Star.
London, England, 1831-07-15 00:00:00

EARL GREY.

lin*,
MT Loan—ln the late interview which we had the ho.
nour of having with your Lordship, it was suggested that
however pressing was the present famine, the object of our
mission would be frustrated unless some legislative measures
were adopted to guard against its recurrence in seasons of
general plenty.
Never did I feel the necessity of adopting such a sugges-
tion so much as since my return to this unhappy land. I had
some anticipations of the scenes I should witness, and strove
to arm myself with sufficient resolution to encounter them.
Bat the reality far surpassed my most gloomy tuisbodings.
It is some days since I arrived here, and lest I should be
imposed on by exaggerated reports, I was resolved, as far
as opportunity could allow me, to bring the state of the poor
within my own personal observation. 1 went into their
wretched cabins and found instances of many fain ilies,who du.
riog several alternate days, had not tasted food. The testimony
their neighbours vas ready to confirm their distressing tale :
a more unequivocal evidence could be read in their pallid
and emaciated countenances.

I will not, however, dwell upon such evidence of hunger
and famine. It has already been laid before the public by
the attestations of strangers whom sympathy brought to visit
and compassionate our distress. Among those witnesses I
refer your Lordship to a letter published in the Evening
Post of the 23d of June, which describes the feeble frames
and faltering limbs of the wretched victims of starvation in
terms which were evidently caught fmm the contemplation
of the sad reality. But why refer to any evidence when the
blood of those who lately exposed themselves to the mus-
quetry of soldiers rather than die by the slow tortures of
hunger proclaims aloud the dreadful effects of earva ion.
It has been rumoured that the agent of the government
here, laboured to convey an Impression that the distress was
neither so deep nor extensive as it was stated. I could not
credit such a report. I knew that any agent must have had
a heart as well as eyes; and, therefore, be could not deny
the workings of the awful visitation unless he had extin-
guished the light of tire one and the feelings of the other.
I perceived, however, at the last meeting of thz Mayo
Committee, that these rumours were unfounded. lie came
forward to supply the deficiency between the funds in their
hands and the calculated amount of the necessary supplies
of the week.

It might appear to some that he we* rigorous in insisting
that certain provisions sent by the Sacsville.street Com-
mittee, should be merged in tit_ common stock provisions
for the famishing people. In that instanc: I must applaud
his conduct. It was conformable to the pledge given to us,
that the government would aid the public exertions, and
provided that pledge is lolly redeemtd, we shall be satisfied.
Durink the thrte next weeks,when tamiue shall be rapidly
rising to its climax, the demands upon the government must
be on a far more extended scale. All the past bei.evolence
of the public would be abortive, unless the people ere sup.
plied with provisions during this distressing interval. It is
like a gulph between the present and the coming year, in
which thousands perish unless conducted through by the
assistance of government.
Your Lordship may judge of my inability to devote the
least attention to any ulterior 4110•11U141, when I assure
you, -that it was with difficulty I could snatch from the
pressure of distress, and the clamours of mendicants, a
brief interval to pen this melancholy document. Yes,
the state of society is now completely unhinged. Do-
mestic industry is neglected. The public roads are
covered with thousands toiling Ikon morning until night,
for the wretched pittance of six or seven pence worth of
meal for an entire family. While the men are thus wock-
ir,g, the women and children are constantly lining the pub.

lie ways, and thronging round the depots of the local or,
mitten, preventing each other's accommodation by the pr:
sure of hunger; harrassing the feelings of the distribute's'
by their complaints, and invading the public ear as they r,
turn in the evening by blessings or imprecations, am,„l„,
as they had the good of bad fortune to be relieved or r :
glected. It was only yesterday evening I met a group.;
those unfortunate individuals, many of whom, after tea,rt
log a whole day, returned home bitterly disappointed.
There was one in particular whose moans as well •
fainting appearance attracted my attention : a fechl." wqp,"
with a child on her breast, who came to get a meal for%
family of seven little children. She left them in the mom;
ing without breaking her own or their fast ; and she was
now tottering home, a distance of three miles, with her little
bag empty, and wildly asking those around her how she could
meet the cries of her famishing children. She literally re
minded me of the words of the prophet, " The little or;
i look for bread, and there was none to break it." Arad lL
I not afforded her the means of relief, I doubt, front
appearance, whether she would not have perished on the sat.
Some interested persons may exclaim, there arc in the u.
counts from Mayo, instances of exaggeration. That there
are cases of exaggeration, nay, of fraud, I shall not hesitate
to avow. But they are the unavoidable results of the exit.
The cases of exaggeration, however, are but few, and the
frauds are petty. If then some hard-heated and dishoney.
individuals may be able, by false statements, to filch a litth
of the charity provisions. is that a reason why hundreds of
thousands should be suffered to perish ? The precautions
taken by the central committee of Mayo, are such as that I
should defy the most practised jobber in the land, to du
much in that way. The allocotions to the distressed di'tticts
are all made in provisions. The members contract with the
merchants after receiving proposals, and then orders for their
respective shares are given on the merchants to the local
committees.

