Author H * o Title * ** * Class BAS53 Imprint. Book.i&ni 16—47372-1 OPO Price] [10 Cents. THE CELEBRATED SPEECH GENERAL THOMAS R BURKE, TO WHICH 18 ADDED COMMENTS OF THE "LONDON SPECTATOR " ON THE FENIAN AMNESTY, A LIST OF THE FENIAN MARTYRS AND THEIR SENTENCES, COPY OF PARDON GRANTED TO THE PRISONERS, AND THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL, A TALE OF '98, BY SAMUEL LOVER. -GOO SAVE IRELAND. PHILADELPHIA: THOMAS W. HARTLEY, 420 FRANKLIN STREET. W/////M GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. THE CELEBRATED SPEECH OF en. Thomas F. Burke, DELIVERED MAY i, 1867, IN THE COURT-HOUSE, DUBLIN, ON BEING ASKED BY LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE WHITESIDE, WHY SENTENCE OF DEATH SHOULD NOT BE PRONOUNCED AGAINST HIM. TO WHICH IS ADDED lOMMENTS OF THE "LONDON SPECTATOR" ON THE FENIAN AMNESTY, A LIST OF THE FENIAN MARTYRS AND THEIR SENTENCES, COPY OF PARDON GRANTED TO THE PRISONERS, AND SHAMUS O'BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL, A TALE OF '98, BY SAMUEL LOVER. i 2.1 GOD SAVE IRELAND. PHILADELPHIA I THOMAS W. HARTLEY, 420 FRANKLIN STREET. 1871. mt LIBRARY ) CONGRESS j THE OF CONGREJ N | Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by THOMAS W. HARTLEY, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. MOORE BROTHERS, PRINTER!. < TO JEREMIAH O'DONOVAN ROSSA, AND HIS COMPATRIOTS IN THE §m\ 1JM of }k for life. 5. Harry S. Mulleda, death; commuted to penal servitude for life. 6. Jeremiah O' Donovan Rossa, penal servitude for life. 7. Thomas Clarke Luby, twenty years' penal servitude. 8. John O'Leary, twenty years' penal servitude. 9. Michael Sheeley, twenty years' penal servitude. 10. John Devoy, fifteen years' penal servitude. 11. William G. Halpin, fifteen years' penal servitude 12. John Francis Kearney, fifteen years' penal servitude. 13. Dr. Edward Power, fifteen years' penal servitude. 14. Patrick Walsh, l\(tcen years' penal servitude. 15. Captain Patrick Lennon, fifteen years' penal servitude. 16. Richard O'S. Burke, fifteen years' penal servitude. 17. William Mackey (Lomasney), twelve years' penal servitude. 18. Bryan Dillon, ten years' penal servitude. 19. Charles Underwood O'Connell, ten years' penal servitude. 20. Dr. D. Dowling Mulcahy, ten years' penal servitude. 21. William F. Roantree, ten years' penal servitude. 22. George Brown, ten years' penal servitude. 23. Edmund P. St. Clair, ten years' penal servitude. 24. Mortimer Moriarty, ten years', penal servitude. 25. Peter Monghan, ten years' penal servitude. 26. John Murphy ("Pagan O'Leary"), seven years' penal servitude. 27. Patrick Doran, seven years' penal servitude. 28. Henry Shaw, seven years' penal servitude. 29. Martin Ilanley Carey, five years' penal servitude. 30. John Brannon, five years' penal servitude. 31. Thomas Scatley, five years' penal servitude. 32. Timothy Featherstone, five years' penal servitude. 33. William Murphy, five years' penal servitude. 34. Charles Moorhouse, five years' penal servitude. 35. John Carroll, five years' penal servitude. 36. Daniel Redden, five years' penal servitude. 37. James Anderson (Lane), five years' penal servitude. 38. Patrick Ryan, five years. vi PREFACE. -HE patriotic course and manly character of General Thomas F. Burke, in his efforts to free Ireland from the chains of slavery, and the recent conditional release of the Fenian state prisoners by the British Government, have in- duced the publication of Phis little volume. Love of country and patriotic emotions are the native instincts of the Irishman's heart. He draws the inspiration from his mother's breast ; he cherishes it in his youth, and practises it in his manhood. It was this feeling of devotion to his native country that stimulated the noble Burke in the cause of emancipation. For it, he was sentenced to die. This sentence of death was after- ward commuted to imprisonment for life. And now, to add fuel to the flames, all the Fenian state prisoners, including Burke, having been released from the most unjust incarceration, are obliged to suffer banishment from the soil of their birth. Through all the struggles and trials and vicissitudes of life to which Burke has been subjected, he has acted a fearless and manly Vlll PREFACE. part. In council and in camp — in peace and in war — in court and in prison — the freedom of his native land was uppermost in his thoughts. How faithfully did he obey the mandate of his aged and heroic mother when she bade him, "Go, my boy; return either with your shield or upon it." It was this sentiment that nerved him to stand before the court, who sat in judgment upon him, and exclaim : "In thoughts that breathe and words that burn," " My lords ! ' It is sweet to die for one's country.' " Posterity will weave garlands around the brows of Curran and O'Connell, of Emmet and Burke, and their compeers in the great work of Ireland's emancipation ; and their hallowed names will be consecrated, and live in history and song as co-laborers in the cause of republican institutions and human rights long after the minions of that tyranny, which has subjected the people of Ireland to the most abject and degrading thraldom, shall be forgotten. If the publication of the speech of Thomas F. Burke, and the com- ments on the " Fenian Amnesty " will do aught to promote the cause of Ireland's emancipation — cause one tear to bedew the shrubbery planted in admiration over the graves of her patriot dead, or inspire the hearts of her heroic living with deeds of noble daring — then we have not issued this volume in vain. T. W. H. SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE, ON