and labourers were powerless for good, unaided
by the landlords and the Government. The last-named gave the landlords
the power of draining their estates on terms not merely just, but really
easy, generous, and remunerative; they refused to avail themselves of
that power; on them, therefore, first and above all others, rests the
weighty responsibility of neglecting the most solemn duty that could
devolve upon them, as accountable beings--that of saving the lives of
their fellow-countrymen; a duty not only within their reach, but one
that could be discharged with the greatest advantage to their own
interests. The next party that failed in its duty was the Government,
who should have compelled the owners of land to that, which, of their
own motion, they had so culpably neglected. Had the Government done
this, the farmers and labourers would have been but too happy to unite
with it and the landlords, in an undertaking so evidently for their own
advantage, as well as for the general weal.

O'Connell, knowing well that if he could secure united action for
practical good amongst the landed interests, everything necessary to
save the people would be comparatively easy, laboured to effect this in
the letter above referred to. He threatened them, too, with the danger
of losing their properties, unless they so acted. "The Government plan
of succour," he says, "is calculated to produce throughout Ireland a
more extended Poor Law, necessarily calculated to extend outdoor relief
to all adult labourers and their families, in a state of destitution, as
well as to all other destitute poor. The English statute of Elizabeth is
being extended to Ireland, and the poverty of the country is about to be
placed for support upon the property--especially upon the landed
property." And again: "The English plan of out-door relief, in its worst
form, will be almost insensibly communicated to Ireland, and their [the
proprietors,] estates not only burthened but actually confiscated." The
remedy for this, he says, is combination amongst the owners of land. The
baronial sessions proved the possibility of such a combination, but they
lasted only a part of a day--there should be a great central permanent
committee in Dublin, appointed by the landowners, and communicating
between them and the Government. Such a body would be most influential,
and could organize the best plans for obtaining Government and local
relief.

Several Relief Committees assemble