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draining the soil, year by year, of its year's product, and spending in England, and other favoured lands, the money which, if laid out at home, would elevate their country to a par with the best of them. But our pre-quarters [Mr Hill says one-half] of our prisoners are sent business is not with the absentees, but with the inundation of pauper labourers, which the want of nerve, patriotism, and capacity of the landowners, throws upon our charity and our contempt.

object of getting into prison. If to the number of prisoners coming direct from Ireland, those of Irish parentage (though born in England) be added, threebeen rapidly increasing for the last three years, and pargenerally Irish. The proportion of Irish prisoners has ticularly during the year now closing. Three years ago, the number of prisoners in the year who were born in Ireland was 1439 out of 4932, or less than thirty per cent. of the whole number of prisoners; but last year it was 2680 out of 6769, or forty per cent. of the whole number, Thus out of a total increase in three years of 1837 prisoners, 1241 were Irish. The portion which less than half their share of the criminality of the town; the Irish form of the whole population of Liverpool is and this is not only the case with petty offences, but with serious offences also. The number of felonies last year committed in Liverpool by persons born in Ireland was 222; while the whole number committed by persons born in Lancashire was only 269, though there are more than three times as many people in Liverpool who were born in Lancashire as were born in Ireland. During the last three years, the number of felonies committed in Liverpool by Lancashire people was actually diminished, notwithstanding the increase in the population; but the felonies committed by the Irish have more than doubled, having increased from 108 in the year 1843-4, to 222 in the year 1846-7. The very names of the prisoners and their brogue show how many of them are Irish.'

In order to understand the conduct of the Irish of the pauper class abroad, we must remember their condition at home. They have never in their lives been their own masters: they have never fairly possessed even their miserable holdings; for their payments have, generally speaking, been merely instalments on a debt which hangs like a millstone round their necks: they have never acquired even the independence frequently given in England, by the voluntary acquittance of the landlord; | for in Ireland the forgiveness of rent amounts only to the transference of the sum to the next year's account: they have never passed a year without starving and begging during a portion of it. Thus vagrancy with them is so regular, so absolute a necessity in the nature of things, as to be hardly considered a misfortune; and thus have they grown up from infancy, without pride, without self-respect, and, above all, without hope. When such persons find themselves in the comparatively wealthy towns of another country, they are indeed strangers-strangers in feelings and habits. They are To talk of the moral effect of a pestilence like this drawn together by a natural attraction, and seek, as if among the dense population of Liverpool would be a by instinct, the darkest and dirtiest nooks in the place, the same authority, the cost we are at in finding lodgwaste of words; but it may be worth while showing, on where they remain, acting and reacting upon each other ings in prison for our visitors. The cost of the prison in mutual contamination. In such circumstances, even last year, exclusive of the interest of the capital exhigh wages can have no power to change their cha-pended in the building, was nearly L.10,000, of which racter. They spend the surplus in the lowest animal forty per cent., or L.4000, must be considered as the exgratifications, and continue to burrow in filth and dark-pense falling on the borough of Liverpool for prisoners ness as before. Such is the picture of the Irish in England, drawn by Mr Lewis, the poor-law commissioner, in his Report; but even in Australia they remain unchanged, crowding together in the back lanes of the towns, instead of pushing out, like other men, into the independence of the wilderness.

The effect of recent inundations of such visitors in Liverpool, as described in the thirteenth Report of Mr Frederick Hill, inspector of prisons, is appalling. The following is the evidence of the governor of the Borough Jail:- The present number of prisoners is much greater than at any former period, during the seven years that I have been governor of this prison. The number began first to increase materially at the beginning of this year, but has increased most rapidly during the last three months. In the three months ending November 30, 1846, the whole number of committals was 2304, and the daily average number of prisoners was 583; but in the three months ending November 30, 1847, the number of committals was 2680, and the daily average number of prisoners 701; and the number of prisoners has now risen to nearly 800. The increase has been chiefly among prisoners committed for petty offences-particularly for vagrancy and pilfering and has been almost entirely among the Irish. In the three months ending November 30, 1846, the number of Irish committed to the prison was 818, or about thirty-five per cent. of the whole number of prisoners; but in the three months just ended, the number of Irish was 1129, or forty-two per cent. of the whole number. Thus it appears that of 376 committals, the increase in the whole number of committals in the last three months, as compared with the three months ending November 30, 1846, 311 were of Irish prisoners. The increase in the number of men has been somewhat greater in proportion than among It is well known that in some instances the Irish have committed offences with the express

the women.