BEING ASKED BY THE CHIEF JUSTICE WHY JUDGMENT OF DEATH SHOULD NOT BE PRONOUNCED AGAINST HIM. HE speech of General Thomas F. Burke is one which will become memorable in our history; and having had an opportunity to give a full, correct, and au- thentic publication of it, we are certain our readers will most heartily approve of its republication. We therefore give, from "The Irishman," a version of it without an error; and we deem it worthy of this careful preparation as it will remain among B 9 IO SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. the archives of our nationality, a state paper testifying to other men and other times the character, the courage, and the dignity of the man who spoke it in the dock at Newgate. A man of feeling the most intense, he alluded gracefully, and without giving way for a mo- ment, to the ties that bound him to home and life. It is at such an hour as that which he met and endured that the revulsion of the emo- tions is stronger than pride and resistance. The heart will assert its sway if there be not a higher principle to still its tumultuous throb- bings. That higher principle must have been the stay of Thomas F. Burke when he uttered that wonderful piece of oratory which would, if nothing else could do it, rescue his memory from reproach or oblivion. It is a voice from the grave, speaking to friends and foes. He proclaimed his principles, his hopes, and aspirations like a man who depended upon the proclamation for justice to his life, and who left it as a legacy to the future that no one could asperse his fame when he lay in his silent grave. To a man like this, fame was dearer than life itself, and he gave expression to that sentiment clearly enough. " Justice to my memory " was the prayer of Emmet. In the same dock, in the same court, almost in the same spot, Thomas F. Burke lifted his voice in the hope and faith that, no matter who differed with him or who believed with him, he left his reputation unsullied and his name unstained. He knew, for he could not be ignorant of it, that above the grave of the dead the memory of the sleeper below is often, too often, carelessly treated. " Lightly they talk of the spirit that 's gone." And it was to pro- SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. II vide against the sharpest and most envenomed wrong an honorable and honest man can contemplate that as Emmet spoke so Burke spoke. It is surely mournful, most mournful, that men of such souls as these have had to meet, through all our history, the trai- tor's doom and the felon's fate in the history of our pacification. Two hundred years ago, when Mountjoy delivered up the country to Elizabeth, " carcasses and ashes," the Government of the day felicitated itself that it was done with the Irish rebels. When Sheares lay headless on the scaffold at Green Street, when Lord Edward Fitzgerald lay dead within the jail, when Thomas Addis Emmet was in exile, the same felicitations were again renewed. They were repeated when that "boy-traitor," his brother, hung swaying in the wind from the fatal tree in Thomas Street ; and so runs the history down to our own times. There never was a more glowing expression of the feelings that actuated men like these than that with which Thomas F. Burke met his doom. In it all there is not a tone of the braggart's voice. Were it a Pole who spoke it upon some Russian scaffold, it would make the cause in which it was uttered ring through Europe; were it a Hungarian or a Vene- tian, under Austrian rule, who gave up his life with such a procla- mation of the feelings that actuated him, it would make a plea to which Europe would listen. It was not a representative of either of those nationalities who spoke the speech; and it can only remain upon record as the most eloquent and dignified speech ever made upon such an occasion since the days of Robert Emmet. No one 12 SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. who heard it can ever forget it ; no one .who stood or sat in thj crowded court, when in the intense excitement of the momen every breath was hushed, and amidst a silence as deep as that o the grave, when every glance was turned upon him, he moved t> the bar to speak, and lifting his head, whilst his cheek flushed am his eye gleamed quick fires, began : — " My Lords, it is not my intention to occupy much of your tim in answer to the question why the sentence of the court shouli not be passed upon me ; but I may, with your permission, review ; little of the evidence that has been brought against me. The first evidence is that of Sub-Inspector Kelly, who had the conversation with me at Clonmal, in Tipperary. He states that he asked me then what about my friend, Mr. Stephens ; that I made answer and said he was the most idolized man that ever was, or ever would be in America. Here, standing on the brink of my grave, in the pres- ence of the Almighty and ever-living God, I brand that as being the foulest perjury that ever a man gave utterance to. No such conversation ever occurred ; the name of Stephens was not men- tioned. I shall pass from that, and then touch on the evidence of Britt. He says I assisted in distributing bread to the parties at the fort, and that I stood with him on the wagon* or cart. That also is false. I was not in the fort at the time. I was not there when the bread was being distributed. I came in afterward. All these assertions have been made and submitted to the men in whose SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. 