The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-05 00:00:00

FAMINE IN THE HIGHLANDS AND

ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

A meeting was held on Sunday, in the Marylebone
Presbyterian Church, Upper George•street, Edgeware-
road, partly for the purposes of Divine service, and partly
to make a collection on behalf of the unfortunate people
who are suffering the horrors of famine, in the High-
lands and Islands of Scotland, by reason of the failure of
the great staple of their subsistence—their potato crops.
The Church was numerously and respectably attended.
The Rev. William Chalmers, minister of the Church,
preached a suitable sermon prior to the collection. Ho,
took his text from the 13th chapter and 34th verse of John,
"The new Commandment I give unto you, that ye love one
another." The sermon, which dwelt much upon the love
due to Christ, was of an impressive character. The
Rev. Gentleman, at the conclusion of the service, drew
the attention of the meeting to the famine at present
raging in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and made
a forcible appeal to the benevolent feelings of his hearers
in behalf of the unfortunate people on whom the cala-
mity of the famine had been visited in those districts.
He referred to a statistical statement of the population
in those parts of Scotland, and of the numbers whom
the calamity has already alicted, so far as particulars
had reached him. The Highlands and Islands, as com-
monly spoken of, embrace four distinct and separate
portions of the territory of Scotland, vim, Ist, the
districts of the mainland, where the Gaelic language
is spoken ; 2d, the Western Islands, or Hebrides ; 3d,
the Orkney Islands ; and 4th, the Islands of Zetland.
The total population of the Highlands and Islands is
estimated at about 392,332 ; and, considering their sta•
tistics to be yet but imperfect, it is calculated that there
is nearly one-sixth part of the whole population of Scot-
land, nearly four hundred thousand of their fellow-
countrymen, more or less in a state of suffering, from
the recent calamity which, in the all-wise providence of
God, had befallen their land. This information was
such that to remain one day longer inactive, whilst it
was in their power to administer any aid, would be to
incur a responsibility from which every mind would
shrink, and if human life was to be preserved, delay was
felt to be in every sense equally dangerous, and
culpable. The Rev. Gentleman then stated the failure
of the potato crop to be most severe and universal in
extensive districts of Sutherlandshire, the west coasts of
Ross-shire, Inverness-shire, and Argyleshire, and ob-
served, in the language of a report, that " if the potato
formed but half the food of the inhabitants of the desti-
tute districts, its destruction would be a severe calamity
to a people having no other resources, and demanding
the active sympathy of their neighbours." But the
potato diet in many of the preceding districts formed,
it might be said, the whole of their food thoughout the
year—certainly three fourths of it. The Rev. Gentle-
man read several extracts from letters, which described
the sufferers as in a state of melancholy destitution in
several of the districts ; as obliged to kilt even their
one cow that gave them the milk; as reduced to wander
over the black patches of land for roots (which now
failed them); and as feeling the gnawing of hunger.
'The collection was then made, and amounted to
There was another collection at the evening
2selr7vi 7s.ce.

Cont., DEC. 30.—The Sabrina (steamer), for Bristol, is on
shore up the river.
DESTRUJTIVE FlRE.—Shortly before twelve on
Saturday evening a destructive fire broke out:at No. 1,
Whitmore-street,Hoxton'Old Town, in the occupation of
Mr. W. Dodd, a town carman. The flames commenced in
the stables, and rapidly extended to the workshops
belonging to Mr. Potter, a cabinet-maker. in the
space of a few minutes the entire building was
wrapped in flames, which shot through the roof, and
rose to such an alarming height as to lighten up the
district. Engines from the parish, London brigade, West
of England, and County offices, promptly attended, but
the firemen were unable to get the fire extinguished until
the stable s and workshop were destroyed, and the ad-
joining dwelling house damaged by fire, and the furni-
ture by removal The cause of the fire could not be
ascertained. Unfortunately Mr. Dodd was uninsured.