Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1860-06-16
Daily ajiraiaiau.
Tho Irish Exodus.

Tho Cork Reporter regards tho second lrish
exodus M great measure as the consequence ot
u more adventurous spirit among the people, which
leads them to cast thoir lot in distant and newly
occupied lands. rather thnn apply themselves to
the more ploddng industry to which, they mus,
resort in the home country. However" adds the
Reporter
''We may dcplore the loss of our .'bono md
sinew, which are thus taken from us, we mu.t
say that We cannot take quito tho same view of il
as some IT our con incorporates. us we shall pre-.
scntly explain. Tho great extension of steam
traffic, both by land aud tes has increased large.
ly the facilities of emigration. There arc lew
pacrs in ireland now which aro far removed from
from access To one or other Of The great lines Of
railway that load to our principal ports. And
within n few years several lines of hrst-cluss
Ocean steamers have bosn brought into activity,
by which the Atlantic is travcrsed with wonder
iul regularity cerininty and safety, in not many
more days than 1t took weeks hy tho old sailing
em'grant ship tn cross it. Add to this that the
cost ot the voyage in hardly if ut all increased
that ITS old miscries, which it was painful to
dwell upon. are nearly all got rid OF, and
TINT It mny now be made resrectably and com
ior,nbly.
"Lct it be further borne in mind that tho Amer.
lean locomotive has, advanced with still more rapid
stdes, while, by the system OF "through ticker ar.
rangemonts the emigrnnt pass, on his arrival
ut once, safely and expeditously. to the ultimate
point which he desires to reach and it will at once
be seen how greatly the temptation to 20 il in
creased, Tor nl persons whose thoughts nrc turned
in this direction Formerly whnt WAS the posi-
tian ol the Irish peasautS lie Ind his farm,
smnll IN dimensions, yet too large for his limited
means Of turning it to account. On it he remnned,
and brought up bis family, isolated from con,mu.
nica'un with the busici world, and ignorant of
its ways aud of tho opportunities il offers to tho
active ard cnerprising All his ambition was to
live on his hit Of ground eat the simple root that
it yicids to him in abundance, aud rs his children
grew TO maturity to divide the farm into smaller
patches ON which they squattcd and reared their
progcny,n increasing poverty and with diminish.
ing hope and ambition--if we can such word
in speaking OF such class.
"When the subdivision Of land could proceed
no further leaving tho means of support to tho
dwellers On it, and That starvation was imminent,
he looked, az his last earthly chance to tho emf.
grant ship. In his isolation and liis ignorance
one fact had reached him. that some afar of.
beyond and nll but boundcss exrnnse OF ocean,
there lny great country called America -
II he could make his way to ono Of the scarorts
OF his own land, he had asCcrtainrd TINT means
would he found ~ transport him to this distant
region. More he knew not Quebec, Boston, New
York, Montreal, were nutnes, perhaps, that had
reached him, but they were mere names to him
lie had been told that nll were in America and
all were nike To him. To reach any he must
journey over land FOR many days, and nc must en-
ter on that appalling vnyage-fl of rrivation
and Of porll--ot many weeks But fly he must
fly from RUIN and from death. And 40 he
lift on his dreary and dreaded exile. Such it
was to many Of our people, even d zcn years
ngo.
'But ;a it anything like this now2 Tho Ma.
tional School has fanarlzcd Tho Young peasant
with AL that it is possible to learn Of that great
continent, and of the newly peopled land over
which our grcat empire extends. The rnilway i,
Mt the door or few miles of n, the iurthcst. Tho
steamer goes direct from its terminus, and lands
him within n fortnight beyond that ocean that
seemed sn llnmitable before. He knows all about
the place lie wants to go to. There is somc erug.
gle with the strong Celtic feeling Mt leaving the
old land and the old home but there have been
many sal partings during the last Is Years, aud
the Irish nature has grown somewhat used 10
them Because the educated man minds these
things loss than the uneducatcd- -wo stop not to
discuss the good or i'll of this, but 81 it il. The
National School as we'll ns eterner teaching, has
made the cmigrant's parting cnsier to him, and he
goes to-day Will full as much hope rs grief So
that altogether his emigration is quito different
from what it uscd to be, aud he ~ longer waits
~ he driven into exile by the misery which alone
would have cocrccl him formerly but goes freely,
manruly and with villa spice OF adventure
giving It's zcst to his moro calculationg desire to
better his cpnd iton."