LETTER FROM EDWARD A. MOSELEY, THE RETIRING PRESIDENT-GENERAL.
Edward A. Moseley, Washington, D. C., the retiring president-general of the Society, wrote as follows:
To the Members of the American-Irish Historical Society:
Brothers:—I regret very much that it will be impossible for me to attend the annual meeting of our Society on the 19th instant. I have been under medical treatment during the past ten days, and I am still far from well, and am advised by my physician that it would be very unwise for me to leave the city for some time to come.
It would be an exceeding pleasure to me to be with you, and to meet so many of the distinguished gentlemen of our Society who will be present, and who will, no doubt, illuminate with their wit and eloquence the banquet hall at Sherry’s on the evening of the 19th. I shall be with you in spirit, but as I cannot be there in person, would you kindly make a few suggestions for me at the meeting.
I have received the copy of Volume I of the Journal. It is a handsome volume, and a publication creditable to its editors and our Society. My only regret is that we cannot afford to publish such works extensively, and place one in the household of every American who boasts of his supposed Anglo-Saxon ancestry, and especially in the hands of our dear brethren, the “Scotch-Irish” advocates, who take so much pains to distinguish themselves from the mere Irish element.
In these days, when the brotherhood of man does not count for so much as in the early days of the republic, and when some are dividing themselves into classes and races and assuming superiority for the so-called “Anglo-Saxon race” over all the other races of men created by Almighty God, it seems to me that, as we do not claim to be of the “Anglo-Saxon race,” we should not submit to the implication contained in the term that all other peoples, including the Irish, are inferiors in race.
It is, therefore, high time for us to reassert and emphasize our protest against the claim that the American people belong to the “Anglo-Saxon race,” or that any of the Caucasian peoples are in any degree inferior in race to any other. Where differences exist it is a question of environment. After two or three generations, no one can perceive any radical distinctions between Americans descended from ancestors who were Englishmen, Irishmen, Scotchmen, Welshmen, Dutchmen, Germans, Scandinavians or of any other European nationality.
As there never was an “Anglo-Saxon” race—that being a term which designated two German tribes—we repudiate any suggestion that American civilization or progress is materially indebted to any supposed Anglo-Saxon element in our composition. On the contrary, we assert that all European nationalities have contributed to our advancement and magnificent citizenship.
The purpose of our Society is not to attribute all our splendid traits and achievements alone to the Irish element in our composition. Unlike our Anglomaniac brethren, who contend that everything great and good must be Anglo-Saxon, we merely claim credit for a just share in the upbuilding of the nation.
I would like the learned gentlemen of our Society to enlighten the average American, from time to time, in his local newspaper or on the rostrum, in respect to this Anglo-Saxon fetish. This has already been done for the American student by many distinguished ethnologists. It is easy to give object lessons on this line by the color of the hair and the eyes, and the shape of the skull, features which demonstrate beyond question that men of the supposed Anglo-Saxon type are the rare exceptions in our make-up, and are often very far from being at the top of the scale in any respect; while on the other hand, men of the received Celtic type compose the overwhelming majority in this country and in the British Isles—even in England itself, and in every part of England. They are in the vast majority all over the world wherever the English tongue prevails.
Many of the gentlemen of our Society can write just such admirable papers as Mr. Bocock contributed to the Cosmopolitan magazine of this month (who confined himself, however, to instances of Irishmen who achieved great fame). No one has done more in this direction than our respected vice-president for the District of Columbia, Mr. J. D. O’Connell, whose pen has ever been at the service of his countrymen, particularly in this respect.
Whenever an Irishmen attains to fame or distinction in war, literature, art, law, or statesmanship in the British Empire, he is immediately claimed to be an Englishman, and, consequently, as displaying “Anglo-Saxon” pluck and “Anglo-Saxon” intellect.
The truth is, that among all those who have achieved great prominence in the English-speaking world, the Anglo-Saxon type is conspicuous by its absence. Nine times in ten, when a man boasts of “Anglo-Saxon” pluck, enterprise, ability, and progress, he himself is not of that type of man, and nine-tenths of the incidents he cites were brought about through the pluck, enterprise, ability and progress which came from mixed blood.
I can only liken this misrepresentation of the truth of history to the rattling of peas in a bladder, shaken by one of Shakespeare’s clowns. Puncture the bladder, my friends, whenever and wherever it is shaken. Tell the clown who calls himself an “Anglo-Saxon” that he is an ass! and prove to him by the color of his hair, the color of his eyes, and the shape of his skull that he is a Celt, a Milesian, a Latin, or anything but an “Anglo-Saxon,” and that if it was ever true that the English people were Anglo-Saxon, and that the Anglo-Saxons were ever, at any time, the greatest people on earth—superior to all other races—that time has so long since passed away that no one now remembers it, and no true history chronicles when and where they flourished.
But I have already trespassed too far on this line. Permit me to wish you all, if not too late, a very happy and prosperous New Year, and also to say to you that, as I have been twice honored by election to the presidency of the Society—and that is, I think, sufficient honor for any member—I beg to invoke the national rule against a third term. Therefore, if any friend of mine should be so indiscreet as to nominate me for that office, I request and urge you to ask him to immediately withdraw the nomination.
Fraternally yours,
Edward A. Moseley,
President-General.
Washington, D. C., Jan. 17, 1899.