House and the country in a state of unseemly agitation ? In May, 1862, the " Rouge" party got the government into their hands. The Cartier-Macdonald administration was defeated on the Militia Bill, or rather the able leaders allowed themselves to be defeated on that measure — the object was quite plain. In a loynl country like Canada, measures for the proper defence of the country must ever be popular — and the far seeing ministerial leaders, being hard pressed by the Rouge party, chose to be defeated on the only really important, ques- tion then before the country, and they had the support and good-will of all loyal men with them in their defeat. And more than that, they well knew that their opponents in the new government would not long enjoy their dearly bought success. The Rouge party had long kept the coun- try in a state of excitement with their party cry — corruption, extravag- ance — they had long promised, if the power were once confided to them, that the income or revenue of the country would prove more than sufli- cient to meet all the expenditure, and that they would, by tlie assistance of the great abilities of Mr. Gait's rival — Mr. Holton — in a very short titue redeem the country from debt and difficulty. At last the power was in their own hands. 'I he Sandficld-Macdonald-Sicotte administra- tion was formed, and Thomas D'Arcy McGce accepted the office of ^^ President of the Council.^^ The new administratiou could not long ■t: 40 i -IP' Iji! exist, but it managed to stagger on in its weakness till parliament met. In the following May it was defeated — not on any great measure, but on a vote of ^vant of confidence. The great Finance Minister of that admini- stration never brought down his budget, and the country is yet in the dark as to his great financial abilities. Whilst a member of the Govern- ment, Mr. McGee was a good deal Hamed by the Irish people for not protesting against the execution of the poor Aylwards — husband and wife — who were hanged at Belleville for murder ; and we have no hesi- tation in saying that the ha""ging of poor Mrs. Ayltvard, for striking a blow in defence of her husband's lifo, in defiance of all the petitions which were presented to the Governor General will, to a great measure, explain the great coldness of the people of Quebec, on the departure forever of Lord Monck from Canada. The shriek of the poor mother whose infant was torn from her breast, as she was hurried to the gallows on a cold frosty day, so chilled the hearts of the Irish people of Canada, that they never warmed for Lord Monck to this day, and never will. To refuse mercy to a woman is alwavs harsh, but sometimes necessary. In this case it was more than jar '♦; was unmerciful. Lord Monck is the first Governor General who left Canada without farewell cheers greeting his eai-s on his departure. There can be no doubt as to the causes which led to the defeat of the government — it lacked that great prin- ciple without which individuals or governments cannot long exist or secure the confidence c2 the people ; it lacked honesty of purpose, and soon lost the respect and confidence of the people. On the defeat of the govern- ment, parliament was prorogued, and Mr. Sandfield Macdonald, as leader, undertook to form a new administration. In this his selfishness got the better of his keen judgment, for in his great anxiety to secure new friends to the support of the government — i.e., himpelf — and to keep the cherish- ed loaves and fishes of office for self and ^^M'vids, he basely betrayed his hitherto loyal friend and supporter. Mr . • if che time was sick — at his bedside the leader of the government in ic ■ a' d his friends met "many a time and oft," and consulted with the ou.\ really true and indcix.n- dent man of their party. Could it be for a moment supposed that a part of Sandfield's policy was to betray his sick friend ? Yet it was so — and the country was filled with disgust when, on the names of the new minis- ters being announced, it was found that Thomas D'Arcy McGee's naire was left out. " "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad," was never better verified than in the c ^ -e of Sandfield Macdonald's double dealing with McGee. That act of mac'\<»ss was the sure precursor of his political destruction — his madness c; dishonesty killed outright the expiring " Rouge party." The new government of Sandfield Macdon- 1 < r aid, the illegitimate offspring of deceit and falsehood, tottered on, despised alike by lukewarm friends and determined enemies, and^ as might be expected, McGee's terrible exposure of the dishonesty and want of manly truth which characterised the conduct ef his former leader and friends, hastened with marked effect the death of the party. The country had long expected great things at the hands of the self-dubbed " Liberal pnrtyy The ears of the electors had long drunk in the specious lan- guage in which, at the hustings, the Conservatives were branded as cor- ruptionists and dishonest men. Cartier was denounced in Lower Canada as the "iefe noire^' of the country, who was, for liis own selfish purposes, sacrificing the best interests of his French Canadian countrymen to the Orangemen of Upper and the Protestants of Lower Canada ; whilst Mr. John A. Macdonald, in Upper Canada, was denounced by Mr. George Brown and his reliable (?) paper, " tJie Globe,^^ as one who was betraying his fellow citizens, and selling them and Protestant interests to the French Ca- nadian and Roman Catholic interests in Lower Canada. In fact, Sandfield Macdonald and his friends had, in their struggle for power, sown the seeds of falsehood and misrepresentation in the public mind, and they very naturally reaped a whirlwind of public indignation. The Irish people were very greatly annoyed at thfl manner in which their representative, McGee, had been treated, and their deep condemnation of Sandfield Mac- donald's dishonesty was made manifest at the polls. Their votes were cast in favor of the Conservative candidates: Cartier was elected for Mon- treal East, defeating Dorion by a very large majority ; Rose defeated Hel- ton in the Centre, and A'^cGee was re-elected by acclamation for the West. Who dare oppose him ? for he was the most popular man in Canada at the time with all classes of the community ; and the Irish people Avcre and had reason to feel proud of him as their representative. The March wind carried away on its wings the death cry of the Rouge ministry. That fine specimen of an honorable French gentleman — the late lamented Sir E. P. Tachd — was next called upon to form a Cabinet. He did so, but with a certain decree of reluctance — he wished to rest from public life and enjoy perfect quiet at his advanced age ; but true to his coun- try and friends to the last, he sacrificed his own feelings, and became the leader of that ministry which played a more prominent role than any other in the political history of British North America. In that ministry Thomas D'Arcy McGee was offered and accepted the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture and Immigration, to which office the latter part of the title was added in compliment to the new minister — for his heart, ever open to the claims of his countrymen to his thour'htfu] rare, delighted in forwarding the interests of the Irish immigrant, and in finding homes on the banks of I' J S i 42 the St. Lawrence or Ottawa for the impoverished people of Ireland. Mr. McGee continued to hold the office of Minister of " Afn*iculture and Im- migration" up to the time of the formation of the " Dominion Govern- ment" under the Confederation Act on the 1st July, 1807. The reali- zation of the dream of Mr. McGee's life became his fixed purpose, from the time of his accepting office with the Conservative party. Up to that time his great abiliiies were under a cloud. Forced on his entrance to political life in Canada into the company of a party whose views were wide of being like his own, his efforts were not as effective as they would have been if their grandeur had been understood or appreciated by liis political friends ; yet he remained true and loyal to the Rouge party, and would never have deserted them, had they been true to him ; and his abilities might have been lost to his adopted country, had it not been for the fortunate circumstance of his Rouge friends showing by their own ungrateful conduct and dishonesty towards him, their complete rottenness and corruption. Thus separated from them, absolved from all claims of friendship towards thcra, he became one of the strongest sup- porters and leaders of the Conservative party, the true National Consti- tutional party in British North America. From the moment of his ixnion with his true political sympathies, he devoted all the energies of hb great mind, and exerted his great gift of eloquence to achieve the union in one powr-ful Confederacy of all the British North American provinces. What appeared to his hearers, in former years, in his lectures throughout the provinces, as but the visionary inspirations of the Irish orator, now began to assume forms and proportions, and he never ceased in leading on the public mind with the chains of his glorious eloquence till he had the satisfaction of seeing the leading men of the provinces assembled to- getlicr to solemnly debate the subject of union, and his life was not lost to his adopted country till that union was carried into effect. Our space will not permit us to give the reader anything like a succinct or exact liis- tory of Mr. McGee's life and labors in Canada; we can only glance at his achievements or point out a few scattered instances of the great and glo- rious work which he performed. In the first place let it never be forgotten that Thos. B'Arcy McGee, on his arrival in Canada, found the people of the country greatly divided, at certain times, both on national and religious questions ; he found his Irish fellow-countrymen powerful in numbers, but weak for want of coiabined action, on account of the way in which they were used as the tools of certain unprincipled, so-called leading Irishmen, who were, many of them, ready to sacrifice their countrymen's prospects and interests to their own selfish purposes or profit, or in other words, sell their popularity with their misled countrymen to the highest bidder. I > He