13 hands my life has been placed, as evidence made on oath by these men, solely and purely for the purpose of giving my body to an untimely grave. There are many points, my lords that have been sworn to here to prove my complicity, and a great many acts have been alleged that I took part in. It is not my intention to give utterance to one word against the sentence that has been pro- nounced against me. I feel fully conscious of my honor as a man, which has never been impugned, fully conscious that I can go into my grave with a name and character unsullied. I can say that these parties, either actuated by a desire for their own aggrandize- ment or to save their paltry and miserable lives, have pandered to the appetites, if I may so speak, of justice, and my life is to pay the forfeit. Fully convinced and satisfied of the righteousness of my every act in connection with this alleged revolutionary move- ment in Ireland, I have nothing to recall, nothing that I would undo, nothing to bring up the blush of shame to mantle on my brow. My conduct and career, both here and in America, of which I have been a citizen, and, if you like, a soldier, is before you ; and I feel in this very hour of trial the consciousness of having lived an honest man, and I will die proudly, believing that, if I have given material aid to give freedom and liberty to the land of my birth, I have done only that which every Irishman whose soul throbs with a feeling of liberty should do. I feel I should not mention the name of Massey. I feel I should not pollute my lips with the name of that traitor, whose illegitimacy has been proved 14 SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. here, the man whose name is not known, and who, I deny poin blank, ever wore the star of colonel in the Confederate army. I shall let him rest. I shall pass him, wishing him, in the words of the poet, — ' May the grass wither from his feet ! the woods Deny him shelter ! earth a home ! the dust A grave ! the sun his light ! and heaven her God ! ' Let Massey remember from this day forth he carries with him, as my able and learned counsel, Mr. Dowse, has stated, a serpent that will gnaw his conscience; carrying about with him in his breast a living hell from which he can never be separated. I, my lords, have no desire for the name of a martyr. I ask not the death of a mar- tyr. But if it is the will of that Almighty and Omnipotent God, that my devotion to the land of my birth shall be tested on the scaffold, I am willing there to die in defence of the rights 'of men to a free government, and of the rights of an oppressed people to throw off the yoke of thraldom. I am an Irishman by birth, an American by adoption ; by nature a lover of freedom, and an enemy to that power that holds my native land in the bonds of tyranny. It has so often been admitted that the oppressed have a right to throw off the yoke of the oppressor, even by English statesmen, that I deem it unnecessary to revert to that fact in a British court of justice. Ireland's children are not, never can, and never will be, willing and submissive slaves. And so long as the SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. 15 English flag covers one inch of Irish soil, just so long will they, believing it to be a divine right, 'conspire, imagine, and devise' means to hurl it from power, and erect in its stead the godlike structure of self-government. I know that I am here without a relative — without a friend, in fact — three thousand miles away from my family. But I know that I am not forgotten there. The great and generous Irish heart of America to-day feels for me — to-day sympathizes with and does not forget the man who is willing to tread the scaffold — ay, defi- antly, proudly conscious of having to suffer in defence of liberty. I shall now, my lords, as no doubt you will suggest the propriety of turning attention to the world beyond the grave ; I shall now look only to that home where sorrows are at an end, where joy is eternal, and I shall hope and pray that freedom may yet dawn on this poor down - trodden country. That is my hope, that is my prayer, and the last words I shall utter will be a prayer to God foi forgiveness and a prayer for poor old Ireland. Now, my lords, in relation to the informer, Corydan, I will make a few remarks. I never attended a meeting at Colonel Kelly's ; and the other state- ments that have been made on oath by him to you, gentlemen of the jury, I solemnly now declare on my oath as a man — ay, as a dying man — have been totally unfounded, and have all been false from beginning to end. In relation to the small paper introduced to you, and brought against me as evidence of my having been using that oath, I desire to say that that paper was not taken from my l6 SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. person. I know no person whose name is on that paper. That paper has been put in for a purpose, but I swear positively it is not in my handwriting; I can also swear I never saw it; yet it is held in evidence against me. Is this justice? or is it right? Is this manly ? I am willing, if I have transgressed the laws, to suffer the punishment of my offence. But I object to this system of trump- ing up a case to take away the life of a human being. I ask for no mercy. With my present emaciated frame, and my constitution somewhat shattered, it is better that my life should be brought to an end than that I should drag out a miserable existence in the prison-pens of Portland. Thus it is, my lords, I accept of the ver- dict : of course my acceptance of it is unnecessary ; but I am satis- fied