Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1848-07-11
General CasS on Ireland.


oy the Truth Teller of speech of Gen.
Cass. Referring to the progress Of free
dom from the Continent towards England
he thus speaks Of the Government, ofthat
country and its oppression ofIreland:
Throughout considerable part of
Europe man is awakening to conviction
of his rights, and to a knowledge of his
strength; and with the feelings which
these inspire comes the determination to
assert the one, and, If necessary, to en-.
ploy the other. The abuses are giving
way before the progress of the age. and
foundations of government are investigai-
ed with a zeal not to be rebuked, and
with stern purpose which nothing will
satisfy but the truth. The great tide of
freedom is rolling onwards from the
shores of Calabria TO the English chan
mel, institutions originating in barbarous
ages, sanctioned by time and habit, but
which have sacrificed the happiness of
the many to the power of the few, are
giving way before 1t with as little resis
lance as regret. / hope, for one, that
the chalk-bound CLIFF Of England will
not stay the progress OF this -salutary re.
form, but that it will reach her palaces
and her novels, correcting the great
moral and physical evils which now press
upon her people. r anE
"Fellow-eitizens, do not deny. that
there is much TO be commended in the
institutions of England. social and polit-
cal. lido not deny, thai she has contri.
buted her full share to the intellectual
progress of the age. l do not deny, that
there is a great deal Of moral worth in
that country, and many high traits of
character well worthy of imitation. But
the practical administration of her Gov
eminent is entitled to no such eommenda.
ton. 1t is arbitrary and oppressive
administered to a chosen class for their
own benett, and not for the masses. Il
sits like an incubus upon the great body
OF the people in two-thirds Of the home
empire; and in the other third--Ireland-
it has pressed down the people into a
state of humiliation, elsewhere unknown
IN Christendom. Its right of primogeni.
ture, its feudal privilege, and its aristoc-
ratio tendencies have created such an
inequality of property, that scenes of dis
tfess-aye, Of distress on the largest
scale-are passing there in manner
unknown in modern history. 1t is very
well to talk of the blessings Of the Eng
lish law-of trial by jury and the habeas
corpus. These are good things for those,
hn pns ! Azs
ter thing for starving family than trial
by jury, and house is a better protec.
ton than a habeas corpus. Probably on
the face of the globe there is no such
squaiid misery as in Ireland; nor was the
spirit of man ever pressed down, as there,
by the empowering evils; which sur
round MIN. Ireland is scarcely the country
of lrishtnen. 1t is the country of England
which the sons Of ireland inhabit, and
where they exist rather than live. And
this oppression sends them to every re-
gion of the globe; and wherever they 90,
they carry with them an instructive hat.
red Of tyranny and the love of liberty
They have made most valuable access.
ions to our population, and in peace and
war have fulfilled all the duties of Amer
lean citizens, as zealously as those born
in our country. From the heights of
Abraham, watered with the blood OF
Montgomery, to the very last battle
fought inMexicO, where is the field crown.
ed by the valof and exertions of the A.
merican troops, in which the blood of
Ireland has not mingled with our own
andin which her native, but our adopted,
sons have not nobly rallied around the
standard of their chosen home?
England is in that condition, which !
requires but one firm effort on the par, of
her people to extend those principles of
free government. which nominally belong
to the country. but which practically are |
confined to the few; to extend them to !
the great body Of the people, and thus to |
create q government for the benefit Of all
and accountable TO all. saf @
"The fiscal oppression of England is
phenomenon. The sum oftvo
hundred and fifty millions of dollars is
every year ground out Of the people,
for general purposes, besides perhaps an |
equal sum for the maintenance Of the
clergy, for the support of the poor, and
for a vast variety OF other local objects. !
More than onehalf OF those two hundred |
and fifty millions of dollars is applied to
the payment of the interest of the nation.
al debt. a large portion of which was
contracted by Pitt in his odious efforts to
check the spiris Of liberty on tie CONT.
nept of Europe. This system seems to
be approaching itscrisis: for, this year.
in time ofprofound peace, the revenues
are insufficient to meet the expenditures.
Where is the true hearted American,
who does not long foI the termination of
such a state ofthings?
Zone Of the stTangest events, II this
day of great events, is the origin Ofthese
in favor Of lihevtv unon Az