The Mississippi Creole. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1841-1851, 1847-02-27

The following eloquent speech was deliver
ed bythe Hon 8. s.. PRENriss, at . meeting in
New Orleans for the relief Of the starving in
ireland.
Fellow Citizens II is no ordinary cause
which has brought together this vast assem-
blage on thespresent occasion. We have met,
not to prepare ourselves for political contests,
nor to celebrate the achievements Of those gal
liant men who have planted our victorious
standard in the heart Of an enemy's country
We have assembled not to respond to shouts
of triumph fromathe West, but to answer the
cry Of want and suffering which comes from
the East. The Old World stretches out her
arms to the New. The starving parent SuPpli-
Gates the young and vigorous child for bread
There lies on the other side Of the wild Attain
tic a beautiful island, famous in story and in
song. Its area is not SO great as that Of the
State Of Louisiana, while it's population is al
most half that Of the Union, 1t has given to
the world more than its share Of genius and Of
greatness. It has been prolific in statesmen,
warriors and poets. Its brave and generous
sons have fought successfully all battles but
their own. In wit and humor it has no equal
while its harp, like its history, moves to tears
by its sweet but melancholy pathos, Into this
Flair region God has seen fit to send the most
terrible Of all those fearful ministers who fulfil
his inscrutable DEGREES The earth has failed
to give her increase; the common mother has
forgotten her offspring, and her breast no longer
affords them their accustomed nourishment.-
Famine, gaunt and ghastly famine, has seized
a nation with its strangling grasp; and unhap-
py Ireland in the sad woes Of the present, for
gets fot a moment the gloomy history Of me
past. We have, fellow-citizens, assembled to
express our sincere sympathy for the sufterings
Of our brethren, and to unite in efforts for theil
alienation. This is one of those cases in
which we may, without impiety, assume, as it
, were, the functions Of Providence. Who knows
but what one object OF the very calamity is to
test the beneyolence and worthiness OF us upon
whom unlimited abundance has been shower
ed. In the name, then, Of common humanity,
t invoke your aid in behalf Of starving Ireland
He who is able and will not give for such
sacred purpose, is not a man, and has no RICH
5 to wear the form. He should be sent back t
Natures mint, and re-issued as a counterfeit OF
humanity of Natures baser metal.
Oh! it is terrible, that in this beautiful world
efwhich the good God has given US, and in whicI
. there is plenty for us all, that men should di
Of starvation! In these days, when improve
: ment in agriculture and the mechanical art
K have quadrupled the productiveness of labor
: when it is manifest that the earth produce
d every year more than sufficient to clothe AM
o. feed all herthronging millions; it is q sham
a and a disgrace, that the word starvation has no
Ie long since become obsolete, or only retained t
4. explain the dim legends Of a barbarous age
II You who have never been beyond thespr'
lie cincts Of our own favored country; you, MOI
IN especially, who have always lived in this gre'
% valley Of the Mississippi-the cornucoPia
it the world-who see each day pouring into Il
le lap Of your city, food sufficient to assuage Il
tn hunger Of nation, can form but an imperfe,
idea Of the horrors Of famine; Of the terri
W. which strikes mems souls when they cry
y vain for bread. When a man dies Of diseas
he alone endures the pain. Around his pillo
are gathered sympathizing friends, who,
they cannot keep back the deadly messeng'
4 cover his face and conceal the horrors Of
yisage as he delivers his stern mandate.
In battle, in the fulness Of his pride al
strength, little tecks the soldier whether q
!, Kissing bullet sing his sudden requiem, or I
cords Of life are severed by the sharp steel.
!, But he who dies Of hunger, wrestles alon
y day after day, with his grim and pnrelenli
!. enemy. He has no friendsto %cheerhinrin I
terrible conflict; for if he had friends hS
Z could he die Of hunger. He has not the !
blood If the soldier to m~aiptain him for
foe, vampire like, has exhausted his veins
Famine comes not up like a brave enen
n. ~storming, by a sudden onset, the fortress u
resists-Farine b~esieges. He draws his lii
around the doomed garrison; he cuts off
u supplies; he never summons to surrender
he gives no quarters. Alas! for poor hum
l nature, how cant sustain this fearful warfal
Day by day the blood recedesi the flesh
serts; the muscles relax, and the sinews gr
powerless. AT last the mind, winch az y
had bravely nsryed itself for the contests gN
way under the mysterious influences VIII
r govern its union with the body. Then he
gins to doubt the existence Of an oyerrul
Providence; he hates his fellow men, and glO
UPON them with the Iongings Of a cannil
andi may be, dies blaspheming!
who will hesitate to give his mite to az
such awful rcsultsl Surely not you, citiz
IA Of New Orleans, ever famed for your deeds
: /. benevolence and charity, Freely have y
l. IA M