Richard Taylor, in his most amusing, able, and graphic work on that same war, from the Confederate side of the question, bore the strongest testimony to the services of the Irish in the army which fought under the banner of the Slave States. In New York and in San Francisco the Irish element has exercised almost supreme control in municipal matters, and it may be said, without offence I hope, that, whether it be owing to the opposition they have encountered or to a radical deficiency which may be Irish rather than Celtic, their management has not conduced to the comfort of the cities or to the pecuniary purity of the Executive. In San Francisco there is a strong anti-Irish press and much anti-Irish feeling. The 'Argonaut' repudiates the thraldom of the Irish associations and factions in the Far West as strenuously as the 'Times' and 'Tribune' do in the East. But notwithstanding all that may be written and done, it is impossible to resist the influence of numbers under a system of suffrage so large as that which exists in the greater number of the American States. It was curious to read in a Californian paper an appeal to England to suppress Irish agitation. "We confidently believe," says the _Argonaut_, "that the wisdom of its public men, the healthful condition of its public opinion, and the strength of its military power will be sufficient to crush out the Land League movement, which is but incipient rebellion. That England will deal justly, firmly, and successfully with this effort of united ecclesiasticism and Communism is the earnest wish of every intelligent and independent mind that believes in free government, the guarantees of property, the rights, and the personal liberty of man." However, there are American parties, if not statesmen, whose wishes are by no means directed to such a consummation, and we must take note of the fact. CHAPTER VIII. SOME GENERAL REFLECTIONS. Education--Free Schools--Influence of Money in Politics--Corruption in Public Life--Crime on the Western Borders--The Great Rebellion--Anniversaries--Great courtesy to strangers--Manners and Customs. "Westward the course of Empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day, Time's noblest offspring is the last."