The History of the Great Irish Famine of 1847 Part 30

Two American ships of war, the "Jamestown" and "Macedonian," carried cargoes of provisions to Ireland, for which no freight was charged.

The "Jamestown," a sloop of war lent by the government for the voyage, was freighted by the people of Ma.s.sachusetts with 8,000 barrels of flour. She sailed from Boston on the 28th of March, 1847, and arrived at the Cove of Cork on the 12th of April, after a most prosperous voyage.

The people of Cove immediately held a public meeting, and adopted an address to her Commander, Captain Forbes, which they presented to him on board. The citizens of Cork addressed him a few days later; and the members of the Temperance Inst.i.tute gave him a _soiree_, at which the Rev. Theobald Mathew a.s.sisted.

The "Macedonian," another ship of war, arrived later on, conveying about 550 tons of provisions, a portion of which was landed in Scotland. Both ships were manned by volunteers.

On the appearance of the potato blight scientific men earnestly applied themselves to discover its cause, in the hope that a remedy might be found for it. Various theories was the result. There was the Insect Theory; the Weather Theory; the Parasitical Theory; the Electrical Theory; the Fungus Theory; the Fog Theory. But whilst philosophers were maintaining their different views;--whilst Sir James Murray charged electricity with being the agent of destruction, and Mr. Cooper cast the blame upon the fogs; whilst Professors Lindley, Playfair, and Kane were busy with their tests, and retorts, and alembics; and whilst others again--microscope in hand--were in active pursuit of the _Aphis vastator_, or _Thrips minutissima_, a not inconsiderable cla.s.s of persons, departing widely from all such speculations, discovered, beyond all doubt, that _Popery_ was the true cause of the potato blight.

"As this predicted system" [popery], says a pamphleteer, "is an idolatrous one, any treaty with it must be opposed to G.o.d's will, and call down his wrath upon those nations who have commerce with it: more particularly upon nations wherein its hideous deformities are most signally manifested. Now, how have we seen in the first part of this work, that He has repeatedly punished? By famine and pestilence! Oh, beloved countrymen of every diversity of creed, in the heart-rending scenes around us do we witness punishment for national idolatry, systematic a.s.sa.s.sinations, performed occasionally with a refinement of cruelty worthy of incarnate devils."[306]

"This much is certain" writes a public journalist, "that our country is scourged with famine." Three causes are then given for the scourge; the second of which is, "Idolatry in the professing people of G.o.d, especially when sanctioned by the rulers of the country." After quoting examples from the Old Testament of the manner in which G.o.d punished idolatry, he proceeds: "It [idolatry] is just as true of the millions of Ireland as it was of the millions of Judah: 'They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.' And to complete the resemblance to apostate Israel, and fill the measure of our national guilt, the prevalent idolatry is countenanced and supported by our government. The Protestant members of the Houses of Lords and Commons have sworn before G.o.d and the country that Popery is idolatrous; our Queen, at her coronation, solemnly made a similar declaration,--yet, all have concurred in pa.s.sing a Bill to endow a college for training priests to defend, and practise, and perpetuate, this corrupt and d.a.m.nable worship in this realm. The ink wherewith the signification of royal a.s.sent was given to that iniquitous measure was hardly dry when _the fatal rot_ commenced its work of destruction; and as the stroke was unheeded, and there was no repentant effort to retrace the daring step of the first iniquity, but rather a disposition to multiply transgression, we are now visited with a second and a severer stroke of judgment."[307]

The Rev. Hugh M'Neill preached a "Famine" sermon in St. Jude's, Liverpool, and published it under the t.i.tle of "The Famine, a rod;" a rod that was meant to scourge England for tolerating Popery, of which he said: "That it is a sin against G.o.d's holy law to encourage the fables, deceits, false doctrines, and idolatrous worship of Romanism, no enlightened Christian--no consistent member of the church of England can deny."[308] "She [England] is fondly antic.i.p.ating, as the result of generous concession, that she shall witness Roman Cooperation in general Liberty! Alas, for the Romans! With equal reason might she expect the Ethiopian to change his skin, or the leopard his spots. With the rich and responsible inheritance of an open Bible before her, and with free access to the ill.u.s.trations of authentic history, this absurdity is England's sin, England's very great sin. There can be little doubt, that except repentance _and amendment_ avert the stroke, this will prove England's plague, England's great plague, England's very great plague."[309]

It may be urged that the Rev. Hugh M'Neill is a man of extreme views. Be it so; but his extreme views seem rather to have advanced his interests than to have offended his superiors, for he is now Dean of Ripon.