found tlic Irish Catholics, as it wcie, separated from the rest of the community by a strong feeling of religious and national prejudice. He found the people often led on to acts of madness by demagogues who fired their passions by raising those religious or party cries which were and are the curse of Ireland and of all oth.ir countries where they are tolerated. He found the Irish Catholic population of Canada, powerful as it was, without a worthy representative in the councils of the country. And, finding all these things, he, without one moment's hesitation, threw himself into the front rank, determined to remedy those crying evils. He had enemies from the first moment, enemies among his own countrymen, who, too keenly feeling their inability to oppose him openly, pretended friendship for him, but all the while were thwart- ing his efforts in the dark, coward-like, and as little minds only can do. What a dreadful curse those selfish, bigoted, littio-soulcd Irishmen arc to their country and countrymen ; those things " hearing the human form" with deceptions hearts, rendered more cunning by " a little learn- ing \^^ they are the greatest difficulty that the Irish statesman has to con- tend with — the open, intelligent opponent he can meet on equal grounds, and defeat or satisfy by argument and proof— but those secret plotters against him he cannot defeat, for he cannot oppose an unseen enemy who stabs him in the dark without fear of discovery — and yet we can tell those disappointed political nuisances and wire-pullers that attacks such as theirs, on a man like Mr. McGee, are the very best security that honest men can ask as proof of the purity of his motives and the high charac- ter of his aspirations ; honesty, these knaves possess not, and they cannot appreciate honesty in others ; their aspirations are those of the assassin who stabs at character in the dark, and in the security of his own little- ness and obscurity escapes just punishment — but who is too cowardly to come forth from his polluted den ?.nto the clear light of day, and show his quivering lip, his bloodshot eye, unsteady hand, and venom-pointed dagger, for fear of the just indignation and scorn of honest men. Well did McGee know the difficulties with which ho had to contend in his efforts to secure harmony and good feeling among all classes of the community j keenly did he feel the cowardly thrusts of the hidden enemies who were ever plotting in secret against him, but he had the glorious consolation of seeing his efforts crowned with success. Notwithstanding the covert oppo- sition which he had to contend against, Mr. McGee was the most honored, most trusted man among the Irish people in Canada. The people of Montreal heaped marks of honor upon him ; his name in public was ever received with cheers ; his appearance the signal for the most hearty out- bursts of applause; his power over his countrymen became so great that ho never was opposed when he sought re-election, but was returned by 44 acclamation, nay, more substantial murks of approbation were shown liini — his friends and constituents, irrespective of race or creed, joined together and purchased, furnished and presented to him a magni- ficent dwelling, as a proof of their high appreciation of his charact"' and great public services. On this subject, +he Montreal Gazat,., at that time in opposition to him, said : " Mr. McGee may wall be grateful for this great acknowledgment of the estimation in which they hold him, and of their sense of the eminent services he rendered to the country; and for our own part we are glad to be able to recognize heartily and frankly that Mr. McGee has rendered good and valuable service to the country and has merited this recognition." He knew no dis- tinction between Catholic and Protestant, between French, English, Irish^ or Scotch ; all men *vere to him fellow subjects, brother men, and he loved to see them all working in harmony together as Canadians, members of one great family, tht legal rights of each respected by all, worshipping God after their own conscientious convictions, and enjoying equal justice under our most excellent institutions. He preached with his all power- ful eloquence this grand doctrine ; he taught it with his masterly pen, in public and in private he inculcated it with all the strength of his ardent soul, and the glorious result of his labors secured for him in death as glorious a title as was ever inscribed on the tomb of mortal man, the godlike title of " Peacemaker." In 1863, during the American civil war, the recruiting agents of the American government, ready to ay hold of anything that would tend to secure recruits for the shattered ranks of the Federal armies, alas! only too readily found means to enlist in their confidence tho.^e soulless demagogues who make a fat living by misleading the simple and illiterate masses of the impulsive Irish people in the United States. The bargain once entered into, a cry was deter- mined upon to arouse the passions of the Irish people to the necessary measure of enthusiastic hatred towards England. The slumbering Fenian cry was resuscitated as the best suited to their designs ; and under the pretense that the object was to prepare by active service on the field of battle, the Irishmen of the United States for a war with England to liberate Ireland, over A hundred and fifty tfiousand Irishmen were sold, aye, sold! to the contractors who supplied victims for slaughter on Southern battle-fields, — by their own heartless, designing, degenerate countrymen, — at so much a head. But this was not all ; the blood of tens of thousands of their misled, murdered countrymen, was not sufficient to supply those traffickers in patriotism; their infiimy must be concealed in someway from the eyes of the world, and consequently ''An Irish Republic'* was put on the stage in New York, supported by a substantial revenue extorted by falsehood and misrepresentation from the pockets of the poor < .i ' 45 4 . V industrious, generous Irish laborers and servant girls of the United States and Canada. Oh ! traitors to your God and to your Fatherland ! traitors to chA warm generous hearts of your poor countrymen and simple coun- trywomen ! Was it not enough that your souls were steeped in the life blood of tens of thousands of your victims slain in battle ? Was it not enough that thousands of maimed, disabled, wretched wrecks of humanity call down curses on your devoted heads as they totter starving and help- less through a cold world ? — were you not satisfied ? No ! The blood of your countrymen had to be mingled with the honest sweat of your de- ceived countrywomen, the honest Irish servant girls of the great cities of America, to satisfy your degraded, unmanly cupidity, and to support in debauchery, idleness and unseemly extravagance, a hJ? hundred of the most double-dyed traitors and false-hearted scoundrels that ever disgraced manhood or blotted the fair page of a nation's history. And Thomas D'Arcy McGee,Ahe true souled Irishman, at the very zenith of his popularity in his/ adopted country — " Honest Tom," was he to stand idly by and see thjfs glaring wholesale murder and robbery of his country- men and wonien, and not interfere to prevent it? Could he stand calmly lookidg on, and see his beloved Irish people murdered and robbed by a handful of designing, heartless scoundrels, and that in the sacred name of Patriotism ? No I a thousand times, no ! Had he — could he done &o/ he might at this moment be living degraded as the idol of fools smd scoundrels, the apologist, the patron of robbers and cold hearted swindlers, instead of his name and memory being enshrined in the hearts of millions of wise and honest and patriotic men, and his fame ever mentioned in connection with all that is most noble, patriotic and true. From his place in the Parliament of Canada assembled in the grand old City of Quebec, under whose walls the great-hearted Montgomery fell, with his face to the foe, as an Irishman should fall, covered with honor and with glory — speaking in the name of God and of his countrymen, the pow- erful voice of Thos. D'Arcy McGee was heard all over the land, denouncing in impassioned and convincing eloquence the heartless leaders of the Irish people in the United States. Manfully, fearlessly, honestly, he denounced and condemned the heartless plotters against the pockets and lives of his beloved fellow countrymen, nor did he ever cease to do so till at Ottawa on the 7th of April, 1868, his utterance was choked with his own warm heart's blood rushing forth from the channels which God had created to sustain the life of as noble and true an Irishman as ever adorned God's footstool, to indelibly stamp on the soil of Canada — his last, his most glorious condemnation before man and God of the dastardly con- spirators who in the name of Irish patriotism have disgraced humanity, ill u 4(r and written their own condemnation in the life blood of Ireland's noblest advocate. Ill 18G5, Mr. McGee went to Europe as Commissioner from Canada to the Paris Exhibition, and also as a member of the Executive Council of Canada, to join his colleagues in their conference with Her Mnjesty's Government, on the question of the proposed union of the British North American Provinces. What a contrast 1 In 1848, he fled from Ireland with a reward oflFcred for his head by Her Miijesl^ 's Government — an outlaw ! a rebel ! and now he returns after 17 years' absence, deputed by Her Majesty's Representative in Canada, to consult with Her Majesty's Government on a question of vital importance to the greatest of Her Majesty's colonial possessions. And still, Thomas D'Arcy McGee was not less an Irish patriot in 1865 than he was in 1848, but experience had taught him that what can never be hoped to be wrested from England by force and violence, or a resort to arms, can be secured with certainty by fair argument and legitimate measures. John Bull never was and never will be frightened or bullied out of anything ; but let the honest old fellow be once satisfied that any of his family is suflFering wrong, and he will see the suflfering member justified. It is true, he sometimes takes a long time to consider, is seldom hasty in his actions ; is even frequently ill advised by selfish interested parties, and thus led into the commission