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the same time I commenced the same treatment with about forty to fifty of my orphan children. We have already derived some benefit from it. My work seems lighter and my strength is returning. Last Sunday, for instance, I said two masses and preached during each without being obliged to sit down and without feeling particularly wearied."

Irish and American Reminiscences.

EVACUATION OF BOSTON. THE COUNTERSIGN, “ST. PATRICK."

ONE hundred and ten years ago, in 1776, on St. Patrick's Day, the British forces, under Gen. Howe, evacuated Boston, their progress being accelerated by the extremely critical position in which they had been placed by Gen. Washington, who some days before had constructed strong earthworks on Dorchester Heights, and who was in a position to lay the town in ruins. Disappointed in not obtaining expected reinforcements, and hemmed in on every side by the Continental army, Howe, the British commander, was obliged to either evacuate or surrender. He adopted the former course, and shortly after midnight the streets of Boston were in an uproar caused by the assembling of the troops preparatory to embarking, and by crowds of loyalists who had determined to brave the perils of a sea voyage rather than remain behind after the redcoats had departed. The embarkation of the British began at four o'clock on the morning of March 17, the troops numbering 8,906 men, and the loyalist refugees about 1,200 of both sexes. Seventy-eight war ships and transports were required to carry the party. What the loyalists could not take with them they destroyed, and before leaving the soldiers broke open and pillaged many of the stores.

A synopsis of the causes immediately leading to the evacuation will be of peculiar interest on this, the anniversary of that great event. While the work of erecting fortifications on Dorchester Heights was in progress, a lively bombardment of Boston was opened by the American artillery all along the lines, from Roxbury to the extreme left, in order to divert the attention of the British from the secret labors of the patriots. At daylight on March 5 the redoubts were completed, and Howe upon observing the works exclaimed: "I know not what I shall do. The rebels have done more harm in one night than my whole army would have done in a month." Admiral Shuldham exclaimed: "If they retain possession of the Heights I cannot keep a ship in the harbor." It was accordingly determined to dislodge the Americans by direct assault, and 2,400 picked men were placed under Lord Percy, with instructions to drive the Americans from their position. Percy resolved to embark his men and make the attack under cover of darkness, but was prevented by a furious gale which drove several ships ashore. Howe was dismayed, and after council of war had been held it was

determined to evacuate the town. When this decision became known it struck terror into the hearts of the loyalists, who immediately clamored of Gen. Howe the protection he had promised them. Howe offered to leave Boston if Washington would permit him to do so unmolested. The latter gave a tacit consent, but relaxed none of his vigilance, and on March 17, as.above stated, the British sailed for Halifax.

The date of their departure was St. Patrick's day, and in graceful recognition of the fact, Washington issued the following:

WASHINGTON'S GENERAL ORDER.

HEADQUARTERS, 17th March, 1776.
Parole, "BOSTON" Countersign, “ST.

PATRICK.”

The regiments under marching orders to march to-morrow morning. Brigadier of the Day, General SULLIVAN. By his Excellency's Command.

Washington, in significantly designating "St. Patrick" as the countersign, evidently took advantage of the opportunity presented to pay a graceful compliment to the Irish people who had shown such devotion to the cause of American liberty. This desire is still further. evidenced by his appointment of General John Sullivan as officer of the day. Washington himself was an active member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, and always expressed sincere sympathy with Ireland in her struggle for independence.

As a recognition of his services in connection with the siege of Boston, Congress voted Washington a gold medal, bearing the inscription, "Hostibus Primo Fugatis" and "Bostonium Recuperatum." The die was made in France, and the original medal has been preserved, and during the civil war it was buried in the Shenandoah valley, in the cellar of an old mansion, to escape capture. A representative of the family sold it in 1876 to fifty gentlemen of Boston, headed by Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, who presented it on St. Patrick's day of that year to our Public Library, where it now is.

Edward Everett Hale, in the memorial History of Boston, alluding to those engaged in fortifying Dorchester Heights, says:

"General Artemas Ward commanded the right wing of the American army and directed the work. . . . General John Thomas carried out his orders with such resource and promptness as made the work the wonder of the time. And yet to-day, if you should ask ten Boston men, Who was Artemas Ward?' nine would say he was an amusing showman. If you asked Who was John Thomas?' nine would say he was a flunky commemorated by Thackeray. On the site of the fortification ordered by Washington, directed by Ward, and built by Thomas-is a memorial stone which bears, not their names, but that of the mayor of Boston who erected it. Such is fame."

The St. Patrick's Cross.

COME, raise me up, alannah! Lift me up a little more,
And let the sunshine touch my bed and stream upon the floor;
Draw back the curtain farther yet - - let enter ev'ry ray

And make the place look cheerful, child, for this is Patrick's Day.

Once more I bid it welcome 'tis the last for me, I fear,
I've had a long, long journey, but the end is drawing near;
Thank God, I've seen my share of years, but, somehow, child, to-day,
My heart grows warm and youthful, and my thoughts are far away.

You know my old brown chest, asthore; go now and lift the lid,
And bring me what you'll find there, in the bottom corner hid.
A little colored pasteboard cross-'tis faded, quaint, and old,
And yet I prize it dearer far than if 'twere solid gold.

Long years ago I carried it, across the rolling sea,
And Time, with all its changes, has not stolen it from me,
Just as you read the other day - and I believe it true,
That everywhere we Irish go, God's cross will follow, too.

And there are twined around it, child, what you can't understand,
Old memories of other days of youth and native land;

As dry and withered rose-leaves speak of summers past and gone,
So life's bright early spring-time in this little cross lives on.

