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diff --git a/25170-h/25170-h.htm b/25170-h/25170-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..db9de54 --- /dev/null +++ b/25170-h/25170-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1709 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Facts for the Kind-Hearted of England!, by Jasper W. Rogers</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + h2 {text-align: center; clear: both; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 2em;} + h1 {clear: both; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em;} + h1.pg {clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0em;} + h3 {text-align: center; clear: both; font-weight: normal;} + h3.pg {text-align: center; clear: both; font-weight: bold;} + hr {width: 45%; margin: 1em auto; clear: both;} + .maj {width: 65%; margin: 2em auto;} + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 1%; font-size: small; font-style: normal; text-align: right; text-indent: 0em;} + .blockquot {margin: 1em 10%;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcapl {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} + .figcenter {margin: 1em auto; width: 237px;} + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px; margin-top: 2em;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: 0.25em; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + .trn {border: solid 1px; margin: 3em 15%; padding: .25em 1em; text-align: justify;} + img {border: none;} + .amd {font-size: .9em; text-indent: -1em; padding-left: 2em;} + .fl {font-size: large;} + .fs {font-size: small;} + .fxl {font-size: x-large;} + .fls {letter-spacing: .5em;} + .bk1 {margin: 3em auto; width: 32em; font-size: small; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em; text-align: justify; border-bottom: solid 1px; border-top: solid 1px;} + .pb1 {text-align: center; line-height: 1.5em; word-spacing: .3em;} + .pb2 {text-align: center; margin-top: 0;} + a:link {text-decoration:none;} + a:visited {text-decoration:none;} + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Facts for the Kind-Hearted of England!, by +Jasper W. Rogers</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Facts for the Kind-Hearted of England!</p> +<p> As to the Wretchedness of the Irish Peasantry, and the Means for their Regeneration</p> +<p>Author: Jasper W. Rogers</p> +<p>Release Date: April 25, 2008 [eBook #25170]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FACTS FOR THE KIND-HEARTED OF ENGLAND!***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Robert Cicconetti, Stephen Blundell,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/001.png" width="237" height="300" alt="University of London" title="" /></div> + +<p class="pb2">Presented by<br /> +<span class="fl">the Worshipful Company<br /></span> +<span class="fl">of Goldsmiths.<br /></span> +1903.</p> + +<hr class="maj" /> + +<h1 class="pb1"> +<span class="fls">FACTS</span><br /> +<span class="fs">FOR THE</span><br /> +KIND-HEARTED OF ENGLAND!<br /> +<span class="fs">AS TO</span><br /> +<span class="fxl">THE WRETCHEDNESS</span><br /> +<span class="fs">OF THE</span><br /> +<span class="fxl">IRISH PEASANTRY,</span><br /> +<span class="fs">AND</span><br /> +<span class="fl">THE MEANS FOR THEIR REGENERATION.</span></h1> + +<h2>BY JASPER W. ROGERS, C.E.</h2> + +<div class="bk1">This Edition (500 copies bound), has been presented by the Author, as a +donation;—to be sold at the Ladies Bazaar, for relief of the famine in +Ireland, and distress in Scotland.</div> + +<p class="pb1">LONDON:<br /> +JAMES RIDGWAY, PICCADILLY.<br /> +1847.</p> + +<hr class="maj" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> +<h2 class="pb1">FACTS<br /> +<span class="fs">FOR THE</span><br /> +KIND-HEARTED OF ENGLAND.</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> my twentieth year my first visit was made +to London—how long since need not be said, lest I +make discoveries. I arrived at the "Swan with +<i>two</i> necks," in Lad Lane, to the imminent peril of +my own <i>one</i>, on entering the yard of that then +famous hostelry, the gate of which barely allowed +admission to the coach itself—and first set foot +on London ground, midst the bustle of some half-dozen +coaches, either preparing for exit, or discharging +their loads of passengers and parcels.</p> + +<p>Four "insides" were turned out, and eight "outsides" +turned in—I, amongst the unfortunates of +the latter class, taking possession of the nearest point +I could to the coffee-room fire. It is to be recollected +that in those days one had but <i>four</i> chances in his +favour, against perhaps forty applicants for the interior +of the mail—and he who was driven in winter, +by necessity of time, to the top of a coach in Liverpool, +and from thence to Lad Lane, and found +himself in the coffee-room there unfrozen, might be +well contented. So felt I, then,—and doubly so +now, as I think of the dangers of flood, and road,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +and neck, which I encountered in a twenty-six +hours' journey, exposed to the "pelting of the +pitiless storm,"—for it snowed half the way.</p> + +<p>Dinner discussed, and its etceteras having been +partaken, in full consciousness of the comforts +which surrounded me, contrasted with the discomforts, +&c. from which I had escaped,—I sank into +an agreeable reverie; and during a vision,—I must +not call it a doze,—composed of port wine and walnuts—the +invigorating beams of Wallsend coal—an +occasional fancied jolt of the coach—the three +mouthfuls of dinner, by the name, I had gotten at +Oxford—and the escape of my one neck, when, goose +as I was, I presented it where two seemed to be an +essential by the sign of the habitation and the dangers +of the gate,—I was aroused by a crash, something +like the noise of the machine which accompanies +the falling of an avalanche or a castle, or some +such direful affair at "Astley's;" and starting up, +I thought,—had the coach upset? but, much to my +gratification, found myself a safe "inside." Still +came crash after crash, until I thought it high time +to see as well as hear. "What on earth is the matter?" +said I to the first waiter I met, as I descended +from the coffee-room, and got to the door of the +"tap," or room for accommodation of the lower +grade of persons frequenting the establishment. +"Oh! sir," said he, "it is two dreadful Irishmen +fighting: one has broken a table on the other's +head; the other smashed a chair." I stopped +short, and well do I recollect that the blood rushed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +to my face as I turned away; I confess, too, that +while returning to the coffee-room, when the waiter +followed and asked, should he bring tea, I "cockneyfied" +my accent as much as possible, in the +hope that he should not know I was an Irishman:—such +was my shame for my country at the +moment.</p> + +<p>Many minutes, however, had not elapsed until I +felt shame another way—namely, that I should for +a moment deny the land which gave me birth;—and +I at once determined to ascertain the facts and +particulars of the outrage. Down I went, therefore, +again, and entering the tap-room, found that +in truth a table had been broken, and a chair too, +not to speak at all of the heads; but, on further +investigation, it appeared that the table, being weak +in constitution, sunk under the weight of one of the +belligerents, who jumped upon it to assail the other +with advantage,—and that the chair had been +smashed by coming in contact with the table; the +gentleman on the ground having thought it fair to +use a chair in his defence when his enemy took to +the larger piece of furniture:—hence the awful +crash, crash—that awoke me from my—vision.