USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The story of the Irish in Boston, together with biographical sketches of representative men and noted women > Part 18
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But we anticipate. Young O'Reilly had from his father that thorough training in the foundation studies by which Old-World lads
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of fourteen are in point of real education ahead of American boys of eighteen. At an early age the future journalist learned type- setting in the office of the Drogheda " Argus." Afterwards we find him earning his living as a short-hand reporter on newspapers in various English cities.
He joined the Fenian movement at its inception. " A desperate game, that Fenianism!" one said to him a few years ago. "Yes," he answered, with thoughtful face and glowing eyes; "they could only say to us, 'Come, boys, it is prison or death; but it is for Ireland,' and we came." And he looked as if he would gladly go the same perilous road again at the same appeal.
In 1863 O'Reilly returned to Ireland and enlisted in the Tenth Hussars, in which he spent three years, furthering the revolutionary cause and mastering the art of war for future use. In 1866, on the secret evidence of the informer, he was arrested in Dublin, tried by special military commission for treason, in company with Sergeant- Major McCarthy and Corporal Thomas Chambers, and sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude. For the next two years he, with the two others named, was an inmate of the imperial prisons of England at Pentonville, Millbank, Chatham, Portsmouth, Dartmoor, and Port- land. In October, 1867, he was transported to the penal colony of Western Australia, with sixty other political prisoners. In February, 1869, he escaped from the penal colony in a boat, assisted by the Rev. Patrick McCabe, a Catholic priest stationed in his district, and some other devoted Irish-Australians. He was picked up at sea, after many hardships ashore and afloat, by the American whaling bark " Gazelle," commanded by Captain David R. Gifford, of New Bedford, who treated him with the greatest kindness for the six months he remained on board, and who lent him twenty guineas (all the money he had with him) when they separated off the Cape of Good Hope.
Captain Gifford put O'Reilly on board another American ship (the " Sapphire," of Boston, bound to Liverpool), off the Cape. This vessel carried him safely to England, where, by the aid of her Yankee officers, he was shipped as an American sailor on board the
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" Bombay," of Bath, Me. (Capt. Frank Jordan), which landed him in Philadelphia in November, 1869. He was twenty-five years of age, strong and hopeful; but he did not know a single soul on the American continent.
Need we say how O'Reilly gratefully kept the thought of Captain Gifford in his heart. His first book, "Songs from the Southern Seas," published in Boston in 1873, bears a touching dedication to Capt. David R. Gifford. The saddest part of it was, however, that the book reached his dwelling just two hours after his death. " A Tribute Too Late," wrote O'Reilly, at the head of one of the most touching memorials that was ever penned.
O'Reilly landed in Philadelphia on Nov. 23, 1869, and made application for American citizenship the same day, at the United States Court in that city. He made but a brief stay here ; then went on to New York, where he gave a lecture and wrote some articles for the press. Thence he came to Boston on the 2d of January, 1870. He accompanied the Fenian raid into Canada in the same year, and sent descriptive letters thereof to the Boston papers. In the summer of 1870 he secured editorial employment on the " Pilot ; " and, in his intervals of leisure, began to give to the world, in poems of singular strength, depth, and beauty, the results of the action, observation, and endurance of the crowded years of his short ex- istence. His Australian poems glowed with color and throbbed with life. He was recognized at -once as a new and original presence in the literary world. Horace Greeley was much taken with O'Reilly's personality and work, and some of the latter's best narrative poems appeared in the New York " Tribune." The " Dark Blue," the mag- azine of the University of Oxford, England, gladly welcomed him to its exclusive pages, till it found out that he was a Fenian and an ex- political convict. He became a contributor to the "Galaxy," " Scribner's," the " Atlantic Monthly," " Harper's," and others of the best American literary publications.
Emphatically a man's man, his frank, earnest, and attractive personality, his broad humanity, added to his eminent literary gifts, drew to him the admiration and friendship of Wendell Phillips, John
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Greenleaf Whittier, William Lloyd Garrison, and others of God's noblemen in New England. It is pleasant to add here that this Irishman, who himself was the victim of tyranny, has a heart for oppressed people everywhere, and has won in the affections of the colored people of America, by his outspoken and sympathetic advo- cacy of their interests, a place very near the three great names above mentioned.
