The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-03-31

istance, 1.-THE laudable and christian Gu stOn
was introduced BY the wise and patriotic, of ia
king advantag &c Of the opportunities afforded b.
the pious commemoration of st. Patficks day
to arousethat~spirit from its slumbers to Civ
It renewed vitality; to revive and resusc,tate it
by laying before the people, IN their parochia
and other assemhlag~s, a retrospective view
the past by reminding them Of what they hat
been. and Of right ought still to be and BY
what means, and for what cause the proud spir
it of the Cet had been vanquished, feteret
and enslaved, and that, however, much they
might be despised by their tyrant oPPressors
they were, nevertheless, the legitimate heirs
the rightfnl descendants of a nation and a PEG
, pie, whose great antiquity and renown stant
acknowledged even by the most intractable ceP
ticism. s'''-' 4s,{ It'll. ,s...,as, 81, s.
Thus we discover, what appear to be some o
the reasons for the two fold character OF the Gel
ebration ofthis day. ~ a!s3 - III g
Since then, times and circumstances have
furnished those who have gone before US, with
adequate reasons for the two fold consideration
the anniversary OF lreland's Patron SAINT,
hope that it will not DC deemed presumtive in
me, if allow the times and circumstances
Which surround ourselves, to induce me, to
step aside from the path, usual to those, who
are in The. habit of rising in my present capaci.
ty.
shall not dwell upon ireland or Irishmen
either as they are or have been in their natal
sphere shall not 60 back to this day four
teen hundred years ago and upwards, whenthe
4 son of f. rims Paganism began to wane, and
was eclipsed and bloited out by the radiant and
| resplendant halo which enshrined the cross.
4 Nor to the time when, more than thousand
years before the christian era, she looms up
before us on the page of history, as one Of the
brightest spots on the chart of nations. When
as early as the writing Of the Pentateuch Of
Moses, she boosted of her letters, and contempt
ranions with LYcurgus Of Spartan renown, oil
her Parliament and her legislation, at the Royalt
1 Palace Of Tara
Twill leave both the past and the present Of
Ireland 10 themselves. l shall chant no hymn
of praise, no funeral dirge to either. True
many and proud, know, are the monuments
that might be pointed to as relicts of her fallen
greatness. Many and loathsome too, the chan
nels through which, might be traced those cur
rents of obliquity, that have overwhelmed with
every wo her venerable form. / know full we'll
that no historian has ever wearied the constancy
Of the midnight lamp; no hero or statesman has
ever painted for a just renown that the soul of
music has responded to no impulse the steady
blaze or meteor flash OF the poet attained no
brilliancy, reached no height, that have not all
found worthy admirers, if not cnvied rivals, in
the sons, yea and in the daughters too, of the
sea girt isle.
| On the other hand, know full well, that sor-
row and affection have poured out their cup Of
bitterness, even to the very dregs, upon her
green clad hills and Wales: That tyranny has
issued no mandate that savage cruelty has in
vented no torture, that persecution has unsheath.
ed no sword that no prevarication has ever
shocked high Heaven, that have not all, all
! proved the scourge and curse Of that unhappy,
i devoted and down trodden Island. tta
But as have already said, | shall not dwell
upon the past and the present Of Ireland /
have chosen for myself another, and a different
course One dictated by other, and to my
mind higher considerations I have reference
to the history Of ireland and Irishmen in Amer
lea. 5 sas br gs F ea aff
1t is well known that spirit is growing up
in this country, which has been superinduced
by a species Of religious intolerance and fanat-
icism, and which tends to the conclusion that,
foreigners coming in amongst us and being per-
mitted to settle down under their own vine and
fig tree, aud enjoy all the immunities of Ameri
can citiz, are granted too great boon. l
say that s-ch spirit is growing up, should
have spoken mnc. more correctly, had 1 said,
that such spirit has already taken deep root
in various p,rts ot the Unicn. It has taken root
inilfe minds Of certain class Of persons, tech
nically, or politically called native Americans,
in Pennsylvania, on the election days in that
State, stepping up 10 the Polls to deposit their
votes, with their tax receipt in one hand, and
naturalzatish papers in the other. But apart
from some strange facts Of this Kind waving
all such anomalies might be presented, by
considering the subject in a purely sectarian
light, that this spirit. 10 which, have alluded,
does exist, and that it pervades the minds Of a
large portion Of those who are not unfrequently
drnominatcd .scountry borns, is more true than
many Of us perhaps are at all times willing to
admit. And. although it is said to exist as :
gainst all foreigners, yet it is pretty generally
understood BY irishmen, that they particularly,
come in for a large share Of that peculiar sole
iiude for country, which forms so prominent a
feature in the pseudo patriotism of our ssnative
American" friends. Now, L believe that the
xiscncc ofthis spirit to its present wide extent
or to any considerable extent. is, in a great
measure, to be traced to our own neglect, to our
own want of selfappreciation. | say our, for
the reason, that, although myselfam an Amer.
lean by birth, yet the proudest boast have, az.
ter that of my faith and my citizenship, is that
of an honest Irish ancestry. Although an
American by birth, it is Irish blood and Irish
blood alone that courses in these veins.-Yo gu
viii not be surprised then, to find me a. little
jealous Of the estimation in which this Irish
blood should be held. a1 #a
& / have said that believe the existence oil
this spirit to it's present wide extent &c. is, in
q great measure, to be traced to our own neglect
repeat it. assert that, it il mainly attribute
BILE 10 our own want Of just national pride and
self appreciation. A kind Of national pride
that would resent every ,indignity, every sins-
ter reflection upon the integrity and purity Of
the Irish Character, and its natural warmth and
affinity towards to our institutions, and towards
In 49, IL u -.
ilipious liberty. Not however, that kind OF
knock down resentment, which is too frequeH.-
" resorted to as an elementof pursuation, but
an intelligent resentment; a resentment which
would deal in stubborn facts, and address itself
1 to the reason and common sense ofevery candid
and impartial mind. And impartial minds that
are imbued with this prejudice against us, are
not 80 few, as not to merit some little attention
at our hands, however, selfish that attention may
be. We all know, that the creation Of any
prejudice, is no very difficult task and we
ought to know that, if there be many candid
minds that are swayed by prejudice against US,
it is not at all surprising. Charges are PREFER
ed, SANDERS Invented and libels circulated
which are takeu up, and uncontroverted, are
scattered To the four winds Of Heaven by q
multitudnous, an irresponsible and licentious
press. fed and pandered to, by heard Of polit-
I ical mountebanks, who would light their way
to preferment BY the flaming torches Of persecu-
ton. And deeply impressed with the full force
4 Of my own honest convictions, / cannot but
here add, The mischievous influences Of phar-
isaical multitude Of self justified ministers,
whose course will, unhappily, in too many IN
stances, admit of no exceptions as TO creed, and
whose only mission in this world seems to be to
encourage and promote fraternal hatred, rather
than christian charity. By a proper resentment
of this kind, upon all suitable occasions, land |
can conceive none more so than the presently
Irishmen would make themselves known and
felt and appreciated. In speaking of tais re.
sentiment ] wish it to be understood that Irish
man have the ability If they only had the will
But they are too much inclined to take it for
granted that they are, possibly, of not much &c.
count Thrownlin constant contact with a PEG.
pie ana press, who have learned to forget the
debt Of gratitude which they owe to their once
toing and struggling ancestors in the cause oil
liberty, and whose destiny seems to be, to point
out their .ilings, and sum up their misfortunes
as evidences Of moral and physical cmbicility
it IS not, perhaps, very surprising that many
lrishmen really begin to entertain the convic