CHAPTER XVII.

PUBLIC ABHORRENCE AT THE CRIME--A GREAT OUT-POURING OF THE PEOPLE-- COSMOPOLITAN ASSEMBLAGE AT CENTRAL MUSIC HALL--A JUDGE'S VIGOROUS SPEECH--CONGRESSMEN DENOUNCE THE CRIME--THE RIVAL DEMONSTRATIONS AT CHELTENHAM BEACH AND OGDEN'S GROVE.

Greater honors could scarcely have been accorded the departed statesman, patriot or warrior than were paid by the citizens of Chicago to the memory of the man who had been removed from their midst by means and methods so foul and dastardly.

Three thousand men and women--young people just budding into manhood and womanhood, old folks with whitened locks and faltering step--crowded the spacious Central Music Hall and its approaches on the night of June 28, to express their detestation of the crime that had stained the fair fame of the Garden City, to denounce the criminals and to demand of those responsible for the execution of the law that no effort be spared to bring the guilty to justice. It was one of the most cosmopolitan assemblages that had ever been gathered under a roof in Chicago. There were native Americans, British Americans and Irish Americans, Swedes and Italians, Frenchmen and Germans. Members of the colored race were scattered here and there through the vast audience, and even the Chinese colony had its representatives in a couple of distinguished looking Celestials, who, with characteristic modesty, occupied seats away back in the rear.

THE PROMINENT CITIZENS PRESENT.

Equally striking and significant was the array of citizens that occupied the stage. Back of W. H. Dyrenfurth, President of the Personal Rights League, under the auspices of which the gathering had been called, and who officiated as temporary chairman, sat men of such national and local celebrity as Judge Prendergast, W. P. Rend, Robert Lindblom, of the Board of Trade, Congressmen George G. Adams and Frank Lawler, Alderman John Dalton and Representative Charles G. Dixon, the prominent labor leader. In one of the boxes sat Herman Raster, the noted editor of the _Staats Zeitung_, in another United States Commissioner Phil. A. Hoyne. To the right and left could be seen scores of men of high social and official position, side by side with divines of the Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and other denominations. Few of these could claim any personal acquaintance with the murdered man, many more had known him scarce by name or even looked upon him in the flesh, but one and all were animated by the same motives--those of respect to his memory and a deep-rooted determination that the foul crime should and must be avenged.

The decorations of the stage were modest and tasteful. Upon the rear wall, under the organ loft, were draped two large American flags; numerous baskets of flowers and plants tending to form an artistic background; a large banner, bearing the emblematic figure of the Goddess of Liberty, was suspended from the organ, and supported on one side by a banner, with a figure of Columbia, holding the stars and stripes in one hand, the other resting upon the national shield, with the American eagle hovering at her feet. To the front of all, and upon which the greatest interest centered, was a life-sized portrait of the victim of his enemies, draped in mourning, and surmounted by miniature American and Irish flags. Col. W. P. Rend, in the absence of Mayor Cregier, was the presiding officer of the occasion, and presented letters, regretting their inability to attend, from Right Rev. Bishop Cheney, and United States Senators Charles H. Farwell and Shelby M. Cullom, who had promised to be in attendance. Otto's beautiful chorus, "Gehet" (The Prayer), having been rendered by a volunteer combined Swiss and German chorus, a number of vigorous and remarkable speeches were made. Congressman Frank Lawler spoke in this strain:

"A BLOT ON CHICAGO'S NAME."

"I am thankful for the privilege of giving my views upon what I consider to be one of the most revolting and cowardly crimes ever committed in this or any other community. Any person having the heart of an American cannot but feel that the murder of Dr. Cronin is a blot upon the good name of this great city, which can only be wiped out by the arrest and swift punishment of the instigators and their hirelings.

"The vast concourse that turned out to pay their respect to the memory of Dr. Cronin when that sad and solemn demonstration conveyed his remains to their last resting-place, gave an unanswerable testimony to him who lived a Christian and patriotic life, and it should convey to his enemies in no uncertain language the fact that the people of Chicago knew Dr. Cronin to be an Irish-American gentleman, faithful to his native as he was true to his adopted country. This should be accepted by his traducers, and they had better understand that the people of Chicago are slow to anger, but when once aroused, they are just enough to vindicate him who gave up his life while answering the call of distress--a martyr to truth, honesty and charity. Dr. Cronin's traducers had better beware, for Justice is jealous, and may lift the sword when she finds that those who are not with her are against her.

