[190] The first case of death, clearly established, as arising from
starvation, occurred at South Reen, five miles from the town of
Skibbereen. The case having been reported to me, as a member of the
Relief Committee, I procured the attendance of Dr. Dore, and proceeded
to the house where the body lay. The scene which presented itself will
never be forgotten by me. The body was resting on a basket which had
been turned up; the head reclined on an old chair; the legs were on the
ground. All was wretchedness around. The wife, miserable and emaciated,
was unable to move, and four children, more like spectres than living
beings, were lying near the fire place, in which, apparently, there had
not been a fire for some time. The doctor, of course, at once
communicated with the Committee."--_Letter of Mr. M'Carthy Downing,
M.P., to the Author._

[191] MS. Memoir of his famine experiences, by Dr. Donovan. "Up to this
morning, I, like a large portion, I fear, of the community hooked on the
diaries of Dr. Donovan, as published in _The Cork Southern Reporter_, to
be highly coloured pictures, doubtless intended for a good and humane
purpose; but I can now, with perfect confidence, say that neither pen
nor pencil ever could pourtray the misery and horror, at this moment, to
be witnessed in Skibbereen." _Mr. Mahony, the artist of the Illustrated
London News, in his letter from Skibbereen to that journal, Feb. 13,
1847, p. 100._

CHAPTER X.

The Landlords' Committee--A new Irish party--Circular--The "Great
Meeting of Irish Peers, Members of Parliament and Landlords" in the
Rotunda--The Resolutions--Spirit of those
Resolutions--Emigration--Great anxiety for it--Opening of
Parliament--Queen's Speech--England on her Trial--Debate on the
Address--Lord Brougham on Irish Landlords--Lord Stanley on the
Famine--Smith O'Brien's Speech--Defends the Landlords--Mr
Labouchere, the Irish Secretary, defends the Government--The Irish
Agricultural population were always on the brink of starvation, and
when the Blight came it was impossible to meet the disaster--The
views of the _Morning Chronicle_ on the Government of Ireland--Mr.
Labouchere quotes the Poor-Law Enquiry of 1835 and the Devon
Commission--Change of the Government's views on the
Famine--Griffith's estimate of the loss by the Blight--Extent of
Irish pauperism--Lord George Bentinck points out the mistakes of the
Gove