as they are, may fail in
accomplishing, the recent act for the extra relief of able-bodied
paupers will complete--an act which, instead of being termed a Relief
Act, ought to be called an act for the ruin of the country, and the
confiscation of its property, both of which, if not repealed, it will
ultimately accomplish. We need not mention here cases of individual
neglect or injustice upon the part of landlords and agents, inasmuch as
we have partially founded our narrative upon a fact of this description.

It has been said, we know, and in many instances with truth, that the
Irish are a negligent and careless people--without that perseverance and
enterprise for which their neighbors on the other side of the channel
are so remarkable. We are not, in point of fact, about to dispute the
justice of this charge; but, if it be true of the people, it is only so
indirectly. It is true of their condition and social circumstances in
this country, rather than of any constitutional deficiency in either
energy or industry that is inherent in their character. In their own
country they have not adequate motive for action--no guarantee that
industry shall secure them independence, or that the fruits of their
labor may not pass, at the will of; their landlords, into other hands.
Many, therefore, of the general imputations that are brought against
them in these respects, ought to be transferred rather to the depressing
circumstances in which they are placed than to the people themselves.
As a proof of; this, we have only to reflect upon their industry,
enterprise, and success, when relieved from the pressure of these
circumstances in other countries--especially in America, where exertion
and industry never, or at least seldom, fail to arrive at comfort and
independence. Make, then, the position of the Irishman reasonable--such,
for instance, as it is in any other country but his own--and he can
stand the test of comparison with any man.

Not only, however, are the Irish flying from the evils that are to come,
but they feel a most affectionate anxiety to enable all those who are
bound to them by the ties of kindred and domestic affection to imitate
their example. There is not probably to be found in records of human
attachment such a beautiful history of unforgotten affection, as that
presented by the heroic devotion of Irish emigrants to those of their
kindred who remain here from inability to accompany them.*

*The following ex