1We have endeavoured to gather up all the threads of this strange tissue, so that every circumstance of importance connected with the measures of relief may be placed on record; but our narrative does not, except in a few instances, extend beyond September 1847, and the progress of events after that date will form the subject of a separate article.

2The author of this paper was the late Mr. Joseph Sabine, the Secretary to the Horticultural Society.

3Sir John Burgoyne’s letter to the “Times,” dated th October, 1847.

4The following description of the state of agriculture in West Clare, previously to the failure in the potato crop in 1845, is taken from a narrative by Captain Mann of the Royal Navy, who had for some time previously been stationed in that district, in charge of the Coast Guard, and when the distress commenced, he took an active and very useful part in assisting in the measures of relief: “Agriculture at that period was in a very neglected state; wheat, barley, and oats, with potatoes as the food of the poor, being the produce. Of the first very little was produced, and that not good in quality; barley, a larger proportion and good; oats, much greater, but inferior for milling purposes. Various reasons were given for this inferiority in produce, the quality of the land and deteriorated seed being the cause generally assigned; but I would say that the population being content with, and relying on, the produce of the potato as food—which had with very few exceptions hitherto proved abundant—there was a general neglect and want of any attempt at improvement. Green crops were all but unknown, except here and there a little turnip or mangel wurzel in the garden or field of the better class,—the former scarcely to be purchased. Even the potatoes were tilled in the easiest way, (in beds called ‘lazy beds’), not in drills, so that the hoe might in a very short time clear the weeds and lighten the soil.”

5We are indebted for these particulars to Mr. Mc Cullagh, who has lately collected the contemporary accounts of this famine. It appears that the farmers at this period did not dig their potatoes until about Christmas, and that few stored them at all for use.

6An interesting account by Mr. Bertolacci, of the manner in which this fund and that collected in 1831 were distributed, will be found in the “Morning Chronicle” of the 25th November, 1847.

7For the details of these operations see the following Parliamentary papers:—

“Copies of the Reports of Messrs. Griffith, Nimmo, and Killaly, the civil engineers employed during the late scarcity, in superintending the Public Works in Ireland; 16 April, 1823 (249).”

“Report from the Select Committee on the employment of the poor in Ireland; 16 July, 1823 (561).”

It is a remarkable testimony to the improvement effected by such works in the social habits of the people, that the district between the Shannon and the Blackwater, which was opened in four directions by the roads executed by Mr. Griffith, although formerly the seat of the Desmond Rebellion, and subsequently, in the year 1821, the asylum for Whiteboys and the focus of the Whiteboy warfare, during which time four regiments were required to repress outrage, became perfectly tranquil, and continued so up to the commencement of the late calamity.

8The following remarkable passage is extracted from the Report of the Dublin Mansion House Committee, dated the 22nd October, 1831:—

“But while the Mansion House Committee thus congratulate themselves and the subscribers upon the success of their efforts to avert famine and disease for a season from so considerable a portion of the island, they owe it also to themselves and the subscribers to avow their honest conviction that similar calls will be periodically made on public benevolence, unless a total change be effected in the condition of the Irish peasant. What means should be adopted to remedy these evils it is not the province of this Committee to suggest; but they deem it their duty to call the attention of the subscribers particularly to this state of things, in the hope of some remedy being discovered and applied before public benevolence is quite exhausted by repeated drains on its sympathy.”

On the 21st May, 1838, the Duke of Wellington made the following observations in the debate on the introduction of the Irish Poor Law:—“There never was a country in which poverty existed to so great a degree as it exists in Ireland. I held a high situation in that country thirty years ago, and I must say, that, from that time to this, there has scarcely elapsed a single year, in which the Government has not at certain periods of it entertained the most serious apprehension of actual famine. I am firmly convinced that from the year 1806, down to the present time, a year has not passed in which the Government have not been called on to give assistance to relieve the poverty and distress which prevailed in Ireland.”

9The particulars of what took place on this occasion will be found in a letter from the Poor Law Commissioners to Sir J. Graham, dated the 9th June, 1842, and in a statement dated 18th August, 1842, prepared under the directions of the Irish Government, showing “the sums issued for the relief of distress in Ireland from the 17th June to the 17th August, 1842,” &c.

10This Return is for sums “advanced on loan since the Union,” but in some cases the advances have not been repaid, and in others large grants were made in addition to loans.

11“Observations upon certain evils arising out of the present state of the Laws of Real Property in Ireland, and Suggestions for remedying the same.”—Dublin: Alex. Thom, 1847. The author of this pamphlet is Mr. Booth, who has for many years past held the responsible office of Clerk of the Survey in Ireland, under the Master-General and Board of Ordnance. It will be seen by a perusal of the pamphlet, that this able and deserving officer has fully availed himself of the opportunities which his situation afforded, for making himself acquainted with the social state of Ireland; and that he has successfully applied to the consideration of the subject, that practical ability from which the public service has derived so much benefit.

