The Soup-kitchen Act--The harvest of 1847--Out-door Relief
Act--Great extension of out-door relief--Number
relieved--Parliamentary papers--Perplexing--Misleading--Sums
voted--Sums expended--Sums remitted--Total Treasury advances under
various Acts--Total remissions--Sum actually given as a free gift to
meet the Famine--Charitable Associations--Sums collected and
disbursed by them--Two Queen's Letters--Amount raised by
them--Assisting distressed Unions--Feeding and clothing school
children--Feeling about the Irish Famine in America--Meetings
throughout the Union--Subscriptions--Money--Food--Number of Ships
sent to Ireland with Provisions--Freight of Provisions--Ships of
War--The "Jamestown" and "Macedonian"--Various Theories about the
Blight--The Religious Theory--Peculiar--Quotations--Rev. Hugh
M'Neill--Charles Dickens--The Catholic Cantons of
Switzerland--Belgium--France--The Rhenish
Provinces--Proselytism--Various causes for Conversions assigned--The
late Archbishop Whately's Opinions--His Convert--He rejects the idea
that Converts were bought--Statement of the late Archdeacon
O'Sullivan--Dr. Forbes on the Conversions in the West--Mr. M'Carthy
Downing's Letter--The Subscription of £1,000--Baron
Dowse--Conclusion.
The Temporary Relief Act, popularly known as the Soup-kitchen Act, was
limited to the 1st of October, 1847. The Government determined that
after its expiration relief should be given through the Poorlaw system
only. In preparation for this arrangement, an Act (the 10th & 11th Vic.
cap. 31,) was passed in June, sanctioning outdoor relief. The harvest of
1847 was a good one, but so utterly prostrate was every interest in the
country, that the outdoor relief system soon expanded into alarming
proportions. In February, 1848, the cost of outdoor relief was £72,039,
and in March it rose to £81,339. The numbers and cost were then both at
their maximum, and according to the best estimate which can be formed,
the number of outdoor poor relieved was 703,762, and of indoor 140,536,
making an aggregate of 844,298 persons, irrespective of more than
200,000 school children, who were, as stated above, fed and in part
clothed by "the British Association." So that the total number receiving
relief in March, 1848, exceeded a million of persons; being about one
out of every seven of the population.
The parliamentary papers issued from time to time, detailing the sums
granted on account of the Irish Famine, are, for the most part, very
perplexing; because, being usually printed on the motion of some member
of parliament, they only give the precise information called for, and
only up to the period at which it was called for; so, not only are they
perplexing, but they are often misleading, although correct enough in
themselves. Then again, it sometimes happens, that the sum voted by
parliament is not entirely expended on the object for which it was
granted. To give an instance of this: there is a parliamentary paper
before me, ordered on the 2nd of December, 1847, which says, the amount
voted under the Temporary Relief Act was £2,200,000, of which sum there
was _expended_ £1,676,000. Sir Charles Trevelyan gives the sum expended
as £1,724,631. The only way of accounting for this seeming discrepancy
is, that Sir Charles's statement was published later than the blue book,
and that an outlay was still going on under the above Act, after the
blue book had been published, which brought the expenditure up to the
sum stated by him.
Here, besides the difference as to the actual sum expended, we have a
considerable difference between the sum voted and the sum expended. But
there is yet another thing connected with the Famine advances, which is
very likely to mislead. The usual course was, that the money issued from
the Treasury to meet the Famine, was in part a free grant, and in part a
charge upon the land. It is only simple justice to state clearly how
much of this money was a free grant, and how much of it was levied off
Ireland, as a tax. The proportion is given in the Acts of Parliament,
but it happens that the proportion eventually paid was less than what
was levied: so that the proportions as given in the Acts of Parliament
have to be altered to the extent of the remissions made.
In the short statement I am about to give, I follow Sir Charles
Trevelyan's figures; being Secretary to the Treasury, he must have known
the sums actually advanced by the Treasury, and the sums returned to it
in payment of the loans granted.
_Amount_
_finally charged under_
_Amount advanced from the Treasury_. _the Consolidated_
_Annuities Act_.
_£ s. d. £ s. d._
Under 9th Vict., cap. 1, 476,000 0 0 238,000 0 0
Under 9th and 10th Vict., cap.
107,"The Labour-rate Act," 4,766,789 0 0 2,231,000 0 0
Under 10th Vict., cap. 7, "The
Temporary Relief Act," 1,724,631 0 0 953,355 0 0
Loans for building Workhouses, 1,420,780 0 0 122,707 0 0
Loans to pay debts of distressed
Unions, 300,000 0 0 300,000 0 0
Grants by Parliament at various
times: 1845, 1846, 1847, 1848,
and 1849, 844,521 0 0 ....
------------- ---------------
Total, £9,532,721 0 0 4,845,062 0 0
_During the years 1846, 1847, and
1848, the following sums were
also expended by the Board of
Works:_
For arterial drainage, 470,617 10 3
Works under the Labouchere
letter, 199,870 9 2
For land improvement. 520,700 0 .
-----------------
Total, £10,723,908 19 5
In the above ten millions seven hundred thousand pounds, it may be
fairly assumed, we have all the monies advanced by Government to
mitigate the effects of the potato failure. Our next duty is to inquire
how much of this sum was paid back by Ireland, and how much of it was a
free gift from the Treasury.
The money advanced under the Labouchere letter for land improvement, and
for arterial drainage cannot, of course, be regarded as a free gift
towards staying the Famine; arterial drainage and land improvement go on
still, through money advanced by Government. The works under the
Labouchere letter were, no doubt, intended to give reproductive
employment during the Famine, but the cost of them was a charge upon the
land and not a free gift.
The money spent on arterial drainage and land improvement, under the
Labouchere letter and various drainage Acts, during the years 1846, 1847
and 1848, was, as given above, £1,191,187 19s. 5d., which being deducted
from £10,723,908 19s. 5d. leaves the sum of £9,532,721, of which there
was finally charged to this country £4,845,062. Deducting this from the
£9,532,721 we have £4,687,659 as the amount of money given by Government
as a free gift to Ireland to sustain the people through the Great
Famine. To this, however, there is to be added a sum of about £70,000
paid for freights. The American people, when they had collected those
generous contributions of theirs, and when they had resolved to send
them in the form of food to Ireland, began to make arrangements for
paying the freights of their vessels, but all trouble and anxiety on
this head was removed by the action of the English Government, which
undertook to pay the freights of all vessels carrying to Ireland, food
purchased by charitable contributions. Those freights finally reached
about £70,000. The addition of this sum brings the whole of the
Government free gift towards the Irish Famine to £4,757,659.
The amount collected and disbursed by charitable Associations can be
only approximated to. There is a list of those subscriptions, as far as
they could be ascertained, given in the Report of the Society of
Friends. They amount to £1,107,466 13s., but the compiler of the Report
was of opinion that the sums so collected and distributed could not have
fallen far short of a million and a-half.
No effective means were taken to ascertain the moneys sent to Ireland by
emigrants until the year 1848; however, Mr. Jacob Harvey, a member of
the Society of Friends, from inquiries made by him in New York,
Baltimore, and Philadelphia, computed the remittances from emigrants in
1847 at £200,000, but it is highly probable that the actual amount was
far in excess of that; for we find in the next year, 1848, there came to
Ireland through the banks and commercial houses alone, £460,180; which
sum may also be regarded as a contribution towards the Irish Famine. I
think we are justified in naming £300,000 for 1847, instead of £200,000,
Mr. Harvey's estimate, these two sums make £760,180, which being added
to the acknowledged amount of public subscriptions, we have a total of
£1,867,646, 13s. as the amount voluntarily and charitably contributed to
our Famine-stricken people. But if we take one million and a-half to
represent _the actual charitable subscriptions_, as assumed by the
Report of the Society of Friends, and add to it the money sent by
emigrants in 1847 and 1848, we will have the enormous sum of £2,260,180.
The most important of all the Associations called into existence by the
Famine was "The British Association for the Relief of extreme distress
in Ireland and Scotland." There are about 5,550 distinct subscriptions
printed in the Appendix to its report, but the number of individual
subscriptions was far beyond this, for, many of the sums set down are
the result of local subscriptions sent to the Association from various
parts. This Association established about forty food depôts in various
districts. They were, of course, most numerous in the South and
West--most numerous of all in Cork, the wild and difficult coast of
which county was marked by a line of them, from Kinsale Head to Dingle
Bay.
Noblemen and gentlemen of high position volunteered their services to
the Association, and laboured earnestly among the starving people.
Amongst them may be named the Count Strezelecki, Lord R. Clinton, Lord
James Butler, and Mr. M.J. Higgins, so well known on the London press by
his _nom de plume_ of "Jacob Omnium."
Besides the sums contributed directly to the Association, the Government
gave it the distribution of the proceeds of two Queen's letters,
amounting in the aggregate to £200,738 15s. 2d.[303] In August, 1847,
when the Association was about to enter upon what it calls the second
relief period, it found itself in possession of a clear cash balance of
£160,000. It had to consider how this sum could be most beneficially
applied during the ensuing winter. The Secretary of the Treasury, Mr.
Trevelyan, in that month wrote to the chairman, recommending the
Association to select, through the Poorlaw Commissioners, a certain
number of Unions, in which there was reason to believe the ratepayers
would not be able to meet their liabilities, and that the Association
should appropriate, from time to time, such sums as the Poorlaw
Commissioners might recommend, for the purpose of assisting to give
outdoor relief in certain districts of such Unions. After much
deliberation the Association accepted this advice, and asked for the
names of the most distressed Unions. A list of twenty-two was supplied
to it in September. Some others were added later on. The grants of the
Association were issued in food, and the Assistant Poorlaw Commissioners
aided in the distribution of it. Under this arrangement the advances
made by the Association from October to July amounted to £150,000.
A peculiar feature of this relief system, adopted and carried into
effect by the advice of Count Strezelecki, was the giving of clothing
and daily rations to children attending school. This was done in
twenty-seven of the poorest Unions, and with the best results. By the
first of January, 1848, the system was in full operation in thirteen
Unions, and 58,000 children were on the relief roll of the Association.
The numbers went on increasing until, in March, there were upwards of
200,000 children attending schools of all denominations, in twenty-seven
Western Unions, participating in this relief. The total sum expended on
food for the children amounted to £80,854, in addition to which £12,000
was expended on clothing for them.
On the 1st of November, 1848, £12,000 was still to the credit of the
Association. By a resolution, it was handed over to the Poorlaw
Commissioners for Ireland; and so closed the labours of the British
Relief Association, so vast in its operations, so well managed, so
creditable to all engaged in it, and such a lasting testimony to the
generous charity of the subscribers.
Such frequent reference has been made in these pages to the
"Transactions" of the Relief Committee of the Society of Friends, during
the Famine, and so much use has been made of the information contained
in that carefully compiled book, that I will only here repeat the amount
of the charitable offerings confided to them for distribution. It
was:--£198,326 15s. 5d.
The General Central Relief Committee for all Ireland, which met in
College Green, received in contributions £83,934 17s. 11d., but of this,
£20,000 was given by the British Association. The Marquis of Abercorn,
the most Rev. Dr. Murray, Archbishop of Dublin, the Lord Mayor, the
Provost of Trinity College, Lord Charlemont, O'Connell, the Dean of St.
Patrick's, and several other noblemen and gentlemen were members of this
Committee. The president was the present Duke of Leinster, then Marquis
of Kildare. It remained in existence just one year, from December,
1846, to December, 1847.
"The chief source," says the "Transactions" of the Society of Friends,"
whence the means at our disposal were derived, was the munificent bounty
of the citizens of the United States. The supplies sent from America to
Ireland were on a scale unparalleled in history."