strictly Irish, not to speak of the great cost of the prosecution of these offenders, and of the expense of police in watching them. Owing to the insufficiency and bad construction of the present prison, a new prison is about to be erected, the cost of which is estimated at more than L.120,000. Of this great expense, forty per cent., or L.48,000, is caused by this same class of prisoners; or, including all prisoners of Irish parentage, three-quarters of the sum, or L.90,000, must be put down as the estimated expense to the borough of Liverpool of providing prison accommodation for Irish prisoners.' To have the pauperism of Ireland thrust upon us is bad enough, viewed economically; but this costly mass of crime must, we venture to say, be rejected, or else, as Mr Vereker suggests, the absentee landlords taxed to cover the amount. The late alteration in the law of settlement does not affect the evil in the new shape in which it appears. Perhaps the most disheartening feature of the whole case is the fact, that an English prison is considered by many of the Irish an agreeable alternative, as compared with a return to their own country. In the county prison at Salford, where more than a third of the prisoners were Irish, or of Irish parentage, an example of this occurred, according to the following evidence of the chaplain :-There were five Irish in the prison, three men and two women, for refusing to give information respecting their places of settlement in Ireland, so as to enable the interrogating magistrates, if they thought fit, to order their removal to their own country. Two of them had been in the prison more than four months, two more than six months, and one seven months. I saw them all, and found that they were quite aware that they could at any time obtain their liberation from prison if they were willing to give the information required of them.'

We have no desire to enter into the question of races, now so commonly discussed; holding, as we do, that the Celt is as fully entitled as the Saxon to the good offices of his fellow-men in the attempt to change what is

objectionable in his character. It will be more to our present purpose to show, from the results of actual experiment, that the change as regards the Irish at home is not impossible nor even difficult; and to suggest as a corollary from what we are about to state, that the failures hitherto experienced may have been owing to the imprudent manner in which assistance has been rendered. The noble achievement of Lord George Hill,* in reclaiming not only the seemingly impracticable waste of Gweedore from a state of nature, but its miserable inhabitants from ignorance, poverty, idleness, and crime, proves our position of itself. The truth ought no longer to be minced. The long course of mismanagement of lands in Ireland is substantially the foundation of Ireland's misery and wrongs. The intolerable evil is not political; it is social. According to the original compact on which lands are held from the crown, the understanding surely is, that the party holding them shall do good service to the state. It never could be meant that private proprietorship should impart the privilege of covering the land with weeds, and rearing up hordes of human creatures in semi-starvation. And yet this has actually ensued over a large portion of Ireland. As things stand, the compact may be said to be broken; and it may very fairly be a question in what manner the state should interfere either to enforce allegiance to the tenure, or to recall a gift which has been so grossly abused. English capital waits but for an opportunity to pour itself into the Tap of Ireland, and how disgraceful that this cure for so many evils should be indefinitely postponed, all through the existence of a pauperism for which common sense, not to say legal obligation, points out a remedy.

Above, we have alluded to Gweedore, and are happy to be able now to give publicity to another experiment of quite a different nature, but with a termination as favourable. This experiment, it is true, has been on a small scale, and in a mountain parish containing only between 2000 and 3000 inhabitants; but it affords much encouragement, as well as much instruction, to the philanthropist.

sixpence in the pound were regularly paid up for thirty weeks-that is, 15s. in the pound-the remaining 55., or twenty-five per cent., would be remitted as a bonus; but any person getting four weeks into arrear would be disentitled to this allowance; and this arrangement has had a very beneficial effect.