John Boyle O'Reilly has done much in his own single person to destroy the anti-Irish prejudices that lingered in New England long after they had practically disappeared from the rest of the country, as the snow-drifts linger in the clefts of her stony-hearted old hills. He has made plain to the nation, as well as to the rather timid and self-distrustful New England Irish themselves, that the least part of the Irish strength in that section is in mere force of numbers.
In 1876 Mr. O'Reilly, already for some years editor of the "Pilot," became its proprietor, with Archbishop Williams. His paper is universally regarded as a foremost exponent of Irish- American thought, and as one of the stanchest and most capable defenders of Catholic interests. A live newspaper, it has unique features of literary and domestic interest; and such competent judges as the New York "Independent " and the Springfield " Republican " declare that some of the best poetry of the day appears in the " Pilot." In journalism, as out of it, Mr. O'Reilly is a faithful friend and a courteous and magnanimous opponent.
In the midst of his journalistic work - and every detail of his paper has the benefit of his personal supervision - Mr. O'Reilly has brought out four volumes of poems, as follows: "Songs of the Southern Seas," 1873; "Songs, Legends, and Ballads," 1878; " Statues in the Block," 1881 ; and " In Bohemia," 1886. All these books have gone through many editions.
This is not the place for a critical estimate of Mr. O'Reilly's rank as a poet. The critical mind is debauched in this day of literary small things by the habit of solemn contemplation and silly over- praise of trifles. We turn our backs on the great literary standards,
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put on our keenest magnifying-glasses, and spend precious hours in ascertaining the relative size of a crowd of pigmies. The great words "poet," "genius," "literary immortality," and the like, are flying about with such childish recklessness and lack of sense of pro- portion, that when a true poet, a real genius, appears, we are all out of language. Let us be honest. We have as yet no great poets in America. But of the small number of our true poets, John Boyle O'Reilly is one of the two or three who have the divine fire, whose words are in the hearts of the people, and who give promise of becoming great.
He has written a novel, "Moondyne," based on his Australian experience, which is dramatic, forceful, as all his work is. It has ยท had seven large editions. He has also edited a number of works, and prefaced not a few, among the latter George Makepeace Towle's "Young People's History of Ireland " (Lee & Shepard, Boston), and Justin McCarthy's " Ireland's Cause and England's Parliament," just published by the Ticknors, Boston. He has several works in preparation, among them "The Country with a Roof," an alle- gory, illustrating the defects in the American social system; "The Evolution of Straight Weapons," which covers the whole ground of athletics ; and a work on the material resources of Ireland.
For the past decade Mr. O'Reilly has been in great demand as a lecturer, and has been the chosen spokesman of the city of his home on some notable occasions. - The best, perhaps, of his orations is "The Common Citizen Soldier," delivered in Boston on Memorial day, 1886.
He is a famous athlete, and the serious, humane, and patriotic purpose which underlies all the doings of this man, who is making the most of his life, can be found even in his pastimes.
Mr. O'Reilly is one of the founders, and was the president, of the Papyrus Club, which brings together a rather striking group of authors, artists, musicians, and actors ; and he is a member of the St. Botolph, the Round Table, and other literary clubs of the modern Athens. He is blessed with a charming wife and children. "Her rare and loving judgment has been a standard I have tried to reach,"
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writes the poet, inscribing to this gifted wife his "Songs, Legends, and Ballads."
What is the secret of the marvellous success of this man, not yet at his prime, who, little more than a decade and a half ago, was a friendless, penniless, political refugee? It is not native genius alone, nor patience and method, those best allies of genius, nor vigorous health, nor an impressive and pleasing personality. It is sterling character, which, when all is said and done, must ever outshine the dazzle of natural gifts or shrewd achievements.
"It is sad to see the man overshadowed by the artisan." "I have never seen," said the subject of this sketch, " a human being in whose individuality I did not find something to respect." That earnest and reverent sympathy with all humanity is the key-note of his character and the secret of his wide-reaching influence, and the popular affection which he won in overflowing measure. He is generous ; he has a long memory for kindnesses and a short one for injuries ; he delights in others' gifts and successes. The literary men and women, the journalists, artists, musicians, and business men who owe their first fortunate impulse to his direction, or who have had his substantial aid over rough places, would make, if gathered together, a large and respectable assemblage. It is much to say of any man what is true of him, that he is most loved and honored by those who have known him longest and nearest.