with it, and now I shall close. There are many feelings that actuate me at this moment. In fact, these few disconnected remarks can give no idea of what I desire to say to the court. I have a family I love as much as any man in this court can love his. I can remember the blessings of my aged mother as I left her for the last time. She then spoke as the Spartan mother of old, ' Go, my boy ; return either with your shield or upon it' This consoles me : this gives me heart to submit to my doom; and I hope that God will forgive me past sins. I hope, too, that inasmuch as for seven hundred years He has preserved Ireland, notwithstanding the tyranny to which she has been subject, that as a separate and dis- tinct nationality, He will also assist her to retrieve her fallen for- tunes, and to rise in her beauty, the sister of Columbia, the peer of any nation in the world." THE FENIAN AMNESTY.* HE condition which the Government has affixed to ^ its liberation of the Fenian prisoners seems to us to be a miserable mistake, unwise, ungenerous, and unjust. To claim credit for it " as an act of pure clemency," which not even the most malignant enemy of the Government dare venture to misrepresent, is hardly worthy of Mr. Glad- stone's keen intelligence and serious character. If it be proper to append Queen Victoria's name to an act of amnesty granted to Irish rebels, it should not be coupled with conditions which even Louis Napoleon would have been ashamed to subjoin to an amnesty offered to the most dangerous and unscrupulous of the French Reds. After all, the condition affixed to the liberation of these unhappy men is neither more nor less than banishment for life. They are required to leave the United Kingdom, and to undertake not to return to it. This sweeping and perpetual sen- tence is made applicable to all of them, though there is a wide *Froin the " London Spectator." l8 THE FENIAN AMNESTY. variety in their degree of guilt, and also in the terms of imprison- ment to which they are liable.* Some of them, like Burke and Mackay, have had sentence of death for levying war against the Queen commuted to imprisonment for life ; some, like Luby and Mulcahy, now five years in jail, have gone through a great part of the period of punishment imposed upon them for writing news- paper articles which the Irish courts considered treasonable in the good old time when Sir Robert Peel, being Chief Secretary, declared that he and Lord Palmerston would stand or fall with the Irish Church, and when Mr. Cardwell solemnly warned the Irish people that Parliament would never listen to their demands for tenant-right. If Parliament has been wise in the work it has done during the last two sessions, there was surely some little excuse for strong writing in those days. To pass a fresh sentence of per- petual exile on such men, and on others whose sentences were only for spaces of seven and five years, and who would, therefore, be absolutely entitled to their liberty after a comparatively short period of further restraint — on men who have, in many cases, suffered so considerable a portion of their sentence as has often sufficed to let some hardened thief or desperate garroter loose on our streets with a ticket-of-leave — on men the degree of whose guilt it would be * The Dublin newspapers, speaking of the terms of the amnesty to the Fenian convicts, say that the con- ditions of the pardons are that the released prisoners shall not return to Ireland until after the expiration of their respective sentences. Those condemned to five years' penal servitude will be free to return in about a year, and those sentenced to twenty years will be exiled for fifteen years. It was at first supposed that the banishment was to be perpetual. THE FENIAN AMNESTY. 19 impossible to distinguish from that of their comrades to whom a full and unconditional pardon was given two years ago — to do this is, we do not hesitate to say, simply, utterly, and flagrantly unjust. But apart from this general consideration of the case, these unfortunate men are, we venture to assert, entitled to claim their l.beration from Mr. Gladstone, if not as an absolute right, still in virtue of an undertaking on his part, in some degree conditioned by circumstances which very decidedly deprive it of the quality of "an act of pure clemency." When the Peace Preservation Act was before the House of Commons last March, the late Mr. Moore, M.P. for Mayo, had given notice of his intention to bring the case of the Irish political prisoners before Parliament. Such a motion, at the moment, might have proved embarrassing. The Government was, at all events, exceedingly anxious to become possessed, with as little delay as possible, of the necessary but formidable weapon of law then in rapid process of fabrication. Some communications of the kind usual in such cases no doubt took place, for Mr. Glad- stone, on the 17th of March, submitted to the process of an inter- pellation on the part of Mr. Moore, the course of which had evi- dently been arranged beforehand. A certain vague and gloomy amphibology, nevertheless, pervaded Mr. Gladstone's answer, which dissatisfied Mr. Moore, a man of vivid and precise phrase; and four days afterward, when the question came on again, it transpired that Mr. Gladstone had agreed beforehand to give an answer in terms somewhat more distinct. These are the precise terms which Mr. 20 THE FENIAN AMNESTY. Moore embodied in his notice of a second question which he Addressed to the Prime Minister on the 31st of March: "That the consideration of this question [the liberation