Immediately after the formation of the ministry, and while the elections were going on, the court removed for a short time to Osborne, where, on the twenty-fifth of May, a princess was born. She was christened a couple of months later at Buckingham Palace, by the names of Helena Augusta Victoria, and the sponsors were the Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Cambridge, and the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The new Whig party were not in an enviable position; for they had, immediately on assuming power, to consider the disastrous condition of Ireland, caused by the failure of the potato crop. It is difficult to understand why people could not eat something else when potatoes were not to be had; but it becomes clear when we remember that the Irish peasant, with his wife and children, depended entirely on that root for subsistence. They had absolutely no other food, and, when deprived of that, they starved,--yes, literally laid down in their huts, or by the road-side, and starved {373} [Illustration: 0379] {375}to death. Not a county in Ireland wholly escaped the potato-rot, and with it came what was called the potato disease--a peculiar form of fever that was the result of sheer starvation, and caused the death of hundreds of people. Of course such terrible suffering led to scenes of crime and violence, and the Irish hated the government that they firmly believed _would_ not help them. Such was not the case; for the government were doing the best they could, and were at their wits' end to find a remedy for the evil. Subscription lists were opened in the large cities, and many of the merchants put down their names for a thousand pounds. The sympathy of the whole civilized world was aroused, and relief began to pour in from different countries. The United States sent over their war-ships laden with grain and other food, and, as they arrived, one after another at one of the Irish seaports, the bells of the town rang out merrily to convey the joyful tidings to the famine-stricken inhabitants. Starvation and disease had killed off two millions of people by the time the famine was over. Young Ireland became dissatisfied with a country where such misery could exist, and might be repeated, and their attention was turned westward. The United States had opened her arms for the oppressed, and offered them a welcome, a home, citizenship. To our hospitable shores, therefore, streamed a tide of Irish emigration until they formed a large part of the population of every city in the Union.