The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1869-04-20
The Irish Element in Our oSGtn
ton.

ton.
The Irish in America have THIS eyiri
GUS and undeniable characteristic, tha
they never cease to be Irish, and at th,
same time are as good AmelicsEs as th'
best They are indeed, among the mos
remarkable Of modern people. Genius
wit and e!oquence seem to. be the com
mon heritage in greater OF less degree
of the whole Irish race Among thei
most prominent characteristics are th'
courage of the men, the purity of tht
women, warm hearts and open hands o
tall, strong religious faith and an imper
ishable love Of old Ireland
The magnitude cf the Irish e'enen
i'm our population msy be judged Of By
the fact that in the forty-;ix years
1StSi86o, the total number of emigrant:
arriving from the Uni,M Kingdom o.
Great Britian and Ireland on our shore:
was 2,750,874. In the same period j..
ls6,62I persons enigrated from tlit
United Kingdom 20 the British colonies
in North America, a large portion Of
whom are known, to have eventually set
tied in the United States. By the cen
sus of 1860 the population in the. United
States of Irish birth was 1,6l1, ,304, aud
that of German l,30l,l35 Since that
period the German element has increas.
ed, relatively speaking, The greatest
number of Irish reside in the States oil
New York, Pennsylvania, illinois, Ohio,
Wisconsin and Michigan 1t is coinpu
ted that the four millions Of efnigran.s
enumerated in the United States in 1850,
together with the number decreased, must
have brought into the country an amount
of property not less than s40o,000,0 600,
besides the much greater capital which
the immigrants in themselves represent,
physically and intellectually. Ons fact
to which we would call special attention.
is the large sums of money which have
been sent by settlers in North America
to friends in Great Britain, amounting,
from lS4s to 1860, according to :he re-
turns Of banks and mercantile houses
through which they have been forward
cd, and not including sums rcmitted
through other agencies, to 56,l9l, 1888.
Taking as standard the increase OF
population of Irish nativity from 1856
to 1860, which was about 75l 900, the
census of next year will probably give
2,362,3 persons of Irish nativity in
this country, not counting the large
number Of Irish descent,
No accession to our population from
abroad has been more valuable than that
of the Irish. They may be said to have
been the pioneers in the emigration to
this country, and as such their labor
was indispensable in all the industrial
enterprises which have been necessary
to the developement of national wealth
The public works of the country, the
canals, the railroads, the clearing up o.
the Western wilderness, have been ac
complished in great measure through
their bone and muscle. They have
formed the front ranks in the armies OF
peace as well as Of war. The creativ'
energies are as, great as their destructive
and when we say that we need add moth
ling further. In all our battles, Nhethe
by sea or land, their courage has beer
conspicuous. In all the wars Of Eng
land it is the Irish who lead the advance
and even in the late expedition Of Abys
sinia It was an Irish column which
Iswept away the barbarians around The
odorus, at the moment when some o
! their own countrymen were lying ih jai
in England. or preparing to mount, th'
scaifold,- as the penalty Of alleged treas
On. tits not, however, by their physic
al stamina alone, either in peace or war
that the Irish have been of value to GU
country, They have contributed to ou
moral, intellectual and political forces g;
largely as any class Of emigrants, ant
they and their descendants are anon!
the leading and able men in all depart
menss of our public and private life
Henry Clay once pointed out a stri IN;
resemblance between the Irish and Ken
tuckians in their impulsive, hospitable
frank, intrepid character. IN truth. the,
assimilate with our people with wonder
AuA 2oSiillSt otet hihy W saw ~ W AsAi
Aedged Americans before they step upol
our shores To those who are accus
toned to speak of the poverty of th'
Irish peasantry as proof Of want of in
dustry and economy, We need only t.
exhibit the prosperous condition Of th,
lsame people here rs evidence that tn
state OF things in their own island i
due to other causes than the defeat o
the national character, whilst the vas
suns they have sent to their friends y
homo exhibit qualities of heart whicl
would do honor to any people. In fact
the amazing reeuperativc energies Of tb
Irish people which centuries of Cypress
ion have not been able to overcome, ar
proof of a vitality th&t seems eapabl
Of outliviug the tyranny which ha
sought in vainto repress it, and of show
ing that the shamrock, like some, othe
plants, has power of forcing itsel
from the ground upward through tn
J thcaviest sUperincumbent pressure