Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-12-15

From the a. S. Standard.
The recent decision of the English Govern
ment not 10 allow the sentences of MIR. Obi
en- and his fellow patriots 10 be carried into
execution, shows an advance of public senti-
ment In regard to capital punishment, which
we cannot but regard as OF considerable sig
rihcance. 1t is no proof of the humanity of
the G~overnment, but only an evidence that
they ielt that SO barbarous and shocking an
exhibition would not do. 1t was not that
the punishment seemed too grave for the Of.
fence, for, however the English might pro-
less to look upon the rebellion as a farce, the
preparations they made TO suppress it show
that II was a very serious matter to them
The simple truth is that this exhibition OF
public revenge was 10 take place on a scat
told lofty enough 10 attract the eyes of all
England. 1t is just as bad and just as dis
gushing TO strangle John Brown as Mr.. Smith
O'Brien, only in Browns case the public do
not have their attention drawn that way.
But beside the feeling Of disgust that a re-
fined woman, brought up decently, and act
ing as the representative of a great nation,
should be called upon 10 sign a warrant for
the choking, disembowelling, and hacking in
pieces Of half a dozen helpless men, there
was probably a vague and half-acknowledged
perception Of the abstract injustice of the SEN
tence. Should the English people murder,
in cold blood, these men whom they had de-
liberately made rebels of? Before the out
break Of the late Irish Revolt, we expressed
our opinion Of the entire fulility of any al
tempt at a forcible redress of The wrongs of
Ireland. But not the less on this account do
we feel for those wrongs, and sympathise
with the men who, no matter how aboTtively
or unwisely, have striven 10 remedy them.
Efforts like theirs must be Judged by the in
tention rather than by the event, and though
they may not be permitted to seal their devo-
ton with their blood, they have a right 10
the title of martyrs in the cause Of Freedom.
The tone of the English press, even Of the
liberal part Of il with few exceptions) has
been absolutely brutal in regard 10 the affairs
of Ireland. Ii has always been one of John
Bulls many boasts that he never struck an
enemy who was down. But Smith O'Brien
and Meagher have been assaulted by a down
right mob Of journalists, and pelted with eve-
~ derisive epiihet in the vocabulary of ha.
! tired and contempt. To the solid English
man, altogether too heavy 10 be lifted off the
ground by enthusiasm, nothing is so terrible
as r~idicule, and accordingly the whole aim
of British journalism has been 10 render the
Irish movement ridiculous. The last thing
that John Bull gets an understanding of is
the character of a ~neighbor, and he according
ly thinks that the lrishman is 10 be cured by
The same medicine which is SO e%ffectual in
his own case. John knows how absurd it
would be TO attempt 10 carry away the House
of Lords by a flourish about Runnymede, or
to rouse the enthusiasm of the Commons BY
a burst of eloquence on the subject of Nase-
by or Worcester, and so he applies the same
rule TO his neighbor across the channel. 1t
seems not to occur to him to consider wheth-
et, as the blame of Ireland's misery lies
chiefly at his own door, it would not be pos
sible for him 10 discover the means of RENE
dy.
We could hardly believe our eyes when
we read in the London Erdminer a serious
proposal to maintain a fleet upon the Irish
coast fur the reception of loyalist fugitives in
case of another rebellion. But even this is
not considered enough, for the same paper
goes on TO suggest a line of forts along the
shore for the same purpose. How valuable
must be a province which must all The time
be held by the throat, and half-stfangled now
and then by way of prevention! We were
proceeding at once in the usual Brother JON
alhan strain to thank God that we were not
as other men are, when we recollected that
we also had cur Ireland and were engaged
in holding our private and peculiar wolf by
the ears.
1t is the fashion with some persons 10 as
sert that the condition of the English and
Irish laborer is worse than that of our Amer
lean slave. Some are sincere in this opinion,
others, who care not a straw either for labor
er or slave, assume it as an apology for their
Pro-Slavery position. AS far as the one cir
cumstance Of food is concerned, we are ready
to allow that for the last two years the Irish
peasant has been worse off than the slave
But in making the general comparison one
very important element is overlooked. Fan.
dora's box is very carefully sent TO our wretch
ed bondmen, but, when they open II, they
find that all the evils are correctly forwarded
as per i%nvO,ce, only Hope has somehow got
lost out on the way. The great iallacy in
the parallel seems 10 be, that though we grant
that men cannot be happy and starve at the
same time, yet it does not follow that they
are necessarily elevated 10 a state OF perfect
bliss by a bellyiul Of hominy.
Those who compare the physical condition
of the Irish laborer and the slave, should re-
member that the potato.rot was not a calami-
ty whose approach was calculated in the al
manacs. Even Goblet, though he abused
the potato as an article of food, never enume-
rated treachery among lis other bad qualities.
Is there any reason why maize SHOULD not be
attacked by a similar epidemic Ii this ca
lamity should take place, the only clrcum-
stance in favor Of the slave, as compared with
his poor brother over the ocean, would be put
out Of the question.
We began by speaking of the reluctance
of the English people to have Smith O'Brien
hanged, drawn, and quartered, and we called
it a good sign as far as it went. Not thai
transportation with felons would not be a
more barbarous punishment for such a man.
But the circumstance merely shows that wher