Part 9

Thomas Riley spoke on the topic of “Dynamite.” He did not think it necessary to say that they preferred to use that mode of warfare, but they would insist that they had no tears to shed at the consequences. “Is there anything wrong in the use of dynamite under certain conditions?” [“No, no!” cried out a dozen voices.] Dynamite, the speaker declared, had done no more injury than had other methods used by England. O’Donovan Rossa was mentioned, and a continued round of applause, cheers and “tigers,” followed. The speaker urged unity among Irishmen. “Ireland is ripe,” said he, “and the hour is approaching. If England but raises her hand against any nation, even a third or fourth class nation, Ireland will stab her in the back and stab her to the heart; and if she needs the knife, we’ll send it to her.”

The meeting closed with three cheers for O’Donovan Rossa; but before so doing, passed, as suggested by the last speaker, resolutions as follows:--

“Whereas the present unsettled condition of Europe, especially our old enemy England, indicates that an uprising of the oppressed people will in the very near future occur;

“And whereas the Irish and those of Irish-American descent have been for a long period of years proclaiming to the world Ireland’s sufferings and wrongs and England’s unlawful and brutal usurpations;

“And whereas, as in the past the principal cause of our weakness and failures to effect the removal of said usurpation was disunion among ourselves, through which unhappily the common enemy was armed and we disarmed;

“And whereas, if we expect to effect the freedom of Ireland it must be accomplished as united brothers tolerant of each other, working harmoniously in the same sacred cause, to secure the same holy object;

“Therefore be it resolved that we, Irish-American citizens of Boston and vicinity, in Faneuil Hall assembled, send forth from this historic cradle of liberty an earnest appeal to all aspirants and workers for Ireland’s disenthralment to forget all past differences and unite for the opportune crisis, fast approaching, to strike the successful blow for Ireland.”

XI.

THE ARMY OF THE DISCONTENTED.

“That a deep-rooted feeling of discontent pervades the masses, none can deny; that there is a just cause for it, must be admitted. The old cry, ‘These agitators are stirring up a feeling of dissatisfaction among working-men, and they should be suppressed,’ will not avail now. Every thinking person knows that the agitator did not throw two millions of men out of employment.... That the army of the discontented is gathering fresh recruits day by day is true; and if this army should become so large that, driven to desperation, it should one day arise in its wrath and grapple with its real and fancied enemy, the responsibility for that act must fall upon the heads of those who could have averted the blow, but who turned a deaf ear to the supplication of suffering humanity, and gave the screw of oppression an extra turn because they had the power.”--_T. V. Powderly, 1885._

XII.

DEFENDING DYNAMITE ASSASSINATION.

On April 7, 1885, O’Donovan Rossa delivered an address in Tremont Temple, Boston. From a report of his remarks which appeared in the “Boston Herald” of April 8, the following extracts are taken:--

“The papers of New York and of Boston represented him as a man who took dynamite to bed with him. [Laughter and cheers.] But this very thing England used in all her wars, and now had tons of it in Woolwich. Mr. Parnell told them two years ago that he had all the resources of civilization at command. He meant then that he only wanted an excuse to send over more of this destructive material. [Laughter and applause.] Scientific warfare alarmed England, and she would like Ireland to keep petitioning and not go to arms. Then they were asked, while they had the Coercion Acts, to come out and fight in honorable warfare. [Laughter.] He would rather fight in the open field if allowed, but the speaker went in for fighting the devil with his own weapons. [Applause.] He would not wish to hurt an Englishman, but there was no other way to root English government from Ireland. [Cheers, and a voice: ‘Yes, and we will root them out.’] He would show that it would cost England more to hold Ireland than it was worth. [Cheers.] After England had passed all her stringent laws, the recent explosions had occurred. Until England gave up Ireland, dynamite would go in.... There might be some who did not like to deal with dynamite, but they only wanted it done secretly. They said the speaker blew too much. [Laughter.] Well, he had to blow a bit to get them in. He had to make a noise, or else he would not get any aid for the men who are fighting England so as to make her understand it would be advisable to give Ireland a Parliament like that of 1801. [Cheers.] When they had that, he would rest for a time. But if she wished to stop the dynamite work in London, let her give Ireland justice. Till she did that, he would ask the people of Boston to give all the aid they could.... In conclusion, he asked his audience to do something to help the brave men working for the liberty of Ireland. He said there were to-day Irishmen working for the cause in England who had never seen America; but the scare they were giving England in the heart of London was doing more than twenty thousand men in the field. He did not like dynamite, and the English did not [laughter]; but he had no objection that the Irishmen in London or in Ireland should use all the dynamite they could get. [Applause.] England had done all she could with fire and sword to exterminate the race in Ireland. Why, she had sold the Irish people as slaves. England had banished the Irish people, and she kept doing it. He asked the chairman, if his family had been separated and forced to go to a strange country by the work of a Government, would he object to using dynamite, or hell-fire itself? [Great applause.]”

University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge

Transcriber’s Note

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation have been standardized but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.