shown in a work written by Mr. Arthur Young in 1782. That gentleman, speaking of the condition of the Irish peasantry from 1776 to 1779, says

"To discover what the liberty of a people is, we must live among them, and not look for it in the statutes of the realm; the language of written law may be that of liberty, but the situation of the poor may speak no language but that of slavery. Disrespect, or anything tending towards sauciness, a landlord may punish with his cane or his horsewhip with the most perfect security; a poor man would have his bones broken if he offered to lift his hand in his own defence. Knocking down is spoken of in the country in a manner that makes Englishmen stare. It must strike the most careless traveller to see whole strings of cars whipt into a ditch by a gentleman's footman to make way for his carriage: if they are overturned or broken in pieces, no matter, it is taken in patience; were they to complain they would perhaps be horsewhipped."

Commerce also, which so materially assists to break down the vassalage of a nation, was kept by bounties and protective duties in an unnatural state of depression and alternate excitement; and, so far from considering that Ireland ceased to be a kingdom and became a "degraded, pitiful province" by her legislative incorporation with Britain, the reverse was actually the case; and the substantial liberties and prosperity of Irishmen may be truly dated from the Union.

Scotland was, in reality, more an independent kingdom than Ireland, but no Scotchman is so foolish as to think that his country became a province by its incorporation with England; in fact, neither Ireland nor Scotland became provinces of England by their legislative unions, in any degree more than England became a province of the incorporated countries. Before the French Revolution different provinces in France had provincial Parliaments; and, as there is no evil without good, the destruction of these separate legislatures was a permanent blessing to France, by consolidating its energy and simplifying its laws.

Since the Union, Catholic Emancipation (which the Irish

Parliament would never have conceded) has been granted; the commerce between both countries has been put upon the footing of a coasting trade; the Irish and British currency has been assimilated; the municipal corporations have been reformed; tithes have been converted into a rent-charge, thereby relieving the poor cultivators; taxation has been materially diminished; ten millions sterling of the Imperial revenues have been spent in public works; a national system of education has been established; Orange Associations have been abolished; a legislative provision has been provided for the poor, sick, and destitute, instead of their being left to the casual support of charity; public banks and companies have been formed, with British capital, for the benefit of Ireland; church-rates have been abolished; the prison law amended and consolidated; a survey and valuation of Ireland, of a most complete and extensive nature, has for some years been in progress, as a remedy for the inequalities of local taxation; improved Grand and Petty Jury Bills have been passed; the criminal code has been reformed; the numerous abuses in every court of law have been rectified; a valuable and economical system of county courts, whereby justice is cheaply and effectually brought to the door of every poor man, has been established in every part of Ireland; dispensaries have been formed in every village in the island, for the relief of the poor, under an Act of the Imperial Parliament, and superintended by first-class medical officers; by Acts also of the Imperial Parliament fever hospitals and lunatic asylums, which for efficacy, comfort, and excellent management, are not surpassed in any part of the world, have been established in every district; excellent and numerous roads now intersect the whole island; and various other useful measures have been adopted, or are in course of adoption, conducive to the welfare of the sister island. From 1801 to 1831 there were 61 Reports of Committees, and 114 Reports of Commissioners, relating to Ireland. The number of separate public bills passed for Ireland has been 869, of local and personal acts 197, from 1800 to 1833. From 1833 to the present

period, the affairs of Ireland have occupied nearly two-thirds of every session.

It should also be remembered that, previous to the Union, of three hundred members of the Irish House of Commons, two hundred members were stated to be the nominees of private individuals (see Appendix for the names of the borough proprietors and number of boroughs); that from forty to fifty members were returned by constituencies of not more than ten persons each; that several boroughs had not more than one resident elector; and that out of three hundred members thus returned, one hundred and four were placemen and pensioners. Such was the description by Mr. Grattan in 1793 of the Irish Parliament, after the establishment of the "glorious independence" of Ireland in 1782. Contrast such a state with the present, when about 96,000 electors are free to return 105 members to the Imperial Legislature, whether of the Romanist or Protestant faith. It is worthy of note also that the portion of the Irish population who declare themselves the sufferers by English domination have two-thirds of the Parliamentary representation, and the whole of the corporations of Ireland, entirely within their own control. Do not these facts demonstrate that Ireland never was so truly and integrally a kingdom as she is at this moment?

Would those who now contend for a repeal of the legislative Union between the two islands agree to a restoration of the state in which Ireland was previous to the Union?