</p> + +<p>So far well—but further inquiry brought forth +further truths. It came out that one of the party +had called the other "a beggarly bogtrotter," for +which he received in reply a blow upon his nose. +Thus the row commenced; but better still, it +appeared that <i>one</i> of "the dreadful Irishmen" <i>was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +a Welshman</i>! and that it was <i>he</i> who called poor +Paddy "a bogtrotter."</p> + +<p>First then, said I to myself, the table was <i>not</i> +broken on the Irishman's head; it was smashed by +the Welshman's <i>foot</i>—and it was <i>not</i> "<i>two</i> dreadful +<i>Irishmen</i>," but <i>one</i>, who had been engaged in the +fray, and he was insulted; therefore, at the most, +<span class="smcapl">ONLY ONE HALF OF THE STORY IS TRUE</span>! <i>And in +about that proportion have I since found almost all +the stories and charges against the lower class of my +unhappy countrymen</i>—and so will others too, who +please to investigate facts.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Amongst my earliest introductions to "London +Society" was "St. Giles's." Notwithstanding the +warnings of my friends, as to the danger attendant +even on a walk through its streets, I ventured a +little farther; and who ever may have suffered +there, I have not, except from witnessing the almost +indescribable misery of its inhabitants. Throughout +my entire search into its wretchedness, I never +received even an uncivil answer but on one occasion, +and I am the more desirous to state this fact, +because, although "St. Giles" sounds to English +ears as a spot <i>contaminated</i> by the abode of Irish +only, I found many and many an Englishman +there, as wretched as my own wretched countrymen.</p> + +<p>In the instance I allude to, I had entered the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +first lobby in one of the houses of a most miserable +street, where I saw a woman "rocking" in the +manner the lower class of Irish express silent agony +of feeling. Her body moved back and forward in +that peculiar motion which told to my heart she +was in misery; and entering the room in silent +respect for her suffering, I forgot to knock or make +any noise to attract attention. In a moment a +figure darted from the side of a bed behind the +door, and having caught up something as it passed +between me and the entrance, he, for I then saw +my assailant was a man, brandished the "miserable +remains" of a kitchen poker before my face, +and demanded, "<i>What did I want, and how da-ar +I come there to throuble thim with my curosity?</i>" +And what right had I to pry into their miseries, +unless to relieve them? I confess my object in +visiting St. Giles's then, had not arisen from so +pure a motive, and I felt the justice of his demand—The +miseries of the heart are sacred amongst the +rich: why should they not be equally so amongst +the poor? Nature has made original feeling +alike in all; but the poor feel more deeply; for +the rich suffer in heart midst countless luxuries and +efforts from others to wean them from their sufferings, +while the poor suffer midst numberless privations, +and almost utter loneliness. Why then should +I have "<i>throubled thim with my curosity</i>?"</p> + +<p>But I made my peace, with little effort too; and +then, for the first time, saw a dead body lying on +the bed from whence the man had come, "waking,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +in the Irish fashion of the lower orders. It was a +child of about seven years old. Its last resting place on +earth was dressed with flowers, and the mother's +hand had evidently done the most within its feeble +power to give honour to the dead. Rising, she +with her apron rubbed the chair she had been +sitting on, and placed it for me; thus offering, +in her simple way, the double respect of tendering +<i>her own</i> seat, and seeking to make it more fit for +my reception by dusting it.</p> + +<p>I need not repeat all the tale of misery, the cause +of their suffering then, was apparent. "She was +their last Colleen—th' uther craturs wur at home +with the Granny," and "<i>he</i> had cum to thry his +forthin in Inglind; <i>an' bad forthin it was</i>. But +the Lord's will be done, fur the little darlint was +happy, any how—an' sure they had more av thim +at home—an' why should she be mopin' an' +cryin' her eyes out for her Colleen, that was gone +to God!"</p> + +<p>Thus the poor creature reasoned as she cried and +blamed herself for crying; for miserable as she +was, she evidently felt that she should be thankful +for the other blessings that were left her. Do we +all feel thus? Yet, at the moment that she did so, +I believe there was not a morsel of food within +reach of her means, and that her last penny had +been spent to deck with flowers the death-bed of +her child.</p> + +<p>It is needless for me to describe the general +miseries of "St. Giles,"—now no more. Its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +wretched habitations have yielded their place to +palaces; its dreaded locality lives but in recollection; +and its inhabitants have gone forth—Whither? +<i>Perhaps to greater wretchedness.</i> Aye, +almost surely! The misery of St. Giles's has +ceased, mayhap to make misery double elsewhere; +but, thank God! there no longer exists in London +a special spot upon which the ban is placed of +<i>Irish residence being tantamount to crime</i>.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Years and years have since gone by, and many +a time the story of "the <i>two</i> dreadful Irishmen" has +risen to my mind, as I have read paragraph after +paragraph in the English papers, telling of some +direful thing which had occurred and was wrapped +in mystery, but concluding after the following +fashion:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Highway Robbery</span>—(<i>Particulars</i>). There is no clue +whatever to discover the parties who committed this atrocious +act—but <i>two Irish labourers who live in the neighbourhood are, +it is supposed, the delinquents</i>!"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Burglary at</span> —— (<i>Particulars</i>). The parties who +committed this robbery acted in the most daring manner. <i>The +country is now filled with Irish harvest labourers!</i>"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Footpad</span>.—A daring attempt was made by a most +desperate-looking man to rob a farmer some days since—(<i>further +particulars</i>) after a great struggle he got off. <i>He is +supposed to be an Irishman!</i>"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Marlborough-street</span>.—There is a class of persons now +known, called 'Mouchers,' who go about in gangs, plundering +the licensed victuallers, eating-house and coffee-shop +keepers, to an extent that would be deemed impossible, did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +not the records of police courts afford sufficient evidence of the +fact. <i>The Mouchers are mostly of the lower order of Irish.</i>"—<i>London +Morning Paper, 12th April, 1847.</i></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Horrible Murder</span>—(<i>Particulars</i>). Every possible search +has been made for the murderers, but unfortunately without +effect. However, <i>it is positively known that four Irish +harvesters passed through the village the day before, and there +cannot be a doubt the dreadful deed was committed by them</i>!"</p></div> + +<p>Such are the kind of announcements seen frequently, +particularly in provincial papers. In the +latter case, the facts impressed themselves strongly +upon my mind. A horrible murder had been committed, +as well as I recollect, in Lancashire. The +widow of a farmer, much beloved in the neighbourhood, +and known to possess considerable property, +was barbarously murdered in her bed at night, and +her presses and strong box thoroughly rifled; +nothing, however, having been taken but money, +of which it was known she had received a considerable +sum a few days previously. Much sensation +was created by the fearful occurrence; and it +was fully believed that "the four Irishmen" had +committed the murder—why? <i>because they had +been seen in the neighbourhood!