Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1854-06-15

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warriors plumed their wings for the pat
riots heaven; and Poland, wretched
and undone, fell bleeding to the earth to
mourn over the wreck of the splendid
dream of liberty which, for time, had
gladdened her heart.
Greece too rose as giant from the
sleep of centuries, shook from her bo-
som the serpent that had wound its
Shiny folds around her, and showed that
there still lived among her degenerate
sons, sparks of that high spirit which
had SO distinguished their proud ances-
tors.
Poor ireland, too, felt that she must
strike a blow. Amid her commissions
was born short-lived hope of emanci-
patton, but fistteringiy false as the dream
of Aladdin. Her treasures and best
blood were spent in vain in her noble
efforts; and when the smoke and dust of
the conflict had blown off, a prospect
darker than ever opened before her.
Unhappy country! Cursed with war,
the bones of her thousands have whitened
battle fields; cursed with famine, her
starving have met death while crying
for bread.
We, who live in free country, whom
no heartless tyrant can rob or butcher;
who tremble before no power; and fear
only, as those of old, that the heavens
may fall and crush us, know nothing
of the horrors of oppression, for unlike
our forefathers, we have never expe
rienced them. We, who live where in
dustry secures competence; where the
earth refuses not to yield her increase;
know nothing of famine. We see no
pale, hungered wretches moving about
as the shadows of what once was. We
hear no mothers piercing cry, as she
clasps her dying child to her loving
bosom, and feels that she is unable to
releave its natural wants. We see no
heaps of starved dead, who rot, Gun
knelled, uncoffined, and unknown" to
feast the vulture and the worm. But
ireland, to her sorrow, has seen and felt
all this. And who has so crippled her?
Who has been her greatest enemy?-
Who has always throttled and choked
her to the dust when she has collected
her shattered energies, and struggled to
lift herself from her fallen condition.
We appeal to history, and it answers
England.
When gazing upon the past of This
Island Queen, venerable monuments of
her greatness meet our eyes. When
contemplating her present power, she is
imposing. But great though she be
upon the land and upon the wave, there
are acts in her history which darken the
splendor of her fame, and bring upon
her the deserved obloquy of the world.
Had Egypt's kings caused the bones of
heir subjects to be piled around the
basis of the pyramids they built, the re-
iections of the traveller, reminded by
he sight of the useless toll and suffer
ng their erection costs, would be sad
lened, and his admiration for the sub
ime structures mingled with regret for
he cruelty and folly of their royal
lrchitects. So the student of history,
When reading of the splendid achieve
nents of English arms. of her contri-
buttons to the literature of the world,
md her almost immeasurable power, is
struck with awe by her greatness, but
inds that her march on the hill of glory
;an be traced by the bloody tracks she
las left along her pathway.
Ireland's woes have been England's !
ride. Her extorted taxes have filed
Ter Golfers; her impressed sons have
manned her navies. She has prosecuted
Ter with fire and sword. She wished
he Irish to renounce the religion of
heir fathers. She has denied free
hought and free action in matters alone
between their consciences and their God.
One of the most difficult of things is
o force man to give up his religion
For it the Aztec would have his heart
,ut out, and offered, while still palpita-
ing, as sacrifice to his heathenish deity.
For it the Hindoo falls before the car of
Juggernaut; and the Protestant, while
he faggots have cracked around him,
and the rabble hooted and Kissed, has
sung psalms to his God. =
All nations have a religion of one
Kind or other, which they cling to with
Lenacity that defes even death Itself
Its principles in one shape or other are
everywhere. They imbed
themselves in the soul, and neither fire
nor sword can eradicate them. Eng
land, Mahothed-like, took the sword in
one hand and the bible in the other and
made. the alternatives with the Irish,
death to the liturgy.
Under Cromwell 10000 were sold as
slaves and 10000 entered foreign SER
vice to escape tyranny at home. And
they still continue to leave their native
land. America spreads wide her arms,
invites the poor exile of Erin to her hos
pitable shores, and greets him with a
cordial welcome. We give him home;
we give him liberty; we give him secu-
rity, for he is safe under the broad
Rgis of our constitution. We natural
ize him; he comes to love our institu-
tons; and, in our battles, he fights and
falls, side by side, with the native born.
Ireland has had her great. Among
no people do we find such genius as
there. Even her unlettered son, in the