of the prisoners] must necessarily depend upon the restoration of law and order in Ireland ; and as soon as the disorders now prevailing in that country are repressed, Mr. Gladstone trusts that he will be able to give a very different answer to Mr. Moore, and to announce the liberation of ihe political prisoners." Mr. Gladstone said in reply that this was the very meaning he had intended to convey on the previous evening. But what, may we ask, did Mr. Gladstone mean by the word " liberation " ? Did he mean transportation for life ? We know no case in which a political amnesty has been so interpreted, except that of Poerio and his comrades, who, having been deported to the United States by the King of Naples, mutinied on the voyage, and carried the-ir transport into Cork. But it is evident that Mr. Gladstone did not mean to transport the Irish political prisoners to America at the time that he gave the answer to which Mr. Moore objected as defi- cient in clearness and savor; because, in that answer, he spoke of the cruelty it would be to hold out misleading hopes prematurely to the friends of the prisoners. If it had been his intention then to release those prisoners on Christmas eve, with the one condition that they should never see their homes, families, and friends again, then, we must say, so much and such ostentatious consideration for the feelings of their friends and families might well have been THE FENIAN AMNESTY. 21 tared. Nor need the whole population of Ireland have been Dund over to keep the peace on public conditions expressed if arliament, if such was the sort of political amnesty that her [ajesty's ministers ultimately contemplated. It was not, perhaps, ise statesmanship so to identify the case of the political prisoners ith the conduct of the general population, that their liberation lould be made to depend on the amount of crime perpetrated uring the following six months or so. But at all events the Peace reservation Act appears to have answered its purpose. Law and rder have been, so to speak, restored in Ireland. The disorders rhich prevailed in that country last March have been repressed. Ir. Moore, however, no longer lives to claim the very different nswer which Mr. Gladstone held out the hope of his being able to ive. Under such circumstances, to interpret " liberation " as leaning " banishment " is, at least, ungenerous. Of all the causes rhich have contributed to make the relations between the two ountries so bitter and bloody, hardly any has been so potent as his holding the word of promise to the ear at one time, and quib- iling it away at another, with professions that have, to the mind if a people at once simple and suspicious, all the effect of a some- what solemn and exuberant insincerity. But the unwisdom of sending these men to the United States at his moment — for the United States is, of course, the one country mtside the United Kingdom open to them in the present state of he world — has in it something so inconsiderate as to be almost 22 THE FENIAN AMNESTY. appalling. What must these men do of mere necessity when they arrive there ? It would be too much to expect that a feeling of loyal gratitude should grow in their bosoms during the Atlantic voyage in consequence of the degree of " liberation " in which they have been indulged. These convicts, who were picking oakum or breaking stones a week ago, will arrive at New York, and find them- selves the idols of a popular ovation and in recognized command of a great political influence. The Irish vote will be at their bid- ding, at a time when the relations of America with England are again assuming a very anxious character. The city of New York will doubtless receive them with public honors. They may be admitted to the floor of the Senate and entertained at the White House. The fact remains that at a time when the Fenian organiza- tion in the United States had fallen into a state of almost complete collapse from lack of leadership, we are sending its most daring and able spirits to the very base of the operations of the conspiracy. Ere many weeks, we may reasonably expect to hear that Luby and Mulcahy are " stumping " the Union in aid of the Russo-Prusso- American alliance, while Burke and Mackay are directing opera- tions on the Canadian frontier to illustrate President Grant's peculiar views of that " irresponsible Dominion." It certainly is not wise statesmanship to send these men to the one part of the world where they may, and almost must, make much mischief; where there is every temptation to them to resume their old courses, and where those courses, at present, are the high road to popularity, influence, and means. THE FENIAN AMNESTY. 2J If it were proper to couple conditions with an act of pure clem- ency, there is one which might, with advantage, be substituted for that which Mr. Gladstone has imposed. The political prisoners might have been bound to return to and to remain in Ireland. There they would find that the great injustices whose existence made political conspiracy possible ten years ago have been sum- marily abolished. They would find a popular executive armed with powers ample and effectual to enable them to answer for the peace of the country. They would, in their own despite, serve as living monuments of the clemency of a wise and fearless Govern- ment. The Irish administration would hardly shrink from such an addition to their charge — for this is not a time to make things easy to the Irish executive at the expense of the empire. Is it too late to hope that before this ungenerous and impolitic condition