nd the world turned to listen.
In one of his melodies, which is full of pathetic apology to his
countrymen for his apparent friendship to England, he sighs in secret
over Erin's ruin:--

"For 'tis treason to love her and death to defend."

He foresaw even then the immortality of his verse and the affection of
future generations for his memory, when he wrote:--

"But tho' glory be gone, and tho' hope fade away,
Thy name, loved Erin, shall live in his songs;
Not e'en in the hour when the heart is most gay,
Will he lose the remembrance of thee and thy wrongs.
The stranger shall hear thy lament on his plains;
The sigh of thy harp shall be sent o'er the deep;
Till thy masters themselves, as they rivet thy chains,
Shall pause at the song of their captive and weep."

But this was not his entire work for Ireland and for true literature and
art; nor is it for this sentimental reason that his centenary is
observed throughout the world. In some countries we are able to see the
beginning of the artistic or literary life of the nation; we can even
name the writer or artist who began the beautiful structure; and though
the pioneer work is often crude, it merits and receives the gratitude of
the nation. Though Moore was an original poet of splendid imagination,
he undertook a national work in which his flights were restrained by the
limitations of his task. He set himself to write new words to old music.
He found scattered over Ireland, mainly hidden in the cabins of the
poor, pieces of antique gold, inestimable jewels that were purely Irish.
These were in danger of being lost to the world, or of being malformed,
or stolen from their rightful owners, by strangers who could discover
their value. These jewels were the old Irish airs--those exquisite
fabrics which Moore raised into matchless beauty in his delicious
melodies. This was his great work. He preserved the music of his nation
and made it imperishable. It can never be lost again till English
ceases to be spoken. He struck it out like a golden coin, with Erin's
stamp on it; and it has become current and unquestioned in all civilized
nations. For this we celebrate his centennial. For this, gentlemen, I
call on you to rise--for after one year, or a hundred, or a thousand, we
may pour a libation to a great man--I ask you to rise and drink--"The
memory of Tom Moore."

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Chauncey M. Depew, who, earlier in the evening, had spoken on