</i> verifying most fully +the adage, that "one man may steal a horse without +being suspected, while another dare not look over the +hedge." So it eventually turned out. A month +elapsed; the four Irishmen could never be traced; +but luckily the real murderer was. A labouring +man offered a £20. note to be changed in a town +some miles distant from the scene of the murder,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +and suspicion having arisen as to how he obtained +it, he was taken up: eventually turning out to be +the confidential farm servant of the unfortunate +woman, still continuing to live unsuspected where +the murder had been actually committed by himself; +and he was subsequently executed.</p> + +<p>But did this clear "<i>the four Irishmen</i>" from the +imputation, or retrieve the character of their class? +Not an iota. The journalist who accused them +was not the fool to proclaim his own injustice; +and perhaps, even if he did, the refutation would +never have met the same eye that read the condemnation. +No; "the four Irishmen" continued as +thoroughly guilty in the public mind as if twelve +jurors on their oaths had declared them so. The +editorial pen had signed the death warrant of +<i>character</i>, if not of life, as it has done in many and +many instances with just as much foundation.</p> + +<p>Poor, unhappy "Paddy" the labourer has had +years and years of outcry to bear up against and +suffer under, a thousand times more trying to him +than that now raised against "Paddy" the Lord. +The poor and lowly struggle single-handed and +alone; the rich and high face the enemies of their +order shoulder to shoulder, and as one. Poor fellow, +he is like the cat in the kitchen: every head broken +is as unquestionably laid to his charge, as every +jug to pussy's. And he has another direful mark +which stamps him at once; namely, that "profanation +to ears polite," <i>his brogue</i>! He possibly may +not look ill to the eye—perhaps the reverse; his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +countenance may be honest and open, and his +bearing manly, as he approaches an employer to +seek for work; up to that point all goes well, +perhaps; but once his mouth opens, the tale is told; +instantly <i>Prejudice</i> does her office, unknowingly +almost, and unless actual need exist, Paddy may +apply elsewhere, again and again to meet the same +rebuff. Lancashire, Somersetshire, Yorkshire, may +revel in their patois without raising a doubtful feeling +or a smile, but the brogue of Ireland does the work +at once, and the unhappy being from whom it issues +slinks back into himself degraded, as he hears +the certain laugh which answers his fewest words, +and the almost certain refusal to admit him within +the pale of his class in England. Hence St. Giles's +as it was—the purlieu of Westminster, as it is—the +Irish labourer's refuge in England, is often the +lowest point, because he cannot be driven lower.</p> + +<p>And all this arises, not from ill will, but from +long felt prejudice, and the repetition of stories and +anecdotes and caricature of Irish character, which +trifling circumstances have given rise to and upheld; +and which, I grieve to say, is greatly due to the +domiciled Irishmen in England, of the middle and +better class. They sometimes forget their country, +and in place of explaining away fallacies and +making known facts which would have roused +England long since to our aid, had they been fairly +understood, <i>fear</i> to tell truths which they deem to +be unpalatable, while perhaps their own palates +are being feasted on the good things of the party<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +who declaims against their country: thus permitting +the continued existence of prejudice and +consequent estrangement.</p> + +<p>It is in no small degree amusing to observe the +<i>attempt</i> made, in addition, to disguise the fact that +the delinquent I speak of (I had almost written +renegade) is an Irishman. No wonder that he +should attempt the disguise, for he must deeply feel +his delinquency. In all cases such as this, the +Cockney twang and occasional curtailment is assumed +to overcome the <i>brogue</i>, but in vain. For +the first half dozen words of each <i>paragraph</i> in a +conversation it gets on well enough, but the conclusion +is sometimes exquisitely ridiculous.</p> + +<p>I had the <i>honour</i> to meet at dinner recently, a +person of this class, and a conversation having +arisen on the subject, he said, "I aam pe-fectly +ce-tain no one caaen know that I aam an I-ishman;" +and the next instant, turning to a servant, he added, +"Po-ta, if you <i>plaze</i>." When this thoroughly low-bred +Irishism came out I could not help smiling, +and caught at the same moment the eye of a lady +opposite, who seemed greatly amused. In a few +minutes after, she said, evidently for the purpose of +having another trial of the Anglo-Irishman, "Pray, +may I help you to a potato?"—the killing reply was, +"Pon my hona' I neva' <i>ate</i> pittatis at all at all."</p> + +<p>This was too much for the lady, as well as for +myself; so we laughed together. The Irish <i>gentleman</i>, +however, perfectly unconscious of the cause.</p> + +<p>Having subsequently mentioned the circumstance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +to an "Irishman in London," who does not fear to +acknowledge his country, he said, "O! the feeling +descends lower still—the better class of labourers +attempt to speak so that they shall not be known." +Continuing, he said, "A <i>porter</i> in our establishment, +who is an Irishman, came to me the other +day, and speaking very confidentially, whispered, +'Sure now, Misthur ——, you woudn't guiss be me +taulk, thit I wus an Irishmin.'" "Certainly not," +said my friend, laughing, when the fellow replied, +quite happily, "Whi-thin that's right any how."</p> + +<p>Who will excuse the man in a better grade who +panders to prejudices, and not only forgets the +country of his birth, but aids, <i>by consent</i>, to let her +remain in misery? But must we not excuse the +low and helpless, who are driven by such prejudices +to keep themselves in existence by following the +example of those above them? who, thus, have +double sin to answer for; <i>their own</i>, and that which +their dastardly conduct creates. Still, why should +the unhappy labourer who feels that the tone of his +voice keeps bread from his mouth, not wish it +changed?</p> + +<p>"Move on," said a policeman to a poor Irishman, +who was gazing with astonishment at a shop window +in the Strand, his eyes and mouth open equally, +with intensity of admiration. But Paddy neither +heard nor moved. "Move on, Sir, I say," came +in a voice of command delivered into his very ear. +"<i>Arrah, ph-why?</i>" said the poor fellow, looking up +with wonder, and still retaining his place. "<i>You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +must move on, you Irish vagabond</i>," now roared the +policeman, "<i>and not stop the pathway</i>," accompanying +the "must" with a push of no very gentle +nature. Paddy did move, for he could not help it; +but as he turned away from the sight which was +yielding him harmless enjoyment, to the forgetfulness +of misery for the moment, and perhaps to +create in him desires for better things, and give him +greater energy to work and labour for them; he +was rudely branded, with a mark of debasement, +and I could see in the poor fellow's eye and gait, +though <i>labourer</i> he was, pride and degradation contending +for the mastery; but the latter conquered, +and he did "move on," almost admitting by the +act that he <i>was</i> "AN IRISH VAGABOND."