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sand Souls at present labour under the most of use and away, Jung 1831, poignant and appalling Destitution, arising SiR,

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12. In such a concentration of, wretchedness arising from so many different causes, the potatoe crop has failed. Hordes of these form Jorn beings, driven by hunger from their homes, naturally crowd into the neighbouring town for refuge from impending famines in Consequence, Galway, which is the only place of moment in this immense range of country, OTO literally filled with these unhappy sufferers. bus1971

And your Memorialists will ever pray +Edmond Ffrench, D.D.R.C. Bishop. I FX. Blake, RC Vicar 197 TOY Jobu Lowther, R.CoVicar Andrew Marting R.C. Vicar. Laurence O'Donnell, R. Vicar Mark Fin RC. VIAFAI 9d3 1o usmriad aЯPeter Daly R.VM ST James Daly Warden HT O Jobu Whitley, P.1 10 13. This community hardly wanted any acssa WKirwan, D.De to Jairos Maui'r cession to the destination of its pourer inha Jobs D'Arcy, Clk Vicar bu groT bitants, the storm and flood of the 20th of Thomas Coffey, Cik Rectors amut TaoM November last bad placed them in a dismal YEH Murgay Cik Vicar T ad tedTa situation on the morning of that day, the Susan Edward Bourke, Cisicas galaisanossen, rising several feet above its usual glerasi

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tion, swept away every-thing in its neigh-ence out of it; and the cause of there bourhood, grounds being no such laws is, first, that our where are t shermen inhabited;" were the loss of tauy lives, the pauperis of laws have been made by men not chosen those who survived, and the utter destruction by the people; and the consequence of of the little furniture, provisions, wearing ap that has been the want of such laws as parel bed-clothes, boats, fishing apparatus, would prevent this state of wretchedvillages of those poor people. 23187-1000ness. In these documents, paragraph 4, 14. The general effect of these different signed by Edmund Ffreuch, a Roman causes misery is, poverty staring us in the Catholic Bishop, it is stated that fourface, in all the hideous and aggravated forms teen out of fifteen of the land-propriecan pourtray. I shall, however, limit myself as an instance to the tors, both in number and value, are distress prevailing in the Parish which I PERMANENT ABSENTEES; that is attend, comprising one-fifth of the Town it to say, fourteen of them out of fifteen self; in that district I can verify by name and live constantly out of Ireland, and draw time the occurrence of EIGHT" DEATHS within a short period by STARVATION away the fruits of the land to be spent ONLY. In that small Parish I could produce, either in this part of the kingdom or in in this Season of the year, Seven Hundred foreign countries. This is such a state heads of families idle for want of employment of things as never can exist without the pawn-brokers have got the furniture and wearing apparel of an actual majority of the Producing beggary and famine. The Parishioners; scarcely any of them wear all Duke of DEVONSHIRE, one of the great their garments—one is without a coat, another Whigs, bas, according to his own statewants a waistcoat, a third a hat, and almost ment, made in the House of Lords, all are without shoes. The beggars daily increase, and I have got four times as many as I some years ago, the great tithes of had twelve months ago, or ever before; and if twenty parishes in Ireland, consequently ever which has already appeared, should he draws away all these great tithes. spread, God only knows what will be the They may come in different shapes; consequence. May we hope then, in the exer- but it is no matter whether they come cise of your benevolent ministry, that you in corn, in butter, in bacon, or in live. will interpose to avert so many impending calamities. cattle still they come Adrovės of logs, or a flock of sheep, for a bale of bacon, or a barrel of butter, none of these are sent to Devonshire-bouse but they are sold here, said the money is paid in at Devonshire House; and here they are to be eaten by the swarms of idlers assembled in this great place.. The country parts of England and Scot land are drained in like manner y but not in like degree; and here are the Poor-laws, which, though chipped away by STURGES BOURNE'S Bills and other enactments, still give the working-peo ple a cloin, and show them the way to prevent actual starvations 36 etw

I have the honor to remain, Sir,
Your very obedient Servant, vi
PATRICK FAHEY, R.C.C,

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Parish of Claddagh

and Nuns' Island, Galway. The picture speaks for itself. The causes we know to be that there are no Poor-laws, and that the food of the country is sent out of it instead of a great part of that food being retained in it. I related once before, that hogs from Ireland, to the amount of nine thousand and some odd, passed through one single turnpike-gate at Speen, near Newbury, in Berkshire, in the single month of June last. Upon inquiry, I find that just about the same is going on this year. These hogs had been landed at Bristol, where I, last year, saw about ten thousand hogs and sheep landed in three days. In short, here is, he immediate cause of the famine in Ireland. The more distant cause is, there being, nooit law in that country to compel the owners of the land to suffer the working people to have a subsist

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If there were Poor-laws in Ireland, and those duly enforced, there would not be so many absentees, and those that were absent would not draw away so much as they now drawo Instead of a thousand hogs, perhaps, sent over to be sold to pay the Duke of DAY ON SHIRE bis tithes, seven hundred only would come leaving three hundred for the relief of the poor. The way, therefore, ta pre vente famine winerIcelandhois evident