12“Observations on the evils resulting to Ireland from the insecurity of Title and the existing Laws of Real Property, with some Suggestions towards a remedy.”—Dublin: Hodges and Smith. London: Ridgway; 1847. The author of this pamphlet is Mr. Jonathan Pim, who, in the capacity of joint secretary, with Mr. Joseph Bewley, of the Dublin Friends’ Relief Committee, took the lead in the admirably benevolent and practical measures adopted by that excellent society for the relief of the distress, and the re-establishment of the industry of Ireland on a more secure and satisfactory footing than before. Mr. Pim is also the author of a more extended work, entitled “The Condition and Prospects of Ireland,” which has just been published, and which, if we mistake not, will prove one of the most useful publications which have yet appeared on this deeply interesting subject.

13It is perfectly true that the unembarrassed holder of an entailed estate is often not sufficiently owner of it to be able to do justice to it. He cannot sell a portion to improve the remainder, however much both the part sold and the part retained would be benefited by it. He can burden the estate to provide for younger children’s portions, but not to carry on improvements which would increase its annual produce. Improvements are generally made out of capital, and not out of income. Owners of entailed estates, for the most part, live up to their means; and when they do not, their savings are seldom sufficient to carry on works of any importance. Over the capital sum representing the aggregate value of the estate, they have no command, except for purposes which make them poorer, and consequently still less able to execute any useful design. At the present crisis of our national affairs, it behoves us to consider what course will be the best both for the landowners and for the community at large. There is a fearful surplus population in Ireland and the north-western part of Scotland which must be provided for; while in England itself thousands of railway labourers and Irish paupers roam unemployed about the country; and the question is, whether, by removing the obstacles which at present oppose the profitable employment of the enormous capital invested in land, we might not obtain new resources which would enrich the owners of land, diffuse comfort and enjoyment in each locality, and help to provide for the unemployed population which is sitting like an incubus upon all the three kingdoms.

14The following Table gives the leading particulars relating to the estates under the management of the Courts in Ireland during the years 1841–2 and 3:

Court of Chancery.

The arrears of rent have since greatly increased, although the object of the Courts is confined to getting in the Rents, improvements being seldom attempted. The condition of the people on these neglected, and with reference to their present state of cultivation, over-populated estates, is melancholy in the extreme.

15“Observations upon certain evils,” &c.

16“Observations upon certain evils,” &c.

17“Observations upon certain evils,” &c.

18“Observations on the evils resulting to Ireland,” &c.

19Treasury Minute, October 15, 1847.

20These useful reforms were suggested by Mr. Pierce Mahony, who is entitled to the gratitude of the public, for the perseverance and ability with which he has, for many years past, with little encouragement either from the public or from those who have administered the Government of the country, advocated these and other measures directed to the extremely important object of simplifying, facilitating, and rendering more secure the transfer and tenure of land.

21The year 1845 was the second and worst in America; and in 1846, although it still extensively prevailed, the disease was of a milder type and only partially affected the crop.

22The following extract from Captain Mann’s Narrative, descriptive of what took place at this period in the county of Clare, will be read with interest: “The early culture of 1846 was in no way improved; a great proportion of the land was again tilled with potatoes, under the expectation that, as in former years, the late scarcity would be followed by a bountiful supply. The first alarm was in the latter part of July, when the potatoes showed symptoms of the previous year’s disease; but I shall never forget the change in one week in August. On the first occasion, on an official visit of inspection, I had passed over thirty-two miles thickly studded with potato fields in full bloom. The next time the face of the whole country was changed; the stalk remained bright green, but the leaves were all scorched black. It was the work of a night. Distress and fear was pictured in every countenance, and there was a general rush to dig and sell, or consume the crop by feeding pigs and cattle, fearing in a short time they would prove unfit for any use. Consequently there was a very wasteful expenditure, and distress showed itself much earlier than in the preceding season.”

23The following extract from Captain Mann’s Narrative will give some idea of the difficulty of prevailing on the people to have recourse to the new food:—“The first issue of Indian corn meal was in March, 1846. It is impossible to conceive the strong prejudice against it; and I may here bear testimony to the benevolent and right feeling of the Rev. J. Kenny, P P. Previously to the sale of the meal being commenced, a small portion was sent to me by Commissary-General (now Sir Edward) Coffin, which I placed in the hands of the reverend gentleman. He tried and approved of it, and in order to overcome any feeling against it, subsequently, with his two curates, all but entirely lived on the meal made into bread and stirabout, for nearly a fortnight using all his influence to convince the people that the pernicious effects ascribed to it were untrue. Such conduct is above any praise of mine. The success attending this measure, it is quite unnecessary for me to allude to; and the merchants profiting by the example, commenced a trade new to them by importing the article.” The use of Indian corn meal was adopted in hundreds of households of the higher classes, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, besides that of Father Kenny, for the purpose of overcoming the popular prejudice by the force of example. The Society of Arts awarded a gold medal to Mr. O’Brien, baker, of Leinster Street, Dublin, for the attention paid by him to the introduction of cheap popular modes of preparing Indian corn for use; and tens of thousands of pamphlets and printed sheets were distributed through the Commissariat containing instructions for cooking the Indian corn, and showing the people what other cheap descriptions of food were available to them. Those who know how difficult it is to induce a large population to adopt new habits, will be surprised at the success which attended these efforts. The “yellow meal,” as it is called, was first known as “Peel’s brimstone,” and it was remembered that the attempt to introduce it in a former season of distress occasioned a popular commotion, arising from the absurd notion that it had the effect of turning those who ate it black.

