tageous to Ireland, because all our drawbacks are calculated to answer, as nearly as we could, the actual duty paid upon import, whereas the English drawbacks are, as you see, short of the import duties in many instances, so that we should export cheap and import dear. It is true that part of that duty which would cause us to import dear would be what was retained in England; that is an objection, but, considered as to manufactures and protection, it would be highly advantageous, and, as to revenue, there would be no loss of moment, and particularly as the amount would go to Imperial Revenue.

I see what Cooke means in saying that silk is in our favour; for, by calculating by the Rule of Three, 8s. 8d., 58. 6d., 4s. 2 d., 2s. 7 d., to which he thinks is to be added 10 per cent.; but the fact is, that the 10 per cent. is included in the 4s. 2 d., and, I apprehend, is not in the 8s. 8d.

I shall postpone writing to Lord Auckland until to-morrow, as my mind is undecided.

I am, my dear Lord, &c.,

On the Duties upon Silks.

Present Duty.

J. BERESFORD.

Ribands of silk per tb., 12s. 84d., valued at £3,

Decrease from the present duty per lb., 48. 0žd.

S. d.

6 0

27

8 7

Then the decrease from the present duty will be 93d.

Stuffs of silk, per lb.

98. 7d.

Then there will be an increase in the duty of 18. 10d.

Private.

Lord Castlereagh to Mr. Rose.

Dublin Castle, May 8, 1800. My dear Sir-On Mr. Beresford's return to town, I communicated to him Mr. Cooke's letter relative to countervailing duties, also mine to you, forwarded by express. We have since gone over together your proposed system of duties, on which Mr. Beresford is preparing detailed observations, with a view of showing the impossibility, or, at least, the very great difficulty, of coming to any correct settlement without a more precise investigation of the subject, than is practicable by correspondence within the period which can be spared, without exposing the measure by delay. His opinion has always been in favour of leaving the specification of the duties to the United Parliament, and the rather, as he conceives that the Irish system in charging the duty in point of calculation must undergo considerable alterations, which appears to him a strong objection to making the schedule of protecting duties a part of the treaty. He inclines to think that the proposal of taking a duty on the import here of the manufactured article less than the duty actually paid on the raw material would be liable to the objections stated in my former letter, and that it would be strongly insisted on that what England does not give in drawback to the exporter, ought to be placed to the credit of the revenue.

Upon the whole, he wishes that the duties should stand as at present between the two countries for three months after the Union, till the United Parliament shall enact the proper duties to be payable under the principles laid down in the treaty. In the mean time, our respective systems of laying on the duty might be more nearly approximated; and, when the measure came to be considered in the United Parliament, the arrangement would be discussed on its merits, and not with any collateral views of creating jealousy. The only inconvenience that can be stated is, that the operation of the commercial part of the treaty will be delayed for three months; the giving the power to the United Parliament cannot be disputed, as it must be within its competence, in case an article shall hereafter be brought under an excise in either country, which is now exempt from duty, to settle the proper quantum of countervailing duty.

As Mr. Beresford will write probably to-morrow either to you or Lord Auckland, I shall not add more at present. Believe me, &c.,

CASTLEREAGH.

Private.

Dr. Black to Lord Castlereagh.

Londonderry, May 8, 1800. My Lord-I have the honour of your Lordship's letter, and feel increased gratitude for your persevering kindness. As I shall avail myself of the permission of conferring with your Lordship previous to the meeting of the Synod, I will now only say that I will continue to impress on my friends the confidence in Government that I entirely feel myself, and, I doubt not, with effect. I am much concerned that so very respectable a man as Dr. Bruce should have taken up this business in the way he has done: he seems still unsatisfied, for, in his letter of the 28th of April, he regrets that the committee did not meet, and thinks it "neither the usage nor the interest of the Dissenters to rely on anything he has yet heard." Whether I have been credulous or he unbelieving,

:

time will show for the present, he has subjected me to some trouble and much responsibility. For the event I have no apprehension. I have a more intimate knowledge of the Dissenting body than circumstances permitted the doctor to have. I know there is a fund of good sense, which will preponderate when fairly appealed to; and I know also that the ministers view Government in the light to which it is so well entitled. It has their respect and confidence.

I remain, &c.

ROBERT BLACK.

Lord Castlereagh to Mr. King.

Dublin Castle, May 14, 1800.

Dear Sir-I am directed by my Lord-Lieutenant to transmit, for the Duke of Portland's information, the returns which have been laid before Parliament of the Hearth and Window Taxes, with a view of making a selection of the Boroughs hereafter to be represented in the United Parliament.

A special survey has taken place, during the recess, of twenty-seven towns, which form an intermediate class in point of magnitude, and among which it was most necessary to determine with all possible accuracy the question of precedence. I am happy to find that the result of the special survey corresponds so well with the produce of the taxes received in the two preceding years, when the return could not be made with a view to the measure in question, that out of the thirty-one towns to be selected, twenty-nine are supported by both tests, and the change in the remaining two may be accounted for from local circumstances.

You will observe, in the statement of the account, that an allowance of 2s. each is made for the houses now exempt by law; the tax, as at present paid, being leviable only on houses of two hearths and upwards, is not an adequate measure of population. It has, therefore, been thought more consonant to the principle of combining wealth with popula

VOL. III.

X

tion, to charge the exempted houses in the calculation as they formerly paid, thereby obtaining some measure of the relative population of the towns; while the progressive increase of the tax on the houses of several hearths secures that preference which is due to the most considerable in wealth. The Hearth Money Tax affording in itself a sufficiently fair measure of selection, it is proposed to take the thirty-one towns which stand highest in produce in the return of the present year, considering it, in point of accuracy, the most to be relied on. The joint produce of the two former years would substitute Mullingar and Monaghan, to the exclusion of Strabane and Enniskillen. The total produce of the three years would only affect one town, viz. Enniskillen, and substitute Mullingar in its room; and if to the total produce of the Hearth Tax for three years be added the Window Tax for 1800, which goes to fortify the measure of wealth, as falling principally upon houses of a better description, the result is the same as given by the Hearth Tax of the present year, which we propose to rely on.1

His excellency trusts that so marked a coincidence in the several modes in which the returns can be viewed will, if it does not altogether satisfy individual wishes, give a general impression of the fairness of the selection, and so far facilitate its adoption. The general result will be to give representation to thirteen close Boroughs, and to eighteen Boroughs more or less popular in their constitution, exclusive of Dublin, Cork, and the university. I have, &c.,

The Right Hon. G. Rose to Lord Castlereagh.

C.

Treasury Chambers, May 19, 1800.

My dear Lord-Your several packets reached me this morning. I immediately gave directions for the accounts to

1 The Supplement to 1800 contains several instructive Papers relative to the Boroughs of Ireland at this period, and among them the Lists upon which the above observations are founded.