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Show i CENTENARY Of FATHER ! OE AMERICAN NAVY j i j ; Observed by Knights of Columbus at PhiladelphiaRear Phila-delphiaRear Admirals Sigsbee and Clark Guests of Honor. In memory of Coin mode re John. Barry 4 the "rather of the American av.v," a meting w.is held Sept. in the Grand opera Imuse. I'hiL- ! dolphia, under the auspices ,.f the Knights of (',.- j lumbus; It was the one hundredth anniversary of j his death. j On the stpgo. with the members of the commi;- ' tee of the Philadelphia chapter. i nights of ('..-lumbus. ('..-lumbus. wer" Rear Admiral Charles I). Sig-h e. commandant of the I.eagm Isl.ind navy yard, and Rear Admiral Charles K. Clark. Admiral Clark was introduced as "the man wl: raced half-way around the world in his rn'erness to get into ;t battle." and he u-is green ,1 wi.'ii prolonged applause. Sailors from the navy yard and members of tii,- naval post wi re present. 'Unpatriotic 'Un-patriotic character of 'the mcetiu; was express,-,) in the decorations of the stage. Fesloons of flags and bunting were inre;-s(-ersed with ropes of smi-lax smi-lax and Mowers. The chorus of J.",o voices was a I feature of the services. James A. Flaherty, state, supreme knighr. opened the meeting by introducing the guests of honor, comparing the navy they represent with that which Commodore B-rry commanded more than one hundred years ago. The address of the evening was delivered by '.Michael J. K'.van. president, presi-dent, of the United Irish Societies of Philadelphia. .ur. uyan recalled tin- tact ttiaf. Harrys com- I mission as a captain was the firs;' is.-n,-, by th' marine committee of congress, to which had been intrusted the task of cradling the infant navy.. It was dated Dee. 1, 177.".. and on the same day John Paul Jones was commissioned a lieutenant. Barry's Bar-ry's sloop, the Lexington, was the first to bear the Continental flag to victory on the ocean. During the difficulties with France, when Washington, summoned from his retirement, had again been made chief of the land forces, Barry was in control upon the ocean, and so remained, directing our fleets, lighting our enemies and again bringing our envoys to negotiate? a jioace, . until ! the treaty with France was completed. At. the Fourth of July celebrations of the period per-iod the common toast was "To Captain John Barry Bar-ry and "his brother officers of the infant navy of the United States: May their colors fly triumphant trium-phant on the American seas." When upon the advent of Jefferson's administration administra-tion a reduction of our naval forces was deter- -mined upon, he was one of the nine captains retained, re-tained, and he remained in the service of the nation, na-tion, whose navy was his child, until his death in Philadelphia, on Sept. 1.,, ISO:). To name him "Father of the American Xavy" j is to make for him no new claim. Within ten years of his death, Mr. "Dennie. the editor of the chief literary journal of the period. The Portfolio, wrote: "Captain John Barry may justly 1k considered the father of our navy. His eminent service during our struggle for independence, independ-ence, the fidelity and ability with which he discharged dis-charged the duties of the important stations whifh he tilled, give him a lasting claim upon tho gratitude of his country." In St. "Mary's churchyard, with Thomas Fitz-simmons Fitz-simmons the Catholic signer of the Constitution, who proposed the first tariff law in the congress of the United States; George Meade, the grandfather grand-father of Meade of Gettysburg, and Matthew Carey, Ca-rey, the advocate of American industrial supremacy, suprem-acy, his grave was made, and for epitaph upon his tomb Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, whose fortune established the vast Ridgway library, on Broad street, wrote : "Let, the patriot, the soldier and the Christian who visits these mansions of the dead view this monument with respect. Beneath it are interred the remains of John Barry. He was born in thn county of Wexford, in Ireland, but America wa-5 the object of his patriotism and the theatre of Ins usefulness. In the Revolutionary war. which established es-tablished the independence of the United States, he took an early and active part as a captain iii their navy, and afterwards became commander-in-chief. He fought often, and once bled in the cause of freedom. His habits of war did not lessen his virtues as a man nor his piety as a Christian. He was gentle, kind and. just in private life, and was not less beloved by his family and friends than by his grateful country. The number of objects of his j charities will be known only at that time when his dust shall be reanimated, and-when he who see in secret shall reward openly. In the full belief oftho doctrines of the gospel he peacefully resigned re-signed his soul info the arms of his Redeemer." In no class spirit of proud exultation do we proclaim pro-claim the fame of This illustrious commander. We assert' that the greatness of the'republie is due to no particular race and no particular creed. Even as old Egypt was said to Iw 5 he fruit fin offering of the Nile, so our power in the result of the heart pourings of the best and noblest of mankind. The soldiers of our church dotted hill and valley, lake and river with the names of God's heroes, stamping the soil with the seal of Catholicity, fronting the j Atlantic with St. Augustine and St. Lawrence, giv- j ing the keys of the Golden Gate to St. Francis and j the care of the irarden spot of the western coast to the angels. But when, in the Boston massacre. Crispus Attucks,- the negro; Patrick Carr. the Irisman; Jdavcnek ami iray ami v aiowen. men I of various races, fell, they were like Lafayette and j Witherspoon and Pulaski ami' Von Steuben and p,a'rry names written by God's linger to ever remind re-mind us tjiat when in the fullness of faith the patriot pa-triot fathers were to stamp upon our coins "In God We Trust," and blazon on our seal The Many In One," they were giving voice to history and to prophecy. |