is enforced, the sovereign herself may object to have the quality of her mercy strained after such a fashion ? If such an act were pos- sible, that is to say constitutional, it would make the royal clem- ency a word of pure and serious meaning from shore to shore of Ireland. The following is a copy of the pardon granted General Burk which is similar to those given his comrades. THE PARDON. Victoria, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen and Defem of the Faith, etc. To all to whom these Presents shall come, greeting : — Whereas at a special commission Oyer and Terminer and General Delivery holden at Dublin, in and for the County of Dublin, on the 8th April, 1867, Thomas F. Burke, late of the United States of America, was in a lawful manner indicted, tried, ; found guilty of the crime of high treason, and had sentence of death passed upon him for the same, but afterw our mercy was extended to the said Thomas F. Burke, and he was by warrant, duly signed, on that behalf,; ordered to be kept in penal servitude for the term of his natural life. And whereas, in consideration of sc circumstances humbly represented to us on behalf of the said Thomas F. Burke, we have thought fit, on conditions hereinafter contained and expressed, to extend our royal mercy to the said Thomas F. Burke, kr ye therefore, that on the conditions hereinafter contained and expressed, we of our special grace, certain knowle and mere motion, by and with the advice and consent of our right trusty and well-beloved cousin and counsel John Poyntz, Earl Spencer, K. G., our Lieutenant-General and General Governor of that part of our Uni Kingdom called Ireland, and according to the tenor and effect of our letter, under our royal signature, beai date at our Court of St. James, the 31st day of December, 1870, in the thirty -fourth year of our reign, and 1 enrolled in the Record and Writ Office of our High Court of Chancery, in Ireland, aforesaid, have pardor remitted, and released, and by these presents we do pardon, remit, and release the said Thomas F. Burke by whatever other names or additions of name, office, and mystery or place the said Thomas F. Burke is kno called, or named, or was later known, called, or named, the crime of which he stands convicted as afores; and all and singular convictions and attainders thereupon, and save as hereinafter mentioned, all pa penalties, and forfeitures thereby by him incurred as aforesaid, or incident or consequent upon the said cr or the commission thereof, or that judgment has thereupon as aforesaid. And our firm peace to him, the < Thomas F. Burke : — We, on the conditions hereinafter contained and expressed, do give and grant by tr presents, forbidding that the said Thomas F. Burke, by the justices, sheriffs, escheators, bailiffs, coroners others, the officers or ministers of us, our heirs and successors, on the occasion may be molested, disturb or in any manner aggrieved for the same, so that on the conditions hereinafter contained and expressed, said Thomas F. Burke may stand right in open court, if any persons against him should be willing to sp on the occasion aforesaid. And our further will in and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, do grant that these, our letters patent, or the enrolment thereof" shall in all things be firm, good, valid, effective in the law, and shall be as well to the said justices, and sheriffs, escheators, bailiffs, and coroners to all ushers, the officers and ministers, a sufficient warrant and discharge in that behalf. Provided alw; and it is hereby declared, That these our letters patent, and the pardon, remission, and release her granted, are expressly subject to the calendar months next ensuing the date of these presents. And furt] that the said Thomas F. Burke shall forthwith depart out of the United Kingdom of Great Britain Ireland, and shall remain out of the said United Kingdom for the space of twenty years from the date these presents. And further, that the said Thomas F. Burke shall not, during the space of twenty ye exercise or attempt, or claim to exercise within the said United Kingdom, any capacity, right, or privili of which he was or has been deprived, or which was or has been lost, forfeited, extinguished or suspen by the crime aforesaid ; or by reason of his having committed the same crime or been convicted o adjudged guilty of o • sentenced or attainted fo r .-ch crime. In witness wherecf, we have caused these 11% otters to be made patent. The document was of parchment, .wo by three feet in size, and under wax seal an ir thick by six inches in diameter. 24 SHAMUS O'BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL. A TALE OF '98. BY SAMUEL LOVER. WAS afther the war, in the year '98, As soon as the boys wor all scattered and bate, 'T was the custom, whenever a pisant was got, To hang him by thrial — barrin' sich as was shot. There was trial by jury goin' on by daylight, And the martial-law hangin' the lavins by night. It 's them was hard times for an honest gossoon : If he missed in the judges — he'd meet a dragoon; An' whether the sodgers or judges gev sentence, The divil a much time they allowed for repentance. An' it's many's the fine boy was then on his keepin', Wid small share iv restin', or atin', or sleepin', An' because they loved Erin, an' scorned to sell it, A prey for the bloodhound, a mark for the bullet — Unsheltered by night, and unrested by day, With the heath for their barrack, revenge for their pay ; An' the bravest an' hardiest boy iv them all Was Shamus O'Brien, from the town iv Glingall. 