Adlai Stevenson

Whether on the scaffold high Or in the battle's van The fittest place for man to die Is where he dies for man.

His most precious heritage is the record of his countrymen, who upon the battlefield and upon the scaffold have sealed their devotion to liberty with their blood.

The history of his country is that of a gallant people struggling for a larger measure of freedom.

The love of liberty is deeply ingrained into the very life of the Irishman.

His bones have whitened every American battlefield from the first conflict with British regulars to the closing hour of our struggle with Spain.

From the assembling of the First Continental Congress to the present hour, in every legislative hall the Irishman has been a factor.

We honor to-day the far-away island, the deeds and sacrifices of whose sons have added so brilliant a chapter to American history.

The achievements of representatives of this race along every pathway of useful and honorable endeavor are a part of our own history.

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat The soldier's last tattoo; No more of life's parade shall meet That brave and fallen few.

The obligation of America to Ireland for men who have aided in fighting her battles and framing her laws cannot be measured by words.

In the realm of poetry, Goldsmith and Tom Moore; of oratory, Sheridan, Emmett, Grattan, O'Connell, Burke, and in later years Charles Stewart Parnell, whose thrilling words I heard a third of a century ago, pleading the cause of his…

What a splendid contribution Ireland has made to the world's galaxy of great men!