"Thank God, we are unanimous in this opinion. I am proud of the action of the Irish-American societies condemning the murder of Dr. Cronin. Let us continue to act so that justice shall be dealt out to every guilty person, no matter what his position may be. Let us not condemn communities or peoples because bad men have shielded their crimes behind their good name and well-earned reputation in war and in peace. Let us not forget the people that did their share at Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Winchester and in the Shenandoah Valley, because a few assassins who belong to no race, curse our civilization with their crimes. Let us not condemn the race that gives us a Corcoran, a Meagher, a Smith, a Mulligan, a Shields and a Sheridan, because that race is now bowed down with the burden of a Coughlin, a Burke or a Sullivan, but let us pledge our united fortunes, and, if it needs be, our lives, to the vindication of law and order, no matter who may be guilty."

JUDGE PRENDERGAST'S VIGOROUS SPEECH.

Still more vigorous was the speech of Judge Richard Prendergast, one of the leading Irish-Americans of the city; and who, although comparatively a young man, was recognized as a brilliant ornament to the judicial bench. His clear cut sentences awakened a responsive chord in the hearts of his hearers, and at times during his speech the applause was deafening. Among other things he said:

"Those who take part on the side of justice and against this conspiracy, should be prepared to meet opposition and find spies on all sides. I have no doubt that right in this meeting there are tools and spies upon words and deeds. I believe there are members of this great conspiracy in this hall to-night. Don't imagine that your public meeting, guarded by tickets, will exclude spies and assassins in thought, if not in deed. Even the organized power of the State will have all it can do to keep them and their influences from the jury box. This is strong language, but it is called for by the occasion. At this time, no man who is asked to express himself on the great topic of this foul murder can afford to be silent. Sometimes persons are silent on the ground of expediency, but on this occasion no man who is worthy of the name can be anything else but an open, avowed enemy of this great conspiracy. It is time to discuss secret societies, whether they are good or bad, when the murderers of Dr. Cronin are at hand.

"Was Dr. Cronin a spy?" demanded the eloquent speaker, and from the vast audience there came the reply, with a roar. "No."

"Was he known to be such before Le Caron testified?" again demanded the judge, and again the thousands answered "No," while a cheer went up that shook the building.

"This man carried his life in his hands, and did it for years," resumed the speaker. "The talk of his being a spy is sheer nonsense; it matters not who makes the statement, whether directly or by insinuation, he lies in his throat. A spy could not have arrayed himself for years in hostility to all the sources of disaster that has fallen upon the Irish cause. But that is simply the Irish phase of the question, and as Americans every citizen must rise high enough to declare that in view of American law, spy or no spy, no man had a right to decree or to do his murder. A peculiar feature of this conspiracy is that it had for its purpose not only the destruction of Dr. Cronin's life, but the destruction of his character--that it was for a twofold purpose, malice and cowardice; hatred of him because of what he was, and cowardice so as to cover up the evidences of crime.

"Here," went on the speaker, after he had alluded at length to the stories that had emanated from Toronto, Montreal, and other places, as demonstrating the underspread motive of the conspiracy. "Here, where Dr. Cronin spent so many years of his life, we can safely affirm, as this meeting does affirm, that, tested by his career and by every fact and circumstance brought to light, Dr. Cronin was an unselfish, a public-spirited, an honorable and an honest man, and those who hated him and lured him to his death did so because of that character of his, which could neither be bent nor broken, severed nor turned aside by threats against his life, by attacks against his life, by plots against his life that he had discovered, or by the easier methods of bribery that must have been within the power of those who organized those plots. In the presence of a society whose object is the maintenance of the right of the individual to think, to speak and to act as his conscience directs, regardless of any adverse powers. Impressed by the spirit of such a meeting, I can not refrain from giving expression to the sentiments I feel. I do so for another purpose, and it is this:

"That the miscreants who planned and effected this foul murder will know, or rather they will understand, how the public knows how I regard them. They have known it for years. This is a time when no man who ever had anything to do with the Irish movements especially, can afford to be silent and do justice to himself. I do so with the distinct consciousness that the man who attacks this conspiracy invites its hatred. I believe I have had its hatred for some time. If speaking as I have done does not invite its hatred, I invite it now. No man who shakes hands with a criminal, or his allies or sympathizers, can be relied upon as a faithful conservator of justice. Let no man having political ambition be deluded with the thought that subserviency will aid him. Treason to American institutions and to the cause of justice, at this time, will damn forever the man that the public believes guilty, and he does not have to be tried by a jury or any other bar than enlightened public opinion."