"The sum originally lent was L.20; this was subsequently increased to L.50, which, with L.7 from the London Ladies' Association for Promoting Employment, L.6, 2s. 6d. the produce of clothing sold, and twenty barrels of meal, constituted the whole amount advanced. With this, and the repayments, 178 loans have been made; and the parties thus assisted have, it appears, besides (with little exception) regularly paying up their instalments, been able to maintain themselves and those dependent upon them-at a time, too, when, in the surrounding parishes, the poor-law guardians were overwhelmed with wretched objects imploring relief.' Towards the close of last year, a deputation from the committee visited the district, and were much gratified by the happy countenances, independent bearing, and consciousness of self-respect apparent among the fishermen.' Being desirous of conferring some tokens of approbation, they distributed as prizes to the most punctual in their repayments a number of the warm, comfortable woollen shirts worn by sailors, called Guernsey frocks; and when the news was spread, it effected more than a score of processes emanating from a court of law. In the Second Quarterly Report a very remarkable change of another kind is noted. The hamlets of the district were formerly so filthy, and contagious diseases so prevalent in them, that the Board of Health interfered with the most stringent measures. Its efforts, however, were unavailing. Nothing short of stopping their rations could induce the wretched inhabitants to use the lime and bricks that were supplied to them gratuitously. But all this is now at an end. A wish to please their benevolent visitors operates more strongly than legal constraint or the fear of death; their houses have been all newly thatched, and the whitened walls and neatly-sanded floors give an appearance of cleanliness The Ring district, as it is called, is situated on the and comfort to their humble dwellings.' Our readers, western side of the Bay of Dungarvan, and is inhabited we are sure, will bear with us while we give one more by persons who derive their chief support from fishing. quotation, taken from the Fourth Quarterly Report, During the dreadful season of 1846-7, these poor crea- dated in July last:- I have much pleasure in stating, tures were in a far worse state of starvation than usual, with reference to our Loan fund, that the people here having been compelled to part with their nets for food, are every day appreciating the value of it more and and even to burn their oars for fuel. Their case was more, and, by their general good conduct and punctual brought by the vicar of Ring before the Waterford payments, have convinced me that were such a course Auxiliary Relief Committee of the Society of Friends; more generally adopted among this class of persons and that body determined to attempt something in their along the Irish coast, the benefits conferred would be favour, not by means of charity, but in a way that was incalculably great, for the small sums that we give are likely to educe and cultivate any dormant feelings of only intended to assist industry, not to foster or support self-respect that might lurk in their nature. This plan idleness. And here I may mention a curious fact, for was to give trifling loans on certain terms, and to dis- the accuracy of which I can vouch with confidence, tribute these loans according to character, not mere that the parties on whom such loans have been condestitution. The loans, varying from 10s. to L.3, ferred have prospered to such a degree in their different were to be expended solely for the repair of boats and speculations, that they are all impressed with the idea providing fishing apparatus; and whilst provisions were that there is some charm in the " Friends' money;" and high-priced, a small weekly allowance of meal, as sea several persons whose circumstances disentitled them store, was given gratis to each boat's crew for a short to any relief from our funds, have come to me soliciting period. One month after the loan was made, repay- a loan, saying that their boat required a sail or a new ment was to commence in weekly instalments of not cable, and if I advanced them the price of it, they less than sixpence in the pound. The sums thus re- would repay me immediately the full amount advanced, ceived, it was announced, would be immediately re-lent without expecting to be allowed the usual abatement to other parties, and the persons assisted were therefore of twenty-five per cent. for regular payments; adding, encouraged to do their part in benefiting their neigh- that unless I complied with their request, their crew bours, by paying in a greater sum than the stipulated would abandon them. And how are we to account for amount whenever the week's fishing proved successful; this extraordinary success? How explain whence origiand the expectant applicants exercised a salutary vigi-nated this strange impression among them, unless by lance that there should be no undue remissness in the attributing to industry, perseverance, and sobriety, payments. In order still further to induce punctuality, what they ascribe to talismanic influence? for they and likewise to aid these miserably poor people, without know perfectly well, that to meet the weekly payments, compromising the feelings of independence and self- they must labour constantly with diligence and assireliance, which the committee were most anxious to duity, so as not to fall into arrear. They must also be cherish, it was also stipulated that if the instalments of temperate and correct in their general conduct, otherwise they forfeit all claim to further assistance; and hence the great mystery may be solved.'

