The Nevada journal., 1858-01-08

every hard-shclI Baptlst shell out.
! NATCRAIIzATIoN.-The Hon. Geo
Gould, of Troy, while holding circuit
of the Supreme Court in the Third Dis
trict, was applied to by stout Hiberni-
an for his papers" in the manner fol-
lowing, to wit
The clerk informed the Judge that the
man wished to be naturalized, and he
1.-THE clerk proposed to conduct the mat
ter, as usual, at his own desk, without
interrupting the business of the court.
The Judge replied that he knew no
business more important than giving
man the full rights of an American citi-
zen, and that he would himself conduct
the proceedings in open court. /.
The applicant thereupon produced
his certificate of intention and his wit
nesses as to residence, good character.
&c After which the following colIoquy
ensued: ..,
Judge. You say you prefer living in
this country to returning to Ireland;
will you tell me why?
Pat. This is a land of liberty. yer
Honor h. .
j. You show that you are attached
to our institutions; what are theyl
P. (No answer.)
.. Who governs the country?
Z. The Prisident, -hure.
j. Who makes the lawsl
T. Sich ss yer Honor, sir. 1.ft
j. No ! only administer the laws.
Who e. verns this State
j. No answer) i.s
j. Mr.: CLERK, hand me the blank
form of the naturalization oath. This
being handed to the court, he addressed
The applicant again. There is in this
oath clause hy which YOU are to swear
hat yam VIII SUPPORT the Constitution of
the United States.
L. Oh, yis, yer Honor, I'm riddy to
sware till that. -.
j. Did you ever read the Constitu-
ton? .,'. - rf.
=. No, Yer Honor.
j. Ora word of itl ff-t.-
+. Niver a word, yer lIighness.
}. Can you read and wlite :?
p. An shure | kin. y.
j. DO you know one word that is in ;
the Constitution of the United States 2
+. lndade an l do net, yer Honor.
j. You have lived in cthis country
nearly six years; you 'ean read and
write, and you have been all this time
intending to become a citizen here, vet
you have never taken the trouble to
learn or know one word of the instru-
ment You are now ready to take SOL
emn oath to support. An American,
born here, and living here until he is
twenty-one years of age, learns more or
less of the Constitution under which he
lives, as well as the rights and auties of
citizenship. AT any rate, whether he
does this or not, he is presumed to have
done it, and therefore the laws of the
land give him the right to vote without
the tormallty of an oath-it is his birth
right. To those not born on the soil,
the law applies different rule, and re-
quires from them the oath now under
consideration in your case. l hold that
dte, even decent, administration of that
ofth, depends in part on the condition
that the applicant should at least under-:
stand it; and | will never allow such an
abuse Of the law as would be committed
by your taking that oath in your pres
ent circumstances. You cannot be ma
turalized by this Court
The above, which is an exact rela-
ton of an actual occurrence, touches
the very root of this matter of natural
ization, and of course applies to all ma.
tionalities as well as that of the subject
of this story. The evils of which the
american" party profess to seek the
cure, are the consequences of the abuse
of the Naturalization Laws, not their
proper administration. Had those laws
been always, and were now, administer
ed with the integrity of purpose and
common sense view of their require
ments, exhibited by judge Gould, there
would be little ground of objection. if
any, to the effect Of their operations.