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enough butecito is then interest of the keep them alive, that they may be able* absentées that there should be no Poor still to work for the landowners and laws in Ireland this is as evidents as it tithe-owners of Ireland, without their is that a thousands hogs are worth more giving them any relief whatever in the than seven hundred and therefore there shape of poor rates. These land-ownis starvation in Ireland, and therefore it vers and tithe-owners know that we pay costs England many millions a year to poor-rates; know that we relieve our maintain an army to keep the Irish quiet. own poor; and they call upon us to réAnother thing stated in these docu-lieve theirs too, while they keep the ments ois-well worthy of attention. amount of what they ought to pay in Paragraph 1 bocontains the following poor-rates for their own private use; sentence; Pol énhance their misfor- for their own luxurious enjoyments.' "stunes then come the Subletting and | Will a reformed Parliament suffer this "DISFRANCHISEMENT Acts, state of things to continue? Nay, will "which dafford the ready facilities to the Whig Ministry, so vigilant as to "the landlord to get rid of his surplus affairs of the press, suffer one month to "misery by making room for ten pass before they propose a law to com"pound freeholders, without any sacri- pel the land-owners and tithe-owners "fice of income at once ejecting four of Ireland to relieve the working-peo"out of five of his tenants; thus ensues ple, in times of distress, out of the pros "the destitution of numberless families, duce of those lands and tithes ? In "and no wonder if it ended intcrime answer to this question, I will give my "and bloodshed."No wonder, indeed, opinion, that they will suffer a month when we have here certified eight deaths to pass; that they will suffer the ses in one single parish within a short pe- sion to pass, and that they will bring in riod, by starvation only. We remember no bill, and adopt no measure for the the disfranchisement of the forty-shilling effectual relief of Ireland. freeholders; and my readers will res In 1822, when there was also a famember how strenuously opposed that mine in Ireland, but nothing like that measure, sand, how clearly I predicted which prevails at present, there was a the consequences. Here we have those discussion upon the subject in the consequences officially stated to us, and House of Lords, in which LORD GREY the truth of them certified under the took a part, and as he is now Prime hand of the priest of the parish and Minister; as it is a Whig Ministry," the London Committee circulate the instead of a 1 statement for our information, and with a view of inducing us to subscribe our money for the purpose of affording relief to these wretched people, di

Tory Ministry, it is

worth while for us to hear what this very LORD GREY said upon that occa-" sion; and we will hear it; and here are his words, according to the published y But what isdity in fact, that we are report, spoken on the 11th of May. called upon to do? Why, to give our 1822. What a picture of a Governmoney, not to the poor people of Ire-"ment! Hundreds and thousands of land, but to the land owners and tithe "the people of Ireland dying in the owners of Ireland. The Government" streets for want of food! in the squeeze from us the whole of our earn-midst of an alleged superabundance!** ingsovexcept enough to enable us to Very true, my Lord GREY, but continue to work for it. It leaves us not a more frightful picture absolutely nothing beyond that which is necessary tovasbare existence, and for supporting those appearances which are necessary in our several istutes of life and of this little which is left us a part is demanded brdskedford to keep the working-peoples of Ireland from actual starvation Fiorinother words just to

then

than it is now; and it is you who are now at the head of that Government, and have been at the head of it for seven months or more; and nothing has eit either been done, or attempted to be done not even a consoling promise has been put forth during these five months of suffering and, indeed, of starvation; no

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and go and relieve the people; cannot means of obtaining food for our wives do that, and call for a Bill of Indemnity and families; we will be thankful, we for it; but can, if the newspapers speak will be industrious, we will be truth, pay pensioners four years before- happy. Severe as were the suffer hand Fin order to get them out of the "ings of the petitioners, their reprend country forfed won doidw 910199 "sentations of them, to the House did But it is worth while to consider what "not contain a syllable of insubordina effect this starvation in Ireland is calcu- tion, or even of discontent and for lated to have upon the working people this reason their petition was doubly of England. Since the Whig Govern- deserving the attention of Parlia ments can do nothing in a hurry afatment te wee voda nodw,deild tilt least nothing in this way; they can,So, the petition was deserving the atr indeed, when the Habeas Corpus Act is tention of the Parliament, and doubly to be suspended, or a Power-of-Impri- deserving of it, because the petitioners sonment Bill is to be passed, make the who had been compelled, to sell their benevolent thing gallop through three moveables, to give up their grain for stages in one night; but, to relieve men rent, and who had nota sufficiency even who are famishing; to relieve a starv of potatoes, did not utter a syllable of ing people; to preserve life just ready discontent So much for the notions to quit the human frame from want of a representative of the peopleldi measures of this sort require time; re- these Irish petitioners had expressed a quire deliberation; require long discus-syllable of discontent, then this repren sion; great care that nothing may be done in haste: "What a picture of a Government! If Satan were to come upon the earth, and only see Ireland at this-momentohen would return to his own abode perfectly envious; and as abdication is the fashion, and as this appears to be the rendezvous of the abdicators, he might be desirous to come and enjoy himself here road

sentative would, of course, have thought differently of their bumble petition. If they had only said that it was a little too bad to be reduced to this miserable state, that would have been expressive of discontent, and that would have made their petition not worthy of attention!

Well, wellbut, their petition Was on account of their not expressing any discontent, Adeserving and doubly de serving, the attention of Parliament. It It was doubly deserving the attention of

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