New-York tribune., 1867-03-29
THE ARGUMENT AGAINST LIBERTY.

THE RGUMENT AGAINST LIBERTY.
Whoever has paid thoughtful attention TO
the long debate respecting Slavery, now so
nearly concluded, must have been struck by
the prominence accorded in it, 10y those whose
task it was to make the worse appear the
better reason, TO the alleged impertcctions and
nfclicties of the ncgrOes-thcir offensive smell,
their woolly hair their cayernOus mouths, then
elongated heels, their crooked shins, &c,
&c. Ii was III vain that We dcmuued
TO these allegations as utterly Irrelevant,
and disclaimed that idolzing over-estlmate
of the African race that was implied III
the designation Niger worsmpcr.' 1t was
no part of our ease that tho negro was eXcep-
tionaby wise or clever, chaste OF temperate,
energetic or frugal; only cared TO show
that he was a man therefore entitled TO hui
man rights. As TO miscegenatlon,' we could
only say that. having no desire, and not being
at liberty to take another wits, we certainly
were not in quest of a black one, All IN VAN:
the rabbe rout either could n6t or would not
comprehend that one might insist on the rccog
milton of negroes as entitled TO the common
rights and mmunities of manhood without
misiaking them for a race of heroes, statcrucu,
noets OF paragons--that we stood mp for their
rights. not because OF their color but in spite
of it.
Far be it from us to insinuatc any affinity
between the Celt and the African. If We
did we should surely offend one race-yeIy
possbly both. We dcprccatc the imminent
shillelab by making haste to give assurance that
an Irishman is as unlike negro rs man well
can be. And yet he is not so wholly unlike
that they are not both human-membcrs of the
some great family, children of one God, and
Joint heirs of Immortality.
When. therefore we are told by men who
claim to be enlightened and liberal that the
Celt is prosecuting bigot-that he cannot
safely be trusted with pOwer-that he cannot
tolerate liberation, and has no true conception
of Hberty-we simply answer that those asser-
tions true or false are wholly aside from the
controversy If the Celt be indeed perse-
cutor, that is no warrant for prosecuting him
if he cannot comprehend Liberty, that does not
Justify others in reducing him to Slavery. In
short, his rights as a man are unaffected by his
fidelity or infdelity to that great principle
which afflms that all men should be free.
His case as we understand it, is this:
The Irish Celts are some Ten Millions III
number. of whom more than half are now III
tries than Ireland yet even these children of
exiles are identified i'll faith and feeling with
those of their race still clinging to the graves Of
their ancestors. Divided into barbarous clans
or septs which regarded each other as natural
enemies rather than cOuntrymen, the Cells
were seven OF eight centuries ago easily over
run and subjugated by their more civilized, bet
ter organized, and every way stronger ncighbOrs,
the AnglO-SaXOns or Angl0-N0rnans. DiscOn-
tentedand turbulent, the Cclt has again and again
Tevoltcd against his masters, and been as often
subugated by them, until the primitive aris-
tocracy of his race have been nearly eXtirpat
ed and their lands distributed as "spos" to
the "vctors." Thus to-day nine-tenths of the
soil of Ireland is the property of the dominant
cOnquering races some of them for ages resi-
dents on their Irish estates; but quite as many
English by birth and domcilc as well as
English in every sympathy and aspiration.
The Reformation has aggravated the alicna-
ton between the ruled and ruling classes The
Irish Celts are mainly Roman Catholics; the
aristOcracy and gentry who own the soil OF
Ireland, are nearly all Protestants; and the
laws imposed by the cOnquerOrs on the con-
quercd make the church of the former National,
and endow it richly from the proceeds of the
land; while the church of the great majority,
for ages under the ban Of law and authority,
is now barely tolerated. The edfices wherein
the few worship are legally churches; while
those of the great majority arc known to the
law as ch0peIS
The English own the soil of Ireland; the
Irish rent and cultivate it. And it is the set
tied policy Of the lan9lorls to keep the great
mass Of the cultivators in the abject position of
mere tenants at WILL The peasant is liable to
be aispossesse9 at the mere caprice of his land
lord; # le drains fcrtilizes, and every way
improves his holding, so as to render it thrice
as productive as when he took it, sIo landlord
may increase his rent at pleasure, or eject him
and rcfuse him any comnpnsation for his life