I Am Here Advocating the Rights of Ireland: An Address Delivered in Washington, D.C., on December 14, 1887
I AM HERE ADVOCATING THE RIGHTS OF IRELAND:
AN ADDRESS DELIVERED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
ON 14 DECEMBER 1887
(Washington, D.C., 1887), 21-23.
Another text in Washington , 15 December 1887.
The arrival of two Irish members of Parliament, Arthur O’Connor and Thom-
as H. Grattan Esmonde in Washington, D.C., on 14 December 1887 led the
Irish-American Association of the city to organize a meeting to support Home
Rule in Ireland. A small procession marched with Esmonde and O’Connor
from Willard’s Hotel to the Masonic Temple shortly after 8 P.M. Senator John
Sherman of Ohio was unanimously elected chairman and delivered the first
speech. Then followed brief addresses by Senator John J. Ingalls of Kansas,
O’Connor, and Senator Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut. John G. Healy
introduced resolutions decrying the oppression of Ireland and pledging Amer-
ican support for the movement for Home Rule. Esmonde, U.S. Representa-
tives Hilary A. Herbert of Alabama, William M. Springer of Illinois, and
Robert P. Kennedy of Ohio. and finally Douglass spoke in favor of the
resolutions which the meeting adopted unanimously and then adjourned at a
little after 11 P.M. The Washington criticized the reception for the Irish
politicians as contributing to English hatred of America and complained that
Douglass had thanked whites for letting him speak on the occasion: “A more
humiliating utterance could not have been made by an English serf or an
American slave. We would like to ask Mr. Douglass whether he thought it an
honor to be among a class of Irishmen who have no love for the Negro?”
Washington , 13, 14, 15 December 1887; Washington , 16
December 1887; Washington , 17 December 1887.
This is not my hour. England does not want to know what FREDERICK
DOUGLASS has to say on the subject of Home Rule for Ireland.
Mr. MURPHY:1A Washington, D.C., contractor, Maurice Murphy was the chairman of the committee on arrangements for the visit of Arthur O'Connor and Thomas Esmonde to the city. Washington , 15 December 1887; Washington , 16 December 1887; Mrs. William H. Boyd, (Washington, D.C., 1888), 663. We do.
Mr. DOUGLASS: England did want to know, and does want to know,
what such eminent gentlemen as have addressed you this evening have to
say on that subject. I am only a stripling. l was only emancipated a few
years ago myself. (Applause)
When I received the invitation to come here I thought it a good thing—
a good thing for me and a good thing for that people that I in some measure
represent, for I hold it an honor to sit on this platform. I came not to present
myself as a speaker, but to hear speakers, and I have heard them. I was glad
of the opportunity of coming, if merely to give color to the occasion.
(Laughter and applause.)
Now, the lateness of the hour calls only for a very short speech, and I
never made a short speech in my life that I was satisfied with, nor a long
speech with which anybody else was satisfied. (Laughter)
More than forty years ago I had the pleasure and the privilege of
standing on the banks of the Liffey, side by side with the great Daniel
O’Connell, (great applause,) and at that time I declared, before a vast
audience in Conciliation Hall, my conviction of the justice, the wisdom,
the necessity, and the final triumph of the repeal of the Union, (applause,)
and I had the honor there to receive a word of commendation, a word of
eulogy from the lips of that most eloquent man, Daniel O’Connell. (Ap-
plause.) He called me then the Black O’Connell of America.2Douglass recalls his participation in a meeting of the Loyal Repeal Association in Dublin, Ireland, on 29 September 1845. Douglass to [William Lloyd] Garrison, 29 September 1845, in , 24 October 1845; London , 1 October 1845. (Applause.)
He is not the only Irishman from whom I have received a compliment.
Speaking in Ohio, some time ago, a good Irishman, after I had got
through, walking behind me, said to another Irishman:
“Jimmie, what do you think of that?”
“Faith,” said he, “he is only a half nagur.” (Laughter.)
“Ah, but,” said he, “if a half nagur could make a speech like that, what
could a whole one do?” (Great laughter.)