It tells me of the first time that I wore it, long ago,
Pinned here, upon my shoulder, ah! but sure you'll never know
How grand I felt that morning, with my cross and ribbon green;
God and country bound together I was prouder than a queen.

How light and gay my spirits, as we children climbed the hill
To seek for four-leaved shamrocks whilst the dew was sparkling still.
Whilst the blackbird sung his welcome-the primrose showed her face,
And violets were nodding from each cosy hiding-place.

My little cross, around you, oh, how many mem'ries cling!

Old times, old scenes, old faces to my mind this day you bring;
Come, pin it on my shoulder, child, in spite of age and pain,
For Ireland and St. Patrick let me wear it once again.

The weight of years may bend me, but my soul will ever pray,
May God be with the good old land, and bless her honored Day,
And around the Cross entwined, may her Shamrocks e'er be met,
That as she bore the burden she may share the triumph yet.

E. A. SUTTON.

A Sentence of Death.

THE mass of Americans are far from understanding the meaning of the reports that are now coming in thick and fast from Ireland. The Tory administration has taken the shameful words of Palmerston as its motto-Tenant right is landlord wrong. Tenants who cannot pay rack rents are now being driven from their homes in the dead of winter by armed policemen. The brutality of the Glenheigh evictions in County Kerry recalls the worst of the outrages perpetrated under the shield of the law in the days of the famine of '47.

The rain was pouring in torrents when the processes were served. Old and young, the strong and the sick, were ruthlessly turned out of doors. One mother begged piteously to be allowed to remain under her poor roof over night to nurse her dying child. The agent of the landlord threw her off when she clasped his knees, and ordered the doors to be nailed up. The weeping woman laid her sick child in the pigsty and went off to fetch some straw for its bed. As the bailiff was nailing up the door he was struck down by a young girl in a frenzy of despair and indignation. Ten policemen seized the girl and attempted to take her off under guard, but she was rescued by a wild rush of the mob.

Such scenes as these may be of daily occurrence, perhaps of hourly. Five years ago there was an eviction for every half-hour in the day and night during the year. Official records show that in 1881, 17,341 persons were deprived of their rights as tenants, and that most of them were absolutely thrown on the roadside. The liberal Forster then earned the undying hate of the Irish people. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach is seemingly anxious to stand beside him in history.

What does eviction mean? If Irishmen were summoned as witnesses their words might sound wild and whirling. It is well at this crisis to recall the words of a witness whom all Americans respect-in the eyes of the world the greatest living Englishman, William Ewart Gladstone. These words were spoken in 1880, when Mr. Gladstone was very far from being the champion of the Irish cause which he has since become:

“In the failure of the crops, crowned by the year 1879, the act of God had replaced the Irish occupier in the condition in which he stood before the land act. Because what had he to contemplate? He had to contemplate eviction for non payment of rent; and as a consequence of eviction, starvation. And it is no exaggeration to say, in a country where the agricultural pursuit is the only pursuit, and where the means of the payment of rent are entirely destroyed for a time by the visitation. of Providence, that the poor occupier may under these circumstances regard a sentence of eviction as coming, for him, very near to a sentence of death."

These words are not a hurried and extravagant utterance. Their form was evidently chosen with care, and their purport anxiously weighed. Mr. Gladstone was speaking to opponents who were on the

watch to note every slip. This declaration has the force of an indictment for manslaughter under legal sufferance to-day. The condition of the Irish tenant is still deplorable. Rents are still exacted which are beyond the power of tenants to pay. Diminished crops and falling prices have put honest, industrious farmers in the power of unscrupulous scoundrels.

Even in England and Scotland, where the landlords commonly furnish the capital for improvements, and the facilities for harvesting and transportation are far better than those of the Irish tenant farmer, there has been wide-spread distress. "By almost general admission,' wrote the Daily Telegraph of December 28, 1885, "nothing short of a very general and large reduction of rents by landlords can save a considerable portion of the British farmers from ruin." In both England. and Scotland such concessions were made. Sometimes the reduction was voluntary, for in Great Britain tenants and landlords have common interests. Sometimes it was in answer to an imperative demand, such as came from meetings of farmers in Monmouthshire.

In Ireland alone, when farmers meet and resolve to insist on a reduction of rent, the meeting is accounted seditious. When they protest that they cannot pay, their protest is laughed to scorn. Landlords there alone throw their tenants out of doors by undiscriminating evictions. There alone is it necessary for a government to turn itself into a crowbar brigade. The Kerry evictions are rightly styled by the London Daily News shameful outrages on civilization and humanity. If perpetrated in this country, no government which justified them could bear up under the popular storm of righteous indignation. The Tory administration will reap the whirlwind.

Boston Daily Advertiser.

How the Pope Lives.

THE Pope, now seventy-eight years old, leads a very regular life, and is in a fair condition of health. At 6 A. M. he celebrates Mass in his private chapel. At 7 he breakfasts on a cup of chocolate and milk, with sometimes raw eggs beaten up. Immediately afterwards he receives the visits of his court, and Cardinal Jacobini reports what has occurred in the world, and gives him an account of the letters received on papal business. Besides these official letters, others arrive from all parts of the world, mainly from priests, missionaries, monks, and nuns, while others contain sums of money from penitents, and many are petitions for a blessing, pecuniary aid, or advice.

After these letters in all languages have been translated and their contents briefly reported to the Pope, they are placed in the papal archives. Hundreds of telegrams also arrive each day, the greater part asking for benediction in articulo mortis, which, naturally, often only reach their destination after the petitioner is dead. At 1 o'clock the Pope dines, and then retires to his room to rest until the heat of the

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