siasm for General John Regan.
Father McCormack, standing on a chair borrowed from Doyle's Hotel,
opened the proceedings. He said that Ireland had always been famed for
its hospitality to strangers and its courtesy to women. He hoped that it
always would be. Looking round on the faces of the men gathered in front
of him, he felt quite certain that it always would be. Mr. Billing,
who was to address the meeting that day, was a stranger, a very
distinguished stranger, one whose name was a household word wherever
the deeds of General John Regan were remembered, one whose name would be
still better known when his forthcoming life of the General appeared. He
was proud and pleased to extend to Mr. Billing on behalf of the audience
a hearty Caed Mille Failthe. He hoped that Mr. Billing would carry back
with him a pleasant recollection of Irish hospitality when he returned
to--
Here Father McCormack hesitated and looked round. Dr. O'Grady, who
was standing behind him whispered the word "Bolivia." Father McCormack
repeated the word "Bolivia" aloud and everybody cheered. Father
McCormack moistened his lips and went on to say that Mr. Billing was not
a woman, but Irish courtesy, though always extended to women, was not
confined to women. In the name of the audience he promised Mr. Billing
some Irish courtesy.
A further reference to Mr. Billing's literary work gave Father McCormack
an opportunity of warning his audience against Sunday newspapers
published in England, which, he said, reeked of the gutter and were
horribly subversive of faith and morals. Ireland, he added, had
newspapers of her own which no one need be ashamed or afraid to read.
As an evidence of the confidence he felt in the elevating character
of Irish newspapers he called upon Mr. Thaddeus Gallagher, the
distinguished editor of the Connacht Eagle, to address the meeting. Then
with the assistance of Dr. O'Grady, he stepped off the chair. Having
reached the ground safely he sat down on the chair. He had a perfect
right to do this because he was chairman of the meeting; but a slight
delay followed. Another chair had to be brought from the hotel for
Gallagher to stand on.
Gallagher's speech was an eloquent paraphrase of the leading article
which Dr. O'Grady had written for him the previous week. Once or twice
he broke away from his original and said some very good things about the
land question and Home Rule. But he always got back to Emmet, O'Connell,
or one
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