EH5C 
 
J 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 898 337 3 
 
 Hollinger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3-1955 
 

 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 DEMOCRACY 
 
 VERSUS 
 
 KNOW-NOTHINGISM 
 
 AND 
 
 REPULICANISM. 
 
 LETTER FROM 
 
 DUNNE, 
 
 TO 
 
 _ JONES & GIVEN. 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by 
 Henry G. D-ttline, in the clerk's office ot the district court of thf 
 United States in and for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. 
 
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 Philadelphia, August 18, 1868. 
 
 JOHN H. JONES, & JOHN GIVEN, Esqrs. 
 
 24th ward, PHILADELPHIA. 
 GrENTLEMEN.-^ 
 
 The courtesy extended me by you whilst in conversation 
 on politics a few evenings past, induces the hope you will pardon 
 my present intrusion, whilst I recur to the subject, and place 
 before you in as concise a luanner as possible, my present 
 political position, and as I hope such will be in a few brief months, 
 In doing so I shall endeavor to keep myself within due limits, 
 and if perchance any expression of mine may appear harsh or 
 insulting, I hope you will believe me when I before-hand assure 
 you that such is not intentional. Premising thus, I will remind 
 you of having been informed by you, of one being connected with 
 that class of politicians known as "Republicans" commonly called 
 " Black Republicans," and the other to the political organization 
 known as "Americans," but better known under the soubriquet 
 of " Know Nothings." It was evident to to me that although 
 not agreeing yourselves in political opinions, yet both seemed 
 desirous I should not when the proper period arrived connect myself 
 with that political party, to which both on principles I presume are 
 opposed and which is known as the "Loco Foco," or Democratic." 
 I shall in the first place take up the Republican party and state 
 my objections to its principles, secondly, my objections to the so 
 called '■'■American,^'' and lastly, give my reasons for adhesion to the 
 Democratic. But before going into parties you will allow me to 
 remind you of my not being yet an American Citizen, but having 
 declared my intention, hope soon to claim that proud title. Whilst 
 living under Monarchical institutions, I felt their grinding oppres- 
 sion as one of the masses, and knew through sad experience that 
 the government was carried on not for the benefit of the people, 
 but for a class forming in itself a vast minority of the nation. 
 That this favored class, having all power, such was invariably 
 used for its own benefit and aggrandizement, and to the debasement 
 and degradation of the majority. Those are jDatent facts, which 
 require no further confirmation than the amount of immigration 
 to those shores from the monarchical countries of the old world; of 
 men who hope to find here a resting place and refuge from dire 
 wrong, unmerited suffering, and down-right tyranny, here at least 
 we fondly hoped we might have peace, and here also, where alone 
 on earth liberty had been proclaimed we expected to taste its sweets 
 in security, and give iii return for the great and incomprehensible 
 boon, our industry, energies, talents, and if necessary our lives, 
 