*Sec Journal, No. 157.

It will be seen that in this case the good Quakers placed themselves in the natural position of the landlord, and by means of a very trifling outlay of money, operated an almost magical change on the character of the people-keeping the little settlement together, instead of permitting its inhabitants to drift away to Liverpool and other towns, and there sink from beggars into thieves. This latter process, be it observed, is the consequence of their wanderings; for in their own country, although offences against the person are numerous, those against property are comparatively rare. But we must likewise observe that the experiment in question applies only to individuals having some occupation independently of their land. We are not prepared to say that the loan system would be of any use to mere cultivators; for the abuses connected with land are so enormous, and of such long standing, that it seems hopeless to attempt any reform, unless of a more decided kind. In a separate publication the writer has given an anecdote bearing upon this point, which may be worth repeating here. It refers to the western coast, and to individuals who were able, in ordinary seasons, to extract a wretched living from their small holdings of land. A gentleman, as my informer told me, commiserating the condition of the people, who patiently endured the pangs of hunger, when the sea before them teemed with wholesome and delicious food, purchased a boat for the purpose of making an experiment. He invited some of the most destitute among them to accompany him to the fishing, promising, in return for their share of the labour, to give them a due share of what they caught. They refused to labour without wages; and after in vain endeavouring to make them comprehend that his offer was much better than the ordinary rate of payment, he added to the chance of the fishing a day's wages. On this they consented. The fishing was completely successful; and, in addition to supplying their families with abundance of excellent food, they made some money by selling what remained. This was all their benefactor wanted. His experiment had succeeded; for it had convinced the people that they were able, by their own industry, to make a comfortable and independent subsistence. "I lend you my boat," said he, "till you are able to purchase one for yourselves. Go, and make a good use of it. Be industrious, and be happy." "But the day's wages?" cried they. The day's wages! Argument was vain. They demanded a day's wages as before, and would not stir without. Their benefactor gave up his attempt in shame and sorrow, and the unhappy savages returned to their hunger and their despair.'

ficial effect upon the character even of the absentees themselves, by relieving them from the withering and deadening sense of shame they must feel in walking our streets, and reading our daily records of beggary and crime.

A STEERAGE EMIGRANT'S JOURNAL FROM

BRISTOL TO NEW YORK.

April 26.-Left Cumberland Basin at seven o'clock, and passing by the Hotwells, gave three cheers to the multitude on the shore, which was returned by the waving of hats, handkerchiefs, &c. Reached Kingroad, and came to anchor at ten. Printed articles read by the captain. Rules nailed up to the mainmast: no swearing allowed on board; no smoking below deck; no lights after ten o'clock; and no steerage passenger to go abaft the mainmast.

27. Got under weigh. Most of us busy unpacking: pots, kettles, frying-pans, and the like, begin to show out; and a certain disorder, called sea-sickness, begins to show its nose. Fine pickle below. Very poor appetite myself. Pipe my only solace.

29.-Little boiling, toasting, or frying this morning. All down except four of us. Cooks' galley free of access: the busy scene of cooking deferred till hungry appetites awake anew. A little doing in the gruel way. Afternoon.-More gruel in requisition.

30.-A poor little swallow picked up on the deck quite tired; by intreaties suffered to live. For dinner, partook of fried eggs and bacon; the first meal with a good appetite since on board. My provision - chest, lashed on deck, I scarcely dare open. I have apples, some good cheese, and butter; that is pretty generally known. Pray, sir, when are you going to open your chest? I hear you have some nice cheese; should like to beg a bit.' Another-Have you any apples to spare? I hear yours is fine fruit.' A third- How I should like to taste your bacon! I am told it is the best on board.' Many wet jackets to-day: much fun and pastime on board. I was soaked; but salt water, it is said, produces no cold. My pipe a cure for all. Now we go on gloriously, and are in the great and much-talked-of Atlantic. Most of the passengers alive again. A prayer-meeting held below, at which many engaged.

