Jasper W. Rogers

“ In a word, let England but embark a just portion of her enterprise and capital, and talent in Ireland, in place of seeking for opportunity to do so abroad. In doing this, she will employ the people in useful occupations highly profitable, and in proportion as such be done will Ireland's poverty vanish, and Great Britain's wealth increase. Ask for this;—and that the peasant labourer shall be paid in money, not potatoes. And if you ask from your heart, you will succeed. ”

“ If of the aristocracy, tell to those whose halls you adorn, that the peasant woman of Ireland can only obtain warmth enough to save her from perishing, and give her sleep, by herding with her pig! Say, Woman sleeps thus! and ask, should it be? Mayhap when Woman in her loveliness and power thus pleads for Woman in her misery and poverty, the chord may be struck which will proclaim the sin, and produce its abolishment. ”

“ It has been proved that above 4,000,000 of the peasantry of Ireland live upon the potato, which they receive as payment for their labour—about, or nearly one half of the population of the country, and from whom should, and now does spring its almost entire wealth. Their hands, with God's permission and will, produce the means to feed themselves; to feed the remaining half of the population, and to give to England many millions' worth yearly; which supports the aristocracy of Ireland, and pays the taxes to the nation. Humanity and justice, then, are not the only claims upon us ”

“ The poor feel for the poor, and spare even somewhat from their poverty. Their hearts can tell the pangs of poverty, and pity fills them with love and charity and regret that poverty makes them powerless. But still thou hast a voice. Raise it, and cry shame on those who may, yet will not save the nation from the stain of this deep indignity to woman! ”

“ Then, fair pleaders for my countrywomen!—then your labours may cease—for even those who possess your affections do not, nor cannot, value them more highly; nor those who hold you in their hearts do not love more truly, than the peasant of Ireland. ”

“ And I know the people not, if I may not vouch, as a man and Christian, that every mouthful given (not through public works) , every comfort yielded, every gentle and kind and consoling word uttered, is indelibly impressed upon their feelings, and will live there. Seize, then, the opportunity to amalgamate as one, Ireland with England's people. Fear not the idle stories of the past ”

“ Who will excuse the man in a better grade who panders to prejudices, and not only forgets the country of his birth, but aids, by consent, to let her remain in misery? But must we not excuse the low and helpless, who are driven by such prejudices to keep themselves in existence by following the example of those above them? ”

“ What holds it betwixt life and death?—the potato. It is the Alpha and Omega of their existence. A blessing granted by Providence to man, but made by man a curse to his fellow-beings. From what causes come the charges made, and made with truth, against the Irish peasant, of "indolence" and "filth in and about their habitations?"—One and all from that dreadful system, the "potato truck!"
Tourists tell that "the cabin of the Irish peasant must be approached through heaps of manure at either side, making it necessary to step over pool after pool, to reach the entrance." ”

“ Naturally the mind of the Irish peasant is good, honourable, and grateful—but it has been deteriorated by miseries and neglect; and is being so, more and more daily at home; while, when they go abroad they seem to inherit all their original good qualities.
It is a fact too, known to all who know them, that when they settle in England as labourers, they almost invariably share their earnings with their relations at home. The remittances from London alone to Ireland amount to many thousands yearly. ”

“ Those whose cause I plead are blessed with as pure and spotless bosoms as your own—though one may be cased in russet or in rags, the other enshrouded in lace—and they die, not through the horrors of war, or of plague, but of starvation and of cold. ”

“ Ireland possesses wealth in soil—in fuel—in minerals—in fisheries—in water-power—in short, in all things fitted to be developed by the great and wonderful business capability, knowledge, and capital of England ”

“ And is the so-named "weed of peacefulness" sought for by the highest in the land as a soothing enjoyment; by those who have but to wish for and obtain every luxury and blessing that wealth can give—is the scanty use of the meanest portion of it, improper or slothful in him who knows no single blessing but his wife and family? ”

“ The position of the lower class of Irish in England is evidently not to be envied, but what is it in Ireland?
In the paper annexed, on "The Potato Truck System of Ireland," will be found the ground-work of the misery of the peasantry. The whole recompense for their labour is the potato. If it fail, they starve. In summer's heat and winter's cold the potato is their only food; water their only drink. They hunger from labour and exertion—the potato satisfies their craving appetite. ”

“ Unchecked by the example of her patience, gentleness, and faith, he often revels in thoughtless wantonness,—while, resting under the beaming influence of her love and sympathy, he melts and is moulded into a form approaching her own. ”

“ Sickness comes, and they thirst from fever—water quenches their [16] burning desire. Nature overcomes disease, and they long for food to re-invigorate their frame. What get they?—the potato! The child sinks in weakness towards its grave. ”

“ But the Irish peasant is, in fact, now in that position which it is fearful to contemplate. From the nature of his food alone he has been long retrograding in physical capability, and, of course, energy of mind. It is impossible that beings living entirely upon one description of food, no matter what it be, can exist in strength and healthfulness. ”

“ Giles's then, had not arisen from so pure a motive, and I felt the justice of his demand—The miseries of the heart are sacred amongst the rich: why should they not be equally so amongst the poor? Nature has made original feeling alike in all; but the poor feel more deeply; for the rich suffer in heart midst countless luxuries and efforts from others to wean them from their sufferings, while the poor suffer midst numberless privations, and almost utter loneliness. ”

