But the flight is far too long;
Weak the wings of worldly song;
David’s muse alone could rise
To a theme of such emprise
As to give in long array
Those who in that happiest day
Bore on faith’s bright flag unfurl’d
Erin’s name throughout the world.
Then came a dark night which brooded over the land, and Erin’s sons were forced to emigrate to France and Spain and finally to America, that Greater Island, by which name she was known ten centuries ago.
To pursue the history of the Irish in America is the pleasing and fruitful task set before the members of this grand society, and so I hope I am in harmony with its spirit and aim if I essay to trace the footsteps of the Irish in the early days of St. Louis.