But no more graphic a tribute to the characteristics and memory of the murdered man could have come from tongue or pen than came from Colonel Rend, and his auditors hung breathless upon his words:

"He was a man endowed with many of the choicest gifts and graces of nature. In person he was a perfect model of physical manhood. In intellect he possessed talents of a high order. His natural abilities enabled him to overcome the stern circumstances of an early life of poverty and discouragement. By his own unaided efforts, and from the savings of intelligent and careful economy, he gained a collegiate education. He then studied for the medical profession. Afterward he filled the chair of a professor in the college where he received his diploma. He became an accomplished linguist in several modern languages, and could speak German and French as fluently as his native tongue. To these attainments he added the charming accomplishment of a fine musical education. But above all, he trained and educated to an admirable degree the higher moral sentiments of his spiritual being. His soul shone out with all the brightness of the noonday sun. He loved right and justice. He hated wrong and injustice. He despised cunning, deception and falsehood in every form. He unmasked and denounced hypocrisy, especially where he saw hypocrisy used as a cloak to cover schemes of spurious patriotism. He was fearless in facing and defying danger where honor or principle was involved. He was an honest man, and a true man in every fiber of his nature. He cherished with fond remembrance, and loved with all the ardor of his warm Irish nature, the land of his fathers and of his birth. He pleaded and labored in the sacred cause of the promotion of Ireland's rights and liberties. Indeed, were it not for his fond devotion to Ireland, he would still be alive and in our midst. He became a martyr to Ireland's sacred cause. For his adopted country he had a love and affection even more ardent and intense. He respected and obeyed our laws. He honored our flag. He revered our institutions. Except to his God, he gave his highest allegiance to this, our common country. In fine, he was a model citizen in the highest sense. This man has been murdered under circumstances most revolting. Why? What offense did he commit? What wrong had he done to any person or any cause? I answer, none. He simply dared to do right. For this he became a marked man. For this his terrible doom was sealed. For this he was lured by tigers in human shape to a cruel and inhuman death."

The sentiments of the commercial classes were voiced by Robert Lindblom, one of the most prominent members of the Board of Trade, who delivered a masterly address. In his peroration he said:

"We have come here to emphasize our rights as men, and as American citizens, and to protest against these rights being domineered by foreign influences and conspiracies. We have also come here for one other purpose, and that is to protest against any influences of church, nationality or societies being interposed between the great criminals guilty of the assassination of Dr. Cronin and even-handed justice, and to demand in the name of the civilization that this gory spot upon its robes shall be covered by the mantle of stern justice.

"We are not there to sit in judgment on the Irish people, but rather to ask them to sit in judgment on their petty leaders, and in impeaching these I do not reflect upon that great Irish leader, Parnell, than whom there are few purer characters in modern history. Is the fame of Ireland so great that it can afford to condone murder? Are the Irish servant girls to have no protection against those who play upon their sensibilities as a matter of business.

"When the history of this epoch is being written this bloody assassination will appall the historian. Shall he write that Ireland's sons and daughters were so jealous of their honor that they hurled the traitor to it from his false position, or shall he write that Irish prejudices were so strong that even gory blood did not look bloody red?"

Several other addresses were made. C. G. Dixon, a prominent labor leader, spoke for the working classes, Dr. G. Frank Lydston for the medical profession, Louis Nettelhorst, a member of the Board of Education, for the youth of the city, and Frank Adams, Member of Congress, touched upon the crime in its national aspect. The singing society rendered Frech's exquisite song, "Suess und Ruhig ist der Schlummer," and an original poem, entitled, "Cronin, the Martyr," was read by H. E. Bartholomew. After this the resolutions prepared by the Personal Rights League were presented. They read in this wise:

We, as citizens of the United States, residents of the cosmopolitan city of Chicago, in mass meeting assembled to do honor to the memory of a fellow-citizen, Dr. P. H. Cronin, who, because he advocated that which seemed right to him, we believe to have been the victim of a conspiracy concocted for basest purposes, and appalled by the monstrous cruelty of his murder, we declare:

1. That from the facts so far made public, it seems the assassination of Dr. P. H. Cronin was instigated by most foul and criminal malice.

2. Every citizen has a right to life, liberty and property guaranteed by the laws of the land, and it is utterly foreign to the spirit of our people, as well as to the laws, that any man be deprived of either except by due process of law.

