xxvi INTRODUCTION 



cially in journalism, blame draws more notice 

 than praise sometimes from pure ill nature, the 

 love of mischief for mischiefs sake. Thus, of 

 the many offensive words uttered on both sides 

 when temper was up, a larger proportion reached 

 the eyes and ears of the other than if they had 

 spoken different tongues, and what was spite 

 fully said proved more galling. 



There was, moreover, one exception to that 

 community of ideas and traditions which was 

 fitted to draw Americans and Englishmen to 

 gether. From the third decade of the nine 

 teenth century there had been a considerable 

 immigration from Ireland to the United States. 

 It increased largely after 1845, but it did not 

 begin to be politically significant till the days of 

 the Fenian movement, when some violent mem 

 bers of the insurrectionary party escaped to the 

 United States and placed there their base of 

 operations against the British Government. At 

 the same time they sought to organize and to 

 rouse the Irishmen settled in America, a large 

 and rapidly growing element, against England. 

 Not only the volume of the Irish vote but its 

 compactness, as well as the prominence of Irish 

 leaders in municipal government and in the 

 party machine, made the constant attacks upon 



