But six months before, Winfield Scott had
landed on the Mexican coast; since then he had stormed the two strongest
places in the country, won four battles in the field against armies
double, treble, and quadruple his own, and marched without reverse from
Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico; losing fewer men, making fewer
mistakes, and creating less devastation, in proportion to his victories,
than any invading general of former times. Well might the Mexicans gaze
upon his face!
(1847) FAMINE IN IRELAND, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy
From the fact that its immediate cause was the almost complete failure
of the potato crop, due to the rot, the great Irish famine is known as
the "potato famine." The crop that suffered so was that of 1845, and the
famine began in the following year and reached its climax in 1847. It is
estimated that by this calamity two hundred thousand persons perished.
Many compensating features in connection with this appalling distress
have been pointed out. Some writers friendly toward Ireland have
declared that the famine proved one of the greatest blessings to the
country; that it hastened free trade, better drainage of the island, and
the passage of the Land Improvement Act; that it relieved the
overcrowded labor market, led to more scientific farming, and in other
ways produced changes that have been of lasting benefit.
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