6

‘of Honor, a Stand of Colors, and Medal to the Goth

Presentation of _
/ Medal to the 69th Reg1ment.

 

On last Friday evening, the City Assembly Rooms was
crowded to excess—every available spot being packed—
the stairway and lobbies overfiowirig, and thousands
being turned away from the doors——ihe occasion being
the presentation to Colonel Michael Corcoran of a Sword

Regiment, in commemoration of their refusal to be made
part of the volunteer pageant got up for the reception
of the Prince of Wales by Mayor Wood and General
Sandford.

Never in our lives have we witnessed a demonstration

Svvord, Cologarvidi 

Mr. Tully replied as follows :—

Mn. C}I.\IR.\IAN, Mr. CIIANLER, Iixnins AND Gic:<'rLnMr.iv,
-—'lo obey the lawful commands of his superior ctlieer,
is the first duty of a soldier. A due sense of this duty
dictates to me the propriety of cheerfully complying
with the wish ex ressed in Colonel Corcoran’s letter. It
is, indeed, a high honor conferred on me, to be chosen to
tiike the place of, and speak for my respected and ps-
tecmed superior; for there is no man in this community
in whose shoes—if I may use that common and expres-
sive figure—-I should be so proud to stand as in his. Yet
I regret the choice he has made, not from any unwilling-
ness to do all that in me lies to discharge what has thus
become my pleasing duty, but because I am fully con-
scious of my inadequacy to the great resporisibility
which he imposes on me. To do full justice to this oc-

casion, to respond in suitable terms to the address to
which we have all listened with so much gratification,

of this kind larger in numbers, more intelligent in the
character of those who took part in it, or more honora-
ble iu every aspect to the self-respecting manhood of the
Irish race. The idea of this ovation—-originally started
by a few ardent friends of the cause symbolized in the
ceremonies of last evening—was triumphantly sustained

in a manner admitting no question of its popularity
with all classes—the native born as well as our adopted
citizens.

The officers and men of the 69th Regiment were pre-
sent iu full uniform. At a little after .8 o’clock they
marched in, led by the regimental band, playing the
Irish air, “Larry O’Gaff.” amid lc-ud plaudits, and pre-
sented arms to Messrs. A. V. Stout, as Chairman, and T.
F_MeagheI‘. On the platform appeared Hon. John W.
Chanler, ex-Judge O’Connor, E. and  Hearne, Wm. E.
Robinson, Maguire, J. Hennessy, Dunphy, James Lynch,
J. P. Tully, Alderman Farley, ex-Alderman Bradley,
and others.

Ex-Alderman Bradley, on behalf of the Committee of
Arrangements. said he had the honor to present as pre-
siding ofiicer, Hon. Andrew V. Stout.

Mr. Stout expressed his gratification with the honor.
He said he had failed to discern in his reading of history
that citizens of the United States had any reason to adu-
late the representatives of the English nation. It was
still the right. undoubtedly, of all who chose to respect
the Prince of Wales, not as a Prince, but as a distin-
guished stranger coming under the title of Lord Renfrew.
But there was no reason for ordering a parade of the
First Division in his honor. Happily the law, pre-
scribed that no more than a certain number of parades
should be made in a year. It was claimed on behalf of
Col. Corcoran (nine cheers) and the Regiment, that they
had performed the prescribed number of parades in the
year, before they were called on to parade in honor of
the Prince of Wales, and the General who ordered the
parade transcended’his powers. (“Three groans for
Sandford I” and hisses long continued.) But he would
not encroach upon the part which Richard O’Gorman
(cheers) was performing in shielding Colonel Corcoran
from blame in this matter. Blame, did he say, in refus-
ing to pay honor to the representative of the British
throne? (Hissea) Mr. Stout complimented the mili-

tary spirit of the Irish, but claimed that Col.;Carc‘oran
did right in refusing to transmit to his Regiment a
degrading 0rder—(cheers)—-and the Regiment didfiight
in sustaining their Colonel. (Cheers.) Mr. Stoug.gan-
cluded by reading the following letter from Golonel
Corcoran :—

‘ NEW YORK, March 15, 1861.

