BY D. J. SCULLY OF BALTIMORE, MD. It is a peculiar thing to study out fairly, even without setting down aught except that which can be actually proved, what an important part Irishmen have taken in shaping this Irish-named city which in the estimation of those who do not stop to think, is deemed an “Anglo-Saxon” community. This phrase, Anglo-Saxon, is now the thing, especially among some educators. It is a handy phrase. It may mean something, but as often means nothing in particular. It is like the stuff coined at trial tables, such as “brain-storms” and “Dementia Americana,” sufficient for the atmosphere of a courtroom, but no where else on earth, where common sense is supposed to prevail. Hence the delicious and unmeaning phrase, “Anglo-Saxon” this and “Anglo-Saxon” that, as used by the educated few, to mislead the so-called uneducated many. It is naturally a bold man who would call an Irishman an Anglo-Saxon to his face, but the average American educationalist and writer does not make such statements to the Gael in propria persona. He does it at long range, and hides behind his school book and his inkwell until the storm has passed by. The Irish who have influenced and who have directed in many ways the past of Baltimore laid no claim to be Anglo-Saxons and no one in their day sought to claim them as such. They were rather proud of their Irish birth and descent and made no effort to hide it. But it was a fact that it was no shame in those days to be Irish, and nobody thought so, not even the English. If it had been so awful to be Irish, no doubt the early settlers and founders of the city would have never allowed it to be named Baltimore. Prior to the Revolution the most important merchants and educators, and even professional men in the town, were Irish by birth. They laid the foundation of the town’s trade and commerce and built it up not only morally and physically, but financially. The man who laid the foundation of the town’s trade was Dr. John Stevenson, who, although a physician, had an eye to trade, and coming direct from Ireland deemed it wise to establish a line of ships between this city and Irish ports.