“ The truck system again! He is engaged by the year to some farmer, and is bound to do his work, for which he gets his potato land; but the farmer is not bound, as he should be, to give him continuous labour throughout the year. And many a day, and half-day, and quarter-day is cut off his year's labour, when the weather, or the farmer's absence, or his mighty will and pleasure, may make him think it fit to stop the work. When this occurs, and it is sadly frequent, it is impossible that the poor labourer can either seek or find a half, or even a whole day's labour. ”

“ From the detail of the truck-system, it will be seen that the unfortunate peasant is paid for his labour by land to cultivate the potatoes which sustain his existence, and these potatoes cannot be effectively grown without manure. His cabin is usually situate on some road-side, his potato-garden rarely with it, and the only spot he possesses, upon which he can collect manure to obtain food for himself and family throughout the year, is the little space reserved before his door. ”

“ The poor and lowly struggle single-handed and alone; the rich and high face the enemies of their order shoulder to shoulder, and as one. Poor fellow, he is like the cat in the kitchen: every head broken is as unquestionably laid to his charge, as every jug to pussy's. ”

“ And if we think how anxiously [29] we seek such, under the influence of wet and cold, (we, who have all comforts and all varieties and luxuries of food) —can it be wondered that the Irish peasant, who working for the day in a winter's mist, his clothes saturated through, and none to change when he returned to his wretched cabin, should have been tempted to take this stimulating poison? But, by the gentle guidance of one good and great man, they have been led from the evil, receiving no substitute for what they relinquished ”

“ I wish these facts could be given to the world to show the rich what the poor have done for suffering Ireland, and especially that the Irish landlords might be made aware of what their former tenants are doing for their present ones. ”

“ The father and mother sleep in the centre, the children at each side, and the pig and horse, or goat, as may be, at one end. How dreadful it is to contemplate that such should be a fact existing in a Christian country—and worse, that this most fearful reality, which arises from the people's helpless misery, should be made a charge of "filthy [20] habit" in place of being urged as the ground-work for the perfect change of a system which could allow so crying an evil. It is a truth, that men, women and children, pigs and cattle, lie in one bed!—but what causes it? ”

“ Now, medical research has fully established that the quantum of animal matter, be it obtained from vegetable or else, actually necessary to be taken into the system merely to reproduce the bone and muscle worn away by the general labourer in his day's work, is 5 ounces! It cannot therefore be doubted, that the Irish labourer, in Ireland, is and has been deteriorated in physical capability, and consequently, mental energy, by want of proper nutrition. ”

“ But if the food be of that nature which, used as the potato is, tends to produce evil from the quantity necessary to be consumed, in order to give to the body bare nourishment to uphold existence, it must be evident that the very quantity alone will produce listlessness and want of energy, while the system itself receives scarcely enough to uphold its vital powers. ”

“ A curious fact is presented in a letter from a correspondent at New York, showing that it is not to England alone that the Irish proprietors are largely indebted for the support of their poor. It has generally been understood that the Irish emigrants to the United States have always remitted very fully of their hard earnings to their relatives at home, but most persons will be surprised to hear the extent of this liberality. ”

“ They are quick to a degree—and have great activity and capability for labour and effort, if but fed, which may be seen by every Englishman who looks and thinks. The coal-whippers of the Thames, the hod-men, or mason's labourers of London, the paver's labourers, and such like, almost all are Irishmen. But they must be fed, or they cannot labour as they do here. Treat them kindly, confide in them, and be it for good or evil ”

“ But the peasant has two vices which still continue—cupidity and desire for combination. Strange that amongst all the evils laid to his charge the first has been passed over. It exists to a great extent, and in place of being reckless as to money, he too eagerly grasps at it when the opportunity offers ”

“ The custom is universal, and the Irish peasant, declared by the Legislature it may be said, to endure more privation than the peasant of any other country in Europe, ought not to be set down as slothful, because, to soothe his care, he smokes his "dhudeen."
Again, we are told by tourists of the fearful fact, that men, women, children, a cow, a horse, a pig, congregate together at night in one cabin ”

“ In fact, their only hope for this, is on "the woman," as they express, whose sole dependance has been on eggs from her few hens—knitting stockings, in some localities, in others, spinning. But the numerous calls for family necessities swallow up these little means; and it may with truth be said, that except a single blanket, or a coarse rug, there is rarely to be found any thing in their cabins as covering for the night. The clothes of all are clubbed together to do the office of the blanket and the counterpane. ”

“ That "endurance under privation, greater than that of any country in Europe," is the true characteristic of the peasantry, cannot be questioned, particularly after being declared by the high authority of the Devon Commission. That it is innate in their character, is evident. They believe that "whatever is, is best"—not as fatalists ”

“ I could relate several similar instances which occurred to others; but I shall only state one more, as occurring to a defenceless woman. My maternal grandmother occupied at the time of that rebellion the castle of Dungulph, in the county Wexford, the family residence. It was an old stronghold regularly fortified and surrounded by a moat, with a drawbridge; and when she left it to take refuge in the fort of Duncannon, with the other gentry of the county, it was immediately taken possession of by a force of rebels from the county Kilkenny, as a most valuable place of defence, &c. ”

“ Every possible search has been made for the murderers, but unfortunately without effect. However, it is positively known that four Irish harvesters passed through the village the day before, and there cannot be a doubt the dreadful deed was committed by them! ”

“ Giles,"—now no more. Its [9] wretched habitations have yielded their place to palaces; its dreaded locality lives but in recollection; and its inhabitants have gone forth—Whither? Perhaps to greater wretchedness. Aye, almost surely! The misery of St. Giles's has ceased, mayhap to make misery double elsewhere; but, thank God! there no longer exists in London a special spot upon which the ban is placed of Irish residence being tantamount to crime. ”