of very serious injustice, as has been the case in Ireland ; but let him be roused up by proper representations, and his manly honesty and deep sense of justice and fair play will cause him to act like an honorable man, who, although he compels respect from all his neighbors, never willingly consents to an act of tyranny oroppression, and tht'; isthegreat secret of his long life and prosperity. McGee had become convinced of these facts, and he re- turned to Ireland, as loyal a man to the Empire as ever died for England on field or deck, and as loyal and true an Irishman as ever was born of an Irish mother, or wore the shamrock near his heart. Irish loyalty to England is the greatest proof of loyalty to Ireland. Let our mighty sister see that we are worthy of her love and confidence, and she will only be too happy to clasp us to her heart ; but if we foolishly try to compel her to adopt our views, we will be certain to get well spanked for our trouble, and left to ruminate over our folly in the gloom of the dark cellar of self-inflicted adversity and misery. Let Irishmen not be misled by falsehood and misrepresentation on the part of those whose object it is to make tools of them to attain their own base or selfish ends in the United States, aye 1 and in Canada. Let them not be so foolish aa to think that the way to make Ireland great, is to separate her from England. No ! Ireland's true policy liei in clinging loyally to her two t « *- ( ♦ sisters, and to become great in their mutual affection, English tyranny ! English oppression! Away with such folly, away with such stereotyped nonsense, the stock-in-trade of every political pedlar, political humbug or mountebank who mounts the hobby of Irish grievances, and preys on Irish men's confiding simplicity, till he enriches pr advances himself at the sacri- fice of Irishmen's best interests wherever their lot is cast. Irishmen, men of reason, cease looking abroad for the source of your grievances. Give up leaving the load of your miseries at the door of your sister's children. Not England, nor Englishmen ; not Scotland, nor Scotchmen, but Ireland and Irishmen, are to blame for Ireland's and Irishmen's misery and mis- fortune at the present day. True it is, they had reason for dissatisfaction against England a hundred years ago ; so had Scotland ; but you must not live in the past, nor nurse long buried wrongs back to life. Let the past wrongs of Ireland sleep in the grave of past ages, and thus hidden from present view, trace present (and Ireland has many wrongs to complain of, and many grievances to redress — the Church Establishment, Leases at will and many others) wrongs and grievances to their proper source, and if you are honest in your wish to discover who the real culprits are who trample on Irish nationality and Irish prosper- ity, then open your eyes and your minds to the truth, when an humble Irishmun, in the bitterness of his soul's conviction, proclaims to you, and sicars by ihe graves of Ireland's greatest and noblest — by Irelantts altars — by Ireland's God — that Irishmen themselves, at home and abioau, are the chief cause of Ireland's misery at the present day. " Oh I" cries a *^ Fenian leader" (a Fenian robber!), who makes his living by robbing and misleading Irishmen, '' that fellow is an Englishman in disguise, he's a traitor to Ireland, or he would not speak that way — down with him 1 — away with him! he insults Ireland and Irishmen!" "He's an Orangeman !" cries one ; "He's a turncoat," cries another: and so, an Irishman who dares to speak the truth will bo put down by self-interested, degenerate Irishmen, and the simple Irish people, too prone to be convinced by loudsounding words, instead of by strong arguments, are kept in the dark by their selfish, false leaders. But the truth must be told. If Irishmen, Catholic and Protestant, will continue to disagree and to trample on each other's rights — to oppress and abuse each other; if Irishmen will, madly, continue to bo divided among them- selves, they cannot expect other people to respect them, or accept and receive them as men worthy of being looked upon as brothers, and entrusted with the regulation or direction of the affairs of other nations — when they are all the time, by their own acts, showing to the world that they cannot agree together or govern their own country. If Irisbmen 48 M IS ! St ■ desire to live amonp; other races they must harmonize with their nei-s in their own unfortunate country. This is not right, it is not just ; why should other countries be pligued with their national quarrels? Let Irish- men remember the words of the late sainted Irish priest of Quebec, the Rev. Father McMahon : " When you arrive in this free country let all your divisions and hatreds be left, like your foot-print in the sand behind you, to be washed away forever by the next receding wave." Why, for instance, in Canada should French Canadians be made to suffer all the disa- greeable consequences of party strife and bigotry, because Irishmen choose to cherish their old cnniiiios and resume their national quarrels in this free country. Englishmen, — Catholics and Protestants, — don't quarrel with and halo each other in this way. Scotchmen, — as good and fervent Catliolics as any in the world, don't make war on their Protestant country- men. Wlicn will the sons of Ireland learn to understand and tolerate each other without regard to each other's religious bclici'? If any one can tell us when, then we will tell them when Ireland will begin to enjoy prosperity and happiness, and not till then. Why have wo, in this short and imper- fect sketch of Mr. Mctrce's \\'?c, gone into this subject ? Because that truly great Irishman devoted the greater part of his valuable life to im- press those doctrines on the minda of his countrymen, and as a proof that he was right, look at the satisfactory result of his labors, and sec what victories he achieved for Irishmen in Canada, in the short space of ten years, while they followed his liberal views and lived in friendship and harmony with each other, and with their French, English and Scotch fellow subjects. II is course was one of mutual conciliation and forbearance, mutual interest and support — in the language of Scotland's sweetest poet^ Burns : '"" " That man to man, the world o'er, Shall brithers be, for a' that." Let Irishmen ask their own hearts the same question that Ireland's gifted poet Moore asks, when he says : " Shall 1 ask the brave soldier who fights by my sido ' = "•'-' ?>*•.' * :; "■ In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree ; *^''^' ^'5;;;^^ <; !t .,-_ Shall I give up the friend I have valued and tried, If he kneels not before the same altar with me." D 50 And if they wish to live in peace, in prosperity and harmony with their fellow-men, let them answer : " No I perisli the hejirts and the Inws that would try Truth, valor, or Iotc hy a Btundnrd like this ;" and prove by their liberal conduct for the future, towards eneh other and towards all men, that thoy mean what they say. If they do this, then McGee shall not have lived and died in vain, Ireland will soon be satisfied and her <;ricvances swept away, and Canada will always bo what she now is, the happiest country under the sun. Before he returned to C.mada, Mr. McGee visited Ireland, and was re- ceived with distinction at Wexford, the scene of his first triumph as u speaker in the cause of temperance. He was invited to deliver a lecture, at which all the people of note in that city and surrounding]; country were pre- sent. His lecture was one of great ability, and was applauded throughout its delivery by the deliglited hearers. Yet, as an Irishman and one of Mr. McOeo's most intimate and warmest friends and admirers, we must express our unqualified condenmntion of one part of that lecture. Mr. McGee, who was most remarkable for the truthfulness of iiis assertions in all that he stated in public or private life, for once, was both incorrect and very unjust. In the report his W^x/ord speech^ as it has always been oalled, he said that whicl ..ust candidly say was not true. If his speech was correctly reported, (and we must presume that it was, for ho never iC>)rreeted his reported statements,) he asserted that young Irishmen and women, on their arrival in the United 8tates, became lost to honor and to shame. To those who did not kn; w the contrary, his assertion would be literally understood as a flict, and the Irish in tht United States would be set down, with very few exceptions, as a people lost to every principle ^f honor, honesty and religion, whereas directly the contrary is the fact. As a general rule, the Irish in America are a hard-working, honest, in- •dustrious and remarkably religious people. Their names are to be found in the very first rank as Mcsrehants, Lawyers, Physicians, Contractors, >Capitali8t8 and Agriculturalist^, and the national name for virtue and honesty has never in the history of the world been sustained with m')re .signal purity than it ha-i been by the virtuous daughters of Ireland, whe- ther occupying positions among the very highest and educated classes of isociety, the most brilliant and accomplished among the ladies of fashion- able society in the great Republic, or as the self-denying Irish servant- ;girls of the United States of America, with all the temptations and .allurements which surround them in the wealthy and corrupt cities of ithe great Ilepublic The Irish servant girls have preserved untarnished (their reputation for purity and steadfast firmness in the religion of their 51 t- d d 4 * r fathers. Their llttlo savings arc, mouth nffer month, sot npart to be pent hoMJO to their JiL'cd parents or younger brothers and sisters iu Ireland, and the sum thus remitted home by poor girls amounts to nearly a viillion Jollitrs a 1/ettr. And the Church — I mean the Catholic Church — in Mie United States is maiidy supported by the voluntary contributions of the Irish people, whilst the church buildings arc of the most expensive and splendid description. The Iri.