24This minute will be found from pages 67 to 71 of the first Board of Works Series of Parliamentary Papers for 1847.

25A member of the Board of Works, writing to a friend, observed as follows:—“I hope never to see such a winter and spring again. I can truly say, in looking back upon it, even now, that it appears to me, not a succession of weeks and days, but one long continuous day, with occasional intervals of nightmare sleep. Rest one could never have, night nor day, when one felt that in every minute lost a score of men might die.”

26An officer of the Board of Works, observing the emaciated condition of the labourers, reported that, as an engineer, he was ashamed of allotting so little task-work for a day’s wages, while, as a man, he was ashamed of requiring so much. In some districts proof of attendance was obliged to be considered sufficient to entitle the labourer to his wages. The exhausted state of the workmen was one main cause of the small quantity of work done compared with the money expended. The Irish peasant had been accustomed to remain at home, cowering over his turf fire, during the inclement season of the year, and exposure to the cold and rain on the roads, without sufficient food or clothing, greatly contributed to the prevailing sickness. In order to obviate this as far as possible, a Circular Letter was issued by the Board of Works (1st series of 1847, page 499) directing that, in case of snow or heavy rain, the labourers should merely attend roll call in the morning, and be entered on the pay list for half a day’s pay; and if it afterwards became fine, they were to come to work, which would entitle them to a further allowance.

27In this month (March) the expenditure upon the Relief Works was heaviest, viz.:—

28The proceedings of the Government, in reference to this point, are fully explained in a letter from Mr. Trevelyan to Colonel Jones, and in the accompanying Treasury Minute, printed in the first Board of Works Series for 1847, page 97 to 100.

29See page 44 of the first Board of Works Series of 1847.

30The following shows the extent of the Government interference in the supply of food in the two seasons of 1845–46 and 1846–47:—

31This was the amount of the private subscriptions upon which Government donations were made; but other large sums were raised by local Irish subscriptions, through the medium of some of the Relief Committees, of which no account was furnished to the Government, because the Committees concerned would not submit to the rule of selling at cost price except in cases of extreme destitution. Large funds were also administered by private individuals, quite independently of the Local Relief Committees; of which class of operations the following account of the expenditure of a Protestant clergyman in the south-west of Ireland, with a parish of 10,000 inhabitants, no resident gentry, not a single town in the whole of it, nor a road through the greater part of it, may be taken as a specimen:—

Funds of this sort administered by benevolent and public-spirited individuals in Ireland, were generally supplied by the exertions of their relations and friends, or by grants from societies in England and elsewhere. It was a common practice for ladies in England to have parishes assigned to them in Ireland, and each lady raised all she could, and made periodical remittances to the clergyman of her adopted parish, receiving accounts from him in return, of the manner in which the money was expended. The self-denial necessary to support this charitable drain was carried to such an extent at Brighton and elsewhere, that the confectioners and other trades-people suffered severely in their business.

32Two electoral divisions were sometimes united under one Relief Committee, but the accounts of each electoral division were kept separate.

33The ration consisted of one pound of biscuit, meal, or flour; or one quart of soup thickened with meal, with a quarter ration of bread, biscuit or meal. When bread was issued, one pound and a-half was allowed. It was found by experience that the best form in which cooked food could be given, was “stirabout,” made of Indian meal and rice steamed, which was sufficiently solid to be easily carried away by the recipients. The pound ration thus prepared, swelled by the absorption of water to three or four pounds.

34Report from Count Strzelecki to the British Relief Association.

35Seventh and last Monthly Report of the Relief Commissioners.

36Letter from Sir John Burgoyne, quoted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons.

37Third Report of the Relief Commission.

38The small holders in the Barony of Erris, in this county, declined at first to accept the seed which was offered them, saying that if they sowed it, the crops would be seized by their landlords. This was not believed at the time in England, but it has nevertheless turned out perfectly true. This barony, of which Belmullet is the principal place, is the darkest corner of Ireland. In some instances broken Landowners and their families were receiving rations, while their Tenants were starving.

