Some Striking Sentences from the Pen of Terence McSweeney

New Zealand Tablet, 22 December 1921, Page 21

Some Striking Sentences from the Pen of Terence McSweeney

The following remarkable sentences are culled from the scattered writings of the late Lord Mayor McSweeney. They show at once the indomitable character of the man and the philosophy of his life, which was terminated so nobly by his death. Such statements, written in the fulness of his soul, at a time when he had consecrated his life to the cause of Ireland, are now all the more remarkable and heroic, since they have been sealed in the supreme sacrifice On the truth of sacrifice our hope for freedom is based. The soldier of freedom must be prepared without qualification to sacrifice everything for freedom. The great redemption demands a great price. *; * * The conscious performance of one's own duty is a normal obligation but a sacrifice is the acceptance over one's duty of the burthens of others, whatever it entails, even to death, that the soul of the people might be awakened, their weakness transformed to strength, and their liberty restored.- * * * Because of our human nature there will be lapses, and the lapses of some must be made up by the sacrifices of others. * * * With steady step that leads not blindly on, With iron will all petty feuds to ban, Yet noble heart that hope may build upon, Till, love uniting all,;we march into the Dawn. v -_. - * *** - f This is the spirit in which battles are won. Those who who judge it as merely a rash throwing away of life simply don't understand it, and yet it is a thing quite easy to understand. * * * There is no battle so furious that everyone is slain. * * * There are eager Spirits whose eagerness needs to be tempered with thought. •* * * The time has come for material as well as moral victory, .■**.* The sacrifice to be worthy of the name must be paid by our best of blood. •* ■* * It is to the young we-must look, because they have the life before them, full of promise, tempting to ambition ,and holding a wide and bright field for the exercise of character, energy, and ability, where honorable service may be requited with honorable rewards. *** - „ Take comfort from this: Of this man who moves but slowly, considering and weighing everything, it may be asserted with confidence he will never retreat a step. * * * ' Place no reliance for anything in physical courage moral courage will make you unconquerable. ■* # # Moral courage can be acquired; acquire it, practise it, and your enemy may seize you, trample on you, tear you' to pieces; but he will never, extract from you these two word: "I surrender." 7P w W ; To the end, what could stimulate us more to the full weight of our achievement that the thought that we may be writing the last chapter in the struggle for freedom. .':':, s.-, ".. - < * * *.' ■ •'""*•'•. The whole history of our' people has culminated''to this point; so shall we seise our opportunity, .vindicate , our

prophets, justify our dead, restore an old nation to her place among the nations, and add a new glory to the history of the world. " ! '.' y ._/ * * *■ ■ By every canon of logic and art and truth the last chapter should be the best. ~- * * * Let those who are our inspiration stand forth in spirit from the past, challenging us to comradeship that we may rise to the level of their nobility, their valor, and their constancy. .* * * ■' -. We know not what must befall Marching at our country's call; Make us strong who must yield all That she may not die. Those who will survive the fight, Still attend them with Thy light, Thou our hope in darkest night, Then their Guardian be, And hold our dear land in Thy sight, Firm, erect, and free. * -x- * ' Those who walk in old rust and live in trembling may bend the knee and sign their rights away; but one wronged man defrauded of his heritage can refuse to seal the compact, and with such a one how many, thank God, will be found to stand for the spirit of our Youth to-day is not for compromise. * * * When the scroll of God can be reached to and rewritten by mortal hand our dreams may vanish and the fight for freedom fail; but as long as the decrees of Heaven stand crying aloud on high justification and hope, thus long will there be endurance and loyalty to the old lovo in the hearts of the Gael. *• ■* * THE MUSIC OF FREEDOM. "I sing the Daw"n ! the Dawn that now is near ! I sing the Glory of the days to be! I sing the Rising Sun— tyrant's fear, The Hour that bringeth, Motherland, to thee The Resurrection of thy liberty! I sing the strife that brave men never shun To overthrow accursed Tyranny ! I sing the Patriot's death in battle won That Freedom's light may blaze round ~ Eire's risen throne. - With steady step that leads not wildly oil, -With iron will all petty feuds to bann, Yet noble heart.that hopes may build upon Till, love uniting all, we march into the Dawn." '"" "CUIREADOR." (Terence McSweeney, 1907.) ■ «X*J* ,