result would be endless.

Considerations such as these presented themselves at once to the
master-mind of Pitt. He pointed out that as England had relinquished
her right to limit Irish trade for the benefit of English, she was in
fairness relieved from the corresponding duty of protecting Ireland
against foreign foes; the two countries should therefore both
contribute to their joint defence in proportion to their means. He
proposed that regular treaties should be drawn up between the two
countries, by which Ireland should contribute a certain sum to the
navy, free trade between Ireland and England should be established,
and regulations made whereby the duties payable on foreign goods
should be assimilated. By such measures as these he hoped to make
things run smoothly for a time at least; but when his projects were
rejected by the Irish Parliament, he saw more clearly than ever that
sooner or later the Gordian knot would have to be cut, and that the
only way of cutting it would be the Union.

CHAPTER VII.

THE INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENT. THE REGENCY QUESTION. THE COMMENCEMENT OF
THE REBELLION.

That Ireland increased in prosperity rapidly towards the end of the
eighteenth century, there is no doubt. Politicians will say that this
prosperity came from the increased powers gained by the Parliament in
1782; economists will reply that that had little if anything to say
to it; far more important causes being the abolition of trade
restrictions and the relaxation of the Penal Laws, which encouraged
people to employ their money in remunerative works at home instead of
having to send it abroad. It may sound somewhat Hibernian to mention
the rise in rents, as another cause of prosperity; yet anyone who
knows Ireland will admit that it is not impossible; and it was
certainly put forward gravely by writers of the period who were by no
means biassed towards the landlord interest. Thus McKenna, writing in
1793, says:--

"In several parts of Ireland the rents have been tripled
within 40 years. This was not so much the effect as the cause
of national prosperity; ... before the above-mentioned period,
when rent was very low and other taxes little known, half the
year was lavished in carousing. But as soon as labour became
compulsory, fortunes have been raised both by the tenantry and
landlords, and civilization has advanced materially."

There was also another cause of prosperity, which modern e