^h Orphan Asylum now being completed in the city of Brooklyn will cost half a million of dollars, whilst convents, hospitals, schools and charitable and religious institutions, arc to be I'ound all over the Union, — from Maine to Florida, from the Atlantic to the Pacu'IC, in every State, Town, and Village, — glorious monuments of the presence and unfailing devotion of the sons and daughters of Ireland to the cross, and to the shamrock, to the religion of their fathers and to the worship of their God. In the face of these facts it was cruel to the last degree, for any one, no matter what his object might be, lo insult the faithful daughters and sons of Ireland in the United States as Mr. McGee did in his Wexford speech. We are well aware that Mr. McGee's object was to induce immigration to Canada, and to divert it as much as possible from the United States. lie wanted to fill the emigr.int's mind with horror of Anioricin institutions — and to induce the Irish people by that means, either to remain at home, or to make Canada their stopping place — and above all he wanted to prevent Irishmen being picked up on the wharf at New York on their arrival, and forwarded to the battle fields in the South, for the war was still raging at the time of his ^^ Wexford speech." We have no hesitation iii saying that millions of Irish, Knglish and Scotch immigrants can be provided with prosperous and h<;ppy homes in Canada, and we will go i'urther and say that we candidly believe that the prospects here in Canada are fully equal lo anything they will meet in the United States. We offer them universal freedom, just Uiws, and all the advantages of a permanent form of government ; rich agricultural lands for a mere nominal price, and every encouragement to settle among us ; but at the same time we cannot permit any man, no mitter how exalted his position, speaking as the representative of our government, to say anything unjust of the Irisli men and women in the United States. Throughout the whole of Mr. McGce's political career as a Canadian politician, this is the only act of his which his countryuea cinnot endorse. And while we condeum this one act of his, and in his name admit the error, can we not point out ten thousand instancos of his devoted attachment to, and his self- Biciificc for, his countrymen and his country, — and then say to all who condemned his Wexford speech — is that one false step, that one cloud, 62 I !i: i ii I i suflScient to cover and hide in its shade, the brilliant life of the unselfish Irish patriot and Canadian statesman, Thomns D'Arcy McGee ? No ! the chosen disciiile, Peter, the prince of the apostles, thrice denied his Lord and Master, when He most stood in need of a friend. Yet, oa- account of his great virtues, Christ took him to His bosom, and gave hiui toe very keys of heaven. Mr. McGee never denied his country, nor did he ever desert her, through " weal or woe ; " the error he com- mitted in his Wexford speech was committed in a mistaken zea! for the welfare and success of the Irish about to emigrate from their country ; iu his great love for his fellow countrymen at home, ho was for once, and only once in his lii'e, unjust towards thousands of his fellow countrymen id the United States. The leading Irislnuen of Montreal, seconded and nobly assisted by the other nationalities in the city, gave Mr. McGce a public banquet on his rucurn from Ireland ; it was one of the most successful ovations ever given to any public man in Canada; the leading men of the future " Dominion of Canada" were present to do honor to the greatest Irishman on the continent of America, and to prove the confidence and esteem in which he vus held by all classes of the community. At that brilliant assem- blage of the great men of our country, Walter Macfarlan a liberal minded honorable Scotch gentleman presided, for he deserved to take the first place in doing honor to the man to whom he had given the first place in his honest heart. The speech of Mr. McGee on that occasion was one of the greatest and most masterly discourses that ever ravished the ears of an au- dience or made the souls of men thrill with emotion. " Music hath charms," but the soul of the great McGee poured forth in his glowing words, on that occasion, not only charmed, itenchantod the minds of his hearers, and soaring away far above the littleness of every day things and acts, opened up with a master hand the portals of pure and undefiled patriotism, and taught young and old what equal rights, and equal justice, and national liberty meant. It was such an outbust of eloquence as we shall never hear again, since his tongue that gave it utterance is stilled for ever ; but its eftccts are still felt, nnd will continue to be felt for half a century to come. It is needless to say that that unfortunate Wexford speech was seized on with avidity by Mr. McGee's enemies in the United States and Canada; the Fenian Brotherhood fairly gloated over it, and bis narrow-minded enemies in Canada, and particularly in Montreal, took advantage of it and of his absence, to villify his character and estrange from him the affections of the Irish people — what was called '' a Disclaimer" was published in Montreal, wliich was gotten up by a ^'■hanhrnpt shoemaJcei',^' and a vendor of old clothes, assisted by some of the worst hidden enemies of Mr. McGee. Header, do you c .r visit the " Bonsecours I^Iarket ?" If not, perhaps ou 53 are not aware that " OL' CLO !" venders " arc there to be fount!," notof the true type; mine " d-h-ear fn:n " Isaac is supplanted and improved upon in the person of the " Hibernian Jew.'^ If you have not had the i^ood fortune to become personally acquainted with the " Hiberni:in Jews," but will look at the scrawls appended to " The Visdaimer," you will iind some of their names thereunto appended, and then confess! oh most innocent reader, that you were not aware that " Old Clothes^' and " Brand new 2)oUtics" are donexa that classic region the " Bonsecours Market,'' by tlie " Hibernian Jew." You might, if you looked over the X's in the disclai- mer, discern those of a few " Rag and Old Nope Men,^' and oF one or two respectable, but illitei'ate "Junk Men,^' But the name of even one res- pectable, intelligent man, or of a man of any standing as an Irishman in this community is not tobef tund appended to *• Tlie Disclaimer," and as many of the signatures to the Disclaimer, such asthey were, proved tohQforgeries, it had but little effect in Canada or 3Iontreal. Tlio lieartless leaders of the uneducated Irish people in the Nortliern States, made it one of their most powerful arguments to prove tli;it McGce was not to be believed when he condemned the leaders of tlie Brntlicrliood as a lot of heartless and unprin- cipled swindlers, who were living on the money extorted from the poor Irish servautgirls and laboring men of the United States. And, alts ! the poor people were induced to give more credit and money to those scoundrels — for, heartily sincerj and honest tliemsclvos, the poor Irish people could not for a moment suppose that their loaders were impostors, till at last their eyes were opened to the true state of things when the scoundrels began to quarrel over the spoils — and then, indeed, the world was con- vinced that McGec's denunciation of the whole thing from bcgi.. ning to end was honest and truthful. But still, as one set of windy patriots was unmasked, another set sprang up to take tlieir place — and so the vile conspiracy, not against Engli-h rule so much as against Irish money — was continued to be, and is still faintly kept alive. It is wonderful indeed to conceive ho sv the Irish people in America can be so blindly led by knaves. The leaders in America have turned out traitors and swindlers; and the most prominent of their so-called leaders in Ireland and England have inscribed their names in tlic history of Fenianism as infoiMnci's who have sold their poor, deluded, but honest followers to tliP British Government to die on the scaffold, or to pine away their lives in prisons as felons. And in Canada, after killing aid wounding several of our citizen soldiers, the lives of a score of misled madmen were forfeited (o the outraged laws of thi;s country ; and to t!)e clemency of those whose homes and firesides they came to lay waste without c:iuse or reason whatever they owe their lives. Thomas D'Arcy MeGcc was a member of the Cabinet that commuted their sentence of death to one of imprisonment. 64 ii»i \ I In 1867, Mr. McGee visited Euro) e once more as Commissioner from Canada to the great Industrial Exposition in Paris, and he also visited the Eternal city, to lay at the feet of His Holiness Pope Pius IX., the petition of the Irish Catholic congregation of St. Patrick's Church, against the new division of parishes. Broken down in health, and troubled with the cares of his official duties, ]Mr. MeGee, ever generous and self sacrificing towards his countrymen, travelled to Rome, and per- formed the duty imposed upon him faithfully and well, and paid out of his own slender means all expenses of his costly journey, for McGee was poor; he scorned to enrich himself at the cost of his honor, although as a minister of the Crown he might have done so as others have done — but he remained a poor and an honest man. On his arrival home from Europe on the 24th of May, 1867, he was received by the citizens of Montreal at the railway station, and a very flattering address presented to him on behalf of all classes of the community, by the mayor. While in England Mr. McGee had his speeches on the subject of Confederation of the Pro- vinces published in London, and he also had a revised edition of his His- tory of Ireland issued from the London press. Both these books were very highly spoken of in Great Britain, and even in France. Now we approach that part of our task which we would to God it had never become our duty to write j that part of it which speaks to the world of Irish ingratitude. On the 1st July, 1867, the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Bruns- wick and Nova Scotia, were proclaimed " The Dominion of Canada," and the dream of Mr. McGee's lite for ten years past was realized ; and he, who had taken a leading part in the securing of that great result, was the very first man in Canada to make a very great personal sacrifice to secure harmony and good feeling among all the various classes now thrown together for the first time politically. The diversity of ij, crests to be satisfied in the formation of the first Dominion governmeut was most perplexing to the leader of the ministry, Sir John A. Macdonald — each province had its leading men, all claiming a place at the Council Board, and all more or less clamorous in their demands. Among them all there was no one man who had done so much with tongue and pe^} for Con- federation as Mr. McGee ; and yet, when he saw the necessity for it, Thomas D'Arcy McGee sacrificed his own personal feelings, and volun- tarily resigned his undoubted claim to a place in the Cabinet, as an example to others of the motives which should actuate a statesman who placed his duty to his country before all feelings of self-advancement or sclf-invercst. Well as Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George E. Carticr, Bart., knew Mr. MoGee's self-sacrificing disposition, they could not .J ;. 