Page:A Memorial of John Boyle O'Reilly from the City of Boston.djvu/72

66 decade, "Wendell Phillips," "Crispus Attucks," and "The Pilgrim Fathers," are John Boyle O'Reilly's.

But in his poems of Ireland he touched, as was meet, the high-water mark of his genius. His "Exile of the Gael" is the best tribute the English language has ever paid to the Irish race. Of the rest, his poetry is in the hearts of the people.

He wrote, by invitation, the poem, "From the Heights," for the opening of the Catholic University at Washington, D.C., last November, which he also read, being the only layman, except the President of the United States and the Secretary of State, to speak before that magnificent assemblage.

He had much work under way at the time of his death,—lectures outlined, poems half finished, works of benevolence pledged for the coming season. The last week of his life was the most crowded. He was on the reception committee for the Grand Army encampment in Boston; he was bringing out a Grand Army number of "The Pilot." He held his pen for the last time in the service of the country of his adoption, the country which he loved and served with a whole-hearted affection, and which held him in her heart among her noblest and best defenders. On Wednesday, August 6, one of the hottest days of the season, he umpired the Irish games at Highland Lake Grove.

On Saturday, August 9, he spent the morning in