adopted either by the Executive or the Legislature for the purpose of relieving the distress caused by this famine. There is no mention of grants or loans; but an Act was passed by the Irish Parliament in 1741 (15 Geo. II, cap. 8), “For the more effectual securing the payment of Rents, and preventing frauds by Tenants[5].” The failure of 1822, in the provinces of Munster and Connaught, was owing to a continued and excessive humidity, which caused the potatoes to rot after they had been stored in the pits, so that the deficiency of food was not discovered till late in the season. On the 7th May, 1822, a public meeting was held in London which was attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the most eminent persons of the day, when a committee of no less than 109 of the nobility and gentry was formed, and a subscription was entered into, amounting, with the aid of a king’s letter, to 311,081ℓ. 5s., 7d., of which 44,177ℓ. 9s. was raised in Ireland. Many excellent principles were laid down for the distribution of this large sum; and after reserving what was required for immediate relief, the balance, amounting to 87,667ℓ., was granted to various societies which had been established for the future and permanent benefit of the Irish peasantry[6]. A committee also sat at the Mansion House at Dublin, which collected 31,260ℓ. from various quarters, independently of the grants it received from the London Committee. Central Committees were established in each county town in the distressed districts, and Sub-Committees in each parish. The western portion of Ireland was also divided into three districts, to each of which a civil engineer was appointed for the purpose of employing the destitute in making roads, and the following sums were voted by Parliament for carrying on these and other Public Works set on foot with the same object of relieving the distress[7]: On 24 June, 1822, £100,000, “for the employment of the poor in Ireland, and other purposes relating thereto as the exigency of affairs may require.” On 23 July, 1822, £200,000, “to enable His Majesty to take such measures as the exigency of affairs may require.” And on the 24 June, 1823, £15,000 was voted, “to facilitate emigration from the south of Ireland to the Cape of Good Hope.”