GI1‘.NTLF.MEN,—-I regret that I am prevented by illness
from attending the Presentation of Colors, &c.. to the
69th Regiment, to-night. This circumstance causes me
much disappointment, as I had hoped to be able to be
present, and to give personal expression to the deep
gratitude which I entertain for your Committee and my
friends generally.

Indeed, in endeavoring to express my feelings in that
regard, I should not be without embarrassment, for it
would be difficult to say which deserved most grateful
ackuowledgment——your great generosity, or your genu-
inc republicanism.-

But, to my mind, that which is most valuable and
most precious to us, is the spirit of independence, of
contempt of sycophancy, of respect for republican ideas
and institutions, and of sympathy for those who scorn to
bend to the representative of their hereditary oppressors
—which these testimonials demonstrate to have existence
and vitality in the hearts and minds of our fellow-
citizens.

It might not appear in good taste for me to attempt
now to vindicate the justness and legality of my conduct
on‘the11th.of October last; this matter is before the
proper tribunal, where I am defended by able counsel,
and I should therefore be sorry to say anything which

~ could, by any possibility, be construed into a. pre-judg-
ment of the cause, or any attempt to interfere with, or
influence a just and impartial decision. '

But it may not be unbecoming my position to say that
although I am a citizen of America, I am a. native of
Ireland; that in the Prince of Wales I recognized the
representative of my country’_s oppressors ; that, in my
opinion, no change of circumstances should efface the
memory of the multiplied wrongs of Fatherland, and
that in honoring that personage, I should be dishonoring
the memories, and denouncing the principles of that
land's patriot. Emmet’s Epitaph is not yet written.
When it shall be. we may afford to act magnanimous
toward a representative of British royalty.

I am now even in a worse position than on the occasion
of my visit to Boston, on invitation of’ my countrymen,
for the purpose of presenting me with resolutions, and
other manifestations, sustaining the course I pursued in
this matter—;is I am physically unable to say any more
at present, and am compelled literally, as well as figura-
tively, to lean on my staff.

If Quarter-Master J. B. Tully is present, he will oblige
me by speaking for me, and from, my confidence in him,
his sentiments may be adopted as mine.

Again, gentlemen, I assure you of my profound grati
‘rude, and remain yours, sincerely,

Micniirin CORCORAN.

Mr. Stout then introduced the Hon. John Winthrop
Chanler, who in an eloquent and forcible speech, con-
stantly interrupted by cheers and other marks of sympa-
thy, presented to Mr. Tully, as Colonel Corcoran’s repre-
senzative, the Sword of Honor, commemorative of “ the
11th of October, 1860.”

The sword, which is of the regulation size, is beauti-
frlly chased and engraved, and was accompanied by two
scabbards, both handsomely ornamented with the na-
tional emblems of America and Ireland. The parade

scabbard is gold plated, and bears the following inscrip-
tion :— I
PRESENTED TO con. M. CORCORAN, IN c.n.iiun.\ioiiA'i'ioiv or
THE 11TH or ocrosna, 1860.

Nothing could be finer than the appearance of the
room at this time ; the platform densely crowded ;
the gallant soldiers of the 69th drawn up around three
sides of the room ; the floor, galleries, and all available
standing-ground one dense mass of enthusiastic and hap-
py faces; the wall, in the rear of the platform, draped
with the flags of Ireland and America; while in the fore-
ground stood the staff-officers of Colonel Corcoran.