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The position of the lower class of Irish in England +is evidently not to be envied, but what is it in +Ireland?</p> + +<p>In the paper annexed, on "<i>The Potato Truck +System of Ireland</i>," will be found the ground-work +of the misery of the peasantry. The whole recompense +for their labour is the potato. If it fail, they +starve. In summer's heat and winter's cold the +potato is their only food; water their only drink. +They hunger from labour and exertion—the potato +satisfies their craving appetite. Sickness comes, +and they thirst from fever—water quenches their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +burning desire. Nature overcomes disease, and +they long for food to re-invigorate their frame. +What get they?—the potato! The child sinks in +weakness towards its grave. What holds it betwixt +life and death?—the potato. It is the Alpha and +Omega of their existence. A blessing granted by +Providence to man, but made by man a curse to +his fellow-beings. From what causes come the +charges made, and made with truth, against the +Irish peasant, of "<i>indolence</i>" and "<i>filth in and +about their habitations</i>?"—One and all from that +dreadful system, the "<i>potato truck</i>!"</p> + +<p>Tourists tell that "<i>the cabin of the Irish peasant +must be approached through heaps of manure at +either side, making it necessary to step over pool +after pool, to reach the entrance</i>." This is no more +than fact, but the cause should be told too.</p> + +<p>From the detail of the truck-system, it will +be seen that the unfortunate peasant is paid for his +labour by land to cultivate the potatoes which +sustain his existence, and these potatoes cannot +be effectively grown without manure. His cabin +is usually situate on some road-side, his potato-garden +rarely with it, and the only spot he possesses, +upon which he can collect manure to obtain +food for himself and family throughout the +year, is the little space reserved before his door. +He has nothing else, it may be said, in the world, +but that manure. It is that which is to yield sustenance +to his family, and if he have it not, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +starve. If put outside the precincts of his holding +it is lost to him, and that which he collects scrap +after scrap from the road side, or elsewhere—that +upon which his life actually depends, is too precious +to be risked beyond his care. Why should he be +blamed then for the apparent "filth" which surrounds +it? Whether is it his fault, or that of the +system which has driven him to this degrading +necessity? Not his, surely!</p> + +<p>Then he is described as to be seen "supporting +his door-frame, and smoking his 'dhudeen,'<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> while +he should be at work." It is true; but whence +his seeming idleness? The truck system again! +He is engaged by the year to some farmer, and is +bound to do his work, for which he gets his potato +land; but the farmer is not bound, as he should be, +to give him continuous labour throughout the year. +And many a day, and half-day, and quarter-day is +cut off his year's labour, when the weather, or the +farmer's absence, or his <i>mighty</i> will and pleasure, +may make him think it fit to stop the work. +When this occurs, and it is sadly frequent, it is impossible that +the poor labourer can either seek or find a +half, or even a whole day's labour. He has no +garden, or patch of ground upon which he might +expend with profit his leisure, or his extra time; +he has nothing to occupy him; nor can he make +an occupation perhaps, for he has not the most trifling +means to obtain even lime to whitewash his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +cabin. Then, if he do smoke his "dhudeen, +leaning against his door-way," where so proper for +him to be, as with his wife and children? And is +the so-named "weed of peacefulness" sought for by +the highest in the land as a soothing enjoyment; by +those who have but to wish for and obtain every +luxury and blessing that wealth can give—is the +scanty use of the meanest portion of it, improper +or slothful in him who knows no single blessing +but his wife and family? But it cannot be fairly +deemed so. The custom is universal, and the Irish +peasant, declared by the Legislature it may be said, +to endure more privation than the peasant of any +other country in Europe, ought not to be set down +as <i>slothful</i>, because, to soothe his care, he smokes +his "dhudeen."</p> + +<p>Again, we are told by tourists of the fearful fact, +that men, women, children, a cow, a horse, a +pig, congregate together at night in one cabin; <i>one +bed for all</i>! How dreadful the truth—for it is true +to the letter. But we are not told the cause; on the +contrary, subsequent commentary ascribes the fact, +in no gentle terms, to the "slothful, filthy habits +of the people." Yet, when such realities exist, +it is not wonderful that they who so patiently bear, +should be set down as the producers of their own +misery—still they are not only not so, but they +have no power to release themselves from the +thraldom which sinks them day by day deeper in +degradation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> + +<p>Once more I return to the truck system of the +potato. If 4,000,000 of the people of Ireland have +sustained life, and barely, on that root alone—many +and many a day without even salt—how well may +it be understood that they have not means to buy +proper clothing. In fact, their only hope for this, +is on "<i>the woman</i>," as they express, whose sole +dependance has been on eggs from her few hens—knitting +stockings, in some localities, in others, +spinning. But the numerous calls for family +necessities swallow up these little means; and it +may with truth be said, that except a single +blanket, or a coarse rug, there is rarely to be found +any thing in their cabins as covering for the night. +The clothes of all are clubbed together to do the +office of the blanket and the counterpane. Then, +think of the cabins they live in. In one county +alone, Mayo, there are 31,084 composed of one +apartment only, without glass windows, and without +chimneys; and the door so frail and badly made, +that every blast finds its way through it. The +floors are <i>mud</i>, the beds straw or ferns strewed sometimes +on stones raised above the ground. The +father and mother sleep in the centre, the children +at each side, and the pig and horse, or goat, as +may be, at one end. How dreadful it is to contemplate +that such should be a fact existing in +a Christian country—and worse, that this most +fearful reality, which arises from the people's +helpless misery, should be made a charge of "filthy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +habit" in place of being urged as the ground-work +for the perfect change of a system which could allow +so crying an evil. It is a truth, that men, <i>women</i> +and children, pigs and cattle, lie in one bed!—but +what causes it? Their hopeless, helpless, poverty. +They have not a sufficiency of clothes to cover +them at night in winter; <i>and if they did not bring +in the pig and cattle to create warmth in their +cabins, they must perish of cold</i>. This is the +cause, and the only cause, and the true proof is, +no tourist will pretend to tell you it occurs in +summer.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Having now seen what the lower class of Irish +endure, it may be well to look into their natural +character, and ascertain what is the cause of that +endurance—what are their virtues, and what their +vices?