HL Deb 04 February 1847 vol 89 cc770-1
LORD BROUGHAM

said, he found he had been led into error by a valued correspondent in stating that the soup-kitchens of Liverpool were shut upon the Sundays. He had received a communication from the committee, in which they denied the statement; and he was bound to say he had been misinformed, his friend, no doubt, having made the statement, not upon his own authority, but upon that of others. He found, however, that in Glasgow the fact was so. He then held in his hand a bread and soup ticket, given by some charitable person in Glasgow, which would entitle the holder to a certain amount of bread and soup on any day until the 1st of May, except on Sundays. These words were printed on the card, so there could be no mistake in that case. But that was of a piece with the usual conduct of the Sabbatarians of that city. A fire took place in Glasgow some time ago, wherein damage was done to the amount of thousands. The fire was on a Sunday, and the proprietor was in Edinburgh. Of course his presence was very necessary, and application was made to the railway authorities that a person might be allowed to go for him by the mail train; but this request they absolutely refused, so that those persons thought that works of mercy and necessity were great crimes if performed on a Sunday. The influx of Irish paupers was still going on: on the 30th of January, no less than 1,063 were landed; and on the 31st, 2,278. From Cork, on the extreme west coast of Ireland, there came 240; from Sligo, 701; Drogheda, 692; Newry, 272; and from Dublin, 911; with others from various places, making 3,340 persons in two days; while thousands were still flocking down to the ports for the purpose of following. What was to be done under such circumstances? The Government ought not to confine their relief to the Irish landlords and the Irish generally. Was Liverpool to have no relief? He had seen it stated that Ireland need not despair while there was a guinea in the English Exchequer. What! was that to be the rule? The English were suffering as well as the Irish and the Scotch; they were not dying of starvation, but they were wearing out their lives by a slow but no less sure progress. Was it not a grievance that Liverpool was to be so inundated that in eleven days they were compelled to afford relief in 198,000 cases in addition to their own poor? Did the people of Liverpool want no relief? They asked for it, and in his opinion they had a right to demand it.

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