May 1.-In the course of this sail much tossing about; plates, dishes, and the like suffered wreck. Some alarm below: boxes and packages out of place; one tea-kettle, with hot water, showing off to the terror of some females; children crying; men busy replacing things. What a crowd! No place to call my own. It will be remarked that even in this extreme case Here is my corner, dark as one's pocket: four berths, some little management, such as would have been prac- with five inmates, close to my heels: in an angle sleeps tised by the Quakers, might have accomplished the the under-steward; then over me are two in a berth; object; and for ourselves, we believe, that if the then inside the partition, arm's-length from me, is the gentleman, instead of employing them to work, had forecastle, where the sailors sleep. Two holes, cut for said, 'Hollo, boys, come and have a bit of sport!' air, often admit water upon us, through the ship's heavhe would have been followed eagerly by the whole ing: and that is not all; here is the sailors' loud bawl community without fee or reward. But however changing watch, that dins in the ear, and jars and mars this may be, the question still recurs as to the obliga- the little peace in shape of rest. Say nothing of being tion of England to receive into her bosom the crime often heaved from side to side; and should the ship in and beggary of a country whose fixed capital is hardly the night take a fresh tack, then, to our discomfiture, touched, and whose working capital is expended in heads are down and heels up. Then, after her bows, stimulating the industry of other nations. We have and next to us, is a farmer and his family. The old no hesitation in giving it as our opinion that this is man is a Universalist and a preacher. His creed I hold altogether wide of our duty, and that immediate not with, though his counsels often are savoury. His steps should be taken to compel the Irish capitalists, daughter is agreeable; she is my pudding-maker. great and small, to do theirs, either by imitating the Next to these folks is an angle with four berths, filled Friends in person, and on the spot, or by forming a with two young men, a married couple, a married and national fund for people of more courage, humanity, single woman, and a married man. Then follows one and patriotism to work with. We say that the absentees side of the ship in double rows like a street and storeshould be compelled; for the fact of their being ab-houses-that is, from the fore to the main hatchsentees shows that they will do nothing without com- glutted with boxes and other packages; the boundaries pulsion. The imposition of a special tax, in a case of marked out by some cumbersome article placed there. this kind, would be hailed with delight by every man, Overhead, as if for safety, are suspended beef, hams, woman, and child in Ireland; and by confining the Irish and the like, with caps, bonnets, and twenty other arInundation to their own shores, it would have a bene- ticles. The walking way is reduced to a narrow zig

zag, ten inches at most. There lies somebody's bag to be trod on. 'Who has had my map?' 'Why, I just borrowed it; but my little boy has let it fall overboard.' Water-jars and pitchers, with a tea-kettle or two, often form a group, lashed together for safety; but the annoyance of the ship sometimes disturbs their repose in the night, and makes them cry out; and the sufferer has a nose, a lip, or a body broken, to the no small teaze of its owner.

2.-Passengers now pretty well; pots, kettles, and the like in requisition: two large fires and the cooks' galley all full and crowded. To prevent accidents, a chain runs across and over the grate; but sometimes this wont do there's a see-saw, then a capsize, and a scald perhaps follows. Much fun and pastime on deck; three fiddles, and some dancing. A stiff breeze; ship began to roll, and we soon danced to another tune.

4.-Orders for a general cleaning below. All hands mustered on deck. Much bustle and clatter. Great scrubbing and fumigation; lost some beer and cider on the occasion. Opened my chest: oranges spoiled; bread ditto; and plumcake spoiling. Pipes, and a dance to wind up.