would require much ability and careful preparation. I
can lay no claim to the former, and have had but little
time for the latter. These remarks are not made to ex-
cuse my own shortcomings, but lest the observations
which may fall from me should be looked upon as the
deliberately expressed views of the gentleman in whose
name and behalf" I speak. Were I to attempt a particu-
lar reply to the address just delivered, I should but mar
its happy effect, and expose the poverty of my own lan-
guage and ideas. I will not do so. The generous ap-
proval of Col. Corcoran’s conduct, the manly expression
of independent thought, the eloquent enunciation of
great principles to which, sir, you have given utterance,
may more fitly be treasured in the memory than acknow-
ledged by words. But I should fail to fulfil my duty if
I omitted to speak of the great generosity and admirable
taste for which we are so much indebted to this com.
mittce. When I look on this platform, and all who
are the donors of these splendid donations, I do not
wonder either at the munificencc or taste displayed ; for
when has the cause of benevolence, virtue, or patriotism
failed to meet with a generous response from the men
by whom I am surrouiitled? And where should we look
for the exercise of fine taste, if not among the men of
intellect, refinement, and respectability, by whom these
testimonials are presented? The exquisite beauty of
finish of this sword, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, is
only excelled by its filicitous appropriateness of design.
In ‘its ornamentation the emblems of the fair isle of our
birth, and of the f'ree land of our adoption the symbols
which remind us of the ancient armor of the home of our
fathers, and of the starry and resplendent glory of home,
of our children, are combined with harmony and taste ;
a combination beautifully and strikingly emblematic of
the union in our Irish-American hearts, of love, sympa-
thy for the land which we left, and of pride and interest
in the land to which we have come. No man breathes
tonight in whose character are more happily blended
affection for the one, and devotion to the other, than in
that of the gallant officer to whom. through me. you
have presented the sword; a fact of which the designer
of these emblems seems to have been well convinced. It
is an American sword, the work of American art, the
gift of American citizens, the weapon of an American
soldier. I know the character of him whose honor it
will be to wear, and whose duty it may be to use this
sword. I know his unosteutatious, but fearless nature;
and I speak from this knowledge, when I say that should
the requirements of this State or Union, call him into
active service, i‘ will be amongst thefirst drawn, and
the last sheathed in the cause of justice, of the republic,
and of freedom. I promise, that he will then give the
best demonstration of his native Irish gallantry, and of
his attachment and allegiance to America and her insti.
tltious; that he will then reflect honor upon-this gift
and its givers; that under the aspirations of the memo.
ries recalled tonight, he and the men who stand around
this hall, will repeat the valor of their countrymen at
Fontenoy, turning hopeless defeat into signal victory,
and that they will deserve f'rom America to have in-
scribed on their banners, the motto inscribed on the
banner of the Irish Brigade, by grateful Francc——

“ Scmpcr et ubique fdeles."
’ “Always and everywhere faithful.”

I suppose, Mr. Chairman and ‘gentlemen, I am expected
to say a few words of the feelings and opinions by which
Colonel Corcoran was actuated in the conduct which has
met with your distinguished approval. I need not re-
mind you, that during the visit of that amiable boy,
called the Prince of Wales, the heads of our excitable
population seemed-to be turned. He was the son of a
Queen, and might yet be a King, and the men wished to
gaze upon a son of royalty, whilst the ladies having got,
so outrageously humbugged in receiving the greeting
and grimmaces of Tommy, for those of a veritable prince,
were determined to have satisfaction out of the son of
Victoria. Indeed, there has been no precedent for so
much silly excitement in our country, excepting that

' which marked the progress of that same Japanese 59,-.

