The "Jamestown," a sloop of war lent by the government for the voyage,
was freighted by the people of Massachusetts with 8,000 barrels of
flour. She sailed from Boston on the 28th of March, 1847, and arrived at
the Cove of Cork on the 12th of April, after a most prosperous voyage.
The people of Cove immediately held a public meeting, and adopted an
address to her Commander, Captain Forbes, which they presented to him on
board. The citizens of Cork addressed him a few days later; and the
members of the Temperance Institute gave him a _soiree_, at which the
Rev. Theobald Mathew assisted.
The "Macedonian," another ship of war, arrived later on, conveying about
550 tons of provisions, a portion of which was landed in Scotland. Both
ships were manned by volunteers.
On the appearance of the potato blight scientific men earnestly applied
themselves to discover its cause, in the hope that a remedy might be
found for it. Various theories was the result. There was the Insect
Theory; the Weather Theory; the Parasitical Theory; the Electrical
Theory; the Fungus Theory; the Fog Theory. But whilst philosophers were
maintaining their different views;--whilst Sir James Murray charged
electricity with being the agent of destruction, and Mr.
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