5.-Hard squalls. Few ventured up. With difficulty reached the cooks' galley to light my pipe. Crawling back, saw a female sitting near the capstan. A wave was coming, nearly mast-high; I saw it before me, but could not evade it: held fast: like a deluge it poured in upon us. I turned round to see what became of the poor woman. She was washed to the other side, much frightened, and quickly removed below. Several came up to view the scene: paid for peeping; another mountain-wave laid them as flat as flounders. Little cooking to-day. Much grumbling among the women. One poor man I did pity. His wife complained that she and the children were hungry, and they must have dinner. Here is the pan; come, go and cut some bacon, and I'll break some eggs in a basin.' 'Why, how unreasonable you are to suppose that I or any man can cook in this weather: I can't, nor wont. Give the children some bread and butter.' 'No I shan't; I will have some bacon fried; and I am sure you can do it if you like.' Obedient-like, loaded with ham, eggs, and bacon, he proceeded to do his best; but on his way to the fire he was arrested, washed down, and returned to his wife (who had prepared and laid out the little table) with the frying-pan only. There, I told you how it would be; but you would have your own way.' She looked mighty sulky, but said nothing. Did not escape myself: the cook had got me some lobscouse in a tin pot, and I went below, thinking to have a good supper: placed it on a box for a table, and had not left it a minute, to get my spoon, when the ship rolled, and turned my junket upside down. I was hungrily disappointed, and got laughed at into the bargain.

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6. Still squally. Busy scene in the cooks' galley. 'I say, who has taken my kettle?' 'I was here before you.' My pot shall go on; yours is hot.' 'I helped to light the fire, and will have my chance before you.' 'There's my wife out of patience; I can't make it boil if it wont.' In the middle of this squabbling in comes the water in hogsheads, and drowns out the whole. The old saying, There's many a slip betwixt the cup and lip,' often verified. You have your food within an inch of your mouth-comes a roll of the ship, and you are both off-the food one way, and you another. Sometimes, by way of security, I jammed myself between two boxes; but even this would not always do. Neighbours' tea-things suffered much; more borrowers than lenders; children crying; women scolding; men enjoying the joke.

10. A shark passed us: bait thrown out, but no catch. Wedding on board: three bottles of brandy given away on the occasion. Began my second ham; very good, but no bread. Upset some soup that was given me. Job verily would have complained had he been here. A sheep killed; mutton ninepence per pound.

12. On deck to light my pipe. Hard work to reach a fire. Coming therefrom, met a good ducking. Wished I could not smoke: should save many a wet jacket. Much providing. Some broth overdone; some not done enough; and some not likely to be done at all. Glad I am out of the cooking at all events. General promenade among the women. Invited out to tea.

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17.- Potatoes short on board; spared two pecks; was paid 1s. 6d. Here comes a little fellow who has been well all the voyage, and can run the deck while all else are glad of a friendly rope. They tell me it is often so with children. Twelve o'clock the sailors' happy hour. At the cry of Grog, ho!' from the steward, each man bottles a gill of rum; this, unless when there is extra allowance, is a day's quantum. For their food they have plenty of good boiled beef and pork every day; boiled peas and soup twice a-week; pudding once, and potatoes twice. Red herrings they call old soldiers, and chiefly eat them for breakfast.

20.-Bad news to-day: tobacco very scarce on board; my last morsel nearly in the pipe. This morning partook of some coffee-royal; which is brandy mixed in the boiling coffee, well sweetened. Butter sold on board at 1s. a pound; beer and cider 1s. a bottle; brandy 3s.; rum 2s.

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22.-Spoke the Sisters' from Sunderland to St Johns. We were so near as to converse without the speaking-trumpet. To be an eye-witness, and close alongside of a ship in full sail, with every stitch of canvas out, was a real picture. In the afternoon the mate and four men in a boat sailed to an American fisherman about a mile off. Two bottles of rum and some pork were put on board, to exchange for cod fish. In about an hour they returned loaded. There was quite a rage on board for fresh fish, and the captain was willing enough to sell it. Frying-pans, pots, and the like in active requisition; all hands busy washing, cleaning, cutting up, dressing, or eating their fish: it was truly a bustling time. When they were satisfied, they began to recollect that it cost threepence a pound, and to complain that it was dear. Asked by several, 'Did not you buy any?' Thank you, no-I am not partial to fish, particularly when it costs threepence a pound.'

