houses with
the utmost rapidity, the standing orders being waived. On the 25th they
received the royal assent. On that day ministers communicated their
plans for the melioration of Irish suffering. So overwhelming was the
wretchedness of Ireland, that the amount of relief for January was
calculated by Lord John Russell at three-quarters of a million sterling.
Colonel Jones, who was at the head of the board of works in Ireland,
with very little advantage to his country, and no moral advantage to
himself, had, in a letter dated the 19th, stated the difficulties which
were admitted to stand in the way of employing labourers. The people
were so reduced by famine that task-work could not be imposed upon them,
and Colonel Jones was therefore of opinion that to give food was, on the
whole, cheaper than to employ such labour. Lord John Russell made very
effective use of this letter in support of the views which he presented
to the house. He stated that the money advanced for public works should
not be exacted in full, but half remitted upon the payment of each
instalment. The next proposal of the premier was for a grant of L50,000
in advance, to enable proprietors to procure seed for the land. His
lordship animadverted in very indignant terms upon the conduct of men
of mark in Ireland, who, instead of paying their rates for the relief
of the poor, invited them to make demands with which no government could
comply. He instanced the union of Castlebar, in the county of Mayo,
where there was room in the workhouse for six hundred persons, and only
one hundred and twenty were admitted, while the Marquis of Sligo and
Mr. Moore addressed a letter to the people of the district, calling upon
them to meet at Castlebar and "demand their rights." Lord John dwelt
eloquently upon the want of self-reliance and co-operation displayed in
Ireland, and affirmed the utter impossibility of government or any
human power interposing so as to prevent the continuance of many of
the painful consequences of harvest failure already experienced. His
lordship's counsels and cautions were badly received, both by the Irish
members and by the people of Ireland, and notwithstanding his liberal
measures of relief, his speech added to his unpopularity in that
country. The Irish were very unwilling to adopt the philosophy of Mr.
Disraeli, "Whether, under any circumstances, it should be the office
of a government to supply the people with food is a very interesting