Let us hear another and a very different stamp of man.

"I don't know whether I have mentioned before," writes Charles d.i.c.kens, "that in the valley of the Simplon, hard by here, where, (at the Bridge of St. Maurice over the Rhone), this Protestant canton ends and a Catholic canton begins, you might separate two perfectly distinct and different conditions of humanity, by drawing a line with your stick in the dust on the ground. On the Protestant side, neatness; cheerfulness; industry; education; continual aspiration, at least, after better things. On the Catholic side, dirt; disease; ignorance; squalor; and misery. I have so constantly observed the like of this, since I first came abroad, that _I have a sad misgiving_, that the religion of Ireland lies as deep at the root of all her sorrows even as English misgovernment and Tory villainy."[310]

Charles d.i.c.kens is looked upon not only as the strenuous denouncer of vice, but as the happy exponent of the higher and purer feelings of human nature also. For three-fourths of his life he wrote like a man who felt he had a mission to preach toleration, philanthropy--universal benevolence. He had travelled much. He had been over Belgium and France; he was through the Rhenish Provinces; in all which places the people are Catholics; they have received the highest praise from travellers and writers for their industry; their thrift; their cleanliness; Charles d.i.c.kens saw all this, but it never occurred to him to credit their religion with it. When the contrary occurs, and when fault is to be found, Popery, like a hack-block kept for such purposes, is made responsible, and receives a blow. He had, indeed, a sad misgiving that the religion of Ireland lay deep at the root of her sorrows. Surely this is enough to try one's patience. We have pa.s.sed through and out-lived the terrible codes of Elizabeth and James and Anne and the two first Georges, under which, gallows-trees were erected on the hill side for our conversion or extinction; we have even survived the iron heels and ruthless sabres of Cromwell's sanctimonious troopers; and we can go back upon the history of those times calmly enough now. But this "sad misgiving" of Mr. d.i.c.kens; this patronizing condescension; this contemptuous pity, is more than provoking. It is probable he had not the time or inclination to read deeply into Irish history, but he must have had a general knowledge of it more than sufficient to inform him, that there were causes in superabundance to account for the poverty and degradation of our people, without going to their religion for them.

Instead of doing so, he should have confessed with shame and humiliation, that his own countrymen, for a long series of years, did everything in their power to destroy the image of G.o.d in the native Irish, by driving them like beasts of chase into the mountains, and bogs, and fastnesses, and over the Shannon. Our people suffered these things and much more for conscience sake; inflicted, as they were, by Mr. d.i.c.kens's countrymen, in the name of religion; in the name of conscience; in advancing, as they pretended, the sacred cause of the right of private judgment. _He_ makes Popery responsible for the results.

Those who held that Popery was the real cause of the potato-rot were influential, if not by their numbers, at least by their wealth; so they set about removing the fatal evil energetically. Large sums of money were collected, and a very active agency was established throughout the West of Ireland for this purpose; with, it would seem, very considerable success. But whilst those engaged in, the work, maintained, that the conversions were the result of instruction and enlightened investigation, others believed that most of the converts were like the poor woman mentioned by the late Dr. Whately, in a conversation with Mr.

Senior.

In 1852, Mr. Na.s.sau Wm. Senior was on a visit with the Archbishop, at his country house, near Stillorgan, five miles from Dublin. Mr. Senior asked him, to what cause the conversions made during the Famine were attributable. The Archbishop replied, that the causes must be numerous.