I am not here this evening to fan the flames of Irish animosity, if there
be any such animosity, toward England. I am not long from that country. I
am not long from Old Ireland—only a few months.3Douglass visited Ireland during his honeymoon with Helen Pitts Douglass in July 1887. Douglass, , 583-84; Quarles, , 314. I once traveled
through it from the Hill of Howth to the Giant’s Causeway, and from the
Giant’s Causeway to Cape Clear.4On his first trip to Great Britain, Douglass lectured in Ireland from 30 August 1845 to 6 January 1846 and again on 5 and 8 July 1846. Cape Clear is the southernmost point in county Cork. , new ed., 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1890), 1: 373. I know something of the Irish heart. I
went there forty years ago as an exile. I left my country because there was
no valley so deep, no mountain so high, no glen so secluded, no spot so
sacred to liberty under the Star-Spangled Banner and in all this broad land
where I could set my foot and say, now, by the blessing of God and the
humanity of the American people, I am free. (Great applause.)
When I went to Ireland I heard a voice in Conciliation Hall which spoke
the mind and heart of Ireland, saying: “My sympathies are not confined to
the narrow limits of my own green Ireland. My spirit walks abroad upon
the clement waters. Wherever there is oppression I hate the oppressor.
Wherever the tyrant rears his head I will launch my bolts upon it.” These
were the words of Daniel O’Connell.5Douglass paraphrases his own report of Daniel O'Connell's speech to the Loyal Repeal Association at Dublin's Conciliation Hall on 29 September 1845 as originally published in a letter to the Boston . , 24 October 1845. (Applause)
I heard something of the breadth and comprehensiveness of the Irish
heart from the lips of that great and good man, and I am, therefore, with
every other American, of whatever color or class, an out-and-out Home
Ruler for Ireland and an out-and-out Horne Ruler for every man in this
Republic. The right that I am claiming for Ireland I claim for every man
here—North and South. (Applause.)
Now, no political allusions, but this is a night of liberty, (applause,)
broad and glorious. I am letting myself loose; beginning to feel at home in
the interest of Home Rule. (Applause.) Oh, I know England is listening to-
night for some indiscreet or revolutionary sentiment. I don’t mean all
England, for there are two Englands, distinct and separate, on this ques-
tion. The line is drawn between them. There is the Liberal England, made
up of the bone and sinew of old England, the working classes, the laboring
men—the men of Newcastle, the men of Manchester, the men of Bir-
mingham, and the men of Glasgow and Edinburgh. That is one England,
one Great Britain. Then there is the Great Britain of William H. Smith6William Henry Smith (1825-91) was the only son of the founder of an extremely successful British newspaper distribution agency. Born in London and educated primarily by private tutors. Smith was forced by his father to abandon hopes of attending Oxford University and studying for the Anglican ministry in order to go to work in the family firm in 1846. He proved an excellent businessman, however, and also developed political interests that led him to enter Parliament as a Conservative member for Westminster in 1868. Disraeli appointed him financial secretary to the treasury in 1874. As first lord of the admiralty (1877-80) Smith competently guided British naval affairs during the Balkan Crisis. He served as secretary of state for war from June to December 1885 and then as chief secretary for Ireland until the defeat of the Conservative government in January 1886 on the issue of a Crimes Bill to suppress the Land League in Ireland. When the Conservatives returned to power later that year, Smith first resumed his post as head of the War Office and then held the offices of first lord of the treasury and leader of the house of commons from 1887 to his death. Eric Alexander Akers-Douglas, Viscount Chilston, (London, 1965); , 18: 565-68. and
of Mr. Balfour,7Arthur James Balfour. (hisses,) and some one said Chamberlain.8British statesman Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) was born in London and joined his uncle's screw manufacturing firm at Birmingham at age sixteen. Although he soon became a partner in that business, Chamberlain's true calling was politics and he won election as mayor of Birmingham in 1873 and as a Liberal party member of Parliament in 1876. Chamberlain played a large role in the democratization of the Liberal party during the 1870s and entered Gladstone's cabinet as president of the board of trade in 1880. His opposition to Gladstone's Home Rule and land reform program for Ireland led Chamberlain to quit the Liberals in March 1886. As a Liberal Unionist, Chamberlain supported the Conservative party government and finally joined it as secretary of state for the colonies in 1895. During his tenure at that post, he promoted the development of Britain‘s colonies. particularly in Africa. He played a large part in the policy that provoked the Boer War and the resulting unification of South Africa under British control. Chamberlain quit the Conservative govemment in 1903 to campaign against free trade and for a preferential trade policy to bind the British empire together economically. Richard Jay, (Oxford, 1981); Peter Fraser, (London, 1966); , 102-18. (Hisses.) No,
don’t mention him; he is on a beneficent mission here, and I wish him
success.9From November 1886 through March 1887, Joseph Chamberlain was in the United States on behalf of the British government to negotiate a treaty regarding Canadian access to North Atlantic fisheries. , 284; , 772; Jay, , 155-57. (Laughter) That England is for Home Rule, growing and in-
creasing. Indeed, I have not heard any extravagant speeches here to-night.
