, 1863-07-24
Greeley docs Justice to the Irish

[From the N. 7. Tribune, July 1s.1
There Is a general excitement and prejudice
against the Irish residents Of our city, because
Of the riotous outrages of last week, which,
though natural, i5 tending to gross INJUSTICE.
II 10 true that mott Of the immediate perpe-
or lineage; but 1t is not true that Ill or near
y al the 1,ish, nor even OF the Irish Roman
Catholics, are either rioters themselves or
sympathfzers NTH the rioters. On the CON
*rasy, ne personally know many Irish Catho~
lies who are as loyal, as 1aw-abiding and as
arg men on earth- For example, our 9Th
ard 14th Wards, which are pro eminent
ly. and predominantlS Irish, haYe not been
disEraced by single Outrage, not even upon
tleir eoloFsa residents. And from every
ous, sober, intelligent Irish-of whom there
are thousands among gus-fndignantl declined
all participation In the crimes cf the grorshop
ro1dles and rnfffan5 who have doue their
worst to disgrace the Irish name. Nearly all
who were eye;37itnesses Of the shameful do
ioss Of last week agree on this point, Mr. N.
2. Willis, who witnessed the burning on
Monday afternoon of the gu1 factory Ia Sec
Ond ayenne, thus writes Ia his Home Journal:
1.-THE tipsy women and boys {of whom the
crowd was more than half com poscd) were
rude, and wholly regardless of the common
wssfarers' rights, impudent if spoken to, and
A-AAAAst3
escaped them by very pains taking winding of
our why. The whole afr and behavior Of this
wicked and dirty plurality expressed an ex-
ulti1g law1essness and defiance.
The high brick blocks and closely packed
honses in this neighborhood seemed to be
literally hives Of sickness and rice. Curiosi-
y to look on at that fire raging so near them,
brought every inhabitant to the porch OF
window, or assembled them In ragged OF dir
ty groups on the sidewalk In front. Proba-
t@ ~ %t~Ar h.
indoors at that hour. And it is wonderful
to see, and difficult to believe, that so much
misery and disease, and utter wretchedness.
can be huddled together and hidden by high
walls, u1yisited and unthought Of, SO near
our own abodes! The lewd but pale and
rugged attire, were impudent, and scattered
everywhere Ia the crowd But what num-
berB Of these poorer classes are de-
formed, what numbers arc made hide
GUS BY self neglect and lnarmity,
and what numbers are paralytlcs, drunkards,
stricken abandonment for this World! Alas.
human faces look so hideous, with hope and
vanity all gone! And female forms are made
SO frjghtful By sin, squalor, and debasement!
To walk the streets as We walked them, for
those hours Of confag1ation aud riot, was like
with every wicked thing revealed, every sin
and SORROW blazingiy glared upon, every hid
den horror and abomination Ibid bare before
helrs expectant fire.
We have not made the character Of the
mob part Of our descrIption-ith has been
done 50 fully by the daily Journals. But we
must add our confirmatory remark upon one
ptculiarity Of the confessed rioters. There
seeae no DECENT l11sh among them. Irish they
all were-every soul Of them-but they were
the dirty, halt drunken, brutal rowdies, Hho
are the leprosy Of that fair-skinned race
They we're the filthy pustu1es Of an eruption
OIL the Irish skin-not to be accounted part
Of the natural complexion Of the blood, but
starved down and purged away like a dis
eased excess. In ordinary life, such fel-
lows sneak about, and hide from daylight,
In places where they can drink and debauch
and contriye Wickedness; but here-where
this grand fire made them feel 1iko maeteru,
and gave them impudence for the hour-they
were the pictures Of saucy beggars, half
drunken brntes and robbers, longing to put
clutch upon your throat and empty your pock-
cts. One Of our daily papers estimates this
class Of the New York population ut twenty
thousand. How shall we sufficiently DANA,
for all history, the c,inging politician or COW
ardly office. holder who, for makeweight to
his party, will base1y strive to propitiate such
a scum Of a great citys''