Some, he said, believed, or professed to believe, that the conversions were purchased; this of course was the Catholic view. He then related the following anecdote on the subject:

"An old woman went to one of my clergy, and said, 'I'm come to surrender to your Reverence--and I want the leg of mutton and the blanket.' 'What mutton and blanket?' said the clergyman. I have scarcely enough of either for myself and my family, and certainly none to give. Who could have put such nonsense into your head?' 'Why, Sir,' she said, 'Father Sullivan told us, that the converts got each a leg of mutton and a blanket; and as I am famished, and starving with cold, I thought that _G.o.d would forgive_ me for getting them.'"[311]

Dr. Whately was president of the "Society for protecting the Rights of Conscience," and he indignantly denied that any reward or indemnity had been held out, directly or indirectly, by that Society, to persons, to induce them to profess themselves converts; and he adds: "not only has no case been substantiated--no case has been even brought forward." This may be true of that particular Society, but to deny that neither money nor food were given, to induce persons to attend the Scripture cla.s.ses and proselytizing schools, is to deny the very best proven facts.

In the _Tralee Chronicle_ of the 19th of November, 1852, Archdeacon O'Sullivan, of Kenmare (lately deceased), published an abstract of a Report of one of those Missionary Societies which fell into his hands.

The expenditure of a single Committee was 3557 1s. 6d. The salaries of clerical and lay agents are set down at 382 0s. 11d. What became of the remainder of the money?

But here is testimony that Dr. Whately himself would scarcely impugn:

Dr. Forbes, in his "Memorandums made in Ireland" in 1852, visited Connaught, and examined many of the proselytizing schools. He speaks without any doubt at all of the children who attended those schools receiving food and clothing. It did not seem to be denied on any side.

Here is an extract: "I visited two of the Protestant Mission Schools at Clifden, one in the town, and the other about a mile and a-half beyond the town, on the road leading to the mouth of the bay. In the former, at the time of my visit, there were about 120 boys and 100 girls on the books, the average attendance being about 80. Out of the 80 girls there were no less than fifty-six orphans, _all of whom are fed and clothed out of the school funds, and a large proportion provided with lodgings also_. Only two of these girls were children of Protestant parents; and in the boy's school there was only one born of parents originally Protestant.... At the probationary girls' school there were 76 on the books, at the time of my visit, their ages varying from eight to eighteen years. They are all Catholics, or children of Catholic parents; and out of the number no fewer than 40 _were orphans_. All the children at this school receive daily rations of Indian meal; 45 of them one pound, and the remainder half that quant.i.ty. _Whether this is exclusive of the stirabout breakfast I saw preparing for them in the school_, I forgot to ask. All the children of these schools read the Scriptures and go to the Protestant Church, Catholic and Protestant alike."[312]

But I turn with pleasure from this uninviting and uncongenial subject, to one more elevating,--to the all but unlimited private charity which was called forth by the Irish Famine. I have already endeavoured to give some idea of it, but of course an imperfect one. The feelings evoked, and the almost unasked alms bestowed with a n.o.ble Christian generosity, during that awful time, can be only fully known to Almighty G.o.d; the Great Rewarder. The Merciful Rewarder has recorded them, and that is enough, at least for the givers. However, there were some amongst them who should not be pa.s.sed over in silence. Baring, Brothers & Co.; Rothschild & Co.; Smith, Payne & Smith; Overend, Gurney & Co.; Truman, Hanbury & Co.; The Duke of Devonshire; Jones, Lloyd & Co.; an English friend (in two donations); and an Irish landlord (for Skibbereen) subscribed 1000 each.

Irish landlords did not contribute very munificently to the Famine-fund; but here is 1000 from one, and for a special locality. Who was the retiring but generous donor? The following extract of a letter will answer the question; and throw light upon another remarkable offering sent every month to Skibbereen for more than a year.

"The first case of death clearly established as arising from starvation," writes Mr. M'Carthy Downing, "occurred at South Reen, five miles from the town of Skibbereen. The case having been reported to me, as a member of the Relief Committee, I procured the attendance of Dr.

Dore, and proceeded to the house where the body lay; the scene which presented itself will never be forgotten by me.

"The body was resting on a basket which had been turned up, the head on an old chair, the legs on the ground. All was wretchedness around. The wife, emaciated, was unable to move; and four children, more like spectres than living beings, were lying near the fire-place, in which apparently there had not been fire for some time. The doctor opened the stomach, and repugnant as it was to my feelings, I, at his solicitation, viewed its contents, which consisted solely of a few pieces of raw cabbage undigested.