vant, taken for a. prince, against his will. (Laughten)
To be serious, the dignity of the American character,
the respect due to American principle, the manliness of
the American citizen, the recollection of America’s
wrongs, the spirit that should animate and control re-
publicans in and out of America—all these were forgot-
ten, and the grave and the gay, the high and the low,
the young and the old, the rich and the poor. the learned
and the ignorant, the fashionable and the vulgar, flocked
in crowds to do homage to a meritlcss youth. It was a
humiliating spectacle——hnmiliating to the student of our
history——humiliating to the admirers of our institutions,
humiliating to the advocate of democracy and the apostle
of liberty, but, nevertheless, it was the universal spec-
tacle; and those whose manliuess of principles forbid
their participation in it, were denounced as bigots, fools,
madmcn and Irish, the last term being intended to corn-
prehend all the others. It was at this time, at the very
zenith of this excitement, that Colonel Corcoran though
assailed‘ almost universally by the press—sneered at by
cowards, determined to stand on his legal rights, look-
ing with contempt on the servile fawning of unprincipled
oflicials, he refused toilend his presence or that of his
regiment to the augmentation of the foolish pageant.
It is true, that in the stand which he took he was sus-
tained by every ofiicer and soldier in that regiment ; it
is true he _felt confident that the returning good sense of
the American people would justify and approve his con-
duct, but it is also true, that whether or no, he is deter-
mined to vindicate, at all hazards, the dignity of the
militia of the Sta.te—to show that we are not hirelings to
be marshcd and coiinterinancherl in illustration of the
abandonment of our principles, and the degradation of
our country; but men who have a stake in the perma-
ncnce of those institutions—men who may not be made
the tools of vain oflicials, who for a smile from a British
Prince or a nod from a British Duke, would mock the
most sacred memories of American citizens. But it has
been said that Colonel Corcoran’s conduct was influenced
by other ir_iotives——that he chose that opportunity of ex-
hibiting his distate for English dominion, particularly in
Ireland. I have no authority to say, that he was so in-
fluenced, but I will say, that it is my opinion that such I
motives strengthened his determination-1 have no '
doubt that the wrongs of centuries arose before his
memory ; that the plunder, massacre and banishment in

which the history of Saxon rule in his native land is re-

corded, were recalled in thought ; that roofless dwellings,
the cold and desolate flresides that the widows and or-
phans driven from their homes to_take shelter by_the
fences, that the brave men left to die by the way-side,
tlint the coffinless victims of an English made famin e,
that all, all these, thronged to his mind when the thought-
less crowds welcomed the honored stranger, It did not
require much exercise of the memory. Within the re-
collection of the youngest of us, the English government
has murdered by starvation, thrice as many_cf our race
as there are men, women, and children In this Vast
city—-starved them to death whilst the treasury was
overflowing. And it is the representative of that go-
vernment, the expectant hereditary oppressor of their
friends and relatives, that this Regiment and its Colonel
were ordered to honor. No, he would not do him any
honor ; he could not honestly do so, and he scorned to
act the hypocrite, and seem to do that which he could
not do in sincerity. He had, and has, rodoubt, as we
all have, a salutary and holy hatredof British rule in
Ireland. We shall, if the opportunity ever present
itself, teach England the full extent and measure of that
hatred; and it would, he thought, be wrong to show
honor to the representative of a. government, the over-
throw of whose power is the fondestwish of his heart.
Under these circumstances, was he guilty of a breach of
his duty of allegiance in his conduct? Ishall leave 
to your verdict—Guilty, or nouguilty? (-‘ _N0t_gu11$y, '
from the whole audience.) You have found in his favor;
so have our friends on the platform; and, through their
eloquent spokesman, they have handed me this sword as
the expression of their finding. Such an endorsement of
his conduct, such high-minded and generous expression
of approval is, indeed, gratifying to him, and a fit recom-
pense for his firmness and honesty. And to this. gratifi-
cation is to be added that which the voice of this whole
country affords. From the St. Lawrence to the Gulf-
and the Gulf is yet in the Union—-from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, the echo of’ your approval is heard. It has
been spoken at the foot of Bunker Hill, and where
Pul-aslii’s monument casts its shadows on the Savannah;
we have heard it in the commercial inarts of the East-—
and others have heard it on the prairies of the West. I
hold in my hand (here Mr. Tully received the medal
from Lieutenant»Colonel Nugent) the beautiful golden
testimonial which bears the expression of the opinions of
the young and vigorous State of California. Yes. the
whole country has spokcn—and where that speech has
been heard, it has proclaimed that a man may be a sol-
dier without losing his manhood——that a man may be
true to the land of his adoption without being false to
the land of his birth. You will, pardon me, Ladies and
Gentlemen, if, even at the expense of your time and
patience, I give a brief expression to thoughts that are
just now wandering far from this hall. The occasion, no
doubt, suggests them ; but they are seldom absent. There
are some loved objects, some food recollections, which
are ever present before the mind. With the mother, it
is her child; with the prisoner, his liberty; with the
slave, his freedom ; and with the Irishman, it is Ireland.
We wander o'er the earth, but we find no place like
home; we revel in delights, but we find no joys like
those of home ; we may enjoy abundance of luxuries, but
they are not nearly so sweet as the simple comforts of
that quiet, happy home. Do we make worse citizens?
The man who forgets the land of his nativity will betray
the land of his adoption. He who is unmindful of the
associations of childhood, will prove ungrateful to the
friends of manhood. As I stand here, and look with
delight on this vast and grand assemblage, my thoughts
fly to the old land, her hillsand dales, her lakes and
plains, in all their magic beautflappear before the eye
of my memory, even as when I left her green shores, and
. I feel like exclaiining, with Davis-