55 refrain on that occasion from publicly expressing their thanks to their illustrious and magnanimous friend, for the sacrifice he made, unsolicited^ to produce good feeling and harmony among all parties, and to strengthcu the hands of the government which he had so materially assisted to usher into existeice. But McGee felt in his soul that he was doing his duty to his country, and that, with him, out-weighed all other motives aud interests. The general election of members for the House of Commons was the first political move under the new form of government, and Mr. McGee was again called on to represent his old division of " Montreal West." Willingly would he have declined to do so and retire into private life — hig health, for a long tims past, was fast breaking down ; he had excited him- self too much during some years past in every way — as minister of the Crown, an author, a lecturer, and a leader of the people — and fain would he have rested to recruit his health. But his own feelings had to give way to the claims of bis country ; he had taken a leading part in secur- ing a new form of government for Canada, now he must assist in getting the government permanently established and in working order— the coun- try could not dispense with his groat intellectual powers and eloquent advocacy at the moment of her great political change — on her entrance on the dignities and responsibilities of a nation. Among the 150,000 inhabitants of Montreal t re could not hr found one man, of any other nationality or creed, t' pose 'J'h ma>5 D'Arcy McGee, but one of his own Irish Catholic countryincn. Engush, Fn;uch, Scotch, and Irish Protestants, there were in hundreds who would oppose any other man but McGee, and contest with him the honor of represent- ing the most populous constituency in the Province ( f Quebec, but to a man they all agrc^'d \n admitting that t . Thoui D'Arcy McGee belong- ed by right the honor of repre.-onting in the Hist Dominion Parliament lis old and I'lvithfully served constituency. But an Irish Catholic was found, or rather 'c was dragged iiuward nominally by the " Fenian" fac- tion to oppose MtGco, but he was in reality the nominee of the Rouge party. LuTiif II. IloLTON was the man who got up the opposition, and he did not conceal the fact, for in a public place he disclosed to a most res- pcctablo ^011 'man " that he had no confidence in, or respect for, Mr. Devlin," 1 .said the spiteful, faithless friend — "any tool, any instru- ment! ju>y means to defeat that fellow McGee." The object of Mr. Holton was to strike McGee in the most sensitive place in his nature ; for this purpose he must get an Irishman to oppose him, and thus make his revenge the more deeply felt. Mr. McGee felt the cowardly thrust most deeply — at the first great meeting of his friends he said : — 56 iif: pi I :l •The meeting is awnre, Sir, that in presenting myself as a candidate for re - election, in support of the first Union Go7prnmcnt of the new Doniinion, I am threatened with opposiiioa from a gentleman of tl. same origin and creed as myself. It seems an nnnatural and malicions opposition ; . . . . , I do not complain of that gentleman's candidacy .... but T do complain, and I fed keenly, the a/lempt to alicnale from me the confidence, and to inspire with hatred against me, a portion of my Irish fellow-countrymen. (Cheers.) They kneio where I ivas vulnerable, and they struck me there; but I declare in the presence of God, and my fellow-men, that I feel the blow far loss on my own account, than on account of that section of our population themselves. I have been in public affairs a good, a true, and a safe guide to them ; let the events of the last ten years witness whether I have been so, or not ; but if they transfer their confidence to other advisers, who have tried for years to counteract my policy of concilialion, they will fall under evil influences; they will suffer; and our flourishing city will not gain by the exchange. I have just two remarks to make to that portion of my old supporters befon we part company, if part we must, and one is this ; let them vote against me if ihey will ; though I do not think I have deserved such recompense at their hands ; but let them, for every sake, conduct this contest in an orderly, peaceable, and legal manner. (Cheers.) When the election is over, the record will remain ; let it never be said that the rowdy element was revived in this community, after its apparent extinction, in a contest between two Irish Catholics." Here, Irishmen, was the pure object of Luther the false in opposing " Honest Tom." He did oppose him, and that opposition was the direct cause of McGce's death. It is the easiest mutter in life to raise a political storm, and to urge on the masaes to violence and madness, but wo ! to the man who undertakes the task, for on his soul rests the bloodshed which results froiu that storm of his raising, and in the eyes of God he is a mur- derer. Never in the history of political contests did Montreal or Canada witness such an election as the Montreal West election ; all the energies, all the calumnies, all the abuse of the " Hon ge parti/ " and its foul mouthed speakers, and its Judas-leader ^^ Luther ihefahc,^^ aided by the Fenians of Canada — who were made the catspaw of the Rouge party — and indeed of the United States, was brought to bear on the election. McGoo was denounced as a traitor, as a renegade, as a turn-coat, as a false Irishman, a spy for the British Government and every other falsehood that could be laid hold of by a vile mob, led on by designing and unscrupulous men, whose only object was to get a chance of revenging their petty spleen and malice on McQee, who was as much the superior of the very best of them, as gold is superior to brass. At his meetings Mr. McGeo and his friends were pelted with stones and other missiles, and every means that brute force could exert, and unscrupulous leaders devise, were used to deter the rt pectablo people from coming to the polls to cast their votes, but without avail. Law and order triumphed over brute force, truth and 57 justice defeated falsehood and deceit, and Thomas D'Arcy McGcc was triumphantly elected. It may be asked why was McGeo opposed by the Irish of Montreal AVcs^ ? The answer is very simple. For five years he had been battling against " Fenianism" and condemning the leaders of that party ; for years he had I»cen warning his misled countrymen against the dreadful consequences of following blindly men who were the very scum of Irish society in the United States and Canada ; and as a natural consequence of his manly and consistent condemnation of that dishonor- able and plotting nest of New York scoundrels, he drew down upon himself all the bitterness of their vengeance. And we shame to say it, they found '• fitting tools for their revenge" in Canada ; their emissaries made it their special business to whisper the blackest and deepest calum- nies against McGee's character into the ears of his simple and confiding countrymen, which were repeated from lip to lip, till it became impossi- ble to trace the infamy to its source. Those vile rascals made it appear that McGec was no longer an Irishman, that, in fact, he felt ashamed of the name of Irishman, that he had turned Protestant, and declared him- self a Scotchman, and thus whilst absent in Home attending to the in tersts of Irishmen in Montreal, in connection with the St. Patrick's Church Petition, McGec, their most devoted friend, and most honest guide, was being undermined in the hearts of his countrymen by the emissaries of Yankee swindlers, and their Rouge allies, who would not hesitate at any crime to get rid of the man who had unmasked them from the first moment of their start in the traffc of Irish blood and sweat, in the name of Irish patriotism. Among the vile caluminics which were cir- culated about Mr. McGeeby the Fenians, at that time, was one falsehood so base and selfish that none but the most unprincipled of factions would for one moment try to damage the fair fame of a patriot, although opposed to bin), by sue' heartless and dishonorable means. The report was cir- culated that McGee was a spy for the British government in '48, and that he was false to Smith O'Biien and the Confederation, of which ho was the Secretary. Although no n)an of the least common sense could be induced to believe such a falsehood as this, we feel that we arc bound by publicly convicting by infallible proof the authors of that lie, to show the Irish people in '' Montreal }Ytst'^ what " manner of men'" led the oppo- sition against Mr. McGec. Of all the men who rendered their names famous in connection with Ireland's history during the last forty years, with the exception of O'ConncU himself, Charles G. Dufi"y is certainly the greatest and most famous. We w'" then let Ciiarles G. Dufft speak of McGce, which he does as followS; in his " PiiiNCU'LES AND Po- licy OP THE Irish Race: " — • .:, . . ^.^ v.