4 * S 26 SHAMUS O'BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL. His limbs were well set, an' his body was light, An' the keen-fanged hound had not teeth half so white; But his face was as pale as the face of the dead And his cheek never warmed with the blush of the red ; An* for all that he was n't an ugly young bye, For the divil himself couldn't blaze with his eye, So droll an' so wicked, so dark and so bright, Like a fire-flash that crosses the depth of the night! An' he was the best mower that ever has been, An' the illigantest hurler that ever was seen. An* his dancin' was sich that the men used to stare, An' the women turn crazy, he done it so quare; \n' by gorra, the whole world gev it into him there. An'' it's he was the boy that was hard to be caught, An' it's often he run, an' it's often he fought, An' it 's many the one can remember right well The quare things he done : an' it's often I heerd tell How he lathered the yeomen, himself agin four, An' stretched the two strongest on old Galtimore. But the fox must sleep sometimes, the wild deer must rest, An' treachery prey on the blood iv the best; Afther many a brave action of power and pride, An' many a hard night on the mountain s bleak side, An' a thousand great dangers and toils overpast, In the darkness of night he was taken at last. Now Shamus, look back on the beautiful moon, For the door of the prison must close on you soon, An' take your last look at her dim lovely light That falls on the mountain and valley this night; SHAMUS O BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL. 2J One look at the village, one look at the flood, An' one at the shelthering, far-distant wood; Farewell to the forest, farewell to the hill, An' farewell to the friends that will think of you still ; Farewell to the pathern, the hurlin' an' wake, And farewell to the girl that would die for your sake. An' twelve sodgers brought him to Maryborough jail, An' the turnkey resaved him, refusin' all bail ; The fleet limbs wor chained, an' the sthrong hands wor bound, An' he laid down his length on the cowld prison ground, An' the dreams of his childhood kem over him there As gentle an' soft as the sweet summer air ; An' happy remembrances crowding on ever, As fast as the foam-flakes dhrift down on the river, Bringing fresh to his heart merry days long gone by, Till the tears gathered heavy and thick in his eye. But the tears did n't fall, for the pride of his heart Would not suffer one drop down his pale cheek to start ; An' he sprang to his feet in the dark prison cave, An' he swore with the fierceness that misery gave, By the hopes of the good, an' the cause of the brave, That when he was mouldering in the cold grave His enemies never should have it to boast His scorn of their vengeance one moment was lost ; His bosom might bleed, but his cheek should be dhry, For, undaunted he lived, and undaunted he 'd die. Well, as soon as a few weeks was over and gone, The terrible day iv the thrial kem on ; 28 SHAMUS O'BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL. There was sich a crowd there was scarce room to stand, An' sodeers on guard, an* dhragoons sword-in-hand; An* the court-holse so full that the people were bothered, An* attorneys an* criers on the point iv bein* smothered , An' counsellors almost gev over for dead, An' the jury sittin' up in their box overhead ; An' the judge settled out so detarmined an big, With his gown on his back, and an illegant new wig ; An' silence was called, an' the minute it was said The court was as still as the heart of the dead An' they heard but the openin' of one prison lock, An' Shamus O'Brien kern into the dock. For one minute he turned his eye round on the throng. An' he looked at the bars, so firm and so strong, An' he saw that he had not a hope nor a friend, A chance to escape, nor a word to ' d f end > An' he folded his arms as he stood there alone, As calm and as cold as a statue of stone ; And they read a big writin', a yard long a : laste An* Jim didn't understand it, nor mind it a teste An' the judge took a big pinch iv snuff, and he says "Are you guilty or not, Jim O'Brien, av you plase? An' all held their breath in the silence of dhread, An' Shamus O'Brien made answer and said. « My lord, if you ask me, if in my life-time I thought any treason, or did any crime Tnat should call to my cheek as I stand alone here, The hot blush of shame, or the coldness of fear, SHAMUS O'BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL. 20, Though I stood by the grave to receive my death-blow, Before God and the world I would answer you, no ! But if you would ask me, as I think it like, If in the rebellion I carried a pike, An' fought for ould Ireland from the first to the close, An' shed the heart's blood of her bitterest foes, I answer you, yes ; and I tell you again, Though I stand here to perish, it 's my glory that then In her cause I was willing my veins should run dhry, An' that now for her sake I am ready to die." Then the silence was great, and the jury smiled bright, An' the judge was n't sorry the job was made light ; By my sowl, it 's himself was the crabbed ould chap ! In a twinklin' he pulled on his ugly black cap. Then Shamus's mother in the crowd standin' by, Called out to the judge with a pitiful cry : " Oh, judge ! darlin', don't, oh, don't say the word ! The crathur is young, have mercy, my lord ; He was foolish, he did n't know what he was doin* ; You don't know him, my lord — oh, don't give him to ruin ! He 's the kindliest crathur, the tendherest-hearted ; Don't part us forever, we that 's so