Whatever, therefore, might be the disposition, thete at_
sufficient precautions against the execution of any seriolis
frauds. An undeserving object may sometimes intercept a
few quarts of meal. Some of the local committees may oc.
casionally exercise their small patronage in promoting some
poor gentleman to the stewardship of the public works. and
allow him sixpence or a shilling a day extra, in order to
prevent the dignity of his caste from being tainted by a c, c;.
munity of office with less genteel mendicants. But F
things are only the nibblings of a mouse, compared in
more lordly spoliation of which the report (true or hire
know not), of 22 almost frightened the English people iron
a second exertion of benevolence.

To that generous people 1 must express our obli-at'ort.
and I shall do many of them the justice to ray, that it
owing to their ignorance of our state they do not era:
themselves as much to prevent famine by a system of sour..:
legislation, as they do by their purse to mitigate its bourns.
I should feat to contemplate once more the tecurret ct
of a similar scene. I should fear it for the sake of the
people, the government, and, above all, the interests of
morality and religion. The invasion of a hostile power
is not more dreadful in its consequences than that of faniin,,
especially amidst plenty. It is a species of revolution ot
which the effects arc long felt. It comes with a scorchirr
effect on the moral virtues of the people, and the trace.
of the searing bolt appears long and deeply furrowed in
their character. The inhabitants of entire districts literally
loosened from the soil, and flocking like vultures a herever
the hope of food may lead them ; numbers of aged and infirm
objects starving in their homes, deprived of the usual relate
of charity on account of the committees, and defrauded by
their feebleness and their delicacy of that resource, while
more sturdy and shameless beggars sometimes intercept th:
public bounty; complaints of partiality against those who
sacrifice their health, nay life itself, in the daily distributiors,
and murmurs of ingratitude from the worthless few mingled
with the more general expression of thankfulness and bent.
diction. Landlords who were deaf, and blind, and callous to
the wants of their tenantry, while they alone were called on
to relieve them, becoming suddenly and miraculously sensi-
tive to their destitution, while they hope to remove it by the
charity of others.
The lofty feeling that could not brook eleemosynary aid
is now so impaired, if not utterly broken down, as to depress
a high-minded peasantry into a mass of mendicants. An
improvident hope of relief in similar cases, and consequent
relaxation of industry ; a sullen and indignant hate toward'
their petty oppressors, for having stripped them first of their
substance and next of their shame, and a spirit of political
cabal, unknown to their more simple-minded as well as bet.
ter-conditioned predecessors. These are but a few of the
necessary consequences of famine in a fertile Jand—a fe
which, if suffered again to ravage Ireland, will utterly de.
moralize the people, and destroy those virtues of which the
wreck that yet remains could still in the hands of an able
statesman form the foundation of one of the noblest soda:
edifices that could be exhibited in any country.
I have the honour to be, your lordship's obedient servant.
JOHN MAC HALE.
MARRIED.—At Kilronter Church, R. Mannus, Esq.
Captain in the bdth Foot, to Letitia, daughter of A. Seedy!,
Esq. of Chesterfield, Galway—Al Cork, Duncan M'Pherson.
Esq. Captain it the 27th Foot, to Jessie, daughter of Capt.
Al' —At Limerick, Joseph Evans, Esq. of Honey-
moons Tiispirary, to Margaret, third daughter of the late
