JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 21, 20 February 1891, Page 19

JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.

The following (saj s the Catholic Review} are some interesting extracts from the Bjt'ton Memorial meeting held in honour of John Boyle O'Reilly: — The story of ;he life of John Boyle O'Reilly is one upon which the good and true will ever lontr to lovingly linger. From the daydawn of his existence until its close, there was not an act performed by him that was not nobie and pure. Born upon the verdure-clad shores of holy Ireland, he grew to early manhood amid her smiling valleys and her frowning hills. Learning her checkered but proud stcry alike from book and converse, his young heart became filled with the glorious traditions of faith and fatherland. His sml was inspired by the historic memories of struggles and sacrifices made by each succeeding generation of his unconquerable race. Gifted with a poetic nature, he felt the spirit of the people breathing, as it were, through the plaintive but defiant ballads of their bards. The struggles through which their sires had passed, Lhe glories of their achievements, the galling chain of political slavery rankling upon their fettered limbs, the unquenchable aspirations for liberty that thrilled iheir unfettered spirit — all these memories and hopes burned with fierce intensity in the bosom of the youthful O'Reilly, and caused him to proudly enroll himself in the ranks of the revolutionary brotherhood, then being organised in Ireland, to mak ■ another rally for the grand old cause — the cause of Sarafield, and of Khearen, ot Tone, Russell, and Orr, of Mitchell, Meagher, and O'Brien ; the cause for which Grattan thundered in tbe Senate, and the menot Wicklow and Wextord ba'tled in the field ; the ciuse for which the good and brave struggled in ihe past, and for which, until victory crowns the effort, the manhood of Ireland will batile in the future, undeterred by past disaster, unintimidat^d by present danger. Jiutain might as well leahse that justice nloue will satisfy the Irish pjople, and that as long as England is vi.just Ireland will be rebellious. O'Reilly had learned the trade of a pnuter m the newspaper offices of his native country, and was for some time employed in th« capacity ot a reporter. He travelled professionally through the country, and realised the terrible disa ivantago at which the undieciphn^d peatantry would be placed in facing " Fearful odds, For the ashts of their fa'heis And the temples ot their gods." For while O'Reilly was poetical, he was also practical. He knew that military experience and training weie mce'sary tv uny kind ot campaign. The use of arms was prohibited 1 > the cuuniij , and the prospect of acqumug the knowledge even of element iry dull was not encouraging. But our young friend detei mined that h> j would secure the coveted training and »nformaiion. Nay, more, tint he would compel the alien oppressor to lurtush him wnti tnj b -st instruction ; and with this worthy object vi view tie conceived and earned out trie bold project ot joining one ot tbe crack regimen's ni her Mdjeb'y'u service. Ot the life of O'Rjilly a-> a trooper there is not much to be told. While he wore the unit >rm of tue Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India, bin loyalty was no: due to ntr, her sceptre, or her crown. No; his allegiance belonged unreservedly to that ideal maiden who to long has wept aoov^ the broken harp — tbe dark Rosaline, figurative or his vanquished but undespairiuij cjuutry Ibis is not the occasion to speak particularly of the movement that followed. We remember the crusmutj disasters that succeeded each other in those trying times. Victory did not gleam upon the insurgent banner.it in true, but nieo. of Irish blooi throughout the ages will remember with pride the heroes and martyrs who, on field, dungeon and scaffold, endured torture and faced death unflinchingly in order that the principle of nationality might be uncjmpromisingly inaimatiied. O'Reilly's efforts to wi i over Irom the ranks of bis country's enemies rtcruits tor the army ot lrela id weie discovered. He was arrested, tried by court martial, convicted and aeiitaacii to be shot. This judgment was subsequently commuted to imprisonment for twenty years. The young patnot was then conngued to a convict tprison, dressed in the garb ot a felon, ami foiced '.o woik and t il among gangs of Fuglish criminals. T.ie Government imagined that by this villanous treatment oi poll ical offenders they could place the hero and the vagabond upon a common lev L l. In iho spring of 1866 O R»illy, then a young fellow of twentytwo, was a prisoner in Arbor Hill military piisou, Dub in. Another

enthusiastic young Irishman, James Murphy, occupied the cell adjoining O'Reilly's. Murphy is still alive and an American citizen. He was Captain in the Twentieth Massachusetts Infantry. In the prison O'Reilly wrote uncomplimentary verses about Ireland's persecution. Every day the prison officials wsre confronted with satirical rhymes signed " Saiggins." They were found on the walks, doors, pavements, and many other places. Bits of stoae and chalk, and sometimes a pencil, were used to do the writing. Every thingpossible was done to discover " Sniggins," but he was never found out. All this time Murphy was beins: amused by O'Reilly's work, and the two young fellows became fast friends. One day toward the end of August, 1866, O'Rsilly showed Murphy his first poem. It was entitled '• The Old School Clock," and was written on a piece of common brown piper. He gave it to Murphy as a keepsake, and asked him to take it to the United States with him when his term would have expired. At that time O'Reilly had not the least iiea th^t he. too. would go to Am2rica. He told Murphy a little history connected with the poem. While he was station id in Dublin as a huzzar, his regiment was sent to the town of Drogheda, in County Louth, to attend the election. During the time that the regiment was stationed in that town, O'Reilly received a short leave of absence to visit the village of Dowth, two miles away, where he went to school. In the old school time everything was as it had been in his school days except the clock. Instead of the old timekeeper that stood against the upper end of the school, near the teacher's desk, was a brand new American clock. The absence of the clock made him feel sorrowful. One similar to that wnich had been removed from the school stood in the corridor of Arbor Hill Prison. It put him constantly in mind of the old friend of his boyhood days, and it inspired him to write the poem on the piece of brown paper which he g»ve to his fellowprisoner. Murphy had been arrested on a false charge, and he expected that he would be acquitted on his trial. He had resolved that he would then go to the United States, where he would have O'Reilly's poem published. In October he was tried, but instead of the expected acquittal, he was transferred to Mountjoy prison. Knowing that ha would be thoroughly searched before being taken from Arbor Hill , he hid the manuscript of " The Old School Clock " in the register of his cell. He did this to prevent the authorities from tracing the authorship of "Sniggins" rhymes to O'Reilly. On ibe morning of his transfer to Mountjoy Murphy was ordere 1 to atrip naked. He was then taken to another cell, and his clothes, after being carefully searched, returned to him. He was taken away before he had a chance to regain possession of the manuscript of O'Reilly's poem. Several years after this Ve r e Foster, of Belfast, who had authority as a philanthropist to visit the prisons, inspected Arbor Hill. He f )und the manuscript of "The Old School Clock." Mr. Foster was the proprietor of a series of copy books that had baen adopted by the National Board of Education in Ireland. He liked O Reilly's poem so much that he htd it printed on the cover of n new edition of his copy books, with a picture of the two cocks. The Board of Education s'ippn s^ed the edition when it found that the poem wis written by T ha B >yle OR illy in Arbor Hill military pri <on. Subsequently Tvic Foster cirai; to this country. He visited Mr. Murphy, and told him that he ha 1 presented the manuscript of " The Old School Clock," to the author in Boston.