^ 68 " To forty political prisoners in Newgate, when the world seemed shut out from me for ever, I estimated him as I do to-day. I said, ' If we loere. about to bes^in our work anew, I would rather have his help than any man's of all our confederates.' I said he coul ^' ■y ■el le 1 t > * 61 Mr. McGcc was then not false to liis own land, although ho tried to serve to the utmost of his power his adopted one. I shall quote a sentence from his speech on last St. Patrick's Day in Ottawa, when alluding to this charge again&t him: — "If I have avoided for two or throe years much speaking in public on the subject of Ireland, even in a literary or historical sense, I do not admit that I can be fairly charged in consequence with being either a sordid or a cold-hearted Irishmun. I utterly deny it, because I could not stand still and see our peaceful, . unoffending Canada invaded and deluged in blood, in the abused and unauthorized name of Ireland, that therefore I wa.s a bad Irishman. I utterly du'tiy the audacious charge, aud I say that my mental labors will prove, such as they are, that I know Ireland as well, both in her strength and hor weakness, and love her as dearly as any of those who, in ignorance of my Canadian position, in ignorance of my obligations to my adopted country, not to speak of my solemn oath of office, have made this cruelly false charge against me." After which he alluded to the fact that he had brought tlie wrongs of Ireland before the chief authorities of England, during his late visit, and he adds, " that he believed he was doing Ireland a good turn in the proper quarter." I deem it unnecessary to dwell upon a point which, to my mind, is of the clearest evidence ; nor should I have treated it at all at such length if all the hatred which has been excited against the deceased, and which, I fear, has culminated in his death — so awful and shocking — had not sprung from such unfounded, such base, caluuuiious charges, which were blindly believed by some of my country- men. J3ut it is true that the heart of the deceased was large enough to admit of other aifcctions — beside the love of Ireland there grew up in it another love almost as strong and as enduring — the love of Canada ; and under the influence of that new feeling his mind took a wider com- pass, his views became more enlarged and liberal, his glance became more far-reaching, and he rose from being the patriot of one country to be the statesman that embraces the entire empire in his views. And now see what an Irish Protestant minister says of the Irish Catholic statesman who was denounced by scoundrels as a traitor to God and h'o countjy. The Reverend Dr. Irvine, of Montreal, said in a speech on the deatb of Mr. McGee : '* It matters not in what relations we look at this truly great man — we see traits of character which elicit universal admiration. As a scholar he was highly accomplished; as an essayist and historian he stood among the first of our day ; as a poet his fugitive pieces were exquisite ; as a statesman, he was clear, honest, and fearless ; as a patriot he loved the ; land that gave him birth with all his heart ; he I'^vcd the British Monarchy 62 , 1 as ;i form of government, iiud tlio untiring energies of his noble spirit wore laid on the political altar of this our dear Dominion. Alas I alas ! that the foundations of the Dominion of Canada should be laid in the precious blood of her most sagacious statesman and her most ardent patriot. (Applause.) I am not using the language of undeserved eulogy while I thus speak — for many of you, no doubt, have read the statements of the Earl of Mayo, in the Imperial Parliament, in reference to our late la- mented friend. The language is as strong as any that has been, or may be used here to-night, said yet the eulogy of the noble lord was well deserved. Besides his gifted and cultivated intellect, Mr. McO "C was endowed v/ith a warm heart — a warmer and more genial heart never throbbed in a human bosom. In private and in public, he spoke and acted alike toward friend and foe (he meant political fo , for he could not understand that he had, or could have had, a personal enemy) in such a way aj to leave the im- pre.ssion indelibly upon every observers mind, that he cherished unkind feelings toward no man. His soul was cast in a large mould. He loved his countty ; Tie loved his Church; he loved his fellow-men; he loved every man who deserved the name of man. His heart was too large to cherish hatred and revenge against any man, and while millions of ii«en are this day crying for vengeance upon the ruthless ruffian who murdered hinj — nay, while his blood, which still stain-^ the streets of Ottawa, is crying to heaven for vengeance upon the unrelenting assassin who shed it, I believe if we could reach the immortal spirit of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, we should find it crying for — not vengeance, but mercy upon the fiond who chased it from its gory tenement into the presence of its God." (Loud applause.) Mr. McGec. although broken down in health, took his seat in the House of C.^mmons of Canada, and made the speech of the first session. — With one knee resting on a ehair and his body supported by the aid of a cane, he spoke, as he only could speak, for three hours, and the House cheered and applauded as he spoke, for words of wisdom and eloquence streamed from his lips, and held the ears and senses of his lis- teners entranced with admiration— but the efibrt was too much for him — while the plaudits of his fellow-members still soun led in his ears, he was taken to his hotel, where he had to undergo a very painful surgical oper- ation ; his friends even feared for his life, but b(!fore the end of the session he was able to enter the House once more, and as he slowly crossed towards his seat, the members, as if moved by one common impulse, sprang to their feet and loudly cheered him. Mr. McGee, who, during years of public life, had received many flattering proofs of popularity and friendship, felt that reception in the House of Commons of Canada as the greatest cora- « 4 » :. 63 it < < -I plimcnt ever paid him — for parties and politics wore for the moment for- gotten, and the tribute was one of friendship and j^'ood feelini^on tho part of liis fcllow-menibcrs, — sueh as is not heard of onec in a hundred years. Durinj? his absence from the House an absolute want was felt — his friendly face, his flashes of {genuine wit — his outbursts of lofty eloquence were want- ing, and things did not appear so bright as they would when he was in his place; for even his political opponents admired the man and admitted his superior talents and lofty luind ; e\en the correspondents of the press felt his absence deeply, and frequently did they express their deep regret at his non-appearance in the House. The correspondent of the Rlchmovd Gnurdifui, the most influential and best edited and conducted paper in the Eastern Townt^hips, says, in one of his letters ; " If you can imajiinc night without stars or moon, day witliout sun, you can then form an idea of the House of Commons without the presence of Thomas D'Arcy McGee." Once more at home, Mr. McGce, for four Ion" months was confined to his room with sickness, but his energies remained unimpaired, and his pen was never idle; and it was only after his death that the world became aware of how much of his time was devoted to the cause o^ his country, — (we mean of his native country Ireland.) lie was in cjmmunication with tiie most prominent men in the British Government, in relation to Irish grievances, and his advocacy had great influence in bringing about the present views of the English people in relation to the Irish Church Establishment, and the Land Question. One man in, the position of Mr. McGeo has more weight and influence with the thinking men of England than all the windy, blnsterin" patriots that ever spouted unmeaning vituperations daring the last fifty years. He knew and felt this, and was doing, in his own quiet way, more good for Ireland than all the political or secret societies in the world ; even while I write, the Atlantic Cable is vibrating to ail parts of the habitable gh^bc, the words of the great giant of English polities Gladstone, who is not, nor need he bo, ashamed to declare — mat Irelarsd that the Irish nation is indebted to the elo(juent words of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, spoken on St. Patrick's Day last, at Ottawa, for the present ex- traordinary movement in Great Britain in favor of Ireland. Fenians madmen, read the words of Gladstone; let him teach you who was Ire- land's best friend ; and you who took part in the false, unmerited persecu- tion of the great McGee, drop on your knees and beg pardon of God and of your bereaved country — bereaved through your falsehood and cakunny of her greatest, her most glorious son — for your infamous folly or stupidity, if only a follower of Fenianisra, and for your dreadful fratricidal murder if you were a false leader of yoir simple minded, too confiding country- 64 n ifli men, and nialiclously led them on till madness seized them and they thirsted for the blood of as noble an Irishman as ever lived or died for unf^rateful Ireland. Mr. Gladstone said: — " Now, go with me across the Caiuulidn border and look for a few miniifes to the state of the Irishmen in Gunada ; and here, instead of referring to length- ened and various documentg, I will quote tlie words but of a single witness. Possibly the name may be known to you I am going to mention ; it is the name of Mr. D' \rcy McGec, a gentleman who, I believe, was well known in Ireland during so much of his life as he passed there as one of the most vehement of Irish patriots, and as one of those who either exposed himself on that account to the penalties of the law, or else was within an ace of exposing himself. That was the character of Mr. D'Arcy McGeo. He went to Canada, Canada is under the sway of the same beloved Queen. In what does Canada dilFcr from the United Kingdom ? Canada has a free Parliament, and so have wc ; but Canada has got just laws regulating the tenure of the land on which the people depend for subsistence ; and Canada has not got installed and enthroned in exclusive privileges the Church of a small minority. (Cheers.) It was said of old that men who crossed the sea changed the climate but not the mind; but mark the change Avhich passed upon the mind of Mr. D'Arcy McGee. Let me read you his testimony, for they are words more significant and more weighty then I can give you; words lh tlio c'naracter of that truly great man — and shows how he Iced Canada and his follow-men Avithout distinction — at the same time that he never forgot his first love — Ireland— under any circumstances, or at any time. ft ST. PATRICK'S DAY (1868) AT OTTAWA— SPEECHES OF THE HON. MR. McGEE. REMARKS AT TUB CONCERT. Being introduced by tlie ClMirmivn, W. F. Powell, Esq., President