The North-Carolina standard., 1847-02-24
REL1EE FOR IRELAND.

CLAW. and that celebrated orator, s. S. Prentiss
We Law before our readers the very beautiful and
heart-strrng Speech OF the latter gentleman
Fellouo Citizens 1T Is no ordinary cause
which has brought together this vast assemblage
on the present occasion. We have met, not to
prepare ourselves for political contests, nor to cele-
brate the achievement of those gallant men who
have planted our victorious Standard In the heart
of an enernv's country. We have assembled not
10 respond 10 the shouts of triumph from the West
but to answer the cry of want and suffering which
comes from the East The Old World stretches
ont her arms TO the New. The starving parent
suppicates fhe young and vigorous child for bread
There lies upon the other side of the wide Allan
tic beau,ifu! Island, famous in story and in song.
Its area is not great as that ofthe State of Lou
siana, while its population is almost hall that OF
the Union. Il has given TO the world more IMAM
its share of genius and of greatness. 1t has been
prolific in statesmen, warriors and poets us
brave and generous sons have Tough successfully
all battles but their own. In wit and humor 1t has
no equal while its harp, like its history, moves
to tears by its sweet but melancholy pathos. 1nlo
this fair region God has seen fit to send the most
terrible of all those fraifnl ministers who tuihl
his inscrutable dccrecs The earth has failed to
Give her increase; the common mother has sor-
gotten her offspring, and her breast no longer al
fords them their accustomed nourishment Fam
inc, gaunt and ghasty famine, has sciz' nation
with its strangiing grasp; and unhappy. Ireland
in the sad woes of the present, forgets Ior mo-
mcnt the gloomy history Of the past we nave
assembled. fcllow-citizrns, to express our sincere
sympathy for the sufferings of our brethren, ana
to unite in efforts for their a!levlatIcn ms IS
one of those cases in which we may, without I'M
pcty, assume, as it were, the function OF Prov-
dence Who knows bat what one OF The very oo-
rcts of this great calamity is TO test The beneVo,
ence and worthness of US upon whom Unlimited
Abundance his been showered? In the name, then,
of common humanity, invoke your aid IN behalf
of starving Ireland. Ele who is able and VIII not
give for such a sacred purpose, is not a MN, and
has no right 10 wear the form. He should be
snt hack 10 lturc's mint and rc-issucd rs conn'
trrfrit on humanity of natures b1ser metal.
Oh it is terrible, that in this beautiful world
which the good God has given US, and in which
there is plenty for ALL that men should die of
In these days when improvement in
agriculture and the mechanical arts have quadru-
pied the produclivcness Of labor; when 1t is mani
fest thit the earth produces every year more than
sufficient to co,he and feed all her thronging
il is a shame and disgrace that the
word starvation has not long since become obsolete,
or only retained to explain the dim legends of a
ba:b lrous age. You who have never been be-
yond the precincts of our favored country,
von more especially, who have always lived in
this great valley ofthc Mississippi-the cornucopia
of the WORLDWIDE see each day ppurd into the
lap of your city, food sufficient to assuage the
hunger of nation, can form but an imperfect idea
ofthe horrors of famine; ofthe terror which strikes
mems souls when they cry in vain for bread
When n mn dies of disease, he alone erdurrs the
pain. Around his pillow are gathered sympa-
lhizing friends who, if they cannot keep back the
deadly messenger, cover his flce and conceal the
horrors of his vi.age as he delivers his stern
date
In bluIe, in the fullness of his pride and
Strength little recks the soldier whether the Kissing
bullet sing his sudden rtquium, or the cords Of
life are severed by the sharp steel. But he who
dies of hunger wrrstles alone, day after day with
his grim and unrcentIug enemy. He has no
friends to cheer him in the terrible conflict; for
if he had friends how couId he die for hungcr2
He has not the hot blood of the soldier TO mlin-
tain him; for his foe, vampire like has exhausted
his veins. Famine comes not up like brave
enemy, storming, by a sudden onset, the fortress
that rrssts-Famine besiegrs. He draws his
lines around the doomed garrison he cuts off all
supplies; he never summons 10 surrender for he
gives no quarters. Also for poor human
nature how can it sustain this fearful warfare2
Day by day the blood rccedcs; the flesh, deserts;
the muscles relax, and the snews grow powerless.
At last the mind which! at first had bravely ner-
we'd itself for the contest, gives way under the
mysterious influences which govern its union
with the body. Then he begins 10 doubt the rx-
isence of an overruling Providence; ne hates his
fellow mon, and elares upon them with the long
ings of cannibal, ana it may br, dies blasphc-
ming '.s
Who will hesitate TO give his mite, to avert
such awful resulls2 Surely not you, citizens Of
New Orleans, ever famed for your deeds of be-
nerolence and charity. Freely have your hearts
and purses opened heretofore 10 the calls Of suffer
ing humanity. NobIy did yon respond to op-
pressed Greece and struggling Poland. Within
Erins borders is an enemy more cruel than the
Turk more tyranical than the Russian. Bread
is the only weapon that can conquer him. Let
us then load ships with the glorious muniion,
and in the name Of our common humanity, wage
war against the dcspot Famine. Let US, in Gods
name, least our bread upon the waters" and if
we are selfish enough to desire 1t, we may rccol-
lect the promise, that it shall return to US after
m1ny days.
If benevolence be not sufficient incentive TO
action, we should be generous from common de-
cency. for out Of This famine we are adding mil
lions to our fortunes Every article of food, OF
which we have a superabundence, has been
doubled in value by the very distress we are now
called upon to alleviate We cannot do less in
common honesty, than to divide among the stnrv-
ing poor of Ireland portion of the gains we are
making out Of their misfortunes. Give, thcn
generously and freely. Recollrct that in so do
ing you exercising Of the most god-likc
qualities of your nature, and at the same time en-
joying one Of the greatest luxurics of life. We
ought 10 thank our Maker that he has permitted
MS to exercise equally with himself that nobest of
even the Divine attributes, benevoIence. Go home
and look at your family, smiling in ROSY health.
aadIh Iho1fh hirlz Of 10 .I,l -.