39The following interesting account of what took place in the county of Clare on the subject of seed, is extracted from Captain Mann’s Narrative:

“The first supply of seed sent for distribution by sale, was received on the 13th March last, up to which period the prospect of the tillage of the land being neglected was very alarming. The seed-grain had been in most cases either partially or wholly consumed for food. Bad advice had been given, that the Government or the landlords would be forced into assisting—the former to pay wages for the time while the work was going on, and the latter to provide seed, if the Government would not. The supply alluded to was bere and rye. By dint of persuasion, and having it published by the Roman Catholic clergy, the quantity sent was taken and planted; and here let me add, that the most sanguine could not have anticipated the great benefit of this importation. The value of the bere as an early crop and produce exceeded every expectation. It was reaped and in the market the latter part of July; and as compared with other barley, it is stated to me, thrashed out five stone to the barb, of twenty hand-sheafs, while the other only yielded three stone from the same quantity. The rye grew on bog merely burnt, and that even slightly; in some cases the heather being in bloom where the rye in the same ground was ripe. Thus hundreds of acres were cultivated that might have lain waste; and as the rye-meal brought by the ‘Sisters’ from St. Petersburgh to this depÔt, and issued as rations, became, after some opposition, popular with the poor, it does not require any remark to show the value and importance of this article, when considered as an auxiliary substitute for the potato food, and the more so because it can be grown on inferior land here, and not like the Indian corn meal, which we are forced to look to other countries for.

“The supply of green crop and oat-seed by Her Majesty’s ship ‘Dragon’ was received here the 12th of April last. Some few landlords purchased of the first, and supplied their tenantry, but of the latter but little was purchased at that time. The feeling still existed that the Government or the landlords would be forced into providing seed and assisting the tillage; but when that vessel sailed, and they became convinced to the contrary, the most pressing and even distressing applications were made to me by the people to procure a supply of any seed; the fact being clear that grain seed (oats and barley) was not to be procured. Most fortunately, in a few days after, the hired steamer ‘Doris’ arrived with her cargo of oat-seed, the greater part of which was freely purchased, and a vast quantity of land immediately tilled. A sudden and favourable reaction took place, all appearing anxious to raise something, and not let the land run to waste. Turnip-seed was imported by dealers to a very large amount; and those who could, bought and sowed it. Subsequently a small quantity was sent to me for gratuitous distribution. Lists of the parties who received it, and the quantities allotted, are herewith annexed; and to this were added some small pamphlets given to me by Lord Robert Clinton, my object being to assist the poor, and spread the benefit over the greatest possible extent.

“I have now the pleasure to state, that instead of this part of the country being as described in the first series, with respect to green crops, the turnip particularly has become a general produce with even the poorest. Quantities are daily exposed for sale in the markets, and with a mixture of Indian corn meal, rice, or flour, it is used as a substitute for bread. Emulation has been excited; and a few days since I was invited to view an exhibition at Colonel Vandeleur’s, of the following:

Beside white carrots, &c. Experiments have been tried with the potato set in drills very successfully; and I do trust that improvement will make further progress under the system of instruction which it is said will be adopted.”

40The readiness with which the Bank of Ireland, and the Provincial, National and other banks, undertook the office of Treasurer to the Finance Committees, and entered into every proposed detail and accommodation, in support of the operations of the Commissariat, the Relief Commission, and the Board of Works, is very creditable to the managers, and deserves the thanks of the public.

41All the letters and proceedings of these officers showed that their predominant feeling was an anxious desire to fulfil the benevolent mission on which they had been sent. One observed that he could bear anything but the “careless misery of the children;” another that his heart was broken by the sobs of the women returning to their homes with a smaller quantity of food than was sufficient for the support of their families.

42The Four Commissions employed on these operations were composed as follows:—

The Board of Works.

Lieut.-Col. H.D. Jones, R.E., Chairman.
Richard Griffith, Esq., Deputy Chairman.
Commissioners:
John Radcliff, Esq.
Wm. Thos. Mulvany, Esq.
Captain Larcom, R.E.

The First Relief Commission, appointed by Sir Robert Peel’s Government

Rt. Hon. E. Lucas, Chairman (afterwards retired).
Com.-Gen. Sir R.I. Routh (afterwards Chairman).
Colonel D. Mc Gregor.
Lieut.-Col. H.D. Jones, R.E.
Sir James Dombrain.
Professor Sir Robert Kane.
E.T.B. Twisleton, Esq.
Theobald Mc Kenna, Esq.

The Second Relief Commission, appointed by Lord John Russell’s Government.

Major-Gen. Sir J.F. Burgoyne, K.C.B., Chairman.
T.N. Redington, Esq.
E.T.B. Twisleton, Esq.
Com.-Gen. Sir R.I. Routh.
Lieut.-Col. H.D. Jones, R.E.
Colonel D. Mc Gregor.

The Poor Law Commissioners in Ireland.

