The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1855-09-14

trymen, did not scruple to express his senti.
merts in the following significant language
why should England grant the Irish Cath
olics emancipation, since so many thousand
Of them fought aguinst her in the Amer-
icam agar +"
BIT we ICED not rely upon British testi-
monv alone 70 show the base ingratitude
Of Know Nothing intolerance, as exhibited
in tEe ho:r nd outrage in Kentucky, and tile
obliGssions 0. hospitality:;to foreigners which
rest npor American citizens. We have
already shown what were Washington's
opinions upon this subject, and shall further
quote from his recorded sentiments as occa-
sions ssnsy require. For instance 1.-The
Irish hsolunteers merit the qcarn,est thanks
Of America for their patriotism and I
hope their countrymen who have so long
struggled for freedom aoiU be cordially and
Hospitality rcceived@here. y
The bosom of America is open to receive
not only the opulent and respectable stran-
ger, but the prosecuted Of all nations and
religions, aohom ace shall aoclcome to a par
tacipotion in our rights and orivileges." )"
And again, in his sixth annual address -
ITO every description Of citizens, indeed, let
praise be given. But let them persevere in
their affectionate vigilance over that precious
depository of American happiness, the con-
stitution of the United States. Let them
cherish it, too, for the sake Of those who,
from erery cline, are daily seeking d,ceU-
ing in our land"
These generous sentiments, so strikingly
in contrast with the bigoted and insulting
drivel of the Louisville Journal and its kin
dred organs of the present day, were cx-
pressed by the purcst and most ilustrious
of American patriots, and were received
with cordial acquiescence by his country
men, while the important services rendered
by foreigners to the land of their adoption
were sill fresh in their memories. A prop
osition then to establish invidious distinc-
tions and exclusive privileges, based upon
origin and religion, would have been secuted
from one end of the Union to the other.
And when the tory administration of John
Adams afterwards partially developed such
system, the people rallied around Thomas
Jeffer:2n, and repudiated that administra-
tioD and its works. Eat or new-fangled
Americans seem to have forgotten what
Washington and his contemporaries CRATE
fully remembered and seem not to realize
that the hospitality lavished upon foreign
ers by our ancestors was not altogether
labor Of love and unrequitcd benevolence,
but, in an economical point Of view, grand
investment for the political as well as pro-
ductive interests of this country. They seem
to have forgotten that Charles Carroll, an
Irish Catholic, pledged s2.ooo,OoO of his
private property to prosecute the war of the
revolution, and that but for the voluntary
contributions of his countrymen, at crisis
OF dire necessity, the consummation Of our
independence would have been long delayed
if not defeated. They have, perhaps, for
gotten that George Berkely* endowed one
of our first colleges (Yale); that Robert
Fulton* invented and built our first steam
boat; that Christopher Colles* and Dewitt
Clintont were the fathers of the great New
York canals, which first opened communi-
cation between Canada, the great West and
the Atlantic; that James Sulivant projected
and constructed the first canal (Middlesex,)
and Patrick Tracey Jacksont the first rail-
road (Boston and LOVELY and the first cot
ton mandatory (at Waltham, now in ope-
ration,) in this Know Nothing State of
Massachusetts. Indeed, most of the great
public works as we'll as private enterprises
which have marked the rise of this republic,
may be traced, both in their execution and
design, to the same alien sources; and, in
their bearing upon our national prosperity,
have left the natives of this generation to
depiore. the awful effects of "foreign infu.
ence!'
., What signify the genius aad public SER
vices of those distinguished engineers whose
nauaes and deeds we have just mentioned
Wsse they not born in Ireland and what
public ACHIEVEMENTS or private virtues can
atone for this objectionable sin, or reconcile
the jealousy Of envious demagogues, while
they "see Mordecai, the Jew, sitting at the
Kings gates" Hda the divine mission of
Jesus Christ been reserved, for our time and
country, the fact Of his being born in a sta
bic would undoubtedly have consigned him
to the same ignominious fate, at the hands
Of the Know Nothings, that he experienced
1900 years ago among the equally bigoted
Pharisees. AReUs.
sBorn in Ireland.
tBorn in this country, of Irish parents
-
Kenneth Rayner, in late speech, is re-
ported tn have eaid U(I;ya no ,,ox;.or