Year: 1861

From the Dublin Irishman May H.
| This American war fills us with pain anC
| disgust, such as We have no words to convey
| Fratricidal it is; for nearer kindred neve
| fought before than those men of the Nortl
and South who now thirst for one-another'
blood.


And for what2 The ambition of few
INSCRIPTIONS demagogues the fanaticism o
| bowling mob: the sordid greed OF hand
ful of hungry traders.


Our sympathies are still with the South
we confess. Not that we have any othe
feeling for slavery, the curse of America
than one of aborrence but because we be
| leve the South has been forced into thi
quarrel by the arrogance and fanaticism of
faction in the North.


Yet-shall we frankly confess it ?-ou
sympathy with the Southerns has been des
perately shaken since we last wrote. Why
Simply then, because we have, in the mean
time, found the leading newspapers in Eng
land defending that side of the quarrel.


A friend Or two have already taken US tC
task for what we said on this subject las
week They have accused us of backing UP
slavery, of siding with the masters of the
poor Negro, and all that. That have ear.
nestly protested that we are in the wrong
we are inclined to confess now, that we feal
we were "leetle" in the wrong last week
But understand. We have nothing to re-
tract on the "nigger" question: we have nc
apology to make for supposed advocacy Of
slavery. The one single reason why we
think we were not altogether in the right is
this: we find the organs Of England on the
same side.


When England takes part with the South,
she can have no possible good object in view.
When sho loudly backs up the seeded States
she must have discovered that the integrity
of the Union was inimical to her piratical
power. Therefore, though the South seem.
to have been right in this quarrel, we confes:
to pang of terror and ALARM when we find
our enemy-the enemy of humanity-Eng
land-backing up the quarrel of the South
erners.


When we Irish are side by side with
England in any quarrel, we must be in the
wrong. 1t is the natural instinct Of our race
to hate the English side and take the other
and if the southern States of America have
England for their hacker, they must look OIL
it as Il thing of fate to have Ireland for theil
foe.


The special organ of English opinion-thc
Times-sides with the Southerns and talks
of sending ships to keep their coasts clear
of course. that cotton may be still freely eX-
ported. And the English government does
send ships of war into the Gulf of Mexico
accordingly, The smaller fry follow in the
wake OF the Times But Judge our aston
astonlshed p when we find what processes to
be the organ of English Catholics---a period
ical called the Rambler-Lacllin up the
SOuth with in md iprr fo
ventlY for their success over the North And
on what ground? Because, as the Rambler
openly declares, the great Republic of the
United States was the one great rival OF
England on the high seas-an "arrogaat
rival, to He hated and abhorred-and SO this
blessed Christian journal expresses its earnest
hope that the said Republic may be broken
up, the arrogant rival destroyed, and the
pirate flag of England be free to float tri-
umphant over the oceanl


We confess we were not prepared for this
startling view of the question and since we
have read these English pronunciamentos our
sympathy with the Southern States mas re-
ceived a dreadful blow.


In taking side or any quarrel, England
can only have her own base and selfish de-
signs in view These designs are essentially
opposed to the best interest of humanity.
The Southerners may have right on their
side eriginally--as we believe they have; but
when England hvors their quarrel, then
such an enormous amount of wrong-diretul
unmitigated wrong-is leagued with them as
almost utterly obliterates their right, and
leaves the overwhelming balance Of justice
on the other side. God pity these Sotherns
blighted by tie curse of English favor aud
support


We take the other side instinc;ively: for
our hereditary foe is over the way Whose
accepts the alliance and friendship of our foe
(were he ever 50 right heiore) become our
enemy by that very act; and We cannot
wish lis cause success.