E.T.B. Twisleton, Esq.
Rt. Hon. Sir W.M. Somerville, Bart.
T.N. Redington, Esq.

It is due to Mr. Redington to state that his intimate acquaintance with Ireland, and excellent judgment, were a never-failing ground of reliance in the most difficult emergencies.

43One of the principal causes of the expense incurred, was the necessity of finding work for every person in the neighbourhood of his own home, which added greatly to the number of the works, and to the proportion of them left unfinished.

44The first instalments due under the 9 & 10 Vic. c. 1 and 2 have been already paid.

45

46The proportions in which the expenditure was made a local or general charge in the following unions, were—

47The following are some of the most remarkable contributions:—

Many of the smaller subscriptions, such as 800l. from the Town of Bridgewater, and 747l. from the Bahamas, are more remarkable in proportion to the means of the contributors, than many of those which have been mentioned.

The officers and men of the Coast Guard raised a fund amounting to 429l. which was expended by the members of the force in Ireland in giving relief in the neighbourhood of their respective stations. From the commencement of the distress, the Coast Guard has been distinguished for its active benevolence.

The National Club in London collected a sum of 17,930l., 1000l. of which was from various congregations at Brighton, 500l. from an anonymous contributor, and 500l. from the Wesleyan Irish and Scotch Relief Committee. This fund was intrusted for distribution to the clergy of the Established Church in Ireland, acting under a committee appointed for each diocese, headed by the bishop.

The amount collected by the London Committee of the Society of Friends was 43,026l., nearly the whole of which was disbursed through the Dublin Friends’ Committee.

AHer Majesty also contributed £500 to the Ladies’ Clothing Fund, which was established in connection with the British Relief Association.

48Two United States ships of war, the “Jamestown” and “Macedonian,” were manned by volunteers, and sent to Ireland and Scotland with the following charitable supplies, for which no claim for freight was made. These two cargoes will serve as a specimen of the rest:—

“Jamestown.”

“Macedonian.”

Landed in Ireland.

49Nearly 3000l. was remitted to Mr. Gildea in advance, in sums of from 10s. to 20l., for linens to be afterwards furnished. He might have received much larger sums, and he found great difficulty in stopping the outpouring of sympathy and support that came upon him; and until it became generally known that he had returned large sums of money, the influx did not cease. It is an interesting fact that of 30,000 yards of linen made up to the end of October, there is only one piece that was not duly returned to him by the workwomen, and Mr. Gildea thinks he shall still get the missing piece.

50Upwards of 100,000l. has been expended by the Home and Provincial Governments, in giving relief to the sick and destitute emigrants landed in Canada in 1847, and in forwarding them to their destinations.

51The following extract from a letter from Mr. Jacob Harvey of New York, to Mr. Jonathan Pim, one of the Secretaries of the Dublin Relief Committee of the Society of Friends, contains many interesting particulars relating to these remittances, which are highly honourable to the Irish character:—

“New York, January 5, 1847.

“The destitution of our poor at this season will certainly curtail the amount for Ireland, and it is used as an excuse by those who feel called upon to assist them at their own doors first. But I am happy to say that the poor labouring Irish themselves are doing their duty fully. Without any public meetings or addresses, they have been silently remitting their little savings to their relations at home; and these remittances, be it remembered, go to every parish in Ireland, and by every packet. These drafts are from 1l. and upwards; they probably average from 4l. to 5l. In my letter to J.H. Todhunter I told him I had ascertained from five houses here, that within the past sixty days, they have received and remitted from the poor Irish 80,000 dollars. I had not time to send round to the other houses that day; but since the steamer sailed, I have collected further returns, although not yet all; and to my no small delight, the sum total remitted since November the 1st amounts to 150,000 dollars or 30,000l. sterling. I am now collecting an account of the sums remitted through the same houses by the poor Irish for the year 1846, and I have received returns from the five principal houses, and the sum total is 650,000 dollars, or 130,000l. There are yet four houses to hear from, which will swell the amount. This, however, is enough to astonish everybody who has not been aware of the facts; and it is but right that credit should be given to the poor abused Irish for having done their duty. Recollect that the donors are working men and women, and depend upon their daily labour for their daily food; that they have no settled income to rely upon; but with that charming reliance upon Divine Providence which characterizes the Irish peasant, they freely send their first earnings home to father, mother, sister, or brother. I requested J.H. Todhunter to have the facts I gave him published, and I make a similar request to thee, as they are still more cheering. A publication of the kind may stimulate the rich to do their duty, where they have hitherto neglected it; and it will give evidence to those who have no faith in Irishmen, that whenever they are able to get good wages, they never forget their relatives and friends who are in want.”

52The emigration for each division of the United Kingdom during the first three quarters of 1847 was as follows; but it must be remembered that those who embarked at Liverpool consisted almost wholly of Irish. There can also be no doubt that the Irish helped to swell the tide from several other ports of Great Britain, and especially in the west of Scotland.