“ She’s a rich and rare land,
She’s a fresh and-fair land ;
Yes, she’s a true and rare land, ,
That native land -of mine.,__
No men than _heraa.re—br:cvér,
Her women’s hearts ne’er waver,
1’d freely die to .sa'v’c her,
And think my lot divine.”

And when 1 look on this audience, composed of the
wealth, intelligence, and worth of this community, and
consider that they are assembled in 9. measure to espouse
Erin’s cause, I have a.-fond hope, nay, a firm faith, that
the sun of that ancient nation, that the glory of that
ancient race, has not gone down for ever. She has seen
her period of fame and happiness; she has borne her
period of suffering and affliction ; and she may yet enjoy
a. long reign of freedom, prosperity, and renown. The
God of the universe is a dispenser of justice. He allows
iniquity to go unpunished for a. season, but vengeance is
his, and he will in the end take it. The day of Ircland’s
justification and resurrection may not be long distant;
the indications are that your eyes and mine shall see
those days. Allow me,sir, to again thank you, in the
name of Colonel Corcoran, and of all here, and not here,
who sympathize with him, as well as in the sincerity of
my own heart. (The applause which greeted the speaker
throughout, became deafening at the conclusion of his
remarks. He was himself repeatedly cheered.)

The chairman next introduced Mr. Thomas Francis
Meagher, whose appearance was the signal for cheers
almost threatening the stability of the building. For
several minutes iiothing~could be heard but the en-
thusiastic welcome—nothing seen but the waving of
builds and hats,

Mr. Meagher said : Officers and men of the 69th Regi-
ment. In discharging the duty with which I have been
intrusted on this occasion, my words shall be few and
plain. The language of soldiers is direct and brief.
Orders the most important are delivered in curt phrases,
and the announcement of victories, by the greatest gene-
rals, has been most surely and memorably made in the
shortest syllables it was possible to command. Speaking
as soldiers are in the habit of speaking—coufining
myself strictly to the interpretation of the sentiments
from which the honors and ceremonies of this night pro-
ceed—I shall best conform, I believe, to the spirit of the
occasion, and the ofiicial character of those I have been
chosen to address. ,This much I say, to repress, at the
outset, the inordinate expectations of‘ rhetoric in which
a portion of the audience might be led to indulge, and
the vain effort to gratify which would detract from the
obvious significance of the arms that surround me, and
the flag that they are, henceforth, to conduct with
pcculiarhonor, with peculiar pride and courage, wher-
ever their line of march, their onset, their retreat or
advance may be (loud cheers). The circumstances out
of which the proceedings of this evening have sprung
are rapidly told. At the close of the summer it is
announced that the heir to the throne of England will
visit New York. The merchants, the judges, the editors,
the brokers, the attorneys, the fashionables, and “ first
families” of the city resolve themselves, instantly, into
an overwhelming committee, vote the promised visitor a.
ball, subscribe lavishly for the purpose, devote them-
selves, day after day, to the elaboration of an entertain-