The Act of Union was a solemn legislative compact, which the Sovereign, Peers, and Commons of the United Kingdom can alone dissolve. Yet the people of Ireland have been artfully told that they themselves may "repeal the Union ;" and this language is now (April 1848) strengthened by Mr. Smith O'Brien, Mr. Mitchell, and other "United Irishmen," encouraging their countrymen to arm for the severance of Ireland from Great Britain, and for the establishment of an "Irish Republic!"

PART II.

COMMERCE, SHIPPING, AND MANUFACTURES OF IRELANDCONDITION OF THE PEOPLE BEFORE AND AFTER THE UNION -EFFECT OF POOR LAWS FOR THEIR IMPROVEMENT-RECLAMATION OF WASTE LANDS, ETC.

CHAPTER II.

Commercial State of Ireland before the Union; showing a Decreasing Trade, Shipping, and Manufactures from 1782 to 1800.

I now proceed to consider the second part of the question. It is contended that Ireland made the most extraordinary strides in commerce and manufactures, during the period of what is termed her "glorious independence," viz. from 1782 to 1800; that since her legislative union with England she has as rapidly degenerated; a corollary is thence derived, that she would flourish as before, were a Parliament re-established in Ireland. Three assertions are thus assumed to be proved: the first, being considered as indisputable, is merely referred to with extravagant panegyrism; the second is dwelt on as if the admitted misery of some districts of Ireland was attributable solely to political mismanagement, the sufferers themselves being blameless for having made no effort to regenerate their country, no effort to avert each from himself the inevitable consequence of indolence and improvidence; and the third is a sort of quod erat demonstrandum problem, a politico-mathematical demonstration, that no man dare deny. Such is the reasoning now generally adopted; but, if the basis on which it is founded be destroyed by facts, the superstructure must fall.

The assertion that all Ireland prospered so wonderfully from 1782 to 1800 rests on a very shallow foundation; for it depends chiefly on the belief that Dublin improved during the period: in proof of which its magnificent public buildings are pointed out as a convincing fact: thus assuming that the gaudy decoration of a capital is a true indication of the general weal of a country; and as if it were undeniably correct, that those very edifices and works were constructed during what is termed the Athenian age of "Irish independence," or, as it might more properly be styled, "Irish anarchy." But how stands the fact? Why, that those very buildings, referred to with so much exultation, and affording innumerable tropes for agitative eloquence, were erected previous to 1782, and subsequent to the legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland.

The following extract from the "Dublin Guide" will prove whether the first position be deserving of reliance.

PUBLIC EDIFICES erected previous to 1782. Dublin.

Dublin Castle, 1220-Stephen's Green laid out, 1670-Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, 1680-William III. Statue, 1701-Foundling Hospital, 1704-Dublin Castle, 1720—George I. Statue, 1720-Stephen's Hospital, 1720 — Linen Hall, 1728— Bank of Ireland, 1729-Mercers' Hospital, 1734-Dublin Society, 1749-Lying-in Hospital and Rotunda, 1751-Essex Bridge, 1755-Swift's Lunatic Asylum, 1757— Crow Street Theatre, 1758-Trinity College, 1759-Grand Canal, 1765—Magdalen Asylum, 1766 Queen's Bridge, 1768-Royal Exchange, 1769-Stamp Office, 1771 -Blue Coat Hospital, 1773-House of Industry, 1773-Newgate, 1773-Meath Hospital, 1774-Record Tower, 1775-Hibernian Marine School, 1777-Simpson's Blindman's Hospital, 1778-Custom House, 1780-Werburgh's, Thomas's, Bride's, John's, Nicholas's, Andrew's, Catherine's, and Mark's Churches, from 1670 to 1758.

The Four Courts were commenced subsequent to 1782, but the buildings were projected, &c. previous to that period.

PUBLIC EDIFICES erected subsequent to the Union.

House of Refuge, 1802-Fever Hospital, 1804-King's Inns, 1804 Castle Chapel, 1807-Nelson's Monument, 1808-York Street Chapel, 1808 - Dublin Institution, 1811-Dublin Penitentiary, 1815-Post Office, 1815-Corn Exchange, 1816-Iron Bridge, 1816-Richmond Bridge, 1816-Wellington Testimonial, 1817 -Female Orphan House, 1818-Whitworth Bridge, 1818-Female Penitentiary, 1820-Royal Arcade, 1820-Kingstown Harbour, which cost half a million sterling, 1821-Metropolitan Chapel, 1823-Hibernian Academy, 1824-Dublin Library, 1825-King's Bridge, 1827-Wellesley Market, 1827.