53These Irish labourers who annually come to England, by way of Liverpool, to help to gather in the harvest, and return to Ireland after it is over, are included in this number. They are variously estimated at from 10,000 to 30,000.

545000 Irish paupers were relieved in Manchester in the last week in February, and for several weeks following there were more than 4000 on an average receiving outdoor, and from 600 to 700 in-door, relief. This was independent of the adjoining districts of Salford and Chorlton, where great numbers of Irish were also relieved. Nearly 90,000 destitute and disabled Irish, including women and children, were reported to have received parochial relief in Scotland at a total expense of about 34,000l.; but as the same persons were frequently relieved in more than one parish, and were therefore returned by more than one Inspector, the number of persons of this description newly arrived in Scotland is not so great as that above stated.

55The details of the frightful mortality connected with the great emigration of 1847 from Ireland to Canada, are as follows:—

Whole number of British emigrants embarked 89,738

showing a mortality of rather more than 17 per cent. on the number embarked. One-third of those who arrived in Canada were received into hospital.

The people of Canada deserve great praise for the spirited and benevolent exertions made by them to meet the exigencies of this disastrous emigration, which is described as having “left traces of death and misery along its course, from the Quarantine Establishment at Grosse Isle to the most distant parts of Upper Canada, cutting down in its progress numbers of estimable citizens.” Besides the larger hospital establishments, twenty-four Boards of Health were formed in Upper Canada. Numerous deaths also took place among the emigrants to New Brunswick. The ships containing the German emigrants, and two ships fitted out by the Duke of Sutherland from Sutherlandshire, arrived in Canada in a perfectly healthy state.

56Settlers in the backwoods must have the means of support from twelve to fifteen months after their arrival, and this cannot be accomplished for less than 60l., at the lowest estimate, for each family consisting of a man, his wife, and three children, or equal to 3½ adults on an average.

57The repayment of these advances, which amount altogether to £1,145,800, has not yet been pressed, out of consideration for the circumstances of the country.

58An Act to make further provision for the Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland, 10 Vic. cap. 31—[Passed 8th June, 1847.]

An Act to provide for the Execution of the Laws for the Relief of the Poor in Ireland, 10 & 11 Vic. cap. 90—[Passed 22nd July, 1847.]

An Act to make provision for the Punishment of Vagrants and Persons offending against the Laws in force for the Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland, 10 & 11 Vic. cap. 84—[Passed 22nd July, 1847.]

59“I would sincerely regret that anything I have said should appear to be written as if I sought occasion to point out errors and hold them up; far from it; I mention them with sorrow and a kindly wish that they may be corrected. The position of the respectable classes at this moment in many instances is surely pitiable. There is but one course by which this country can rise and take her proper position, and that is by a hearty and sincere determination to work for the public good, at the same time throwing aside all selfish and party feeling. In that case, there is no reason why we should despair; but otherwise, no mortal can either pass laws or propose any other thing which would be attended with success. In this I particularly allude to the Poor Law now about to be administered. I look upon it as an indirect absentee tax, drawing from those who did not contribute before, or in a very slight degree. It assures the poor man that from the land he must have support, and that what he labours on will one day sustain him when he can no longer toil. It will also compel others to consider that unless employment is provided, they must support him without a remunerative return,—and if this is rightly considered, then the heavy affliction which the Almighty has been pleased to lay on them will prove a lesson for good.

“On the subject of relief being given without having a corresponding return for it in labour, I feel very apprehensive that, owing to the habits of the lower orders, the present repugnance to entering the union-house may give way, and that for the sake of an idle life, they may accept the terms. To prevent this and rescue both landlord and peasant from certain ruin, there must be employment given fairly remunerative to both, not by Government, but by the owners of the soil. Until lately, what was the condition of the peasant? Work as he would, till and rear what he might, he could never hope to benefit. His portion was the potato only, shared, it may be said, with his pig. He dare not use anything else. Let misfortune come on him, or disease render him unable to work, he had no claim on the land. One a little less poor than himself might help him, but who else? The charity I have seen has been from the poor to the poor. Is it any wonder that they became spiritless, idle, and even worse?

“A townland near here, owned by a landlord who resides constantly away, is let to a middleman at 10s. an acre. That middleman resides away also, and he relets it to a person who lives in the county of Cork, and only occasionally comes there. It is sub-let again, until the price received for a quarter of an acre is 1l. 10s. per annum. Can that place be otherwise than full of distress?