When authentic intelligence regarding the Irish Famine reached America,
a general feeling of sympathy was at once excited. Beginning with
Philadelphia, in all the great cities and towns throughout the Union,
meetings were almost immediately held to devise the best and speediest
means of relieving the starving people of this country. "All through the
States an intense interest, and a noble generosity were shown. The
railroads carried, free of charge, all packages marked 'Ireland.' Public
carriers undertook the gratuitous delivery of any package intended for
the relief of the destitute Irish. Storage to any extent was offered on
the same terms. Ships of war approached our shores, eagerly seeking not
to destroy life but to preserve it, their guns being taken out in order
to afford more room for stowage."[304]
The total contributions received from America by the Central Relief
Committee of the Society of Friends, were,--Money, £15,976 18s.
2d.--Provisions, 9,911 tons, valued at £133,847 7s. 7d. Six hundred and
forty-two packages of clothing were also received, the precise value of
which could not be exactly ascertained. The provisions were carried in
ninety-one vessels, the united freights of which amounted to £33,017 5s.
7d.[305]
The total number of ships which carried provisions, the result of
charitable contributions, to Ireland and Scotland in 1847, is set down
at one hundred and eighteen; but as only four of these went to
Scotland, one hundred and fourteen of them must have come here. The
total freightage paid to those ships by Government, was £41,725 8s.
5-1/2d; but as I find in another part of the Blue book, that between
£60,000 and £70 000 was paid by Government for freights on the cargoes
of provisions consigned to the Society of Friends and to the British
Association, and which I have above assumed to be £70,000, we may take
it for granted that something like twenty thousand tons of provisions
were consigned to both Societies, the money value of which was about
£280,000.
Two American ships of war, the "Jamestown" and "Macedonian," carried
cargoes of provisions to Ireland, for which no freight was charged.
The "Jamestown," a sloop of war lent by the government for the voyage,
was freighted by the people of Massachusetts with 8,000 barrels of
flour. She sailed from Boston on the 28th of March, 1847, and arrived at
the Cove of Cork on the 12th of April, after a most prosperous voyage.
The people of Cove immediately held a public meeting, and adopted an
address to her Commander, Captain Forbes, which they presented to him on
board. The citizens of Cork addressed him a few days later; and the
members of the Temperance Institute gave him a _soiree_, at which the
Rev. Theobald Mathew assisted.
The "Macedonian," another ship of war, arrived later on, conveying about
550 tons of provisions, a portion of which was landed in Scotland. Both
ships were manned by volunteers.
On the appearance of the potato blight scientific men earnestly applied
themselves to discover its cause, in the hope that a remedy might be
found for it. Various theories was the result. There was the Insect
Theory; the Weather Theory; the Parasitical Theory; the Electrical
Theory; the Fungus Theory; the Fog Theory. But whilst philosophers were
maintaining their different views;--whilst Sir James Murray charged
electricity with being the agent of destruction, and Mr. Cooper cast the
blame upon the fogs; whilst Professors Lindley, Playfair, and Kane were
busy with their tests, and retorts, and alembics; and whilst others
again--microscope in hand--were in active pursuit of the _Aphis
vastator_, or _Thrips minutissima_, a not inconsiderable class of
persons, departing widely from all such speculations, discovered, beyond
all doubt, that _Popery_ was the true cause of the potato blight.
"As this predicted system" [popery], says a pamphleteer, "is an
idolatrous one, any treaty with it must be opposed to God's will, and
call down his wrath upon those nations who have commerce with it: more
particularly upon nations wherein its hideous deformities are most
signally manifested. Now, how have we seen in the first part of this
work, that He has repeatedly punished? By famine and pestilence! Oh,
beloved countrymen of every diversity of creed, in the heart-rending
scenes around us do we witness punishment for national idolatry,
systematic assassinations, performed occasionally with a refinement of
cruelty worthy of incarnate devils."[306]
"This much is certain" writes a public journalist, "that our country is
scourged with famine." Three causes are then given for the scourge; the
second of which is, "Idolatry in the professing people of God,
especially when sanctioned by the rulers of the country." After quoting
examples from the Old Testament of the manner in which God punished
idolatry, he proceeds: "It [idolatry] is just as true of the millions of
Ireland as it was of the millions of Judah: 'They worship the work of
their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.' And to
complete the resemblance to apostate Israel, and fill the measure of
our national guilt, the prevalent idolatry is countenanced and supported
by our government. The Protestant members of the Houses of Lords and
Commons have sworn before God and the country that Popery is idolatrous;
our Queen, at her coronation, solemnly made a similar declaration,--yet,
all have concurred in passing a Bill to endow a college for training
priests to defend, and practise, and perpetuate, this corrupt and
damnable worship in this realm. The ink wherewith the signification of
royal assent was given to that iniquitous measure was hardly dry when
_the fatal rot_ commenced its work of destruction; and as the stroke was
unheeded, and there was no repentant effort to retrace the daring step
of the first iniquity, but rather a disposition to multiply
transgression, we are now visited with a second and a severer stroke of
judgment."[307]
The Rev. Hugh M'Neill preached a "Famine" sermon in St. Jude's,
Liverpool, and published it under the title of "The Famine, a rod;" a
rod that was meant to scourge England for tolerating Popery, of which he
said: "That it is a sin against God's holy law to encourage the fables,
deceits, false doctrines, and idolatrous worship of Romanism, no
enlightened Christian--no consistent member of the church of England can
deny."[308] "She [England] is fondly anticipating, as the result of
generous concession, that she shall witness Roman Cooperation in general
Liberty! Alas, for the Romans! With equal reason might she expect the
Ethiopian to change his skin, or the leopard his spots. With the rich
and responsible inheritance of an open Bible before her, and with free
access to the illustrations of authentic history, this absurdity is
England's sin, England's very great sin. There can be little doubt, that
except repentance _and amendment_ avert the stroke, this will prove
England's plague, England's great plague, England's very great
plague."[309]
It may be urged that the Rev. Hugh M'Neill is a man of extreme views. Be
it so; but his extreme views seem rather to have advanced his interests
than to have offended his superiors, for he is now Dean of Ripon.
Let us hear another and a very different stamp of man.
"I don't know whether I have mentioned before," writes Charles Dickens,
"that in the valley of the Simplon, hard by here, where, (at the Bridge
of St. Maurice over the Rhone), this Protestant canton ends and a
Catholic canton begins, you might separate two perfectly distinct and
different conditions of humanity, by drawing a line with your stick in
the dust on the ground. On the Protestant side, neatness; cheerfulness;
industry; education; continual aspiration, at least, after better
things. On the Catholic side, dirt; disease; ignorance; squalor; and
misery. I have so constantly observed the like of this, since I first
came abroad, that _I have a sad misgiving_, that the religion of Ireland
lies as deep at the root of all her sorrows even as English
misgovernment and Tory villainy."[310]
Charles Dickens is looked upon not only as the strenuous denouncer of
vice, but as the happy exponent of the higher and purer feelings of
human nature also. For three-fourths of his life he wrote like a man who
felt he had a mission to preach toleration, philanthropy--universal
benevolence. He had travelled much. He had been over Belgium and France;
he was through the Rhenish Provinces; in all which places the people are
Catholics; they have received the highest praise from travellers and
writers for their industry; their thrift; their cleanliness; Charles
Dickens saw all this, but it never occurred to him to credit their
religion with it. When the contrary occurs, and when fault is to be
found, Popery, like a hack-block kept for such purposes, is made
responsible, and receives a blow. He had, indeed, a sad misgiving that
the religion of Ireland lay deep at the root of her sorrows. Surely this
is enough to try one's patience. We have passed through and out-lived
the terrible codes of Elizabeth and James and Anne and the two first
Georges, under which, gallows-trees were erected on the hill side for
our conversion or extinction; we have even survived the iron heels and
ruthless sabres of Cromwell's sanctimonious troopers; and we can go back
upon the history of those times calmly enough now. But this "sad
misgiving" of Mr. Dickens; this patronizing condescension; this
contemptuous pity, is more than provoking. It is probable he had not the
time or inclination to read deeply into Irish history, but he must have
had a general knowledge of it more than sufficient to inform him, that
there were causes in superabundance to account for the poverty and
degradation of our people, without going to their religion for them.
Instead of doing so, he should have confessed with shame and
humiliation, that his own countrymen, for a long series of years, did
everything in their power to destroy the image of God in the native
Irish, by driving them like beasts of chase into the mountains, and
bogs, and fastnesses, and over the Shannon. Our people suffered these
things and much more for conscience sake; inflicted, as they were, by
Mr. Dickens's countrymen, in the name of religion; in the name of
conscience; in advancing, as they pretended, the sacred cause of the
right of private judgment. _He_ makes Popery responsible for the
results.
Those who held that Popery was the real cause of the potato-rot were
influential, if not by their numbers, at least by their wealth; so they
set about removing the fatal evil energetically. Large sums of money
were collected, and a very active agency was established throughout the
West of Ireland for this purpose; with, it would seem, very
considerable success. But whilst those engaged in, the work, maintained,
that the conversions were the result of instruction and enlightened
investigation, others believed that most of the converts were like the
poor woman mentioned by the late Dr. Whately, in a conversation with Mr.
Senior.
In 1852, Mr. Nassau Wm. Senior was on a visit with the Archbishop, at
his country house, near Stillorgan, five miles from Dublin. Mr. Senior
asked him, to what cause the conversions made during the Famine were
attributable. The Archbishop replied, that the causes must be numerous.
Some, he said, believed, or professed to believe, that the conversions
were purchased; this of course was the Catholic view. He then related
the following anecdote on the subject:
"An old woman went to one of my clergy, and said, 'I'm come to surrender
to your Reverence--and I want the leg of mutton and the blanket.' 'What
mutton and blanket?' said the clergyman. I have scarcely enough of
either for myself and my family, and certainly none to give. Who could
have put such nonsense into your head?' 'Why, Sir,' she said, 'Father
Sullivan told us, that the converts got each a leg of mutton and a
blanket; and as I am famished, and starving with cold, I thought that
_God would forgive_ me for getting them.'"[311]
Dr. Whately was president of the "Society for protecting the Rights of
Conscience," and he indignantly denied that any reward or indemnity had
been held out, directly or indirectly, by that Society, to persons, to
induce them to profess themselves converts; and he adds: "not only has
no case been substantiated--no case has been even brought forward." This
may be true of that particular Society, but to deny that neither money
nor food were given, to induce persons to attend the Scripture classes
and proselytizing schools, is to deny the very best proven facts.
In the _Tralee Chronicle_ of the 19th of November, 1852, Archdeacon
O'Sullivan, of Kenmare (lately deceased), published an abstract of a
Report of one of those Missionary Societies which fell into his hands.
The expenditure of a single Committee was £3557 1s. 6d. The salaries of
clerical and lay agents are set down at £382 0s. 11d. What became of the
remainder of the money?
But here is testimony that Dr. Whately himself would scarcely impugn:
Dr. Forbes, in his "Memorandums made in Ireland" in 1852, visited
Connaught, and examined many of the proselytizing schools. He speaks
without any doubt at all of the children who attended those schools
receiving food and clothing. It did not seem to be denied on any side.
Here is an extract: "I visited two of the Protestant Mission Schools at
Clifden, one in the town, and the other about a mile and a-half beyond
the town, on the road leading to the mouth of the bay. In the former, at
the time of my visit, there were about 120 boys and 100 girls on the
books, the average attendance being about 80. Out of the 80 girls there
were no less than fifty-six orphans, _all of whom are fed and clothed
out of the school funds, and a large proportion provided with lodgings
also_. Only two of these girls were children of Protestant parents; and
in the boy's school there was only one born of parents originally
Protestant.... At the probationary girls' school there were 76 on the
books, at the time of my visit, their ages varying from eight to
eighteen years. They are all Catholics, or children of Catholic parents;
and out of the number no fewer than 40 _were orphans_. All the children
at this school receive daily rations of Indian meal; 45 of them one
pound, and the remainder half that quantity. _Whether this is exclusive
of the stirabout breakfast I saw preparing for them in the school_, I
forgot to ask. All the children of these schools read the Scriptures
and go to the Protestant Church, Catholic and Protestant alike."[312]
But I turn with pleasure from this uninviting and uncongenial subject,
to one more elevating,--to the all but unlimited private charity which
was called forth by the Irish Famine. I have already endeavoured to give
some idea of it, but of course an imperfect one. The feelings evoked,
and the almost unasked alms bestowed with a noble Christian generosity,
during that awful time, can be only fully known to Almighty God; the
Great Rewarder. The Merciful Rewarder has recorded them, and that is
enough, at least for the givers. However, there were some amongst them
who should not be passed over in silence. Baring, Brothers & Co.;
Rothschild & Co.; Smith, Payne & Smith; Overend, Gurney & Co.; Truman,
Hanbury & Co.; The Duke of Devonshire; Jones, Lloyd & Co.; an English
friend (in two donations); and an Irish landlord (for Skibbereen)
subscribed £1000 each.