23.-Smoking out of fashion: good reason, no tobacco on board; a famine quite; a few pounds would be worth something just now.

24.- Fine weather; enjoyed my meals; but no tobacco.

26.-Very stormy; little doing; a solitary individual was seen holding on his kettle for boiling, at the risk of being swilled; got a complete turn upside down; much laughter as he crawled below. Found some tobacco unexpectedly; considerable pleasure therein. June 2.-Good water scarce; much complaining; plenty in the hold, but not to be got at. Few pots boiling; long faces and short dinners. Mem.-Potatoes boiled in salt water with the rinds on; ate good; but bad if pared-a secret worth knowing. Fresh meat and pudding good, boiled in half-salt water. Halfpast four.-Land seen from the mast-head: much joy and rejoicing; drank my last bottle of beer; most of us had a peep through a glass. At ten, made out a beacon, and the sailors had an extra allowance of grog. At eleven, went below for a little rest; made up my bed for the last time, and wished for the morrow. Pleasant to find you have crossed the Atlantic without accident.

3.-Glorious morning! To the right is Long Island; to the left is Jersey State. What a fine country! Here at last is America. Yonder is Sandy Hook, with a lighthouse. What neat wooden cots by the water's edge! Observe those forests of trees, with a house here and there peeping through the foliage. The sight now before us compensates for all our toil and trouble; it is worth coming to see, if to return immediately back again. Three o'clock. Reporter came on board for papers and clean bill of health; many questions asked

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him; but the principal one was-Had he or his man any tobacco?' No luck about the house,' and the disappointment great. He left us at four, hoisting up signals to telegraph our arrival. Thirty miles from New York, and reckoned the news would reach in nine minutes. Six o'clock.-Pilot stepped on board; numerous questions asked; tobacco not forgotten; and the negative proved a laugh against some of us. Shortly after the newsman came for letters, papers, &c.; but no tobacco. Names called over, and one dollar twenty cents each had to pay the captain for hospital money and custom dues: children same price.

4.-Up on deck by four in the morning. Arrived opposite Staten Island. What a number of windows the houses have! No tax, as in England. At seven, reached what is called the quarantine ground; can proceed no farther without being examined by the doctor. Two sail near us under quarantine: afraid we shall add to the proscribed list, for one of our cabin passengers is ill. Just saw the doctor, who says he will be well enough to pass. All right. Eight o'clock.-All hands ordered on deck: signal hoisted for the hospital doctor. Two men came on board; these were custom-house officers. Then the doctor. Each passenger's name was called over, and every one had to pass in review before him. Then all below was examined; and the ship being pronounced healthy, was permitted to pass. The passing and repassing of steamboats enliven the scene. Almost all are on deck: the women and children much diverted with seeing the fishes play.

After presenting the table of the annual number of marriages for the period alluded to, the Registrar enters into a detailed account of its various fluctuations, confronting these with a summary of the political, commercial, and fiscal conditions of the kingdom at the various periods in question. We may present a very abridged notice of a few of these fluctuations:

1757-64.-Between 1757-61 the marriages rose twenty per cent.-being nearly as great an increase as in 1842-5., The price of food continued low, and the enthusiasm of the nation was roused by the spirit and success with which Chatham conducted the French war. The increase was especially large in the towns; and thus while in London 5823 were married in 1757, there were 9376 in 1763.