“Near it is another townland. The owner resides here, but he has never attended to it. In the late calamity he applied to me for seed and assistance, declaring his intention to provide seed at his own expense; and to insure its being sown, he said he should employ a person to superintend the sowing, as the land was prepared. His tenants were without food; but to encourage and assist in this case, an application was made by me to the Society of Friends for a supply to sustain the people while working, which was granted. The party supposed he had about sixty to provide for, but was frightened at over 600 applications for food; and it then came out that his land was underlet to an enormous degree. He had never paid proper attention by inspecting his farms, &c. The result is, that now he can neither get rent, nor the repayment of the value of the seed. What has been grown will not suffice to feed those who are located on the land. They cannot pay rent, and they will not give up their holdings. The population has been increased in such cases, and others, to an extent beyond what the land can bear. Another cause is, that the Roman Catholic clergy derive their income mainly from fees and contributions at marriages and christenings; and though there are some who see the disastrous result of encouraging the increase of the population, and are scrupulous on that head, still, as their subsistence depends on it, it cannot be expected that they will exert themselves in a way likely to deprive themselves of daily bread by discouraging thoughtless rushing into improvident marriages.”—Captain Mann’s Narrative.

60First Board of Works Series of 1846-7, page 338 to 341.

61The purposes to which these loans are applicable are as follows:—

1. The drainage of lands by any means which may be approved by the Commissioners.

2. The subsoiling, trenching, or otherwise deepening and improving the soil of lands.

3. The irrigation or warping of lands.

4. The embankment of lands from the sea or tidal waters, or rivers.

5. The inclosing or fencing, or improving the fences, drains, streams, or water-courses of land.

6. The reclamation of waste or other land.

7. The making of farm roads.

8. The clearing land of rocks and stones.

62By neglecting their estates, and omitting to construct proper farm buildings, and to make other necessary improvements, Irish landlords relinquish their position in rural society, and give free scope to the agrarian revolutionary plans which, under the disguise of “fixity of tenure” and “tenant right,” would dispossess the landlord, without conferring any permanent benefit on the tenant. In the smaller class of holdings, the entire gross produce is insufficient to support a family, without allowing for either rent, seed, or taxes; and even supposing that, with the dangerous help of the potato, eked out by harvest-work and begging, a rent is paid, the tendency to multiply and subdivide is so strong, that if the whole rent were given up, the holders would become in a generation or two much more numerous and equally poor. The fact is, that the main hope of extrication from the slough of despond in which the small holders in the centre and west of Ireland are at present sunk, is from the enterprise and capital and improved husbandry of the class of owners commonly known by the name of landlords.

63In what follows we must be understood as giving expression to the practical conclusions of those who, having been charged with the unenviable task of superintending the measures of relief, and assisting to replace society on a permanent basis after it had been unsettled by this great calamity, must be allowed to have had unusual advantages for a close examination of the subject under a variety of aspects.

64The same results appeared in those parts of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden, in which the subdivision of the land has been carried to the greatest extent. The following extract from a letter received in January last from Brest, contains a correct description of the manner in which that part of France was affected by the dearth: “All the petty farmers are in the greatest distress, having been obliged to sell their wheat and most of their other grain in October, to pay their rents due on Michaelmas-day. The overplus in the crop of buckwheat is not sufficient to compensate for the deficiency in their stock of potatoes, and they are now living on cabbages, carrots, and a very small proportion of buckwheat. Unless some stringent measures be adopted to prevent the progressive subdivision of land in France, the country must eventually be reduced to the present state of Ireland.” It has been justly observed, that “in agriculture, as in every other industrial process, prosperity must depend upon the application of capital to production; and equal injury is done when such application of capital is prevented, either by landlords refusing to give tenants a beneficial interest in their improvements, or by a combination of pauper occupants to prevent capitalists from obtaining possession of land.” Those who take an interest in this important subject will do well to read Mr. M‘Culloch’s excellent chapter on compulsory partition, in his recently-published work “On the Succession to Property vacant by Death.”

65The inferior condition of the peasantry in the West of England is in a great degree owing to the increased use of the potato, the cultivation of which by the poor was much encouraged by the gentry and clergy as a cheap means of subsistence during the high prices of corn in the last war. Somersetshire and Devonshire were, in fact, fast becoming potato countries; and if the blight of that vegetable had occurred twenty years later, their sufferings might have approached to those of Ireland.

66Lord George Bentinck stated that 1500 miles of railroad would give constant employment, either on the line or in the various occupations connected with it, to 110,000 able-bodied labourers and artificers, representing, with their families, 550,000 persons; but even supposing that all these had been set to work at once, they would have been selected from the classes of persons least likely to require charitable assistance, while the weak and infirm would have been systematically excluded. The number of persons for whom the Government had to provide the means of subsistence at this crisis, was upwards of three millions; and this had to be done in the neighbourhood of their own homes, which could not be accomplished by means of railroads, employment on which is confined to particular localities. The number of persons stated in the House of Commons as likely to be employed on railroads in Ireland was greatly overrated; the general surface of the country requires scarcely any deep cuttings or embankments, and the eskars, through which the cuttings are made, offer the finest possible material for ballasting.

67Speech of Mr. Richard Bourke, M.P. for Kildare, to his father’s tenantry, September 1847.

