The Express.
London, England, 1859-03-31 00:00:00

INITED STATES.

NEW YORK, MARCH l&

We have had two British celebrities here since I
last wrote, Messrs. Cobden and Smith O'Brien. The
latter was re'xived os landing by a deputation of his
countrymen, and salutes from a brass cannon and a
band of music, and has been feted as much as he
would permit everywhere he went. Cobden, who
has done for poor men the greatest work of the ap,
carunnoticed, save by his private hien&
difference, without meaning to depreciate Mr.
()Tinto in the least, illustrates capitally the value
mankind place on noise as an element of patriotism.
Smith °linen has been travelling through the
country and devoting a good deal of attention es
paasuret to the condition of his countrymen. I do
not think he will find in it much that is very en-
couraging. The great mass of them have sot, so far
es I can see, eery materially improved their condi-
tion, socially at least, by emigration. Physically,
they are perhaps better off, though even in this re-
spect their life in the large clues is pretty much
what it is in London or Dublin. They earn larger
wages, but everything is dearer. The few that have
a little capital and more west get on well. There
is no prejudice against Irishmen as Irishmen which
offers the least impediment to their prosperity; but
the creed and mode of life and habits of the
" low Irish " elicit almost as much dislike
and contempt from the mass of the Ame-
rican public as they may be supposed to
have elicited from Cromwell'a Ironsides. More
incongruous elements it would be difficult to bring
tot:ether than the jolly, reckless, good-natured,
passionate, priest-ridden, whisky-loving, thrift-
less Paddy, and the cold, shrewd, frugal, correct,
meetiug-going Yankee. There was a time when the
Irish emigration was smell, and purely American
influences predominated in the country—when the
Irishman, at least of the second generation, lost
most of the traces of has origin, and was absorbed
iota the American population. But that time has
pawed. 'fbe prodigious influx of Irish daring the
last twenty years has crested a large Irish dais,
apart fro a the rest of the people, poor, ignorant,
helpless, and degraded, contemned by the Americans,
used se tool.' by politicians of all parties, doing
all the hard work and menial duties of the country,
and filling the gaols and almshouses, almost to the
exclusion of everybody else. \Vete the emigrants
protestants, I think the American church
organi-
sation, which is immensely powerful, would
brought to bear as them. The religious public
would feel itself responsible for their condition, and
community of faith and strong religious sym-
pathies would probably wipe out all traces of tie
old puritan contempt for the " Irish papist." Bat
unhappi y, to other divisions between the new
comers sod the old inhabitants is added the crown-
ing and damning one of difference of creed. The
churches take but little interest in the half-barbarous
stranger, for whom the priest is waiting on the
shore the moment he leaves the ship • and the
'speculative Now Englander, who has been bred in a
theological atmosphere, and whose intellect has been
sharpened ever since he learnt to speak by contro-
versy on "tiled fate, free will, foreknowledge,"
ferns little brotherhood for thepoor Paddy, who never
discussed a point of doctrine in his life. Fifty years
ago, however, the l'iddy would ha* been sur-
rounded by a purely American society, and with his
usual adaPtubility would soon have converted him-'
self into a tolerable likeness of "a descendant of the
pilgrims." Now this is no longer possible. As soon
as tie arrives he is lost in the crowd of his country-
men, who encompass him in such numbers that his
glimpses of American manners, morals, and religion
are few and faint.
The priests do ell in their power to encourage this
elsonistiness and keep their flocks apart from the
American population. They refuse, u far as pos-
sible, t i allow the Irish children to attend the com-
mon schools. Archbishop Hughes is vehemently
opposed even to emigration to the west, because
there the emigrants are scattered and isolated, and
Ise able to resist the insidious advances of heresy.
All the influence he possesses is exerted in keeping
them together in masses in the large towns, where,
though their life is miserable, their earnings pre-
carious, and their dwellings squalid and unhealthy,
their spiritual wants are more closely attended to.
The result is that the line of demarcation between
the English colonist and the " mere Irish" of the
seventeenth century in Ireland was hardly more
strongly marked than that which to-day separates
the Irish American from the native American, poli-
tical inequalities of course excepted. Emigration,
instead, es is commonly supposed in England, of
effacing all distinction, has traced it more deeply.
The mass of Celts is now too large and unwieldy for
American temperament to permeate it ; and I despair
of any change for the better, until the supply of the
raw material from the old country is so clucked as
to allow the supply we already possess to become
scattered and the native element to work upon it
more freely.
. As the matter stands at present, it
forms a enemas subject foe the investigation either
of a politician or philanthropist.

CANADA.
--.-

(1,10111 OCR OWN

TORONTO, KAacn U.

Since tie passage of the address the ministry
have sustained two defeats in the upper house. That
chamber has pronounced against the removal of the
seat of government to Quebec, and the majority of
its members threaten to refuse the supplies if the go-
vernment persist in that wasteful and unnecessary
measure. This determination still keeps the meat of
government question open. The selection of Ottawa
was only sustained in the lower house by the log-
rolling operation of adding to it the removal to
Quebec for four years, all the members for Loser
Canada feeling confident that during that period the
whole errangemeet would be upset. If the govern-
ment persist in the Quebec removal, the upper house
may gees them serious trouble; if they abandon
el nine, they may bid good by. to office, and the
Queen's decision will be reversed. You see the con-
e/mance+ or the ridiculous,reference of this question
to the imperial authority. The place selected can
only be sustained by log-rolling, against which the
good sense and crinolines' spirit of the upper hoes.
protests. The position of the Mane on this question
gives rite to many doubts as to the quiet working of
responsible government, with two elective bodies.
Bad the present circumstances arisen when the
council was nominated by the crown, there would
have been no trouble. The ministry having the
power to swamp the upper chamber by new ap-
pointments, would have followed the opinion of the
Assembly, and needed not have dreaded any
serious trouble host the nominated body. Now
it is Milanese The councillors represent
toe people as well ati the Assembly men. A portion
have twin elected, in fact, since the last general
election, end they are not likely to yield their Views
on any important subject to any authority what-
ever. Ou this very matter of the seat of gams-
ment there will probable be a dead lock ; and what
are the ministry to do ? Which house shall they
stand by ? which shall they contemn? You will
admit that this is • very difficult problem to solve.
It was !'orteeen when the Elective Cuuucil measure
was 'muted, and some members voted for it with
Mae view or making the executive also elective.
That will probably be the end of it, foe there
are few who now think that the system which places
the cabinet in the legislature to control its opera-
tions will ever succeed in this country. We have
no class hers for ministen independent in circles-
stances, who, rather than do a wrong thing, will
&leaden the emoluments of office. The result is
that the cabinet corrupts the parliament with favours
to individuals and favour, to constituents in order to
retain their plans, and that our debt and our anneal
es p.ndttur* have been doubled in four years. The
eindurt of Sir Edaiurd Head has nrengthesed the
Nadas gannet the Fenn.. system. governing
are seat over here who act in bad faith tower& the
repreeentatives of the people, it is • necessity that
there skald be a desire to elect our own governor.
The second defeat of the ministry arose out of the
notorious shuttle of offices last Setlloll. An indepen-
dent member, Mr. Campbell, of Cistarequi. introduced
a bill to alter the law seas to make the re-seceptanes
of sew without a refinance to constituents imps.
made. The ministry in the council opposed the
aware, and contended that they had done nothing