And now, our last word of him must be as our first has been - of his work for Ireland. Through voice, through pen, through worldly substance, through the flame enkindled from his own heart in the hearts of others, he has labored unweariedly all these years for the cause of Irish freedom - that holy cause, for which he offered life itself when life was new and sweet. "For Ireland," that is the thread of gold which runs through all he writes and does.
" For thee the past and future days ; For thee the will to trample wrong and strike for slaves ; For thee the hope that ere mine arm be weak And ere my heart be dry may close the strife
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In which thy colors shall be borne through fire, And all thy griefs washed out in manly blood, And I shall see thee crowned and bound with love, Thy strong sons round thee guarding thee."
May the patriot-poet's hope soon be realized, and may God spare him many years thereafter to the causes that need him and the hearts that love him !
PATRICK A. COLLINS.
He is the foremost Democratic legislator in New England, and possesses many of the strongly marked characteristics of his race, combined with those of the true American citizen. His ability, both at the bar and in public life, has attracted the attention of all classes of citizens throughout the United States. His eloquence on the platform has been admired and praised by press and people at home and abroad. As a lawyer, he has distinguished himself by his successful management of many important cases which have involved large interests.
The story of his life is eventful. He was born near Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland, March 12, 1844; the same year, by the way, in which his compatriots, John Boyle O'Reilly and John E. Fitzgerald, were born. His parents were Bartholomew and Mary Leahey Collins. Patrick was the youngest of a large family, and his father died when he was an infant.
In 1848 his mother immigrated to America; first settled in Boston, afterwards in Chelsea. Young Collins attended the public schools of the latter place, but at the early age of twelve years obtained employment as an errand-boy in the office of a Boston lawyer. He left there to work in a Chelsea store, where he remained during the following winter. His brief experience in the law-office kindled within him a desire for the legal profession, and doubtless shaped his later course.
The family subsequently removed to the West, and at fourteen years of age he was delving in the coal-fields of Ohio; eight
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years later he was an upholsterer in Boston, and a member of the Massachusetts Legislature; at twenty-six years, a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, to which body he was reelected the fol- lowing year; and in his fortieth year he was elected to Congress. He began life under the most unpromising circumstances: from the law-office and store, to the farm, coal-mine, machine-shop, and grindstone-mill of Ohio, he rose gradually, but positively, by hard work, patient and steady application, extensive reading, judicious cultivation, and careful development of innate talent, to an honorable and useful position. His sympathies have always been with the working-people, he having enjoyed their few attendant advantages and suffered their many hardships. In 1866 he joined the Fenian Brotherhood, serving the cause with voice and pen, and did effective work as an organizer.
He began the study of law in the following year. In 1870 he enjoyed the unique distinction of being the youngest member then elected to the State Senate. The excitement and fascination of politi- cal life, however, did not distract him from the study of law, as he graduated with honors from the Harvard Law School with the class of 1871. He was admitted to the Bar the same year, and has prac- tised extensively ever since. During his service at the State House he became identified with most liberal and beneficent legislation, notably the ten-hour law, admission of Catholic clergymen to re- formatory, correctional, and charitable institutions, abolition of a distinct oath for Catholics, the improvement and development of public parks in Boston, and also legislation favorable towards secur- ing equal rights for foreign-born citizens. He was for many years a member of the Democratic City Central Committee of Boston, perfecting and strengthening the efficiency of that organization during his term as president, in 1873-4. He was for a time Judge- Advocate of the First Brigade, M.V.M .; and was appointed by Governor Gaston as Judge-Advocate-General of Massachusetts in 1875, whence comes his title of General. He was twice the Democratic candidate for State Auditor, and in 1881 was nomi- nated for the position of Attorney-General. He was elected at
ALDINE ENG C7
Patrick Mollis -
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large from Massachusetts to the National Democratic Conventions of 1876 and 1880.