</p> + +<p>That "endurance under privation, greater than +that of any country in Europe," is the true characteristic +of the peasantry, cannot be questioned, +particularly after being declared by the high authority +of the Devon Commission. That it is +innate in their character, is evident. They believe +that "whatever is, is best"—not as fatalists; +for under the most severe suffering, you will hear +them say, "Well, shure, it's a marcy 'twasn't +worse any how." "Well, I'm shure, I might +be contint, bekase it might be double as bad." +And every sentence ends—"And God is good."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +They have also a certain natural <i>spring</i> (lessening +daily) which upholds them, and they <i>try</i> to make +the best of every thing as it comes.</p> + +<p>"Jack," said I, some years since, to a handy +"hedge carpenter," in the county of Wexford, +"why did you not come last night to do the job +I wanted? It is done now, and you have lost it." +"Whi-thin, that's my misforthin any how—an +be-dad 'twas a double misforthin too, for I wus +dooin nothin else thin devartin meeself." "<i>Diverting</i> +yourself," said I, "and not minding your +business?" "Bee-dad it's too thru; but I'll +tell your hanur how it happened. I wus workin +fur the last three days fur my lan'lady, which av +coorse goes agin the rint; and whin I cum home +yisterday evenin, throth, barrin I tuck the bit +from the woman and childre, sorra a taste I could +get—so sis I, Biddy jewel, I'm mighty sick intirely, +an I cant ate any thing. Well, she coxed +me—but I didn't. So afther sittin a while, I +bethought me that there wus to be a piper at the +Crass-roads, an I was thin gettin morthul hungery; +so sis I t'meeself <i>I'll go dance the hunger +off</i>—and so I did:—an that wus the way I +wus divartin meeself." Now, I have no doubt, +that many an Irishman has <i>danced</i> the thought of +hunger away as well as Jack. But the following +incident will prove that the innate feeling of the +people is to make the best of their miseries.</p> + +<p>It was, I think, in the winter of 1840, a fortnight +of most severe weather set in at Dublin. I had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +suffered in London from "Murphy's coldest day" +in 1838, and thought it was in reality the coldest +I had ever felt; but 1840 would have won the +prize if left to his Majesty of Russia to decide the +question. In addition to a black frost, there came +with it a biting, piercing, easterly wind, which +seemed to freeze and wither every thing it came +upon. Pending this infliction (for I confess I +suffered under sciatica as well as the easterly wind), +I left home rather early one morning, muffled in +two coats, a cloak, muffler, "bosom friend," worsted +wrists, and woolsey gloves; and yet as I closed the +door, I half repented that I had faced the blast.</p> + +<p>Not twenty yards from my dwelling, I overtook +a little creature, a boy of about eight or nine years +old, dressed in—of all the cold things in the world—a +<i>hard</i> corduroy habiliment, intended to have +fitted closely to him; but his wretched, frozen-up +form, seemed to have retreated from the dress, and +sunk within itself. I believe he had not another +stitch upon him. His little hands were buried into +his pockets, almost up to the elbows, seeking +some warmth from his body; and he crept on +before me, one of the most miserable pictures of +wretchedness my eye ever rested on.</p> + +<p>As I contemplated him, I could not but contrast +my own blessings with his misery. I had +doubted whether I should leave the comforts of my +home, although invigorated by wholesome, perhaps +luxurious food, and I was clothed to <i>excess</i>; while the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +being before me, likely had not tasted food that +day, and was <i>barely covered</i>. Such were my +thoughts; and I had just said to myself, we know +not, or at least, appreciate not, a tithe of the +blessings we possess, when that little creature read +me a lesson I shall recollect for my life. He +shewed me that <i>he</i> could bear up against his ills, +and make light of them too.</p> + +<p>At the moment I speak of, I saw one hand slowly +drawn from his pocket, and in effort to relieve +it from its torpor, he twisted and turned it +until it seemed to have life again. Next came forth +the other hand, and it underwent the same operation, +until both appeared to possess some power. +Then he shrugged up one shoulder and the other, +seeking to bring life there also; and at length +flinging his arms two or three times round, he gave +a jump off the ground, and exclaimed in an accent +half pain, half joy, "<i>Hurrah! for the could mornins!</i>"—and +away he went scampering up the street +before me, keeping up the life within him by that +innate natural power of endurance I have described, +evidently with a determination to make the best +of his suffering, and not sink under misfortune. +What a noble trait of character—but how little +appreciated!</p> + +<p>With such a ground-work to act upon, what +might not these people be made? and that they +have intellect of almost a superior order, cannot be +questioned. Their ready replies alone prove it; and +their usual success any where but in their own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +country, tells it truly. Some years ago I stood +talking to an English gentleman on particular business +at a ferry slip in Dublin, waiting for the boat. +A boy, also waiting for it, several times came up +to shew some books he had for sale, and really +annoyed my friend by importunity, who suddenly +turned round and exclaimed, "Get away, you +scamp, or I shall give you a kick that will send +you across the river." In an instant the reply +came—"<i>Whi-thin thank yur hanur fur thit same—fur +'twill just save me a ha-pinny.</i>" They are quick +to a degree—and have great activity and capability +for labour and effort, <i>if but fed</i>, which may be seen +by every Englishman who looks and thinks. The +coal-whippers of the Thames, the hod-men, or mason's +labourers of London, the paver's labourers, +and such like, almost all are Irishmen. But they +must be fed, or they cannot labour as they do +here. Treat them kindly, confide in them, and be +it for good or evil; I mean to reward or punish, +<i>never break a promise</i>, and you may do as you +please with them. My own experience is extensive; +but one who is now no more, my nearest +relative, had forty years of trial, and he accomplished +by Irish hands alone, in the midst of the +outbreak of '97 and '98, as Inspector-General of the +Light-houses of Ireland, the building of a work, +which perhaps more than rivals the far-famed +Eddystone,—namely, the South Rock Light-house +three miles from the land, on the north-east coast +of Ireland,—every stone of which was laid by Irish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +workmen. And to the honour of the people be it +spoken, when the rebellion broke out it was known +that a large stock of blasting powder and lead lay +at the works on the shore; yet not a single ounce +of one or the other was taken. It was known, +too, that their employer was then engaged in the +command of a yeomanry brigade, formed for the +defence of the east side of Dublin; still his <i>lead</i> and +<i>powder</i> lay safely in the north of Ireland. But more +extraordinary still, after the battle of Ballinahinch, +where the rebels were routed, his yacht was taken +by a party of them to make their escape to England; +and lest any ill should befall it, when they +arrived at Whitehaven they drew lots for three to +deliver it up to the collector of the port, and state +to whom it belonged. They were immediately +arrested, as indeed they must have expected, and +with great difficulty were their lives afterwards +saved.