It . Ross, . M.D. of Limerick.
DIED.— be Rev. J.S. Russell, Curate of Drumshambo.
Leitrim—Mrs. King, relict of Francis King, Esq. of Silver-
spring, Wexford—At Dunmanway, Cork, the Rev. James
M'Cheane—ln Youghal, Waterford, Roger Green, Esq.—
Samuel Allen, Esq. of Robinatown, Wexford—ln Capel-
street, Sarah, daughter of Mr. Richard Bennis.
SCINTILLA?.
POLISII PROVERB.—You may strip a Pcle to
his shirt ; but if you attempt to take his shirt, he will re.
gain all.
A young servant girl who had conducted herself
much to the satisfaction of her mistress, was presented be
her with five pounds, to serve as a marriage portion. Seine
time after the mistier.' desired to see the lover. He sal
ugly and misshapen. ' My good lass,' said the lady, who:
a comical husband you have chosen !" Ah ! madam,' re-
plied the girl, ' what can one expect to get for five pounds!'
WHAT IS ARISTOCRACY ?—ln reply to the
question of an ultra, What is aristocracy ? George Foy, a
distinguished orator in the French Chambers, gave the for
lowing striking definition ' I can tell what it is,' .aid h.,
' aristocracy in the 19th century, is the coalition. the leagtN
of those who would consume without working ; know every
thing without learning ezy thing ; carry away all the heron
without having deserved them ; and occupy all the places of
government without being capable of tilling them.'
AMERICAN ADVERTISEMENT.--Peale's Mu-
seum and Gallery of the Fine Arts, Broadway. opposite the
Purk.--A novel exhibition for a time only—the much cele-
brated TREADING MILL will be in operation: the
figures under punishment are made of wax, and resemble
life in action. Admittance to see the whole 25 cents ; children
half price. Those who visit the Museum in the day, have
the privilege of returning the same evening, without further
charge.
PULITE AMERICAN H A BiTs.—William I'.
Harrison and Co. Tobacco, Snuff and Segar klanufacturers.
have Chewing ToLacco, Fine Cavendish, old, choice quali:y.
Ladies' fine Twist, in kegs from 50 to 1001bs of a superi:c
quality. Plug, Bto the lb. in kegs from 00 to 1201 b.
of a fair quality. Fine Virginia Twist and Plug, front 11l
to 12, and 10 to the lb. Plug, in rolls from slbs. to Iftibs
running 12 to IS yards to the lb. Lorillard's New Yei
fine Cute, for chewing. German Pipes by the gross or hot.
ILLUSTRIOUS SHOEM A KERs.—Gifford and
Drew were both shoemakers ; so was Holcroft, whose thl.
matic works have done him so much honour. Robert Blom'
field was a shoemaker when he wrote his " Farmer's B-1:'
Dr. William Cary, Professor of Sanscrit and Bengalee, to
the College of Fort William, Calcutta, was in early life
shoemaker. So is Mr. John Soothers, the author of the
Poor Man's Sabbath,' the Peasant's Death,' and other
poems. Roger Sherman, of Connecticut, one of the taw
signers of American independence, was a shoemaker. 11.
worked at his trade till he was 21 years of age, at Newton.
near Boston, from whence he migrated to Connecticut, and
by assiduity in civil employments, arose gradually to be
judge, a legislator, and an eminent statesman. Thus scum:
at nought the old maxim—No tutor ultra creridano.

DIED.
Yesterday morning, John, eldest son of the Rev..l. S.
Ogle, of Maley, Northemberiand.--The 13th inst. at hi 4
residence in Argyll-place, J. Nonbeote, Esq. ILA. in the
66th year of his age.—The 12th inst. at his reslderc,
blanicy-cottage, Kennington, Mr. J. Famcomb, aged
The 12th inst. at New Dorset-place, Kennington, in bet
26th year, Sarah, wife of E. Oltdoe, Esq. of Mark-lane, and
the island of Grenada—The 9th Inst. at Margate, Nrs.
Susannah Cranch,widow of the late Mr. Crouch, of Wilson-
street, Finsbury-agitate, aged 55.

—
LONDON: Rioted and Published by Joins MAYNE. at the
STAII Orricz, Na I. Pickett-place, Temple Ho.