In the latter year he became a member of the Democratic State Committee, and has been its chairman since 1884. General Collins was elected to represent the Fourth Massachusetts District in Con- gress in 1882, reelected in 1884, and although early in 1886 he issued a letter declining to be considered as a candidate, he was, nevertheless, unanimously renominated and reelected that year.
Notwithstanding his activity in American politics, much of his time and ability have been devoted to the cause of Ireland. His connection with the Fenian Brotherhood, from 1862 to 1870, secre- tary of the Philadelphia Convention, chairman of a subsequent one, and the distinction of being elected the first president of the Irish National Land League of America, - all bespeak his loyalty.
Charles Stewart Parnell, the great Irish leader, has repeatedly thanked General Collins for his valuable assistance rendered to suf- fering Erin, and at the League headquarters in Dublin his portrait hangs beside that of Parnell, to speak for the Irish in America.
In the summer of 1887 General Collins visited Ireland and England. He was received with a perfect ovation by the people everywhere, his fame having preceded him. In London a compli- mentary dinner was tendered him by Parnell, at which all members of the Irish Parliamentary party, as well as English and Scotch members, were 1 resent. He was also banqueted by the Lord Mayor of Dublin and Corporation, and the great and rare distinction of the freedom of the city for distinguished services was conferred upon him. In Cork he was also received with every mark of honor and esteem. He was an honored guest at the Ancients' ceremony of casting the dart, and at the festivities following.
In 1888 he peremptorily declined the use of his name for con- gressional honors. He was a member of the Judiciary Committee during his whole service in Congress, and was prominently engaged with many proposed acts of legislation; among others, the Bank- ruptcy Bill. He headed the Massachusetts delegation to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis in 1888; he was unanimously
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chosen permanent chairman, and presented with the silver gavel which he wielded on that occasion. He possesses the magnetic qualities that typify our most eminent public speakers ; his command- ing presence, dignified and pleasing, is no less attractive than the tones of his resonant voice, which is clearly heard in the largest halls. His style of oratory is forceful, terse, and convincing, impressing an audience with the sincerity of an honest man whose utterances are full of good purposes, supported by logical proofs, and devoid of false coloring. General Collins has resided at Mt. Ida, Dorchester, since 1887, having removed there from South Boston. There, with his devoted wife and three children, his best days of peace and happiness are enjoyed within their home.
HUGH O'BRIEN.
Hon. Hugh O'Brien enjoys the proud distinction of having been elevated to the position of Mayor of Boston four successive years. During his administration he performed his duties fearlessly, faith- fully, and well. Born in Ireland, July 13, 1827, his childhood was passed there until he was five years old, when he was brought to America, and was sent to the Old Grammar School on Fort Hill, in Boston, where he graduated. Young O'Brien was as notional and studious as the typical Boston boy of his day. Boston ideas grew with him, and, later in life, the strong part which the y formed in his mentality was made manifest in his sagacious public deeds.
The solid foundation of his education, which was laid at school, was builded upon in a way that should teach a valuable lesson to the youths of to-day. The Public Library was his sanctum sanctorum. He browsed among the books, eagerly read useful works, especially historical, biographical, and statistical books, which he studied with avidity. He entered the office of the Boston "Courier," to learn the printer's trade, at the age of twelve years, and made rapid progress while there. Later we find him in the book and job printing office of Messrs. Tuttle, Dennett, & Chisholm, on School street, where he became foreman at the age of fifteen. He remained there several
Hugh OBrien
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years, until he originated and published the "Shipping and Com- mercial List," and has always been its editor.
The experience which Mr. O'Brien received while in newspaper work would school any young man to a high degree who was desirous to advance in life. Mr. O'Brien's youthful life was a compeer to his manhood: diligent, persevering, determined, full of hope and pur- pose, combined with integrity, efficiency, and a steady application to study. These manly characteristics have made him an honored and respected man. Educational matters, literary societies, and charitable undertakings have always found in him a ready patron and a strong supporter. Mr. O'Brien placed the "Shipping and Commercial List" in a commanding position before the mercantile and commercial markets. Merchants relied upon it for accurate trade reference. The first annual reports of Boston's trade and com- merce were issued by Mr. O'Brien; that volume has been adopted for years by the Merchants' Exchange.