Irish landlords did not contribute very munificently to the Famine-fund;
but here is £1000 from one, and for a special locality. Who was the
retiring but generous donor? The following extract of a letter will
answer the question; and throw light upon another remarkable offering
sent every month to Skibbereen for more than a year.
"The first case of death clearly established as arising from
starvation," writes Mr. M'Carthy Downing, "occurred at South Reen, five
miles from the town of Skibbereen. The case having been reported to me,
as a member of the Relief Committee, I procured the attendance of Dr.
Dore, and proceeded to the house where the body lay; the scene which
presented itself will never be forgotten by me.
"The body was resting on a basket which had been turned up, the head on
an old chair, the legs on the ground. All was wretchedness around. The
wife, emaciated, was unable to move; and four children, more like
spectres than living beings, were lying near the fire-place, in which
apparently there had not been fire for some time. The doctor opened the
stomach, and repugnant as it was to my feelings, I, at his solicitation,
viewed its contents, which consisted solely of a few pieces of raw
cabbage undigested.
"Having visited several other houses on the same townland, and finding
the condition of the inmates therein little better than that of the
wretched family whom I had just left, I summoned the Committee, and had
a quantity of provisions sent there for distribution by one of the
relieving officers; and then published in the Cork and Dublin papers a
statement of what I had witnessed.
"Many subscriptions were sent to the Committee in consequence, and I
received from an anonymous correspondent a monthly sum varying from £6
to £8, for a period of more than twelve months.
"One subscription of £1000 came from another anonymous donor, and for
years the Committee knew not who those generous and really charitable
parties were; but I had always a suspicion that the giver of the £1000
was Lord Dufferin. The grounds for my supposition were, that during the
height of the sufferings of the people, I heard that two noblemen had
been in the neighbourhood, visiting some of the localities. One was Lord
Dufferin, then a very young man, who alluded subsequently in feeling
terms to the wretchedness and suffering which he had witnessed; the
other, I heard, was Lord John Manners.
"In some years after, I met at the house of Mr. Joshua Clarke, Q.C., in
Dublin, Mr. Dowse, then a rising barrister, now a Baron of the Court of
Exchequer, who addressed me, saying, 'We are old acquaintances;' to
which I replied that I thought he was mistaken, as I had never the
pleasure of meeting him before. He said 'That is quite true, but do you
remember having received monthly remittances during the severe pressure
of the Famine in Skibbereen?' I answered in the affirmative; and
thereupon he said, 'I was your correspondent, I remitted the moneys to
you, they were the offerings of a number of the students of Trinity
College.'
"I need scarcely say that the incident created in me a feeling of esteem
and regard for Mr. Dowse, which has continued to the present moment.
"During the passing of the Land Bill through the House of Commons, in
the year 1870, I proposed several amendments, in consequence of which I
received a letter from Lord Dufferin, asking for an interview, which
subsequently took place at his house, and lasted more than three hours.
When about to leave, I said that I had a question to put to his
Lordship, which I hoped he would not refuse to answer; and having
received his assent, I said,--Lord Dufferin, are you the anonymous donor
of a subscription of £1000 to the Relief Committee at Skibbereen
twenty-three years ago? And with a smile, he simply replied 'I am.'
"I left with feelings of high admiration for the man."[313]
To conclude. Every reader, will, doubtless, form his own views upon the
facts given in this volume; upon the conduct of the people; the action
of the landlords; the measures of the Government; those views may be
widely different; but of the bright and copious fountains of living
charity, which gushed forth over the Christian world, during the Great
Irish Famine, history has but one record to make,--posterity can hold
but one opinion.
FOOTNOTES:
[303] The first Queen's letter produced £170,571 0s 10d.; the second
only £30,167 14s. 4d.
[304] Transactions of Society of Friends during the Famine in Ireland p.
49.
[305] _Ibid._ Appendix vii, p. 334
[306] The connection between Famine and Pestilence, and the Great
Apostacy. By Nagnatus, p. 49. P.D. Hardy, Dublin, 1847. Halliday
Pamphlets, Vol. 1990.
[307] The Achill Missionary Herald for August, 1846, p. 88.
[308] The Famine, a rod. By the Rev. Hugh M'Neill, p. 23.
[309] The Famine, a rod, pp. 25, 26. The capitals and italics are Mr.
M'Neill's.
[310] Letter quoted in "Forster's Life of Dickens," written in the
Autumn of 1846. Vol. II. p. 233.
[311] "Journals, Conversations, and Essays relating to Ireland." by
Nassau William Senior. Vol. II., Second Edition, p. 60.
[312] "Memorandums made in Ireland in the Autumn of 1852." By John
Forbes, M.D., F.R.S., Hon. D.C.L. Oxon., Physician to Her Majesty's
Household. Vol. I. pp. 246 and 247. Dr. Forbes was afterwards knighted.
[313] Letter of M'Carthy Downing, Esq., M.P., to the Author, dated
Prospect House, Co. Cork, August 31st, 1874.
(NOTE A.)--ABSENTEEISM: MR. M'CULLOGH's DEFENCE OF IT EXAMINED.
The question of Irish Absenteeism has, for a long time, been discussed
by politicians and political economists; some maintaining it to be a
great evil; some admitting its injurious effects, but in a modified way
only; whilst others, with Mr. J.R. M'Culloch, maintain that, by the
principles of economic science, Absenteeism is no evil at all.
Apart altogether from the views of political economists, there are
certain evils which result from Absenteeism. 1. There is that
estrangement between landlord and tenant, which must naturally exist in
cases where the tenant seldom or never sees his landlord; has no
intercourse with him; is unacquainted with the sound of his voice, from
which no word of kindly encouragement ever reaches him; never hears of
him, except when the agent demands, in his name, the rent, which is to
be sent to England, or to whatever foreign country he may reside in.
Even though the argument were true, that his living out of Ireland
inflicts no real pecuniary loss upon Ireland, the impression on the
tenant's mind is different, and helps to increase the estrangement
between him and his landlord, which so generally exists, and which all
must lament as an evil. 2. It is an old and a commonly accepted adage,
that affairs thrive under the master's eye, and that those things which
he neither sees nor takes an interest in exhibit the signs of neglect.
As a resident landlord rides over his property, improvements will
frequently suggest themselves to his mind; some of them often easily and
inexpensively done, although important from their usefulness. He is
sure, at any rate, to know the condition of his estate, and he can, with
a just discernment, encourage the industrious, help the weak, urge
forward the slow, and have a friendly word for all, whether he approves,
or is obliged to find fault. The value of this mode of dealing with the
people cannot be over estimated, especially in Ireland, where a kind
word from a superior goes a great way.[314] An agent manages the
property of an absentee. There are many such agents who are just and
considerate, but the traditional character of an Irish land agent,
resulting from long experience, is, that he is a haughty oppressive man,
who has other interests to serve besides those of his employer; and who
makes his employer's interests subservient to his own. Whether he thinks
it a duty he owes his master, or that he believes it gives himself
importance, an Irish land agent is frequently in the habit of acting in
a proud, browbeating manner towards the tenants under him. I have seen a
most respectable body of tenants, with their rent in their hands, stand
with cowed and timid looks in the agent's office; they kept at as great
a distance from him as space would allow; they were afraid to tender the
rent, and yet they feared to hang back too long, as either course might
bring down the ire of the great man upon them. His looks, his gestures,
the few words he condescended to utter--even his manner of counting bank
notes, which he thumped and turned over with a sort of insolent
contempt,--all went to prove that those fears were not ill-founded. The
scene forcibly reminded me of a group of children in the Zoological
gardens, before the cage of one of the fiercer animals; they view him
with awe, and, on account of his size and spots, with a certain
admiration, but they are afraid of their lives to approach him. It is
usual for a resident landlord to have an agent too, but he is subject to
the personal observation, and under the immediate control of the
landlord, who can be easily appealed to, if a misunderstanding should
arise between him and any tenant. It is always a great satisfaction to
the weaker party to have an opportunity of going, as they say, to the
"fountain-head." It is bringing one's case before a higher tribunal when
one feels he has not got justice in the court below. 3. Whether it is or
is not the fact, that the landlord by living at home and spending his
fortune amongst his people adds to the aggregate wealth of the nation,
it is certain that his doing so is a partial and immediate good to the
locality in which he resides. Often does the Irish peasant point to the
decayed village, and the crumbling mansion, as evidences that the owner
of the soil is an Absentee. 4. There is a special reason given by at
least one English writer, why Irish landlords ought to be resident, and
thus endeavour to gain the confidence of their tenants; and that is,
because nine-tenths of the Irish estates have been confiscated from the
native owners, and are held by men who differ from their tenants in
country and religion; and their non-residence, and consequent want of
sympathy with the people, perpetuates in the minds of those people the
bitter traditions of rapine and conquest; so that, instead of feeling
they are the tenants of kind, considerate landlords, they are apt to
regard themselves, in some sort, as the despised slaves of conquerors,
who, if they do not still look upon them as "Irish enemies," do not
certainly entertain for them the feelings which ought to find a place
in the breasts of landlords who look upon their tenants as something
more than mere rent producers.
So much for the moral and social aspect of Absenteeism. Now, let us
examine, a little, the ground taken up by Mr. J.R. M'Culloch, who
maintains that, according to the accepted principles of political
economy, the fact of Irish landed proprietors residing out of their
country inflicts no injury upon it. For Mr. Prior's views on Absenteeism
he manifests great contempt, but treats himself with a kind of
respectful commiseration, as being, in spite of his ignorance of
political economy, "a gentleman in other respect--of great candour and
good sense." He quotes his assertion that the aggregate of the absentee
rents, amounting then to £627,799 annually, was entirely sent to the
Absentee landlords in treasure, "which," continues Mr. Prior, "is so
great a burthen upon Ireland that I believe there is not in history an
instance of any one country paying so large a yearly tribute (!) to
another." The parenthetic note of astonishment is Mr. M'Culloch's, who
says, with regard to this passage, "it would really seem that in this,
as in some other things, the universality and intensity of belief has
been directly as the folly and falsehood of the thing believed."[315]
It was in his examination in 1825, before a Parliamentary Committee,
that Mr. M'Culloch put forward his views on Irish Absenteeism. He was
asked this question: "Supposing the largest export of Ireland were in
live cattle, and that a considerable portion of rent had been remitted
in that manner, does not such a mode of producing the means of paying
rent, contribute less to the improvement of the poor than any extensive
employment of them in labour would produce?" He replies: "Unless the
means of paying rent are changed when the landlord goes home, his
residence can have no effect whatever." "Would not," he is asked, "the
population of the country be benefited by the expenditure among them of
a certain portion of the rent, which (if he had been absent) would have
been remitted (to England)?" "No," he replies, "I do not see how it
could be benefited in the least. If you have a certain value laid out
against Irish commodities in the one case, you will have a certain value
laid out against them in the other. The cattle are either exported to
England or they stay at home. If they are exported the landlord will
obtain an equivalent for them in English commodities; it they are not he
will obtain an equivalent for them in Irish commodities; so that in both
cases the landlord lives on the cattle, or on the value of the cattle:
and whether he lives in Ireland or England there is obviously just the
very same amount of commodities for the people of Ireland to subsist
upon."[316] Mr. Senior exposes this fallacy in the following words;
"This reasoning assumes that the landlord, whilst resident in Ireland,
himself personally devours all the cattle produced on his estates; for,
on no other supposition can there be the very same amount of commodities
for the people of Ireland to subsist upon, whether their cattle are
retained in Ireland or exported."[317] It may be said with equal truth,
that to assume, as Mr. M'Culloch assumes, the Irish absentee's residence
in England to be of no advantage to the people there, is assuming that
"himself personally" devours all the cattle and corn sent to him in the
shape of rent. But the landlord does not in either case devour all the
beef and all the corn; by far the greater portion of those products go
to house, and clothe, and feed the persons who minister to his various
wants.
