Chapter 18

Committee 16,000 l. in money. They also sent 642 packages of clothing, the precise value of which could not be ascertained. There was a very large amount of remittances sent to Ireland, during the famine, by the Irish in the United States. Unfortunately, there are no records of those remittances prior to 1848; but since that time we are enabled to ascertain a large portion of them, though not the whole, and their amount is something astonishing. The following statement of sums remitted by emigrants in America to their families in Ireland, was printed by order of Parliament:--During the years 1848, 460,180 l.; 1849, 540,619 l.; 1850, 957,087 l. 1851, 990,811 l.

The arrival of the American ships naturally excited great interest at the various ports. 'On Monday, April 13,' writes Mr. Maguire, 'a noble sight might be witnessed in Cork harbour--the sun shining its welcome on the entrance of the unarmed war-ship Jamieson, sailing in under a cloud of snowy canvas, her great hold laden with bread-stuffs for the starving people of Ireland. It was a sight that brought tears to many an eye, and prayers of gratitude to many a heart. It was one of those things which one nation remembers of another long after the day of sorrow has passed. Upon the warm and generous people to whom America literally broke bread and sent life, this act of fraternal charity, so gracefully and impressively offered, naturally produced a profound and lasting impression, the influence of which is felt at this moment.'

The clergy, Protestant and Roman Catholic, almost the only resident gentry in several of the destitute districts, worked together on the committees with commendable zeal, diligence, and unanimity. Among the Roman Catholic clergy, Father Mathew was at that time by far the most influential and popular. The masses of the peasantry regarded him as almost an inspired apostle. During the famine months, he exerted himself with wonderful energy and prudence, first, in his correspondence with different members of the Government, earnestly recommending and urging the speedy adoption of measures of relief; and next, in commending those measures to the people, dissuading the hungry from acts of violence, and preaching submission and resignation under that heavy dispensation of Providence. Of this there are ample proofs in the letters published by Mr. Maguire, M.P. 'It is not to harrow your feelings, dear Mr. Trevelyan,' he wrote, 'I tell this tale of woe. No; but to excite your sympathy in behalf of our miserable peasantry. It is rumoured that the capitalists in the corn and flour trade are endeavouring to induce the Government not to protect the people from famine, but to leave them at their mercy. I consider this a cruel and unjustifiable interference. I am so unhappy at the prospect before us, and so horror-struck by the apprehension of our destitute people falling into the ruthless hands of the corn and flour traders, that I risk becoming troublesome, rather than not lay my humble opinions before you.' Again: 'I hail with delight the humane, the admirable measures for relief announced by my Lord John Russell; they have given universal satisfaction. But of what avail will all this be, unless the wise precautions of Government will enable the toiling workman, after exhausting his vigour during a long day to earn a shilling, to purchase with that shilling a sufficiency of daily food for his generally large and helpless family?' Father Mathew earnestly pleaded for out-door relief, in preference to the workhouse, foreseeing the danger of sundering the domestic bonds, which operate so powerfully as moral restraints in Ireland. The beautiful picture which he drew of the Irish peasant's home in his native land was not too highly coloured, as applied to the great majority of the people:--'The bonds of blood and affinity, dissoluble by death alone, associate in the cabins of the Irish peasantry, not only the husband, wife, and children, but the aged parents and the married couple and their destitute relatives, even to the third and fourth degree of kindred. God forbid that political economists should dissolve these ties! should violate these beautiful charities of nature and the gospel! I have often found my heart throb with delight when I beheld three or four generations seated around the humble board and blazing hearth; and I offered a silent prayer to the great Father of all that the gloomy gates of the workhouse should never separate those whom such tender social chains so fondly link together.'

The following is a tabular view of the whole amount of voluntary contributions during the Irish famine, which deserves a permanent record for the credit of our common humanity:--

£ s. d. £ s. d. Local contributions officially reported in 1846 104,689 18 1 Local contributions officially reported in 1847 199,569 4 1 British Relief Association, total received 470,041 1 2 say five-sixths for Ireland 391,700 17 8 General Central Relief Committee, College Green 83,934 17 11 Less received from British Relief Association 20,190 0 0 _____________ 63,744 17 11 Irish Relief Association, Sackville Street 42,446 5 0 Relief Committee of the Society of Friends, London 42,905 12 0 Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends, Dublin 198,313 15 3 Less received from Committee of the Society of Friends in London, and interest 39,249 19 11 _____________ 159,063 15 4 Indian Relief Fund 13,919 15 2 National Club, London 19,928 12 2 Wesleyan Methodist Relief Fund, London 20,056 14 4 Irish Evangelical Society, London 9,264 9 9 Baptists' Relief Fund, London 6,141 11 2 Ladies' Irish Clothing Society, London 9,533 4 0 Less received from British Association, &c. 5,324 12 11 _____________ 4,208 11 1 Ladies' Relief Association for Ireland 19,584 0 9 Less received from Irish Relief Association and for sales of manufactures 7,659 6 7 _____________ 11,924 14 2 Ladies' Industrial Society for encouragement of labour among the peasantry 1,968 12 8 Less received from Irish Relief Association 1,500 0 0 _____________ 468 12 8 Belfast Ladies' Association for the relief of Irish Distress 2,617 1 6 Belfast Ladies' Industrial Association for Connaught 4,615 16 1 There were also two collections in Belfast for general purposes, the amount of which exceeded 10,000 0 0