to maintain tlie gift banded down by tbe Immortal Fathers of tbe 
 Kepublic, and wbicb bas undergone an ordeal of tbree-fourtbs of a 
 century and transmit same to future generations pxirc and 
 intact. We left bebind all man bolds dear, parents, cbildren, 
 friends witb -wbom our cbildhood bours were spent in play, our 
 fathers graves, and all the tics which bind the human heart to the 
 soil wbere its first pulsations throbbed, tbe old associations tbat 
 like fairy visions bound us to tbe homes of our fathers, wbich 
 in day dreams recalled us back tbousands of years to dwell on 
 tbeir migbt, tbeir glory and tbt;ir power, until tbe vision fleeing 
 "we found we were tbe serfs of otbcrs no better than ourselves, save 
 in tbe power tbcy possessed of keeping tbeir iron beels on our bent 
 necks. Unable to upset tbe tyranny we fled from, wc gladly avail- 
 ed ourselves of the goodness of the jJmericnn Co7isi it ut ion, ■^■hich. 
 by implication prouiises a borne to all wbo may come to swell tbe 
 ranks of tbe enemies of monarcbical tyranny, all wbo come to culti- 
 vate and improve tbe soil, and by talent and energy belp to raise tbe 
 United States still higher and forward tbeir marcli to fiirtber great- 
 ness. Impressed with such feelings, I swore allegiance to the 
 United States, and shall maintain it. Having thus given you some 
 of the motives which induced me to emigrate, and having carried 
 out so far as lay in my power the duties appertaining to my present 
 political position, having for nearly five years carefully studied the 
 constitution, its working, tlie laws so far as capable, I patiently 
 await the hour when 1 can say to myself, / afn a Sovereign amongst 
 Sovereigns, I bold a higher title than the proudest aristocrat on 
 earth, that of an American Citizen ;. when tbat time arrives I shall 
 act my part as such, and this brings me to tbe consideration of the 
 principles of the three parties at present found in American politics. 
 First then, as to those calling themselves llepublicans, let me 
 call your attention to their jdutform, or in other words, to the ex- 
 position of their political doctrines I find them arrayed against 
 ihe south on the ijuestion of slavery, secondly, they are favorable 
 to a high protective Tariff, thirdly, they are committed to 
 intolerance, whereas they declare by a resolution as pro- 
 posed by an Hon. Ex. Judge at a convention held at IJarrisburg, 
 in tliis state, tbat all parties who could not give up allegiance 
 Spiritual and Temporal to foreign powers should not have the 
 privileges of American Citizens, and fourthly, their doctrines tend 
 to the dismemberment of the general confederation, and conse((uent 
 destruction of Kcpublican liberty. Jjiit us take those charges con- 
 secutively and see if I am justified in ojiposing the party. \\'hen the 
 American colonies rebelled against f'ngland, each colony was slave 
 holding in itself, and continued so for years after the declaration 
 and acknowledgment of their independence. Slave-holding was 
 
But begotten of America, it was introduced by England ; under her 
 rule became a vested right and so continues. The Northern states 
 in closer proximity to Europe, received the first glut of its super- 
 abundant ])opulation, the climate approximated more to that of 
 Europe, consequently more salubrious for the newly arrived emi- 
 grant, those emigrants being chiefly of the working classes, gradu- 
 ally displaced the negro, and fortunately for the Northern statea 
 took his place. It became the interest of the proprietors to dis- 
 pense witli the unwieldy black,and sell their unreclaimed land to the 
 new comers of their own color, thereby realising for themselves and 
 posferift/, handsome competency, aj[Jh/e7ice and comfort, whilst at 
 the siuiie time, such introduced a new population, laborious and 
 enenrelic, that in a short time converted the swamps into arable 
 laad, the dense forests into thriving marts of trade and manu- 
 facture, and the fi'ihing hamlets into magnificent cities, teeming 
 with lije, industry, and commerce. Thus it was the interest in 
 slaves ceased in the Northern states, where slavery would still ex- 
 ist had the necessity for it continued. Let us now look South, 
 there we find a clime fatal almost to Europeans, with land produc- 
 tive of articles essentially necessary for man's comfort and use, 
 which for the above reason must remain unproductive, unless a 
 people can be found on whom the climate will not act so destruc- 
 tively, such are there, was there before the declaration of indepen • 
 dence, and are likely to continue, so long as the necessity exists, 
 those are negroes and slaves, who alone can work the soil. Now 
 slavery as a necessity exists in the southern states, which have rights 
 guaranteed by the constitution, add to which we must not forget the 
 fact of e ich state being sovereign and independent in itself. 
 Slavery ceased in the north when the interests of its people no lon- 
 ger required it ; the South made no objection to the action of the 
 North in mxnumitting their slaves, and now demand no more than 
 to be allowed to manage their own affiiirs without the impertinent 
 intermedling of the north. Although anxious for the emancipa- 
 tion of the entire human race, I am nut fool enough to fancy that 
 Kussia, Turkey and other European countries are now fit to 
 receive republican institutions, although for centuries goverened by 
 a system of laws, and mixing with the world ; much less do I believe 
 the southern negro prepared to receive liberty, being as he is, 
 uneducated and knowing no law, save his owner's will. But let 
 us suppose all the slaves are to be emancipated to morrow, may 
 I ask what is to be done with them? Where shall they locate? 
 Into what white family will they intermarry? Or into what church 
 can they enter to worship the God of all? Look at the condition 
 of the free blacks around us, and ask yourselves what they have 
 gained by freedom ? You must answer with me that in the vast 
 
majority of cases, tlioy have gained nothing, save the liberty of 
 becoming more degraded than they were previously. It seems 
 strange however to me, that any political party can for very shame 
 clamor for the emancipation and full citizenship of the black, 
 whilst they refuse same to men of their own color, merely 
 because they worship Grod under a different form from the majority 
 of the party. Before closing this portion of my subject, allow 
 me to ask, have we not white slaves around us on whom we 
 might beneficially extend our superabundant philanthropy ? 
 Look to your apprenticeship S3^stem, &c., 
 
 I now take up my second objection, viz : a Tariff. The popu- 
 lation of the Union amounts to some twenty-eight millions, eight 
 of whom are engaired in trade &c,, the balance of twenty millions 
 in agriculture. It is known to you that all men wish to sell in the 
 dearest and purchase in the cheapest markets, tlie majority of the 
 American people are no exception to this rule, and on the principle 
 of common justice how can you ask for a law that would compel 
 me to pass a cheap and purchase an article in a dearer market. 
 Taking this view of a Tariff" it is unjust to begin with, let us take 
 another : Suppose a duty of fifty per cent imposed to-morrow on 
 all goods of foreign manufacture, how long would such continue 
 before it would require ten navies like that of the United States, 
 to prevent snmggling along your extensive seaboard. I am of 
 opinion the duties receiveable would not pay the expense, as you 
 would offer a premium for smuggling, destroy the honest trader, and 
 bring not alone the Tariff law, but all laws into disrespect. 
 Again, does not the product of America find a market in other 
 countries ? Must it not be paid for ? You have a Tariff', and does 
 not its action compel the American producer to pay higher rates 
 for manufactured goods, whilst other countries acting on the de- 
 fensive, impose a Tariff on American products thereby robbing the 
 American agriculturist of a free market and higher prices '? How 
 like a two-edged sword a Tariff cuts the majority of the citizens 
 of those states. Again, under a Tariff the manufacturer proceeds 
 to bank to procure cash, and finds, because Government has given 
 him a bonus of fifty per cent on his goods, that 3Icssrs. note shavers 
 suddenly discover money has become exceedingly scarce, so much 
 so, that rates run eiglit or ten j)er cent higlier tlian they otherwise 
 would, but you know that is nothing to parties who already pocket 
 fifty per cent, premium on goods. Let us even look at it in this 
 light, England manufactures largely and exports to this country 
 large (juantities of goods, yet she has to come here for her raw 
 material, carry it across four thousand miles of Ocean, pay dock 
 dues, commission, insurance, freight, SiC, Arc, both on this and 
 on the other side of the Atlantic, carry it iuland at considerable ex- 
 
pense, send it manufactured here, paying similar expenses, together 
 with present Tariff, run risk of bad debts, &.G., and after all this, 
 must I to be told that the manufacturer here, who has the raw 
 material on the spot, as well as a market for his goods at the 
 door, and who avoids all the expenses above enumerated, cannot 
 compete with the foreigner. Gentlemen this is too large a pill for 
 me to swallow, I leave it for protectionists. — I might produce other 
 arguments against a Tariff, but will proceed to my third objection, 
 viz : — The exclusion from citizenship on account of religion. 
 
 One of the most glorious principles of the American Constitution 
 is, " That religion shall be free, that religion shall never be con- 
 nected with the state, or in other words, that man may worship God 
 according to the dictates of his conscience. This is religious libertj\ 
 Any measure to the contrary is intolerance and religious persecution. 
 Commit an act against this principle and we at ouce break the Con- 
 stitution, set it at nought and act the tyrant Now according to 
 the resolution of the Republican Platform, that party has 
 been guilty of this great heresy against the constitution, for therein 
 it is declared, " Tliat no person who cannot give up allegiance, 
 spiritual and temporal to foreign powers, should hold citizenship in 
 those States." Now gentlemen. Allegiance is two-fold, one 
 spiritual and the other temporal ; the former, that due by man's 
 conscience to his God, the latter, that due to the Constitution under 
 which he lives, and on which laws are framed, and society exists. In 
 the former case, the Constitution says; — conscience, that is spiritual 
 allegiance shall be free, but the liejiublican party says "no"' 
 The man whose conscience is not like ours, shall not enjoy citizen- 
 ship or have the same political privileges we possess. The Mussel- 
 man, follower of Mahomet, the Chinaman, follower of Bhudda, 
 the Jew, follower of the Mosaic dispensation, and last though not 
 least, the Catholic, follower of the Saviour of man, would be by 
 this resolution excluded from the privilege of American citizen- 
 ship. Now is this religious liberty, or is it persecution ? If re- 
 ligious liberty, I know not the meaning of the phrase ; if not 
 religious persecution, I know not what it is ; if not a declaration 
 against religious freedom as laid down by the constitution, I for 
 one shall be glad to learn. Allow me to ask, what either one of u>: 
 know about Mahomedan, Bhadhist, or Jewish rites, that would 
 justify us in any attempt to deprive the followers of those creeds of 
 their rights as American citizens ? If we have no right to do so, 
 (as we have not,) in those cases, how much less have we in the 
 case of Catholics, who are not alone acknowledged by the chris- 
 tian government under which we live, as being christians, but as 
 being the oldest and most numerous of the Churches, into which 
 Christianity is split ? Can we not see that this resolution although 
 
6 
 
 including the peoples above enumerated, is aimed exclusively against 
 Catholics ? And that too, in the face of the liberty allowed other 
 sects, in what are called the despotic catholic countries of Europe. 
 France, Austria, Belgium, all catholic, not alone allows freedom of 
 conscience but actually pays the stipends of non-conforming ministers. 
 This seems to me to be more in accordance with the spirit of 
 Religious liberty than the resolutions of the Republican 
 platform ; but suppose such was not the case, but that France, 
 Austria, and Belgium, excluded altogether the professors of all 
 religions save the Catholic, and would not allow citizenship to 
 any who did not profess Catholicism ; in what worse position would 
 they be than the Republican party under their present platform ? 
 Nothing. How much beneath those Monarchical rulers the Republi- 
 can party appear, who attempt pursuing the very course they con- 
 demn European Catholic Governments for, and that too, without a 
 shadow of foundation for the charges continually made against 
 them of being intolerent in matters of religion. Although a di- 
 gression I am sorry to say the only countries I know of where in- 
 tolerance is law, are protestant ; for instance, Prussia, Denmark, 
 Sweden, in fact, and I deeply regret to add, that in spirit the 
 American and Republican parties here follow so pernicious an ex- 
 ample. The fact of Catholic Belgium selecting a protestant King, 
 flings to the wind the charge made by implication, by the Republi- 
 can party, of all Catholics being temporal subjects of the head of 
 their Church. If Catholics owe temporal'allegianee there, why is 
 it, that the Pope is not Monarch of three-fourths of Europe ? 
 Why does France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Naples, Sardinia, 
 Tuscany, Bohemia, Bavaria, and other Catholic countries in 
 Europe maintain their own Monarcbs and governments, despite this 
 so much talked of popish allegiance ? The answer is plain, because 
 the people of those countries owe his Holiness no temporal allegi- 
 ance ; acknowledging him head of their Church, they look upon him 
 as being its chief magistrate, and willingly concede him the respect 
 due his high and holy office, lie cannot order the Armies of France 
 to march, neither can he prevent the Austrian from occasion- 
 ally taking possession of sf)iiie of his own small i)atriinony; away then 
 with the folly of charging Catholics with being the temporal snb- 
 iects of the Pope, a charge, the falsity of which none know better, 
 than the concoctors of the resolutions of the l{epublic:ui jjlatform. 
 As I may again allude to this subject when speaking of the Ameri- 
 can party, I shall proceed with my fourth objection to the Repub- 
 lican, viz : " That it tends to the dismeiubornicnt of the general 
 (Confederation and consequent destruction of Republican liberty." 
 There is but one nation under heaven that the United States 
 
has any reason to fear, any cause to alarm herself about ; that 
 nation is England ; a nation great in wealth, in extent, in com- 
 merce, in trade, in manufactures; great in hate, in envy and deceit. 
 Depending as she does for very existence on trade and commerce, 
 she looks with jealous eyes on any encroachment on what she 
 long considered her inalienable right, of being the only trader 
 and manufacturer in the world ; she has not much to fear so long 
 as she can keep up her character of being the " Mart of Nations," 
 and will stop at nothing to maintain her hitherto superior name in 
 this respect. Until within the last few years she would not 
 allow even the model of a machine to be sent here, lest such 
 might lead to the production of goods that would shut so much 
 of her manufactures out of this market. Blinded by over vigi- 
 lance, she allowed the artisan to escape, who on arriving here not 
 only made the model but the machine itself, in such quantities th^t 
 finding America could produce machinery,she allowed its exporta- 
 tion. Within a few short years the young manufacturing power of 
 America drove England from the South American markets, and 
 so rapid was its growth, that after the Chinese war, carried on 
 by England, and which opened that hitherto sealed country to 
 the commerce of the world, American cottons sold easier and 
 produced better prices at Hong Kong than the English. Even 
 in Hindostan, England's own territory, the heavier descriptions 
 of American cotton cloth took the market ; in short, New York 
 and Boston, threatened to rival London, and become " Marts of 
 Nations," with growing power, respect and name. Then England 
 changed her tactics in regard to the United States, and sent 
 over an adventurer named Thompson, at that time member of 
 Parliament for one of the London Boroughs, the " Tower 
 Hamlets," to set the North, her rising competitor in trade, 
 against the South on the question of Negro Slavery. He sowed 
 bitter seed, the product of which we have yet amongst us, in the 
 feud existing between both sections of the Republic. Finding 
 the American people on sober second thought, shed no blood on 
 this question, and that the schemes of the originators of Thomp- 
 son's mission failed, she flung another firebrand on those shores 
 in the person of a renegade Italian Catholic Priest named Gavazzi, 
 whose duties seemed to be to sow dissension between the native 
 born and naturalized citizen, knowing that many thousands of the 
 latter were her former subjects, now American citizens, her sworn 
 foes, and bitterest enemies. We know how he and his confrere the 
 self styled "Angel Gabriel" performed their parts, how in broken 
 English the Italian warned the native born to beware of foreign in- 
 fluence, how he was cheered, feted, applauded to the echo, whilst 
 wielding the worst description of foreign influence himself, aided 
 
8 
 
 by the mountebank "xingel" with tin horn and Scotch clack, a 
 storm was raised that well nigh brought destruction upon the 
 Republic and startled mankind by its outrages, its bigotry, and 
 its fury. Thanks to the wisdom, and former sad experiences of 
 the naturalized citizens who early saw through England's scheme, 
 they bore all, in order to secure the confederation from the 
 threatened destruction. From the beginning envious of America, 
 England stopped at nothing to effect the destruction of the Union, 
 nor need we hope she has ceased her efforts, for could she but 
 effect a separation of the States by any means fair or foul, she 
 would soon prove to that section that now competes with her in 
 trade, that she could crush her without firing a shot, by merely 
 entering into a commercial treaty with the South. The North 
 would soon find she would have a Tariff not at all beneficial to 
 nothern interests. England would soon again be the sole manu- 
 facturer of the -world, we would hear no more screaming for 
 negro emancipation, in fact, niggers would lose thier caste and 
 become while headed boys, but remain slaves, for England's 
 interests would require their labor, as she cannot do without 
 cotton. I might go further to prove my position but find the 
 subject would demand more of your time than I have a right to 
 occupy. The fact stares me in the face, that separation of North 
 from South, would be destructive of both, which in itself is suffi- 
 oient to make me an opponent of any party whose tendencies 
 would in the least degree lead to such an unfortunate result. 
 My oath of allegiance to the general confederation com- 
 pels OPPOSITION to the party from me. 
 
 In taking up the American platform, I do so with trepidation, 
 not on account of its merits, if any — but because I will have to 
 deal with a party who living under republican institutions blindly 
 seek to deprive men of blessings intended by the falliers of the 
 republic for all, I sliall have to deal with a party whose previ- 
 ous acts prove their present and future intentions, who blind to 
 the history of the past, renew its crimes, its intolerance, and \U 
 hate, who forget that foreigners assisted the native born to 
 achieve independence, to secure which the^' gave up home, 
 country, friends; a party who forget the services of LaFayette, 
 liochaiiibeau, Barr}', Montgomery, Kosciusko, Pulaski, Steuben, 
 and DeKalb, and wlio would deprive the fellows of those, 
 illustrious men of the privileges of American citizensliip. 
 A party who hold the absurd doctrine that an immigrant should 
 reside twenty-one years in the States before he could become a 
 citizen. In niy poor opinion men who have studied in that best 
 of schools, "experience" do know something of tlic governments 
 under which they previously lived, as well as that of the country 
 
to which they emigrated, and I firmly believe such knowledge 
 adds strength to their republicanism, and gives zest to their hate 
 of kingly rule. Banned by this party at the very threshold of 
 the Constitution, how could I give it adhesion, when its members 
 tell me to my face I am not as good as they, or fit to have simi- 
 lar privileges. Let us see what such political doctrines would 
 lead to. One of the charges brought by the Continental Con- 
 gress against George the Third was, that he prevented immigra- 
 tion to the then colonies. The constitution declares religion shall 
 be free, but this party like the Republican, but more openly, 
 declares no — all religions shall be free save the Roman Catholic. 
 Think you Charles Carroll of Carrolton himself a Roman Catholic, 
 would have staked his life, his property, and his sacred honor to 
 support such an unrepublican doctrine as this ; no ! assuredly not ; 
 neither would the illustrious Henry, or Franklin ; yet here is a 
 party sprung up three-quarters of a century after those illustrious 
 men have passed away, who by their acts proclaim the fact that if 
 alivo at the time of the revolution, they would have supported Eng- 
 land in prohibiting emigration, and in her intolerance in matters 
 of religion,it would be strange indeed if any naturalize d citizen could 
 support such political doctrines, and it seems equally strange the 
 party itself does not act on its platform, by recalling the remnant of 
 the Indian tribes and placing them in the position of our governors. 
 Here is a party many of whom are the immediate descendants of 
 immigrants, assuming the title of Americans, having not one drop 
 of American blood in their veins, forgetting all, even common 
 decency, spit as it were on the mothers who bore them, and de- 
 nounce them as being foreigners. — Where has honor fled? 
 
 Or under what other sun could such descendants of such parents 
 
 be found 1 What would such descendants be now if the 
 
 foreign parent had not emigrated to America ? Why judging by 
 analogy, sunk lower in the the scale of humanity than any of the 
 emigrants who have made America their home. This party bound 
 together by the most solemn oaths, have pronounced against all 
 foreigners, in many cases even their own fathers, and hold the 
 doctrine that immigrants should have no higher rank in the 
 Republic than that of slaves. In its clemency the party would 
 allow the foreigner to pay taxes, fight the battles, of the country, 
 hew into and cut down the forests, reclaim the waste, dig deep 
 into the earth and from its teeming bowels extract the riches 
 therein contained, wade to the middle in puddle and mud, day 
 after day, on canals and rail-road tracks, build and work factories, 
 employ and pay native born citizens, maintain the flag of the 
 country on field and deck, and in every other possible way 
 
10 
 
 elevate the American name. Yet in return for such services they 
 must remain slaves ; whilst to carry the absurdity still further, 
 their own children might be American citizens, wielding the in- 
 fluence, power and might, their slaves of fathers created. Here 
 is a party who would reverse the order of creation by making the 
 parent the slave of the child, and who whilst denouncing slavery, 
 would enslave men in many instances, superior in intellect to the 
 bright luminaries who founded this most unchristian, most despo 
 tical, society. I will assert nothing, I shall not at least endeavor 
 to prove, and when I call this sworn confederacy unchristian, I 
 prove it by its acts from Maine to Louisiana ; need I refer to the 
 destruction of Churches consecrated to the service of God, in 
 Maine, Mass., and other states, need 1 refer to the tarring, feather- 
 ing, and riding on rails, of clergymen,whose lives are devoted to 
 the service of the Redeemer, or need I point to the gutters of 
 Brooklyn, Louisburg, Baltimore, and New Orleans, running deep 
 with the blood of men shed in fiendish hate, by this more than 
 fiendish society. If such things have occured when this party 
 has little or no power ? What atrocities might we not expect to 
 witness if all power was in its hands ? We are told by this party 
 that foreigners could not be trusted, that forsooth they are spies 
 in the Bepublic, and would if they dare, be traitors. But I 
 appeal to the history of the past for contradiction of this gross 
 slander. France gave you Lafayette and Rochambeau, together 
 with a host of men. Germany gave you Steuben and De Kalb. 
 Poland gave you Ko.'-ciusko and Pulaski. Wliilst my own poor 
 country gave you Montgomery and Barry, with many others 
 wliose glorious deeds are unrecorded; yet out of all, during the 
 Revolutionary campaign, we find no treason affixed to the name 
 of any. An Irisliinan, John 13arry, first raised the "Stars and 
 Stripes," and nailed them to the masthead of his small frigate. 
 Another, Montgomery, sealed his fidelity to the young States 
 with his blood, before the bastions of Quebec. A Scotchman, 
 John Paul, "Paul Jones," carried the fiag of the Infant Republic 
 across tlie Atlantic, burned Whitehaven, and spread the terrors of 
 the American name tlirough the very heart of England. Lafayette 
 and Steuben fought side by side with the immortal Washington. 
 Yet, notwithstanding olTers of place, of honor, of nobility, made 
 to many of them Ijy England, they still preserved their allegi- 
 ance to the Re|)ublics, preferring honor and truth to gain. No. 
 We nmst look elsewhere for traitors during this period. Ne d 
 I nnMilion one whose accursed treason had well nigh sold the life 
 of the young States, and sunk his own name in eternal infamy. 
 Wiio tliat reads the history of the Revolution, can jieruse that 
 page whereon Arnold's treason is recorded, without feeling his 
 
11 
 
 blood boil at the baseness of the wretch; and what foreigner, 
 here or elsewhere, is there that does not exult in the knowledge 
 that treason was not found — had no existence amongst the many 
 foreigners who fought and died for American liberty? Coming 
 down to the war of 1812, we find the immediate descendant of 
 an Irish emigrant, the illustrious Jackson, crushing the might of 
 England; dragging her pirate flag through the puddle of the 
 Mississippi; and driving her hoard of licensed cutthroats from 
 before the cotton ramparts of New Orleans, wliilst at the 
 same time, a nest of native traitors were sitting in convention at 
 Hartford, Connecticut, using every means in their power to thwart 
 his plans, deprive him of his means, and assist the ancient enemy. 
 Where lay treason in this case ? During the late war in Mexico, 
 what foreigner betrayed the cause of America, or turned his 
 back on the "Stars and Stripes?" What field was won there 
 that was not drenched with Irish, German and other foreign 
 blood; which, mingling with the native born, tracked the road 
 from Vera Cruz to the halls of the Montezumas? Yet for all 
 this the American party shoot them down, vilify and abuse, 
 would, if they could, make slaves of themselves and friends on 
 
 on the charge of being foreigners. Oh, the baseness 
 
 of such ingratitude! In return for such services we receive 
 stripes, the bullet, the knife, the torch of the incendiary, the . 
 law's rigor, scurrilous, malignant, slanderous abuse, ruined 
 shrines, overturned altars, desecrated churches, ministers of 
 of religion tarred and feathered, our children called sons of 
 
 , and all for daring to be truly republican and mainta- 
 
 ning the dignity of the states. I appeal to the testimony of 
 General Scott, a testimony no man will dare contravene; who 
 declared, after his experience of Irish soldiers during the late 
 war with Mexico, " that they were never known to turn backs 
 on friend or foe.'' What honorable citizen can hold the abomi- 
 nable opinion of foreigners, that is held by this so called 
 American party, after such declaration in their favor by the 
 greatest soldier of his age? Xot one. We find only those who 
 are wilfully blind to facts, or who cover their ignorance under 
 the dark and gloomy cloak of religious bigotry or national hate. 
 Some roaring politicians, whose god is office, whose amlition its 
 spoils; to secure which they would not alone sacrifice the 
 foreigner, but the poor dupes through whose efforts they secured 
 place. Men dead alike to shame, to truth, to honor. An appeal 
 to history proves, that in the British Parliament, despite kingly 
 and aristocratic power, the few Irishmen who, at the period of 
 the American Revolution, had seats in the House of Commons, 
 vielded the power of their mighty eloquence on behalf of the 
 
12 
 
 Btruggling colonists, and demanded for them justice. Need I 
 meution the eminent services of Edmund Burke, of Sheiidan, of 
 the silver-tongued Tierney: whilst Fitzpatrick proclaimed the 
 right of the colonists to rule themselves. Who can forget the 
 refusal of the Irish Parliament to supply King George with 
 troops to fight against the American peo))le ? As if in acknow- 
 ledgment of these services, Congress in 1115, thus addresses the 
 Irish people: — "Permit us to assure you, that it was with the 
 utmost reluctance we could prevail upon ourselves to cease our 
 commercial connection with your Island. Your Parliament had 
 done us no wrong. You had ever been friendly to the rights of 
 mankind; and we acknowledge with pleasure and with gratitude, 
 that your nation has produced patriots who have nobly distin- 
 gushed themselves in the cause of humanity and of America." 
 Oh glorious testimony to truth and justice! Alas! how changed 
 the time. We have now a party, who from sheer bigotry rest 
 in ignorance of past services; who try to ignore or forget them. 
 Who, having no niggers to whip, vent their venom on the 
 descendants of nicn, whose services drew from the immortal 
 fathers of the republic the above (pioted glorious acknow- 
 ledgment. 
 
 For connecting myself with the Democratic party, I refer 
 to my objections as laid down, to the Republican and so-called 
 American principles, and because the Democratic party, acting on 
 true American principles, has heretofore opened its arms for, and 
 continues to receive all who fly from oppression; because it gives 
 the foreigner a return for his services by taking him into the house- 
 hold of citizenship ; because under this party America has risen 
 to might and power, her name a terror to tyrants, the hope of the 
 oppressed, the home of freedom ; because it does not trench on 
 rights guaranteed by the Constitution, but guards such with 
 vigilance, and repels attacks upon them with energy ; because it 
 allows men to worship God according to the dictates of conscience ; 
 •without which, civil liberty is a sham ; and because in the spirit of 
 the Constitution, it declares and acts on the principles that, "all 
 men are cfjual." 
 
 I have the honor to be Gentlemen, 
 With groat respect," 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 HENRY C. DUNNE. 
 
I