In the beginning of his Essay on Absenteeism Mr. M'Culloch, referring
with apparent satisfaction to his evidence before the Committee, says,
"it had been previously established, and is now universally conceded
that the gentlemen who consume nothing in their families but what is
brought from abroad are quite as good, as useful, and as meritorious
subjects as they could be, if, they consume nothing but what is produced
at home; and such being the case, it will require a sharper eye than has
yet looked at this subject, to discover the great injury which is said
to be done by their going abroad."[318]
With the greatest respect for Mr. M'Culloch's skill as a political
economist, this proposition has neither been established nor conceded in
the unlimited sense in which he here puts it forward. Enthusiastic men,
who become enamoured of some favourite theory, are apt to attach too
much importance to it--push it too far, and try to fit things into it
which it will not contain, without being modified or enlarged. This has
been the case with political economists to a remarkable extent; a fact
which John Stuart Mill notices and complains of as injurious to the
science.[319] The chief flaw in Mr. M'Culloch's apology for Absenteeism
(as his essay may well be called) is, that he entirely overlooks the
peculiar nature of Irish exports. Those exports consist almost
exclusively of raw, or, to use Adam Smith's word, of _rude_ produce; and
where this is the case Mr. M'Culloch's principle will not hold without
large modifications. Mr. Senior saw this, and, in dealing with Irish
Absenteeism he modifies the principle accordingly. In discussing the
proximate cause deciding the rate of wages, he lays down as his third
proposition, that "It is inconsistent with the prevalent opinion,[320]
that the non-residence of landlords, funded proprietors, mortgagees, and
other unproductive consumers can be detrimental to the labouring
inhabitants of a country _which does not export raw produce_."
Mr. Senior here affirms Mr. M'Culloch's proposition, quoted above, but
with the qualifying clause--"which does not export raw produce." I have
italicised this clause because it contains the very exception which
makes the general proposition inapplicable to Ireland, and to every
country whose chief exports are, like Ireland's, raw produce.
To use the words of Mr. Senior, "If an Irish landlord reside on his
estate he requires the services of certain persons, who must be also
resident there to minister to his daily wants. He must have servants,
gardeners, and, perhaps, gamekeepers. If he build a house, he must
employ resident masons and carpenters; part of his furniture he may
import, but the greater part of it must be made in his neighbourhood; a
portion of his land, or, what comes to the same thing, a portion of his
rent, must be employed in producing food, clothing, and shelter for all
these persons, and for those who produce that food, clothing, and
shelter. If he were to remove to England all these wants would be
supplied by Englishmen. The land and capital which was formerly employed
in providing the maintenance of Irish labourers, would be employed in
producing corn and cattle to be exported to England, to provide the
sustenance of English labourers. The whole quantity of commodities
appropriated to the use of Irish labourers would be diminished, and that
appropriated to the use of English labourers increased."[321] Giving
credit for ordinary prudence to the persons employed by resident Irish
landlords, they would save a part of their earnings, and the part saved
would go to increase the capital of the country; but when the landlords
reside in England the moneys so paid away go into the pockets of English
servants and mechanics, and their savings are added to the sum of
English capital; for it is a fundamental principle of Political Economy
that capital and all additions to capital are the result of saving.
Writers on Ireland have been long proclaiming with all their might, that
the first and greatest want of that country is capital. Half a century
ago, when Mr. M'Culloch published his views of Irish Absenteeism, the
rents annually paid to our absentee landlords were set down at from
four to four and millions of pounds sterling. They have very much
increased since, but let us still accept four and a-half millions as the
amount. Were the absentee landlords resident, the whole of that rental
would not be spent at home, as some of it would go for foreign
commodities, such as tea, sugar, wine; but the greater part of it would
be spent at home. Now, although the savings of the employees of Irish
landlords could not, perhaps, be called large in any one year, yet had
those savings gone on from Mr. Prior's time--1729--taking into account
the increase of capital by the use of capital,--who can calculate the
additions that would have been made to Irish capital, by this means,
during so long a period? And as Mr. Mill's first fundamental proposition
respecting capital is, that "Industry is limited by capital," who can
measure the consequences to Irish industry of the capital lost to it by
Absenteeism?
But the soundness of the principle laid down by Mr. M'Culloch as
universally received, and which Mr. Senior accepts (with the
qualification affecting raw produce) has not passed unchallenged. For
greater clearness I shall repeat that principle here. "The gentlemen,"
says Mr. M'Culloch, "who consume nothing in their families but what is
brought from abroad are quite as good, as useful, and as meritorious
subjects as they could be if they consume nothing but what is produced
at home." And the reason for this is to be found in his Principles of
Political Economy where he says that, Foreign commodities are always
paid for by British commodities, therefore, the purchase of Foreign
commodities encourages British industry as much as the purchase of
British commodities" (Principles of Political Economy, p. 152). The
important exception to this theorem arising from the _nature_ of the
commodities exported and imported has been already dealt with. Let us
examine the vital principle of the theorem. "The capital," says Adam
Smith, "which is employed in purchasing in one part of the country in
order to sell in another, the produce of the industry of that country,
generally replaces by every such operation two distinct capitals, that
had both been employed in the agriculture or manufactures of that
country, and thereby enables them to continue that employment. When it
sends out from the residence of the merchant a certain value of
commodities it generally brings back in return at least an equal value
of other commodities. When both are the produce of domestic industry it
necessarily replaces by every such operation two distinct capitals which
had both been employed in supporting productive labour, and thereby
enables them to continue that support. The capital which sends Scotch
manufactures to London, and brings back English corn and manufactures to
Edinburgh, necessarily replaces, by every such operation, two British
capitals, which had both been employed in the agriculture or
manufactures of Great Britain.
"The capital employed in purchasing foreign goods for home consumption,
when this purchase is made with the produce of domestic industry,
replaces too, by every such operation, two distinct capitals; but one of
them only is employed in supporting domestic industry. The capital which
sends British goods to Portugal, and brings back Portuguese goods to
Great Britain, replaces, by every such operation, only one British
capital. The other is a Portuguese one. Though the returns, therefore,
of the foreign trade of consumption should be as quick as those of the
home trade, the capital employed in it will give but one half of the
encouragement to the industry or productive labour of the country.
"But the returns of the foreign trade of consumption are very seldom so
quick as those of the home trade. The returns of the home trade
generally come in before the end of the year, and sometimes three or
four times in the year. The returns of the foreign trade of consumption
seldom come in before the end of the year, and sometimes not till after
two or three years. A capital, therefore, employed in the home trade,
will sometimes make twelve operations, or be sent out and returned
twelve times, before a capital employed in the foreign trade of
consumption has made one. If the capitals are equal, therefore, the one
will give four and twenty times more encouragement and support to the
industry of the country than the other."[322]
If this position of Adam Smith's be tenable, it cannot be true, that the
purchase of foreign commodities encourages British industry as much as
the purchase of British commodities. In order to have a clear idea of
his reasoning it will be useful to repeat some of the leading principles
which regulate and explain the nature of capital. 1. Capital is usually
defined to be the _accumulated stock of the produce of labour_. A
definition which, if not completely satisfactory, is sufficiently
correct for our present purpose. 2. _Capital is essential to
production_. 3. _Capital employed in production is wholly consumed in
the process of production_. "Capital," as Mill, and in fact as every
political economist says, "is all consumed; though not by the
capitalist. Part is exchanged for tools or machinery, which are worn out
by use; part for seed or materials, which are destroyed as such, by by
being sown or wrought up, and destroyed altogether by the consumption of
the ultimate product. The remainder is paid to labourers, who consume it
for their daily wants; or if they, in their turn, save any part, this
also is not generally speaking, hoarded, but (through savings banks,
benefit clubs, or some other channel) re-employed as capital, and
consumed."[323] These principles open the way to the understanding of
what Adam Smith means by the _replacing of capital_.
Capital is consumed in production, and must be replaced. How is it
replaced? By the new product. _It reappears in the new product_; in the
production of which it was consumed. Moreover it reappears with a profit
to the capitalist, who has employed it for the purposes of production.
Let us hear well in mind that the capital consumed in production is
consumed, not by the capitalist himself, but in the purchase of various
things necessary for production, and in wages. All this capital which is
employed and consumed in production, is _the net spendable income of the
producing nation_. And it is spent in food, raiment, lodging, and other
necessaries; and of course in luxuries too; and when it is spent, or
"consumed," as the word is, the nation, so far from being the poorer,
has grown richer; because the capital consumed has reappeared, or, as
Adam Smith says, _has been replaced_ by the new product, and, in the
usual course, with an increase in the form of profit.
It is plain, then, according to this reasoning, that for every portion
of capital consumed in production, a new capital re-appears. If two
capitals are consumed in production, two new capitals reappear in their
place: if three are consumed, three reappear; and so on. Let us now go
back to Adam Smith's words quoted above: "The capital which sends
British goods to Portugal, and brings back Portuguese goods to Great
Britain, replaces, by every such operation, only one British capital.
The other is a Portuguese one. Though the returns, therefore, of the
foreign trade of consumption should be as quick as those of the home
trade, the capital employed in it will give but _one half_ of the
encouragement to the industry or productive labour of the country."
Applying this principle to the subject in hand, we find that Absenteeism
inflicts an injury upon Ireland, in addition to, and quite distinct from
the one, which results from the _nature_ of the commodities sent by
Ireland to England. An Irish absentee in London buys British commodities
with Irish commodities. In doing so, _he replaces_ two capitals, one
British and one Irish; but if he resides in Ireland, and buys Irish
commodities with Irish commodities, _he replaces two Irish capitals_
instead of one, as happens, when he resides in England; and thus gives
double the encouragement to Irish industry which he would give to it if
he resided in England.
"The entire price or gross value of every _home-made_ article
constitutes net revenue, net income to British subjects. Not a portion
of the value, but the _whole value_, is resolvable into net income and
revenue maintaining British families, and creating and sustaining
British markets. Purchase British articles with British articles, and
you create _two_ such aggregate values, and two such markets for British
industry. Whereas, on the contrary, the entire value of every foreign
article imported is net income to the foreigner and sustains foreign
markets. Purchase foreign articles with British articles, and you only
create _one_ value for your own benefit instead of creating _two_, and
only _one_ market for British industry instead of _two_. You lose the
acquisition of the entire value on one side, which you might have had,
as well as on the other, and you lose a market for British industry to
the full extent of that gross value."[324]
If the principle laid down by Adam Smith were unsound, that the man who
buys British commodities with British commodities replaces two British
capitals, whilst he who buys foreign commodities with British
commodities replaces but one British capital, Mr. M'Culloch had an
inviting opportunity of exposing its unsoundness in the edition of _The
Wealth of Nations_ edited by him; and in fact he has written an
elaborate note on the passage, but, as it seems to me, without proving
the doctrine which it enunciates to be incorrect. Here is the portion of
Mr. M'Culloch's footnote which deals with the subject: "Dr. Smith does
not say that the importation of foreign commodities has any tendency to
force capital abroad; and unless it did this, it is plain that his
statement with respect to the effect of changing a home for a foreign
trade of consumption, is quite inconsistent with the fundamental
principle he has elsewhere established, that industry is always in
proportion to the amount of capital." From this, his opening sentence,
it would seem that Mr. M'Culloch mistook the force and tendancy of Adam
Smith's reasoning, who does not, in the passage annotated by Mr.