long parted. Judge, mavourneen, forgive him, forgive him, my lord, An' God will forgive you — oh, don't say the word ! " That was the first minute that O'Brien was shaken, When he saw that he was not quite forgot or forsaken ; An' down his pale cheeks, at the word of his mother, The big tears wor runnin' fast, one afther th' other ; 30 SHAMUS O BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL. An' two or three times he endeavored to spake, But the sthrong, manly voice used to falther and break ; But at last, by the strength of his high-mounting pride, He conquered and masthered his griefs swelling tide, "An'," says he, "mother, darlin', don't break your poor heart, For, sooner or later, the dearest must part ; And God knows it 's betther than wandering in fear On the bleak, trackless mountain, among the wild deer, To lie in the grave, where the head, heart, and breast From thought, labor, and sorrow, forever shall rest. Then, mother, my darlin', don't cry any more, Don't make me seem broken, in this, my last hour; For I wish, when my head 's lyin' undher the raven, No thrue man can say that I died like a craven ! " Then towards the judge Shamus bent down his head, An' that minute the solemn death-sentince was said. The mornin' was bright, an' the mists rose on high, An' the lark whistled merrily in the clear sky ; But why are the men standin' idle so late ? An' why do the crowds gather fast in the street ? What come they to talk of? what come they to see? An' why does the long rope hang from the cross-tree ? Oh, Shamus O'Brien, pray fervent and fast, May the saints take your soul, for this day is your last; Pray fast and pray sthrong, for the moment is nigh, When, sthrong, proud, an' great as you are, you must die. An' fasther an' fasther, the crowd gathered there, Boys, horses, and gingerbread, just like # a fair; SHAMUS O'BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL. 31 An' whiskey was sellin', an' cussamuck too, An' ould men and young women enjoying the view. An' ould Tim Mulvany, he med the remark, There was n't sich a sight since the time of Noah's ark ; An' be gorry, 't was thrue for him, for divil sich a scruge, Sich divarshin and crowds, was known since the deluge ; For thousands were gathered there, if there was one, Waitin' till such time as the hangin' id come on. At last they threw open the big prison-gate, An' out came the sheriffs and sodgers in state, An' a cart in the middle, an' Shamus was in it, Not paler, but prouder than ever, that minute. An' as soon as the people saw Shamus O'Brien, Wid prayin' and blessin', and all the girls cryin', A wild wailin' sound kem on by degrees, Like the sound of the lonesome wind blowin' through trees. On, on to the gallows the sheriffs are gone, An' the cart an' the sodgers go steadily on ; An' at every side swellin' around of the cart, A wild, sorrowful sound, that id open your heart. Now under the gallows the cart takes its stand, An' the hangman gets up with the rope in his hand ; An' the priest, havin' blest him, goes down on the ground, An' Shamus O'Brien throws one last look round. Then the hangman dhrew near, an' the people grew still, Young faces turned sickly, and warm hearts turn chill ; An' the rope bein' ready, his neck was made bare, For the gripe iv the life-strangling cord to prepare ; An' the good priest has left him, havin' said his last prayer. 32 SHAMUS O BRIEN, THE BOLD BOY OF GLINGALL. But the good priest done more, for his hands he unbound, And with one daring spring Jim has leaped on the ground ; Bang ! bang ! goes the carbines, and clash goes the sabres ; He 's not down ! he 's alive still ! now stand to him, neighbors Through the smoke and the horses he 's into the crowd, — By the heavens, he's free! — than thunder more loud, By one shout from the people the heavens were shaken — One shout that the dead of the world might awaken. The sodgers ran this way, the sheriffs ran that, An' Father Malone lost his new Sunday hat ; To-night he '11 be sleepin' in Aherloe Glin, An' the divil 's in the dice if you catch him ag'in. Your swords they may glitter, your carbines go bang, But if you want hangin', it 's yourself you must hang. He has mounted his horse, and soon he will be In America, darlint, the land of the free. WE ALSO PUBLISH A FINE EDITION OF THE CELEBRATED SPEECH OF GENERAL THOMAS F. BURKE. Printed with green border, on heavy tinted paper, and bound in fine green cloth, with gilt side stamp. Price 60 With gilt stamps front and back 75 JENNY JUNE'S AMERICAN COOKERY BOOK. NEW EDITION, ENLARGED. The work contains chapters on Housekeeping, Household Management, Kitchen Furnishing, Dairy, Pood for Infants, Jewish Cookery. $1.75 It contains, in addition, upward of Twelve Hundred carefully tested Receipts, and the best results of Modern Science available in Cooking, reduced to simple and practical directions, valuable alike for health, beauty, and luxury. NEW BOOKS FOR THE LITTLE FOLKS. Jack and Plorie; or, the Pigeon's Wedding. By Miss Harriet B. McKeever. With 8 handsome illustrations. 4to., fancy paper cover 25 Do. do. colored plates 50 Do. do. do. cloth, extra 75 Do. do. do. do. extra gilt 1 00 Little Mary and the Pairy. By Miss Harriet B. McKeever. With 8 handsome illustrations, 4to., fancy paper cover, plain plates 26 Do. do. do. colored plates 60 Do. cloth, gilt sides, do. do 76 Do. do. bevelled boards, gilt edge, colored plates... 1 00 AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, 117, 119 AND 121 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (Q II II III li III II IMIII llll II ^ 021 356 757 3