The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1847-02-18


hunger. from which thousands in IRELAND implore
us I" deliver them. Il is fate mare horrible
Than any that came Ivy fluod FIRE. hy war
or pesiipnce. Whn wuull not rather have per
ished In the army of Napoleon amidst the snows
I'll Russia up have sunk in Srio beneath the
sc'me,ar Of the 'rurk7 I, is the tragedy of Ug-
"lin", passing not in me solitary prison. but In
thousands of human habi,atiuns
The accounts that are canning from Ireland
c"nhrm these representations. and indeed. sur
pass all that can he said in any general Tepresen.
'a'"n' In the province Of Connanght ''ihere
We're trtv seven deaths by Starvation in une
week In the t"wus of Skibherspn. Baliydeha.
CaS'ithaven. Castletown. and nher places. ten
ar hfiren funerals day are cnnrnnn. aud cullpc
''"ns are made IN the churches To provide collins
inr The destitute. A letter from the county of
May" says: The scenes described are hur.
rb'e as any related of beleagned cities. Men
are not "nirequsnly, il is stated. fund dead in
the bitches by The wayside. Some are su changed
as not tn he recognized by their friends their
looks w"lish aud glazing as madmen; wi,hou,
clothes or food uf any kind they roam ahuut in
search Of fond till death seals their misery"
The Cork Examiner Contains a letter signed
~ NJ CumminS. J. p. Ann mount. Cork ad.
dressed To the Duke of Wellington Here is an
extract: 81 went ON the 18th instant To SIKH
hereen. and. To give the instance of tow inland
entire coast district. I shall state simply what
saw there. I, is situated on the eastern side Of
Casiehaven harbor, and is named South Reen in
the parish of Nlyross. Being aware that should
nave To witness scenes of frIghifnl hunger. pro
vided myself with much bread as five men
could carry. and on reaching the spnt was sur
prsed In find The wrelched hamlet apparently de.
serted. entered some of the novels to ascertain
The cause, and the scenes that presented them.
selves were such as no tongue "r pen can convey
the slightest idea Of. Ia the first, six iamshed
and CHASTITY skeletons, To all appearance dead.
were huddled In a corner same filthy straw
their sole covering what seemed a ragged Nurse.
cloth. approached IN horror, and found. nv n
low moaning. they were alive; they were in
fever, four Children woman, and what had once
bPen n man. II is impossible To 90 thronuh the
detail; sntice 1t To say, that in few minutes
was surrounded by at least two hundred of such
phanioms, such frghIiul specires as no words can
describe. by far the greater number were dpliri-
nns, either from famine or from fever Their
demoniac yells still in my ears and their hor
r'ble images are fixed upon NY BRAIN
There is an affecting letter from the women of
Dummanway, in the county of Cork addressed
To the Ladies of America. )" and am sure their
appeal will not he in vain. "Oh that our
American sisters" they say, could see the Ia
6orers on our rnads, able bodied men. scarcely
clad, Vanishing with hunger. with despair in
their cheerful faces. staggering at their
work. yet striving To earn the meal which is tn
keep life in them TO anoiher; too probably
having tasted no food since the day before-oh
that they could see the fever and famine stricken
lamiiy, huddled together on their bundle Of damn
straw, with one or more cnrpses among them
which the survivors have not strength To drag
from beside them oh that they could see the
dead iather, mother, or child. lying culfinIess.
and hear the screams of The survivors around
them, caused not by sorrow bnt by the agony of
hunger. they whose hands and hearts are ever open
/" compassion wund unite in one mighty effort To
save Ireland from such misery"
But enough. We feel that it is not necessary
to dwell longer upon scenes like these in order to
awaken the compassion "f our people We are
mol sticks nor stones tn listen to such recilals un
moved We dwell in land oi abundance and
we are not wanting in feeling of liherality we
lrnst, IN some accordance with the bounties of
Divine Providence To us. The corn in our val
leys and the cattle up"n our hills shall not heap
mp reproach with our fitness. nor cry shame upon
our ingra,ltude and hardness nf heart Our abun-
dance Is no more merit than the misery of
suffering Ireland is her fault and as we either
believe IN God. or hear The word OF Christ we
VIII not, like the Leviie, pass by the other
side, but like the good Samaritan will draw nigh
and show compassion.
Gan we draw nigh To Ireland Can we do
anything Tor her This must be the feeling that
leaps i"rth from the heart of this whole people,
we VIII moi insult that feeling by any attempt at
pathetic appeal To it. The case is plain. If our
nPIghb0r, il any human being were dying of star.
vation at oar door, could not partake of orr
daily meal ill we had divided it with him
Nothing but iron bnlts and bars could prevent onr
going la him and sharing with him from our full
ness. Gan we Impart of onr fitness to ireland ?
IN answer In this question. we propose the pla n
ot action set forth in the resolutions which pre-
cede this address. We cannot doubt that The
gentlemen therein named will assume the henevo-
lent trust which is respectfully rendered To Them
We know that il will involve considerable care
and expense. For The necessary care, we trust
10 their humanity and The sense they will doubt
less entertain Of the greatness If the occasiou.-
For defraying The expenses. we feel that we NAV
pledge The Whole country. Our churches. be
neV"Ient men of wealth, all men, will contribute
! 10 = charity like this
The course Of proceeding. then. is very simple
There must he hundreds. nay, thousands of farm
ers and other persons throughout the land who
nave same bushels of wheat nr corn or barrels uf
hour or meat which, from their full stores they
are ready to give to this great charity The peo-
pie ready To do This The counties of Mus
klngum and Jefferson. in Ohio, have already
made a movement OF this kind and the farmers of
Indiana, some time ago seut a Reputation to Gin
cnnat u see If something of this nature could not
be dune. Let these contributions, then, as well
as those of money, he forwarded To The respective
committees in The seaport towns by them To- be
shipped without delay To Ireland. Thus IS OMEN
ed way for the charities of great natios To
flow IN blessed streams, to sister nation in need
and in distress.
But friends and c0untrymen, we must not de
lay. The death shrieks come louder and louder
from that unhappy shore. Hundreds, thousands
may die before our aid can reach them Instant
action may save other hundreds, other thousands
Words are m0ckefy here; we are ashamed To
mmllInlN lhenl Instant arllln L. iI,ni