M'Culloch, advocate the change of a foreign for a home trade of
consumption. He only goes to prove that a home trade is more profitable
to a nation than a foreign one, in as much as _it replaces two home
capitals_, whilst the foreign trade replaces but _one_. For a country
with vast manufactories, like Great Britain, the home trade would not be
at all sufficient, but--_as far as it goes_--it is double as
advantageous as the foreign trade. Adam Smith seeks to prove no more.
But Mr. M'Culloch meets the question more directly as follows: "Suppose,
for the sake of illustration, that the case put by Dr. Smith actually
occurs--that the Scotch manufactures are sent to Portugal; it is
obvious, if the same demand continue in London for these manufactures as
before they began to be sent abroad, that additional capital and
labourers will be required to furnish commodities for both the London
and Portuguese markets. In this case, therefore, instead of the industry
of the country sustaining any diminution from the export of Scotch
manufactures to a foreign country, it would evidently be augmented, and
a new field would be discovered for the profitable employment of stock."
As this reasoning is only a continuation of the misconception of Adam
Smith's meaning just noticed, a very few words upon it will suffice. If
the same demand continue in London for the Scotch manufactures as before
they were sent to Portugal, or elsewhere, the Scotch manufacturers will
be only too glad to continue to supply London and Portugal too; and the
trade of the nation will be expanded; and the capital of the nation will
be augmented by the foreign trade, because by that foreign trade
British capital is replaced, and with a profit; but surely this does not
in any way disturb the principle that the Scotch manufactures sold in
London replace, or re-produce two British capitals, whilst those sold in
Portugal replace, or reproduce only one.
From these considerations on Absenteeism, it may, I think, be fairly
inferred that popular belief regarding its injurious effects is well
founded, although misconceptions may be entertained as to the precise
way in which the injury occurs.
FOOTNOTES:
[314] "We started at daybreak for Glenties, thirty miles distant, over
the mountains; and after leaving the improved cottages and farms on the
Gweedore estate, soon came upon the domain of an absentee proprietor,
the extent of which may be judged of by the fact, that our road lay for
more than twenty miles through it. This is the poorest parish in
Donegal, and no statement can be too strong with respect to the wretched
condition, the positive misery and starvation in which the cottiers and
small farmers on this immense domain are found."--_James H. Tuke's
Report to the Relief Committee of the Society of Friends._ Appendix, p.
149. "We proceeded to Glenties [from Dungloe], still on the same
property; and throughout our journey met with the most squalid scenes of
misery which the imagination can well conceive. Whilst thousands of
acres of reclaimable land lie entirely neglected and uncultivated, there
are thousands of men both willing and anxious to obtain work, but unable
to procure it."--_Ib._ p. 150.
[315] Note to his Essay on Absenteeism.
[316] From the Report, 814, Sess. 1826. Quoted by Mr. Senior.
[317] Political Economy, 5th Ed., p. 167.
[318] Political Economy. Book 3, c. I.
[319] Treatise on Political Economy, pp. 223-4.
[320] That is the common opinion of Political Economists.
[321] Political Economy, p. 155-6. 5th Ed.
[322] Adam Smith here regards Scotland as an integral part of Great
Britain, the same as he would regard Yorkshire or Lancashire. _Wealth of
Nations_, Book II., Chap. v.
[323] Principles of Political Economy, Book I, c. v. sect. 5.
[324] "_Sophisms of Freetrade_, and popular Political Economy examined."
By a Barrister, _4th. Ed._
* * * * *
(NOTE B.)--SMITH O'BRIEN'S REFUSAL TO SERVE ON A COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE
OF COMMONS.
At this period the railway mania was at its full height, and so many
Bills for the construction of various lines were before Parliament, that
what was called a Committee of Selection was appointed by the House of
Commons. This Committee divided those railway Bills into groups, and a
Sub-committee was formed to consider and report on each group. Smith
O'Brien was named on the Committee whose duty it was to examine group
eleven. Mr. Estcourt was its chairman. In order to insure punctual
attendance, the House, on the 12th of February, passed resolutions
declaring the attendance of members upon such Committees to be
compulsory. In due time the Committee on group eleven met, but Mr.
O'Brien was absent; which circumstance the chairman reported to the
House, as he was bound to do; whereupon the Speaker enquired if Mr.
O'Brien were in his place. He was; and rising thanked the Speaker for
the opportunity he afforded him (Mr. O'Brien) of explaining, but he had,
he said, done so in a correspondence with the chairman of the Committee
of Selection; he would withdraw nothing he had written on the subject,
and with this observation he bowed to the Speaker and left the House.
Mr. Estcourt, as chairman of the Committee on which Mr. O'Brien was
appointed to serve, then rose and said it was his painful duty to give a
narrative of facts that would explain the matter as far as he was
concerned in it. He called attention to the resolutions of the House
passed in February, compelling the attendance of members on Committees.
Mr. O'Brien, he said, had received notice on the 3rd of April, that his
attendance would be required on the 27th, in reply to which he wrote to
him (Mr. Estcourt), enclosing a letter which he (Mr. O'Brien) had
written the year before, to the effect, that he would not serve upon any
Committee for the consideration of private Bills not having reference to
Ireland. His words were: "Desiring that none but the representatives of
the Irish nation should legislate for Ireland, we have no wish to
intermeddle with the affairs of England or Scotland, except so far as
they may be connected with the interests of Ireland, or with the general
policy of the empire." Having read the above, Mr. Estcourt drew special
attention to the next passage: "In obedience to this principle, I have
abstained from voting on English or Scotch questions of a local nature;
and the same motive now induces me to decline attendance on Committees
on any private Bills, except such as relate to Ireland." The answer, Mr.
Estcourt said, he had given to this communication was, that the
Committee could not recognise such an excuse; he reminded Mr. O'Brien of
the resolutions of the 12th of February, but offered to consult for his
convenience, inasmuch as important Irish business was before the House,
by postponing, if possible, his attendance to a later period; but that
unless he had heard from him (Mr. O'Brien), assenting to this, he must
abide the coming vote of the House on Wednesday. Mr. O'Brien did reply,
telling Mr. Estcourt that his former communication contained his final
determination; adding, that the matter was not one of private
convenience but of public principle.
This statement Mr. Estcourt followed up by a motion, "That William
Smith O'Brien, Esq., having disobeyed the order of the House, by
refusing to attend the Committee to which the railway group eleven has
been referred, has been guilty of a contempt of this House."
On this resolution having been put, O'Connell rose and asked the House
to pause before it passed it. In the first place, he said, the House
should consider, how far the Act of Union with Ireland gave the power to
the members of that House, to enforce the process of contempt and
committal against the representatives of Ireland; there was no common
law jurisdiction for it, and before 1800 there could be no jurisdiction
at all, for both that House and the Parliament of Great Britain
disclaimed, in 1783, any species of interference with the
representatives of Ireland. The jurisdiction, then, of this House could
not stand on common law, nor upon the Act of Union, because that Act
gave no jurisdiction. In the second place, as to the Committee of
Selection, the question was, by the law and usage of Parliament, could
they delegate to a committee the power to make regulations punishable by
"Contempt," by placing the party in custody, whereas the House had not
the jurisdiction by common law to compel the attendance of members. He
took it, the House had no such common law power, because by the Sixth of
Henry VIII. it was enacted, that the members of that House should attend
the House. Now if the common law jurisdiction existed, this statute
would have been wholly unnecessary.
The Attorney-General, Sir William Follett, replied, that all the members
of the House had consented to the resolutions of the 12th of February,
thereby making them binding upon themselves; and that as Mr. O'Brien
might have objected then, but did not, he was of course bound by them;
and as to the Act of Union, he considered there was no force in the
argument drawn from it, because the third article of that Act had made
one Parliament of the two, enacting "that the said United Kingdom be
represented in one and the same Parliament, to be styled the Parliament
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland."
Sir Robert Peel, addressing himself to the most practical point of the
discussion, said the question was--"Have we or have we not the power to
require the attendance of members on public committees?" He apprehended
there could be no distinction between service on Committees and service
in the House; and if the Act of Union did not give the power, it was
from a belief that such a power was inherent in Parliament. The great
man, he said, who drew up those Acts of Union for Ireland and Scotland
did not take a statutable sanction, for they all rested on higher
grounds.
Sir Thomas Wilde, in giving his view of the case, made a distinction
with regard to the common law; saying, that if there was no authority
under the common law of the land to compel attendance on committees,
there was under the common law of Parliament; a law not so old as the
common law of the land, but as old as was necessary. Complimenting
O'Connell as a lawyer, he believed, he said, the opinion he had given
was not the result of his legal knowledge, but of a laudable desire to
release his friend from a difficulty. The House, he said, could send the
public to Committees, why not a member? Had they more power over the
public than the members of their own House? The question was not whether
neglecting to attend a Committee was contempt of the House or not; the
question was, whether disobedience to the order of the House did or did
not constitute a contempt of the authority of the house.
The resolution having been put, was carried by 133 to 13.
It was then moved that Mr. W.S. O'Brien be given up to the
Sergeant-at-Arms. Mr. Ward moved the postponement of the motion to
Thursday, the 30th of April; the Premier agreed, and it was accordingly
postponed. Smith O'Brien, remaining fixed in his determination, was on
that day taken into custody by Sir Wm. Gossett, the Sergeant-at-Arms,
and lodged in prison. After being twenty-five days there, Mr. Frederick
Shaw made a motion for his release, without, he said, having consulted
him, and in fact believing such motion to be contrary to his wishes. It
was made on the ground that he had been sufficiently punished by
twenty-five days' imprisonment. It was carried _nem con_, that he be
released, "on paying his fees."
Although several of the leading Irish Liberal members sustained Smith
O'Brien on this occasion, they did not approve of his persisting in his
refusal to serve on the Committee, as there was no principle vindicated
by his persistence or his imprisonment; his first refusal and the
discussion upon it having effected all that could be usefully done in
the case.
Whilst Smith O'Brien was yet in prison, the following case was submitted
to Mr. Anstey on his behalf:
"1. Whether there is any, and what inherent power or privilege in the
House of Commons to imprison its members for constructive contempt of
its authority?
"2. Whether there is any and what prescriptive power or privilege in
said House to imprison its members for such contempt?
"3. Whether the refusal to serve on the Committee in question can be
construed into a contempt of the authority of the house?
"4. Whether, assuming the commitment or detainer to have been unlawful,
Mr. Smith O'Brien has any and what legal remedy, and against whom?
"5. Whether the House of Commons has any, and what right, to insist on
his paying into the fee fund of the House any, and what fees--either by
way of preliminary condition to his discharge out of the custody of the
Sergeant-at-Arms or otherwise?"
Mr. Anstey's opinion was in the following terms:
"I am of opinion that the commitment and imprisonment of Mr. Smith
O'Brien, by order of the House of Commons for the constructive contempt
set forth in the vote and proceedings of the House, and the other papers
which have been laid before me, are, _in every respect, illegal_. The
House, in my opinion, has no power to enforce its orders by any such
penalty, except under the authority of the statute or common law, and no
such authority can be shown to justify the commitment and imprisonment
complained of. I am further of opinion that, even supposing the House to
possess such authority, still the informality of the proceedings in the
present case has been such as to vitiate them _ab initio_, and to render
null and void everything that has been done under the colour of such
authority."
Mr. Anstey further maintained that the Speaker's Warrant, under which
Smith O'Brien was arrested, was informal and invalid, that the House had
no general authority of commitment for non-attendance on "calls"--that
such authority for not attending _select_ committees was never claimed
until the previous session; that "the Committee to which Railway Group
No. 11 had been referred" was unduly appointed under the Standing
Orders, and that Mr. O'Brien had his right of action against the Speaker
and the Sergeant-at-Arms.
* * * * *
(NOTE C.)--TREASURY MINUTE, _dated August 31st, 1846_.
