Life Member of the Society. ] HON. JOHN W. GOFF: The hour is late. I beg of you to excuse me tonight and grant the privilege of allowing me to speak at some other time, when I shall have the advantage of being better prepared. (Applause.) PRESIDENT-GENERAL QUINLAN: We have at our table a dark horse in the Lists of Orators, and one who has often entertained, edified and educated his auditors, not only by easy rhetoric, show of measured eloquence, but also by the erudition of his thoughtful words. I take the privilege of introducing to you Mr. Edward M. Tierney. MR. EDWARD M. TIERNEY: Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen, it would be most ungenerous for me to make a distinction of a different character from that already presented by the honorable gentleman who has just sat down and attempt, at this late hour, to give you the speech that I had prepared for this evening. You have been regaled with oratory sublime; all that is great and glorious to the Irishman has been brought down deep into the recesses of his heart tonight by the preceding speakers. I have a speech that I may twist and distort, perhaps, to suit the hour without making it too lengthy, and, if you will bear with me for a few moments, I may interest you before I sit down. When your President-General invited me to make this speech he was full of prescience, if I may call it so, for he limited me to ten minutes. Why he placed this restriction on me some two weeks ago I was then at a loss to understand; but it is very plain to me tonight, Ladies and Gentlemen, the object being to give the President-General an unbridled opportunity to furnish all the hot air for this occasion himself. That’s all right, for he belongs to a profession that understands the symptomatic temperament of an audience, and can tell just when to administer the anæsthetic. It’s about time to do it now, Doctor. I was warned not to make my speech too serious, nor yet permit it to impinge too closely on the border line of levity, and so I am cautioned in advance to mend my speech lest it mar my fortune. This is a difficult feat to perform for one whose blood is tingling with the pent-up enthusiasm of an American-Irishman, who feels a native pride in the long line of conquests of his people in every clime the sun shines on, and who tonight rejoices in the triumphs of this Society, which is the medium of bringing together, under the broad canopy of fraternity, the men and the women here assembled. Isn’t this a beautiful spectacle to behold? Here we are, all animated by the same desire to perpetuate in a fitting manner the names and deeds of the men with Irish blood in their veins, who gave to the world the highest and noblest attributes of their minds and hearts for the betterment of mankind and for the elevation of the race.