I was often brought by my father to the weekly gatherings in the Repeal
Hall, Paradise Street, where, among the speakers on the Sunday nights I
can best remember were Terence Bellew MacManus, Patrick O'Hanlon, Dr.
Reynolds, George Smyth, and George Archdeacon.

MacManus and Smyth (the latter of whom I knew well in after years),
besides being prominent workers in O'Connell's agitation for Repeal of
the Union between Ireland and Great Britain, took active parts in the
"Young Ireland" movement. Dr. Reynolds was another of the Young
Irelanders. So also was Archdeacon, who, in addition, still showed his
belief in physical force by his connection with Fenianism, for which he
suffered imprisonment.

Young as I was, I shall never forget the days of the Famine, for
Liverpool, more than any other place outside of Ireland itself, felt its
appalling effects. It was the main artery through which the flying
people poured to escape from what seemed a doomed land. Many thousands
could get no further, and the condition of the already overcrowded parts
of the town in which our people lived became terrible, for the wretched
people brought with them the dreaded Famine Fever, and Liverpool became
a plague-stricken city. Never was heroism greater than was shown by the
devoted priests--English as well as Irish--in ministering to the sick
and dying. So terrible was the mortality amongst them that several of
the churches lost their priests twice over. Our own family were nearly
left orphans, for both father and mother were stricken down by the
fever, but happily recovered.

It will not be wondered at that one who saw these things, even though he
was only a boy, should feel it a duty stronger than life itself to