SNIPPET: In the summer of 1847, some 2,000 of LORD PALMERSTON's tenants were sailing from Sligo and others being routed through Liverpool, all bound for Canada. Henry John TEMPLE, the Third Viscount PALMERSTON, was very much an absentee landlord. As a career politician, he was forced to spend all his time in London. He became a cabinet minister in the British government as early as 1809, serving 15 years as Foreign Secretary, and later still, served two periods as Prime Minister. The nine vessels carrying his former tenants were destined to join the ranks of the coffin ships. When the first, the "Eliza Liddell," arrived at Saint John, New Brunswick in July, the Canadian authorities were enraged. There were few men of employable age on board, mainly widows with young children and elderly men and women who were unfit or too old to work. PALMERSTON was one of many who acted in much the same way; no one sought to deny that landlord emigration meant sending out of Ireland the tenants who were not wanted because they were too old for work or unfit or lazy or of bad character. Good tenants who were young and healthy, who gave no trouble, who worked the land and paid their rent were welcome to stay. Late sailings to Canada were always dangerous; ports on the St. Lawrence were forced to close as soon as the ice built up in the autumn, and as the weather declined, new arrivals were bound to suffer. One of the PALMERSTON vessels, the "Lord Ashburton," arrived at Saint John on October 30th. On the voyage, 107 had died and 60 were seriously ill along with many of the crew which had to be supplemented by passengers to complete the journey! Three days later, the "Aeolus" arrived with more of LORD PALMERSTON's; more deaths, more sickness and even more poverty accompanied them. The captain was forced to pay a one-pound-per head bond to allow his passengers to land at Saint John. They were so ill and so poorly prepared for the voyage that the chief surgeon of the quarantine station reported that "many are almost in a state of nudity, 99 percent of the passengers on this ship must become a public charge immediately." Later, the "Richard Watson" arrived. Although fewer deaths had occurred at sea the account of this voyage was none the less horrifying. The passengers had been kept waiting for several days in Sligo and finally went on board on August 10th, but differences between Emigration officials and the ship's broker kept her at quayside until the 26th. Contrary winds were blamed for her remaining in Sligo Bay until September 8th when the brig was put to sea. Adverse weather forced her back to Sligo, and her final departure was delayed until the 22nd. After 43 days, the passengers were no nearer their destination! The voyage ended on November 8th, fully three months since they had gone on board and many were in a very poor state. All of this caused an uproar in Canada and protests were sent to the Colonial Secretary in London; despite his high position in government, LORD PALMERSTON was officially asked for an explanation. He tended to blame his Irish agents, Messrs. KINCAID and STEWART. Their response, in a letter of February 1, 1848 concluded: "The emigrants were unfortunately poor and without any means of support except what they could obtain by their labour, but that was their misfortune and not their fault, and they were both able and willing to work for their bread and for the support of their families. Notwithstanding the reports from the authorities in Saint John and Quebec...very favourable accounts arrive almost daily to their friends in this country from those who emigrated last year from Lord Palmerston's estate, and that already some of them have been able to send home money to their friends out of their earnings..." Other papers relative to emigration paint a different picture. Alarming cholera statistics from Dr. G. M. DOUGLAS, Medical Superintendent at Grosse Isle, were debated by politicians in Quebec, Montreal, London and Dublin, with little result. In 1848, Dr. DOUGLAS wrote: "I have the honour to report, for the information of the Excellency, the Governor-General, the arrival since my last report of 22 passenger vessels having on board on leaving port an aggregate of 7,629 souls; among these were three vessels from Bremen, three from Scotland, having no sick on board or deaths on the voyage. All the others being from Liverpool and ports in Ireland have more or less sickness and deaths...have arrived in a very sickly condition, the few that remain healthy I have ordered to land at the tents at the East End." He mentions the "Sir Henry Pottinger" left Cork on May 29th with 399 steerage passengers with fever appearing almost immediately on board, 98 having died and 100 more ill. Also mentioned was the "The Virginius" which sailed from Liverpool on May 28th with fever and dysentery coming aboard with the 476 passengers and deaths occurring even before they left the Mersey! Dr. DOUGLAS said that on examining the patients aboard the ship on arrival he found 106 ill with fever including nine of the crew, that 158 had died on the voyage, among them the first and second officers and seven of the crew including the master and the steward. He said, "The few that were able to come on deck were ghastly yellow looking spectres, unshaven and hollow cheeked...not more than six or eight were really healthy and able to exert themselves." A third vessel, the "Yorkshire," had sailed from Liverpool on June 9th with 392 passengers, of whom 45 had died and another 40 were ill. The doctor stated, "I am convinced that six days after the passengers of these three vessels are landed at the tents, and when they have eaten of fresh bread and meat, from 25 to 30 will die, and from 150 to 180 required to be admitted to the hospital. The exposure to atmospheric changes in the tents is very trying to weak and debilitated people, especially young children and aged people. Since writing the above, another plague-ship has just dropped in, the "Naomi," from Liverpool, this vessel sailed on the 15th June with 334 passengers, 78 have died on the voyage and 104 are now sick. The filth and dirt in this vessel's hold creates such an effluvium as to make it difficult to breathe."