The Irish contributed their full share in the War of 1812, in the war with Mexico, and in the war that kept the Union whole. All facts relating to the part borne by them should be carefully collected. In the late war with Spain we have a large field for investigation. From the state of Massachusetts, one fifth of her quota of soldiers were unmistakably of Irish ancestry; the Ninth regiment, Massachusetts volunteers, went into the field as an Irish-American regiment; of the four other regiments, and the large number of sailors, an impartial investigation would show a surprisingly large number of men of Irish ancestry, and what is true of Massachusetts is true of every state in the Union. Gentlemen, while we are proud of our origin and our ancestry, we do not forget that, above all, we are Americans, that we earnestly desire that all the different elements that go to make up this nation shall be blended together. This American republic is a mighty crucible into which are thrown many elements. We have been, and shall be, tested by severe fires; we must separate the dross and the alloy, and the refined product will come forth purified by the severest tests. In our process of amalgamation, we shall eliminate from the different nationalities and races what is gross and bad, avoiding the vices and emulating the good traits and virtues, evolving, as the product of our American civilization, the highest type of manhood or womanhood to be found on the habitable globe. [Illustration: COL. JOHN P. DONAHOE, Of Delaware. Residence, WILMINGTON. ] [Illustration: CAPT. PATRICK O’FARRELL, Of the District of Columbia. Residence, WASHINGTON. ] [Illustration: COL. C. C. SANDERS, Of Georgia. Residence, GAINESVILLE. ] [Illustration: MR. P. T. BARRY, Of Illinois. Residence, CHICAGO. ] VICE-PRESIDENTS, RESPECTIVELY, FOR DELAWARE, GEORGIA, ILLINOIS, AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. RUSSIA THE FRIEND OF THE REPUBLIC. BY JOSEPH SMITH, LOWELL, MASS.