"Having visited several other houses on the same townland, and finding the condition of the inmates therein little better than that of the wretched family whom I had just left, I summoned the Committee, and had a quant.i.ty of provisions sent there for distribution by one of the relieving officers; and then published in the Cork and Dublin papers a statement of what I had witnessed.

"Many subscriptions were sent to the Committee in consequence, and I received from an anonymous correspondent a monthly sum varying from 6 to 8, for a period of more than twelve months.

"One subscription of 1000 came from another anonymous donor, and for years the Committee knew not who those generous and really charitable parties were; but I had always a suspicion that the giver of the 1000 was Lord Dufferin. The grounds for my supposition were, that during the height of the sufferings of the people, I heard that two n.o.blemen had been in the neighbourhood, visiting some of the localities. One was Lord Dufferin, then a very young man, who alluded subsequently in feeling terms to the wretchedness and suffering which he had witnessed; the other, I heard, was Lord John Manners.

"In some years after, I met at the house of Mr. Joshua Clarke, Q.C., in Dublin, Mr. Dowse, then a rising barrister, now a Baron of the Court of Exchequer, who addressed me, saying, 'We are old acquaintances;' to which I replied that I thought he was mistaken, as I had never the pleasure of meeting him before. He said 'That is quite true, but do you remember having received monthly remittances during the severe pressure of the Famine in Skibbereen?' I answered in the affirmative; and thereupon he said, 'I was your correspondent, I remitted the moneys to you, they were the offerings of a number of the students of Trinity College.'

"I need scarcely say that the incident created in me a feeling of esteem and regard for Mr. Dowse, which has continued to the present moment.

"During the pa.s.sing of the Land Bill through the House of Commons, in the year 1870, I proposed several amendments, in consequence of which I received a letter from Lord Dufferin, asking for an interview, which subsequently took place at his house, and lasted more than three hours.

When about to leave, I said that I had a question to put to his Lordship, which I hoped he would not refuse to answer; and having received his a.s.sent, I said,--Lord Dufferin, are you the anonymous donor of a subscription of 1000 to the Relief Committee at Skibbereen twenty-three years ago? And with a smile, he simply replied 'I am.'

"I left with feelings of high admiration for the man."[313]

To conclude. Every reader, will, doubtless, form his own views upon the facts given in this volume; upon the conduct of the people; the action of the landlords; the measures of the Government; those views may be widely different; but of the bright and copious fountains of living charity, which gushed forth over the Christian world, during the Great Irish Famine, history has but one record to make,--posterity can hold but one opinion.

FOOTNOTES:

[303] The first Queen's letter produced 170,571 0s 10d.; the second only 30,167 14s. 4d.

[304] Transactions of Society of Friends during the Famine in Ireland p.

49.

[305] _Ibid._ Appendix vii, p. 334

[306] The connection between Famine and Pestilence, and the Great Apostacy. By Nagnatus, p. 49. P.D. Hardy, Dublin, 1847. Halliday Pamphlets, Vol. 1990.

[307] The Achill Missionary Herald for August, 1846, p. 88.

[308] The Famine, a rod. By the Rev. Hugh M'Neill, p. 23.

[309] The Famine, a rod, pp. 25, 26. The capitals and italics are Mr.

M'Neill's.

[310] Letter quoted in "Forster's Life of d.i.c.kens," written in the Autumn of 1846. Vol. II. p. 233.

[311] "Journals, Conversations, and Essays relating to Ireland." by Na.s.sau William Senior. Vol. II., Second Edition, p. 60.

[312] "Memorandums made in Ireland in the Autumn of 1852." By John Forbes, M.D., F.R.S., Hon. D.C.L. Oxon., Physician to Her Majesty's Household. Vol. I. pp. 246 and 247. Dr. Forbes was afterwards knighted.

[313] Letter of M'Carthy Downing, Esq., M.P., to the Author, dated Prospect House, Co. Cork, August 31st, 1874.

(NOTE A.)--ABSENTEEISM: MR. M'CULLOGH's DEFENCE OF IT EXAMINED.