of tho Irish Protestant Benevolent Society, lion. Mr. McGeo said : I am always happy to obey tho call of my friend the Sheriff of Carlton (Mr. Powell) ; and the last time I stood here he was also in the chair. But I am especially happy on this occasion in being able to address a few sentences of congratulation to an audience assembled as this is in the cause of mutual charity, — an audience of Irishmen, irrespective of religious distinc- tion, — who are here to-night for the mutual benefit of the poor and the orphans, who look to both your societies for help and sustenance. (Cheers.) I feel quite sure, Mr. Sheriff, and gentlemen of the joint-committee, that you will never have reason to regret that you mutually assisted at what I may call a common work of charity, and that you chose for the occasion of so doing this Saint Patrick's Day, 1868. You engaged in a good work ; the very means you took to accomplish it were, in themselves, a good work. (Cheers.) Whatever is done at Ottawa of a public character, derives additional significance from the fact that it is done at the political capital of the country, and for one I do most sin- cerely trust the example set here thia evening will meet with general approval and imitation among Irishmen throughout the Dominion. I believe the proces- sion of the day was irreproachable, and I hope all tho proceedings of this evening will be equally so. (Cheers.) There used to be a joint celebra- tion of this day at Toronto, and I think it was presided over so late as last year by our late respected countryman, the Hon. Robert Spence (hear, hear.) There is such a union society of very late date at Halifax, with which many of our Nova Scotia friends, now in Ottawa, have been long connected. In Montreal, this evening, a number of Irish gentlemen and their guests are din- ing together in cordial amity, just as some of us are going to sup together by- nnd-bye at the Russell House. (Cheers.) I feel that these are good signs for the social peace and civil unity of the New Dominion, in which Irishmen form '3 80 considerable a contingent. The Irish in the Dominion arc the most numerous as a class of any one origin ; more numerous than even our French Canadian friends, if you take Protestant and Catholic Irislimen and their de.')ccndants together. In fact, it would be very eas}' to show that lliis Canada is proportion- ately a more Irish country than the Uni.ed States, or even the United Kingdom. (Cheers.) We have an Irish Governor-General at our head, and an Irish Re- ceiver-General among His E.xcellcucy's advisers ; and in Nova Scotia they have an Irish Lieutenant Governor, in General Doyle. (Cheers.) Last week we snw the addition of three members to the Senate, one of whom was of Irish Protest- ant stock, from the Niagara district, and the other an Irish Catholic, from St, John, New Brunswick. I allude to the Ron. Mr. Benson and the Hon .Mr. Dever, (Cheers.) One parish in Cavan sends no less than five members to our Parlia- ment (including my hon. friend who is to succeed me, Mr. Shanly,) and I think it will be allowed that ia justice to Cavan, at all events. (Cheers and laughter) Ten members of our Senate were born in Ireland, or of Irish parents and twenty-nine members of our House of Commons — a proportion of yepresen- tation nearly equal to Ireland's share in the United Kingdom, and far beyond anything ever attained by our countrymen who choose to prefer the United States to Canada, as a new country. If, however, there has been anything wanting to Irish success more than another, it has been mutual co-operation and assistance such as is exemplified here to-night. You have begun a good work in Ottawa, Mr. Sheriff and gentlemen, and one that o.ily needs good management and a spirit of perseverance to make it inure to the benefit of every Irishman, high or low, who dwells within this broad Dominion. (Cheers.) I liavc promised, however, not to detain you, and you are aware tiiat I have another engagement elsewhere. I will, therefore, thanking you for your kindness on all occasions, give you as a motto an appropriate stanza from one of the best poets of young Ireland : — " For oh, it were a glorious deed To show before mankind. How every class, and every creed. Could be by love combined — Could be combined, nor yet forget. The fountains whence they rose, As filled with many a rivulet The stately Shannon flows !" (Loud cheers.) SPEECH AT THE DI.NXER. The Chairman, II. J. Friel, Esq., Mayor of the city, having proposed the toast of the evening, " The Hon. Mr. McGee," spoke in eloquent terms of Mr. JIoGee's claims upon the country's appreciation for his eminent services. The toast was drank with the greatest enthusiasm, and when the hon. gentleman rose to res- pond he was received with many and loud manifestations of applause. Mr. McGee said : — My Lord, Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, — I rise with an extreme consciousness of your undeserved kindness, and of my own utter unworthiness to acknowledge the toast which you have proposed to this assemblage. When I see here so many of the representatives of the peoide, and the members of the f^ 74 H Bl if . Ill'i. t! it!*! Senate of Canada, — irrespective of party, or section, or origin, — when I see so many of the lead'ng citizens, regardless of creed ; when I remcniljcr the day it is, and the associations of this day, I sliould be very insensible indeed if I did not feel that you liad paid me the highest compliment it is possible for any man in my position to receive, whether I am to take it as a Canadian representative, or ns paid to an Irishman, in the capital city of his adopted country, on tlie patron day of his native country. (Cheers.) I wish, Mr. Mayor, I could conscientiously assume to myself a tithe of the credit you have been kind enough to assign me, either in one capacity or the otlier. Speaking as a Canadian representative, I may say if I have rendered any public service, it has been by cheerfully follow" ing the lead of the experienced statesmen to whom we owe the union of these Province?, so far as that union is yet accomplished, and of whom I will merely add on this occasion that as they have been the chief authors and found- ers of that union, so I feel convinced thu country generally still looks to them, and will continue to look to them to establish and perfect the glorious edifice they have so far successfully carried out. (Cheers.) Now, assuming my other capacity, that one which is most appropriate for the day and the occasion, I must express my deep gnitification, not on selfish but on public grounds, that this entertainment should have originated in the spontaneous action of a number of gentlemen of this city, nearly equally composed, as I am given to understand, of Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics. I believe I do not exaggerate when I say, that surely that is a good and salutary sign for this city and this courtry, and one that ought not to be without its in- fluence with Irishmen of all parties and all denominations, especially in this country, (Cheers.) In no other country in Christendom, unfortunately, have religious dili'erences been so embittered, so long lived, or so apparently incur- able, as in Ireland ; not because there were dilFerences of religion, or because the Irish temper is naturally unsocial or intolerant, for I believe we may appeal to the whole world that such is not the national temperament of Irishmen — (hear, hear,) — but because church questions were so complicated with material interests and civil rights in that country, because they were so long the qualifi- cation of the bar, to the possession of property, or the enjoyment of equal political rights. Now, in this happy country, — happy if we only knew our own advant.'.ges — happy if we were all resolved to make it so, — where these theological complications with private and political riglits do not now, and never did to any extent exist, why should the prejudices and the conflicts which were the growth of a different set of circumstances, be imported and cultivated here ? (Hear, hear.) I hold that man an insincere man who does not heartily prefer his own religion to any other, — and an unfortunate man, who does not practice the religion he holds dear; but surely we can all sincerely believe, and loyally live up to, our own religious convictions, and yet remember that of the glorious trinity of evangelical virtues — "the greatest of all these is charity." (Cheers.) Whatever else any church claiming to be Christian teaches its members, — whatever dogmas any of us hold or reject, we are all equally and alike taught this one and the same doctrine — "Do unto others as you would they should do unto you." (Cheers.) Now itis on this eminently social, just, and patriotic principle we meet here to night, and itis a principle which ought to commend itself to the general tip 75 approbfttlon of all good men. (Cheers.) Mr. Mayor, I know it is bccauic I have enilcavored, in my weak way, to set forth and illustrate this principle, that yoii have graciously connected zny humble name with this St. Patrick's festival of 18G8; and it is because lam deeply grateful to my adopted country, and because I am honestly amliitious to be reckoned somewhere, however lowly the place, in the catalogue of herpatriots, that I thank you most unalfectedly for this great impetus to the good cause of future peace and good will among ua all. (Cheers) We have needed, and we shall need more and more, social unioa as well as political union among our diversified jiopulalion; we need it in peace, for all the great designs of peace ; we should need it still more in times of danger, for then indeed u divided people are an easy prey, but a united popula- tion, in a just cause,, on their own soil, what foreign force can overcome, or destroy. (Hear, hear and cheers.) May God avert the day, Avhen our friends here, and those assembled elsewhere in the same spirit, may be called upon to defend their country with their lives; but if such a day of trial should come, sooner or later, as come itmay in the changes and chances of human affairs, believe me, gentle- men, it would be no bad preparation for the unity of the Irish contingent of our volunteer defenders, in camp or in action, — it would be no meffective contribution