3. That we hold no nationality or organization responsible for the crime nor for the causes which led to it.

4. That we honor and respect love for native land, but condemn perversion of that noble sentiment to personal ends.

5. That we hope no lawful means will be neglected to bring to justice the instigators and perpetrators of this atrocious crime; and that we resent as a public outrage any attempt to clog the wheels of justice or to use undue influence to shield the guilty. Public officers must feel that their highest duty is to the people.

6. We call upon the public prosecutors to see to it that no innocent man is condemned, and that no guilty man escapes. Therefore, be it

_Resolved_, That we encourage all lawful efforts to bring to justice, which shall not discriminate, and to adequate punishment, the instigators and perpetrators of this murder.

_Resolved_, That it is the sense of this meeting that the Citizens' Association be invited to co-operate with and assist in every lawful manner the authorities in bringing to justice the murderers of Dr. P. H. Cronin.

When the vote on the resolutions was called, every man, woman and child in the audience rose to their feet, and with the singing of the "Star Spangled Banner," in which all joined, one of the most remarkable gatherings in the history of Chicago came to an end.

THE GATHERING AT CHELTENHAM BEACH.

Not less significant, as indicating the condition of public sentiment and the interest maintained in the crime three months after the physician had been "removed," were the demonstrations of August 16th. For years it had been the practice of the various Irish organizations of the city to unite in a patriotic demonstration in one of the large groves adjacent to the city, the proceeds, which invariably aggregated many thousands of dollars, being contributed to the treasury of the Irish National League, and thus eventually finding their way across the Atlantic for the support of the movement with which Parnell and his colleagues were identified. The murder of Dr. Cronin, however, had rended asunder the Irish element in Chicago, and, as a result, there were two factions, one composed of friends of the murdered man, and the other of adherents of the "triangle." In this condition of affairs a "union" demonstration was, perforce, out of the question, and while the former faction determined to celebrate at Cheltenham Beach, and apply the proceeds to the fund for the detention and prosecution of the assassins, their opponents preferred to gather at Ogden's Grove, the meeting-place in former years, and to make the same disposition of the receipts as of old. According to the best estimates, from 13,000 to 15,000 people participated in the "Cronin" demonstration, and between five and seven thousand that of the other element. At Cheltenham Beach speeches denouncing the murder and demanding retribution were made by Congressman M. A. Foran, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Frank Lawler, of Chicago; John Devoy, the well-known Irish leader of New York, and Rev. Father Toomey.

Said Congressman Foran:

"Dr. Cronin went forth that fatal night as a brave man to answer a call for help. Instead of being called on a mission of mercy, he was called forth to be foully and brutally murdered. I will not use even the word assassination. He was called up to some cottage on the outskirts of this city. He went in there filled with the hope that he would be able to carry succor and relief to some suffering mortal. He is scarcely inside the door before he is stricken down--murdered, and the next we hear of him his bruised and mutilated body is discovered in a foul and stinking sewer in this city. It is almost beyond human comprehension to believe that men could be so depraved, so low, so lost to all sense of justice and humanity, so much like devils as to do this foul and heinous thing. But yet it was done; and then, not satisfied with having murdered the man himself, not satisfied with having destroyed his body, the malignity of these murderers is so great that they must murder his reputation and his honor. If devils were brought up from hell they could conceive of no fouler, no more damnable deed than that!"

The speech of Father Toomey aroused the thousands of people to a pitch of almost uncontrollable excitement, especially when he said:

"The hanging of the actual murderers will not reach the root of the crime. That will only be reached when the man with fertile brain and inventive genius who engineered the crime while his pockets were filled with the money plundered from the Irish people shall be brought to justice. [Cheers and cries of "Sullivan! Sullivan!"]

"It is to this arch traitor that you want to look, and it is to him and his henchmen that you must look. You must look to men who can spend money like water, men who have no vocation or calling which will bring them in the sums which they spend. It is men who can spend $25,000, $50,000, or $75,000 a year, and who murder men to cover it up. [Tremendous cheers and cries of "Sullivan! Sullivan!" and "That's the talk!"] These are the men that you want to see dance upon nothing [wild cheers and cries of "That's the talk! Hang him! Hang him!"] rather than the men who have been deceived and duped into committing crime for which doubtless to-day they are sorry.

