Place--Smith O'Brien waits on Lord George--The Government stake
their existence on postponing the second reading of Lord Bentinck's
Bill--Why? No good reason--Desertion of the Irish Members--Sir John
Gray on the question--The Prime Minister's speech--The Chancellor of
the Exchequer's speech a mockery--Loans to Ireland (falsely)
asserted not to have been repaid--Mr. Hudson's speech--The
Chancellor going on no authority--Mr. Hudson's Railway
Statistics--The Chancellor of the Exchequer hard on Irish
Landlords--His way of giving relief--Sir Robert Peel on the Railway
Bill--The Railway Bill a doomed measure--Peel's eulogium on industry
in general, and on Mr. Bianconi in particular--Lord G. Bentinck's
reply--His arguments skipped by his opponents--Money spent on making
Railways--The Irish vote on the Bill--Names, 335

CHAPTER XII.

State of the Country during the Winter of 1847--State of
Clare--Capt. Wynne's Letter--Patience of the suffering people--Ennis
without food--The North--Belfast--great distress in it--Letter to
the _Northern Whig_--Cork--rush of country people to
it--Soup--Society of Friends--The sliding coffin--Deaths in the
streets--One hundred bodies buried together!--More than one death
every hour in the Workhouse--Limerick--Experience of a Priest of St.
John's--Dublin--Dysentery more fatal than
cholera--Meetings--"General Central Relief Committee for all
Ireland"--Committee of the Society of Friends--The British
Association for the Relief of Extreme Distress in Ireland and
Scotland--The Government--Famine not a money question--so the
Government pretended--Activity of other countries in procuring
food--Attack on Divine Providence--Wm. Bennett's opinion.--Money