The Sun.
London, England, 1823-12-20 00:00:00

IRISH PEASANTRY.

SOCIETY FOR IMPROVING THE.CONDITION OF
THE IRISH. PEASANTRY.
REPORT transmitted• from the COMMITTEE of NEW-
MARKET, in the COUNTY CLARE, through Sir EDW.
O'BRIEN, Ban., October, 1823. •
In drawhig up our Reptirt, on the experiment
tried by your Society in these parishes, your Committee feel
pleasure in stating, that the kind permission of the Society to
defer the distribution of premiums until Michaelmas, has been
attended with the most satisfactory results.
If our communications with your Society have been fewer
and less detailed than you could have wished, it has arisen from
our fearing to give any opinion
,on the subject, until we were
fully convinced that the Reform in the cottages in our district
was likely to become permanent.
We now feel much pleasure in stating, that the views of your
Society have been more effectually answered than we could have
dared to anticipate, from the miserable and dirty appearance
which the habitations of the poor presented, before they were
stimulated to exertion by the benevolent and liberal interference

of your Society.
it is almost impossible for a person, accustomed only 'to the
habits of neatness which are universal in England, to formany
, idea of the total want of good order, decency, and cleanliness,
constantly formed amongst the peasantry of the South of Ire-
land, and of this County. in particular.
It is therefore only those win) have been in the habit of visit-
ing these habitations, that can judge of the improvement whtdi
has taken place in the internal and external appearance of our
cottages during the summer ; most of those who. were candi:-
dates for premiums have made great exertions, and hare spent
what time they could spare from their labour, and the cultiva-
tion of their gardens, in improving the outside of their houses.
This has been done, in some instances, at the' expence of mtich
labour; and although flowers have not yet been introduced in
any of the districts, many have laid out a small space for them.
and brought the whole into that kind of good order, necessary
to secure them from the invasions of the pigs and poultry ; the
manure heap has been removed from the door, pigs-sties built,
and walls raised,. the yards gravelled, and a covered channel
made to carry ofr the water.
But what has been most particularly enforced as essential to
the health and comfort of their families, is the internal
neatness and good arrangements of their cottages: That
thorough cleanliness, which can only be attained by a constant
habit of scouring the wooden vessels and articles of furniture,
has been in some instances so well attended to, that there was
nothing which we could say ought to be cleaner. In no part
of the cottage has there been a more visible improvement than
in the bed room. We have 'insisted, that neither potatoes nor
turf should be kept under the beds, that the floors be well
swept, the beds always clean and neatly made, and the win-
dows, when practicable; left open during the day time.
It may be gratifying to your Society to learn, that in every
instance the first premiums have been merited by persons who
have large families of children, and that the neat and decent
appearance of the younger branches' of the family has been
made a criterian of the merits of the claimants. In one instance
all the outdoor improvements were 'effected by two little boys,
who seemed to feel much pleasure in pointing out the effects of
their industry, and we have been anxious, to interest the youth-
ful members of the different families in these improvements,
convinced that it is likely to prove apowerful means of keeping
them from idle and diierderly habits.
Several of the poor in the neighbourhood wish to procure
Bees, but have not been able in the late wet season having made
them so scarce, that in a few places where it was probable to
obtain them, the price far exceeded the means of- our cottagers
—from a guinea to a guinea and a half each stock.
Domestic manufactures have been mentioned in the Report
of our Society, with the attention" they deserved, considering
how far the advancenient,of them .tends to the comforts of the
people ; and we have pleasure in being able to state, that much
flax has been sown by the cottagers fur their own use.
It may not be foreign to our subject to mention, that an As-
sociation for promoting industry in this district; auxiliary to the
British and Irish Society, has done much towards the encou-
ragement of woollen manufacturers. The flannel made by,
the poor has been all given amongst them as payment for
their labour ; twenty pair of' blankets, manufactured in the
district within the last two months, have also been nearly paid
for by small instalments, and the demand for them is still so
great, as to give a prospect of employment to many florin:4 the
winter. The power of purchasing these articles, so essentially
necessary to the comfort of the peasantry, may, it, u great Inca-
sure, be attributed to the muslin embroidery manufacture,
established in this neighbourhood within this last nine months:
this simple species of employment has been a most powerful
assistant in our plans of promoting industry and cleanliness, as
it is impossible for the women engaged in it to arrive at any
degree of perfection without close attention to the- work, and
great personal neatness.
We consider it well to state here, that there are now upwards
of' 200 young women employed, at their own homes, in this
kind of work; and 'that, through the benevolent exertions of
the Ladies of the British and Irish Society, agents have been
appointed in different parts of London for the sale of it ; and
it is hoped that in a very little time, it will be found n..arly
equal to the French embroidery now so highly prized in the
fashionable world.
We should feel ourselves wanting in gratitude to your society,
if we did not take this opportUnity of expressing our deepsense
of the benefits conferred upon this country by your society,. in
leading the people of' England to take an interest in the
provement of our poor; and while we would offer our warmest
thanks'for the liberal 'assistance you have afforded us, and the
equal liberal promise of a continuance of that assistance, we
would also express our hope that ere long, the fruits of our ex-
ertion may be visible in making that entire change its the
habits of' the peasantry, which it is calculated to produce.

COURSE OF FACITANGE, Dttetrulier 19.
ktostsidsm
Ditto, at Sight
lt,:ttertlant
Antwerp
Hemhough B7 7 2.4 Us
Ailollit
Paris, 3 Oily's sight
I)itto ,
96 90 12 ••t•-• - .
.. .
Mourdeetix, ditto
Berlin
P'reoltfort oit the Main . .... 156 i l'Ar ~. Motley
Pet et shttrgli • 9
.
Vienna lO It
Trieste lO 13
Madrid ? 361 , E freetkpor
Cadiz
Itilhott
Barcelona
Neville
tiibraltet
Leghorn -
Gtr..,,, ,—., . , ... ~:li----Veilice, Ital. Lit 97 AO
Melts 45.------Maples 39i
,
Palermo
Lisbon
Opot to
• bi
Itio.b!ilviro
'
Bahia . b 0
pithliti .. • • 9i Curl• vi pet Cent. . .