In these instructions the opinion of Drs. Lindley and
Playfair, that half the potato crop was destroyed, is not only given,
but emphatically put forward. Apprehension is expressed at the
difficulty of substituting a dearer for a cheaper food, the probability
of fever closely succeeding famine, and the formidable danger of not
having a sufficiency of sound seed for the ensuing crop. "The
proportion," say the instructions, "which seed bears to an average crop
of potatoes is very large; it has been estimated at not less than
one-eighth; and when we remember that a considerable portion of this
year's crop in Ireland is already destroyed, and that the remaining
portion, if it be saved, must supply food for nine months as well as
seed for next year, it is obvious that no ordinary care is required, to
husband a sufficient quantity of sound potatoes for planting in the
spring. Unless this be done, the calamity of the present year is but the
commencement of a more fatal series."[84] No prophecy was ever more
accurately and terribly verified.
The Cabinet met again next day, and the Premier read to them a
memorandum, which opened thus: "I cannot consent to the issue of these
instructions, and undertake at the same time to maintain the existing
Corn Law.
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