The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-01-07

citizens, representing all naionaIitifs and
faiths. were present. The vice-presidents
and secretaries heretofore announced. Gen
eral William Malone, and several member,
Of the General Assembly, had seats on the
stage. The programme was carried out
with unusual precision, and the speeches
all Of them g00d-were heard with enthu-
siastic attention.
Mr.. KRILEY's EXPLANATORY ADDRESS.
TIE meeting having been called to order,
Mr.. A. NJ. Kelley. who had been very APP
propriately selected TO preside, came for
ward and said:
Ladies and Gentlemen. The pleasant
| duty devolves on me to call this assemblage
to order and preside over its deliberations
and action. i pursue no mere formula OF
compliment when / aver that / discharge
this duty with the most sincere appreciation
| Of its honor. 1t would be at all times dis
tinction to fill this chair in such an assem-
bly OF the character, intelligence, and pub
| lie and private worth OF our capital; for
| Richmond gathers in this hall tonight her
foremost people in every walk OF liic-'ay
and clerical. But the occasion and purpose
OF this assembling greatly augment the com
piment, for you convene in the loftiest
cause that ever challenges the applause and
| labOrs OF men.
Tonight we call halt in the striies and
emulations and competitions Of our several
careers. and recognize the falsity Of that
| view OF life which regards it as a mere
feline wrangle, in which strength and cum
ming win its prizes from weakness and sim
plicitv. tTo-night we realize that at the
| last we are OF one family, however sew
cred. We remember that the gaunt man
with weird, wild eyes who to-day be9s for
| bread that bis starving darlings may be Kept
from death is our brother, albeit he tread>
the highway Of another continent; that the
pale watcher crouchng in her wretcDed
howell over a pallet Of straw, where, for
want OF what we throw unheedinS 10 our
dogs, baby life is ebbing hclplessIy away
and a voice is stiliing in eternal silence,
whose aimless prattle is music to her ears,
passing the melodies OF choiring seraphs,
is our sister. albeit an ocean parts US
brother ard sister, although defaclng want
and wretchedness and the m0rdant curse
OF hunger have almost bOtted out the
traces of our common origin.
1t is the great compensation OF calamties
like that in whose presence we s'aad that
they are moral tempeSts which clear the SKY
and open to mortal eyes unwonted prospects
and serener depths, and sweep with con-
suming blast, however temporarily, the
miasma OF greed and selfishnesS that clouds
our common lie.
Tonight YOU will hear, in words far
worthier than mine, the claims OF the I'M
bappv people OF ireland upon your sympa-
thy and aid; to Inc the humber but not
less needful service falls to explain briefly
the origin of the evil we are here to help
relieve and our mode OF relief.
Ireland is. in area, but little larger than
the State of South Carolina, and yet, after
the steady depletion OF the last thirty years,
its population Is still about eight times tDat
of the Palmetto State. OF it, total acreage
of twenty odd millions but about bali Is
under cultivation; and while in England
and Scotland about one in twenty OF the
gross population own their lands, in Ireland
only one in eighty are landowners; ana yet
the great industry of the people is agricul-
tural-relatively much larger than in Eng
land or Scotland
Since 1875 every harvest in Ireland has
been worse than its predecessor, until hnal-
" a rain, which lasted almost without in
termission from early June, 1879, to tue
period for gathering the crops (chlef among
which, as is well known, is the pOtato), re-
duced the yield OF last season 10 mini
mum, and in many large sections OF the
| west anu SOuiu dUSOluttlI il'
| But this is not all. In early times Ireland
was land of stately and enormous forests.
To-day it is one Of the most sc0ntily wood
ed countries in Christendom; but as sub.
stitute the poorer people, In the agricu-
tural districts especially, use for fuel peat,
taken from the bogs or marshes, with which
| zoo, 600 Of acres of the surface Of Ireland
are covered. This peat is only valuable as
fuel when thoroughly dry; accordingly it
| |; cut from the bOos in early summer in
blocks abut the size Of brick, and set on
edge or in stacks to dry in the open air.
But, unhappily for the luckless people, the
unremitting rains which rotted the grain
and the potatoes also prevented the peat
from drying-indeed, saturated 1t with un-
usual moiSture-and winter has come upon
them with the double disaster OF hunger
and cold to intensity its evils.
| When | add that there, as in all western
| Europe, this winter has proved as remarka-
| BILE for its severity as ours has been for its
mildness, il need not surprise us that the
wolf is at the door Of thousands Of cabins,
nd the prospect for the coming six months
is in the last degree gloomy and forbid
ding
TO relieve this suffering, present and
coming, generous efforts have already been
made in many quarters. In England thou
sand. OF pounds have been raised, through
the exertons chiefly OF the clergy, and OF a
noble woman, the Duchess OF Marlborough.
| In Ireland the efforts OF the clergy and the
poor law guardians, and-to their praise be
| il said-many OF the landlords. have done
much. But Famine has greed Unsuitable
as the grave, whose minister 1t is; and
| America, ever quick to answer the sum-
mons OF the suffering, is asked to share
the burden-nO, not the burden, the
| bounty, the divine bounty-of succoring
these fainting and famishng OF our kin
| beyond the sea-
| Tonight we inaugurate this good deed
| in Virginia, aud inaugurate it under happiest
auspices. The press, with its accustomed
generosity, has placed all its appliances gra-
| tuitously at our disposal, and compliined
only that we taxed too lightly its willing
| hands.
Eminent citizens have kindly consented
| to encourage our effort not only by their
presence, but by their counsel and sympa-
thetic words tonight; and it will be my
great pleasure to present them to the au-
dence in an agreed order. acceptable to
them and am sure to this assemblage.
During the coming week collectors, who
have already been chosen and whose names
will be announced tonight, will visit the
people at their homes or places OF business,
and we bespeak for them generous
return.
We ask this for the good name OF our
people, graduates in affliction, and whose
sympathies have been quickened by many
| trials.
We ask 1t for the traditional fame OF Vir-
ginia as bearing the palm amid the States
| for Justice and kindness TO the strangers
| IoI hnt