My Lords have before them the Act 10 Vict., cap. 107,--"To facilitate
the employment of the labouring poor for a limited period in distressed
districts in Ireland," and proceed to consider the revised instructions
which the provisions of this Act and the experience which has been
acquired from the operations for the relief of the people suffering from
the failure of the potato crop in Ireland, since the month of November
last, render it desirable should be issued to the Board of Works, and to
Commissary-General Sir R. Routh, who is in charge of the duties lately
executed by the Relief Commission.
"No authority can, from the present date, be given for the execution of
any new works under the 9th Vict., cap. 1; and such works as may
hereafter be required for the relief of distress must be presented and
sanctioned according to the provisions of the 10th Vict., cap. 107."
The Board of Works were instructed by the Treasury Minute, dated the
21st ultimo, to bring to an early close all the works under the 9th
Vict., cap. 2, which were not required for the relief of urgent
distress; and the Board were informed, that if the parties interested
desired that works so discontinued should afterwards be recommenced and
completed, it was open to them to take the usual steps to provide for
that object, either by obtaining loans secured by grand jury
presentment, or by other means.
Their Lordships desire that the Board of Works will report to what
extent works have been discontinued under these instructions, on the
ground of their not being really required for the purpose of giving
relief, and that it may be understood, in accordance with the passage
above adverted to in the Minute of the 21st July, that if it should
become necessary to recommence any such works, the renewal of them must
be provided for either in the manner above referred to, or under the
10th Vict., cap. 107.
With a view to give every practicable assistance to the presentment
sessions, the Board of Works should be prepared with plans and estimates
of those works in each district in which relief is likely to be
required, on which the destitute poor might with the greatest public
advantage be employed; and an officer of the Board should be in
attendance at the sessions, to furnish every explanation that may be
called for.
In order to prevent labourers from being induced to leave their proper
employments and to congregate on the relief works, in the hope of
getting regularly paid money wages in return for a smaller quantum of
work than they have been accustomed to give, the following rules ought,
in their Lordships' opinion, to be strictly observed:--
No person should be employed on any relief works who can obtain
employment on other public works, or in farming or other private
operations in the neighbourhood.
The wages given to persons employed on relief works should, in every
case, be at least 2d. a day less than the average rate of wages in the
district.
And the persons employed on relief works should, to the utmost possible
extent, be paid in proportion to the work actually done by them.
Their Lordships suggest for the consideration of the Lord Lieutenant,
that it may be advisable that in every case in which it may be
determined to assemble extraordinary sessions, for tin presentment of
works under the 10th Vict, cap. 107, instructions should also be issued
to the lieutenant of the county, to reassemble the relief committees of
the districts in which such works are proposed to be carried on, making
such changes in the individuals composing the committees as
circumstances may require; or, if no relief committees have yet been
organized in the districts in question, to appoint new committees in
accordance with the rules prescribed by the relief commission.
Their Lordships also suggest that, in order to obviate inconveniences
which have been experienced during the late relief operations, the
following alterations should be made in the instructions under which the
local relief committees have hitherto acted:--
First, with regard to the assistance given by the relief committees in
the proper appropriation of the relief provided under the 10th Viet.
cap. 107, by means of public works:--
That tickets should not hereafter be issued by the relief committees
entitling persons to employment on such public works. That, instead
thereof, the relief committees should furnish (according to a form to be
supplied to them for that purpose) the officers in charge of the works
on the part of the Board of Works, with lists of persons requiring
relief, noting them in the order in which they are considered to be
entitled to priority, either on account of their large families or from
any other cause; that the committees should revise these lists from time
to time, as occasion may require, and that the officers of the Board of
Works, from the information contained in these lists, or acquired by
them from other sources, should themselves furnish tickets entitling
persons to employment on the relief works, for certain limited periods,
according to the circumstances of each case.
Secondly, as regards the functions performed by the relief committees,
independently of the relief works carried on under the provisions of
Acts of Parliament.
Their lordships consider that donations in aid of private subscriptions
may be made, when necessary, as heretofore, from the public funds placed
for that purpose at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant; and that these
donations may continue to be, as a general rule, in the proportion of
from one-third to one-half of the amount of the private subscriptions,
according to the extent of the destitution and the means of the
subscribers.
But their lordships are of opinion, that, in consideration of the
assistance so to be given from the public purse, the proceedings of the
relief committees in the appropriation of the funds administered by them
should be subjected to any degree of control on the part of the
Government that may be considered desirable; for which purpose their
accounts and correspondence should, at all times, be open to the
inspection of Government officers appointed for the purpose, and any
further explanations that may be required on any particular point
should be immediately furnished.
In order to keep in check, as far as possible, the social evils incident
to an extensive system of relief, it is indispensably necessary that the
relief committees should not sell the meal or other food provided by
them, except in small quantities to persons who are known to have no
other means of procuring food; that the price at which the meal is sold
should, as nearly as possible, be the same as the market prices which
prevail in the neighbourhood; that the committees should not give a
higher rate of wages, nor exact a smaller quantum of work, in any works
carried on by them from funds at their own disposal, than is the case in
respect to the works carried on under the superintendence of the Board
of Works, and that works should be carried on by them only to the extent
to which private employment is proved not to be available.
The serious attention of every person who will have to take a part in
the measures of relief rendered necessary by the new and more complete
failure of the potato crop should be particularly called to this
important fact, that the limitations and precautions which have been
prescribed to the Government boards and officers in carrying out the
relief operations, with the object of rendering the necessary
interference with the labour and provision markets productive of the
smallest possible disturbance of the ordinary course of trade and
industry, will be rendered nugatory if the same prudence and reserve are
not practised by the relief committees in the administration of the
funds placed at their disposal by private or public benevolence; and
their Lordships therefore feel it to be their duty earnestly to request
that every person concerned will, to the extent of the influence
possessed by him, endeavour to secure such a restriction of the measures
of relief to cases of real destitution, and such a just consideration
for the interests of merchants and dealers, in the free exercise of
whose callings the public welfare is so deeply concerned, that instead
of the habitual dependence upon charitable aid which might otherwise be
apprehended from the extensive measures of relief in progress, every
description of trade and industry may be stimulated by them, and the
bonds of society may become more firmly knit, by the benevolent and
intelligent cooperation of the different orders and ranks of which it is
composed, to avert a common calamity, and to prepare for recommencing
the ordinary occupations of social life with advantages which are at
present only imperfectly enjoyed in some parts of Ireland.
The limited grant fund, provided by the 10th Vic., cap. 109, entitled,
"an Act to authorise a further issue of money in aid of public works of
acknowledged utility in poor districts in Ireland," is, according to the
terms of the Act, applicable only to the case of unimproved districts,
like parts of the Counties Kerry, Galway, Mayo, and Donegal, where,
although roads and other works would be productive of more than usual
public advantage, the districts are too poor to bear the whole expense
of them; and the Act therefore directs that in cases in which the
repayment of loans to the amount of at least a moiety of the estimated
expense of such works shall have been secured, and such further
contributions shall have been made as the Commissioners of Her Majesty's
Treasury shall think fit to require from the individuals principally
interested in the projected works, such aid shall be afforded from this
fund in the shape of grants, as the occasion may appear to require.
The applications which may be received for grants under this Act will
have to be carefully examined and inquired into by the Commissioners of
Public Works, who will recommend for sanction those works which appear
to them to combine the greatest permanent utility with the relief of
urgent distress, taking care that the proprietors specially interested
are required to contribute in addition to their share of the general
assessment for the repayment of half the expense of the works, sums
proportioned in some degree to the special benefits they will derive
from them.
My Lords have considered with the careful attention which the importance
of the subject demands the measures proper to be taken, with a view to
continue the late commissariat operations to the extent which may be
absolutely necessary for the purpose of providing supplies of food for
sale in districts to which the ordinary operations of the provision
trade cannot be expected to extend, the strictest regard being at the
same time paid to the pledge which has been given, not to interfere in
any case in which there is a reasonable expectation that the market will
be supplied by mercantile enterprise; and they will proceed to state the
course which appears to them to be the best adapted to secure the
important object in view.
Their Lordships have already given directions that no portion of the
stock of meal remaining in store in the different depôts should be sold
merely for the sake of disposing of it, of which depôts they will
relieve Commissary-General Coffin, who will remain on full pay, with a
view to his being employed hereafter, as the occasion may require.
It has been fully established by the experience of the late operations,
that the ports on the northern, eastern, and southern coasts, from
Londonderry to Cork, and those parts of the interior which are
ordinarily supplied from them, may safely be left to the foresight and
enterprise of private merchants; and it will only be necessary to the
government, so far as this part of Ireland is concerned, to take
effectual precautions that the supplies introduced by private traders
from abroad are properly protected, both while they are in transit and
when they are stored for future consumption; and for this purpose their
Lordships rely upon the Lord Lieutenant making every necessary
arrangement in communication with the Commander of the Forces in
Ireland, and the Inspector-General of the Constabulary Force.
Acting on this principle, their Lordships have directed that the
supplies of food now in store should be concentrated without delay at
the following depôts:--
In the interior--Longford, Banagher.
On the coast--Limerick, Galway, Westport, Sligo.
And Commissary-General Hewetson has been instructed to take immediate
steps for the transfer of the quantity remaining in store in the depôt
at Cork to Limerick, in the charge.
Subordinate depôts will be established, under the charge of the
constabulary, at other places on the western coast, as the necessity for
taking such a step may become apparent.
Their Lordships desire that it may be fully understood that even at
those places at which government depôts will be established for the sale
of food, _the depôts will not be opened while food can be obtained by
the people from private dealers at reasonable prices_; and that even
when the depôts are opened, _the meal will, if possible, be sold at such
prices as will allow of the private trader selling at the same price
with a reasonable profit_.
The Relief Commission ceased on the 15th ultimo, since which period
Commissary-General Sir Randolph Routh has continued to transact such
business as required immediate attention; and, considering the
experience which has been acquired by that officer, and his well-proved
ability for the task, their Lordships are of opinion that the duties
confided to the Relief Commission during the late operations may with
great public advantage be entrusted to Sir Randolph Routh, acting under
the authority of the Lord Lieutenant, and in constant communication with
this Board.
Their Lordships have taken steps to procure the early arrival in this
country, from the stations where they are employed abroad, of a
sufficient number of well qualified commissariat officers, not only to
take charge of the depôts which it has been determined to retain, but
also, under the orders of Sir Randolph Routh, to communicate with the
local relief committees, and to afford, through him, to Her Majesty's
Government, correct information as to the state of the districts in
which they will be stationed.
Measures have also been taken for strengthening the Board of Works, to
enable it to meet the coming emergency, on which subject a separate
communication will this day be made to the Board of Works, and his
Excellency the Lord Lieutenant.
Transmit a copy of this Minute to Mr. Redington, and request that he
will move the Lord Lieutenant, if he shall concur therein, to give the
necessary directions in regard to such of the arrangements as more
immediately depend upon his Excellency for carrying them into effect.
Also transmit a copy to the Commissioners of Public Works, and to
Commissary-General Sir Randolph Routh, for their information and
guidance.
* * * * *
(NOTE D.)--THE "LABOUCHERE LETTER," AUTHORIZING REPRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT.
Dublin Castle, _5th October, 1846_.
"Sir--I am directed by the Lord Lieutenant to inform you that His
Excellency has had under his consideration the various representations
which have been made to him of the operation of the Poor employment Act,
and of the difficulty of finding, in the greater number of baronies,
public works upon which it would be expedient or beneficial to expend
money to the extent requisite for affording employment to the people
during the existence of the present distress; and with a view of
obviating the bad effects of a great expenditure of money in the
execution of works comparatively unproductive, he desires that the
Commissioners of Public Works will direct the officers acting under
them, in the respective counties, to consider and report upon such works
of a reproductive character and permanent utility as may be presented,
in the manner hereinafter mentioned, at any Sessions held under the
above Act; and His Excellency will be prepared to sanction and approve
of such of those works as may be recommended by the Board, and so
presented, in the same manner as if they had been strictly 'public
works,' and presented as such in the manner required by the Act.
