Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1853-06-18
The Celtic Exodus.

man in our country--dellvercd an address be-
fore the New York Historical Society a few days
since, from which we make the following ex-
ract in reference to the Celtic Exodus:
at is a curious coincidence, that, as the first
! mighty wave Of the hostile immigration, that
burst upon Europe before the time Of our Sa-
viour, consisted Of tribes belonging to the great
Celtic race-the remains Of which, Unidentified
by their original dialect, are still found i'll Brit
tany, in Wales, in the highlands of Scotland,
and especially in Ireland-so by far the greater
portion Of the new and friendly immigration to
the United States consists of persons befong-
lug to the same fervid, immaglnativc and too
often oppressed race. | have heard in the vii.
lagos Of wales and the highlands Of Scotland
the gospel preached in substantially the same
language in which Brenus uttered his naughty
summon to Rome, and in which the mystic
songs of the Druids were chantcd in the depths
| of the primeval forests Of France and England,
in the time of julius Cnser. 1t is still spoken
by thousands of Scotch, Welsh and Irish i'm
migrants in all parts of the United States.
This great Celtic race is one Of the most re-
markable that has appeared in history. Wheth-
er it belongs to that extensive lndo-European
family of nations, which, in ages before the
dawn Of history, took up a line Of march IN
two columns from lower India, and moving
westward both by a northern and 4 southern
route, finally diffused itself over Western Asia,
Northern Africa, and the greater part Of Eu~
rope; or whether, as others suppose, the Celtic
race belongs to a still older stock, and was it.
| self driven down upon the South and into the
West of Europe by the overwhelming force Of
the lndo-Europeans, are questions which we
b,,o ~ tir,a 81 rro,ort n ra,,cc inyrovo
it may be decided, it would seem that for the
first time, as faI as we are acquainted with the
fortunes of this interesting race, they have
found themselves in Il really prosperous condi-
ton in this country. Driven from the soil to
which their fathers have clung for two thou
sand years, they have at length and for the first
time in their entire history, found a real nome
in a land of strangers. Having been told, in
the trightful language of political economy,
that at the daily table which nature spreads for
the human family, there is no cover laid for
them in Ireland, they have crossed the ocean to
find occupation, shelter, and bread on a foreign
soil.
"This Celtic Exodus as it has been aptly
termed, is to all parties Immediately connected
with it one of the most important events Of the
Cay. TO the emigrants themselves it may be
regarded as a passing from death to life. 1t
will benefit Ireland by reducing a surplus pop
~ulation, and restoring a sounder and juster re-
Iation of capital and labor. It will benefit the
laboring classes in England, where wages have
been kept down to the starvation point by the
struggle between the native population and
the inhabitants of the sister Island. This bene-
fit will extend from England to ourselves, and
will lessen the pressure of that competition
which our labor is obliged to sustain, with the
i'll paid labor of Europe. While the constant
influx into America of stout and efficient hands
supplies the greatest want in a new country,
which is that of labor,-gives value to land,
and facilitates the execution of every species of
private enterprise and public work.
Il I'm not insensible to the temporary in
conyeniences which are to be Offset against
these advantages both sides of the water.-
Much suffering attends the emigrant there. on
his passage, and after his arrival. It's possible
that the value of our native labor may have
been depressed by too sudden and extensive a
supply from abroad; and it is certain, that our
asylums and aims houses are crowded with
foreign inmates, and that the resources of pub
lie and private benevolence have been heavily
drawn upon. These are considerable evils but
they have perhaps been exaggerated.
SIT must be remembered, in the first place,
tlat tlC luliDIStat4o! uilg pCufilg III from
Europe is by no means a paaper immigration.
On the contrary it is already regarded with
apprehension abroad, as occasioning a great
abstraction of capital. 1t is attended no doubt
with an influx of foreign pauperism. In refer
ence to this, | believe our system of public re.
lief is better here in New~York than ours in
Massachusetts, in which, however, we are MAX
ing important change. II is said that, owing
to some defect in our system or its administra-
ton, we support more than our share ofneedy
foreigners. They are sent in upon us from
other States. New-York, as the greatest sea
port, must be exposed to a similar burden
However the evil arises, it may no doubt be
mitigated by judicious legislation; and in the
meantime Massachusetts and New-York might
do a much worse thing, with a portion of their
surplus means, than feed the hungry, clothe
the naked, give a home to the stranger, and
kindle the spark of reason in the mind of the
poor foreign %lunatic; even though that lunatic
may have been, Gas I I'm ashamed for the credit
of Humanity to say has happened,0 set on shore
in the night from a coasting vessel, and found
in the morning in the fields half dead with cold,
and hunger, and fright.
"But you say they are foreigners Well, do
We owe no duties to foreigners? What was
the founder of Virginia, when a poor Indian
girl threw herself between him and the war
club of her father? What were the pilgrim
fathers when the friendly savage-if we must
call him so, met them with the safutation of
Englishmen?' They are foreigners
and suppose they are. Was not the country
all but ready a year or two ago to plunge into
a conflict with the military despotism of the
east of Europe, in order to redress the wrongs
of The oppressed races who feed their locks on
the slopes of the Carpathians, and pasture their
herds upon the tributaries Of the Danube, and
talk Of the hardship of relieving destitute for
lgners, whom the hand of God had guided
across the neaan and conduotad to orr doore3