scenes were enacted in many a dwelling of that city; whole families perishing, and the dead remaining around the helpless living, till the number of victims was completed. At the Church of St. Anne, Shandon, under a kind of shed attached to a guard-house, lay huddled up in their filthy fetid rags about forty human creaturesmen, women, children, and infants of the tenderest age state, some dead, and all gaunt, yellow, hideous from the combined effects of famine and disease. Under this open shed they had remained during the night, and until that hour-about ten in the morning-when the funeral procession was passing by, and their indescribable misery was beheld by the leading citizens of Cork, including the mayor, and several members of the Board of Guardians. The odour which proceeded from that huddled-up heap of human beings was of itself enough to generate a plague. month of April as many as thirty-six bodies were interred in one day in that portion of Father Mathew's cemetery reserved for the free burial of the poor; and this mortality was entirely independent of the mortality in the workhouse. During the same month there were 300 coffins sold in a single street in the course of a fortnight, and these were chiefly required for the supply of a single parish. From the 27th of December, in 1846,-starving and fever-stricken, most of them in a dying to the middle of April, in 1847, the number of human beings that died in the Cork workhouse was 2,130! And in the third week of the following month the free interments in the Mathew cemetery had risen to 277-as many as sixty-seven having been buried in one day. The destruction of human life in other workhouses of Ireland kept pace with the appalling mortality in the Cork workhouse. According to official returns, it had reached in April the weekly average of twenty-five per 1,000 inmates; the actual number of deaths being 2,706 for the week ending the 3rd of April, and 2,613 in the following week. Yet the number of inmates in the Irish workhouses was but 104,455 on the 10th of April, the entire of the houses not having then been completed. "More than 100 workhouse officers fell victims to the famine fever during this fatal year, which also decimated the ranks of the Catholic clergy of the country. Mr. Trevelyan gives names of thirty English and Scotch priests who sacrificed their lives to their zealous attendance on the immigrant Irish, who carried the pestilence with them in their flight to other portions of the United Kingdom. Pestilence likewise slew its victims in the fetid hold of the emigrant ship, and, following them across the ocean, immolated them in thousands in the lazar houses that fringed the shores of Canada and the United States. The principal business of the time was in meal, and coffins, and passenger ships. A fact may be mentioned which renders further description of the state of the country needless. The Cork Patent Saw Mills had been at full work from December, 1846, to May, 1847, with twenty pairs of saws, constantly going from morning till night, cutting planks for coffins, and planks and scantlings for fever sheds, and for the framework of berths for emigrant ships." Skibbereen was described as one mass of famine, disease, and death; the poor rapidly sinking under fever, dysentery, and starvation." There, as early as the first week in February, 1847, there was constant use for a coffin with movable sides, in which the dead were borne to the grave, and there dropped into their last resting-place. On the whole, the resignation of this stricken people was something wonderful. Outrage was rare, and the violations of the rights of property were not at all so numerous as might have been expected, from persons rendered desperate by hunger; and where such things occurred, the depredators were not those who suffered the severest distress. But as the famine proceeded in its desolating course, and people became familiar with its horrors, the demoralising effects of which we have read in such visitations were exhibited in Ireland also. Next to the French, the Irish have been remarkable for their attention to the dead, as well as for the strength of their domestic affections. They had a decent pride in having a respectable "wake" and funeral, when they lost any member of the family; and however great their privations were, they made an effort to spare something for the last sad tokens of respect for those they loved. But now there was no mourning for the dead, and but little attention paid to the dying. The ancient and deep-rooted custom with regard to funerals was "swept away like chaff before the wind." The funerals were rarely attended by more than three or four relatives or friends. Sometimes the work of burial was left entirely to persons hired to do it, and in many cases it was not done at all for five or six days after death, and then it was only by threats and rewards that any persons could be got to perform the dangerous duty. "I saw," said Mr. R. D. Webb, of Dublin, one of the agents of the Society of Friends, "many graves made within a few yards of the cabin door. In some places bodies have been interred under the floors on which they died; and in others they have been covered by the ruins of the cabins they occupied; this mode of burial being resorted to as the least hazardous, troublesome, and expensive." The demoralisation appeared further ↑ "Father Mathew: a Biography," by John Francis Maguire, M.P., p. 385. in the abuses connected with the distribution of relief, The honourable gentleman gives a few vivid sketches of individuals and groups that he saw in the grasp of the destroyer. For example:-A tall man, of once powerful frame, stood leaning against the door-post of a small house in one of the lanes of the city of Cork. Every trace of expression save that of blank apathy had been banished from his face. His skin was the dark colour of the famine. Behind him, in the front room, lay stark and stiff, stretched on the bare floor, the dead bodies of two of his children-one a girl of thirteen, the other a boy of seven; and in the closet, on a heap of infected straw, raving and writhing in fever, lay the dying mother of the dead children, and wife of the dying father who was leaning against the door-post. Sixteen human beings sought an asylum in that dwelling, and in less than a week eleven were taken out dead. Similar A.D. 1847.] ABUSES IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF RELIEF. The reports of the Commissioners have stated that, in those districts where the relief committees worked together with zeal and in good faith, the administration was excellent, checking fraud and imposture, while it relieved the really distressed. But in some districts this was unhappily not the case. Abuses existed, varying from apathy and neglect to connivance at frauds and misappropriation of the funds. "Gross impositions were daily practised by the poor. The dead or absent were personated; children were lent for a few days in order to give the appearance of large families, and thus entitle the borrowers to a greater number of rations. Almost the whole population, in many cases, alleged poverty and looked for relief; and then, conceiving the receipt of cooked food a degradation, they endeavoured to compel the issue of raw meal. One universal spirit of mendicancy pervaded the people, to which in several places the committees offered no opposition. Yielding to intimidation, or seeking for popularity, they were willing to place the whole population indiscriminately on the lists to be supported by public charity. In some cases they even sought for a share of it themselves. It is stated in the reports of the Commissioners that gentlemen of station and property were not ashamed to sanction the distribution of rations to their servants and labourers, or to their own tenants. The same persons, while willing to give to those who did not need it, frequently disregarded the sufferings of the starving poor. This painful subject may be concluded in the words of a gentleman, who had full opportunity of knowing the abuses practised in one of the worst parts of the country :-"Had I not been an eye-witness, I could scarcely have conceived it possible that the awful visitation with which this country is afflicted should have produced such an utter disregard of integrity in the administration of its relief."* Among the instances of intimidation, a gentleman of landed property related a case, which more than anything, perhaps, showed the demoralisation produced among the Roman Catholic peasantry. He thus wrote to the Relief Commissioners:-"I know of the most shocking instance of this, where shameless, worthless farmers came in bodies, and compelled the priest by threats to give them the meal intended for the poor. In this very parish a scene occurred truly scandalous. The British Association gave our parish priest three tons of meal. On its arrival the riotous conduct of the population was such, I had to go out, and the priest begged of me to take in the meal and store it for him. I did so. On the third day after, he took it to the parish chapel, where a scene occurred which baffles description; and in the end this donation was totally misapplied, as the destitute got nothing, and those well off everything. I can prove that persons retailing meal, whose houses at the moment contained many hundred pounds' weight, received large quantities of it. The priest, poor man, came to me afterwards, and said that for the universe he would not distribute another pound of meal. It "The Condition and Prospects of Ireland," &c., by Jonathan Pim, p. 97. 617 appears that when he attempted to do what was right, a regular scene of intimidation ensued; he was threatened even with personal violence, and the instant demolition of the chapel itself; and he was absolutely obliged to give away the food to those who did not require it. Now, this is only one instance; but one under my own eye, where an honest man was made the victim to this species of intimidation." 66 The Marquis of Lansdowne, in a speech delivered in the House of Lords on the 25th of January, 1847, gave an estimate, as accurate as the best calculation could make it, of the loss in money value that had been occasioned by the failure of the crops in Ireland. Taking a valuation of £10 per acre for potatoes, and £3 10s. for oats, the deficiency on the potato crop alone amounted to £11,350,000, while on the crop of oats it amounted to £4,660,000, or to a total value of £16,010,000 for the whole of a country which, if it could not be said to be the poorest, was certainly not one of the richest in the world. In weight the loss was 9,000,000 or 10,000,000 tons of potatoes. The whole loss had been equivalent to the absolute destruction of 1,500,000 arable acres." On the same day, Lord John Russell, then Prime Minister, gave a statement of what the Government had done during the recess for the relief of the Irish population, in pursuance of acts passed in the previous session. He stated that an immense staff of servants had been employed by the Board of Public Works-upwards of 11,000 personsgiving employment to half a million of labourers, representing 2,000,000 of souls; the expense for the month of January being estimated at from £700,000 to £800,000. It was proposed to form, in certain districts, relief committees, which should be empowered to receive subscriptions, levy rates, and take charge of donations from the Government; and that out of the fund thus raised they should establish soup kitchens, and deliver rations to the famishing inhabitants. Sir John Burgoyne, Inspector-General of Fortifications, was appointed to superintend the works. Lord John Russell referred to measures for draining and reclaiming waste land in Ireland, and to advances of money for this purpose to the proprietors, to be repaid in instalments spread over a number of years. On a subsequent day, in answer to questions from Mr. Roebuck, the noble lord gave a statement of the sums that had already been advanced. £2,000,000 had been issued on account of the Poor Employment Act of the last session. He expected that not less than £500,000 or £600,000 a month would be spent from the present time until August, and he calculated the whole expenditure would not be less than £7,000,000. There was great difference of opinion on the subject of the Government schemes, the operation of which will be noticed hereafter. A counter-scheme for the establishment of reproductive works deserves to be noticed, for the interest it excited and the attention it occupied for years afterwards-namely, the railway plan of Lord George Bentinck. Acts of Parliament, he said, had been passed for 1,582 miles of railway in Ireland, the unsoundness of the economic principles involved in it. The bill was rejected by a majority of 204, the numbers being 118 for the