He met the wealthiest and most prominent merchants of Boston while engaged on his newspaper work. These gentlemen, whose intimacy with him enabled them to gain an insight into his methods and study his character, during the past forty years, praise him highly for his honesty, business sagacity, and successful management of affairs. While the city's population increased from 75,000 inhab- itants to over 400,000, Mr. O'Brien familiarized himself with the many changes in business arrangements, and the almost countless enterprises which have been managed in Boston. He has been the custodian of trust-funds for many purposes, which have been placed in his hands by prominent business men. He has kept sacred every trust. His ability as a financier is unquestionable, and as president of the Union Institution for Savings, treasurer of the Franklin Typo- graphical Society, and a director in various charitable institutions, his record is excellent. His natural abilities and business training fitted him for public life. He attracted the attention of the people, and in 1875 was elected to the Board of Aldermen, when the Boston " Advertiser " referred to him as " well known in the community, and has the respect and confidence of every one." He served as alderman
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during seven years, from 1874, and he was chairman of the Board four years.
The people scrutinized his public actions while on the Board, and approved of his course throughout. His official attention was always promptly given to all matters relating to the welfare of Boston or to the people thereof. Good pay for laborers, purification "and improvement of the water-supply, a useful system of parks, sanitary reforms, schools, abolition of the poll-tax, and low taxation, - all received his earnest advocacy and support. His successful efforts are well known to all Bostonians. Alderman O'Brien was elected Mayor in December, 1884, for the year 1885. The old city charter was in force, and his splendid work under that instrument was full of serviceable deeds. Mayor O'Brien's sterling qualities of mind and heart were efficiently applied to stimulating and accomplishing the work of good government in its various branches. The citizens ap- preciated his services, and substantially sanctioned his management, by reelecting him Mayor, to serve during the years 1885, 1886, 1887, and 1888. A new city charter was established during his adminis- tration, which made him directly responsible for the honest and efficient regulation of the city's business. He proved equal to the task, and was much admired and praised by the press and public for his meritorious achievements. His public speaking is of the earnest, forcible, and argumentative style, and his honest utterances and solid reasoning often carry conviction to his hearers where the brilliant orator would fail to produce the same effect.
The cause of labor and the men who toil have ever found a champion in Mayor O'Brien, and while most eloquent when defending their interests, the memories of his own past years of labor have ever been present to his mind and impelled him to demand justice for the working-men of to-day. In November, 1888, the people again nominated him for Mayor ; he received a large vote, but was defeated by the Republican candidate, Mr. Thomas N. Hart.
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PATRICK SARSFIELD GILMORE.
Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, musician and bandmaster, was born in Ballygar, County Galway, Ireland, Dec. 25, 1829. He received a common-school education in his native place from one of the Irish schoolmasters of that period. Like most boys who were born on the Emerald Isle, his school-days did not last many years, and while quite young he was sent to work. He was first employed by a whole- sale grocer, with whom he served an apprenticeship of seven years. He displayed an early liking for drums and fifes, and was looked upon by those who knew him as a musical prodigy. Every spare moment after working-hours was devoted to musical instruments, and by the time that he was sixteen years of age he was a member of the Athlone Amateur Band, and had composed music of a military kind for his townsmen. At the age of nineteen, however, he sailed for America, and landed in Boston. In 1848, a few weeks after his arrival here, he became a cornet player for the Charlestown Band. A short time afterward he was engaged as leader of the Suffolk Band, succeeding Edward Kendall, the bugler. Later he made another change, this time to join the Brigade Band, and take the place of John Bartlett, who had held the position of trumpeter. Finally, he left Boston for a while, and accepted a position made vacant by Jerome Smith, of the Salem Band. The young musician had by this period made a reputation as the E-flat cornet player of the country. He remained with the Salem Band for about three years, and while there conceived the idea of fathering the Boston Common Fourth-of-July concerts, also the promenade concerts after- ward given at Music Hall. In 1858 he returned to Boston, where his projects were worked out. During the Civil War he enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment Band, going with the Burn- side Expedition to North Carolina. In about a year the band was mustered out of service and returned to Boston, where he aided in the organization of a number of bands to be attached to the brigades, under general orders from the War Department. Governor Andrew
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