"1. The Presentment Sessions will estimate the sum which it may be
necessary to raise off the barony for the purpose of affording
employment.
"2. They will also ascertain the proportion of such assessment, which,
according to the last poor law valuation may be chargeable upon each
electoral division of an union or portion of an electoral division (if
the whole shall not be included) in the barony; and they will obtain for
this purpose, from the clerk of each poor law union, a copy of such
valuation.
"3. They will present for such useful and profitable works to be
executed in each electoral division, to the amount of its proportion of
the assessment ascertained as above.
"In the case of drainage, however, and subsoiling, so far as it shall be
connected with drainage, an undertaking shall be given in writing, and
transmitted with the presentments by the person or persons whose lands
are proposed to be drained (being 'proprietor' in the terms of the Act 5
and 6 Vic., chap. 89), stating that the money so to be expended shall be
a charge exclusively on the lands so to be improved, and be levied from
the same, according to an award made by the Commissioners, as under the
last mentioned Act and its amendments.
"His Excellency wishes it to be further understood that, in case these
regulations are not acted upon, and the portions of the assessment which
would be leviable from each electoral division, are not presented to be
expended on some work, within such division, the proceedings at such
Sessions must be considered with strict reference to the provisions of
the 9th and 10th Victoria, cap. 107.
"His Excellency considering also that many baronies have already held
Sessions under that Act, to which baronies the opportunity of making
applications in the manner now prescribed has not been afforded, it is
his desire that all works already sanctioned in these baronies, or
applied for, and which it may become requisite to sanction in order to
afford continued employment, shall be proceeded with until other
Sessions may be conveniently held in such baronies.
"His Excellency, in taking upon himself the responsibility, under the
urgent circumstances of the case, of inviting the magistrates and
cess-payers to provide employment for the people by the execution of
useful and reproductive works, confidently trusts, with their assistance
and the blessing of the Almighty on their united exertions, that the
calamity with which it has pleased Providence to afflict Ireland may yet
in its results become conducive to the production of a greater abundance
of human food from the soil, and to the future permanent improvement of
the country, I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant.
"H. LABOUCHERE.
The Chairman of the Board of Public Works."
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Abbeystrowry, Churchyard of, 277.
Aberdeen, Lord, 93.
Absenteeism, 39;
Mr. M'Cullagh's views on, 40;
tax on, 107, 249, 327, 395, 396;
Note A, 524.
Achill, 32;
deputations from, 222 (_note_).
Act to allow Catholics to testify allegiance, 43.
Acts to employ Irish people, 117, 168.
Adair, Mr. A. Shafto (now Lord Waveney), 418.
Agriculture, 11.
Aldridge, Dr., on Soyer's soups, 432.
Alms, a poor man's, 120 (_note_).
American Ships, 513.
Analysis of 500 letters, 67.
Anti-Corn Law League, 78.
Arranmore, 397.
Assemblies of the people, 119.
Assflesh used as food, 390 (_note_), 391.
Assizes of 1741, 19.
Association, British, 509.
Bailiff, or Driver, reply of, 120, 263 (_note_).
Ballinrobe, 454.
Ballydehob, 401, 408.
Banks, Sir Joseph, 4, 5, 6.
Bantry, 412, 416, 417;
workhouse of, 417, 418.
Baker, John Wynne, 28, 29.
Barry, Rev. Mr., 413, 415, 416.
Baronies, Loans to, 217.
Barren Works an error, 244.
Batatas, Spanish name for potato, 3.
Beaufort, Dr., 44.
Belfast, 367, 368.
Bentinck, Lord George, 104, 116, 301, 333 (_note_), 335, 336,
337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 346, 347, 355, 356;
on threat of resignation, 357;
division on his Railway bill, 359, 361, 362.
Berkeley, Right Rev. Dr., 23.
Bernard, Lord, 262.
Bessborough, Earl of, 132, 246.
Bianconi, Mr., 355, 356.
Bingham, Lord, 109.
Bishop, Commissary, 407.
Blake, Right Rev. Dr., 119.
Blight, first appearance of, 48, 49;
of 1850, 50, 51;
of 1845, 51, 52;
loss by, in 1845, 63;
made a party question, 71;
Blight of 1846, 151, 152, 153;
Supposed cause of, 154, 155.
Board of Health, Report of, 481.
Board of Works, 158, 221;
delays of, 257, 261, 338, 339.
Bogs, reclamation of, 43.
Boulter, Primate, 13, 35, 39.
Boundaries, Change of, 245.
Boyle, 394.
Bread riot in Dublin, 18.
Bristol barrel, Capacity of, 29.
Brougham, Lord, 101 (_note_), 295, 296.
Buckland, Mr., 2.
Buller, Mr., 88.
Burgoyne, Sir John, 406.
Burke, Study, 223 (_note._).
Butler, Lord James, 510.
Byrne, James (his case), 386.
Cabinet Councils, 91, 94, 95, 97.
Caffin, Commander, of the Scourge, 402;
his letter, 403.
Caheragh, 233.
Cape Clear, 399.
Cashel, 455.
Castle Oliver, 29 (_bis_).
Catholics, The, 45.
Celts, The, cultivate the potato, 11, 36, 37.
Census, The, of 1821, 33.
Cessation of rot, 68.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 350, 360.
Charters to Sir W. Raleigh, 4.
Children, clothing and rations to, 511.
Civil bill ejectments, 113.
Clare Abbey, State of, 207.
Clare, County, 268, 365, 366.
Clare, Lord, 36.
Clarendon Street Chapel, inscription on, 45 (_note_).
Clergy, Letters of, from various localities, 64.
Clinton, Lord R., 510.
Cloncurry, Lord, Letter of, 160.
Clusius, 5, 6.
Cobden, Mr. R., 79, 80, 116, 122.
Coercion Bill, 109, 112, 116.
Coffins, 257, 266, 267, 401;
Hinged, 418.
Commercial restraints, 37.
Commissioners of Health, 474, 475.
Committee, General, 509;
General Central Relief, 511.
Committees, Local, 209.
Committee, London Tavern, 31.
Commissariat Relief Office, 221, 223.
Conduct of the people, 395, 402, 414, 450, 457, 460, 473.
Cooper, Mr., Markree Castle, 156.
_Coracles_ (fishing boats), 396, 397.
Cork, 22, 368, 410, 411, 479.
Corn in the haggards, 252.
Corn Laws, 76, 81, 82, 105;
Repeal of, 116.
Corporation of Dublin, 53, 70.
Corporation of London, Address of, to the Queen, 71.
Cox, Sir Richard,
Crowbar Brigade, 47.
Crowley, Dr., 408.
Cummins, Mr. J.P., 273.
_Curl_. Disease in the potato, 30 (_note_).
Days' work system, 209.
Dead, The, among the living, 272.
Deaths, 22, 107, 266, 383, 390, 479.
Debate, two days', in Conciliation Hall, 139 _et seq._;
its character, 146 (_note_).
De Bry, 5.
Depôts of Meal, 225, 226.
Deputation to Lord Lieutenant, 55.
Desmonds, The, 6, 13.
Devon, Lord, Report of, 115;
on Public Works, 160, 299, 485.
Dickens, Charles, on the Irish Famine, 516, 517.
Dinner given away, 414.
"Disgrace to Christianity," 113.
Dismissals from Public Works, 424, 448, 451, 452, 454, 455.
Distress said to be exaggerated, 201, 214.
D'Israeli, Mr. B., on Sir Robert Peel, 81 (_note_), 110, 111, 302
(_note_).
Dobree, Commissary-General, 224.
Donegal, 395.
Donovan (or O'Donovan), Dr., 233, 234, 274, 275;
Post mortem examination by, 259;
another, 265, 267, 269, 271.
Downing, M'Carthy, M.P., 236, 267, 522.
Dowse, Baron, 522.
Doyle, Rev. Mr., 118.
Drake, Sir Francis, 3.
Driscoll, Mary, 263, 264.
Drought, Great, 18.
Duffy, C.G. (Sir), 142.
Dublin, Bay of, 24, 480.
Dunfanaghy, 396.
Dungarvan, 229;
Riot at, 231.
Dungloe, 397, 398.
Dysentery, 478.
Edward's Life of Raleigh, 4 (_note_).
Egan, Mr., 393.
Election, General, of 1826, 45.
Elective Franchise, 45.
Elections, policy of Repealers on, 139.
Electoral Divisions, 427.
Eleven Measures, The, 136, 151.
Emigration, 292, 293, 481, to Peterborough, 483, 484 (_note_),
485, 486, 487, 488;
Mr. Godley's scheme, 488, 489, 490;
to be a Catholic Emigration, 490, 492, 494, 495;
Deaths among emigrants on voyage, 496, 497;
to United States, 498;
Mortality, 499;
Money sent home, 503, 504.
Employees on Public Works, 219.
England, 35.
English Colony, 37.
Enniskillen, 268.
Ennistymon, 212.
Epidemics, 22.
Evelyn, Author of the "Sylva," 2.
_Evening Mail, Dublin_, 72, 74.
_Evening Packet, Dublin_, 73.
Evictions, 265, 353, 354, 388, 389.
Expenditure, Total, on Famine, 507, 508;
Weekly, 219.
Fagan, Mr. J., M.P., on reclamation, 439, 440.
Famine, The, 7, 13, 17, 24, 30, 36, 118, 119, 196, 197, 224, 442, 507;
Monuments to, 24.
Farms, Canting of, 9.
Fast, General, 17.
Fermoy, 228.
Fetherstone, Mr., 444, 445.
Fever, 409, 473, 475, 476, 477, 478, 481;
Average weekly cost of patients, 481, 482.
Finance Committees, 420.
Fingal, Lord, on the character of O'Connell, 465.
Fitzgerald Mr. (a landlord), 261, 262.
Fleming, Michael, 232.
Food depôts, 121 (_note_), 170, 223, 227.
Food rioters, Shooting down of, 20.
Forbes, Dr., on Conversions, 519.
Forde, William, 53.
Forster, Mr., 391, 395.
Forty-shilling Freeholders, 45, 46, 47 (_note_).
Foster, Mr. Campbell (_Times' Commissioner_), 59, 60, 61.
Frost of 1739-40, 14;
its effects, 15, 16.
Funerals, 272, 303.
Galway, 22.
Galwey, Mr., J.P., 233, 235.
Gangs of Robbers, 19.
Gerarde, 5.
Gentlemen Undertakers, 6.
Gibson, Rev. C.B., 163.
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 4.
Gladstone, W.E., 98.
Glenquin Sessions, 204.
Glenties, 397, 398.
Government, Action of, 65, 309, 328, 329, 345.
Government Grants, 33.
Graham, Sir James, 83, 84, 88, 89, 93, 104, 105.
Grants, 118.
Grattan, H., 345.
Gray, Sir John, M.P., 349.
Grazing, 9, 11, 12, 13, 21.
Gregory, William Henry, 330.
Grey, Lord, 97.
Griffin, John;
value of his furniture, 164.
Griffith, Sir R., 444.
"Groans of Ireland," 23.
Gweedore, 397.
Haliday Pamphlets, 8, 9.
Hall, Rev. Traill, 402, 404, 407.
Hamilton. Lord Claude, 107.
Harding, Lord, 117.
Harvests, many bad, 13.
Hawkins, Sir John, 3.
Hegarty, Jeremiah (his cross), 263.
Hennessy, W.M., assault on, 206.
Herbert, Sidney, 80, 93.
Heriot, Thomas, 4.
Hewetson, Commissary-General, 171.
Heytesbury, Lord, 75, 85, 88, 90.
Higgins, M.J., "Jacob Omnium," 510.
Hoare, Dean, 73.
Hooker, 7.
Hottentot, State of the, 165.
House of Lords, 109.
Howley, Mr., 231.
Hudson, Mr. G., 338, 351, 352.
Humphrey, Alderman, 332.
Illustrated London News, 275 (_note_).
Indian Corn, price of, 171, 303;
Cargo of, 160.
Innishowen West, 268.
Ireland, 159, 177, 198, 199, 251, 437, 443.