second reading, and 322 against it. of which only 123 miles had then been completed, Labouchere, and other members of the Government. while 2,600 miles had been completed in England. It was also opposed by Sir Robert Peel, who exposed In order to encourage the formation of Irish railways, therefore, he proposed that for every £100 expended by the companies £200 should be lent by the Government at the same interest at which they borrowed the money, Mr. Hudson, who was "chairman of 1,700 miles of railroad," pledging his credit that the Government would not lose a shilling by the transaction. By adopting this plan they could give reproductive employment to 109,000 men in different parts of the country, for earthworks, fences, drains, and water-courses connected with the lines. This would give support to 550,000 souls on useful work, tend to develop the resources of the country, and produce such improvement that the railway s Notwithstanding this decision, loans were subsequently advanced to certain Irish railways, amounting to £620,000, so that the objection of the Government was more to the extent than to the principle of Lord George Bentinck's measure. CHAPTER LXII. The Famine-Government Measures of Relief-Inadequacy of the Poor Law System-Vast Extent of the Unions-The Public Works-Abuses and Demoralisation-Enormous Expenditure of Public Money-The ONE OF THE "SCALPS," THE RESIDENCE OF THE CLARE AND CONNEMARA PEASANTRY DURING THE YEAR OF FAMINE. constructed would add £23,000,000 to the value of landed from the expenditure of £24,000,000 on railways in House. Leave was given to bring in the bill, though it was strongly objected to by Lord John Russell, Mr. Temporary Relief Act-Gratuitous Rations to Three Millions of People- As in the whole history of the world, perhaps, so great a overwhelming emergency. The newly-established poor required-work which the people felt to be useless, law system, though useful as far as it went, was quite inadequate to meet such great distress. It had been passed while the country was comparatively prosperous, and contained no provision for such a social disorganisation as this famine. By the Acts of 1 & 2 Vic., c. 56, no out-door relief whatever could be given under any circumstances. "This unyielding enactment was manifestly unsuitable amid such extended destitution. The workhouses were soon filled with the old and the sick, with widows and orphans, and with the helpless of every kind, who were of course the first to feel the pressure, and to seek for shelter. Even for these, so greatly increased was their number, the workhouse accommodation was wholly inadequate; yet, when the houses were once filled, there remained no legal provision for the destitute. In-door relief was given to the class who might have been safely relieved out of doors; while the able-bodied, who of all others required the most stringent test of destitution, received out-door relief indiscriminately, to an enormous extent, on the public works. and which they performed only under strong com- The size of the unions was also a great impediment to the working of the Poor Law. They were three times the extent of the corresponding divisions in England. In Munster and Connaught, where there was the greatest amount of destitution, and the least amount of local agency available for its relief, the unions were much larger than in the more favoured provinces of Ulster and Leinster. The union of Ballina comprised a region of upwards of half a million acres, and within its desert tracts the famine assumed its most appalling form, the workhouse being more than forty miles distant from some of the sufferers. As a measure of pre-dependants. The people everywhere flocked to the caution, the Government had secretly imported and public works; labourers, cottiers, artisans, fishermen, stored a large quantity of Indian corn, as a cheap sub- farmers, men, women, and children-all, whether destistitute for the potato, which would have served the tute or not, sought for a share of the public money. In purpose much better had the people been instructed in such a crowd, it was almost impossible to discriminate the best modes of cooking it. It was placed in com- properly. They congregated in masses on the roads, missariat depôts, along the western coast of the island, idling under the name of work, the really destitute often where the people were not likely to be supplied on unheeded and unrelieved because they had no friend to reasonable terms, through the ordinary channels of recommend them. All the ordinary employments were trade. The public works consisted principally of roads, neglected; there was no fishing, no gathering of seaon which the people were employed as a sort of supple-weed, no collecting of manure. The men who had ment to the poor-law. Half the cost was a free grant employment feared to lose it by absenting themselves from the Treasury, and the other half was charged upon for any other object; those unemployed spent their time the barony in which the works were undertaken. The in seeking to obtain it. The whole industry of the expense incurred under the "Labour Rate Act, 9 and 10 Vic., c. 107," amounted to £4,766,789. almost universally admitted, when the pressure was over, that the system of public works adopted was a great mistake; and it seems wonderful that such grievous blunders could have been made with so many able statesmen and political economists at the head of affairs and in the service of the Government. The public works undertaken consisted in the breaking up of good roads to level hills and fill hollows, and the opening of new roads in places where they were not "Transactions during the Famine in Ireland," p. 14. It was country seemed to be engaged in road-making. It became absolutely necessary to put an end to it, or the cultivation of the land would be neglected. Works undertaken on the spur of the moment, not because they were necdful, but merely to employ the people, were in many cases ill-chosen, and the execution equally defective. The labourers, desirous to protect their employment, were only anxious to give as little labour as possible, in which their overlookers or gaugers in many cases heartily agreed. The favouritism, the intimidation, the wholesale jobbing practised in many cases were shockingly demoralising. The problem was to support 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 of destitute persons, and this was |