The Irish standard., 1888-06-23
MINNEAPOLIS ST. PAUL. SATURDAY, JUNE %, 1888.

99s. A Texas editor denounced the
book roundly and then admitted he had
never seen it! And this is reviewing.
THE ABUSE OF THE AMERICAN PRESS.
Why should there be such bitterness
toward you on the part Of many of the
American journals I?
1t is hard to say. Partly it is perhaps
due TO the fact that live IN the back
woods Of America. In the primeval
world the savage who dwelt in a cave
thought it was his first duty 10 murder
and eat any other savage who wandered
near him from another cave. Man
kind has not fully outgrown that senti.
ment. The man living east Of the AL
leghanies can scarcely believe that the
man west of them can perform any in
tellectual feat worth considering. [ re-
member the astonishment Of Boston
over the scholarly ability Of Garfield,
while on the other hand the man of
Ohio and Illinois has his misgivings as
to the man of Minnesota; and the man
of Minnesota experiences more or less
,nlstrust of any literary work born in
Montana or Oregon. In addition to
this my name is Irish, and there are a
great many worthy people i'll my natiye
land who cannot conceive Of an Irish
rnan without some association with
shi]lolahs, spades and wheelbarrows.
If had been a blua- FLOODED professor
of Yale Or Harvard, with a pedigree
that stretched back TO the Mayfower,
my books would have receiyed four
times the acceptance they have had.
Every man OF the Irish race in America
is handicapped with weight of preju-
dice whose origin dates back to the
time ofStrongbow. Moreover, 1 have
been public man, taking an active
part in politics against the aggressions
and robberies of the great railroad cor
porations, which in Minnesota have re-
duced both the population and the
value OF farm land in large portions Of
the State. and the corporations adopt
the maxim of Donnybrook Fsir--when-
ever they see the head OF an enemy
they hit it; and hence the leading pa
PEGS Of my OWL State have had nothing
but abuse and insult for NE and my
book. do not mention any of these
facts regretfu}ly, for would not be
anything else than what I am; but they
serve to explain the whirlw1nd of ridi-
cule and Misrepresentation which has
greeted The Great Cryptogram. I
thank God it is not in the power Of the
concerted howlers of Europe and
America to disturb my eQuanimity or
deprive NE Of an hours sleep. But I
am little amused at the contradictory
nature Of the defamation which assails
me; for while one reviewer describes
me as q lunatic, another is equally sure
/ am a charlatan; one thinks I have de.
ceived myself. another that I am trying
to deceive others; this man will have
me fool, the other knave; and while
VuO plCCA1OO 4AC (A0 81 AANuAA11As VAVA
straws in my hair, another describes
me as a long headed, cunning impostor.
begin to be bewildered about my own
identity; / am ready to cry out with the
good-wife:
oh, this is none of me, quothshe.
Oh. this is none of me.
| cannot see how can be at one and
the same time ''the naidship-mite and
the boats'un tight and the crew Of the
captains gig.''
The fraternity of scribblers is oyer.
doing the business. One St. Paul mar
even expressed his regret that, in con-
sequence Of my robust constitution, /
did not go crazy in the preparation of
my book, like poor Della Bacon! The
cannibal of the cave has survived to
the nineteenth century; this fellow re-
grets that he is not able to pick my
bones.
I can understand why Englishmen
should resent an Americans coming
here to correct the error of 500 years,
but why Americans should be so savage
a gainst an American, in behalf Of an
Eng]ishman, with whom they are not
connected, except through Adam,
passes my comprehension.
The industrial school, built by the
Misses Drexel, of Philadelphia, will be
dedicated on the feast of ST. Vincent
de Paul, July 19.
The earnest faith and piety Of Gen
oral Phil Sheridan mada tho scana at [