Emigration
[From the Dublin Penny Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3, July 14, 1832]
We freely confess that we are opposed to Emigration. We think that Ireland is perfectly able to support, not only her present population, but a vast deal more, if her capabilities were properly developed. This, however, is not in the power of the individual; and he naturally anxious to better his condition, and looking to the unsettled state of the country, casts his eye across the Atlantic for a settlement in the midst of Canadian forests, far away from the home of his forefathers.
Now in revolving the matter of Emigration, the following circumstances should be considered.
1st. Can you, or can you not, earn a livelihood sufficient to maintain yourself and your family in your native country? If you can, pause before you decide on going. It is a serious thing to leave country, friends, home, every thing near and dear in kith, kin, and recollection, for ever. Do not let flattering accounts deceive you; do not be led away with the flattering idea of possessing a fee simple estate, on which you can grow your own maple sugar, and make your own delicious peach brandy: think upon the forest, and its gigantic trees; think upon the toil, the incessant toil, requisite to clear your acres, and that your own physical strength will be the means alone of doing it; and if your body is weakened by low living, the consequence of scarcity both of money and provisions, think upon the days of fatigue, and nights of exhaustion; think upon the difficulty of supporting a family during the first winter, in the midst of a thick wood, your rude log house, your rude furniture, the intensity of the cold and the snow in winter, and the intensity of the heat and the musquitoes in summer; if you have just as much money as will land you in Montreal or Quebec, think upon wandering through their streets, the victim of want of employment, and exposed to all its horrors in a strange place; or if you reach the woods, think upon ague, marsh fever, and malaria; think upon bad roads, or no roads, bad provisions, or no provisions, the difficulty of disposing of your crop when you raise one, the possible danger (for it is possible, and very possible too) of bears destroying your cattle, if you have any, of the racoons and squirrels (of which there are plenty,) destroying your corn crops, and of rats and mice eating the seed of your Indian corn after it is in the ground: think upon these and more than these, before you resolve on going; and if you can earn a livelihood at home, the probability is, that you will stay where you are.
2d. But on the other hand, if you are determined on going, and are prepared to look danger, and toil, and privation straight in the face, and your wife and children are prepared to accompany you, and share your privations, and partake of your fatigues, and if you possess as much money as will not merely pay your passage over, but carry you into the woods, and enable you to bring provisions with you on which you can live for a time, the following are some of the advantages which may be derived from Emigration:-
Yes that's right think before leaving your native land. Are you sure that the country you're dreaming of can provide all your needs specially job and of course the safety of your family. Emigration have some advantage but there is always a disadvantage especially if you're just being deceived by your dreams of going to that country.
ReplyDeleteThis was written in 1832, but I think there are certainly some aspects which still apply... Thank you for your comment, Patricia..
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