"Dr. Cronin's memory is secure with us; and if there are traitors in the Irish ranks in America you will find them amongst the men who have plundered your treasuries; you will find them amongst the men who have done murder to cover embezzlement. [Cheers and cries of "Sullivan, Sullivan!" and the "Triangle!"]

"When you find men who start rumors that Dr. Cronin's friends are traitors to Ireland, if you put your hand on them you will find men who were not far removed from him who caused the deed to be done. [Cries of "Good, good!"] You will find one of the many specious and quiet agents who did quick and serviceable work from various offices in Chicago to the telegraph which carried the word to Canada that Dr. Cronin was seen there, when he was actually in the sewer in Chicago, and you find a man close to the crime. And if he had not been found the day that he was found you would have heard of him next by some means on a steamer on the ocean; and by and by you would have heard of him in Paris [great sensation and nodding of numerous heads] and then you would have found the body in the River Thames. [Cries of "Hear, hear," and "You're right there."]

"It is well to be severe and just, but it is well to be careful that in being severe and just the laws of the land in which we live are not set aside by us, and that we do not set ourselves up individually as judges and arbitrators of the lives of men. We live in a nation that will tolerate no such work, be the nationality what it may. [Cheers.] Because Dr. Cronin saw fit to ask for an accounting for moneys disposed of illegally, unjustly and wrongfully; moneys given from the sweat and blood, from the heart's core of the Irish-Americans for their country's cause, there was but one course. They had not the money to give back, and because he would not cease at the bidding of the traitors murder was resorted to to cover up robbery. [Cheers.] For Dr. Cronin's honor and his loyalty to Ireland I myself would vouch with my life. [Tremendous cheers.] Let it be your care to allow no one to utter the slander that Dr. Cronin was not loyal to Ireland. Let it be your care to resent the lie that Dr. Cronin still lives in the body. He does live in spirit. He still lives in the hearts of the men of his country." [Cheers.]

DENOUNCED AT OGDEN'S GROVE.

John F. Finerty presided over the meeting at Ogden's Grove, and Rev. G. W. Pepper, of Louisville; Judge J. W. Fitzgerald, of Cincinnati; Senator Grady, of New York; and O'Neill Ryan, of St. Louis, were among the speakers. The mention of Alexander Sullivan's name by Senator Grady was the signal for a scene of considerable enthusiasm. The speeches were devoted to the condition of the Irish race and the progress of the work of Parnell and his lieutenants for the liberation of their country from English rule. The only reference to the tragedy that was at that moment being denounced at the other end of the city occurred in an address, which was read and adopted, and was in these words:

"We would deem it, under other circumstances, quite unnecessary to emphasize before the American people the unwavering devotion of Irish-American citizens to the government of the United States, but a tragedy was recently enacted in our midst, the victim of which was one of our own race, that has been made the occasion of venting upon us as a people, and upon our societies as a body, the spleen and venom of persons who, claiming to be superloyal to the republic, have not the claim to honest loyalty which we, as a race, hold upon this continent. The Heights of Abraham, red with the blood of Montgomery; the waves of Champlain, brilliant with the victory of McDonough; the plains of Chalmette, still radiant with the martial fire of Jackson; the convent of Cherubusco, still ringing with the war shout of Shields; the sunken road of Antietam, that beheld the green flag of Meagher's Irish brigade rise and fall by the side of the stars and stripes, as color-bearer after color-bearer went down under the withering breath of the rebel front of flame; the valley of Cedar Creek, in which the heroic figure of Phil Sheridan lives as immortally as that of Napoleon at Marengo; the square of the Haymarket, in this our own city, where the Irish officers of the law stood like a wall of iron between the people and anarchy--all these examples and many more could we summon to the bar of public opinion if it were, indeed, necessary to convince the American people that every man born in Ireland is in spirit, if not in fact, an American.

"It has been asserted by those instrumental in covering us with defamation that we wish to screen the murderers of Dr. Cronin. We meet here to-day, among other reasons, for the purpose of vehemently denouncing his atrocious murder in our capacity as American citizens; but we hold that, as Irish-Americans, we have no more right to be held responsible for that foul atrocity than has any other element of our body politic for crimes committed by persons to whom they are kindred. We devoutly hope that the officers authorized by law will succeed in bringing to justice the assassins of Dr. Cronin.

"We repudiate, both as American citizens and as Irish-Americans, the claim made by the enemies of our race, that the Irish element has any desire, or any purpose, to make the soil of America the theatre of acts of vengeance because of feuds, factions or disagreements growing out of political differences or personal heart-burnings."