CHAPTER XVI.

THE FAMINE.


It had often been predicted by writers on the state of Ireland, that,
owing to the rottenness at the foundation of the social fabric, it
would come down with a crash some day. The facts reported by the
census commissioners of 1841 showed that this consummation could not
be far off. Out of a population of 8,000,000, there were 3,700,000
above the age of five years who could neither read nor write; while
nearly three millions and a half lived in mud cabins, badly thatched
with straw, having each but one room, and often without either a
window or a chimney. These figures indicate a mass of ignorance
and poverty, which could not be contemplated without alarm, and the
subject was, therefore, constantly pressed upon the attention of
parliament. As usual in cases of difficulty, the Government, feeling
that something should be done, and not knowing what to do, appointed
in 1845 a commission to enquire into the relations between landlords
and tenants, and the condition of the working classes. At the head of
this commission was the Earl of Devon, a benevolent nobleman, whose
sympathies were on the side of the people. Captain Kennedy, the
secretary to the commissioners, published a digest of the report of
the evidence, which presented the facts in a readable form, and was
the means of diffusing a large amount of authentic information on the
state of Ireland. The commissioners travelled through the country,
held courts of enquiry, and examined witnesses of all classes. As the
result of their extensive intercourse with the farming classes, and
their own observations, they were enabled to state that in almost