The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1874-06-20
"SaiiOnal Preiudices.'
o the Editor of the Dallas Herald:

"Sati0nnl Preiudices.''
To the Editor of the Dallas Herald:
"The strangers that dwelleth with you
| shall be unto you as one born among you,
| and thou shalt love him as thyself. for ye
were strangers in the land of Egypt. l am
| the Lord, your God. Lev. xxx, u.
The noble stand taken by the HER
AID rs the fearless tribune of the peo-
pie, rs the faithful expositor of Jelfer-
soniau democracy, rs the Vigilant
guardian of constitutional rights, and
MS the dctector and denouncer of nepo-
tism and all other isms inimical to
true progress and liberty, has brought
your paper to the front rank of jour-
nalism. Other papers watch which
way the wind flows, and turn their
sails accordingly, but the HERALD pre-
fers to guide and enlighten rather than
to servilely follow in the wake of pub.
lie opinion. Men and things are judged
solely on their merits, and censured or
commended according to their deserts.
Not least in importance among the
many reforms advocated by the HER
AID is the laudable effort to disabuse
the public mind of that relic of barbar-
ism, Irrational prejudice" Though no
intelligent man can give a reason
worthy of respect why such prejudices
do exist, think | can account for the
anti-Irish feeling which permeates the
American character.
To be an Irishman, and worse still,
to be an Irish Catholic, is to he subject
to ostracism in most American com
munities. | speak from experience.
They don't believe that any good thing
can come out of Nazareth. This arises
from looking at Ireland through Eng.
lish spectacles. What little Ameri-
cans know of Irish history they have
acquired through English authors. An
impartial history of Ireland, from the
pen of Hume or Froude, may be as
reasonably expected as that Garrison
or Wendell Phillips, were they to write
history of the late civil war, could
possibly do justice to the south. If we
! turn from these to American histori-
ans, we shall be no better informed,
for American literature is but Il second
edition of its transatlantic prototype.
So differential are American writers to
English opinion that they would sac
rafice truth itself to obtain an approx
ing nod from Jupiter Tonans, a British
review.
Not only history, but the whole OF
English literature is permeated with
this hostile spirit. Ireland was gagged
by penal laws, and for centuries pre-
vented from taking any part in lit.
erature, which consequently became
intens!y inimical to everything Irish.
But since the seal has been removed
from the mouths of Irish orators, and
Irish writers permitted to use their
pens, the misty scales of misrepresen-
tation and fabrication, in which venal
and partisan political scribes had en-
veloped the story of Ireland, are fast
disappearing, and the truth of history
at last coming out.
You appeal especially to American
youth to divest themselves of ma.
| tional prejudices. This is wise, fol
they are the material to work upon
but supposing their teachers are i'll.
fected with the virus, what then?
was present recently at school eXhi'
EDITION where, among other silly things
q little piece. was acted in which q
drunken Irishman was the prominent
character. AT the close of the eXer-
cises, when the people began to dis
perse towards their homes, saw seve-
raj drunken Americans acting most
disorderly, but not single lrishman
| The drunken Irishman is no more 8
representative of his race than the
| Arkansaw traveller or the Texas DIES.
perado IL fair specimen of the peace
full American citizen. The evil is that
teachers and those who ought to know
better will put this detestable charac,
ter forward as representative of his
nationality, and thus poison the minds
of American children with prejudice
against people from whom AT least
! one third of the inhabitants of the
United States are descended. His
Peter Farley affords the pupil little aid
in erasing these erroneous ideas.
Any one who desires to known the
| relative morality and s0briety of the
English, Scotch and Irish, may con-
suit the statistics of the British regis
trar general. Perhaps 1t would sur
prise some to hear that Pat has fewer
black marks against him than either
Sandy or Johnny Bull.
Turning to Goodrich's common school
history he finds one page 1.-TWO hum
dred and seventy-seven), ofthirty-eight
lines, devoted to the history of Ireland,
of which the following is specimens:
| 1.-THE first inhabitants were hard
listed Celts, who fought with cluts,
and seemed to love fighting better even
than feasting. These (their
kings were constantly quarreling with
each other, and thus the people had
plenty of their favorite sport.n
Is it any wonder that children, fed
on such literary hash, should be intel
Iectually dyspeptic? .s.
In his remarks before the Ontario
lCanada) Teachers association, Pro-
lessor Goodwin Smith said, 81 doubt
whether q more active or more viru-
lent poison was ever infused into the
veins of nation than that which sim
fused into the veins of the American
nation by such school histories as are
used in the United States. What can
be expected if people are fed through
their childhood on such stimulants of
national vanity and malignity%
National prejudices will disappear
with The causes which gave light TO
them. The press is difiusing knowl-
edge, the railroad and the telegraph
have all but annihilated space and
time and united all nations, the walls
of separation are broken down, and let
US hope that "all the world and the
rest of mankind as children of one
Father, viii unite in promoting "peace
on earth, good toward men,"
coREoNIAN.
st. Paul, Collin county, June i6, 1874.
THE Westward Empire, of Saturday