</p> + +<p>I could relate several similar instances which occurred +to others; but I shall only state one more, as +occurring to a defenceless woman. My maternal +grandmother occupied at the time of that rebellion +the castle of Dungulph, in the county Wexford, the +family residence. It was an old stronghold regularly +fortified and surrounded by a moat, with a drawbridge; +and when she left it to take refuge in the fort +of Duncannon, with the other gentry of the county, +it was immediately taken possession of by a force of +rebels from the county Kilkenny, as a most valuable +place of defence, &c. They remained in possession<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +for about a fortnight, and during that time +killed twenty of the sheep found in the demesne. +At the expiration of the period, the rebels of the +neighbourhood, who had been in the interim engaged +at the battle of Ross, returned, forced the +others to leave the castle, and when my relative +came back to her residence, she found that twenty +sheep had been brought from another part of the +country, and placed with her own in the demesne; +which on being traced by their marks, were discovered +to belong to a county Kilkenny grazier, +the county from whence the rebel party had come; +thus the sheep were brought from the same place +the rebels had come from,—it was supposed, as an +act of retaliation. I should add, too, that while +these occurrences took place, the heir to the property +was engaged in the defence of Ross, where +many of his own tenantry were slain or wounded, as +rebels, by the military under his command.</p> + +<p>Naturally the mind of the Irish peasant is +good, honourable, and grateful—but it has been +deteriorated by miseries and neglect; and is being +so, more and more daily <i>at home</i>; while, when they +go abroad they seem to inherit all their original +good qualities.</p> + +<p>It is a fact too, known to all who know them, +that when they settle in England as labourers, +they almost invariably share their earnings with +their relations at home. The remittances from +London alone to Ireland amount to many thousands +yearly. There is no possible means of ascertaining<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +the sum; but I know numerous instances +myself, and it may be judged of from the facts +which appear in the following statements, recently +published in the <i>Times</i> and <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, +shewing the amount which comes yearly from +America.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"A curious fact is presented in a letter from a correspondent at +New York, showing that it is not to England alone that the +Irish proprietors are largely indebted for the support of their +poor. It has generally been understood that the Irish emigrants +to the United States have always remitted very fully of their +hard earnings to their relatives at home, but most persons will +be surprised to hear the extent of this liberality. 'A few days +since,' says our correspondent, 'I called upon the different +houses in New York who are in the daily practice of giving small +drafts on Ireland, from five dollars upwards, and requested from +them an accurate statement of the amount they had thus remitted +for Irish labourers, male and female, within the last sixty days, +and also for the entire year 1846. Here is the result—"Total +amount received in New York from Irish labourers, male and +female, during the months of November and December, 1846, +175,000 dollars, or 35,000<i>l.</i> sterling; ditto, for the year 1846, +808,000 dollars, or 161,600<i>l.</i> sterling."' These remittances are +understood to average 3<i>l.</i> to 4<i>l.</i> each draft, and they are sent to +all parts of Ireland, and by every packet. 'From year to year,' +our correspondent adds, 'they go on increasing with the increase +of emigration, and they prove most conclusively that when Irishmen +are afforded the opportunity of making and saving money, +they are industrious and thrifty. I wish these facts could be +given to the world to show the rich what the poor have done for +suffering Ireland, and especially that the Irish landlords might +be made aware of what their former tenants are doing for their +present ones. I can affirm on my own responsibility that the +amount stated is not exaggerated, and also that from Boston, +Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans, similar remittances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +are made, though not to the same amount.' With regard to the +feeling in America upon the calamity under which the Irish +people are at present suffering, the same writer observes: 'Collections +are being made for their relief, but the distress is so +general that our benevolent men have been almost afraid to +attempt anything; they think the British Government and Irish +landowners alone competent to the task.'"—<i>Times, 3rd of +Feb. 1847.</i></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">American Sympathy.</span>—We do not think we can better express +the sympathy which is now so universally felt in the United +States, for the sufferings of the people of this country, than by +stating that <i>immediately after the news brought by the Cambria +had been promulgated, 1,500 passages were paid for by residents +in New York, into the house of George Sherlock and Company, +for the transmission of their friends in Ireland to the land of +plenty</i>. Through the same house, by the last packet, there have +arrived remittances to the amount of 1,300<i>l.</i>, in sums varying +from 2<i>l.</i> to 10<i>l.</i>"—<i>Dublin Evening Post.</i>—<i>Morning Chronicle, +5th of April, 1847.</i></p></div> + +<p>As to the vices<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> of the Irish peasant, a few years +since they might have been set down as three—whiskey +drinking, cupidity, and combination. The +first exists no longer, and if we seek for proof of good +intention and desires in the people, this gives it +forcibly. Having food of but one kind, and that +possessing no stimulating power, nor capability of +imparting grateful warmth, such as the "brose" of +the Scotch, or the soup of the continental peasant; +and the climate being cold and humid to excess, they +<i>naturally</i>, it may be said, used the only stimulant +they could obtain. And if we think how anxiously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +<i>we</i> seek such, under the influence of wet and cold, +(we, who have all comforts and all varieties and +luxuries of food)—can it be wondered that the Irish +peasant, who working for the day in a winter's +mist, his clothes saturated through, and none to +change when he returned to his wretched cabin, +should have been tempted to take this stimulating +poison? But, by the gentle guidance of one good +and great man, they have been led from the evil, +receiving no substitute for what they relinquished; +getting nothing in return, they gave up their only +luxury at his bidding. What may not be done with +such a people?