ment which shall establish f'or their munificence a char-
acter for sumptuous excess, if it does not permanently
assure the statesmen and aristocracy of England that the
people of America are one with them in blood, policy,
and religion (laughter and cheers). The chief magis-

l

trate (hisses) seizes his horn, and, importunate as
Misenus:
" Que non. pm; tomtior allcr
.E'rc circ euros.”

summons the Fire Department to follow up the ball, with

their machines and flambcaux, so that the globe of light

within the Academy of Music may have a lamben‘. tail

to it in the streets without (loud laughter). In his eager-
ness for the production of this phenomenon, he pledges

his purse to supply the flame for the comet, and the

music with which it shall travel (roars of laughter).

Next comes the General of the First Division of the

State Militia of New York. With an alacrity equalled

only by that with which he ordered out the Division

to greet the gambouged priests and princes of Yeddo

(laughter), and to commemorate the {sinking of an un-

communicative rope in the ocean (laughter), from the
working of which the Arcadian milenium of Shelly was
glowingly predicted (continued laughter), this elastic
and fervent officer directs his command to parade in
honor of the Prince of Wales. Nor does the hospitable
impulse stop here. The hotel proprietors throb and
perspire—every one of them, frbm the Battery to King’s
Bridge——each striving with every available and con-
ceivable artifice to entrap the Prince, and impregnate
his establishmentwith the odor ofroyalty (loud laughter).
A contention more desperate, iéigenious, and breathless,
has never been known. The myrnians, the C prians,
and others contending -for the glory of being, by descent,
the fellow-citizens of Homer, were nothing to these
palatial proprietors contending among themselves as to
which of them should have the privilege of spreading
the table-cloth and making the bed of the destined mon-
arch of England (renewed and uproarious laughter).
The wealthy and grander ladies of the city, young and
old, contract the pleasant frenzy of the hour, and thou-
sands upon thousands of dollars resolve themselves into
brocades, laces, wreaths, plumes, and diamonds. Were
it Lafayette who was coming, a costlier welcome could
not have been prepared, nor would the merchandize, the
old stock, the newest patterns, the wrinkles, the efflores-
ccnce of the city have been so vehemently excited (hear,
hear, hear). Then came the surging masses of the peo-
ple, impelled by one instinct or another, and these did,
in truth, impart to the ovation a joyousncss, an appear-
ance ot’ thorough heartiness and spontaneous hospitality,
a grandeur which it would not otherwise have had (loud
cheers). Apart from these proceeclings—decorous, silent,
pep1fe(c1t1y_;iina3bt:*1i]isive ztindd ir‘:1(])fl"ensivc—_—ca%ik1i, soldtierly,
an igni e —— ere s 00 e men, in ie cenrc 0

whose ranks I have now the honor to speak, and to
whose guardianship I have been charged to commit
the flag, the blazonry on which—wrought, for the most

part, in gold and emeralds—symbolize the incorruptihle
vitality, the perpetual warmth and brightness, the me-
mory and the hope—-both equally vivid and irrepres-
sible—of their chivalrous, proud old race (enthusiastic
cheers). That the citizens ot'New York, with the excep-
tion of those who hailed from Ireland, were ‘ustified in
receiving the Prince of Wales with all the imimlsiveness
and prodigality characteristic -of their splendid city, and
that ,it immeasurably heightened their social prestige to

