Committee 16,000 l. in money. They also sent 642 packages of clothing,
the precise value of which could not be ascertained. There was a very
large amount of remittances sent to Ireland, during the famine, by
the Irish in the United States. Unfortunately, there are no records of
those remittances prior to 1848; but since that time we are enabled
to ascertain a large portion of them, though not the whole, and their
amount is something astonishing. The following statement of sums
remitted by emigrants in America to their families in Ireland, was
printed by order of Parliament:--During the years 1848, 460,180 l.;
1849, 540,619 l.; 1850, 957,087 l. 1851, 990,811 l.

The arrival of the American ships naturally excited great interest at
the various ports. 'On Monday, April 13,' writes Mr. Maguire, 'a noble
sight might be witnessed in Cork harbour--the sun shining its welcome
on the entrance of the unarmed war-ship Jamieson, sailing in under a
cloud of snowy canvas, her great hold laden with bread-stuffs for the
starving people of Ireland. It was a sight that brought tears to many
an eye, and prayers of gratitude to many a heart. It was one of those
things which one nation remembers of another long after the day of
sorrow has passed. Upon the warm and generous people to whom America
literally broke bread and sent life, this act of fraternal charity, so
gracefully and impressively offered, naturally produced a profound and
lasting impression, the influence of which is felt at this moment.'

The clergy, Protestant and Roman Catholic, almost the only resident
gentry in several of the destitute districts, worked together on the
committees with commendable zeal, diligence, and unanimity. Among the
Roman Catholic clergy, Father Mathew was at that time by far the most
influential and popular. The masses of the peasantry regarded him
as almost an inspired apostle. During the famine months, he