</p> + +<p>But the peasant has two vices which still continue—cupidity +and desire for combination. Strange +that amongst all the evils laid to his charge the +first has been passed over. It exists to a great +extent, and in place of being reckless as to money, +he too eagerly grasps at it when the opportunity +offers; hence the combinations which have at different +times occurred in the accomplishment of +public and also private works. He mars his object +by his ignorance. This has arisen principally from +the unfortunate frequency of public undertakings, +caused by famines or distress. In any such case he +took it, to use his own expression, as a "good luck," +and sought by any means to make the most of it +while it lasted. Then, in private works, when +he imagined a necessity existed for their accomplishment, +he sought to make the most by demanding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +higher wages, and forcing the well-inclined to +join in the demand. It is a fact that he suffers +under <i>natural cupidity</i>, and its evils have been +increased by the circumstances named, the effects +of which will require care to overcome, if his +regeneration be attempted; and, perhaps, under +all circumstances, it cannot be wondered at. The +opportunity to obtain money for his labour so +rarely occurred, that when it did he could not +resist the temptation of getting as much as possible +to provide against the day which he knew would +soon come again, when he would be left to the +potato alone; and on this point he will require to be +led and taught as in other things. But the Irish +peasant is, in fact, now in that position which it +is fearful to contemplate. From the nature of +his food alone he has been long retrograding in physical +capability, and, of course, energy of mind. It +is impossible that beings living entirely upon one +description of food, no matter what it be, can exist +in strength and healthfulness. But if the food be +of that nature which, used as the potato is, tends to +produce evil from the <i>quantity</i> necessary to be consumed, +in order to give to the body bare nourishment +to uphold existence, it must be evident that +the very <i>quantity</i> alone will produce listlessness and +want of energy, while the system itself receives +scarcely enough to uphold its vital powers.</p> + +<p>My own memory (and I am not so old as to count +half centuries) shows an evident change in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +general physical appearance and capacity of the +peasant labourer. He is not the same, even within +twenty years; and to those who recollect fifty, the +alteration must be painfully great.</p> + +<p>A little thought will shew it could not be otherwise. +The potato, eaten in the way it is, simply +boiled, and as I have again and again pointed out, +<i>without aught else with it but salt!</i> and not even that +sometimes, contains but little more than <i>two pounds +weight</i> of that description of nutriment (gluten, or +animal matter) which is essential to uphold strength, +in fact to re-create bone and muscle in the system, +for every <i>hundred pounds weight</i>, the unfortunate +being condemned to live upon it solely, is obliged +to gorge himself with, in order to sustain his animal +powers.</p> + +<p>The average quantity of potatoes an adult peasant +labourer consumes in the day is about ten pounds—his +meal being usually a quarter of a stone each at +breakfast, dinner, and supper; thus he receives +into his system every twenty-four hours, about 3 +ounces of that which is essential to give him power +to perform his functions of labour. In other +words, he eats in that time but 3 ounces of the representative +of <i>meat</i>. What would the railroad +"Navvy" of England say—what the farm labourer—if +either was doled out 3 ounces of beef or +mutton per day to work upon? and if he seemed +<i>listless</i> and unenergetic, was then taunted with the +name of "<i>indolent, reckless, good-for-naught</i>."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +Still, my unhappy countrymen have received this +quantum of food, with submission for ages; and +with it received those degrading appellations, as a +fitting reward for their "<i>endurance</i>."</p> + +<p>Now, medical research has fully established that +the quantum of animal matter, be it obtained from +vegetable or else, actually necessary to be taken +into the system merely to reproduce the bone +and muscle worn away by the general labourer +in his day's work, is 5 ounces! It cannot therefore +be doubted, that the Irish labourer, <i>in Ireland</i>, is +and has been deteriorated in physical capability, +and consequently, mental energy, by want of +proper nutrition.</p> + +<p>Such has been his position for ages; and my +firm belief is, that his sufferings would not have +been so long borne, but for the hope which has +been, from time to time, kept alive in him. Alas, +how delusively! In "Emancipation"—he was +taught to see deliverance from his miseries—mayhap, +remission of his rent. In "Repeal"—"plenty +of work and plenty of money; and the cattle +kept at home, and the pigs to be eaten by himself, +in place of by <i>the Saxon</i>."</p> + +<p>Unhappy designation, and unhappy delusion, +which have held the countries asunder, in place of +being one and the same in all things. But he has +lived upon that hope, until now, when it has +vanished from him for ever. And with his hope, +the food that kept life barely in him has gone too.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +He is bereft of all that holds existence and soul +together, and sees nought before him, even if he do +live, but ceaseless struggle and ceaseless misery. +Can such a being aid himself? No more can he, +than the invalid, weakened and powerless from +sickness. Aid must be given him by those who +have strength and knowledge, or he will sink, if +not into death, to that which will be worse,—<i>hopeless, +helpless degradation</i>.</p> + +<p>And will Ireland then be "the right arm of England?" +No; she will be the blot upon her noble +scutcheon—mayhap the "millstone" to sink her in +that ocean over which she now so proudly and +gloriously rules.</p> + +<p>It has been proved that above 4,000,000 of the +peasantry of Ireland live upon the potato, which +they receive as payment for their labour—about, or +nearly <i>one half</i> of the population of the country, and +from whom should, and now does spring its almost +entire wealth. Their hands, with God's permission +and will, produce the means to feed themselves; +to feed the remaining half of the population, and to +give to England many millions' worth yearly; +which supports the aristocracy of Ireland, and pays +the taxes to the nation. Humanity and justice, then, +are not the only claims upon us; self-interest, nay, self-preservation +demand, that they who yield us food +and comfort, should have ample food and comfort +themselves—that they who aid to clothe us should +have at least sufficient covering to protect them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +from the rigour and humidity of the climate in +which they labour—that they should have houses +fitted for the inhabitants of a civilized country, not +wigwams worse than those of the savage—that they +should be taught and led and fostered till they understand +and can practise at home the arts of proper industry—to +give not only blessings to themselves but +the nation at large. Then would Ireland be in truth +"England's right arm;" but more, she would have +her heart, which now lies open, yearning to receive +and give affection. I know my country and its +feelings well—I mean <i>its people's feelings</i>; and there +exists not elsewhere more genuine gratitude than in its +heart. Causes and circumstances already explained +have encased it in icy doubt towards England; but +now England has proved her heartfelt pity; not +alone her money, but the kind and high and noble-minded +have risked their lives to distribute food +and help and covering to the wretched beings as +they lingered between life and death. And I know +the people not, if I may not vouch, as a man +and Christian, that every mouthful given (not +through public works), every comfort yielded, +every gentle and kind and consoling word +uttered, is indelibly impressed upon their feelings, +and will live there. Seize, then, the opportunity +to amalgamate as one, Ireland with England's +people. Fear not the idle stories of the past; look +but upon the present, and think of the glorious +future which the guidance and help of England<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +may accomplish. England has laboured for, and +won her glories by her labour. Teach Ireland, and +she will win glories too—not for herself alone, but +for the general weal. Lead her kindly now, and +she will rush to your foremost ranks in the hour of +danger—not <i>pray</i> for that hour, that it may give +her chance of rescue from her misery.