delicate of me to dispute (hear, bear). More than this,
it would be perverse and rude of me not to admit, as I
do, freely and fully, the propriety and gracefulness of
the reception which the frank young Englishman, the
eldest son of the Queen of England, met with, here and
elsewhere, in the republican portions of the American
continent it was his good fortune to visit (hear, hear, and
cheers). A people who whipped the troops of his illus-
trious grandfather, and drove them to their ships, erect-
ing a sensible and _noble commonwealth on the battle-
fields where the sword and sceptre of England were
trampled into the soil they had drenched with blood,
could easily afford to play the host on the grandest
scale, when the Prince, from whose family so fruitful
and potential a domain hadbeen wrested, came to be-
hold, with his own eyes, the activity, the influence, and
freedom, which has resulted from the surrender of Lord
Cornwallis and the evacuation of New York (loud and
continued cheering). The conqueror can always afford
to be munificent to the conquered, and the pride which

tives of a kindlier nature, prompts the display of gene-
rosity and friendship, where prosperous circumstances
protect such a. display from the imputation of obsequi-
ousness, hypocrisy or fear (hear hear, and cheers), But,
with citizens of Irish birth, the case was different. Par-
ticipating in the festivities and pageants which signa-
lized the advent of the Prince of Wales to the city of
New York, they would have exposed themselves, there-
after, to the exagperating accusation that, in an hour of
mferriment and revelry, giddily confounding themselves.
with those who had no such memories to restrain them,
they had lost sight of the land which there would have
been no necessity for them to leave, had it, instead of
being wasted and exhausted by the progenitors of this
‘prince, been righteously, beneticently, and sympatheti-
cally governed by those who were its rulers, by the natu-
ral authority of birth, common interest, and prescriptive?
right (hear, hear, and loud applause). Participating in
these festivities and pageants, they would have furnished.
a forcible argument to those who deny that Ireland has
any mischiefis, growing out of her political condition, to
complain of——who contend that her people are satisfied
with their relations of subserviency to Eogland—a.nd who
flippantly assert that the explosion of disatfection which,
now and then, take place in the country, are occasioned
only by the vicious ambition of men who must produce
disorder to achieve renown (hear, hear). Dispassionately
considering the position and state of Ireland——her forced
subjection to England, and, through that subjection the
prostration of all that strength, impulse, wealth, and
genius, which would enable her, if disenthralled, to run
a bright career, construct a. large fortune, and hold a
high place in the busy and aspiring world——dispassion-

think there are few of the citizens of New York who
now that the excitement and headache of the royal car-
nival have completely passed away, will not admit, that
in keeping aloof from that carnival, the officers and men
of the Sixty-ninth, and the Irish citizens generally did
what best became them——(cries of ,-,“ Hear, hear’g)—a
contrary course being inconsistent with their registered
declarations, and susceptible of a construction equally
adverse to the just expectations, the essential claims and
decent pretensions of the country. (Enthusiastic cheer-
ing.) Did this attitude, so far as the Sixty-ninth were
concerned, involve a breach of military discipline and
disloyalty to the State, I should not have been here to-
night; for, in that case, a grievous error would have
been committed, and every citizen, approving of the
procedure, would have as grievously compromised him-
self in the presence of the law and the sound judgment
of the community. (Hear and cheers.) Soldiers have
many disagreeable duties to perform, and it sometimes
happens that odious obligations, are imposed. The metal
of which they are made is tested by these rigorous re-
quiremcnts, and the more obnoxious the duty, when
that duty is clearly within the provisions of the law, the
nobler the opportunity the soldier has to prove himself‘
reliable and heroic. [Hear, hear.] Had the order to
parade in honor of the Prince of Wales been plainly and
imperatively legal, and had I been the Colonel of the

do so with the biggest purse and ecstasy, it would be in-

accompanies success, not less powerfully than the mo»

ately considering the position and state of Ireland,I .