The Irish standard., 1909-08-21
FAMINE VICTIMS.
{, Speech Of Matthew Cummings at
| Crosse Isle.

LIE IollOWlH8 ADDRESS was delivered
last Sunday by Mathew Cummings at
Crosse Isle, Canada on the occasion
of the unwilling of the monument to
the victims of the Irish famine of
1918:
The history Of ireland fe {. sad one
but the saddest thing in its whole his
tory is connected with the famine
year black Al.
Before the famine the population IT
Ireland was nearly nine millions; it is
less than half of that number :oday.
blight came on the potato crop IL,
the years ~ and '4S, but the fields
waved with golden grain, sheep anc
cattle roamed and fattened on tn. fer
history tells US that in few years
one. quarter of the population died Of
starvation. Think o. it, men Of the
Irish race, two millions of your kind
red died Of starvation, with sufficient
food in the fields to feed five times
the population. When the famine be-
came severe orders were given by the
English government 70 save the grain
and cattle for the landlord. The
British soldiers were placed be-
tween the Irish people and the pro-
ducts of their land The landlords in
fo
rates swept the people from the land
to die on the road side.
Those who could find means Of
transportation emigra ted mostly to
the United States and Canada. The
government sometime: furnished hulls
of vessels afterward called coffin ships
to bear away the fever stricken peo-
pie.
During the year ~ one hundred
thousand Irish exiles sailed for Cana
da. 1t is estimated that at least one
quarter of that number died from fam
inc and fever. This quarantine sta
ton that we now stand on could be
traced from Ireland by the bones of
Irish emigrants WHO died on ship
board and were buried at sea. During
that year between five and six thou
sand died while crossing the Atlantic
and were thrown rverboard. More
than twelve thousand died in the fever
sheds and were buried in yonder pits.
Thousands crawled from the fever
sheds to those rocks that you look
upon, and were washed away and
drowned by the rising tide, being too
weak to save themselves.
At Point st. Charles, Montreal, more
than flve thousand were buried. The
Irishmen of Canada should not rest
until the boulder which marked the
place of their remains and, which has
been removed, is replaced. Thousands
were also buried at Kingston, On
tario, and at st. Johns, New Bruins
wick.
We of the Irish race owe debt OF
gratitude to the French priests and
people of Canada for the kindness, hos
pitality, and friendship shown at that
trying period to those Of our race
who came among them.
They nursed the sick and buried the
dead, at the great risk Of catching the
malignant fever themselves. They
cared for the little irish orphans that
were sometimes found playing with
the bodies Of their dead parents. They
brought them up in the faith of their
fathers educated them, and some OF
those orphans afterward became lead
ing men in business, end in the profess
sions.
The French and Irish are kindred
races and the friendship that exists
between them is historic and of long
standing. When the Irish priests and
schoolmasters were banished as felons
by English law, France received them
and cared for them When it was a
crime to educate young men for the
priesthood in Ireland, France estab'
lished the Irish college in Paris, edu-
Gated young Irishmen, ordained them
to the priesthood and sent them back
to their native country to keep the
Catholic faith in the hearts of the
people. The Irish snldiers after the
Treaty of Limerick who refused tc
fight under the banner Of William OF
Orange were received with open arms
as citizens of that country at once, and
were given higher wages than the
regular soldiers of France. The Irish
were never ingrates and on every bat
tlefield from Dunkirk to Fontenoy
they proved their appreciation and
loyalty to France, and so we can say
today to the French people Of Cana
da, that the scattered and exiled Irish
race has not forgotten the kindly as
sistance and support given by them
to our dying kindred during the fam