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Shall I conclude, and rest in hope of general +sympathy? No; although it has magnificently +proved itself.</p> + +<p>History gives some thousand facts to shew that +man is led to good by woman; deprived of her +gentle guidance towards that good, he usually sinks +to evil. Unchecked by the example of her patience, +gentleness, and faith, he often revels in thoughtless +wantonness,—while, resting under the beaming +influence of her love and sympathy, he melts and +is moulded into a form approaching her own. +Happily for Great Britain, this peaceful, blissful +influence sheds its beams over almost all men's destinies, +hence its public virtues, its private happiness; +and hence the cause of my present appeal +<i>to the Ladies of Great Britain</i>!</p> + +<p>Pardon me, fair Ladies! if I approach you on that +which may be deemed "a matter of business;" but +I am not of those who consider woman's mind unfitted +for the toils and difficulties of life and only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +made for its pleasures—far the reverse. Nor shall +I yet approach you under the sweet incense of +flattery, said to be a <i>cloud</i> which gives to you a +grateful odour—I believe it not. Nor shall I, to +tell you of the prowess of man in his deeds of arms; +nor of his glories midst the slain or dying; for, +thanks to God! the heart of an Englishwoman shudders +at the thought. Man shall not be my theme. +I come to tell you of the ills and sufferings of unhappy +<i>Women</i>!—beings like to yourselves, in gentle +and good feelings, though poor—like to yourselves +in love and affection, though wretched—Woman, +in truth, kind, affectionate, and good; blessings to +their own—Woman in all things, but in that which +is her due and right in Great Britain—<i>care and +respect for her sex and virtues</i>. Those whose cause +I plead are blessed with as pure and spotless bosoms +as your own—though one may be cased in russet +or in rags, the other enshrouded in lace—and they +die, not through the horrors of war, or of +plague, but of starvation and of cold.</p> + +<p>In my description of the cottage of the general +peasantry, you will have seen, and I doubt not recollect +the fact, that upon some 2,000,000 of your sex +in Ireland is entailed the degradation of passing the +hours of her rest with the family, all in one resting-place, +and getting warmth by being forced "to +herd with the beast of the field." Think of this +indignity and say shall it longer exist?</p> + +<p>To you is due the final accomplishment of one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +the noblest acts of England—the abolition of West +Indian slavery. The battle was commenced by man, +and fought manfully; but without your aid he +could not have conquered as he did. Your generous +voices cheered him on, and he became invincible. +And so will it ever be in Great Britain. O! +give but the same aid now, and you will accomplish +at least an equal good.</p> + +<p>If of the aristocracy, tell to those whose halls you +adorn, that the peasant <i>woman</i> of Ireland can only +obtain warmth enough to save her from perishing, +and give her sleep, by herding with her pig! Say, +<i>Woman sleeps thus!</i> and ask, <i>should it be?</i> Mayhap +when Woman in her loveliness and power thus +pleads for Woman in her misery and poverty, the +chord may be struck which will proclaim the <i>sin</i>, +and produce its abolishment.</p> + +<p>If the mansion of the wealthy be guided or +blessed by thy residence, proclaim the fearful fact, +and whispering ask, "For what does God give +wealth?" The answer may not come at first, or +for a time; but whisper again—and 'tis said that +angels' whispers fill the air with charity and love. +So, perhaps, will thine—and wealth may at thy +bidding aid to rescue Woman from such degradation.</p> + +<p>If the middle class (from which England's greatness +springs), claims thee as its own, tell to all +around the truth which tells of Britain's shame—<i>that +the Irishwoman is forced to herd with cattle</i>!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +Plead, and say—Am I not a woman, and is she +not my sister? And by degrees thy pleadings will +strike man's heart, for the thought will come upon +him—"Oh! that one I love should fall to such a +lot," and his voice will join thine in truthfulness +and charity, to win others to the task of rooting +out the evil.</p> + +<p>If thou art poor, I need not plead. The poor +feel for the poor, and spare even somewhat from +their poverty. Their hearts can tell the pangs of +poverty, and pity fills them with love and charity +and regret that poverty makes them powerless. +But still thou hast a <i>voice</i>. Raise it, and cry +shame on those who may, yet will not save the +nation from the stain of this deep indignity to +<i>woman</i>!</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>And how, you may ask, is this to be done? Most +simply. Ireland possesses wealth in soil—in fuel—in +minerals—in fisheries—in water-power—in short, in +all things fitted to be developed by the great and wonderful +business capability, knowledge, and capital of +England; but the latter has feared without just +reason—has been acted upon by groundless prejudices +and dreads, so as to prevent that business +intercourse and mercantile enterprise, for which +Ireland offers such beneficial opening; and she has +been left to herself, to anarchy, misrule, and neglect,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +until she has sunk into pauperism. In a +word, let England but embark a just portion of +her enterprise and capital, and talent in Ireland, +in place of <i>seeking</i> for opportunity to do so abroad. +In doing this, she will employ the people in useful +occupations highly profitable, and in proportion as +such be done will Ireland's poverty vanish, and +Great Britain's wealth increase. <i>Ask for this;—and +that the peasant labourer shall be paid in money, +not potatoes. And if you ask from your heart, you +will succeed.</i></p> + +<p>Then, fair pleaders for my countrywomen!—then +your labours may cease—for even those who possess +<i>your</i> affections do not, nor cannot, value them +more highly; nor those who hold you in their +hearts do not love more truly, than the peasant +of Ireland. Your labours may cease—for it will +then be his labour of love to guard and protect +his own from insult and indignity. And as you +rest after your glorious victory, your pillow +mayhap will not even crease by the pressure of the +fair cheek upon it, so light and so sweet will be +the sleep to follow so kind and good a work.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Short tobacco-pipe.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> See Comparative Statement of the Crimes of England and +Ireland, in "<i>The Appeal for the Irish Peasantry</i>."</p></div> +</div> + +<div class="trn"><p><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Dialect spellings have been retained. +Punctuation has been standardised. +The following significant amendments have been made to the original text:</p> + +<p class="amd">Page <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, added 'that' to 'When this occurs ... it is impossible <i>that</i> +the poor labourer can ...'</p> + +<p class="amd">Page <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, removed additional 'you' from 'And if you ask from your +heart, you <i>you</i> will succeed.'</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FACTS FOR THE KIND-HEARTED OF ENGLAND!***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 25170-h.txt or 25170-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/1/7/25170">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/1/7/25170</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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