to the mutual confidence of brave men in each other, so important at such a time — that they had sat together, as we are doing to-night, brothers in the exercises of hospitality, before they becam«i brothers in arms ! (Loud cheers.) When I accepted your invitation, gentlemen of the committee, I thought of that possible consequence, and I am rejoiced to know that there are similar reunions to this of Irish-Canadians and their honored guests of other origins taking place on this auspicious St. Patrick's D.ay in Montreal and elsewhere throughout the country. The mention of Montreal reminds me that there are hero the three members for that eiiy — my lion, friend, a French-Canadian (Mr. Cartier), /«cj7e princeps, the honored head of his compatriots — and my other hon. friend and colleague (Mr. Thos. Workman), an Irish Protestant, from the heart of Ulster. (Cheers.) I wish the enemies of internal peace, — I wish the enemies of the Dominion to consiiier for a moment that fact, and to ask themselves whether a state of society which enables us all to meet as we do in this manner, with the fullest feeling o^ equal rights, and the strongest sense of equal duties to our common country,— is not a state of society, a condition of things, a system of laws, and a frame •f self-government, worthy even of the sacrifice of men's lives to per- petuate and preserve. (Cheers.) Mr. Mayor, before I sit down — as this is St- Patrick's night, and I am the guest of the Irish citizens of Ottawa, if you will permit me, — I may be expected to add a few general ix-marks on the critical sub- ject of the state of the native land of our hosts and myself— the condition and state of Ireland. (Hear, hear.) If I have avoided for two or three years much speaking in public on the subject of Ireland, even in a literary or historical sense, I do not admit that I can be fiiirly charged, in consequence, with being either a sordid or a cold-hearted Irishman. (Cheers.) I utterly deny that be- cause I could not stand still, and see our peaceful, unoffending Canada invaded and fleluged with blood, in the abused and unauthorized name of Ireland, that, therefore, I was a bad Irishman. I utterly deny the audacious charge, and I say that my mental labours will prove, such as they are, that I know Ireland aa i m II I B well, both in her strength an April 4th, 18(>8. $ My Loud : — During the Irish dehatc, in the Imperial Parliament, on the 10th day of last month, the report of which has just reached us, you did mo the iiigh honor to refer to my public position in this country, and to point your testimony to the loyalty of the Irish inhabitants of Canada, by the use of my humble name. I am, my Lord, deeply sensible of the very handsome manner in which you then spoke of myself personally ; and of tho just tribute you paid to the class of colonists to which I have the honor to belong ; and I trust your Lordship will not feci that I take an ill way of showing my gratitude by inflicting on you this letter. It has forced itself on ray mind that I owe it to your Lordship, as an eminent Irisliraan in the Imperial service, as well as to dear old Ireland, and in some degree to Canada also, to explain iu a few sentences the sense in which alone I could receive the high personal compliment you have paid me, with unmixed satisfaction. Our countrymen, my Lord, in the Dominion of Canada, with their descendants, are a full third of the four millions of her Majesty's North American subjects. la religion they are nearly half and half Protestant and Catholic. Though few can be called wealthy, the majority of both creeds are proprietors in town or country In the city I represent (Montreal) their aggregate property, acquired mostly in this generation, is valued at many millions of dollars. In the rural parts there are literally thousands of them who possess their holdings in fee, and unencumbered. The best specimens of both classes are among the most meritor- ious members of Canadian society. Property has made them conservative in the truest sense — conservative of character, and zealous to uphold the law. The generous national temperament, shrivelled and cankered by hopeless penury at home, has renewed its youth with us, and keeps putting forth fruits of public and private good, to the great satisfaction of every lover of this country. Without having acquired the feverish thirst for riches, the love of empty show, or the ill- understood democratic notions of so many of \he Irish in the neighboring re- public, our settlers here will be admitted by all who know equally well both sides of the boundary line, to be as warmly interested in the good repute and good government of their beloved fatherland as any set of men can be, at home or abroad. 79 As a general rule — an almost unexceptioned rule — both classes, in town and country, while ardently and unmistiikably Iriali, are, at the snnio time, as loyal to Uritish-American institutions, ns thoroughly content with the Government under which tlioy live — the Imperial onnoclion included — as any other portion of our jiopulation, of whatever fuiih or origin. Deing one of tiie Members of tho Parliament and the Government of this country for some years past, I huve felt It to be my first duty to strengthen and extend this patriotic spirit, for their own good and the good of our adopted country ; and doing so I have felt bound ne- cessarily to resist and combat tlie invidious and incessant efforts to the contrary, of the secret Irish societies eUablislied during tlio civil war, at Now York. When those societies have given you so much trouble even on your side tho Atlantic, your Lordship may imagine what efforts they must have put forth in these British provinces, one-third Irish, and witliiu one day's reacii of their liead- quarters. Our countrymen in Canada, my Lord, do not so much regard the American Fenian leaders as enemies of England, but rather as enemies of Canada, and enemies of Ireland. We see in them not so much regulators of Irish wrongs, as impediments to Ireland's reconstruction. Those of us who arc Catholics, living in nnd by our holy faith, add to this political hostility towards Fenianism, a rooted horror of all secret societies, so frequently condemned and anathematized by the Church. Knov.ing, moreover, what manner of men the Anicrican organizers usually arc — seeing the wanton misery they have 'caused their dupes " at home" — and the dishouorthey have brought on the Irish name everywhere — the very sound of Fenianism is detested with us, save and except by a few char- acterless desperadoes among the floating population of our principal cities. (^But I ct'.nnot conceal from your Lordships that no lay advocacy^ and no ecclt- siaslical injluence^ could have kept our countrymen here loyal and at peace, if this country ivcre governed as Ireland has been duriny the sixty-eight years of her legis- lative union with Great Britain. Everything our emigrants find in Caniula is very unlike everything they left behind them in Ireland. We have here nc Established Church, no system of tenancy at will, no Poor Laws, nor any need of them, We have instead, complete religious equality among nil our churches, „ a general acquisition of property as the reward of well-directed industry, th« fullest local control of our own resources and revenues; our collegiate and primary education ; our public works ; our militia, marine, and courts of justicOj Therefore it is, my lord, we are loyal to tho Queen in Canada, and well content as well we may be, with the government of this country. It is not for me, at this distance fiom Ireland, and in the absence of recent experience, to make the application of this example, or so much of it as can bs applied, to the very different condition of Ireland. I but state the facts of the Irish position in these provinces, for your Lordship's meditation as an Imperial adviser of the Crown, as I have already had the honor to do more fully, last year, while in London, to your illustrious late leader, the Earl of Derby, and in 18G5, when in Dublin, to Lord Kimberley, then Lord Lieutenant. I must not, however, assume that the passing notice with which your Lord- ship honored me in the late debate, can justify flirther intrusion on your valuable time ; but I felt, on all the grounds above stated, a strong prompting to explain ^HS 80 frankly to j'our Lordship the true s'-cret of Irish-Can uliau loyalty. We ant loyal because our equal, civil, social and rcHjious rights are respected by this Government, in theory and in practice. Wkiik rj otuuuwisb, wb would ba 6THEUWISB.) I hare the honor to bo, Your Lordihip's obliged and obedieat servant, Thomas D'Arcy McGke, One of the Members for the City of Montreal in the Canadian Parliament. To the Rt, Hon. the ^arl of Mayo, &c., &c., Chief Secretary for Ireland, Dublin, m lis. 1 i. if* 11 n It AM I REMEMBERED IN ERIN? The following simple and patriotic lines were found hastily and almost illegibly scrawled in pencil, on a sheet of paper, folded in a book in the librar of the late Hon. T. D. McGee, As thej possess an iatere?t as beiui- a hitherto unpubli.'ihed production of the martyr statesman, and as they furnish, after death, u contradiction of the slander that he was untrue to Ireland, we deem it w^U tc publish them. — Ottawa Citizen, Am I remembered in Erin? Oh ! tell me, tell me true : Has my name a srund, a nieaning In the place my boyhood kn»?\v ? Does the heart of the glorious island Ever throb at my humble name ? Oh, to be loved in Erin, To me were more than fame ! Come weal, come woe, dear Erin, As death and sorrow came When I followed my little darlings To the place I cannot name ; Whether storm or sunshine waits me. In the dpys tliat none can see, I consecrate, dear Erin, My heart and brain to thee. Erin, moth'r Erin, Many sons thine eye hath seen, Many life-devoted lovers, Since thy mantle first was green: Then how can I dare to cherish The hope that one like me May be enrolled hereafter With that palm-colored compA:iy ? Yet faint and fair, my E'in As the hope shines; on my sight, 1 cannot choose but watch it Till my eyes 1; we lost their light; For never amongst her noblest, Nor among her martyrs blest, Wad there heart more true to Erin Than beats within tbiti breas I We am I by this UULO Bij , Dublin. nlmost I librar bitherto ih, after deem it ^^ -: