Difference in the Countries

John Francis Maguire

The Irish in America

1868

CHAPTER I (2) start of chapter

In the old country, stagnation, retrogression, if not actual decay—in the new, life, movement, progress; in the one, depression, want of confidence, dark apprehension of the future—in the other, energy, self-reliance, and a perpetual looking forward to a grander development and a more glorious destiny. That the tone of the public mind of America should be self-reliant and even boastful, is natural in a country of brief but pregnant history—a country still in its infancy, when compared with European States, but possessing, in the fullest sense, the strength and vigour of manhood—manhood in all its freshness of youth and buoyancy of hope.

The Irish in America, first published in 1868, provides an invaluable account of the extreme difficulties that 19th Century Irish immigrants faced in their new homeland and the progress which they had nonetheless made in the years since arriving on a foreign shore. A new edition, including additional notes and an index, has been published by Books Ulster/LibraryIreland:

Paperback: 700+ pages The Irish in America

ebook: The Irish in America

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