Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1847-02-11
Suffering in Ireland.

II SoikSA AAASo 40 ~ SAeANs
4 We give below extracts from letter re-
Gently received by JACOB HARVEY Of this
City ~ y Tribune.
II DUBLIN, sd of First Month, l847.
Thou art so well acquainted with Ireland,
and with the habits Of The people. and so
well aware that the potato forms the sole re-
source of the peasantry of our western coun-
ties, that 1t is unnecessary to point out to thee
| the misery which must inevitably result from
their loss. In the parts of Mayo which !
visited the failure is complete, and the destitu.
ton of the cot,er population is total They
have nothing. The public works do not en-.
ploy one-quarter OF them. There is no other
employment. The wages Of those who get
work, about one shilling per day, arc quite
insufficient TO enpport family at present
prices. They have been unable to buy their
usual supply Of Winter clothing, and on the
contrary have been forced by want to pawn
any good clothes they had. Their pigs are
| gone-the poultry are eatei, or sold-the very
dogs have been drowned, lest they should eat
anything that could support human life. ]
saw few pigs and q fowl, and an occasional |
dog with the farmers, but nothing in com
parison with former times. The number of
the desti itute is greatly increased by the farm
servants, who have been almost invariably
disc harged, ,on account of the inability Of their
employers to feed them, and by tailors, shoe
makers, and other artisans, who used to work
for the small farmers, and the poor, and who
have now no employment.
H What aRazes me, is how the people con-
trive 10 support existence. They live large.
y on turnips, which instead of being given
to cattle, are sold at the rate Of one shilling
per cwt., by the few gentlemen or large far
mers, who cultivate them, and who deal them
out in half cwts. lest The supply should be too
quickly exhausted. The natural result OF
insufficient and unwholesome food s disease,
especially dysentery of the most aggravated
character, Of which many are dying. There
have also been many deaths from actual star
walton. The coroner living at Ball,na, gave
us list containing twenty-three such within
the Inst month"; most OF them within the last
fortnight. There are also many more on
whom no inquest is held. We passed a small
| burying place OF the time of an nterment il
was young man, who had been farm ser
want, and having been discharged could find
no one to take him in. lie had been promis
ed admission into the workhousc, but died the
n previous day, OF absolute want Of food-no
Inquest. On another occasion we met
young man carrying a coffin Of thin unpaned
deal boards. lie told US that il was for
| woman whose remains had been kept eight
days. until they had begged the price Of the
coffin
Il Nothing appeared to me to offer so striking
n proof Of the greatness Of the calamity, as
the complete possession it has obtained of
the public mind. heard nothing spoken Of,
but the situation Of the country, the supply
and prices Of food, the public works. the
measures of government, the distress Of the
people, and the means of averting starvation
The resident gentry see and feel for the
misery that surrounds them, and crippled as
they are by the on-paymcnt OF their rents,
they yet, with few exceptions, exert them.
selves zealously and at considerable personal
and pecuniary sacrifices, for the relief Of their
dependents and nelghbors, in which en-.
dcavors they are with a few rare exceptions
,choliy unassisted by the absentee proprie.
tors.
The wives and daughters OF the gentry are
making equal exertlOns, and ladies' Of the
first rank may be seen daily distributing soup
or meal, or cutting out clothes to be made BY
poor women, and atterward sold to the poor
at n low rate.
II Compassion for the misery which they are
unable to relieve. alarm for the future, an
anxious sense of the responsibility Of their
position, and sn overwhelming weigh, Of pub
lie business, oppress many OF the small nun
ber Of resident proprietors to an extent that
must be witnessed to be understood. Al
J. religious and political differences are for the
present forgo,ten--like the factions in q be
II Seigcd city, the pressure Of n common dan
ger. has united all parties for a common OBJ
ject The ministers Of nl denominations
and especially the Church of England clergy
arc actively engaged IN administering relief
To The hitter the very poor chiefly look, anc
the rector is sometimes the only resident
gentleman in The parish.
N The emigration this year will certainly be
enormous. Indictment ss is thus season they
are going already. a ship lcf Sligo just be
fore Christmas. md instead Of the sorrow
usual when parting from their native country
'hore was nothing but Joy at their escape, n,
from doomed land. The country il IN man,
places' becoming depopuated. They nr,
deserving their cabins, crowding into th,
towns and cities, spreading themselves owe
our eastern counties, (where The dcslituiioI
IL less, because The people have been occus
toned TO rely on wages for their support,
and when they can beg the passage money
crossing over into England and Scotland
Such extensive mendicity is frgh,fully dc
mornlizing. bnt how can the unfortunate peo
pie help IL /? ~ they stay at home they mus
starvc. From accounts have heard, ! bo
llcyo that many urc prcfcning tho Jresdiu