68Although both did their best, it is fair to state that the Protestant clergy had some advantages which the Roman Catholic clergy did not possess. The Protestant clergy were assisted by liberal subscriptions from England; and as their stipends are primary charges on the rent, they were regularly paid even during the period of the greatest distress. The Roman Catholic clergy, on the contrary, depend, both for their own subsistence, and for the means of helping their poor and ignorant people, upon the voluntary contributions of the people themselves; and when these had nothing to give, owing to the failure of their crops and the want of employment, the clergy were reduced to great straits, which they bore with exemplary patience. The fees on marriages and baptisms which are the principal source of the income of the Roman Catholic clergy, almost entirely ceased in some parts of the country. It is much to the credit of the poor Irish, that now that they have been deprived of the potatoes on which they had been accustomed to bring up their families, marriages have become much less frequent.

69“A great deal has been written, and many an account given, of the dreadful sufferings endured by the poor, but the reality in most cases far exceeded description. Indeed, none can conceive what it was but those who were in it. For my part, I frequently look back on it as a fearful and horrid dream, scarcely knowing how sufficiently to express gratitude to the Almighty for having brought this country through it, even as it is. If the first measures which prepared us to meet the second and severest calamity had been neglected, it is frightful to suppose what would have been the state of this afflicted country. My opinion is, that there are but very few who will not gratefully remember the generous and prompt relief afforded in this time of trouble; such sufferings, and such help, cannot be easily forgotten.”—Captain Mann’s Narrative.

70The Irish peasant made up for the deficiency of nutritive qualities in the potato, by the quantity he ate, amounting generally to as much as fourteen pounds in a single day; and it was therefore a general complaint at first, that the Indian corn left an uneasy sensation, arising from the absence of the habitual distension of the organs of digestion. The half raw state in which it was often eaten, arising partly from ignorance of the proper mode of cooking it, and partly from impatience to satisfy the cravings of hunger, also concurred with the previous debilitated state of the people, to produce sickness when it was first introduced. All this, however, has been got over, and the people have now not only become accustomed to the use of a grain food, but they prefer it, and declare that they feel stronger and more equal to hard work under the influence of a meal of stirabout, than of potatoes; and their improved appearance fully bears out this conclusion. One main cause of the fact which has been so often remarked, that the Irishman works better out of Ireland than in it, is, that when he leaves his native country and obtains regular employment elsewhere he commences at the same time a more strengthening diet than the potato. It is commonly observed in Canada, that the Irish emigrants, although a much larger race of men than the French Canadians, are, for some time after their arrival, inferior to them as farm labourers; and this difference is attributed to their food. The Canadian labourer, who receives his food as part of his hire, has an ample breakfast on bread and milk. He dines at midday on soupe aux pois, with a full quantity of salt pork and bread À discrÉtion. At four o’clock he is allowed a luncheon of bread and onions, and at night he has a ragout of meat and vegetables for his supper. He however works laboriously, and generally from sunrise to sunset, and is scarcely ever absent a day from his work. An Irishman cannot endure this continuous labour without better food than the potato; and in every way it is desirable to teach him the use of a more substantial diet, both to enable him to give a proper amount of labour for his hire, and in order to raise him to a higher standard as a social being. We shall not consider the object finally accomplished until the people of Ireland live upon a bread and meat diet, like those of the best parts of England and Scotland.

71The following is the proportion of agrarian crimes in each quarter from January 1845, to November 1847:

In the Quarter ending

The increase of agrarian crimes which has lately taken place, is more connected with resistance to the payment of rents, than with opposition to ejectments from the possession of land; and it has been almost entirely confined to the counties of Tipperary, Clare, Limerick, and Roscommon. Out of 195 crimes committed in the whole of Ireland in October 1847, 139 were committed in Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary; being 71 per cent. of the whole number, although the population of these three counties is only 13 per cent. of the population of Ireland. The districts in the north-west and south-west of Ireland, which suffered most from the failure of the potato crop in 1845-6, were at the same time remarkable for the absence of atrocious crimes.

72The manner in which the Clanmorris and Blessington properties, and a portion of that belonging to the Cunningham family, have been disposed of, are instances in point.

73Although we do not intend to excuse the system of the Penal Laws, it is fair to mention, that these measures of restraint were considered at the time to be necessary for the protection of the liberty and religion of the country, and that they were imposed at the conclusion of a desperate struggle, the renewal of which was for a long time a source of serious apprehension. The battles of the Boyne, Enniskillen, and Aughrim, the sieges of Londonderry and Limerick, and the critical operations at Athlone, ushered in the Penal Laws, the real object of which was to keep in check the great political party which had arrayed itself on the side of the Stuarts and of their principles of Government; and as the danger diminished, these Laws were gradually relaxed until they were finally abolished by the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829. It will also be remembered that the Penal Laws were passed by the Irish Parliament and repealed by that of the United Kingdom.