no word that England could take any very great offence at, except, perhaps.
by the Americans—by these cool-headed and clear-headed and eloquent
Senators. They have suggested, they have hinted, they have squinted at a
warning, if not a threat; but the gentlemen who have come to us from
abroad have said not one word that Mr. Balfour, or anybody else over there,
will gain the slightest advantage from. (Applause) It is constitutional
agitation. What right has England to complain of these gentlemen for
coming over here? When we had the great battle with slavery, why, they
welcomed FREDERICK DOUGLASS, and they welcomed any and every other
man who came there to ask their sympathy in behalf of the cause of liberty,
and you only do the same here. There is no such thing as limiting the spirit
of liberty. Liberty! why it is like the sun in the heavens—it shines for all.
National lines, geographical boundaries. do not and cannot confine it. It
belongs to the whole world, and the whole world has a right to stand up in
its behalf, (applause,) for when it is struck down in one direction it is struck
down in another and in all directions. (Applause)
Now, I am not going to speak any longer. I thank you for letting me sit
on the platform with these white people. You know it is not the usual thing
in America. (Laughter) I am very glad to be here and to let you look me in
the face. and to see that you don't get angry with my woolly head. my high
cheek bones and distended nostrils or any of my features, and that you have
really discovered that FRED. DOUGLASS is a man. (Applause)
I am here advocating my rights as well as the rights of Ireland, for I
have sometimes found it necessary to do so here and elsewhere.
Mr. Chairman, I thank you. I thank Senator SHERMAN10John Sherman. and I thank
MR. SPRINGER11William McKendree Springer (1836- 1903) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois from 1875 to 1895. Born in New Lebanon, Indiana, Springer and his family moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1845. After graduating from Indiana University in 1858, he studied law and became a partner of Democratic politician John C. McClernand's law firm in Springfield, Illinois. During the Civil War, Springer did not serve in the military but instead participated in the Peace Democratic movement. He briefly held a seat in the state house of representatives (1871-72) before commencing his long congressional career. Defeated for reelection in 1894. Springer accepted an appointment to the U.S. court of appeals for the Indian Territory (1895-99). Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, , 2 vols. (Chicago, 1917), 1 :496;, 9: 483-84. for the earnest words they have spoken to-night. My
friends over the way know where l stand on this question of Home Rule. I
told some of my English friends they were on the wrong side of this
question. My old friend, John Bright, was on the wrong side, strangely
enough, for he is a great and good man. But I will tell you, also, his sister is
on the right side. Two or three of his sisters and his brother are on the right
side, (applause,) and his son and his daughter, Mrs. Clark—beg pardon for
mentioning the name—is on the right side.12During his first trip to Britain, Douglass had visited the home of John Bright in Rochdale and there met several of the British reformer's ten siblings and probably Helen Priestman Bright (1840-?), the eldest of his eight children. On the night before his departure from Liverpool back to the United States, Douglass received a farewell call from John Bright and one of his sisters. Helen P. Bright married William S. Clark of Street in 1866 and was host to Douglass and his second wife for several days in July 1887. During that latter visit, Douglass probably learned of the views of various members of the Bright family on the divisive Irish Home Rule question. It is known that John Bright's youngest brother, Jacob Bright (1821-99), a Liberal member of Parliament, had supported Gladstone's limited Home Rule legislation in 1885 despite his brother's heated opposition to the measure. Helen Priestman Bright Clark to Douglass, 5 May, 13, 15 June, 3, 6 July, 2 August 1887, 15 June 1894, and Douglass to Helen Priestman Bright Clark, 19 July 1894, General Correspondence File, reel 4, frames 502-04, 527-28, 530-32, 565-69, 578-79, 630-31, reel 8, frames 21-23, 41, FD Papers, DLC; Douglass, , 262-63, 581: George Macaulay Trevelyan, (1913; Boston, 1925), 22, 423; Keith Robbins, (London, 1979), 27, 65-66, 182, 233, 254; J. Travis Mills,, 2 vols. (London, 1935), 2: 221; Quarles, , 55; , 22: 273-91. The fact is, we are all on the
right side, and mean to be until the battle is fought and won. (Applause)