1782-7. The rise at this time was rapid-from 126,142 to 152,896-being coincident with a fall in the price of wheat. Pitt became prime minister in 1783, and excited the hopes of the nation to the highest point by his delusive scheme of a sinking fund and his new treaty with France., Manufactures, too, flourished. 1788-92. The number of married persons, which had fallen again in 1788 to 140,064, rose, coincidently with a fall in corn, to 149,838 in 1792. Capital, which had been accumulating, was now directed into the rashest speculations in canals, to be followed by a terrible reaction in 1793, when the bankrupt list rose from its average of between 500 and 600 to 1300, and the number of persons married fell to 145,760, and to 143,594 in 1794. In the local histories of towns the differences 5.-Most on board providing their last meal. Biscuits might often be found explicable. Thus in Birmingham, by wholesale trod under foot. My kit sold to the cap-in 1788-9, the numbers were 782 and 903; but in tain for two shillings and fourpence. Near upon halfpast eleven our ship took her station at what is called Elephant Wharf. Carmen, visitors, and inquirers stepped on board; and at the end of forty days, once more I trod on terra firma, quite well, grown much stouter, and in full health during all the voyage. Repaired to an eating-house; dined off various dishes, including green peas, and paid a shilling. Considered this not a bad specimen of America, and looked forward to days of comfort.

FLUCTUATION OF MARRIAGES. In the Eighth Annual Report of the Registrar-General, recently published, which contains a summary of the particulars relating to the births, marriages, and deaths in England that have been registered in 1845, we find an interesting paper upon the fluctuation which marriages have undergone during a period of ninety yearsthat is, from 1756, shortly after the Marriage Bill prohibiting clandestine marriages in England was passed, and since which time marriages have been registered. During this period they have proceeded at fluctuating rates of increase or decrease, curiously and exactly in accordance with the apparent or real condition of prosperity or adversity of the country. As a general rule, the diminution or augmentation of the price of corn has been rapidly followed by an increase or lessening of their number, although occasionally other circumstances have intervened, exciting temporarily a greater effect upon the prospects of the country than that of the more abiding one produced by the price of provisions. Notwithstanding the occasional fluctuations, the number of marriages, upon the whole, has gone on steadily increasing; so that while there were but 96,600 persons married in 1757, there were 287,486 in 1845-being as from 1 to 3. So, too, the average number married annually during the ten years 1756-65 was 112,549, and during the ten years 1837-46 it was 248,050; the latter-the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the former-being more than double the number of their ancestors.

1790-2 they fell to 649, 705, and 606, the town having sustained an immense reduction of its trade by the discontinuance of the use of shoe-buckles. The Registrar suggests that the depressed state of the population, which the marriage returns exhibit, may afford some explanation of the celebrated riots in 1792. Manchester, which was flourishing in 1790-2, returned 1122, 1301, and 1657 as the numbers married; but after the revulsion of 1793, these sunk to 1235.

1795-1803.-The marriages continued to diminish from 1793; and under the influence of the severe winter and dear bread of 1795, the numbers married were only 137,678, being almost exactly the same number as that registered twelve years back: but with the return of cheaper times they rose again higher than they had ever yet been in 1798 (158,954). This increase took place in spite of the immense war-burdens the country was charged with, and the extension of the poor-law to domiciliary relief; and was in part fostered by the great manufacturing improvements, and by Mr Pitt's extraordinary declaration in 1796-that a man had a claim to relief just in proportion to the numbers of his family, on the ground of having enriched his country swallowed up by the war must, however, not be forwith the greatest number of children. The numbers gotten. The minister's hint was taken, and the baptisms rose from 247,218 to 262,337. The marriages, however, again fell off in 1799-1801 to 155,114, 139,702, and 134,576 persons; but again rose in 1803 to 188,788 persons, being a fluctuation of forty per cent., and the greatest on record. The years 1799-1800 were years of scarcity and high prices, wheat falling from 1148. the quarter in 1800, to 58s. in 1803.

1812-1815.-Remarkably little variation took place from 1804 (171,476) to 1811 (172,778); but the four years 1812-15 were years of great fluctuation-namely, 164,132, 167,720, 185,608, and 199,888: the price of wheat being in each respectively 1298., 112s., 76s., and 66s. In 1812, too, war with America had been declared, while in 1814-15 the Allies were in Paris. sank from 199,888 in 1815, to 183,892 in 1816, and 1815-22.-Immediately after the war the numbers 176,468 in 1817-the latter being years of deficient harvest, and gloom having taken possession of the public mind. But from that time the prospects of the country slowly and gradually improved; and the num

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