[ { "id": 206011, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1970", "page_number": 91, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "86 \n\nA. D. BLUE \n\n1860's, cannot have been much worse than those experienced by contemporary European emigrants to America and Australia; and may have been better than those experienced by many thousands of Irish emigrants to America during the famine years of 1846-48. In her book \"The Great Famine\", Cecil Woodham-Smith gives horrifying details of the sufferings of these unfortunate people. Two of the most tragic cases concerned the British ships Larch and Virginius, which left Sligo and Liverpool respectively for Quebec at this time. Of the Larch's 440 passengers 108 died at sea, and 150 of the remainder were landed sick; while of the Virginius' 476 passengers 158 died at sea and 106 of the remainder — including the master and mate — were landed sick. At that time American ships were superior to British, and their fares were higher than on British ships, because they applied the Passenger Acts more strictly. Also during this same summer of 1847 German ships were constantly arriving at Quebec with hundreds of healthy, robust, and cheerful passengers. It was surely a mastery of British understatement for Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies, to write that \"the desire to reach America being exceedingly strong, many emigrants are content to submit to very great hardships during the voyage\". Nor is it to be wondered that fully 90% of these emigrants later crossed over into the United States, among them the father of Henry Ford. The greatest hardships during the famine emigrations took place on ships chartered by landlords anxious to clear their estates of impoverished tenants, and some of the worst cases are said to have involved Lord Palmerston's own tenants. Lord Palmerston, who was Foreign Secretary or Prime Minister for most of the 1840's, and prominent in the campaign against the African Slave Trade, probably knew little about his tenants' misfortunes, in itself one of the most telling indictments of the Irish land system. \n\nIn all the long period of Chinese emigration and until the early years of the 20th century, very few Chinese women emigrated, a factor which has had an incalculable effect on South-east Asian history. It is said that the Chinese authorities, while comparatively lax in preventing the emigration of men, took great precautions to prevent women emigrating, and it was not, for instance, until the mid 1920s that the authorities in Hainan Island allowed women to emigrate. A Chinese woman was a rare sight in the streets of Bangkok until about 1910, but within twenty years", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211814, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1989", "page_number": 229, "title": "RAS-1989", "content_text": "204\n\nPique delighted to honour, Marvellous is the ingenuity of Jack. Difficulties which would appal the ghost of Richardson* — that prince of theatrical improvisers, he makes nothing of it. Whether it be to prepare a great banquet hall or to erect a theatre, it is all the same to him and comes to his hands as readily as the marlin-spike. Huge guns disappear and hatchways vanish from the sight and are replaced by draperies and benches with all the quickness of enchantment. We sat looking around us at the proscenium, the footlights and the drop scene, representing a view on the late of Como, and fell difficult to remain in the belief that we were on board of one of H.M. 'ships of war' and not seated in a neat little theatre\". Thus far the impression of the surroundings.\n\nAbout the acting qualities the reviewer was equally in high spirits: in the Birthday, Captain Bertram R.N. proved to be “a gouty, choleric old gentleman, a very positive, perverse individual to boot and more than becomingly addicted to the occasional use of strong language\". All these little eccentricities were him forgiven, however, when \"we saw him yield to the impulses of nature and even felt a degree of alarm when he well nigh became smothered in the affectionate embrace of his loving and pretty — but somewhat bulky niece. (...) The songs of Dibdin appear to be no longer the prime favorites afloat they were half a century ago; and although we cannot but regret this, we were glad to find, from the specimens we listened to, that they have been superseded by not unworthy successors.\n\nThe trill of \n\nI've heard of foreign countries.\n\nThat are very fair to see\n\nBut England! dear old England!\n\nIs quite fair enough for me\n\nwas ringing in our ear, when it was joined in by notes of a different kind — the cheering notes, to wit, of the Dustman's Bell. We are quite converts to the doctrine that believes, for the moment, in the mimic scene which is enacting before us. How could we do otherwise at the sight of such a Dustman and such a Sally! It did one's heart good to look upon such a fresh, comely and good-looking face as Miss Sally's, and to hear the praise of it sung with such evident gusto by her honest lover in the lines:\n\nOf all the girls that dress so smart\n\nThere's none like pretty Sally\n\nShe is the darling of my heart\n\nAnd she lives in our Alley.\"\n\nRaising the Wind the reporter found not \"so brilliantly successful but not without its merit\".\n\nSumming up, his **still aching sides\" testified sufficiently to the \"care and trouble which the performers had taken to entertain their numerous audience'' (NCH 13.2.1858)\n\n10.2.1858 (Wedn)\n\nPELHAM HARDWICKE (= C. MATHEWS): \"A Bachelor of Arts\" (1853) T: Comic drama (2 acts)\n\nJ.M. MORTON: \"Done on Both Sides\" (1847)\n\nT: Farce (1 act)\n\nC: Amateurs\n\nF: Music by \"Messrs Phu & Mor\"\n\nTh: Theatre Royal (C)\n\n+\n\n* An allusion to John Richardson (1767?-1837), nicknamed \"the penny showman\"; in his performance of J.S. Knowles' (?) \"Virginius\" the ghost was the great effect (Dict. of Nat. Biogr., Vol. 48, p. 230-231).", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1989.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h", "rank": 0 } ]