Irish Manufacture, 37, 38.
Irish Party, 347, 349.
Jacquet, M., on Soyer's soup, 430,
"Jamestown," The, 513.
Jones, Lieut.-Colonel, 201, 202, 312,
Judges, Partisan, 114.
Kane, Sir Robert, 52.
Kells and Fore, Relief Committee of, 181;
reasons for re-productive works, 182;
Suggestions, _ib._ 183, 184.
Kelly, Mr. (farmer), 262.
Kennedy, J.P., 186.
Kerry, 269;
state of, 409.
Killala, Dean of, 442.
Killiney Hill, Obelisk on, 24;
view from, 25, 26.
Kilmacthomas, 229.
Labour Rate Act, 168, 193.
Minute on, 169, 173;
Fatal blot in, 175, 176, 296;
labour the property of the tenant, 114.
Labouchere, Mr., 132, 133, 175;
Letter of, 194, 245;
his defence, 298, 300, 328, 329, 449, 450, 452, 453, 454.
_Lancet, The_, on Soyer's soups, 430.
Laing, Mr., 388.
Land laws, 113, 114.
Landlords, 31, 40, 42, 45, 46, 106, 119, 177, 181,
193, 199, 244, 249, 260, 261, 295, 296, 327, 328,
353, 387, 399, 460.
Lansdowne, Lord, 159, 458.
Last Sacraments, Administration of, 386, 393, 413.
Le Hunt, Mr., 21.
Letters, Analysis of, 67, 500.
Limerick, 118.
Lindley, Professor, 90, 91, 94.
Linen Trade, 38.
Lists, preparation of, 21, 112.
Loan of £8,000,000, 118, 424.
London Tavern Committee, 31, 33.
Lords, House of, 295.
Lord Lieutenant, deputation to, 55;
his reply, 56;
deputation bowed out, 203.
Loss by Blight of 1845, 69.
Macaulay, T.B., 113.
Mansion House Committee, 33.
"Macedonian," The, 513.
Macroom, 233, 236.
Maginn, Rt. Rev. Dr., on Emigration Scheme, 494.
Mallow, 164, 165, 228.
Malpas, John, 26.
Malta, Comptroller at, mill-power there, 240.
Marsh, Sir Henry, on Soup, 433, 434.
Mathew, Rev. Theobald, 410, 411.
Maryborough, 268.
Mayo, Co., 203, 268, 269, 300, 385, 386, 387.
M'Culloch, J.R., 40.
M'Evoy, Rev. Dr., 51.
M'Hale, Edmund (his case), 270.
M'Kennedy, Denis, inquest on, 257, 258, 259.
M'Loughlin, Patrick (his case), 269, 270.
M'Namara, Major, 210.
M'Neill, Rev. Hugh, 515.
Meagher, T.F., 134, 143, 144, 145.
Mealmongers, 222.
Memorandums, Sir R. Peel's to his Cabinet, 91, 93, 95, 96.
Millet, Mr., 212, 213.
Mill-power, 237, 238, 239, 240, 242.
Milltown, Lord, letter of, 137.
Misrepresentation of Blight, 202.
Mitchel, John, 142, 143, 146.
Monsell, Mr. (now Lord Emly), 188, _et seq._
Monteagle, Lord, 197, 198, 204.
Moore, G.H., 315.
Moore, Rev. Wm.P., 118, 178,179.
Moral Force, 147, 148.
_Morning Chronicle_, 118, 199, 200, 266.
Motion for a Committee on the state of Ireland, 108.
Mountcashel, Lord, 228.
Mount Gabriel, 401.
Mulock, Mr. Thomas, on the Emigration Scheme, 493.
Murray, Sir James, 63.
Naremberga, a name for the potato, 5.
_Nation, The_ (Dublin. Newspaper), 147.
Navigation Laws, 10.
Newry, 119.
New York, Committee on Emigration at, 498, 500;
Report, 500;
Witnesses, 500, 501, 502.
Notices, Threatening, 232.
Obelisk at Castletown, 16;
at Killiney, 25, 26.
O'Brien's bridge, 256.
O'Brien, Mr. C., M.P., 210, 211.
O'Brien, Sir Lucius, 29.
O'Brien, Stafford, 104.
O'Brien, Wm. Smith, 105, 106, 134, 139, 297, 308 (_note_), 326, 344,
347, 348, 449;
his imprisonment (Note B.), 540.
O'Connell, 45;
his plan to meet the Famine, 53, 105, 110, 111;
Remarkable speech of, 112, 134, 135, 136, 137, 184, 187;
his death, and character, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468,
469.
O'Connell, John, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145.
O'Connor, Rev. B., statement of, 274.
Old Ireland, 138.
Opanawk, a name for the potato, 5.
Osborne, Mr. Bernal, 326, 344, 350.
O'Sullivan, Archdeacon, 519.
Overseers, 205.
Palmerston, Lord, 133.
Pamphlets, Haliday, 8, 9.
Papas, a name for the potato, 6.
Parliament, 293.
Parliamentary Papers, 506.
Parnell, Sir Henry, 43, 44.
Peace Resolutions, The, 138;
interpretation of, 142.
Peel, Sir Robert, 58, 76, 77, 78 (_bis_), 80, 81, 82, 84, 86, 89, 91;
differences in his Cabinet, 93;
Reasons for not resigning, 94;
resigns, 97, 99, 100, 102, 103, 109, 110;
defeated, 116, 117;
speech on resignation, 122, 123;
death of, 124;
character, 124, _et seq._, 149, 160, 304, 324, 345, 354, 355, 356.
Penal Laws, 21.
Pensions to Apostate Priests, 44.
Perceval, Captain, 242.
Pigot, Sir Hugh, 408.
"Pits," The (large graves), 278.
Playfair, Professor, 90, 91, 94.
Poor Laws, 458.
Potato (_Sweet_), 3;
Potato of Virginia, 3, 5, 10, 12, 27, 28, 29, 32, 34, 36;
458, 476 (two years old).
"Potato Mirage," 119 (_note_);
price of, 119;
value of whole crop, 153;
failure said to be exaggerated, 201;
value of whole crop, 300.
Power, "Lame Pat," 229.
Prior, Mr. Thomas, 39.
Proclamation, Proceeding by, 88.
Protectionists, 100.
Public Subscriptions, 509, 523.
Public Works, Commissioners of, 118;
Close of, for 1846, 216;
increase of Labourers on, 218, 424;
cost of, _ib._
Quarter Acre "Gregory" Clause, 331;
Division on, 333.
Quarterly Review, 87.
Queen Elizabeth, The name "Virginia" given in her honour, 5, 34.
Queen's Speech, 99, 166, 294;
letters, 510.
Quern, The Irish, 241.
Quito, 6, 36.
Railroads, 245, 335, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 351, 352, 361.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 2, 3, 4, 6;
grants of land to him, 6, 7 (_note_), 27.
Rations, Quantity and quality of, 426, 499.
Reclamation of the waste lands, 436, 438, 439, 442, 443, 444, 445, 450.
Redington, Mr., 132.
Red man, State of, 165 (_note_).
Relapse, 481.
Relief Bill of 1829, 46.
Relief Commissioners, 422, 446, 447, 458, 459, 460, 469;
money issued, 469;
numbers relieved, 470, 471;
expenses, 471, 472.
Relief Lists, Numbers on, 219, 220.
Religious view of the potato blight, 514, 515, 516.
Rents, 21, 40, 41.
Repeal Association, 106, 137.
Report of Professors Lindley and Playfair, 69.
Reproductive Works, 244.
Resignation of the people, 207 (_note_).
Resolutions of Mansion House Committee, 65, 66.
Resolutions, The Peace, 138.
Robbers, Gangs of, 19.
Roebuck, Mr., M.P., 344.
Rot partially ceases, 68.
Rotation of Crops, 12.
Rotunda, Great Meeting at, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290.
Routh, Sir B., 180, 197, 226.
Royal Agricultural Society, 52, 88, 246, 252, 253, 254, 255.
Russell, Lord John, 97, 109, 116, 131, 132, 149, 150, 162, 163, 167;
letter to Duke of Leinster, 247;
Puzzling, 250, 251, 304;
why there was not an Autumn Session, 304;
Irish Measures, 305, 300, 307, 308, 312, _et seq._, 344, 345;
Meeting at his house, 346, 358;
Verdict of wilful murder against him, 416, 417;
on the Emigration Scheme, 425.
Savings' Banks, Deposits in, 214;
Explained, 215.
Scarlet, Mr., 408.
Scotland, Potato Blight in, 248.
Scrope, Mr. Poulett, M.P., 161 (_note_);
on reclamation, 325, 440, 441.
Scurvy, 482.
Seed for next year, 85, 94.
Senior, Nassau William, 518.
Shannon, Great Flood in, 31.
Shaw, Mr., M.P., 104.
Sheil, R.L., 132.
Sibthorpe, Captain, 231.
Sicca, Peter, 6.
Silver, scarcity of, 216.
Single drop of blood principle, 147.
Skibbereen, 32, 233, 273;
visit to, 275, 365, 520.
Skull, 399, 400, 407.
Slave Owners, Money granted to, 162.
Sligo, Marquis of, 228, 315.
Smerwick, 3.
Society of Friends, 368, 391, 393;
Committee, 512.
Soup, Definition of, 423, 427.
Soup Kitchens, 311, 314, 315.
Soyer, M., 428, 429, 430, 434, 435, 436.
Staff of Board of Works, 338.
Stanley, Lord, 94, 296.
Steele, Tom, 143.
Stephenson, 338.
St. Germans, Lord, 109.
Strezelecki, Count, 391, 392, 393.
Stuart de Decies, Lord, 162 (_note_), 236.
Sullivan, Mick, 164.
Sullivan's, Case of the, 271.
Sweet Potato, 3.
Swelling of the Extremities, 272.
Swift, Jonathan, 12, 41.
Swinford, 479.
Taratouflè, a name for the potato, 5.
Task Work, 205, 206 (_note_), 208, 209.
Taxes on Property, Partial, 172.
Temporary Relief Act, 421, 425, 427.
Tenant Right, 115.
Tenants, 21.
Terlagh Gurranes, Races at, 23.
Theodore, King, 162.
Theories, Various, on the Blight, 513.
Tickets, 213.
_Times_ Newspaper, 135, 260.
_Times_ Commissioner, 59, 60, 61, 62.
Tools, Difficulty of getting, 216.
Tory Party, Old, 104.
Townsend, Rev. Mr., 260, 302, 303.
Tranquillity of Ulster, Cause of it, 115.
Treasury Minute, 169, 198 (letter), 423;
Note C., 543.
Trevelyan, Mr. (now Sir Charles E., Bart.), 171 (_note_);
his proposal, 406.
Tuam, State of, 257.
Tuke, James H., 165 (_note_).
Twelve nights' debate on the Corn Laws, 102.
Tyrone, Lord, 29.
Unions, 427;
Grants to, 510.
Useless Works, 208.
Vaughan, Right Rev. Dr., 256.
Viceroy, Address of, 20.
Virginia, 5.
Voluntary Subscriptions, 118.
Wages, Rate of, 205.
Wakley, Mr., M.P., 162 (_note_).
War Expenditure, 339.
Waste Lands, Reclamation of, 184, 185, 186, 324, 325.
Weather, 391.
Wellington, Duke of, 122.
Westport, Deaths at, 228, 393.
W.G.'s Letters on Mayo, 385, 386, 387.
Whately, Archbishop, 518;
His Convert, 518.
Wheat, Price of, in 1740, 18.
William the Third, 10, 38.
Woollen Manufacture, 38.
Workhouses, 121.
Works, Board of, _see_ Board of Works.
Works, unfinished, 204.
Wynne, Capt., 206, 207, 210, 365, 366.
Wyse, Thomas, 132.
Youghal, 236.
Young, Arthur, 27, 28, 41, 44.
Young Ireland, 138.
Young Irelanders retire from Conciliation Hall, in a body, 145.
END.